The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-10 00:00:00

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(From the Tithes)
On the 10;h of last Jentiere the dispute h-t:
the operative engineers and their employers reached
the length of actusl rupture, and consequent stoppege
of business in the chief estuhlishinents of the king-
dom. On this 10th of April we can at last annoucce
that the contest is substantially at an end. Of the
eventual result there could, of course, b. ho doubt.
After three months of individual sntferiog and general
disturbance, after immense pecuniary loss and enor-
mousoperil,tesitan d i
ng
afofpererraht
operatives
consumption
have
esofar
ofco(m)nee
quarter of a working -year in calla', commotion, and
conflict, m
,he oue
in to the terms of their employers as to withdraw the
pretensions which occasioned the dispute.
The successive stages of the quarrel can hardly
have been yet forgotten. The "Amalgamated Society"
of Engineers—an association which had been consoli-
dating ce°
dating its forces for the avowed purposes of aggression
and dominion, commenced its emit operations on the
24th of last December by the service of, a circular
notice requiring the several firms cf emplopers to
abolish unconditionally, and without delay, the prac-
tices of overtime and piecework. The masters en-
countered the assault by closing their establishments,
and proclairnieg that they would re-open them on no
other condition than the withdrawal of this notice.
The question then became a trial of endurance, pend-
ing which each party appealed to the public with an
instinctive conviction that popular opinion would de-
cide :ha cause. • it is eioneeessary to add that the
worlimen, thiough the. manifest guile and duplicity
of their leeders, were promptly nonsuited in this open
appeal. They feilo in enlisting any_ general sup-
port,j and the masters, .gaining boldness by' success,
at length took a step in advance, and announced, that
as an indileensable condition of future employment,
every workman of every designation should sign a
't declaration" abjuring eltogether the euthority of
vy. trade • soc)eti,s in the engagenn-iits .between
toaster 'and -man. Oil • these principles
.they re-
opened their stps, awed -to eaeh purpose hed them
tiseasties hen taken that the: declartition has been
signed by
.uowards of 10,000 eperetivtoe and at
last the notice of the 24th et December bas, beten-0f117.....
cial ly aid ra-wme • --The “Efttlithro•
fore, of " the Amelgaineted Society " has now done
h hat, if it had done three mouths ego yrculd have
terminated the dispute at once ; but other subjects of
difference have since, been imported into the quarrel,
and the original terms will perhaps no logger be
available for scceprance. In the earnest desire to
promote en effectual reconciliation, we offor our last
remarks upon the bearings of this protracted struggle.
To the opinions now sue:joined we anxiously hope
that both parties will give a patient attention. The
masters have publicly acknowledged our impartial
maintenance of their cause, and, if the men will but
remember our unfailing advocacy of their rights on
all occasions of real oppression, they must, we are
sure, give us credit for sincere goodwill. What we
now state is the general sentiment of the country as
to the faults on either side, and the duties on both.
The employers may not improbably consider them-
selves placed by success beyond the necessity of con-
ciliation ; but this position, they should remember,
does but qualify them for yielding with better grace
and greater security, nor can they overlook the ex-
pedi,mcy of standing well in the eyes of the public,
and placing their relations with their own workmen
on a better footing than that cf coercion on one side,
and forced submision on the other.

