The Express.
London, England, 1867-04-20 00:00:00

THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS' STRIKE.

(From the South Bucks Free Press.)

The agricultural labourers of Great Missenden
and its vicinity have for some considerable time past been
complaining of the wages paid by the farmers as compared
with the high prices of provisions, and some have refused
to work for eleven shillings per week. The success of the
Gawcott labourers in their movement, and the sympathy
and assistance rendered them by the public, have, no
doubt, had something to do with the movement in the
parish of blissenden. The result has been two public
meetings ; the first was a procession in the evening of
Wednesday, the 10th inst., on which occasion a consider-
able number of labourers paraded the streets headed by a
banner bearing the inscription, " Live and let live,"
to what is termed the " Broadway," where some of the
men addressed their fellow labourers in homely phraseo-
lop, explaining how the eleven shillings were laid
out weekly. ()ne, whose name we understand to be
Harding, stated he had a wife and four children, not one
of the children being old enough to earn a penny towards
a living, and his wife scarcely anything to do at present,
in consequence of the depression of the plait trade. He
stated that he required 75. per week for bread, allowing
lib. per head per day, Is. fid. for rent, and la. firing, so
that they had only Is. lid. left for grocery, &c. Other
labourers made similar statements. The meeting was
conducted in a very peaceable manner, and was followed by
another of a less demonstrative character on the evening I
of Saturday, the 13th. It had been announced that a
deputation would attend from the Chesham branch of the
Reform League, but a serious family affliction of the party
appointed toattend prevented his keeping his appointment.
The men, however, appeared determined not to be idle,
and succeeded in establishing a society for the protec-
tion of labour ;33 gave in their names as members,
seventeen of them paying a deposit of sixpence each, to
commence operations with. A respectable tradesman of
the plate consented to act as treasurer, and another inti-
mated his willingness to act as secretary for a time, so that
the novelty of an
.agricultural labourers' society for the
county of Bucks is an established fact. We rejoice to
hear that the labourers of this division of the county are
determined to put their shoulders to the wheel for the
purpose of improving their condition, and do not intend to
rely entirely on assistance from the public. We are in-
formed that the farmers, with the exception of the largest
landholder, are willing to give an advance of Is. per week,
but they require an hour's extra work per day for that
amount : this the labourers are unwilling to accede to, as
2d. per hour is a reduction, not an advance.
The third meeting of the agricultural laboureN of this
village and district was held on the evening of Tuesday
last, opposite the Horse and Jockey. The meeting had
been announced for Thursday, but notwithstanding the
alteration of the time and the unfavourable state of the
weather, some hundreds of labourers and tradesmen of the
place and neighbourhood assembled to hear what the men
had to my upon the subject of remuneration for labour.
John Bloxam attended as a deputation from the Chesham
branch of the Reform League.

Richard Woodstock, labourer, opened the meeting
in an acute speech recapitulating the expenditure of
lls. per week alluded to above ; contending that it was
• semi-starvation diet that the labourers had to put
up with while bread was BcL the 41b. loaf, and green
bacon Bd. per pound, butchers' meat being out of the
question except on special occasions. He and his
fellow labourers had talked the matter over in private,
and had come to the conclusion that they ought tc
have 2s. 4d. per day or 14s. per week, to enable them to
live as they ought to live ; that was the amount they
intended to obtain before they would Ibe satisfied ; they
considered the farmers of Miasenden as well able to pay
2s. 4.1. per day as the farmers of other counties. The
farmers complained when wheat was fetching 101. per
load, and bread was Gd. the 41b. loaf, but they gave 115.
per week wages then, and now wheat is fetching from W.
to 151. per load, be thought the labourers ought to have
more wages. The extra price of wheat must go into
somebody's pocket, he knew it did not go into the
labourers', and he concluded that it went into the farmers'.
They had threatened to starve the labourer into com-
pliance, but, perhaps, the labourers would be quite as well
able to do without the farmers es the farmers without the
labourers ; at all events, they intended to try by all peace-
able means to obtain 14s. per week.
John Thompson, shepherd, had left his employer whom
he had served for 16 years rather than work for 11s. per
week. During the time he had served his master he had
been, as it were, compelled to gnaw out his wages under
the truck system, and his successor was doing the same.
What they required was a fair remuneration for their ser-
vices, nothing more, and they would not be satisfied with
anything lees. He felt confident they should obtain
14s. per week without striking ; they were determined to
unite in a peaceable manner, and stick to their object
with the same tenacity as limpets stuck to a rock.
They intended to appoint officers that might get •
code of rules drawn up, appoint. deputations to state
their wants to the farmers in a legal manner; and he
believed they would obtain what they wanted in a peace-
able manner. He knew some of the tradesmen would
support them in their endeavours ; it was their in-
terest to do so, because if the labourers obtained 14s. per
week the extra 3s. would be circulated amongst them; and
ultimately he hoped to see the time when the labourers
would be able to pay for their goods as they had them ;
the tradesmen would be able to do without so much pen,
ink, and ' paper and the truck system be banished from the
village of Gat Missenden.

