The Press.
London, England, 1853-10-29 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

other countries. if we see the Americans beating us in
their spinning-jennies and iu their wailing-boats, we adopt
their improvements—if they send over a yacht which beats
ours, we build one which will beat them ; if a man comes
over and picks our locks. we may wonder how it is he
makes better locks than we do, but we buy them. But on
the question of education. they have, in the United States,
adopted a system which we in this country have not
adopted, except in Scotland. to some extent ; mid what is
so natural as that we should follow the same rule in this
matter as we do in the manufacture of our machines for
spinning cotton, and in the construction of our ships.
There is not any party, I believe, now opposed to education
—none who du Hut think but there is more danger from
4,eioraticein our present artificial state than in education.
Whatever our political predilections, there is not one who
will not say, whatever we are downed to undergo, whether
proceeding from a straitening of circumstances, from a ,
decline of our commerce, or from ditticnities of a strictly
puliticsl character—whatever there may be in store fur us
of troubles and distresses, we haul better have an educated
people to meet them than have to encounter them with
mousses of ignorance and untrained passion ; for, after all,
the masses of the people do govern in this country—they
are called on in the last resort. ( Hear, hear.) Every one
mast admit it is better to have an arbitrator who is trained
to discuss reasons and to deduce Net* from evidence—it is
better to have minds of this sat to settle great national
questi than to refer such mighty interests to the arbitro
molt of ignorance and passion. (" Hear." end apphosme.)
Whether you look at this question of education in the
interest of morality or religion, us of the letpuin,ss,
the wealth, ir the welfare of society—in whatever way you
mord this question—you may depend upon it the very
highest interests—the dignity.honour, and happiness of the
people—are bound up with it.

CRIMINAL RESULTS OF STRIKES.
lx his opening charge to the grand jury at the Ceti
teal Criminal Court, on Blonday last, the Recorder of
London, the Right lion. .1. S. Wortley, having on his
list SUMO prisoners for trial on a charge of conspi •
racy against their employers, offered some valuable
re •ks upon the subject of strikes, viewed in their
relationship with crime :
At the present tut, when au many strikes existed,
anti the struggle between ettpitid and labour met attracting
SO luurlr atlcutiun, etliSeri of this Malley 1 wettllle of the great•
cat possible public iistportance. It was not for hint, sitting
in that place, to snake any observations with regard to
strikes of workmen, lint he might be pardoned for ex-
pressing his regret at such prouteedings, when the ruinous
Bost they entailed both upon minden* and workmen was
ettioddered. Ile saw that a calculation, had been mash)
that in one limited mannfitettiting district wages to the
a 1111 l lust tot' 1,0,004 t/. a week had been lost, then-by oe-
easio • g most serious injury to both musters and work-
moen, to the tnidesitittit of the (Hatt iet, to the revenue, and
also, no doubt, totaling seriously to damage and disturb the
co -roe of the eottittly ; and he could not refncin, there-
fore, from expressing his regret that Borne Illettlll4 elilthl not
be devised to remote& these unfortnitate different-es. For-
merly, every condoling iiin antuung workmen for the 1.11151i4t,
of raising wages was illegal, and rendered the parties liable
tii att indictment for mistlemea 1111 l ir ; but as it was felt that
this was it hulvlahip, uud NOS ill SOlllO eases productive of
injustice, in 1,026 an set of Parliament was passed which
eltanged that state of the law, Rio legalised combinations,
either of masters to lower the torte of wages, or of workmen
fiir the purpose of getting them raised. While, however,
this net of Parlbuttent gave. both to the employers. and the
employed, the privilege 4.f holding tutectings and taking
!unmet-dings to regulate the rate of wages, it ut the same
time expressly poshibited workmen front doing anything
tending to 111'e'vtglt employers from taking into their service
any persona they pleased, Or preventing any persons front
accepting such employtuent. The quest' was tune of
such very great iniportanee that the grand jury would pro-
bably excuse hint for calling their attention to some kaiser-
vat ions made by a late learned judge, Sir N. Tindal. npon
the occasion of it trial of n similar kind which took place a
few years ago at Stafford. his lordship Sttid :
" The first observation that arises is, that if the workmen of
the several collieries mid manufactories, who erouplaiucd that
the wages which they received were inadequate to the value of
their set-vices, Mai assembled themselves together peus ably for
the purpose of coleotiting tiltoti and dew, • g the rate of
wow, or prices 'obi. 11 the persons pre,ent at the meeting Ithottltl
require for their work. and lied acti4l with an agreement amongst
themselves for the purpose of tittle such tide, they would have
done no 4' illatil till' lest allowed. A couthinatani for that
purpose mil to that extent (if. hole, .1, it Is to be called by that
1111111,) 11l no Mere than is reeet,Olistst as lee'id by the statute till.
ieorge IV., by which statute, also, exacta) the same rote of rout-
bination, to the toude exteul, and nu 1111 11.. r, iS %keit to the
;misters when met together, if they are of opinion that the rate
of wilVeN is VS) In the ease supposed—that is, a dl-pute
between the maaters still the workmen as to the proper amount
of wages to be gives, it, won ti gilt by the Legislature
that if the workmen ou the one part refused to work. or the MSS-
tens on the other retotuul to eloplOy, as such a Plate of things
Could Hot eolittitlle tong, it :night, fairly be expected that the
party lama ultimately live way whose pretensions were not
founded upon reason ant justies--the toasters if they offer too
little, and the workmen if they demanded too mh. Hut, unfor-
tunately ohnih en anti tlause who weer, discoat,•stcll
did not rest here. Not satisfied with the excreta. of their own
right to withhold their own labour if they sere 411Prolitelited
with the price they reeviYeil for it, they assimicul the power of in-
terfering with the right which others reasesseci—of exercising
their disendloit upon the same paint, amp seeordingly on will
have tottecrons eases laid before you in which large bodies of dill-
astistied workmen interfere by personal violence and by threats
unit nit; lotion to compel others who were perfectly willing to
continue to !Bisor at their calling at the rate of wages then paid,
to desert front their work. and leave the mine or mantifitetorc.
and. against their tom will. to add themselves to the members
of
the thsemitented party, than which a more glaring *A of ty ninny
uud de-potisni by one !..,t of no al laser their felloAs cattliot
eoueeired. If there is one eight which, beyond all others, the
labourer ',ROA to be able to call his ettm, it is the right of the

