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Leader (1850-1860), 1st February 1851, Edition Country of 2, Page 16

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      The Compositors Of London And The " Morn...

      sent position without farther molestation , or infringement on their recognised rights , ttis only by united efforts that such can be accomp lished . . From the perusal of the circular referred to , I really do not estimate very highly the character of these men ; and , as to their conduct , I should rather decline making one in a band of thirty-two to invade a Glasgow office in the manner they have done in London . 2 . Misleading you , # c—To prove that your position was justly taken in your little sub ., I here give an extract from the North British Mail of the 13 th

      instant : —¦ " Farewell Dinner . —On Saturday , the 4 th instant , Mr . Robert Dickson , manager of the printing department of the North British Mail , was entertained at dinner in the Rose Tavern and Dining-house , Argyle-street . There were upwards of thirty gentlemen present . Robert Gunn , E ; q ., managing proprietor of the North British Mail , fulfilled the duties of chairman ; while those of croupiers , " & c . & c . " The company having partaken of an excellent dinner , the usual loyal and patriotic toasts were given and responded to . The Chairman then called for an especial bumper to the toast of the evening . In proposing the health of Mr . l ) ickson , the chairman passed a high

      eulogiuraon his energy of character , integrity of purpose , and eminent business qualifications . He also gave a short history of the circumstances which had led to the appointment which Mr . Dickson had obtained in the metropolis . The proprietors of one of the London morning journals having heard of the efficient and economical syatem with which the North British Mail was printed , he ( the chairman ) had been waited on , and had been made acquainted with the system of management and the comparative cost of the London press . The result ¦ was that , by his views and advice , Mr . Dickson had received the honourable and lucrative appointment of

      taking charge of printing one of the morning papers , and of renovating the system at present pursued . He was satisfied that , whatever opposition the London operatives might give to the present undertaking , Mr . Dickson would not be many weeks in London till he received the thanks of the London compositors , as a body , for having put an end to a system as ruinous to the workmen as it was injurious to the employers . He was confidentfrom his experience of the operative printers in Glasgow , from their steadiness and general character—that they would gain respect in London ; and , if any body of men could do the work they had undertaken , it was those who went under the leadership of Mr . Dickson . * ....

      " Mr . Dickson made rfn appropriate reply , in which he alluded to the opposition he was likely to receive from a class interested in keeping up the present rotten system pursued in the London daily papeis . But he was sure that the great majority of the profession would be so benefited by the changes it was his intention to introduce , that he , and those who acted along with him , would yet receive their heartfelt thanks . By the present system , workmen , though equally proficient in their business , did not receive more than a fifth or a sixth of the

      remuneration that others did . He meant to abolish that inequality , and introduce a system of justice and equality to the men , and economy and efficiency »^ the employers . One of the disagreeable things connected with the matter was , that , not having confidence in those at present employed in the establishment he would be under theneces-Bity of removing them entirely , and replacing them with tried men from Scotland ; yet he had not the least doubt but that he would receive the full support of the London workmen the moment they understood his plans . He resumed his seat , " & c .

      Now , Sir , coupling the above extracts with what was stated by the manager when he expressed himself sorry at parting with the late printer and his companionship ( and -whose eilieiency he had been continually lauding ) , thut "it was not for a trifle the change had been made—the saving would be £ ' 2000 a-year " [ I enclose the names of the parties ] ; and tripling it with the try-on mudo four years ago , in the same office , to reduce the compositors' wages , ¦ which attempt failed , and the late companionship returned ufter a fortnight ' s absence ,- —taking , I Buy , all the circumstances into consideration , what else can bo inferred but that the men were to be overworked nnd , of course , underpaid ? Certes that man must be

      as verdant us the famed pastures in the vale oi J ^ imerick who could suppose that this change was the mere freak of the proprietor of a thriving property to play at ducks and drakes with 200 sovereigns , ¦ which it must have cost to enlist the men , pay their cxpencCH to . London , and pay the late printer his month and the companionship their fortnight ' s money . 3 . Writing a Vituperative 1 Communication . —I have carefully read my communication of the 18 th , and could find neither anger nor vituperation . This charge in the letter must cither have been caused hy the blind rage of the writer or a consciousness of what he deserved . 4 . Disapproval of Scotch Compositors being employed Mr . Ounn Mated in hi * H |> eeoh Unit the men who left . ( aliiHginv wrrn 0 oin < r untiling injurious to the profeHtdon , anil Unit limy had received the H . uiction of the OlnHffow HooiH . y . Thin in not ooivrct . At u . uicotin ' K of the nooiety , four or live daya previotiH to the iUmjvc dinner , n motion wat ) made repudiating in Htron ^ UiruiH th « conduct of the men . Th « y ( the I'li ^ nged ) , neeliif' that Biioh rouolution waH iiiru to l >« carried . naiil thai they would reooimidor their oiiffngiinx-nt . And lhun they ri-ouped from OUttffOW with the negativo sanction of tho uoeiety ; for whioh heaitunoy tho nooirty in now very Horry . lint , even if they had r «/ o « i *«« l the full sanction of their brethren , that dona not alter tho ouso . The l , ondon hciiIii wiih agreed upon hot ween nn » Htern aud mun ; and it in for every town to regulnto Uu own trade uiatt * r » .

