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Leader (1850-1860), 18th March 1854, Edition 1 of 1, Page 249

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      altogether . (« fteer « . ) -He was-one of those who believed that ; Ministers were sincerely disposed £ o carry this measure , arid he would be no party to needlessly embarrassing them—( eteari )—if , op the 27 th of April , Lord John Russell a « . nouncea that lie would not proceed farther with the measure lias session , he , for one , shoald most deep ly regret at ; but at iflra same ^ ime , neither would he forget the difficulties Ministers had to contend With . There was not only a powerful Opposition , but there were * . gr «* t . many lip reformers in the House who had no fancy for seeing , their

      jMflttieal existence put an end to " . Besides these drawbacks , there was tK « peculiar responsibilities pressing on the Go . vernment at the present tune ; for himself , he Should be vtry glad if reformers were united , they could thrash tUe Emperor of I Russia with one hand , and pass the Reform Bill with-the otter ; bat if from any want or support in-or out of Parliament Minister * werej obliged to postpone the Reform Bill , however ranch he might regret rt , hi should bow to their decision , in the full conviction that they were actuated b y gopd motives , and that they needed indulgence in the peculiar circumstances in which they wen placed .. ( Cheers . )

      All the iaeetirigs express strong hopes that Government wiH not abandon the bilL ¦ A public meeting , calle 4 and presided over by the High Constable of Brighton , was held on Friday evening at the Town-hall , for the purpose of considering " the provisions of IiOtd' John Russell ' s Hew Reform Bill . A resolution declaring -tbat Iiord John Russell ' s bill is an important measure of reform , afid that it contains objectionable clauses which , should he amended in committee ,, bat that tne new Reform Qill is fairly entitled , to the energetic support of all reformers , was earned .

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      INDIA AND CHINA . T ^ b intelligencebroughrt by the overland mail , yesterday , reaches -Drora 4 ; be 14 th of February from Bombay , and the 27 th at January from China . ' Very little of importance had occurred in India . Another officer , Captain Barry , has lost his life in Burmah , through the treachery of the natives . He was proceeding with a detachment to suppress a ; band of robbers ; the guides led him into an ambuscade , and he fell pierced by two balls .

      shape of a flexible cane tred together with red silk and forming a sort of switch , which doubtless conies into play pretty often . The chief of the brigade is . applied to in case of need , and those holding authority haye the privilege of corresponding directly , with the princes in any question of moment . They have also female soldiers , aijd therp are places where they have been left as the only garrison in towns of which the-rebels have taken possession .

      t The Koliat Pass is again dosed , the Afredees still proving refractory . In the Nizam's country the usual disorder prevails . Captain Ore , with a detachment <> f jLnfantry , cavalry , and gans , had marched against a post held by a ' band of plundering Sikhs and Rohillas . The cavalry first ca . me . up . On the arrival of the infantry and guns th « utter were at once ordered to unUmber and get ready for action , whilst ' the message was sent in to * he Rohillas that

      they must lay down their arms , or they v would be attacked . These decided measures had the desired effect , and after some parley they agreed to the terms offered , and , consented to lay down their arms and surrender themselves at discretion . Altogether , between Rohillas , Sikha , and others , nearly 400 men were thus secured and disarmed' Captain Orr has gained great credit for the spirit , energy , and decision his merits evinced . *

      The news from China is all conjectural . It is probable that neither Pekin nor the port Tien-kin have been taken . Shanghai was thought likely to fall into the hands of the Imperialists . It is strange , but nevertheless the fact , that exports from China were never on a larger scale . A letter from an officer on board the Cassini , French war-steamer , gives some interesting details Of a visit to

      Nankins" We met hundreds of boatloads on their way down to reinforce the rebels at ChLn-kiang ; but they appear to liave very few arms of any kind ; and the first question on coming on board the Cassini was , whether they could buy gans , cutlasses , &c . Hundreds were allowed to come on board in an orderly manner , the duefs only being allowed to go aft the mainmast . It was a curious crowd to see in Cliinn . Imagine a crowd of Chinese , with long hair , no pipes , and no hats , dressed , as if for a carnival , in silky and satins of the brightest hue . Such are the rebels , and one can judge that the stores of Nankin must have been well supplied to furnish such multitudes with rich gowns and furs , distributed apparently indiscriminately The revolution is a stupendous affair , but , so far as I am able to judge , savours more of Mahomedanism than Christianity ; in this sensethat it is the Tne-ping who w the Messiah of these fanatics .

