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Leader (1850-1860), 1st June 1850, Edition Town of 1, Page 220, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      9 s . or 10 s . a-week . The hours of labour are said to be from sixteen to twenty hours a-day , and not less than five or six hundred of those who are employed by slop establishments work at home on the Sundays . They propose to form an association for the elevation of the moral , intellectual , and social condition of the journeymen tailors , and contemplate the making of such arrangements as will enable them to find employment for the slopworkers at reasonable wages . The unprecedented struggle between the glove hands ( silk and cotton ) and their masters , still continues , nor does there appear any well-grounded hopes of an arrangement , as the hosiers are evidently either neuter or are iti favour of the bagmen and masters . The hands in

      many instances are much distressed , and have recourse to a great extent to a system of begging , numbers having no other means of subsistence . The difference has now lasted about six weeks , and , all things considered , the workmen behave themselves with considerable moderation . The plain silk hose trade keeps gradually improving with some of the principal houses , but it is by no means general . One of the principal houses has advanced the wages of their men 2 d . per pair , and we have heard offered premiums to some of the masters to bring them hose . This body of workmen , which once exceeded 4000 , is now reduced to 250 . Some of the hosiers refuse to pay the advance , and a strike is in contemplation . — Nottingham , Review .

      A public meeting of factory operatives Was held in Manchester , on Monday , to protest against the mode of settling the question which Government has proposed . The meeting was very large , there being not less than 8000 persons present . Resolutions were passed protesting against " the slightest infringement of principlenamely , the two limitations of labour to ten hours per day , and fifty-eight hours per week , and pledging those present to resist every proposition which falls short of this . "

      A meeting of joiners , house-carpenters , and others was held at the Concert-hall , Lord Nelson-street , on Monday evening . The meeting was called by the " Progressive Society of Joiners , " a new association of operatives , and had for its object the consideration of the important question as to the most effectual course to be adopted in order to elevate that class of artizans in the moral and social scale . The meeting was under the patronage of his worship the Mayor , who presided . A series of resolutions expressive of the value to be derived from education , and a determination on the part of the joiners to raise themselves in the social scale , were passed . —Liverpool Mercury .

      The poor-rate for the ensuing quarter at Carmarthen is only 6 d . in the pound , instead of Is ., the usual average for many years past . As Carmarthen is situated in an agricultural district , it may fairly be regarded as generally reflecting the condition of the working classes of that district . After all the bluster about agricultural distress , one fact is certain , that never were the poor better off , having the command of more of the necessaries and comforts of life , than at present . In 1843 , in addition to the low prices , the farmers of Carmarthenshire were doubly oppressed by being almost eaten up by paupers . They had the Corn-laws then . In the year 1850 , it is a great fact , that in Carmarthen , the centre of a large agricultural district , the rate for the present qnarter is the lowest that has been made for forty years ! Still we are told that the poor in agricultural districts are in great distress . —Swansea and Glamorgan Herald .

      The distress which is felt by the upper classes of the landed interest in Nottinghamshire does not as yet appear to have reached the labourers . The rate of wages is about 10 s . a week , cottage-rents being from £ 2 10 s . to £ 5 per annum . The great landowners , like the Dukes of Portland and Newcastle , employ an immense amount of labour about their parks , home-farms , and plantations . Labourers so employed receive 2 s ., and sometimes as much as 4 s ., per week more than the common rate of wages in the county ; but we were told , singular as the statement appear * to be , that the labourers thus paid are

      not unfrequently inferior to those who are earning only 10 s . a-week in their appearance and domestic comfort . We were much struck by the distance which the men employed in such parks as Clumber and Welbeck have to travel to and from their work . At Clumber , for instance , out of about fifty people employed on the home-farm , thirty come every day from the town of Worksop , or the villages of Bothamsull or Elksley , distances of three or four miles , and involving , therefore , an addition to the the labourer ' s daily work of a six or eight miles' walk . Both the Duke of Newcastle and the Duke of Portland

      have adopted largely the system of garden-allotments near towns . These are divided from each other by neatly-trimmed hedges , and appear to be cultivated with great care . They supply to the artisan and small tradesman an agreeable method of spending their leisure hours ; and , while they gratify that longing for country pursuits so commonly felt by a town population , they promote health , and supply fresh vegetables at a cheap rate . The Duke of Newcastle has about 2000 gardenallotments on his estates . The Duke of Portland has also adopted the * ystrm , and found it work beneHuinlly . The larqe proprietors qenera ' du throughout

      Nottinghamshire have hitherto done everything in their power , by diminishing the number of cottages and otherwise , to clear their land of all who were likely at any future time to become paupers . Jn this way the ' labour in if population has been driven into villages and towns , where that live expensive y , and are exposed to additional temptations . The evils resulting from this state of things « re much complained of . Ratepayers in the towns ' complain of being saddled with the support of paupers poured in upon them from the surrounding estates , and farmers are equally annoyed at the distance which their labourers have to travel to and from their work . —Z '«>/ tc 5 Commissioners .

