The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-22 00:00:00

THE M.ANCHESTBR " TURN-OUT."

The' operatives out of employ and on strike at Man-
cheater continue to conduct themselves peaceably ; but
at an open air meeting on Tuesday it was proposed to go
about with
,begging-boxes--a plan which, whenever
adopted in past strikes, has called forth interference by
the police, because, practically, it has always been found
that begging by a multitude is equivalent Eo intimida-
tion. The proposition, however, was not adopted, but
adjourned for further consideration. Messrs. Fothergill
and Harvey's. workpeople are reported to have compro-
mised the question 'with their employers, and to have
resumed work at ld. per 1,000 hanks' reduction, instead
of 2d., as first offered. The operatives out of work are
gradually increasing, and the following is a near esti-
mate, furnished by one of the employers, who has
good knowledge of how his neighbours stand.

Operatives
•
Oat of Employ,
Messrs. Kennedy and Co.'s mill, about 200
Messrs. Birley and Co.
- Hanover-mills
Messrs. Jos. Clarko and Co.'s, about 4OO
Messrs. Jno. Clarke and Co.'s, about 3OO
Messrs. Kelly and Cilmour's, about 7OO
New Islington-mills, about 2O
Messrs. J. Simpson and Co.'s, about l5O

3,310

It would appear, therefore, that the utmost number of
hands out of employ doss not exceed 3,400, of whom at
least 1,700 are not on strike, hut have been compelled to
stop in consequence of being dependent for work on the
spinners and piecers, who have struck. Should the strike
:it Aressra. Simpson and Co.'s mill, Crumpsall, go on,
about 300 additional operatives will ho thrown out of
work in eestreescrierroteof the 150 spinners and piecera hav-
ing struck. At Messrs. Kennedy and Co.'s large mill the
smallness of the number out of work in proportion to the
number employed is explained by the fact that they are
mainly flue spinners, who are not affected by the pro-
posed reduction. The strike is one of coarse spinners, or
the makers of low counts of yarn. Same other ►Hills
were expected to cease working, however, last night. It
is obvious, however, that there is nn prOspect of the pre-
sent turn-out assuming anything like the proportions of
that of 1847, when, out of a total of 41,000 operatives
usually employed, 10,000 were at one time out of work,
and 12,000 were on short time ; and when the average ,
number out of work and on short time together, through-
out the year, exceeded 16,500 persons. The workpeople
out of employ have so far conducted themselves peace-
ably. A farmer from Timperle,,y, Cheshire, named Les-
lie, after leaving the Manchester market Im Saturday
night with part of his market produce which had not been
sold, was attacked near Stretford by five or six men,
who endeavoured to take some of his goods, and threw
him in the road and kicked and beat him, and these men
were at first reported to be factory operatives, but there
is no proof that they were, and it is probable that the
surmise rests on the prejudice which at all times exists
against turn-outs, and assumes that they are the most
likely persons to be connected with the outrages.
The case of the employers and operatives is put in
something like the following shape by either party :
The employers say that they are paying an average of
nearly 25 per cent. more than the country employer is
paying for the same work, and propose to take off 10 or
12 per cent. The operatives do not deny the fact of
prices, but allege that the cost of living is greater in a
large town like Manchester. The masters, while ad-
mitting the extra cost of living, reply that the question
is not one of goodwill towards their workpeople in time
of bad trade and minimum profits, but a question of
sheer existence for both masters and men. They can
only compete with other manufacturers in the mar-
ket by paying something like the same wages ; and
to show that this is no idle talk they point to the gra-
dual decay of coarse spinning in Manchester for some
years past. It is said that in ten years past, while num•
bers of mills have been springing up in Ashton, Staly-
bridge, Burnley, Bacup, and other towns, only one sin-
gle mill has been built in Manchester, the owner of
which has become recently bankrupt. Of those that
existed ten years ago one is now used as a sugar mill,
one as a bonded warehou-e, and seine that have been
burnt down, or partially burnt, have been abandoned
and lie waste. They further point to the numbers of
large capitalists during the time who have stink under
the difficulties now crushing themselves, including a
Guest, a Poollev, a Marsland, a Thompson, a Merri.,
the Potters, a Yates, a Burton, Sibson and Rigg, and
others. Some of these were the largest spinners in Man-
chester ten years ago. Of those now carrying on busi-
ness the allegation thatthey are working at aloss, though
laughed at by the operatives in a late meeting, is sitip-
ported by the fact that three of these large firms are
working under inspection. Should the workpeople sue-
ceed,by a combination,in enforcing masters to pay higher
wages than is paid in other towns coarse spinning will
be driven out of Manchester into the country, it is sail,
and one large and highly successful firm carrying on
business in the country might be mentioned as having
been compelled to abandon a mill in Manchester some
years ago. Their successors in this mill have since been
bankrupt, while they have prospered in the country.
Several arguments which did and did not bear upon
the question were put forth by the operatives in their
address to the masters last week, to which the latter
have put forward an able and temperate reply :
" As a great amount of misconception prevails among
the public generally with reference to the proceedings
of the masters whose hands are now on strike, it has
been deemed needful by them to publish a plain state-
ment of the facts of the case, in order that a more cor-
rect judgment may be formed of the circumstances which
now exist.

