The Sun. — London, England, 1865-03-16 00:00:00

The Lock-out in the Iron Trade. GLASGOW, March 15. The Scotch malleable ironmasters, at a meeting held on Wednesday in Glasgow, unanimously re solved to reduced the wages of the puddlers ls. per ton, millmen and others 10 per cent. ; 14 days' no tice to be given on the 25th inst. It was also resolved not to employ workmen coming from districts of England where men are on strike or locked out. SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE. In South Staffordshire the belief is prevalent that the minters in the north of England will not long keep their works closed. The workmen who pro mulgate statements to that effect allege that they have received communications from certain of their fellows who are now employed in the Newcastle dis trict, encouraging them to entertain this view. Upon certain of the works, it is alleged, the operations of important shipbuilding-yards depend, and that so pressing were the necessities of some of those yards before the lock-out took place, that, in the words of the writers, " the iron was being dragged out of the works nearly redhot." But the ironmasters in South Staffordshire have perfect confidence in the good faith of the masters in the north of England,and do not believe that the arrangement come to at the last great meeting of the trade in Birmingham will be departed from on either side. By that arrange men t north and south became one in enforcing the uni- I versal observance by their men of any determination in respect of wages, upon which the masters gene rally should resolve. The good feeling between the masters in these two divisions of the kingdom is exemplary. Greater unanimity than was displayed, as well at the meeti ng a t w hi ch the reduct i on was determined upon as at the meeting when it was re solved to lock -out the majority because of their prac tical sympathy with that minority who refused to ac cept the reduction, could not have been possible, and since that meeting the ironmasters of the north of England have manifested the strongest desire that their brethren in the south should not allow any rumours circulated by interested parties to weaken their confidence in the continuance of that unanimity. Of all the different suggestions which have been made with the view of devising some means whereby the lock-out may be terminated, before it has con tinued till one or other side has been compelled to give in from sheer exhaustion and permanent heart burnings have been evoked, no one suggestion has received so much approval as that thrown out at the meeting of millmen at West Bromwich on Monday. The more it is discussed the more practical it ap pears. At the same time the masters have a con tinued cause of complaint against certain portions of the union of the men, and might therefore deem themselves called upon to adhere to the letter of the condition upon which they have made the period of the lock-out to depend. They have obtained infor mation which satisfies them that subscriptions are still being- 7 ,sent into North Staffordshire from mem bers of the Union. In Shropshire, in particular, they say, the unionists at work there are subscribing for their brethren in North Staffordshire. Hitherto, however, the help afforded out of the North Staf fordshire district does not appear to have occasioned any very considerable increase in the funds avail able for distribution among their men by the officers of that district. Before the executive ceased to forward moneys raised by a levy made throughout the Union, the North Staffordshire men who belong to the executive of the. South received 10s. a week from their executive, and 3s. a week from the: district exchequer. Last Saturday the relief dispensed amounted to 4s. per member for the week. How long the district officers may be able to continue such a distribution is not clear ; for although the North Staffordshire men enjoy the practical sympathy of their fellows in Shropshire, where all the finished ironworks are fully on ; yet, in other cases, such as Manchester—where there are nearly as many members still at work as there are locked out—the men refuse aid toNorth Staffordshire. If the delegates, who are the final supreme authority in the Union, should enforce the conditions which they declared would follow upon the supporting of the refractory men in North Staffordshire in any way, the conduct of the Shropshire members will occasion some difficulty, for it had been understood that contributing would subject them to excommu nication. Then the fact of the Shropshire works being carried on and the men employed the thereby enabled to-gend mnot but act i. to pro beitw - curt 11 any move, ntemplates the concentration of 1 the districts in one powerful body. nerally expected that the Shropshire ld lock-out. Nevertheless the notice was posted at one works, but was afterwards taken down by the proprietors when they learnt that they were alone in giving the notice, and they are understood to have expressed not a little chagrin that the notice should have been sent to them by a firm who did not themselves : adopt it. the masters It was not masters won The masters do not see any means of terminating the lock-out by any rearrangement of the wages scale.. They say that the men are now and have for some time past been receiving a much higher rate of wages than the price of bar-iron, by which price that rate has always been understood to be regulated, and that, therefore, they would be unwilling to submit to any alteration the effect of which would be to reduce the amount of remuneration which they are now re ceiving. Therefore they believe that to commence any negotiations with a view to a settlement on a wages basis which would be satisfactory to both sides would be only to complicate matters. We have reason to know that, so far as the supposition of the masters relative to the disfilvour which any propo sition contemplating an alteration against the men in the amount of the present remuneration is con cerned, the masters are quite right. The men gene rally, it is now known by the Executive, are not prepared to work on a lower rate than that which now prevails. As a body the men believe that they ought not to be paid less than 10s. a ton for puddling, whatever may be the price of iron ; and they have confidence in the power of their Union to help them to secure this rate, or certainly to prevent much of decrease upon the present scale, which is at the rate of 9s. 6d, ' i a rate, as comparedwith past y ears , which is regarded' by the masters as very high, and Is. higher than the scale by which wages are usually regulated. Reduc tions, the men say, would have been effected in their wages by their masters, which would have reduced their remuneration very much below the present standard had it not been for the power to resist such a step which the men possess in their Union. Further, the men know how short is the supply of labour in the market for puddlers as compared with the demand ; and this, which many masters adduce as the reason of the advantage which men now pos sess, also encourages the men in the hope that they will be able to prevent any further decline. • hope, also, in this direction is buoyed up by the confi dence which is widely entertained that the trade societies will afford them all the help in their power to maintain the strengthof their Union, and thereby keep up the scale of wages. Yesterday there was the usual weekly gathering in Wolverhampton of . the ironmasters of the West midland district on 'Change in that town. In the interim between the quarterly preliminary meetings honste o ra f , the trade, when the members of the Association assemble and discuss the question of - may be regar( e as prices and other matters which the legislation of the trade, the affairs of the man for the association are managed by the chair year, n Mr. W. 0. Foster, and a commitee of gentlemen who have been nomi nated to fill the otii:e irman in succession— one of them, now Mr. Walter Williams, jun., acting assist e d b y as the hon. secretary, a paid secretary. gentlemen As may be imagined, these en their ernnare virtually th e government of the trade; andproceedings at this time are regarded by their con • stituents as of the greatest moment. But they enjoy the fullest confidence of the whole of the association ; no mis trust whatever is' felt in their wisdom andtheir esprit de corps. All official correspondence between