      Untitled Article

      INCENDIARISM . We are left very much in the dark as to the actual condition of the agricultural labourers in the southern and western counties . None of our daily newspapers say much on the subject . It is difficult to say to what extent wages have been reduced , but it is evident from the records of incendiarism that much discontent prevails . Gloucestershire . —A fire broke out on the premises of Mr . Harbridge , yeoman , of Donington , near Stow-onthe-Wold , on Monday night , which destroyed a large barley-rick , supposed to contain from fifty to sixty quarters . There is little doubt that the fire was caused by an incendiary . —Gloucester Chronicle . Durham . —Mr . Wilkinson , Darlington , coachbuilder , suffered loss on the 16 th of May , by the occurrence of a fire on his premises , which , however , was soon extinguished . Incendiarism is suspected . — Gateshead Observer . Kent . —Stephen Cliften , aged eighteen , was committed for trial on Friday on a charge of having wilfully fired a barn belonging to his master , Mr . Baker , of Downbury , near Pembury . —Dover Telegraph Essex . —A wheat-stack , at Spaias-hall , Finchingfield , occupied by Mr . J . Beddall , was destroyed by an incendiary fire : another stack close to it was saved by great exertions . —Essex Standard .

      John Morgan , a small shopkeeper in the village of Rattlesden , who has hitherto borne an irreproachable character , has been committed for trial on a charge of having set fire to a straw-stack and barn , on the 14 th of May . When asked by the magistrates if he had anything to say in his defence , he replied , " It seemed as if was bound to do the deed ; I was led straight from my bed to the place ; I had no malice against any person . "Idem . Oxfordshire . —William Collins , a tramp , was committed to gaol for the assizes , on Saturday , for wilfully setting fire to a hovel . As soon as he had done it he gave himself into custody , stating that he had set a hovel on fire . —Oxford Journal .

      Nottinghamshire . —Some malicious person set fire to the blacksmith ' s shop in Cropwell Butler , in the occupation of Joseph Carver , on Saturday night , but it was extinguished without doing much damage . — Nottingham Guardian . Dorset . —The village of Winfreth and the neighbouring hamlet of West Burton , have been thrown into a state of much anxiety and alarm by three incendiary fires , which took place consecutively on Thursday , Friday , and Saturday nights . The first fire was a large dairy house and premises , near the Red Lion Inn , Winfrith ; it wao totally consumed . The second was a policeman s house , which was burnt to the ground , as was also a hayrick , on the following evening . Two labourers have been committed for trial on the charge of having been the incendiaries . —Sherborne Journal .

      North Wales . —A somewhat alarming fire , doubtless the work of an incendiary , took place on the evening of Wednesday last , at Plas Penrhyn , the seat of T . Holland , Esq . A considerable portion of the stables , carts , &c , were injured . The damage is estimated at about £ 100 . Combustibles were found about the premises , which clearly evinced the intention of the incendiary . — Chester Courant . At the County Court , on Saturday last , William Hayward was committed for trial , on a charge of having caused the recent calamitous fire at Cottenham .

      Untitled Article

      COMMUNISM IN MANCHESTER . The Daily News of Thursday contains an interesting account of the successful application of the principle of Communism or cooperation in the Chorlton Mills , occupied by Messrs . William and David Morris , of Manchester . The narrative occurs in an account of the way in which these mills are managed , as furnishing an illustration of how much an employer can do for his workpeople : — I must inform you of a practice , which it will no

      doubt rather surprise you to find in a manufacturing establishment , conducted by staunch believers in the virtue of political economy—being nothing less than a little inchoate Socialism . In going through some of the rooms I was startled once or twice by hearing persons , with very little of the pomp and circumstance of military life in their appearance , addressed as ' Captain . ' On enquiring the cause of this , I learned that this title had reference to a cooperative organization among the mill hands . This excited my curiosity . What ! traces of Communism in a Manchester cotton-mill ! The

      thing seemed incredible . I enquired into the nature and history of this organization , as well as the objects it had in view . This I traced to the inventive brain of Mr . David Morris . It arose in the following manner : — Looking at the general condition of his workpeople with a view to find where the wedge of reform could best be driven in , the gentleman referred to—guided , perhaps , by some of his old reminiscences—certainly by his direct personal knowledge of the apathetic and improvident habits of the mass of factory workers—saw very clearly that the accidental arrangements of society Jor distriliuting the prime articles of food to the poor are

      very imperfect , and the evils connected with petty shopkeeping on the trust system of a fearful character . Living as they do from hand to mouth , buying only the smallest quantities of each article of domestic consumption at once—and paying enormous prices for goods of inferior quality ; the factory hands who resort to this practice , and nearly the whole mass of them do so under ordinary circumstances , as a matter of course live uncomfortably , and get themselves into debt . The petty dealer to whom they owe a lew shillings gets a firm hold of them—which he seldom or ever relaxes . Bound by this obligation to trade at his shop , they arc completely in his power—no chance of going to the best or cheapest