      and it is in him they believe rather than in the crucified baviour . They hare no organised « hurch or minijtry , Hnd their worship altogether seems composed of the ropolii ion of certain prayers three times a day . When Tae-ping himself attends to his devotions , ten guns are fired each thno to announce the great event to his enthuaias lie followers . " M . Bocrbillon , the French Minister , went on shore . " Ono of the moat curious fact * he heard was , that in Nankin were assembled together all the women belonging to Tue-ping ' s followers , amounting to the immense and almost incredible number of 480 , 000 ; but when one considers what largo and populous towns they had tak « n possession of in their progreaa to Uunkin , and thivt these women are collected from all those places , the rebels fearing to leave their families behind tbom , the number is probably not much exaggerated . They are divided into brigades of 18 , 000 each , over which female authorities are placed , the least important having 100 under b . er command . Those women bear the . baton of office in thu

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      police had the good sense to keep away . "' Many " ??/ the middle classes of Preston attended the Meeting . It is difficult to estimat e a scattered crowd ; biitJin my opinion , from fifty to pixty thousand would - not be an over-statement . Thousands never reaped the place of meeting at all ; and it must have been-long after sun-down ere many of the weary travellers regained their homes .. ¦ - ¦¦ * ¦ ¦ ¦ - The . only event of importance connected with the ' mxlls of the Associated Masters , during the past week , has been a considerable return of the hands to the mills of Mr . John Swainson . The following ' placards have appeared in connexion with this evenjfc—I . —Reports <• *

      BeingCurrently circulated ; that Mr . 3 . Swainson has made arrangements with his hands differing from those offered at the other mill * of th « Associated Masters , the committee beg to state that , in reference to suck reports , the following note has been received from him .. > : By Order ; of the COMpriXEE OF TUB . ASSOCIATED MaSTBBS * «? Leightoa-street Mills , Preston 18 fli March * 1864 . , ' "The hands , onre 3 nmiaf ; work at these mills , are lobe paid our March list of prices , a JoincSwrntojoy : * '¦ ¦ ¦ •¦¦ ¦ - . H . <• - . . - . :. , : : . 'i : : ; ¦ ¦ Mr , J . Swainson ' s WbavkbsL L ^ OH ^ K-STRttficr Mitt .

      THE PRESTON LABOTJB-BATTLE . ( From our Correspondent . ') -Preston , Thursday . Thb monster meetings of Saturday and Sunday were held in the open fields beneath the Hoghton Tower , about half-way between Preston and Blackburn , and certainly a more picturesque and convenient spot could not have beeri selected . A spacious field , bordered by the high road from Preston to Blackburn , was lent fox the occasion ; the East ^ Lancashire Railway ran along another side , and , above all , towered the fine old feudal ruin , the relic of the castle in

      which , two centuries , and a half ago . Sir Richard Hoghton gave that feast to James the first , at which that" wise simpleton" found nothing more worthy of distinction than a loin of beef . Sir Loin , was knighted at Hoghton . Saturday ' s meeting v * as attended by five bands of music , and when the Blackburn operatives ( freed from their labours by t-wo o ' clock , as is'the custom on Saturday afternoons ) filed along the high Toad into the field of meeting , and met their Preston brethren for the first time since the commencement of this memorable-struggle , the shout of welcome and

      congratulation might have been heard miles away * Divesting the incident of all poetry , and viewing it simply as the meeting . of several thousands of the poor to hear some very indifferent speaking in the open air , it was no less grand and touching For . those thousands were bound together - by a community of purpose—a community which has successfully resisted the extremes of privation during six months . One-half of that multitude has given up its all , upon the faith of support which has been freely rendered out of the slender earnings of the other half , and all for the accomplishment of an

      object . If the orators were not skilled and elegant , at least they were in earnest ^ and , rijgbt or wrong , were inspired by a profound conviction of the honesty and justice of their cause . The deportnrent of the' multitude was remarkably <^ uiet and orderly , and , ' after the first shout of welcome , nothing like clamour was to bo heard . At Sunday V meeting this discreet self-control was even more conspicuous . As the afternoon was very warm and sunny , I drove to the place of meeting in an open vehicle . All the way from Preston to Hoghton the road was thronged with multitudes as densely as that to Epsom on the Derby

      day , but all so quiet and peaceful , as if they were going to church . From Blackburn , and through Blackburn , from the remotest corners of East Lancashire * , yet vaster multitudes were pressing towards Hoghton in an opposite direction . When I arrived at the place of meeting , it was thronged by an immense and still increasing crowd . Soon-after this a train of thirty-two carriages , alive with people , came rolling in from Preston , drawn by two locomotives ; when this had discharged its living freight , a similar convoy arrived from East Lancashire ; and as these new crowds poured down from the station , a murmur

      of wonder seemed to thrill through the crowd as to when their complement would be full . At about three o ' clock the meeting was opened -with a hymn , and the formula of the proceedings differed in no respect from those adopted in the Orchard before the prohibition of public meetings within the borough of Preston . Among those who occupied the cart , I noticed Mr . Ernest Jones , who , having attended the inauguration of his favourite scheme , the Labour Parliament , had apparently resolved upon another attempt to amalgamate this with the Ten per Cent , movement . In this object he signally failed , for the chairman of