the ironmasters of the North of England or any other part of the kingdom and those of the West midland is carried on by those gentlemen. Yesterday they had received a communication from the lion. secretary of the Association of the North of England Ironmasters, communicating the result of the meeting betweenthe committee of that body and the members of the Gateshead Executive of the men on the previous day in Newct stle-on- Tyne. It was to the effect that the North of Eng land masters had promised the Executive of Gateshead that a general meeting s:1( 1, ld be called to consider the present condition of affairs, and it desired that a general meeting of the masters of the South should be called, to be held at York on Fri day next. The communication said nothing what ever as to what would be discussed at the meeting, but a statement bad appeared to the effect that the North of England masters were prepared to send puddled bars to North Staffordshire to enable the masters there to re-start their works. This state ment, the committee believed, had emanated from the men, as they did not think that the mas ters would conceive that the scheme was practicable. It was certainly not thought to be so by the com mittee. The scheme, it was shown, was tried in South Staffordshire by a section of the mastersthere during the last strike of the puddlers, and it failed. Many more difficulties, it was felt, would lie in the way of such an arrangement in which the masters of different districts might combine to assist each other in this way. If the masters in the north of England should really contemplate such a step, it was thought that so soon as they knew the result of such a measure when it was tried in the south of Stafford they would see its impracticability. It was, however, the opinion of the committee that the strike of the men in North Staffordshire would ter minate within a fortnight if at the meeting of the trade societies in London on that (Wednesday) night it should not be resolved to support the North Staffordshire menvery liberally. Intimation is under stood to have been conveyed to South Staffordshire from certain of the men to this effect—The puddlers in North Staffordshire will not remain out on 4s aweek, it is asserted ; but it is added they will not go to work as long as they can obtain 15s or 20s a week. As the probabilities are against such liberal relief being forthcoming, the committee feel pretty con fident that cause for the lock-out will soon termi nate. If the decision of the meeting in London should be to support the North Staffordshire men to a large extent, then the committee see no prospect of an early termination, except by men going into North Staffordshire and starting the furnaces which the puddlers there refuse to work on the masters' terms. It was finally resolved that three of the committee should go as a deputation to York, and a statement, comprising a history of the lock-out, was drawn up and signed by the hon. secretary, to be forwarded for publication in the London papers. With the facts contained in that statement the public are familiar. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, WEDNESDAY. The conference between the delegates from the Ironworkers' Association and the Masters' Com mittee was held yesterday afternoon, in the offices of Messrs. Losh, Wilson, and Bell, Grey-street, in this town. Mr. C. M. Palmer presided. The fol lowing employers were present at the meeting : Mr. C. M. Palmer, Jarrow Ironworks ; Mr. W. H. F. Bolckow, Middlesborough-on-Tees ; Mr. Thos. Vaughan,Witton-park ; l‘lr. Firmstone (one of the partners in the new limited liability company who have recently purchased Messrs. Bolckow and Vaughan's works) ; Mr. J. Hutchinson, Skerne Ironworks, Darlington ; Mr. W. R. Tunes Hopkins, Tees-side Ironworks ; Mr. Thomas Bell and Mr. Henry Bell (Losh, Wilson, and Bell), Walker ; Mr. David Dale, Darlington ; and Mr. George Dyson, Weardale Ironworks, Spennymoor. The workmen were represented by Mr. John Kane, President of the Gateshead Council of the National Amalgamated . Association of Ironworkers ; Mi. G. G. Thomas, from Bolckow and Vaughan's works, Middlesborough ; Mr. William Rollins, Tees-side Ironworks, Middlesborough ; Mr. Henry Gilmore, Albert-hill Works, Darlington ; Mr. John M'Kay, Skerne Works, Darlington ; Mr. James Croft, Witton-park Works ; Mr. John M'lver, Consett ; Mr. Thomas Brown, Black-hill ; Mr. Oliver Duffel, Jarrow ; and Mr. John Campbell, Walker. Mr. PALMER, in opening the business, hoped that nothing would be said to cause irritation, because he believed it was the desire of all parties that the question should be settled. (Hear, hear.) The masters felt that they had been placed in their pre sent position by no fault of their own, and they would he prepared to receive and hear anything that the :1: - -putation from the men might have to say, wit:: a view of considering it. They would then report it to a general meeting of the ironmasters, Which would be called, provided the overtures— which the Masters' Committee were only deputed to receive—were such as to give some prospect of settling the matter. The executive of the work men's unions felt now that they had committed an error, inasmuch as they had since con demned what they at one time supported, and they were now wishful to recall the recommen dation which they passed compelling the men in North Staffordshire to abandon their work and not submit to a reduction of wages. All parties, whoever, believed fhata reduction ought to be sub mitted to, considering the depressed state of the iron trade and the reduction in the price of iron. He was sure that the propositions which the men would make would be fairly considered. Mr. KANE wished the masters to understand that he did not attend that meeting as the mouthpiece of the delegates, but as one desirous of promoting the reconciliation, or, if necessary, to defend the reputa tion of the Gateshead Executive, which, he thought, had been unjustly assailed. So far as the northern executive was concerned, they had nothing at all to do with bringing the men of North Staffordshire out. They were brought out without the knowledge of the executive, who held a conference at Sheffield during the Christmas holidays. At that conference a resolution was passed accepting the proposed re duction, because those present knew the depressed state of the iron-market and the scarcity of orders. The following week a delegate meeting was held at Brierley-hill, at which the Northern Execu tive was not represented. That meeting considered the Northern Executive had no right to take the steps they had done. Hence they passed a resolu tion, and wrote to inform the body in the north of the fact that they had determined not to accept the reduction. That was the first intimation the Gates head Executive had of the resolution. The majority of the men were against the movement. The con ference at Sheffield had broken up, and then the Brierley-hill people had resolved to resist the reduc tion against the wishes of the executive. The Iron workers' Association had certain rules by which they work in concert—Gateshead and Brierley-hill. He had protested against the resistance, and he wrote to Brierl e y-hill asking them to call another meeting of delegates after the one at which it was resolved to strike, but they refused to do so, on the ground that it would be expensive. What, there fore, could the Gateshead Executive do under the circumstances ? They had works under their control in North Staffordshire, and they did not mind what went before the world. The masters were banded together for the purpose of looking to their own in terests, so were the men ; and in that respect it was a fair battle. So far back as the 10th of January a telegram was sent from the Gateshead Executive against the strike, and another afterwards saying he (Mr. Kane) would go over to Staffordshire to try and induce the men to go to work. After that there were resolutions passed that he should go over, be cause their rules distinctly embodied laws by which the two executives were bound together in one united course of action. But a difficulty arose in respect to North Staffordshire, because it was in two divisions —part in the Gateshead and part in the Brierley jurisdiction. He then wrote to Staffordshire, asking them to call another delegate meeting at Brierley hill but he was told in reply that such a course would be too expensive. Then came a meeting