Mr. Bloxam next addressed the audience, in doing which
be intimated that it gave him great pleasure to see the
labourers of, be might say, his native village, show a bold
front to the farmers of this county by establishing a so-
ciety to advance and protect the rights of labour. It was
an honour to them. It boded well for the future of the
rising generation to see men of their stamp, with their
limited means and education, commence opera-
tions in such an orderly and peaceable manner
as they had done. It was a movement in the
right direction, and one which would influence the
agricultural population of the United Kingdom. It
would show the right hon. gentleman the Chancellor of
the Exchequer and the House of Commons that the
agricultural labourers of this country were not so
ignorant.e as was generally supposed. It would show all
c that there was a better time " looming in the
future." He had had considerable experience in con-
nexion with strikes and trade societies, and would
assist them in the drawing up a code of rules for their
guidance, so that they might be able to proceed in
business-like manner. He would advise them to be
very careful in the appointment of their officers, as,
according to the present state of the law, societies of
this description were illegal, and if an officer misap-
propriate or decamp with the funds he would not be
amenable to law. Such bad been the decision of one
of our judges—who, before he was clothed with the
ermine, held that each societies were legal. Such was
the glorious uncertainty of our boarded constitution as
regarded the working classes • but if an officer connected
with the Carlton Club was to decamp with the funds, he
would he punished even if the money had been intrusted
to him for bribery. If this was not a proof of class legis-
lation he did not know what was. He would advise them
to get 3. 4d. per day, but if they could not obtain that
amount at once, to be contented, for the time being, with
a portion of it, and let them rest assured that if they did
not have it their children would.

Mr. Harding, «Trarmickei:sTaTed that the meeting wood
adjourn to the " Horse and Jockey" for the purpose of
enrolling members and appointing officers.

Several fresh members entered their names, paying
the entrance fee of tki. A committee of seven mem-
bers was appointed to draw up the rules, &a Mr.
James Plumridge, baker, was appointed treasurer ; Mr.
Michael Harding, oollarmaker, president ; Mr. Henry
Braden, postman, secretary. It was resolved that •
public meeting should be held that evening week. That
the meetings for business should be held weekly, on Sa-
turdsy evenings. That each member pay 3d. per week,
the first payment to commence on Saturday, the 28th
inst.; and that application should be made for the use of
the schoolroom to hold their meetings in.
There was • labourer present of the name of H.
Kempster, who stated he bad been discharged the pre-
vious morning from Hunderidge Farm, in the adjoining
parish of Chesbam, because be told his master, Mr. Curtis,
that he would not work, thrashing, twelve hours per day
for la. 10d. per day. _ _

Daring the last fortnight there has been a " rise" in va-
rious parts of Surrey and adjoining counties among farm
labourers, and a threat to discontinue work unless an ad.
vance of wages was given. The farmers declined to com-
ply with this demand on the part of the men, but after
Home consideration on the subject offered them the privi-
lege of leaving their daily work a haymaking and harvest
time and earning as much increase of pay by piece-work
as they could, the shepherds, ploughmen, &0., to receive
gr►tuities at the close of the summer. This arrangement
has satisfied the men, and they continue quietly at their
daily labour.

SHAREHOLDING JUDGEB.—It would require con-
, tiderable ingenuity to discover what is the precise degree
of interest in the subject-matter of a suit which ought to
oust the jurisdiction of a judge. There is an example of
a judge quitting the court on the ground that he was an
ecclesiastical commissioner, although it was impossible to
guess how such a fact could bias any man's mind in favour
of the commission. Yet that corporation has fought of
late more than one important case in the Queen's Bench
without a withdrawal of the Chief Justice from the court.
Railway shares, however, furnish the most remarkable
illustration, of this role or custom. The unfortunate
Great Western Railway, having been mulcted in damages
at the suit of Mr. Moffatt, moves for a rule for a new trial,
when three out of four judges in the Common Pleas imme-
diately leave the court, and the judge who tried tke case
remains in solitary state to grant the rule. Of course we
cannot compel a judge to sell all his railway shares on his
appointment to the bench ; on the other hand, here is a
perpetual risk of a denial of justice. What makes the
whole thing more anomalous is, that judges who are large
holders of railway shares sit in lance and decide points
which affect the general liability of every company in the
kingdom for all time, while in an isolated ease, involving •
few pounds, they decline to act. Unquestionably they are
cuided by the most honourable sentiments, but the result
is very much like straining at a gnat and swallowing a
eanieL —The Law Journal.