The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-11-03 00:00:00

pef excommunication both against it and its distin-
guished author—placing the one in the index ex-
purgatorius, and the other beyond the pale' of the
Anglican communion. Infallibility, it seems, has
forsaken the Vatican and taken up its abode in
a dark upper story of King's College ! Mirabile
dictu ! However, there is every reason to believe
that Mr. MAURICE does not at all acquiesce in the de-
cision of the venerable Principal and his colleagues ;
and that both his work and the tenets therein ad-
vocated, will be quickly referred to a higher tribu-
nal, to be judged of by their merits and their
agreement or disagreement with the
.doctrines of
the English Church.
These religious warfares are by no means desira-
ble. Their chief tendency is to arouse the spirit
of Bigotry, and disseminate ill-will amongst men,
thus making
" Religion's lovely face look foul beneath."

In the " Gorham Case" we have had ample evi-
dence, without enumerating other instances, of the
evils resulting from ecclesiastical legislation. It
will be remembered that in re GORHAN, Clerk, versus
the Bishop of EXETER, after the archiepiscopal and
episcopal authorities had failed to arrive at any
fixed conclusibn with regard to the doctrine of
baptism, and Mr, GORHAM'S "supervenient" notions
thereupon—it was a number of lawyers who had
to examine the rubicon, study the Thirty-nine
Articles, rake up whole bodies of divinity, and pro-
nounce a decision as to what was " heresy" and
what was not !

We regret exceedingly, that the Council of
King's College should have acted so injudiciously
as they have done, in placing a ban upon so emi-
nent a clergyman as Professor MAURICE. Few
men have distinguished themselves so highly—
none acted with more potent or beneficial effect
upon the present age. If petty intolerance like
this be permitted in such quarters, and on such
grounds, there is no calculating the injury that
might accrue to our Schools of Learning, and the
great minds of which the Establishment itself
might be deprived. If narrow boundaries are to be
set to thought, and " doxy" take the place which true
Religion should occupy, then welcome the " dark
ages," with all their concomitant horrors ! Let us
grasp the chariot-wheels of the world—stay its
movement—and commence our progress—back-
wards !

THE Industrial Conflict which fills our paper
daily with a variety of painful reports, appears to
be as far from a sensible and peaceable termina-
tion as ever. The " turn-outs" are resolute, and
the employers are resolved not to yield. And both
appear to keep as far off from the propriety and
possibilities of their respective positions as one
can well conceive. The " turn-outs" say " show
us that the state of trade will not admit of an ad-
vance of 10 per cent, and we will return to work
at our former wages." The employers reply "give
up your combinations and return to your work."

This is precisely the position of affairs at Pres-
ton, where the most serious " strike" has taken
place. And we feel assured that the tone assumed
by the employers of that town has been mainly
instrumental in producing the " strikes" that have
since occurred at other places. Now the question
is not a matter in which a dictatorial spirit should
be employed. All things relating to pounds,
shillings, and pence, should be adjusted in good
temper as well as good faith. The employer who
feels himself released from all the bonds which
binds him to trade, must be in a position, if it is not
actually about, to retire from business.

We know of no manufacturer who is so indepen-
dent of trade as to be able to shut up his mill,
unless he thinks that it is more expedient to suspend
business than to carry on employment under the
existing circumstances of the country. If this be
the case with the employers of Preston, the peace
and tranquillity of the country, and the prosperity
of trade, demand that they should openly avow it.
But from all we can glean from ill-advised speeches
and rambling placards on the walls of the scene of
action, we are very much disposed to believe the
" associated masters" are as much the victims of
a Cowell as the operatives themselves.

In a placard which was issued at Preston, last
night, in defence of the " associated masters," we
have a long statement of the masters' grievances,
which concludes with the following announce-
ment :

The Associated Masters had no alternative but to close
their mill, unless they were prepared to sit tamely down
and see their members ruined one by one ; or the manage-
ment of their works transferred altogether into the hands of
strangers, or rendered intolerable by their exactions and
interference. In conclusion, deeply as the Committee of
Masters deplore the suffering necessarily entailed upon the
town, by the present unhappy state of things, and sincerely
anxious as they are to obviate it, they cannot hold out the
slightest hope of a resumption of work so long as the opera-
tives submit themselves to the guidance of their present
leaders; many of whom are strangers in the town, others of
them, being mere traders in agitation, and all, having a per-
sonal interest in the continuation of the strike.

As this appears to be the determination of the
associated masters of Preston—as they are in dan-
ger of being ruined one by one—and as they are
afraid " the management of their own mills will be
taken out of their hands, and transferred to stran-
gers"—the question is, what is best to be done to
restore tranquillity to this frontispiece of that in-
dustrial agitation which is spreading itself over the
face of the country?

Already we are informed that it is the intention
of the operatives of Preston, and other places
where strikes exist, to form emigration societies,
where, by the payment of a small weekly sub-
scription, the operatives will be able to take
themselves and families to the Continent, Ame-
rica, or Australia, whichever may suit them
best. This movement when once entered on by
the operative classes will probably lead the em-
ployers of Preston to study those organic principles
which govern them in their trade, and which ought
to guide them in their dealings with their "turn-
outs."

The demand for cotton-spinners, weavers, and
indeed colliers and miners, is not confined to Lan-
cashire. Time-lias given to those orders Cif labbtr
a universal value. We could name many coun-
tries which would not only receive such hands, but
would actually pay their passage to new fields of
employment; and if matters are suffered to remain
much longer as they are at present, we may expect
to see our skilled hands reduced very materially.
In fact the Colonial Office has, at this moment, a
sum of one million applicable to free emigration,
and it would be better to see this sum employed
forthwith to relieving several of the disturbed
towns of a portion of_ their " turn-outs," than that
the whole industrial business of the country should
be convulsed by the fear, obstinacy, and ill-temper
of a " Committee of Associated Masters,". We
openly avow that our sympathies lean towards em•
ployers, but still it would be highly criminal for
us to shrink from the expression of opinions which
they may deem hostile to their interests, when we
see the whole of our productive system jeopardised
by a want of cool discretion, and commercial fore-
sight.

THE science of marine propulsion is destined,
while yet in its infancy, to further the world's
civilisation, by giant or magic strides. • The ac-
complishment of Ocean Steam Navigation, which
brings the most distant countries, with miraculous
precision, within a few days of each other, is an
achievement which redounds to the glory of the
present generation. In future ages, all honour
will be done to the memory of the steam-voyagers
of the glorious epoch in which we live. Yet, we
must confess, that much still remains for science
to do before we can attain the great ends of
perfection. The science; of marine propulsion
itself, has still to undergo a profound investigation,
and all those deductions made, and improvements
introduced, which our practical experience sug-
gests, and which the commercial interests involved
actually require.

The feat accomplished by the steam-ships, Argo
and Victoria, in making the passage out and home
from Australia in sixty-four days, does little more,
however, than 'establish the fact, that a direct line
of steam-navigation, between those valuable pos-
sessions and the parent State, is practicable. And
when we come to compare the time taken in
performing the distance between the port of
departure in Australia and the port of arrival in
England; with what we see achieved bi-weekly, by
the British and American steamers sailing from
the ports of Liverpool and New York, we find that
there is every reason to believe that the passage to
and from Australia may be accomplished in a
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