The Express.
London, England, 1858-05-27 00:00:00

SOCIAL EFFECT! OP THE PRESTON BT2IKA

The twenty-second report of the impotent of
prisms of Great Britain oontsins the Skewing watwesst,
timed by Herbert H. Potties, Bon. •.
" In the course of my inspection of the Holm of Carrdotkm
at Amon, I had an opportunity of malthvg some =
as to the sleet of the late ' Preston &rite on the
returns of the diatriot, and I sm indebted to the report of
the Bev. J. Clay, the very efilcimt chapisin of the prima,
for the following foots. He states :—• The number of heads
thrown out of employ by the strike has temarteserally mor-
ibund; from information on whisk I as I believe taw
aglow's' MM tobe se appusionalion to truth :
020
Unarm 13 yams of age .... oafg _

Prom 13 to 111 yore....

Boys 1,630
Girls 4,400
Man 4,050
Won=

Above 111 years

18,000
Them !]gores do:not npsant the tun extant of the
oder* sad compulsory ceased by tho "snack"
Re must add to them the somber of persons who. though
not employed in hone* were nonetheless dependent an
*rotary labour for eapport,—the parents mistimed by
henry children, sad the children by parents,—and wed
shall
then awns at a result perhaps exceeding the calcalation
kneed by the leaden of the movement, who reprassated
96,000 persons as affected by ft The affect of the strike on
the oommittals to this prison was such as I hays always
Noticed whenever a check has bass given to the employment
of oar operatives. The " stapp" sad "short time" of
;BSuell by throwing many hundreds of boys into idleness,
boys
great inoresse of young mss, but kist
greater decrease In the annunory committals of adults. The
idleness attendant on the strike has again been followed by
the same results. Comparing the six months of the strike
with the corresponding six months of the molding year,
there was sn Mayan of :
thadons cams of boys and young man under 21 18
0 Mao Malta of 41 and %muds 5

Total Mareses 23
Nereus of—
&sake' oases el mho Mews's 21 sad 40 6
, female of ell 12
thasary rOttvlotiats, Melte dad ....
„ „ beam of all ages 36
Tote] decrease B6
" The prat decrease of ommtliels la racism to the two
rremeaticeed was 276 to 216 611 or 221 pee amt.
dkigoodis at do Mho be amps e& wt& the sit
steeths feessihesly preceeleg, the &m em tet
et
w. epilogs !a be tram 316 to 216 se 101 tw 12 pee welt
Urtior bead of asses Me seabed of for les hel
greatly from 96 st one eel 110 st easeter
to 60. Daring the satire mkt& of the etas, cal, foes el

the female factory workers of Preston were committed for
trial. But the demoralisation caused by the turn-oat was
grievous. 'lt opened the door to immorality among Many
young females who up to that time had bees preserved from
vicious contact by regular employment. The polioe noticed
many additions to the wretched street-walker of the town,
some of whom appeared to be driven to their unhappy
mime by destitution.'
"The committals to prison within a few months fol'.nw-
fag the termination of the strike of females who attribute
their fall to that event amounted to sixteen, of whom eleven
were under 20 yews of age.
" Another fact brought to light by the ' Preston Strike'
was the almost Incredible expenditure of the Industrious
einem In drink. _

"Prom an account of the consumption of spirits and beer
in the borough of Preston during the six mouths preceding
sad the six months d the strike, taken from the scannas
the supervisor of the district, it appears that the decrease
in the consumption cd these cmgc.W in the latter period
compared with the 61T01r wee, in spirits 4,028 gallons and
in beer 6,340 barrels. Adopting the supervisor's calculatioe,
that the former would be retailed at 2a. per gill, and the
latter at 31. 10s. per barrel, it remits that the diminished
expenditure In the ale end beer houses of the
borough for the six months of the strike was above 1,0004
weekly; an enormous sum, when considered as the
result of decreased drinking amongst those who formed
the body of operatives thrown out of employment, only
4,060 of whom were males above eighteen years
of age. These fects would appear to confirm the opinion
so often expressed, that drunkenness is the Penne
of almost all crime, and that destitution arising from want of
employment eats far lees prejudicially on the working-classes
than this monster vice odour large towns."