Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-09-13 00:00:00

was cliff

hed, both in a mental

so they hoped they mig

and physical point of

re in the amount of

sympathy now so widely extended in shortening the
hours of labour. Their object was a reduction of one
hour's labour in the day.) They requested the masters
to submit the matter to arbitration, and exhausted their
artillery of reason upon them. For twelve or four-

the opera-
upported by their

teen months the question was, ail
tives, feeling that they wer(

iren in the country, determi

:6 bring the ques-

tion to a successful issue. Although premiture steps
were urged, the blow was delayed till, at length, an
ultimatum was sent in to the employers, requesting an
ausweanswer. The man who bore the memorial was dis-
charged. He was a mason, in the employ of Messrs.
Trollope and Son, and this led to a strike at that estab-
lishment. The other branches of the trade felt that it
was an unjust, arbitrary, and selfish proceeding,
and therefore determined, one and all, to cease

till Messrs.

they had

ly dis,

'einstated

After the dismissal of the man

Loud applause

of unit

trades was held, at w

of twenty was

appointed to consider the question ; and this led fo the
telolutiou -of the masters to close their shops upon the
Sth of August, by which they left 30,060 or 40,000 men
to starve or die for anything they cared. (Loud
applause.) He had now to call upon the men of Liver-
pool to form one link in that great chain, which was
being forged by the provincial towns of England, and
let the great capitalists and employers of London, who
had hitherto used their utmost endeavours against
them, see that a blow struck at that bond or
chain, would bring forth that fire which, ere
long, would prove a fatal blow to many of them.
The men of London, he was proud to say, had hitherto
displayed a good and bold spirit. The employers boasted
of the numbers they had got to sign this detestable docu-
ment, but he assured the meeting that it 1"..e; 'mere boast
mere exaggeration +l, "
1,

, eau not half the amount of
Laoour in their shops which -they put forth to the
!fend, He entreated them, should any of those em-
ployers come to Liverpool to solicit workmen, not to go
to- London to supplant the others. (Loud applause,
and a voice, " That you may be certain of.") Let them
render all the aid and assistance they could to their
brethren in London. (" So we will.") Their cause
was common : it was that of justice and humanity.
(Applause.) They had told the employers that if they
had contracts which would last even for two hours, they
were willing to work ten hours a-day till they were
finished. All they asked was, that the estimates for
future contracts should be based upon a system of nine
hours. This, however, they had refused ; because, by
taking the surplus labour out of the market, they would
not have the power to oppress and trample down the
-working classes. (Applause.) They did not object to
work, but they objected to slavery ; and he concluded
with the motto, " Liberty for those who dare contend
for it." (Cheers.)
Mr. SNOWDON CATTERALL, joiner, then came forward
to propose the first resolution, which was as follows :
" That this meeting is of opinion that the operatives of
the various building departments of London were justi-
fied, under the then existing circumstances, in requesting
a reduction in the hours of labour; and this meeting
_views with deep regret the spirit and antagonism with
which their request was met with by the masters, and
the paiuful results arisiug therefrom, believing that a
ready compliance would have proved a benefit to all,
without the least injury to atiy one individual." The
speaker, after an allusion to the power of machinery in
this country as compared with human labour, proceeded
to say that the wealthy classes in this country
now begrudged the working classes the simple one
hour per day, which they now asked. Not that he
wished to hold in disparity the wealthy classes. The
industrious portion of the community had, no doubt,
derived much benefit from them, in the form of assist-
ance to mechanic.' institutions ; and perhaps he might
point, in illustration of that, to the instance which
Liverpool itself afforded in the munificent gift which
had been made by Mr. Brown. (Cheers.) But there
was another point upon which he might touch, and that
was the accumulated wealth which had passed into the
hands of the people of this country within the last
thirty years. If the wealthy classes of this country
could invest £300,000,000 in railways, in addition
to advancing a large amount to other countries
for a similar purpose, he thought they might
spare a little of their surplus capital tO give to the hard-
workingor labourer. It was not that they asked f
higher wages, because they knew that wages must al ways
be regulated by their market value ; but what the work-
ing classes asked of the capitalists was, that whilst they
gave them these mechanics' institutions and other boons,
they would, at the same time, by reducing their hours
of labour, afford them the opportunity of enjoying them.
(Hear, hear.) From what they had heard to-night the
masters in London were determined not to grant the
request made by the men, but to starve, if possible, the
workmen into submission. He hoped, however, that
the men of Liverpool would follow the example
which had already been set by other towns,
and support the men of London in their
present struggle. The masters ought to have acceded
to this reasonable request, for, as he had already
Yon
ob-
served, the men did not make an demand the point
consequences
of wages. They were prepared to take the
of a possible reduction m wages. All they asked
was, one hour less of labour during the day. There
were Large numbers of their body who were at present
starving, and who might be employed if there was an
alteration in the present hours of labour, They knew

same a

thought the workmen_ coul

when they had earned it, and, also, of their trade with-
out the interference of the masters. He called upon
them to send to any of their friends in London, if they

could get employment for them here ; and he was sure
ale workmen of Liverpool would agree with him when
he said he was willing to let the men have their rights
and no less, and the masters their rights and no more.
Mr. JOHN ALLEN, tailor, proposed the next resolu-
ion tion, as follows :—" That in order to carry out the fore-

g resolution, it becomes the duty of every trade an

body of working men in

.verpool immec

Liately to open

subscription lists on behalf of the lock-out ' operatives

and labourers of _London ; and that the said lists and
subscriptions be forwarded to the Trades' Guardian
Association every Thursday evening, at their place of

;ween eigh

meeting, 48, Seel-s
Mr. JAMES LEWIS, cabinet-maker, seconded the

Mr. Tnomas BROWN, cooper, asked leave to put a few
questions to the delegates from London in refer-

on strike. He had seen in the Mercury a wrong
statement regarding the strike. He did not say but that
the Mercury was a very good paper in its proper place,
but he thought they should insert truth in its columns.
The matter he complained of was some statistical infor-
mation, which he believed to be incorrect. He sat down
after some further observations,

Mr. BROWN, in reply to the last speaker, stated that
one shilling and one penny was all that was paid by the
conference to men that were locked out. Voluntary con-
tributions did not exceed that amount; and whether they
were society men, or non-society men, they had the

)wance if they applied

lIAIRMAN announced, at this stage of the pro-
, that Mr. Mullins, a native of London, and a
tradesman, came forward and gave a guinea on behalf of

The C
.eedings.

the " lock-outs

Three cheers were given for Mr. Mullins
Mr. Wm. IlicKEy expressed his of
who had wrought in London, that the
get nine_hours per day if they took ss. as wa

workmen would
zes daily.

- Mr. OSBORNE replied did their motto-was, iiine
hours, the present state of wages, And no surrender !

(Cheers.)
Mr. RICHARD JONES, a master painter, expressed an
opinion somewhat different front that of the
but said he could sympathise with the "lock-outs

meeting,

The CHAIRMAN replied to him in a few pointed ob-
servations, amid cries of " Put out the painter," Bce.
then voted to the press and to the chair-

1.1, separatod,