The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-02 00:00:00

[PRICE SD.

7'HE ENGINEERS AND TILE BRIGHTON
RAILW AY.

BRIGHTON, FEB. 27.—Mr. W. Coningham, of
Kemp Town, presided over nearly 1,000 persons,
consisting mainly of the employes in the Brighten
' Railway Company's workshops, at the Town Hall,
last night, assembled for the purpose of hearing the
statements of Messrs. Usher and Newton, who at-
tended as a deputation from the Amalgamated So-
ciety of Engineers. The great feature of the meeting
was the attendance of Mr. S. Laing, chairman of the
directors of the London, Brighton, and South Coast
Rzilway, who took part in the discussion.
The CHAIRMAN stated that all doubt, if any existed,
as to the merits of the dispute, must have been en-
tirely removed by the issue of the "declaration"
which the masters now required their workmen to
sign, and which he further made bold to assert that
none but a tyrant would have dared to attempt to
enforce.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. Coningham read the
"declaration," which prohibits the workmen from
joining or contributing to any combination which
seeks to interfere with any master's arrangements.
This was a direct interference with the rights of
the subject, particularly after the highest legal au-
thority had, in a recent trial, declared it to be the
right of workmen to combine. Even the organ
of the masters, the Weekly Dispatch, had declared
against them on this point. An erroneous
impression prevailed that there was 'no ge-
neral combination among masters ; but there was
the very strong authority of Adam Smith for be-
lieving that masters were in a constant and sys-
tematic combination. This Mr. Coningham sup-
ported by reading a passage from the " Wealth of
Nations." And not only had he himself. verified the
truth of this in the north, but he bad found that sec-
tions of the masters were often mixed up with tke
strikes of the men. Mr. Coningham then went into
the history of the dispute, and contended that ten
hours' work was as much as ought to be required of
a man, and that .it was not the system of piecework
generally that was objected to, as that pernicious
practice by which employers attempted to get extra
work at the ordinary rate. We constantly read in
the Times, the Daily News, and other papers of the
"Engineers' Strike;" but it could not be too often
stated that it was not the men's strike, but the mas-
ters' closing of their doors, and thereby punishing a
number of men
~who had nothing
~to do with the
dispute.
Mr. SAUNDERS, having denied that the Executive
Council of the Zmalgamated Society had ever re-
quired a reduction of the hours of labour to eight, or
the discharge of unskilled labour, moved—
" That in the opinion of this meeting, any interfer-
ence on the part of the employers, or any attempt to
control the expenditure of their workmen's earnings, or
to punish them for contributing towards objects they
may not approve, is an act of iojastice—(Loud ap-
plause)—and such as no body of artisans ought to sub-
mit to."

Mr. llmincocK having seconded the motion,
Mr. USHER commented on the "declaration" of
the Central Association of Masters. In it they de-
clared themselves against all combinations which in-
terfered with the natural course of trade. But what
he asked were railway companies but combinations
interfering with the natural course of trade ? The
engineers did not object to piecework, but only to
piecework the price of which was fixed by the; em-
ployer, and over which the workmen had no influence.
As for signing the " declaration" put out by the
masters, the men would never do it ; they were de-
termined to stand out till the masters came and rea-
sonrd with them.

