The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-01-27 00:00:00

SPINNERS' STRIKE. IN BELFAST.

On Monday every cotton mill in Belfast and neighbour-
hoad stopped working, the cotton spinners having combin:d
for the purpose of forcing their employers to increase their
wages.
it appears that all the spinners connected with the dif-
ferent cotton mills in Belfast and neighbourhood, have de-
nuded of their masters that their wages should be paid
in With* currency. In jurtifleation of this claim, they
stated that the shopkeepers would not make a reduction in
the price of their goods commensurate with the alteration
in the currency, and that they should therefore sustain a
considerable loss by being paid in any other way. The
employers remonstrated and explained ; they showed most
satisfactorily that, even admitting the fact that an undue
advantage might in a few instances be taken of the opera-
tives, such impositions could only be of temporary dura-
tion ; and that to them (the proprietors) the loss would he
exceedingly heavy, having to pay weekly a large sum for
wages, to which eight pounds and a third per cent. would
be thus added, without any prospect of obtaining a corre-
sponding addition to the proflut on their goods.
This explanation, for the time, seemed to have produced
the desired effect ; but soon afterwards the employers re-
ceived notice, that on a particular day there would be a
general turn out for an increase of wages. That the re-
quest to be'paid in British currency was, on the part of the
refractory spinners, only a pretext for a general strike, is,
we think, sufficiently clear. if we be correctly jammed,
the earnings of that description of spinners who have
turned out are not only as high as in any part of Seotland,
but quite' sufficient to keep them comfortable, and not
snore than would give a moderate remuneration to the em-
ployers for the use of their capital. In many instances, we
believe, the wages amount from 20s. to 301. per week. If
this be the fact, it seems a little unreasonable to demand
an augmentation of emolument. We understand that all
the mule spinners in all the mills in Belfast have struck.
Some throstle spinners are still at work. We see, in this
instance, several hundreds of men, most of them with
families, voluntaty flinging away the means of subsistence,
abler the erroneous impression that the masters will ulti-
mately yield to their willies. The evil does not end here ;
for a very industrious class of persotei, who depend upon
the spinners for their sobsistence, will. by this act of folly,
be thrown out of employment. We have good reason for
knowing that in this hope the spinners will be disappointed.
The cotton manufacturers have firmly resolved not to con-
cede one point. The probability is, that they may be in-
duced to reduce umber than increase the scale of wages.
We have good at .'iority for stating, that several of the
Orton-manufacturers in Belfast, have made arrangements
for the introduction of " self-acting cotton mules" into
their mills. Our readers are probably aware, that the
spinning of cotton by self-acting mules is an invention of
recent date, and no less remarkable for its ingenuity than
simplicity. In its practical operation it is destined to
effect a edmplete revolution in the cotton trade, since it
completely supersedes the necessity for employing hand-
spinners. We understand that the cost to the manufac-
turers in adopting this improvement will be compara-
tively trifling, as the invention is applicable to mules on
the common construction, which, by simply removing the
o'Al head stocks, and replacing them with those of the new
c instruction, may be made to answer the purpose, and at
29 inconsiderable expense. Should the infatuated spinners
who have, under the influence of error, abandoned their
business, not return to their work, before this projected
improvement be completed, ft may probably occur, that
their future services will be dispensed with, and they will
be compelled to seek for employment through some other
channel than to which they have been accustomed.—
Northern Whit.