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Leader (1850-1860), 27th July 1850, Edition Town of 1, Page 421, Untitled Picture

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      politicians , but it is not by unprepared change that permanent' good can be effected . The great object with every true Reformer is to render taxation as light and as equitable as possible , but in aiming at this he will not seek merely to reduce salaries . Wherever a salary is paid for doing nothing it ought to be abolished . Wherever a salary is paid at all , we ought to have security that the appropriate work be done , and well done . Useful always " pays" the public , even for a liberal investment in the form of salaries . It is by the effective , rather than the parsimonious , organization of the public service that the republic is developed in that strength which will peacefully outgrow the forms and encumbrances of royalty .

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      THE BUILDING TRADE IN LONDON . The metropolitan commissioner of the Morning Chronicle has given an interesting account of the working carpenters and joiners of the metropolisa class of workmen who were formerly well paid , whose wages , in fact , were somewhat above the average of other trades , but who are now as badly off as most of their neighbours . The prevailing

      evil in this , as in nearly all other trades , is the contract system . A large class of middlemen contrive to make a good living out of the working men by a species of slave-driving . The " speculating builders , " by whom nine-tenths of the houses in London are erected , are chiefly in the habit of getting the work done under contract . One witness says : —

      " The masters usually prefer to let work , because it takes the trouble off their hands . They know what they are to get for the job , and of course they let it as much under that figure as they possibly can , all of which is clear gain without the least trouble . * * * The speculating builder generally employs an overlooker to see that the work is done sufficiently well to pass the surveyor . That's all he cares about . " Whether it ' s done by thieves , or drunkards , or boys , it ' s no matter to him .

      The first man who agrees to the job takes it in the lump , and he again lets it to others on the piece . It is usual for the first party who takes the job to be bound in a large sum for the faithful performance of his contract . He then finds out a sub-contractor who will also bind himself that the work shall be properly executed , and there the binding ceases—those parties to whom the job is afterwards let or sublet , employing foremen or overlookers to see that their contract is carried out . "

      The effect of this system upon the condition of the working men is that in many instances " a man of twenty-two cannot make above fifteen shillings a week , and must work more than the regular hours to do that . " The first contractor has little or no trouble ; "he merely engages a gentleman to see thafe what is done is likely to pass muster . " The poor wretch who executes the job receives but a small share of what is paid for the work done . He " is obliged to slave away night after night to get a bare living out of it . " And the worst of all is that the houses built under this system are neither

      cheap nor good . The public , we are told , " get damp , ill-drained , and unsafe houses at the same prices as they formerly paid for sound , wholesome , and dry ones . " This , however , is partly owing to another branch of speculation—the dealing in ground rents , by which a plot of ground in the outskirts of London , worth £ 20 or £ 30 a-year as a meadow , is made , by skilful management , to yield £ 250 per acre of ground rent ; all of which must be paid by the tenants . The result is , that although the houses may have been built of very inferior materials , and although the wages paid to the workmen have been little more than half what

      they ought to be , the profits of the middlemen and the exorbitant ground rents make houses dear enough to the public . It is difficult to say what course the working men ought to take in order to put an end to this suicidal system , which has been rapidly extending during the last few years . Carpenters and joiners have not the same power of managing for themselves as tailors , shoemakers , and many other trades . Unless they can induce a portion of the masters to go along with them in any scheme they may propose , they can do very little to improve their condition . As things are , this class of artisans are much more deserving of the sympathy of the advocates of social and industrial reform than the

      factory operatives of the North of England , about whom so much has been said . As regards the long hours , hard labour , and low wages of the carpenters and joiners , and the direction in which a remedy must be sought for these evils , something more must be said .

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      BEFUQB FOR THE PERSECUTED M . T . " JVI . P . " complains to the Times that persons send Mm

      newspapers without marking m them any particular object of attention . " We look for something of importance—find nothing , throw the paper away , and then , perhaps , receive a letter informing us that our attention has been drawn to a particular subject . " Does he not know why people are so absurd as to send a microcosm without a finger-post ? Because , if they-mark a paper they must pay a penny to the Post-office ; and your " earnest '' politician , especially your Liberal politician , makes it a matter of " principle , " a point of honour—nay , of political economy—to cheat the Post of any stray penny , even at the cost of defeating his own object . But M . P . 's constituents are still worse in their absurdity : —

      " I happen to be a Member of Parliament , representinga district containing' about 5000 electors . They are men of very liberal politics , and desire me to remain wholly independent of any Government . This I endeavour to do ; but hardly a day passes without the postman leaving at my door letters from these electors asking me to get them places under Government . If I tell them I must not compromise my own independence by asking favours of the Minister , they say within themselves ( for the thought is made very apparent ) What is the use of a member if he does not get us places ? ' If I send a civil reply in the negative from that unfortunate being , the Patronage Secretary to the Treasury , they protest I have not done my best . Will , vou , Sir , by letting this letter appear , show the folly of the cry of * Independence ' under such actions ? "

      Imagine five thousand constituents jointly teasing a conscientious member to be independent for himself and get places for them ! Is it not enough to drive him into extremities ? It appears to us that such persecution leaves him but two courses . One would be , to abandon the theoretical punctilio about independence , and aim direct at place—but only for Number One . The other course would be an appeal from the Constituency to the People . Truly we conceive that such appeal would be effectual : he would find that " the Millions , " not expecting each to get his place , but having some real political aspiration and purpose , would protect him against the place-hunting clamour , and sustain him in his independence . That appeal would be made if he were to correct Reform Bill Suffrage by Universal Suffrage .