      market for them !—and he sells them only too often the refuse of his shop , at the prices of the highest class of articles . This was the glaring evil which Mr . David Morris undertook to expose to his workpeople I say first of all it was necessary to convince them that such a state is an evil ; for many of them , having known it all their lives , having seen their parents placed in the same situation of dependence , knowing that most of their neighbours are in a similar position to themselves —have come to look upon this as one of those natural evils of society to which the poor must submit in silence . It is in the contest against this dead weight of apathy that the courage and perseverance of the reformer are

      most severely taxed . Mr . David Morris thought it would be the wisest course to break up these habits of dependence on the petty shopkeeper gradually . He begun by spiriting a few to contrive by frugality to steal a march upon their income , and instead of being always a week behind with the world , to get a week before it . When this was done by a few , he showed them how by clubbing their means together they might purchase their tea , coffee , cocoa , and chicory , at a considerable saving to themselves . But in order to avoid every suspicion of having an interest in these proceedings of the workpeople , he determined to have nothing to do with the practical application of his own idea .

      Those who were able to join this little " phalanstery" met together and elected their captains —for there is the most absolute democracy in this little military order of socialists— and their secretary . Each captain has fourteen persons , male and female , in his troop , and in the mills there are twelve divisions , so that the number of persons , generally heads of families , banded together in this way , amounts to 168 . The mode in which the plan is carried out is this : the secretary is provided with a number of ruled and printed froms , one 6 f which he deposits at the beginning of the week with the captain of each division , who goes round to each member of his troop and marks

      down the order of the week , in a table , which is filled up with the names of the parties and their orders . These forms are returned the same day to the general secretary , who , by adding the twelve together , then finds the total order for the wholesale dealer . This is sent in on Wednesday , and next day , when the cart has delivered a load of calicoes , it goes round to the warehouse and brings back the supply of goods wanted . After the engine stops the captains repair to the secretary , when each receives the articles ordered by his troop , with the upper part of the above form , and delivers next morning the separate articles to each , receiving at the same time the

      money for the order of the following week . ' You will perceive , ' says Mr . Morris , in a written statement which is now lying before me , * that besides teaching the workers provident habits to the extent of always having a week's consumption in hand , instead of being in debt at the ' shop , ' where they must pay at least twenty per cent , more for the same quality of article , they have also a positive advantage of a penny in every shilling expended in tea , and a penny on every seven pence on all money laid out in coffee— -making the difference between provident and improvident habits not far short of 40 per cent , on these articles . '"

      Here is communism in action reduced to practice , and working admirably . A large saving to the workman is effected , and , what is of more importance still , the moral results of this initiative socialism have been highly encouraging : " Springing , in the first instance , from the master , benefiting in its daily action the worker , it has greatly tended to draw these parties nearer together , to foster a more kindly and fraternal feeling between them . It has also produced more confidence among the men themselves . The ultimate sovereigns in this little democracy look with as keen an eye upon their captains and secretary as the sturdiest Athenian ever watched the popular rulers of his nation . Workmen have suffered so often

      from trust in men of their own order , that they are naturally suspicious—and no wonder . In the Chorlton mills this evil feeling is being gradually removed . Those who have charge of these outlays perform their duties with an order , faithfulness , and promptitude which is going a long way to restore that confidence which has been so fearfully shaken . This is one of the happiest results . I am far from thinking it yet complete : moral reliance in the integrity and wisdom of our fellow-beings is one of most dif

      the easiest things in the world to disturb—the - ficult to restore . But the work is in progress . It can only be through a long series of experiments in which the affairs of the working classes shall be administered by men of their own order , with pure aims and clean hands , that that harmony of purpose and unity of action can be obtained which every true reformer wishes to see brought about as the stepping-stone to an improved condition of things . "

      " The work is in progress . " Most heartily do we wish it God speed . Mr . David Morris has set an example to his fellow-millowners which will , we confidently trust , be followed up by many of them . Let them go on in the same direction with wise courage , not boastinjily , but with ardent faith , hope , and charity , and they may be the pioneers of a great social reformation . It ' is by deeds of this kind that the wealthy captains of industry most faithfully ana usefully discharge the great debt which all of them owe to the community by whose labour chiefly that wealth has been created .

      Untitled Article

      IMPROVEMENT OF DWELLING-HOUSES . The annual meeting of the Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes was held at Willis ' s Rooms , on Monday , bit Ralph Howard , M . P ., in the chair , supported by Lord Claude Hamilton ,: M . P , t Lord Badstock , Vis-

      Untitled Article

      220 1 R 1 ) $ 3 Lea $ l $ t + [ Saturda y ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 1, 1850, page 220, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1841/page/2/