      the meeting refused Mm permission even to speak . Mr . Jonea aeemed very irate about this , and I a , m informed that he threatened to " throw himself upon the meeting ; " whereupon he was told that he might throw himself where he liked , but that he must be quiet about it . During the progress of the speeches an incident occurred , slight in itself , but significant of the -watchful care of the "Unionists in avoiding every handle for a complaint on the part of the authorities . As the crowd occupied a very large space of ground , those upon the outskirts of it were quite

      out of ear-shout of the speakers ; whereupon they very naturally tried to arouse themselves by jumping and leap-frog , and sudi like sports ; but directly this was perceived by the delegates , they put a stop to it , adjuring the people for their own snkes , and for the sake of their cause , not to give the police a pretext for interference . This order was immediately ana * , cheerfully obeyed ; and this was tho only instance , during the whole proceedings , of the slightest approach to levity on tUo part of the people . A few of tho county police were present , but tho l ' reaton

      TO THK ASSOCIATED atASTEKS ^ LND THE ! PBBi . XCS ; t - It havbgbeen stated ( and very erroneonsly ) . bith « Asso ciated Masters , in a till posted' on the walla thi £ morning , that Mr . J . Swainson ' s hands 'hadresumed workat ^ Marxfr prices , we request that the Associated Masters will not trouble themselves respecting the . prices : or terms on which we have commenced work , for we nave pleasure- in stating that these terms are mutually satisfactory to both the em plojer and employed . ! * Signed on behalf of the hands . . Ellen Sowerbatita . Mar / Av S ^ weAntts ; - Mary Jackson . . Agnes Wilmerson . ' - John Nevison . ' Preston , March 15 th , 1854 .

      - . Now the truth is , that Mr . SwainBon harirjacle an offer to his haiids that if they will come ^ ' flt ^ he March prices he will give them a bonus of a shilling per warp , for weaving up alt the old , ^^ a W ^ hf mill , making a written agreement Vrith th « itn illtat ' directly they see reason to he dissatisfied with their earnings , they may leave , his employ wit ^ aut ^ being obliged to give legal notice . This , is nn ^ ntooduto be neither more nor less than a virtual concession of tema acceptable to . tne hands , and it lis ? expected that the stock of " old wafts ' will not be easily ex = hausted . The Asieociated Maaters are said to be very augnc about this arrangement , but they , have no

      remedy . Placard No . 2 may be regarded as a well-merited rap on the knuckles for the Masters ' Association , and it is to be hoped that they will improve the hint to mind their own ' r&nceras when gentlemen are sensible enough to prefer activity to idleness . It is belief ed , however , that Mr . Swainson does not stand alone in this willingnessr to make indirect concessions to the hands , arid I have heard upon very good authority that whetf a weaver accepts work at th « mills of one pf the most inflexible of the Associated Masters , she receives a . hint : tq put her hand into a certain place , whpre ^ she ia sure , to

      find five shillings ; and it is . quoted about the tpwn that one , of the Association adn ^ itted that "be wouldn't like to 9 > e fa first to break the bond , but he wouldn ' t mind being the second . " .. < ^ . Since , my last letter * from two to three hundred hands have been procured by immigration , but X nndeirstand that so far as offering ' any prospect of saleable cloth being turned out , the experiment is a . miserable failure . When the first batches of hands procured from that source arrived , the masters disputed among themselves about " not having their share / ' and it is said that the cause of quarrel now

      is liaymg " moie than their share . " On Monday morning thirty-five low Irish were brought from Manchester . I happened to be at the station when their effects were being removed from the train , apd I saw bedding so full of vermin that the porters had to scald the trucks , and even the pavement of the station with boiling water . The railway officials are greatly to bo blamed for permitting such filthy goods to be transported . Some of the Associated Mas ters meet the trains by which immigrants are expected , attended by a great posse of police , firemen , and specials . The polite manner

      with which these otherwise haughty gentlemen hand the females out of the carnages , inquiring after their bundles , and even dnndling the babies , affords considerable amusement to the bystanders . There is great reason to believe thut some of the emissaries employed in beating up recruits for the mills are not very scrupulous in the statements they make ; somo of the immigrants having complained very bitterly , that if they had known that * the Preston operatives wero on strike , they never would have been persuaded into coming . Nor do the masters appear to be more nice than their emissaries in their manner of obtaining and keeping hands , if we may judge from the following case , which was heard at tho Town-hall , yesterday : —

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      March 18 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER , 249 ,.

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 18, 1854, page 249, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2030/page/9/