at Gateshead, and at that meeting all the corre spondence on the subject was laid before the dele gates present, some of whom were prepared to speak on the subject that day. Mr. Sambrooke gave a true statement of the position of the strike, and he was followed by Mr. Thomas and others, all of whom advised the men to go to work. A resolution was adopted to the effect that in the opinion of the meeting the men be ordered to resume work, inas much as their strike was illegal,unjust, and uncon stitutional. Aft er that resolution it was , agreed that a deputation should be sent to South Staffordshire, and Mr. Duffel and himself was appointed for that purpose. They urged on the Council the propriety of endeavouring to come to a settlement, but fruit lessly, and the deputation left them for home, to chalk out their own course. When the deputation got home they sent another telegram to North Staffordshire but the officers said they could not get the delegates together before the Saturday fol lowing, when the men refused to go to work. Such was, in a condensed form, the real substance of the whole matter as far as the Gateshead Executive was concerned. Mr. PALMER said the northern masters gave notice along with the rest of the trade throughout England of a reduction. They said that in all their districts the reduction had been found just and right, and it was accepted by the men. But it was afterwards agreed between the two executives of the Men that those on strike should separate the North Stafford shire men between the two executives. The result WS that the men struck, and he had with him a letter signed by Mr. Kane, and dated the 28th of January, in which he said : " That a delegate meeting was held at Brierley hill, and a resolution was passed to the effect that the men of North Staffordshire resist the reduction. The Council of Brierley-hill called their number of North Staffordshire men out on strike, and acting in concert with our friends at Brierley-hill, and seeing the necessity of such, we immediately in structed the men of Hanley and district to come out also to the number of 450." The ironmasters resisted the men, and would not give the advance which the men sought, and which, in fact, the state of trade would not permit. They resisted for some seven or eight weeks, and then they found that large sums of money were subscribed from Gateshead and Brierley-hill towards the main tenance of the men out. The masters of Stafford shire therefore came over to those of the North of England, and said the latter were acting in concert with the men, and were supporting indirectly those on strike by contributing through the workmen to a fund to enable the men on strike to fight the masters. The masters of North Staffordshire asked the northern employers to .come forward and sup port them in putting an end to the strike. They said the South Staffordshire masters had agreed to shut their works a week before if such a step were thought necessary in the North of England. Before closing the works in the North of England, a meet ing of the masters' association in this district was called, and they invited deputations of masters from North and South . Staffordshire to attend, so as to inquire of them the then state of affairs before taking the extreme measure of closing their works. He (Mr. Palmer) put questions to the Staffordshire masters to this effect :—Notwithstanding the reso lutions passed by the executive, or whatever the union was called, condemning in toto the resistance of the men, had money been sent over? Because he conceived that some mode of settling the dispute might have been devised if the support had been withdrawn from the men on strike. The masters said Mr. Kane had gone over to Staffordshire and had taken money with him for the support of the men ; and he had been mobbed because he had not taken enough. Mr. ICANE—I took no money at all after the resolutions were passed. Mr. PA put out the notice dated the 28th of January, and the people in the northern part of the union continuing to subscribe, there was nothing for the masters to do but to act up to the notice they had posted at their works. The masters had been driven into their united action simply from the men having in many instances united in a most oppressive manner. Unless masters were left to control the force they employed, it was impossible to con duct trade successfully. Mr. KANE said there was a difference between the two combinations. The masters' steam engines ate no food, but the men's stomachs still required it in a lock-out or a strike. Hence, if all that had been read was correct, as soon as the movement assumed its present form its aspect was changed. The statement that because he did not take sufficient money to North Staffordshire to tide over the lock-out his life was jeopardized was not correct. It was known that he had £260 ready the week previous, and that this had been stopped by order of the executive ; yet, in spite of that determination a resolution was passed in oppo sition to the executive. If the latter thus had no control over the men, how could it be expected that they could force the men to work ? They had withheld their funds from them, and withheld them still. For the purpose of preventing the strike or of bringing it to a conclusion, he had visited Yorkshire and Staffordshire and had gone to Tunstall in the latter county, and no floubt they had seen the result. On that occasion he took no money with him for the men. It was the 21st on which he didn't pay the men, and it was a week previously to that time that the money was put up antl;paid. Mr. DALE said that what the masters and what the public must really understand was that the Gateshead Executive did really call out the men in North Staffordshire, and had since supported them ; but the Executive now desired to withdraw that support, and had withdrawn it. That in itself evidenced that, whatever their connection with Brierley-hill was at the outset, they had felt themselves entitled to withdraw their support. That was apparently all that they had to say to the masters. Ho accepted the statement of Mr. Kane, that the original policy of the North Staffordshire men was against the judgment of the execu tive. However they might disapprove it now, they were active parties to it in calling the men out and subsequently supporting them. Mr. DUFFELL said he was at the North Stafford meeting, and, granting that the Northern Executive participated in the meeting, they had afterwards wished for a meeting of delegates to prevent the turn-out. The meeting of the delegates condemned the North Staffordshire affair in toto, and he and Mr. Kano were appointed to go to North Staf fordshire to persuade the men to go to work, inasmuch as it was unjust to disobey the orders of the executive. When he came back from the south he attended the executive meeting, and there it was stated that the disaffected men should have no moremoney from the north, and if they did not go to work the executive did not consider themselves responsible for the actions of the men on strike. The exe cutive of the north could wash their hands of the affair, and they had decided that they would pay up the men for the time they had lost up.to the passing of the resolution on the 11th discountenancing the strike, and that resolu tion had been strictly adhered to. Mr. Horxrcs—lt seems that at this moment the North Staffordshire men are receiving pay from somewhere. Mr. SANE—There is not a penny going from the North of England for their support to my knowledge, nor will there any go. Mr. DUFFELL—They have a fund of £6OO of their own, They have private funds to last for many a long week yet. Mr. PALMER said the discussion had shown that the mas ters of North Staffordshire had a proper claim upon the masters of the north for some assistance as long as support went to the men on strike from the north. But when the delegates present declared that support was entirely with drawn, and that they had separated themselves entirely from the southern district, ho thought that fact might lead to some proposals or overtures. The delegates pledged themselves through Mr. Kane that the North Staffordshire men would not get a single shilling of support from the Gateshead Executive after the period the executive ordered them to go in to work, the masters' committee retired to consider the matter, and after about three-quarters of an hour's absence they re turned, and Mr. PALMER