" Until very recently there was no union among the
masters in this city ; but for many years past there have
existed strong unions among the factory operatives.
From time to time these unions have successfully pro-
moted constantly recurring efforts on the part of the ope-
ratives to obtain advances of wages, until the prices paid
here for factory labour have been so much in advance
of all other adjoining towns as to make the prosecution
of the business in Manchester disastrous to many of
those who are engaged in it. In proof of this statement
we refer to the many instances in this city in which mas-
ters have been unable to meet the strong competition
which al ways exists in the cotton trade, and have been
compelled to yield to a power they could not overcome.
One main explanation of this result, we believe, will he
found in the feet that the rates paid here for labour ren-
dered it impossible for them to compete with the mas-
ters of oth( r districts on equal term. At length, in
pure self-defence, the masters in Manchester formed
themselves into a union, with a hope that by so doing
they should be enabled to prevent excessive irregularities
from existing in these respects. In 1853 the self-acting
minders and piecers who are now on strike demanded an
advance of from 10 to 25 per cent. from the masters.
The prices paid in Manchester at the time these ad-
vances were demanded were greatly in excess of the
surrounding towns ; but these hands refused to be go-
verned by any such consideration. Other towns had
demanded and obtained advances, and, whatever price
was paid here, the advances must be conceded or they
would strike. The times were favourable for their de-
mand, and the associated masters were not quite satis•
fled that all their members could sustain a long and
expensive struggle, and consequently they gave way
and conceded an increase. The advances thus conceded
made the prices paid here at least 20 per cent. higher,
for similar work than the towns of Stockport, Ashton,
Bacup, and Bury paid, after adding their advances.
Soon efter the termination of the Preston strike f
the towns surrounding Manchester withdrew the I
advances they had conceded in 1852 and 1853, and some
attempts to adopt the same course were made here, but
without success. The masters in Manchester have con-
sequently continued to pay the prices which were con-
ceded in 1853 until the present time. The piices of self-
acting minding and piecing which will be payable in
Manchester, even after the reduction which is now in
issue, will still continue to be from 10 to 20 per cent.
higher than the same class of work in the neighbouring
towns, the produce of which meets that of Manchester
in the market of the Exchange.
"In the very temperate address which the operatives
who are on strike have issued they call the attention of
the masters :to the advance which has recently taken
place in the price of cotton in Liverpool, and they ask
the masters to pay them the high wages they have lately
done, because these wages will not affect the cost of pro-
duction to the same extent as the late rise in cotton.
There is this important difference between the two cases
—the advance in cotton has to be paid by all masters
alike ; whereas the payment of extreme rates of wages
here, while the masters in neighbouring towns are ob-
taining the same labour at a less price, inflicts on the
masters of Manchester all the evils of a system of dif-
ferential duties, and destroys the possibility of their
meeting competition on equal terms. It must be borne
in mind that the operatives here demanded in 1853 the
saine]advances which were obtained in other towns, re-
gardless of the equality, or otherwise, of the tariffs which
these demands imposed,and when the times are favourable
again for such a course they will doubtless repeat that
demand, even if no change be ;made in their wages now.
This feature of the case has convinced the masters of this
city that it will be hopeless for them to prosecute their
operations on the same footing as their fellow-tradesmen
of other neighbouring towns, unless they endeavour,
when opportunity occurs, to rectify the irregularities of
their position by withdrawing advances which place the
rates of wages here higher than are paid iu towns
around them. They are convinced that the advance de-
manded and obtained from them in 1853 was an impro-
per one ; and, as all other towns have long since with-
drawn these advances, the masters in Manchester must
follow their example, Another proposition to which the
operatives draw the attention of the masters is thiedpnroet
pro-
priety of working short time. Short.
rectify the inequality of the wages paidtiitnn
masters have
which is the ground upon which the rna.s tiros would
Some of
con-
eluded to adopt the course they have dohnave.e consider
the masters concerned in this movementhe last 12 o the-
is considered that
ablyhy wreerdkuiceegd
short
tr
tpirmoed u; c
buttion
whduringe n _
itt
not one-tenth, nay, hardly one-twel h,.of all the cotton
consumed in the country is consumed in Manchester, it
will at once be seen that, unless a much more general
movement of the trade to short time takes place, the
mere reduction of the hours of working in Manchester
' would be powerless for good, either as it affected this