Mr. Memos (employed in the Brighton work-
shops) said he came fhrward to correct a misappre-
hension. He agreed that piecework was a bad sys-
tem, and so was systematic overtime, and those who
originated the dispute had to complain of both. But
in the Brighton Company neither obtained; there
Was no piecework, and the only overtime required
was when cases of accident or emergency arose, and
many men would be out of woik the next day if the
necessary work was not done at night. For this the
men were paid " a time and a half," and the men
were satisfied. Why, then, serve notices on the com-
pany against what did not exist here—piecework and
systematic overtime, and say that after a certain day
overtime must be paid double? It was unjust to
the company who, by offering to remain neutral, had
done themselves honour. As for putting men on five
days a week, the reason was that in winter light was
.. expensive,- toad leas work was requised, and it 'was
thought "getter to-take off a day from each than alto-
gether discharge a portion.—(Hisses and cheers.)
Mr. NEWTON said, if there was nothing to com-
plain of in Brighton the men would not complain.
The circulars were sent to all the employers, that
there who worked the evils ought to discontinue them,
and those who did not would not be worse for know-
ing that the men wished others to follow their own
good example. The sole point in dispute in Brighton
was that the men felt inclined to assist those in other
places who were not fairly dealt with, and the direc-
tors said they should not. But the fact of twelve
men having been discharged and the rest put on five
days a week showed that continuous work could net
be secured in Brighten, and as the men might next
week leave and go to London it was their interest to
support the Amalgamated Society, which sought to
get for the workmen as good regulations in
other places as existed in Brighton. The directors
could not surely complain of this ; and as for the
manner in which the men disposed of their wages,
the directors had no more right to interfere with that
then the men had to interfere with the use of the
locomotive for which they had been paid. The
men had not refused to work overtime on emergen-
cies, and they had not claimed double time for
doing so. They, then, bad been neutral, and if
the company had not reduced the work to five days,
in order to deprive the men of the means of subscrib-
ing a day's wages to their brethren, then they had
observed a neutrality.—(Laughter.) But on the
authority of Mr. _Fielding, he stated that the reduc-
tion to five days was made to deprive them of the
means of so subscribing. The over-hours' system
was an evil, and those who suffered from it asked its
discontinuance. For a month the masters took no
notice of the letter. A deputation from Lancashire
then went to London and made statements which
were untrue, and then the Masters' Company
charged the Amalgamated Society with wanting to
discharge unskilled hands and to reduce the hours of
labour to fight, which the society had never contem-
plated. They contradicted the assertion, and the
masters in London then said they had been misled y
thl Lancashire deputation, and that if they lied
would
known that the question was reduced abolitionto_the
of the overtime system and of piecework they
masters
not have closed their shops. .
The Anaa..e
charged them with other things which
going to do.—(A. laugh.) samated Society
t)
they were
that they might not be destitute when out of work.
was a benefit society, paying while in work, in order
It was better to keep in employment than to keep
them walking the streets in constrained idleness. lie
had seen men working eight and nine days a week
while others were idle ; and, after all, the overtime
This
Much ap-
pay would only pay for stimulants.—(Cheers.).
was the reason for opposing overtime, and this was
the head and front of their offending.
as any one in
then came forward, anodp
was much
Mr. LAING
1 uded As he believed, he said, that he
P a • was ;AS
sincere a friend to the working classes
the room, be did not like to let the
especially as he saw so .many working men p resent,ass
with which
be so many connected with the company * .ch '
be was connected, without offering a few words of
what he conscientiously believed to ba good advice.
lie saw no reasons why the employers and employed
should not meet and discuss matters-
between them, for much of the fully and fairly
_g on both sides
arose from misunderstanding.
general feeling of the capitalist
towards workmen was
that of the tyrant to the slave Now, speaking for
himself, and a great man.
other employers and capi-
talists, that was a mistake.
There might
men in the flock among•
rich men as well as poor men,
but the greater orti •
on of the capitalists earnestly
desired to elevate•
the condition of the working men.
Speaking for
,of labour, he
as an employer
said honestly that his sympathies were all with the
classes, working clo He had " known what it was to work
his way in the world. Every farthing he had he owed
to his own exertions. His greatest pride was to know
that he had been a working man himself, and he
wished for nothing more than to see every working
man in a condition to elevate himself socially and
morally, and to take advantage of opportunities of
Ms belief,ad,
vancernent.—(Applause.) then, was,
that if they trusted to combinations and associations
they would be grievously mistaken, end find them-
selves very much the worse for them. The real ques-
tion at issue was, _
not whether overtime or piecework
was good or bad, but whether the best mode of ele-
vating, the working men was for each one to stand
alone or, to enter into conabivati,,_
4,,,,, which would be
sure to be met by combination on the other side—in
fact, a battle between the two classes. If they "-
tered into the history of trades unions they would find
that in the countries where the working men stood
highest there were the fewest of these trades unions,
and where they were the most ready to combine their
rendition was the lowest. (
. Whatarethecountries ~)
The Country where the condition of the labouring
classes stood highest, both for
intelligence ' ence and in
a PecungirY way, was the traitod §4
tea of pee"