said the committee felt that they were not empowered to deal with the matter at present, and it would be requisite for them to call a meeting of the trade gene rally. He might say, however, that the committee felt that the delegates had made proposals for the solution of the difficulty tending to an amicable conclusion of the strike, but they also thought that any settlement of it ought to comprise the South Staffordshire people. They also thought that the unjust proceedings of the men in North Staffordshire had arisen to a great extent from the men in that locality who called them out ; and the committee wished to impress upon the delegates to call on the executive of the Brierley-hill Union to get the same declaration from South Staffordshire that they (the Gateshead Executive) were prepared to give. The masters' committee subsequently announced that a meeting of the North of England and Staffordshire masters would be held at York on Friday, to which representatives from the Gateshead and Brierley -hill Executive were invited to t b p e ut pr a e n se e n n t a the eMy action nt between cif :h ow ; ca n , joint,d been difficulty;a nd expressedabsutthteha actiont aast with tethahns aesstioodis: altiadoehtni distinct ttdo,i hfnNbacettot been tnh:: proposition St affordshire. fr m the men between the masters of the North of England and those of Staffordshire had been joint also, they, therefore, proposed to call a meeting, to be attended by South Staffordshire masters, on as early a day as possible, but giving sufficient time to the Executive of Gateshead to put themselves into communication with the Executive of Thierley-bill, in order that they might put into shape some proposition to enable both districts to start simultaneously ; but whether the propositions would bo entertained by the meeting it was not for them as a small committee to say; therefore, it was necessary to postpone the meeting and take the sense of the masters on the subject. Mr. DUFPELL hoped they would not be long in starting, as there were several of the men going off for other places and other lands. Some of the m en from his district had gone to America. After some further conversation the meeting dispersed. LONDON. A meeting of the delegates from the Trades' Societies of rim SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 16, 1865. London was hold last evening at the Sussex Hotel, Bou verie-street, Fleet-street, to consider the best means to be adopted to aid their brethren in the iron trades successfully to resist what is stated in the circular to be " one of the most stupendous attacks ever yet made by combined capital on labour." A deputation from the Brierley-hill Executive Council of the National Association of Ironworkers, and a deputation from the Millmen's Association were present. There were present in the body of the room upwards of 150, chiefly delegates. _ Mr. G. PorrEß having been called to the chair, after ex plaining the object of the meeting, observed that capital and labour were combating with each other in the iron trade. On the one side capital, with its unlimited wealth its unbounded influence, and its immense resources, was standing in array against labour, while on the other side labour, which had been seeking fair remuneration for its services, stood by willing to see what the employers meant by this present lock-out. The men believed the masters were actuated by a principle which sought not only a re duction of wages) but the destruction of all combination on the part of the working men. For a proof of this assertion he had only to refer to their own organ, the Mining Journal, which clearly stated that to be the fact. The Government of the country bad given the. working men the privilege of and the liberty of combining together for the protection of labour. The ironmasters said it mattered not to them what the Government had done; they did not approve these combina tions, and would therefore use all the means in their power to destroy them. The men said they combined not to in jure others, but to benefit themselves and maintain their own social and political position. The masters did not agree with this, and the Times of that day said that the men had brought this combination of the masters into existence— that they were originators of combinations. But he be lieved it could be proved that the maste rs had had their secret combinations before the men adopted the principle. Mr. Potter then stated the various steps that had ultimately led to the present lock-out. On the 31st of December, 1864, the masters gave notice to the puddlers of intending to reduce their wages Is. per ton and the millmen 10 per cent. A deputation of workmen waited on the masters and ex pressed their willingness to accept half the reduction, or 6d. per ton to the puddlers and 5 per cent. on the wages of the millmen. But the employers treated the proposition with contempt and indignation, and told the men that they must submit to the terms they had themselves proposed. Tha delegate of South Staffordshire said they would submit to the reduction, but the delegate of North Staffordshire said he did not think their men would submit ; and it was then agreed that the North Staffordshire men should cease work, while the South Staffordshire men submitted to the reduc- tion. That was a legitimate movement, and the men had a right to come to that decision. Well, the masters of North Staffordshire, finding they had lost their men, ap pealed to the masters in other parts of the country, saying that if they did not interfere the demands of the men must be conceded. The ironraasters then held a meeting, at which it was determined that if the North Staffordshire men did not return to work a lock-out should take place. A fortnight's notice was then served upon the men, and the South Staffordshire men then made every possible effort to avert such a step, and requested the North Staf fordshire men to resume work, and told them that if they did not their allowance from the funds would be stopped. But the men of North Staffordshire said they would not return. These efforts on the part of the South Stafford shire men it was supposed would be satisfactory to the mas ters, but instead of that the masters gave the men no credit for what they had done, and expressed their determination to carry the lock-out into effect. This act on the part of the masters was most unwarrantable and unjust—nay, more, he believed the iron masters were guilty of an illegal con spiracy, and that if the Legislature did its duty it would at once institute an inquiry into their proceedings. There was nothing on record which could possibly justify the mas- ters in resorting to these measures. But it was done, and the masters had thought fit to place themselves on this basis. They told the men that they believed secret support would be given to the men on strike, and they had therefore made up their minds to bring the question to an issue, and that issue was the destruction of all trade societies. The present struggle must continue if the masters persist in the lock-out. How was it possible for the men of South Staffordshire to compel the men of North Staffordshire to resume their work? They had done their utmost to conciliate the masters. They were prepared to meet the masters and discuss the question, but the masters would never seek an interview with the men. If the masters had placed confi dence in the men he was persuaded that an arrangement might have been come to, and the lock-out have been avoided. The present position of the men, therefore, in the iron trade rested entirely with the ironmasters themselves. The working men did not grudge the advantages which capital enjoyed, but they fairly claimed a share of those ad vantages to which theii labour so largely contributed. If, however, it should become a serious contest between capital and labour, the working classes would have nothing to fear. They could with ease cross the Atlantic and find a home in the world, and where ample remuneration could be obtained for their labour. But the working men did not desire to enter into a combat with capital. They never advocated strikes. He had never recommended a strike. But whenever a case of tyranny on the part of the masters occurred, then he had ever been ready to come to the rescue. Still he had no abiding faith in strikes. The time had come when their disputes ought to be settled by conciliation. Let the masters meet the men. Why