The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-05-09 00:00:00

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.

that it would pledge the Iluothwilonehire farmers
to side with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk in a dis-
pute to which the former were no parties, and in the settle-
ment of which they would have no voice. They therefore
wisely refused to In dragged into war amindit the Union,
whether It was a Just or an unjust war. Such a resolution,
adopted by neighbours of their own, men of the like class
and with the like Interests, may probably exercise consider.
able influence at Newmarket and Bury. On the whole, look-
ing at the considerable differences of opinion which exist
among the farmers, there as evident force in the opinion of
a farmer who writes to me-- I am inclined to think that
the men are more united than the masters."

The following ie cm extract from another of the in-
teresting lettere of the Special . Reporter of The
Times :
NEWMARKET, Tuesday.

. . One point worth notice Is that few labourers who
work occasionally by piece and occasionally at stated wages
know how much they really tarn. I have asked men who
seeineil more than ordinarily intelligent what their average
weekly wage* were, or their total yearly earnings in money,
framing ray question as simply and clearly as possible, and
in net one instance did I get • definite reply. The labourers,
like a good many farmers, keep no accounts. Still. You
would expect a nein to knoir within a little what he made
demi.; the year. All he lino s, however, is that
" there's nothing left "—an answer which does not
help one much to understand whether his income is a lair
one. One farmer, near Bury, called his men together and
said to thou Do you consider that if an able.bodied man
earns 1$•, a week throughout the year he ought to be satis-
fied f" The men did not quite know what to make of this
Socratic niethod of beginning a controversey. liiit the farmer
then clenched Ills question by a practical proposid. " If," he
said, "you will undertake to give me what you have earned
over and above Pis a week throughout the past year, sup-
posing you to have earned more, I on my part will undertake
to isake up your weekly wages to 185., supposing you
have earned less .." and his labour book was handy
from which to make. out the account. The men, however,
were not prepared to run the risk of losing their earnings
over pia. According to the farmer's own description of the
interview, "they did not know what to do." I gather that
they were ignorent of the sum they had actually earned—an
impression which my Own inquirica criefirm. Of course it
may be said that the men in this, as in other cages, know their
earnings, and prefer to speak only of the stated nominal wage,
which tiara not pnclude piece work, harvest work, and
" ertras." I donut believe, however, that the men to whom
I have spoken had any wish to conceal their real earnings.
They were honestly in the dark about the total because they
hail never reckoned it up One sturdy fellow. who com-
plained that a Mon and his family could not live on 13s a
week, but did not know what his "extras" came to, said lie
would be satisfied if lie oink' earn a stone of flour a day. I
have heard the same wish expressed by other labourers,
though these were generally elderly men, not, I fancy, be-
longing to the new school of rural philosophers. The theory
stems to he that six stories of flour corning in weekly would
support the household, leaving • surplus to sell for the pur-
chase of other necessaries. But a farmer rudely di.
posed of this primitive mode of payment in kind.
" When flour was dear it would all be very well. When their
was cheap, do you suppose a nian would be equally willing to
exchange his day's work for the same quantity lie would
laugh at us then if we offered him a stone of Hour as a fair
equivalent for his day's work. To base wages upon a sliding
scale, rising and falling according to the current price of
corn, is old-fashioned nonsense.' . . . .

MR. ARCH AND THE LOCKED-OUT LABOURERS.
Mr. Joseph Arch attended a huge and enthusiastic
meeting at Liverpool ii Tuesday night, held for the pur-
pose of expressing sympathy with the locked-out farm
labourers. Mr. Arch delivered an address occupying
an hour and a quarter. He had, he said, received
letters from Mr. Morley, Mr. Dixon, and others, to the
effect that he would be able to settle the dispute by
proceeding to the district. He expressed himself in
favour of arbitration, acknowledged thankfully the
support received from working men, noblemen, clergy-
men, ad lastly from the Bishop of Manchester, and
concluded by saying, that if the farmers would submit
to arbitration, he had selectel three impartial men
for the purpose, and should be sincerely glad to see
the question settled amicably. He did not want the
farmers to feel that they bad been beaten by the
labourers, nor the labourers to think they had won a
great victory, and if the demands of the men were
conceded so far as was right, he would urge the men
to work with energy and goodwill, Resolutions of
sympathy were passed with acclamation.

was informed that she was not in a condition to plead,
or to understand the nature of the char:e that was
made against her. Mr. John Roland Gibson, the
surgeon of Newgate, upon this was sworn, and he
stated that the prisoner had been under his care since
her commital, and he was of opinion that she was de-
cidedly insane, and incapable a understanding what
was going on around her. The jury found that the
prisoner was insane, and not in a tit condition to plead,
and she was ordered to be detained in safe custody
during her Majesty's pleasure.

tensity of 65 per cent. when one 108-jet burnei is
used, itnd of 27 per cent, when three are employed. I
So, ain, as to cost, the electric method pro-
duces as saving of 162 per cent, measured in cost per
minute per hour, when one 108-jet gas burner, ,
and of 133 per cent. when three jet burners are used. .
It appears further, that the maximum powers of the
electric light may be increased, and indeed doubled, in
intensity to meet the case of foggy nights. A question
has been raised whether the stability of the electric
light is to be ilepended on ;but Mr. Douglass mentions
the ease of the Souter Point Lighthouse, where it has
now been exhibited two-and-a-half years, and has never
been known to fail for one minute.