SATURDAY,

exertion of his own personal strength and skill In the full odor-
went of his own free will, altogether unshackled by the cotitr.ol
or dictates of his fellow-workmen ; yet, strange to say, this very
right which the discontented workman claims fur 'Masa( to ire
fullest extent, he does, by a blind perversity and unaccountable
selfishness, entirely refuse to his fellows who ditrer from him in
opinion. it is unnecessary to way that a course of proceeding so
utterly unreasonable in itself, so injurious to society, so detri-
mental to the interests of trade, and so oppressive against the
rights of the poor WWI, habit be a gross 11101 dtterbillt viulutiuu of
the law, and must be put down, when the guilt is established,
by a proper measure of punishment."
The Recorder proceeded to detail the facts of the
case in question, which related to the alleged dis-
missal of a man named Spence from the lithographic
printing establishment of Mr. Jackson, by the allei4ed
illegal interference of his fellow-workmen. He thus
concluded :
It was very important that the law upon this subject
should be understood, particularly as an impression existed
in the minds of workmen that they were justified in pro.
curing the dismissal of one of their fellows and refusing to
work with him by any means shunt of resorting to actual
violence. This was a delusion ; and it should be under-
stood that, if even the most harmless weans were employed
fur the purpose of preventing any employer from taking
ally person he pleased into his service, it was a breach of
die law for which they would be amenable to punishment.

TREATMENT OF AUSTRALIAN EMIGRANTS.
As immigration increases, the treatment of pas-
sengers by sailing-ships appears to get worse and
worse. The Sydney papers teem with exposures
of the rascality, drunkenness, and brutality of
the captains, and the unscrupulous rapacity of
the owners. Old anti rotten hulks, badly provi-
sioned, are puffed as first•clnss vessels in every
respect, but the passenger soon finds that the vessel
leaks at start►ng ; that the provisions, after the first
few days, are changed for an inferior quality ; and
that they have to tare hard and work at the pumps
to keep themselves afloat during the whole of the voy-
age, with a commander drinking himself daily into
madness, so that they have at last to seize him and
put him in irons, to prevent him from committing a
murder or sending the ship to the bottom by sense-
less orders. This is a literal sketch of what took
place on board one of the last vessels front Liverpool.
The passengers had deprived the captain of the corn-
mend, and kept him in irons the greater part of the
passage. On arriving at Sydney they deposed to the
above details on oath, and stated other facts publicly
that were not necessary to prove the legal charge ;
but, beyond being exonerated from blame for the
restraint they placed on the drunkard the owners had
entrusted their lives to, they have no redress. This,
it may be admitted, was a bad case, but too mislay
others ditlir from it only in degree. If anything
worse is to be discovered, it is on board the American
ships bringing passengers from New York to Califon.
nia. It is a common trick for the owners to take the
passage money to Port Phillip, and get rid of the pas-
sengers at Sydney by continually putting oft' the day
of sailing, or stopping the issue of provisions. The
passengers see they are swindled, but have no re-
medy
One English method of catching passengers de-
serves equal exposure—it is that of advertising ships
to sail on the principle of "select emigration," the
announcement being worded to create a helief the
passengers will be " selected," so as to present a
higher tone of religious and moral feeling than
among ordinary shiploads of emigrants; and that
sonic sort of inquiry is made as to character before
the application for a berth is granted. The bait is
not unskilfully thrown out. but let no one be taken
in by it. The brokers and agents neither elect, nor
select, nor require any test but ability to pay the
passage-money. The consequence is that the de•
hided emigrants instead of finding himself among
persons of similar feeling, is thrown into contact
with mere ordinary worldlings, and the expected
three months' communion in religious privileges is
out of the question. A ship recently went out on the
" select " principle, and proved an eminent failure.
The serious section of the passengers, thinking
themselves empowered by the prospectus to carry
out the religious dicipline of the ship, foamed a com-
mittee and drew up a set of regulations. which the
other party lit their pipes with, any attempt to
enforce rules made by a self-constituted authority
being resented as an impertinence. The result was
a series of quarrels *Melt lasted the whole voyage,
ending with an exploSion of wrath and recrimina-
tion in the Sydney journals at its close. What might
have been a pleasant voyage—for no complaint was
made of the ship or the treatment on board—was
thus made very much the reverse. Emi,.rnnts had
better suspect all brokers' promises, especially if
phrased religiously, and calculate on finding at sea
just as much devotional fervour as they carry with
them, and no more. But the crafty trading on such
feelings is very disgusting.