should they stand aloof ? Such meet ings had taken place in the building trade, and why not in the iron trade ? He would guarantee that if the masters would meet the men, in nine cases out of ten there woula be no necesssity for a strike. But the masters refused to adopt this conciliatory course, hence the necessity of the working men putting themselves on a proper basis before the world. Let it, then, go forth that all they asked was a fair share of the profits derived from capital and labour combined. Mr. HOWELL, a member of the Council of Operative Bricklayers, asked by what authority the present meeting had been convened. It had not been called together by the Trades' Council, and was therefore an illegal and iurespon Bible meeting. A great deal of angry discussion ensued, and there was much noise and confusion, but finally it was agreed that the meeting, though it might have been informally called together, should be considered legal for the purpose of hearing the deputations from the North of England. It was afterwards stated that the meeting was actually summoned by the editor of the Beehive newspaper, which is the chief organ of the trades' unions. Mr. ATKINS, the president of Brierley_hill National Asso ciation of Ironworkers, then addressed the meeting. He said the association to which he belonged was at the present moment under a dark cloud. It had been privately initiated at a time when the remuneration the ironworkers received for their labour was wholly inadequate to support them and their wives and families. Their union had grown up gra dually, and the association had enrolled upwards of 5,000 members; but ho believed that the real object of the masters was to crush the association. One of them had declared as much to a working man who had waited upon him as a member of a deputation. He said, " Your trades' unions will soon go to the four winds, and then we will put the screw on you." Mr. HOBSON, one of the deputation from Brierley-hill, said that the men considered the lock -out by the ironm asters to be one of the most unjust acts that had ever been taken against any body of workmen. The masters had stated that they were as firm as a rock in their determination to resort to a lock-out unless the men of North Staffordshire re turned to their work ; but how could the men of South Staffordshire bring this about ? They had endeavoured to . do so, but without avail. It was true they had con tributed to support the North Staffordshire men as long as their funds lasted, but when the lock-out came they needed those funds themselves, and now they came to solicit the sympathy of the metropolitan trades unions. The conspiracy of the masters will only have the effect of cementing the men more firmly together. Mr. DAVIS, the treasurer of the Brierly-hill Association, said that prior to the trade having a union the puddlers were paid by a sliding scale, which was found to work oppressively, and the original object of the union was to destroy the sliding scale. By it the men were sometimes reduced to a rate of wages so low as to be altogether in adequate to their support. Rut the masters wished to maintain the sliding scale, and hence the " lock-out," be cause the men would not submit to it. It had been pro posed that they should puddle bars in South Staffordshire and send them to North Staffordshire ; but that they would never do. They were quite willing to wait the issue of the " lock-out." Meanwhile, they were glad to see the faces of their fellow -workmen in London, and to receive from them a cheer on their way. The CHAIRMAN then read a letter which he had received from a Mr. Kane, the treasurer of the Gateshead Executive of the Trades Council, in which he stated that they had upwards of 4,000 of their members locked out, ranging from Sheffield to Newcastle-on-Tyne. It also stated that the delegates from .each large work in the north had had a lengthened interview with the ironmasters on Tuesday, and that the meeting had been adjourned till Friday next, (to-morrow) at the Railway Hotel, York. The writer added that should the "lock-out" continue it would require the assistance of every true unionist. Mr. BIDDDLESTON, one of the deputation from the mill men, said that he represented a body of men who were iron workers, but nevertheless a distinct body from those who designated themselves puddlers. Tho millmen had nothing to do with the present struggle, still they were sufferers in consequence of the " lock--out,"because their work was so closely connected with that of the puddlers that anything which affected the interests of the•one in an almost equal degree affected that of the other. _ _ . Mr. LAUGHTON, also a deputy from the Millmen's Asso ciation, said that the wages of the millmen were guided by those of the puddlers, and hence the latter had the ympa thies of the former in their present struggle. There were in his association upwards of 1,800 members suffering from the lock-out of the puddlers. Mr. CONOLLY then moved the following resolution : That this meetingoid. elegates from ihe London Trades' Societies having heard the statements made by,the deputa tion from the Executive Council of the National Associa tion of Ironworks, and from the Millmen's Association, is of opinion that the efforts made by the council and delegates of the ironworkers to avert the threatened lock-out was amply sufficient to have satisfied the Ironnmsters' Associa tions, and all that they ought in justice to have required from the men; and that a general lock-out in the face of those efforts is unwarrantable, unjust. and deserving of the strong condemnation of all classes." He contended that the iron workmen in South Staffordshire had done everything consistent with common sense. When the men of North Staffordshire refused to return to their work the South Staffordshire men took off their supplies; what more could the masters expect from them ? It would be the fault of the masters if this disastrous lock-out should continuo. Mr. OSBORN seconded the resolution, and entreated the masters to withdraw the 'obnoxious notice, and allow the men of South Staffordshire to go to work. But if they should refuse to do this, the time would come when it would be too late to attempt to retrieve their error in seeking to coerce the free working men of England. The meeting was then addressed by Mr. GEO. PHrePs, from North Staffordshire, who said that the men had not come out on strike upon their own responsibility, but that they had the sanction of the Executive Council of the Trades Union of their district. Ile described the men to be in a state of great distress in consequence of the two Executive Councils having withdrawn all assistance. There were 496 men in his lock-out, to whom £B6O had been paid for nine weeks, and then the allowances had stopped. A MEmßEß—What was the effect of that ? Mr. PHIPPs—It made the men more determined. The resolution was put and carried unanimously. It was then moved by Mr. GOITLE, and seconded by Mr. LISTER :- 44 That the magnitude of this :aggression of combined capital upon labour, evidently made not so much from the local strike in North Staffordshire as from a desire on the part of the ironmasters to destroy the combinations of the men, calls for a corresponding amount of resistance on the part of the trades' societies, and that this meeting, there fore, recommends every trade society throughout the king dom to at once vote, without waiting for any formal depu tation, a sum of money from their funds, also to place a weekly levy on their members; the amounts thus voted and raised to be sent as early as possible to the Executive Councils of the men so unjustly locked out, and to the North Staffordshire men on strike." The resolution was unanimously agreed to. A resolution to the effect that the meeting, having heard the reports from the North and South Staffordshire dele gates, do strongly recommend a reconciliation between the two districts, was unanimously adopted. The meeting was then adjourned till Wed nesday next. SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TI3IES.