      in London . —Men in printing-offices are respected or suspected according to their " conduct and character , and not in reference . to their country . There was once a captain of a man-of-war who was an Irishman , and when an Irish culprit was brought before him he would say , " I'll flog you for country s sake . I may , perhaps , be actuated by some such feeling towards these men ; for the " land of the mountain and flood " is the " land of my sires . " So much for the narrow-minded remark about country . And now , Mr . Editor , I leave it to your judgment to sav whether I have or not exposed a deeply-laid and

      clandestineiy-carried-out conspiracy to reduce the wages of labour . But in this country , which boasts its even-handed justice , there are no laws against the conspiracy of employers , but plenty of them to punish the workmen if they attempt anything of the kind . "What would be the consequence if fitty men employed on a daily paper—properly remunerated and on the best of terms with their printer—were clandestinely to procure themselves situations , and leave their employment at a moment's notice ? Every one of them would be liable to severe punishment . This is exactly a case in point with what I have described . Then , why should the conspirator with a well-lined breeches-pocket escape punishment ? Property ought to be protected ; and so ought the only Dronertv of the working man—his labour . But a

      case so glaring must call forth your liberal pen , so leave it , for the present , in your hands . I am occasionally addressed as a " free and independent elector ; that title is a taunt and an insult , if the only property I possess— -the labour of my hands and head—be not deemed as worthy of protection as that of my representative . I shall prepare a petition to the House of Commons , embodying all the facts of the ease , and send it to one of the members for the borough in which I reside , as a first step in an agitation for an equalization of the combination laws .

      They say they have been paid what is right , and according to the scale framed by the Typographical Union . Then the Glasgow plan boasted of at the dinner has not been introduced , the paper must be costing rather more than it did before , and it is a game of ducks and drakes after all . But really I cannot believe this : it is too much of an insinuating assertion . What a funny thing to bring men upwards of 400 miles , and pay them as well , if not better , than the old hands—and save £ 2000 a-year out of it ! But I must not be too fast or too funny here . Perhaps they will , as I have done , produce the proof—the

      documents , drawn up by a W . S ., signed , sealed , and stamped , and giving them stations for life at the Post . Lucky Scotchmen!— if they can do this . If not , they are fools for having left their situations and country on such a spec . Let them reme mber that Crosby ' s situations for life on the same paper lasted a fortnight . Another panderer to avarice may out-Dickson Dickson , and bring a band of chosen men who can be wound up to go more hours than my father's countrymen . This is no idle supposition . Men capable of acting as they have done must expect to be paid in their own coin .

      And all the London morning papers were expected to adopt the Glasgow plan ! I hope the concoctors have reckoned without their host . Can it be that the free-trade press has been endeavouring to procure a cheap loaf , to tantalize the working man , from its very cheapness , by trying to keep it further from his grasp ? Will the Times and Chronicle—papers that have spent princely sums in exposing , with a view to its remedy , the hideousness of poverty existing amongst the

      labouring poor—join in such a conspiracy ? I cannot suppose that the London press would ho disgrace itself ; and I hope to see every respectable daily paper in London repudiate Uie supposition that its proprietors would acquiesce in adopting a system by which their valuable properties would be jeopardized , their characters as gentlemen tainted , and their efficient and intelligent workmen become degraded and pauperized .

      Sir , I am afraid I have been carried beyond the limits that you can afford so humble an individual as the writer of this letter ; but I feel deeply for the welfare of a class amongRt whom I have spent forty years of my life ; and I feel truly grateful for the manner in which you have taken up this subject . You have thus proved your sincerity in the cause of th « working man , by opposing the crushing power of capital in its inroads upon labour in u case- where its success would put money in your own pocket . I trust that your example will be followed by some of your older contemporaries who huvc been loud in their sympathies for tho working classes . Wishing you that success which your enlightened and liberal labours merit ,

      I inn , Sir , your greatly obliged servant , A CoMl'OHITOR . P . S . — i shall , with your permission , shortly give an account of the institutions founded by the printers of London —the PrinterH Pension Society , the Almshouse . Fund , and the Typographical Widow , Orphan , and Nominee Fund ; which institutions would , if the exterminating system I have here depicted were Buffered to obtain , be either much shaken in their uHofulneHH or entirely destroyed .