The case of the oparatives, whatever might have
been its merits, was utterly destroyed from the first
by the agents who conducted it. As we explained
at the commencement of the dispute, it became
perfectly impossible for either the employers or the
public to entertain the abstract questions of over-
time or piecework. The demands on these heads
were put forward by men who avowedly only took
them up as favourable points for breaking ground
upon, and they were urged with the grossest and
most unblushing mendacity. The society advocated
their requisitions in the name of " the overworked
labourer," whereas their own printed rules ac-
knowledged that overtime was looked upon as a
" privileges," and that the reso:ntion to abolish it
had originated purely in a desire to regulate the
distribution of employment for the advantage of
their own funds. Above all, they had placed them-
selves in the undeniable position of aggressors;
they had confessed that other demands were in
reserve, and they had proclaimed their intention
of ultimately usurping the absolute dominion of the
trade. These proceedings left but one course open to
the employers. Considering the known constitution
of the Amalgamated Society, its notorious designs, its
published views, and its avowed objects in thus open-
ing the campaign, it became absolutely imperative on
the masters to withstand its first demands, whatever
foundation of reason they might happen to possess.
other, might
are
w e nowtll future
t litnthey
What the particular notice contained was, in fact, of
no consequence at all. They were to be resisted as
notices served on employers by self•constituted autho-
rities pretending to " rule- the destinies of trade."
These were the circumstances which farmed the
strength of the masters' position, and secured the
support of the public. It was necessary to exact the
unconditional withdrawal of these notices, in order
that the " Executive Council " might be compelled to
nullify their own acts, end retire from their impudent
pretensions: • This condition has now been fulfilled,
and the AiLalgamated Society stands condemned to
impotence and COM ic!ed of folly.
Having thus expressed what we are sure, in respect
of the employers' case, is the general persuasion of
the public, we must now admit, on behalf of the men,
that the practical abuses in regard to overtime and
piecework have Len so fur shown to exist as to call,
not indeed for that " immediate and total abolition"
dictated by the " Council," but fur some remedy at
the masters hands. We have repeatedly acknow-
ledged that the practices in question contained obvi-
ous temptations to abuse, and that if the requirements
of the men had found expression otherwise than
through a society which was hypocritically trading
of others for objects of its own
have •
been differently
shown. To frame a code of rules .
for •uture proceed.
ings might not be easy—the case, as Lord Cranworth
bserved, being removed from the scope of practical
of their men.
tuhpeo no
opinion
onnoonifptlha,i
aittssh countrytehae c mastersh
organized
purtesumption of the might
satisfy the demands of justice by such a declaration of
their views respecting overtime and piecework as
aTrhbeitrfoaltliyonsod
b
" Council" con-
sisted in their peremptory dictation of impossible
communication esti'
terms ; but, though these were not less rightfully
than successfully rejected, common • t.
jai ice suggests
that what was true in the
remonstrance should not be
disregarded.
Finally, we think that since
ciety has been driven to public self-conviction and
exposure, the employers may •
permit their own com-
bination to become
extinct in its turn. They will no
doubt ask what security _ will then be retained against
the revival of fir. W. Newton's follies, just as the
men will inquire how they are to be protected against
the abuses of •
piecework, in default of a binding com-
pact to this . effec t We
answer, that obligatory sti-
pulations are as im •
practicable on one side as on the
other, and that the only effective influence surviving
the dispute must be derived from the experience which
each party will have acquired. The society will have
discovered its own impotence to subvert natural laws,
or " rule the destinies of trade," and will have learnt
that, convicted by public opinion, and destitute of
popular support, designs of similar aggression must
always miscarry. The masters will have seen that
opinion went against their assailants from the mani-
fest duplicity of their devices, but that abuses, if per-
sisted in, will infallibly provoke a costly strife, and, if
denounced with more sincerity than Mr. Newton
could furnish to the cause, may some day bring
serious retribution.

TO THE EDITOZ OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—l am requested to solicit the favour of the
publicity of your columns to the enclosed return.
I take the opportunity of the same medium to in-
form the body of operative engineers, with reference
to a communication received by several members of
this committee from the Executive Council of the
Amalgamated Society, that it is the firm and unani-
mous determination of the members of this association
to require from all persons desiring to be engaged in
their establishments signatures to the declaration, as
essential to their own protection, and an act ofjustica
to those who have already signed it.
As a proof of the spirit which still actuates many of
those who have rendered the institution of this assno
elation necessary, I have only, in conclusion, to
tubers'
to the following demands made by the Iron-into:11
Society on the Ist instant to the Mano tos eresunv,
em-
ployers, as the condition of their consent
their avocations :
" 1. The withdrawal of the
iron-loouders. declaration from the
i; 2 The discharge of the individuals who have
subscribed the same."
in other words, our members are required to
andde_
well disposed workmen of the
prive peaceable
means of subsistence, for the offence of having sup-
ported their efforts to y
ewt nhai lac
ha. pt ah tre employers and
toytnem-
ployed from aea
obedience
to ruin both.
Sir, your servant,
I remain,
SIDNEY SMITH, Seeretary.
Central Association of F
4mployers of Operativo En-
gineers, &c., 30, Buckiersbuty, Loutob, April B.

Eaton of the number of Persons of the following deno-
minations who have signed the Declaration of the
Central Associaikn of Employers of Operative
-
En-
gineers up to owl inclusive of April 3, 1852, vis-:--
Nrice-meri, 1,702; turncrs. 1,198; smiths and strikers,
1,306; moulders, 978; dressers, 438; millwrights, 256;
pattern-naaLers, 296 carpenters,
337; machine-men,
plainers, Blotters, &c., 908; boiler-makers, 746; labou-
rers, 1,563
to March 22, 10,217. Increase ,722.
; others, 1,212. Total, 10,939. Rang up