—The merchants who trade in China have done a graceful act in sending Col. Gordon home to us with a vote of thanks and congratula tion. This officer has just closed a career of foreign service which reflects equal credit upon himself and upon the community which claims him as a com patriot, and there is nothing exaggerated in the terms of the address which has been presented to him at Shanghai. His position has been, as the Shanghai merchants say, one of unequalled diffi culty. He has been conspicuous - for gallantry and for ability in organization and command, and he has given to the Chinese Government an example of a foreign officer serving them with honourable fidelity and undeviating self-respect. This spectacle of high principle and chivalrous conduct in a soldier who had every opportunity to satisfy any amount of greed of gain is not only gratifying to our national pride, but it is also valuable to our national inte rests. When a British officer is emancipated from the stringent obligations of his own service, and allowed to go forth with an independent command in a male of barbarians, it is satisfactory to know that he comes back to us untarnished in fame, and that he has left behind him among those barbarians memories of acts of humanity, disinterestednsss, and gallantry which even they must admire, although they may feel no desire to imitate. Colonel Gordon seems to have well earned the golden opinions he has gained, and we think we may ratify in England all the fervid testimonies which comes with him from China. To this Captain of Engineers the Chinese Govern ment owes that the organization of the rebellion is broken up, that the old capital of China is recovered to the Emperor, and that the silk districts are freed from the locusts that were devouring them. To him also the European community owes the compa rative safety and quiet which exist in that portion of China which is most immediately concerned with our principal ' trading operations. It is now five years since the banditti, who had so long harboured at Nankin, issued in what seemed to be irresistible force from the shells of the cities whose substance they had devoured. They spread themselves over the great alluvial plains which lie between Nankin and Shanghai; they sacked the towns, they slaugh tered the people, and they drove before them an un resisting multitude, which no man might number, but which rolled on in waves of famine, until it surged against the outer ramparts of the European settlement at Shanghai. Then it was that the hideous scenes of slaughter and the broad horizon of blazing cities moved our Admiral and our Commander of the Land Forces to draw a cordon of 30 miles round the settlement, and to make this a frontier line be yond which the murderers should not murder, and within which the fugitives might at least starve in peace. The Chinese officials were abject and useless before this great invasion. They were ready to catch at any offer of assistance. Something must b e done. These millions could not be left to starve in their asylum, where nothing was afforded to them but immunity from violent death. Then first arose the offers of foreign mercenary bands, who proposed to go beyond this cordon of 30 miles, and drive back the rebels, and recover the land from which the fugitives had been expelled. Ward, the American, a brave, energetic, but rapacious adventurer, who had been too unscrupulous to be tolerated even in California, was the first to raise a rowdy band of European and American desperadoes, and to offer them for hire to the Chinese Governor of Shanghai. The exigency was so great that even our Admiral patronised " General Ward," and condescended to act with him. But the" General" sold his victories at so much apiece, exacted contributions on every side, and was rather more formidable to the Chinese governors than to the Taepings. He was, however, brave as a leader of ruffians need be, and he fell fight ing. He was succeeded byßurgevine, also anAmerica n, one of the episodes of whose career was his desertionto the Taepings. It was the intolerable evils at tendant upon the employment of these adventurers which compelled the Chinese Governor of Shanghai to apply to Admiral Hope and Brigadier-General Staveley to nominate some English officer, who might form a force of disciplined Chinese to act against the Taepings beyond the radius. This appli cation led to the appointment of Captain Gordon, an officer of Engineers, who had distinguished him self in the Crimea, and who was then serving at Shanghai. Gordon accepted the very perilous offer. He went upon half-pay, thus risking his prospects of promotion, and taking a step in which only one officer—a medical officer—was found to follow him. He applied himself diligently to the formation of a force of 5,000 disciplined Chinese, whom he was compelled to officer by European soldiers and sailors and uon-commissioned officers from the army and navy and mercantile marine. It was with these very difficult materials that Gordon did his work. He assumed his command in March, 1863. By dint of a prompt provost-marshal he pommelled the China men into a sense of impropriety or impolicy of gene ral plundering ; by higher qualities of command he managed to obtain the confidence and even the obe dience of the rough soldiers whom he had converted into lieutenants and captains and majors. In April, 1863, he took the field against 100,000 fighting Taepings, and he went out into those vast plains where the paddy fields and cotton fields alternate with mulberry plantations and bamboo groves, where a net-work of canals intersects the unvarying flats, and where nothing breaks the line of vision but the waving reeds of the funeral mounds and the charred ruins of walled cities. Here he worked with immense patience and courage. His difficulties were greater with his own troops than with the enemy. He could organise an artillery, he could teach the Chinamen to manage the cast away smooth-bore muskets of the Indian regi ments, he could even form a stea m nav y of two boats drawing three feet of water each ; but he could not always get the Chinese Governor to pay his troops, and he could not always get his t r oops to follow him without their pay. The bar barous names of the cities he recovered would rather repel than excite the attention of the reader ; and the slaughter he inflicted, the reverses he sometimes underwent, and the w oun d s h e suffered would never give dignity or interest to a story which must be told of such places as Chang-Chow, Kin-Tan, and Sang Kian g . Soochow, however, may claim to be known even in Europe, for the city is famous for all that is imagined famous in Chinese art, and has lo;ag been the seat of the most costly and elaborate manufactures which survive in that degenerating land. Having reduced all the surrounding count r y, G or d on h a d plante d b reac hi ng batteries round the walls of this city, and had it in his power. The Taeping Chiefs, finding resistance hopeless, surrendered o n con diti ons, an d th e t roo p s of the Chinese Governor were admitted within the fortifications. The Chinaman immediately gave loose to his instinct s , b ro k e a ll engagemen t s , an d despite Gordon's indignation, the city was sacked. This was an outrage w hi c h ne ith er G or d on nor th e British Government could endure. Gordon retired from the-active service of the Chinese Government, but was persuaded after a time that the evils which would accrue from leaving his followers without a leader would be so great that he must continue at least nominally at their head. When the news of the treachery of the Chinese governor at Soochow reached England the order in Council under which Colonel Gordon had obtained leave to serve was revoked. Gordon, however, had in the meantime accepted as his mission the task of destroying the rebellion. Although no longer able to command, he accompanied the Imperial army which besieged Nankin, and it was he who really took that city. The Chinese owe to him the recovery of their empire. It must be admitted that these services have been handsomely acknowledged by the Government of China. The Pekin Gazette has followed the career of this officer victory after victory, and he has received all sorts of quaint titles and high military grades in the Chinese service. On the other hand, he has been often left without money to pay his troops, or rations to feed them, and he has had ample means of knowing how difficult it is to prevent an Imperialist force in China from degene rating into plunderers by sheer necessity. Ward and Burgevine were not without excuse for even their worst acts if such excuse can be found in the faith lessness of their Chinese superior officers, and in the destitution among their followers which the miscon duct of these officials occasioned. Whatever