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      THE TRUCK SYSTEM . Birmingham , July 23 , 1850 . Sin , —Allow me to draw your attention to the working of the truck system . In spite of the act of Parliament , tommy-shops abound . In South Staffordshire an agitation against the system is now going on : many convictions have been obtained under the act , but still the law is evaded , and instant dismissal is the punishment inflicted by the truck masters upon

      any man who will not go to the tommy-shop , or who assists the resistance to the truck system . At another time it may be matter for discussion how far the truck system is essentially wrong : it is my belief that , as at present administered , it is oppressive , unjust , and mean . I send you some extracts from the letter of a working man : on these statements you may rely . Yours right truly , George Dawson .

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      " It was my unhappy lot to be born in a neighbourhood where the tommy system was , and still is , carried out to the very utmost extent they can possibly carry it to ; where poor miners , blastfurnace men , and forge * men are a month , five , and sometimes six , weeks between their reckonings , and during that time a poor man can have no money , but as much tommy as he likes from the shop , so that he don't have more than he has coming in , for they will take care that he is not in debt at the tommy-shop . I have known poor women obliged to leave their homes and dear families at midnight , at one , two , or three o ' clock , and if they should lie till four on a tommy-shop morning ( for they have fixed days } they would never get served . I have known women the day before tommy-day , after taking their husbands' dinner , spend all the afternoon in procuring their notes , and , after getting the note , start for the shop and stay all night

      dealer ' s , and of the worst quality . She moves again lower down for her meat : she cannot pick her meat , the best is always kept for " butty-colliers , " and other foremen ; the poor workman ' s wife must have just what they please to give them . I have seen meat brought from these dens of infamy not fit to eat , and nearly half bone . I have seen , when a woman has had a piece with no bone , her forced to take bones with it at prime cost , which , they said , would make good broth if they could

      striving to get served first in the morning . .... No sooner is the poor woman admitted , than she delivers her tommy-note at one end of the counter and then goes a little lower for her tea and sugar , &c . For tea she must give 6 d . an ounce—at a grocer ' s she could get it of much better quality and weight for 4 d . ; for sugar , 6 d . and 7 d . per lb . —at the grocer ' s , 4 d . and 5 d . ; and so on throughout . She goes a little lower for her flour , which is invariably from lOd . to Is . a strike more than at the

      not eat it . " Since the matter has been taken up , the masters say they will evade the law . In some cases they pay money at the shops for the notes , but those that take away money must leave their employ . Others have a clerk at the shop to whom a poor woman must give her tommy-note ; she then gets a check , and is told that'' if she will go to such a bank she can get it cashed . " One shop in Bilston makes the notes payable at Birmingham , eleven miles off , and the other at Stourbridge , nearly as far . "

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      LIBERTY OF MIND . London , July 20 , 1850 . Sir , —You profess to lead the public mind in the spirit of enlightened charity , from the ignorance and consequent error in practice of our inexperienced ancestors , and the evils necessarily arising from false principles and practices , to truths derived from unchanging facts , and to practices in accordance with , those facts ; and you have , with the spirit of a martyr , called upon your correspondents and readers to express their convictions upon these subjects without reserve , however they may be opposed to your own views ; and have promised that their views should have , if properly and honestly stated , a fair consideration and due attention .

      Allow me , before I proceed further , to ask if you think the reading public is yet prepared to hear the whole truth upon those subjects on which man ' s highest and most permanent happiness depend ? I have long waited for the period to arrive when they should be so prepared , and have done all in my power to hasten it ; but I fear there are not yet a sufficient number of minds so far advanced as to support a paper that will advocate these truths in opposition to the long-established prejudices of our inexperienced ancestors . It is , however , well to try the experiment , and thus to gauge the progress of mind in this country , where it has more liberty of open expression than in any other , although the United States , except for the slavery question , is not far behind in liberty of mind .

      I have long looked to the period when , in the spirit of pure charity and kindness for mankind , I could bring forward those eternal truths that , when fairly and fully applied to practice , would ensure the permanent well-being and happiness of our race , well knowing that when those truths could be given to the public , and the public prepared to attend to them , the reign of error and evil would soon cease . Is the Leader prepared to hazard this experiment , and to teach the public how to apply true principles consistently to the entire practice of the business of life ?

      If the Leader will venture to open its pages for such teaching , and the public shall be found so far prepared as to support it , then may we soon expect to see governments and people abandon a system for the creation and punishment of poverty and crime , and adopt a rational system for the prevention of both by constructing society in accordance with common sense , and conducting it on principles of impartial justice . The reply of the Leader will decide my future proceedings . Robert Owen . [ We shall be at all times happy to hear the opinions of so earnest a thinker as Mr . Owen . —Ed . ]

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      THE RULING IDEA OF SOCIETY . London July 22 , 1850 * Sir , —The ruling idea to which I alluded in my last letter is the supposition that human beings make themselves to be what they are—that they form their own qualities , dispositions , habits , manners , convictions , feelings , and will , independently—and that they have the power to well-form them at their option .

      All are now educated from their birth on this principle and in this idea . Upon this supposition young and old are considered to have merit or demerit for being what they are , and for thinking , feeling , &c , as they do ; and are praised , and blamed , and rewarded , and punished accordingly . These are the first steps in the course of error and evil into which mankind are led by the false fundamental idea . By these notions and proceedings , and other injurious influences which proceed from them , and which are now continually operative upon all throughout society , the natural moral tendencies of humanityall of which , under the influence of rational ideas

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      July 27 , 1850 . ] &t > t 3 Lta % tX . 421

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      [ IN THIS DEPARTMENT , AS ALL OPINIONS , HOWEVER EXTREME , AHE ALLOWED AN EXPRESSION , THE EDITOR NECESSARILY HOLDS HIMSELF RESPONSIBLE FOR NONE . ]

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      There is no learned man but will confess he hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and his j udgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . — Milton .

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 27, 1850, page 421, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1848/page/13/