Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-10-22 00:00:00

and sur

too there is an in'iper

at anti

those whom it comprehends a
the Continent, enforcing myste:
obligations by the hands of itTespo
defiance of the great natural laws of.human society

,horities, in

Recent events may have prepared our readers to take some
interest in the inquiry whether the fact is S 3 or not.
When they have learned as much as can be. known of
Le trades' unions in England, they may judge for them-
Ives whether any existing government in Europe, from
)1e to St. Petersburg or Paris
,would venture
) stringent a rule over its subjects as a large

Constanti

proportion of our -working men submit to from other
men of their own order. Under the system of irre--
sponsible government which strives to subject the labour
m arket to its dominion the characteristic freedom of the
English citizen is lost. Hundreds of thousands of our
countrymen are unable to say that each man's
house is his castle ; that his labour and its rewards
are his own property; and that " live and let live" 15
the rule of the society in which' he dwells. Whether it
is better to be an English workman or a continental
artisan, under the restrictions of guilds in one country,
a protective :system in another, and political espionage
in a third, may be found to depend on whether the
Englishman has the spirit and prudence to maintain
his position outside of that organisation which under-
takes, not the administration of any beneficial method
of assurance against the accidents of life, but the re-
gulations of the labour market. The independent
working man•who chooses to conduct his own labour-
bargains may be more like a freeman than most of his
order in Germany, Sweden, or France ; but even he
happy as he is in comparison with the "society man
next door—is not so free as he ought to be under the
laws and recognised usages of his country. The
oppression which overwhelms the society man nest
door, reaches him in the form of obstruction and ill
timidation ; and thus the evil is a public and social oort
not dependent on the individual choice of the citizens;
it therefore demands earnest attention from all ranks Of
British society, whether it may appear to affect them or

not.
In proposing to learn as much as can be known of
the arbitrary government of labour in England we aro
aware of the difficulty of learning anything, and the
present impossibility of ascertaining much. The mana
gers of trades unions discountenance records. Their
most stringent laws are unwritten ; their most signifi-
cant usages are unrecorded ; their committees cannot
tie fixed with responsibility ; their threats are not
expressed, but understood ; their punishments al
inflicted by invisible hands. It is only by an occasions'
glance that an insight can go gained into that dim
parliament and palace of democratic tyranny on wilie
the eyes of the Italian, French, and German constia In
tionalists are this moment fixed with deep anxiety. rj
the midst of the crisis in Italy this Autumn, the Libe
leaders have watched the strike in the London bnil,":
ing trades, saying that if the ignorant se:fishness of tn
workmen should prevail in the struggle, the e3',l-
of rational freedom would be disgraced in Englol4
and the brightest beacon of liberty in Europe NO',
To cut in smoke. Any victory over the employers on,
a scale, on on better grounds than those present'
.n the builders' strike, would show that the els
petitive system, so conducted, involves all the worst 0.1.1).
of the socialism so much dreaded on the Continent,
an entire absence of the benefits which unquestionably
attend a rational co-operation. The trades' unions, 35
far as they concern themselves with the regulation of the
E
price of labour, at present unite all the chief evils
the antagonistic systems; and their operation is fatal
cordingly to the political and social interests of all within
their sphere.

A SWINDLING CONFEDEILACY.—A short time brick,a
says the Times, the Paris Constitutionnel gave a fu
detail of the system pursued by a number of foreiVl
sharpers, who take offices in London, and styling thenli
selves a firm, the title of which is generally compound°
of familiar mercantile names, send orders to eon:
tinental manufacturers, giving at the same tini"
references to some other fictitious establishment in Lo
don, which purports to carry on the business of balik'i
If further testimony is demanded, they usually sella
bills for the amount of the required goods drawil?,
some leading London bank, which are of course 7;
honoured on presentation ; but which, meanwhile, oft
put the manufacturer off his guard, especially in small Pr,
yin cial districts. In this manner all kinds of articles e,l';
obtained, some of them of the most ludicrous descriptiu_
when viewed as subjects of importation into this coo
es
and occasional instances have occurred where the Par.teleir
have felt so flattered at finding a demand for ta.,o
goods springing up on the part of great mereaall
establishments in London, that they have actually tr.arr
witted more than the quantity ordered, in the nu
that their new customers would honour theul
pushing
.its consumption. Notwithstanding, tho.is.i.l'eir
posure, it is said they are actively continuing 04
operations, and with the amount of carelessnessth ea
ignorance prevailing it seems impossible to prey
eetweeew
from finding victims. The Vienna Press, a fewbe ono
back, contained the following, which appears to ,0 be
of their newest productions. Letters are request ;dons
addressed to the Continental Trade Company,
I'o pliB
through the manager, John Ellis. No Mr. John
answering this description is to be found in the Dip
tory, and if such letters were retained until the apP, colt
caused himself to be respectably identified, n0..,00
would the scheme be rendered difficult, but meane_lies:,
be gained of assisting the police in case of future inclro:se to
—" The Continental Trade Company, London/ Were-
inform the public that it is authorised by sorn,,c 'rode
holders to extend the advance of £200,000, to I:_e 000
to well-established merchants and others, either u?,ro boo'
credit or per endorsement, to the amount of X 114);: our
accepted as
sterling, at the rate of five per cent. interest (besiaufblie,
commission). For the greater facility of the In:snee
also good foreign bills, their own acceptances, nsloeir•
policies, delivery contracts, and other valuable
.1 be
meats, as well as other personal securities, iviSerte,
them out. The further industrial
guarantees. The Company, as countries'h
undertakes the azency of patents from all card
and makes advances in cash on patents in oroder,‘l_ car.
Pursuits in the
pang will be published in our advertiseme te,
wa-
Vienna Presse, as well as in all ether Continetai.cun'ciiti,
address,
papers of importance. Lei
to the Continental Tr-

4tters plea S`'
Company, 1.0116

4c..._