may be the credit due to Colonel Gordon for his skill and gallantry in the field, he deserves much greater credit for the higher moral qualities which enabled him to refrain from acts of resentment under unmerited ill usage, and to hold in hand a European staff recruited from a low class of Europeans and a barbarian soldiery who were generally unpaid and often ill-fed. This was what very few men could accomplish and what nothing but a high sense of professional honour, and a deep feeling of responsibility for the character of his coun try and his service, could have given even to Colonel Gordon the strength of purpose to carry through. Post —The Lord Chancellor introduced into the House of Lords an excellent bill ; it was a bill to per mit any man who feels himself capable of holding his proper place in the affairs of life to deal with his at torney as he would with any other professional man with whom he has business relations, in which the law does not consider itself bound to interfere. Solicitors at present must be paid by a fixed tariff, calculated on so much a folio, or so much a letter, &c. ; in fact, they are the penny-a-liners of the learned professions. In settling with your attorney, time, thought, skill, integrity, despatch, and all the higher qualities of a professional roan, are of no account, but as dust in the balance ; the weight of gold must be equi-poised by folios. The system results in a matter occupying a month, which might be done in a week—in the con veyance or deed when drawn up being unintelligible from its diffuseness to all save the practised hands, instead of being easily read over by the owner when he wishes to refresh his memory ; and, la 3tly, in the employer never knowing when it may please the attorney to finish off the matter and close up the run ning account. On the other side the solicitor f eels him self degraded. He is not paid according to his merits or his work, but according to his supplies of paper and the glibness of his clerk's pen. To condense, to bring science and accuracy to bear on the draughting of a conveyance or other document, would be to work very bard to deprive himself of pay. Not only has he no inducement to shorten, but he is compelled to lengthen, if he would remunerate himself in the pro portion which is his due. Hence the solicitors who think and understand are in favour of the bill, but the Lords, who don't think and don't understand (although they would be the greatest gainers), met to the number of 44 and rejected the bill at the bid ding of certain law lords, who dislike change, and who gave them no reasons, but just told them to do it. We dislike harsh comparisons, but a very close analogy to all this may be studied in events going on across the Atlantic. An advancing liberator pene trates the Southern wastes proclaiming freedom to the slave, learning to the untaught, and security of property to those who as yet have none. The un heeding blacks, blindly attached to their former owners, neither understanding nor studying his pro clamation, fly from the marching emancipator, cower beneath their old badges, and resist to the death. We are struck with amaze and wonder ; but look close at home, and as strange a sight is there. The Sherman of the British Senate, the great Legal Conqueror and Abolitionist, advances right into the law jungle, and introduces to the enslaved lords and landowners a prospect of emancipation, liberty to the client, understanding where all is now dark and difficult, small costs where now it is almost all costs ; such he proclaims. But no ;as the crack of the whip fascinates the one, so does the crackle of the folio the other. The mass is indifferent, and flies without an attempt to listen, and the few who lurk near the battlefield range themselves under their drivers and fire off their old-fashioned blun derbusses into the very face of their would-be bene factor. But the recoil of these antiquated weapons hurts very much ; and it is very silly, because you personally dislike the Danaans, to refuse the good gifts they bear you, and, what is worse, to deprive of these good gifts the outside public, who don't dislike anybody in particular. The thought of this reasonable bill having been thrown out by the sheer force of inertness of the Peers, without a single real argument being brought against it, only gives Mr. Bright and his.,f ellow-revolutionists a good case against the House of Lords. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. -- MONMOUTHSHIRE. The half-yearly meeting of this company was held at Newport yesterday ; Mr. Crawshay Bailey, M.P., in the chair. The report, an abstract of which has appeared in The Sun, was taken as read. The CHAIRMAN having briefly moved its adop tion, Mr. CARTWRIGHT called the attention of the pro prietors to the accounts, and the prominent recom mendations in the report. He disapproved the pro ject for the purchase of the Brecon Canal, and asked upon what terms it was proposed to make the pur chase. The accounts showed an increase in the earnings of the line for the half-year, compared with the corresponding half-year of 1863, of £5,885, but it appeared that nearly £3 000 had been expended in obtaining that increase, and inasmuch as the office and certain other expenses were permanent and fixed, whether the income increased or diminished, he thought theincrease of expenditure was too large. They had been told by their chairman that the cost of entirely relaying the permanent way would be £34,010, but he (Mr. Cartwright) had estimated it at a much higher figure, and the rate at which they were now proceeding justified his higher estimate. They had already expended £34,000 out of the ex pense account, and had also applied £12,000 from the reserved fund in the relaying of the line. With this money 31 miles of line had been relaid, and they had still 51 miles more to relay. (Hear, hear.) He found also that 3,000 tons of rails and a large quan tity of sleepers had been ordered. That could not cost less than £23,000, besides the other items of expenditure in relaying. Mr. BATCHELOR thought Mr. Cartwright took too gloomy a view of their affairs, and that the carrying out of the Ebbw Vale and Cardiff Junction project might be obviated by this company adopt ing a conciliatory course of policy towards a cer tain large company using the line. The CHAIRMAN agreed with Mr. Batchelor that Mr. Cartwright had taken a most gloomy view of their affairs.. He then showed that by laying by £4,000 every half year their suspense account of £34,000 would be paid off in four years. He gave the reasons for buying the Brecon canal. That company could reduce its tonnage rate (which was now id. per ton on iron) to one-fourth, or one eighth, or one-sixteenth of a penny, and, as this company was bound to carry at the same rate as the Brecon canal, they might lose £3,000 to £4,000 a year by them. They had, therefore, agreed to pur chase the shares in that canal at £25 per share (£lOO paid), which would amount to about £25,000, and to pay interest on the Canal Company's debt. The report was then adopted, and a dividend at the rate of 61 per cent. per annum was declared, payable on the sth of April. A vote of thanks to the chairman closed the pro ceedings. WEST SOMERSET. The half yearly meeting of this company was held at Taunton yesterday—Sir P. Acland in the chair. The report stated that the traffic on the line was steadily increasing. The receipts from Julie, 1864, to January of this year amounted to £3,966, while the amount received during the corresponding period of 1863 was £3,467, showing a difference in favour of the company of £498. The receipts from Jan. 1 to March 5, 1864, amounted to £154, while for the corresponding period this year they amounted to £1,158, showing an increase of £303. A billpro moted by an independent company was now before Parliament for powers for constructing a line from the junction of the West Somerset at Watchet to Minehead, calculated to materially increase the traf fic and improve the property. A payment of 2k per cent. upon the preference shares of the company wa recommended. • The report was unanimously adopted, the dividend declared, and the retiring directors, Mr. Halliday, Mr. Horniman, and Mr. Furness were re-elected. Sir A. HooD, M.P., drew attention to the very greatly increased traffic in the goods department, which he thought exceedingly encouraging. The thanks of the meeting were i accorded to Sir A. Hood for the