      1]S ' I P** Iteafter. * [«*«>«»»,

      1 ] s ' I P ** iteafter . * [«*«>«»» ,

      The Tax Upon News. Norwich, Jan 23,1851....

      THE TAX UPON NEWS . Norwich , Jan 23 , 1851 . Sir , —Your avowed sympathy with the efforts now making to obtain the repeal of the " Taxes upon Knowledge , " leads me to hope that you will readily allow a brief trespass upon your columns for the purpose of exposing that which I cannot help regarding as the most atrocious feature of those taxes—the power , vested in the Board of Commissioners of Inland Kevenue , of compelling the appendage of the penny stamp upon all journals containing paragraphs of public information . The issue of the Household Narrative of Current Events without a stamp , under the editorship of Charles Dickens , led to the hope that the board would be brought into direct collision with a quarter sufficiently influential to jeopardize the existence of its powers . It seemed , however , desirous of rendering those powers still more odious , by establishing the oft-repeated charge of partiality in their exercise . With the view of obtaining some explanation respecting the anomalous position in which the board had thus placed itself , I was induced to trouble it with the following letter : — «• Norwich , Jan . 18 , 1851 .

      «« Sir , —We shall feel greatly obliged if you will inform us whether the privilege of inserting articles containing news has been conceded by the board to monthly periodicals . " We have been led to make this enquiry from observing that ftjlr . Dickens' Household Narrative has been issued for several months without the usual newspaper stamp . " Yours most respectfully , for Jarrold and Sons ( publishers ) , "C . J . Bunting , ( Late editor of the Norwich Reformer , in which the insertion of news was prohibited by the board ) . " J . Tirnm , Esq ., solicitor of Inland Revenue . " The reply is subjoined . Your readers will see to what extent it notices the cause of the enquiry :-

      —" Inland Revenue , 8 omer 9 et-house , London , January 2 i , 1851 . " Gentlemen , —In reply to the enquiry contained in your letter of the 18 th instant , « whether the privilege of inserting articles containing news has been conceded by the board to monthly periodicals , ' I have to inform you that no such concession has been made . " I am , Gentlemen , your obedient servant , "J . Timm , " Solicitor of Inland Revenue . ' Messrs . Jarrold and Sons , Norwich . " I shall refrain from commenting upon the injustice which this proceeding involves , further than to observe that the reply is , in one palpable sense , untruthful , and therefore destitute of that high-toned morality which ought to characterize the proceedings of government officials . The " privilege " is conceded to some ; from others it is withheld . A direct infringement of the law upon the part of a literary giant is tolerated , whilst mere pigmies are regarded as fair game for the exercise of its powers . Surely Charles Dickens cannot be altogether satisfied with his position ; neither ought any lover of fair-play to afford a tacit assent to the display of such glaring partialit ) r .

      Trusting that the Board of Commissioners will not cease to be hurrassed in the exercise of its functions till its disgraceful " occupation ' s gone , " I remain , yours respectfully , ' C . J . Bunting .

      The Ecclesiastical Courts. Brighton, Jan...

      THE ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS . Brighton , Jan . 13 , 1851 . Sir , —It is the peculiar characteristic of the Ecclesiastical Courts that they profess to punish sp iritual sins ( pro salute animce ) rather than temporal crimes , by penance and excommunication , or by payment ot a sum of money by way of commutation ; yet their jurisdiction comprehends causes of ft civil or \ ' " poral nature—some partaking both of a sp iritual and civil character , and some purely spiritual .

      111 the iirst clasH are testamentary and matrimonial causes , questions purely of civil right , which are neither spiritual nor affecting the Church Establishment . Old lllackstone says that these causes , " partly from the nature of the injuries complained of , partly from the clerical mode of treating them , soon became too gross for the modesty of a lay tribunal . The second class comprises causes of a mixed description , as suits for tithes , church rates , seats , and faculties . The third class includes church discipline , the correction of offences of n spiritual kind . They are proceeded upon in the way of criminal suits , for the lawful correction of manners .

      The ordinary ' UcclosiaHticul Courts , Curia Chrislianitatis , are : t 72 in number . Thesn are tho J rovincial Courts , being in the province of Canterbury , the Court of Arches , * or Supreme Court of Appc" > tho Prerogative Court ; and the Court ' of Peculiars j and in the province of York , the Prerogative and Chancery Courts . The Diocesan are tho ConsmtoniU Courts of each diocese exercising general juilsdic-• "The Couitof Archos , anciently hold in U' « church oj U «" Virgin Mary , wiih ho called nb arcuaUi m-clstM . or irom <>" Church , by roamm of tho ntrepln or clothier thereof r » l »«« , ^ the top with Btono pillar * , in fauhioa of a bow bent archwise . A > 'HI 1 Vh I ' urerg < m .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 1, 1851, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01021851/page/16/