The Melbourne Argue alone consumes 30,0007.
worth of raper a year, and a watch is constantly kept
on arrivals to get the consignments of paper from the
incoming vessels, lest the newspaper should collie to
a dead stop.

I

THE MELBOURNE LABOUR MARKET.
Tur. last commercial accounts from Melbonrne are
of July 'll. They state that the market continues
overstoeked, owing to the large arrivals. and all classes
of servants might now be readily obtained. Female
domestic servants were also more plentiful, and their
wages are receding. The following are the current
rates :-Married couples. without family, per annum,
with rations, "iO/. to 80/. ; ditto, with family, imi.;
married couples, for shepherds and hutkeepers, 50/. ;
ditto, with young families, 451. ; shepherds, with
rations, per annum, 351. to 40/.; hutkeepers, per
annum, with rations, 30/. to 31/.; general limn sec
wants, with rations, 20s. to's's. per week ; men for
lambing, 355. per week ; ploughmen, Bth. to :15s. ;
bullock-drivers, with rations, 01k. to kOs. per week on
the road-horse teams, 505.: labourers, 24/s. to 255.
per week, with rations ; had cutters and trussers,
per week, or Ills. per ton; carpenters, daily, 1.25. to
1; s. per day, with rations: ditto, 10s. per day, no
rations: bush carpenters, with rations, per annum,
OW/. to 1151/. ; stockkeepeiN, with rations, per annum.
40/. to 50/. ; cooks, male, :10s. per week to 2/.
grooms, with rations, per annum, 40/. to 501. ; gar-
dener+, with rations, per annum, 75t.; blacksmiths,
41/. per week, without rations : ditto, country, with
rations, 4?. 10s. per week ; wheelwrights, 71. per week ;
compositors. Is. M. per thousand ; ditto, 4/. 18s. per
week ; pressmen, 4?. 18s. per week. Female ser-
vants: thorough servants, per annum, 301.; house-
maids, ditto, 25/. ; laundresses, ditto, 301. to 35?. ;
nursemaids, ditto, 10/. to 251, : cooks, ditto, 30/. to
:15/. Semnen : to London, by the rim, 45/. ; Ameri-
can coast, ditto, 40/., or SL per month ; East or West
Indies, ditto, 40/. ; China, ditto, 411?.: colonial ports,
ditto, it/. ; ditto, monthly, 8/. to 10/.
Sixteen years ago the post.otfice at Melbourne was
managed by a single person, who used to transact
its business in a back shop. In June, 11:451, fourteen
persons were employed in the post office and in
June, 1453, sixty-three persons. In 1851, 2341,0(5)
letters anti 207,000 newspapers passed through the
Melbourne post-office ; in 1851 the numbers were
$90,1551 letters anti 639,000 newspapers. From the
Ist of January to the Ist of Juno in 1853, that is, in
six months in the present year, 8117,1551 letters anti
104,1100 newspapers passed through the office. For
the first six months in 1851 the postal revenue of
the Melbourne office was about 3,200/., while for the
first six months in the present year it has yielded
above 10,00/. According to the Melbourne ux,
the post-ottlee in that city was enlarging in July last.
rtiont was use be 151 feet long anti 2:1 feet
broad ; the letter delivery-room, 10; feet long and
feet broad ; and the newspaper delivery-room, In
feet by 25 feet. The whole of the erections at the
post-ottiee were of corrugated iron.