interest he had taken in the an pany's affairs, and also to the chai, pan for presiding. VALE OF NEATH. The report of the directors states that the 6,Ceeun ts were made up for seven months ending Jan. 31, in stead of, as heretofore, for six months ending Dec' 31. The severity of the weather very materially diminished the receipts derived from the coal traffic, and considerably increased the working exPe nses. The charges against the locomotive department in▪ - eluded £1,173 for hire of two engines. The lure' tngines were returnedcin January, having been re placed by two new ones. The narrow gauge h avin• g been in operation during the whole of the sever ' months, the full amount of the interest upon t he ca pital raised for laying down that gauge, as w ell 25 relaying the old line, had now to be borne by rev enue and was charged accordingly. The balance available for dividend on the ordinary stock was £ 16,364 which would admit of a dividend at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum, payable on the 27th instant, less income tax. Bills had be e° introduced into Parliament for effecting til t. ° amalgamation with the Great Western, and te eu tain powers for raising further money for the P a y" went of the company's liabilities, and for other O r poses. Mr. J. Williams, the company's manager, reported that the Great Western Company menced running their narrow-guage passe nger tr 67, via Middle Duffryn on the sth of October last, an both that company and the London and Nor th , Western Company had now a regular service ler the conveyance of goods traffic between Swau.sei‘ and the narrow gauge system, satisfactorily, and had proved a great conven ience' to the traders of the district. which was working CASTLE DOUGLAS AND DUMFRIES. The half-yearly meeting was held on Tuescish Mr. Maxwell in the chair. The report stated that the traffic receipts fo r the half-year amounted to £9,293, being an lucr: s6 over the corresponding half-year of £232. 'I L : c e total revenue was £9 2 490, and after paying £ 3 1 4 ,: ‘ , to. the Glasgow and South-Western for working t"- line, £1,296 as interest on debentures, and other charges, there was a balance to revenue of £3,8 9 !: which would admit of a higher dividend than usll'o —viz., at the rate of 5 per cent. on the prefereDfo shares, and £3 15s. per cent. on the ordinary ih'e stock. The directors had agreed to amalgamat e company with the Glasgow and South_Weste'' Company on terms which they regarded as fav e , i fi able to the interests of the shareholders, and the uluma introduced into Parliament for that purpos e Iv° be laid before them at a future meeting. ort, The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the re p 4 congratulating the shareholders on their imPo' position and the increase of traffic. The report was adopted. • CENTRAL OF VENEZUELA (LIMITET :g The first ordinary meeting of this compa n y 0. held yesterday, at the London Tavern ; Mr. Seton in the chair. The CHAIRMAN congratulated the shareholaTi that the Government of Venezuela had Pr eipP oor paid the guaranteed interest of 9 per cent. Th e e j o f pany's staff, which left this country - on the 17 .0 -` OO November last, had been well received by of acting President of the Republic, the Bilin isters State, and the merchants and public of Ver teiti , e i s t generally. The works were commenced on the 01 of December, and the first section of the line 11.1.120. Puerto Cabello to Palito, was being rai)i dl l Ler ceeded with. Shipments of plant, rails, an d °- 4 . or s materials had been forwarded, and the d irec ' o r , confidently expected the completion of that inl2l/0 taut section of the line at a very early period. regretted the unforeseen suspension of PaY raen , t :crs the contractor, but the reports of the engTa showed that that circumstance would not e ntail ultimate loss upon the company ; but the bold thought it well to recommend out of capit al th e payment of the 2i per cent. interest lvhicli .1-00 contractor had guaranteed during the construct' of the line. Under these circumstances the 'Om were being proceeded with by the company, and the cost, it was believed, would certainly not exce e d amount contracted for. He also conoTatulate a h e shareholders upon the offer by the Legislature of t :6 State of Carobobo of an additional guarantee °'• ter cent. per annum upon the immediate consir.lo', on of a branch from Palito to El Carnbur, e 5 in all 15 per cent. upon that length. that the company had a prosperous future be Iva Mr. KING, the deputy chairman, seconded IP adoption of the report, and it was carried. A dividend at the rate of 9 per cent. per aunt with interest during the construction of the lin lar ea the rate of per cent. per annum, was de° payable on April 13. for the A shareholder opposed the proposition 'payment of 2fr per cent. out of capital. Bel °' He belie... The election of Messrs. King, Kmtrea, a pp Layton, and Bullen as directors of the e was confirmed, and Messrs. Black, tb, k, C ain t. e tiv s ra i M‘Master, Seton, Spicer, and Sir W. ling directors, were re-elected. CoeP e i t ' The retiring auditors, Messrs. Johnsto n°, aa fr ' Wintle, and Co., and Mr. R. S. Craig, w ere 11 „i mously re-elected. note On the motion of Mr. F. S. HEADONO dtb thanks to the chairman and directors co nclude proceedings. RAILWAY BILLS. a far Yesterday, in Committees of the Ler'-' l.ll ft all hearing Mr. Somerset, the bill for the Dine o ces' Skye Railway was passed, and that for tile Ija- n ut ton, Bodmin, and Wadebridge was thrown - . 0 the the commitee of which the M ar quis a slig°,:pB chairman. In the Commons, the bill for tw - ar ing Valley Railway was rejected; and, afte r v ii , e s tel l Mr. Phinn and Mr. Rodwell for the South " - e a th ° Railway, in opposition, the committee P as : ( rir preamble of the London and South Weste„rn bright, Aldershot, and Farnham Junction), 7, 1 , att proceeded to consider the case of the ,are3-of 1%" 14 Netley Railway. The case of the Furnes.9l(a'i 1cf,100'4,4 concluded, and that for Whitehaven and opened and evidence taken. The bill for th e 3 11 ", West Junction Railway was thrown out/ tong 3 air Cripps opened that for Bedford, Northaularpoel4 Weedon Railway. The Crofthead and gi lta oc l th! Railway was opened in another committee/ .rza bill.for the London, Tilbury, and Southen cl,l. Q. .1 was thrown out. After hearing Mr. Redlie;taitte° in opposition for the South-Eastern,, e t) , Th e threw out the bill for the Hadlow Lynn and Sutton-bridge and King's L i Yl3ll and Railway were considered and pass e " . state d, A BARONETCY FOR Mr. GUINNESS. ---1 ! no reits upon authority, the correctness of which there i g . f e t n o Of to doubt, that her Majesty, acting unde r the ad vi to coe °t Excellency the Lord Lieutenant, has resolved aviti upon Benjamin Lee Guinness, Esq., the style aud a baronetcy.—Dublin Express. Births. o fl'""t.: 00WPER.—On the 11th inst., at Pari s, the . fe Colonel Cowper, Bombay Staff Corps, o f a 6 the I cl ' Du CANE.—On the 11th inst., at Put ne y -he o f ':) c • Richard Du Cane, Esq., of a daughter. wife PEDLEY.—On the 12th inst., at Tenterden, the Pedley, Esq., of a son. sopsa. Marriages. Al ll l l PEA tjearnr 7 aeces 7 Re S eag myr resne : r — k On EE the n l , 4 b ao t h i s tr ir i i y n o s t t e . r , , a ro t f :: ° ..1 : t 0 . t C i 0/ J• . o t e r, l: Smythies, Peachey, ” datig lit° ' Esq., Of 27, Kensington-park-P-nt 13rir 70 Ro 7 3 . rN or lo ti z-RouiNsoN.—On the 15th inst., 'ilaptaiiiiiest Yorkshire, Napier Douglas Robinson, s c '' ae re ge ° Royal Fusiliers, youngest son of the late Sir ° . i , 0 10 01 1, Robinson, Bart., to Sophia Jano WeroYss , til 0 ° f . o' l ' l3' daughter of the Rev. W. S. Robinson, rector aged—oN4n72. the 40h Ger or Ancrisas.—On the 14thDinesat.t,hast. his residetSoll3° R.N.,Paton, Devon, Georgo Atkinson, . 5. , Bu.E ARRH ag a ed rirsois 6 • Wentworth Puller. Esq . , M P of Dovira 15 2 13th . inst . , at 109, JerrnYri-estfe- Cirv•-'"All11' J o hn Jo HARDING.—On the 13th inst., at Melina Pl 3c° ' St. 0 wood, 0. II T. Harding, Esq., aged 80. 1,40. Pc inst., pATRF. prraTrrt—t,olOnaotfnethLtlehis.vetlelßlrstpehtnohgo\nalsatFiusedaailtt3iviro6Sr.usro.rbiiiitotun,lll ''' ___ t ci . ,,,c 0 . e .,,0, ... CO • ___-• of _ _—_—_-------- splt, /. London : Printed and Publiblied byVVILLA-11:1", , 10 , 0( of No. 112, Strand, Painter, at Trio SUN 0 :'eouoti Strand, in the Precinct of the SavoY, i Il tit Middlesex.-Ihuroday, March 16, 184%.