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

L - (From the 7 rotes.)
On the .10th of last January the dispute between
*the operative engineers and their employers resobed
tbe length of actual rupture, and conPequait stoppage
of bus;ness in the chief tatablishmenis ht the kingz-
dom. On this 10th of April we can at lait announce
that the contest is substantially at an end. Of the
eventual result there could, of course, b' no doubt.
After three months of individual sufferiug and general
disturbance, after immense pecuniary; loss and enor-
mous commercial peril,
quarter of a workin after the consumption of .one
g year in cabal, commotion, and
'mallet, the outstanding operatives have so far come
in to the terms of their employers as to withdraw the
pretensions which occasioned the dispute.
The successive stages of the quarrel can hardly
Crave been yetforgotten. The" Amalgamated Society"
of Engineers—an association which-bad been consoli-
dating its forces for the avowed purposei of aggression
and dominion, commenced its actual operations ou the
24th of, last DeCember by the service of a circular
notice requiring the several firma of . employers to
abolish unconditionally, and without delay, the prac-
tices, of overtime and piecework. The masters en-
countered the assault by closing their establishments,
And proclaiming that th.ry would re-open them on no
other condition than the withdrawal of this notice.

The question then became a trial of pend-
ing .which each party appealed to the public with an
instinctive conviction that popular opinion would de=
cide the cause. It ii unnecessary to add that the
workmen, through the manifest guile and duplicity
of their leaders, were promptly nonsuited in this open
appeal. They failed in enlisting any general sup-
port, and the masters, pining boldness la),' success,
at length took a step in advance, and announced, that
as an indispensable condition of future employment,
every workman of every designation, should sign a
"declaration" abjuring altogether the authority of
ally trade soc;eties in the e.ngage.tn:lits betwi en
master -and man. On these, principles they rea
opened their shops, and to such purpose had their
measures been taken. that the flesAtirstion has bet,d.
signed by upwards of 10,000. operativas.,end
In-st the native of the 24 ii of Dc:cetubi-r has ber.ll ofh.:
41-9tiv -witi-frix*lt. The "Executive Couricii,"

fore: of 44 the AinAgapaated• Society "- Vl.* ditll
what, if it had dol,e th:ee months ago, if: ould litsve
.ertnin3ted the diFpute tit once; but otter slitisctA of
9 been importod into Ilk: qaml.l,
his will pt,rhzips no louger be
In tha earilest d•sire to

'YE t4u

and cliszin,4l

Rble t(r

promote 413 tifectit d reconciliation, we elLr our last
remarks upon the li.arinpsof tai protractcfl struggle.
To the opinions now sutjoined we Anxiously hope
that both parties will give a patient attention. The

master* have pubiicly- acknowledged our impartial
mainteoatwe of their caust,, and, if the men will but

remember our unfailing advocacy of their rights on
All occasions' of reel oppression, they must, v., 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 guccess bpyond the ricerity of con.
dliation ; but this position, they should rear:llll)er,

does but qualify them for yielding with better grace
end grea.er security, nor can they overlook the ex-
pediency of standing well in the eyes of the public,
and placing their relitions with their own work\fuem
on a better footing than that of coercion on one side,
and forced submission on the other. . .

The case of the operatives, 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 es a
" privileges," and that the reso!ution 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.
What the particular notice contained was, in fact, of
no consequence at all. They were to be resisted as
notices served on employers byaelf-consauted autho-
rities pretending to " rule the - destinies of trade."
These were the circumstances which formed 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, and retire from their impudent
pretensions. This condition has now been fulfilled,
and the Amalgamated Society stands condemned to
impotence and convicted 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 been so far shown to exist as to call,
not indeed for that 4‘ immediate and total 'abolition"
dictated by the " Council," but for some remedy at
the masters' hands. We have repeatedly acknow-
ledged that the.practices in question contained obvie,
ous temptations to abuse, and that if the requirements
of the men had found expression otherwise than
through a society which was hypocritically. trading
others for objects of. its own
been
future
ings differently
upon the complaints of
sthheo
wopni.nioTnooffrtahme
practical
arbitration; but, as the masters are now in organized
easy—the case, us Lord Cran worth
might not be
ecta)ticnotdrye onlfigruhltes havefor
observed, being removed from the scope of
communication with each other, we think they might
satisfy the demands of justice by such a declaration of
their views respecting overtime and piecework as
would meet the ressoaable complaints of their men.
The folly and presumption of the " Council" con-
sisted in their peremptory dictation of impossible
but, though the
terms ; these were not less rightfully
than successfully rejected, common justice suggests
that what was true in the remonstrance should not be
disregarded.
Finally, we think that since the Amalgamated
So-
ciety has been driven to public lf BO -00E11710AM and
exposure, the employers maypermit h
own come
bination to become extinct
tmi.
in its turn. They will no
doubt ask what security
w will then be retained egainst
the revival of Mr, 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 effect. We answer,
that obligatory sti-
pulations are as im •
praletioable on one side as on the
n
other, and that the effective influence surviving
the dispute must be only
derived
from the experience which
each party will have acquired. The society will have
discovered s 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 hate 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 EDITOR 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 i rotection, and an act of justice
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 or-
, elation necesstiry, I have only, in conclusion, to point
to the following demands made by the Ircn-tnouldera
Society on the Ist instant to the Manches r
resumeetn
ployers, as the condition of their consent to
their avocations :
‘‘ 1.
oTuihdee
withdrawal
rs. of the declaration
itor,.te from the
;elijsmrliniclihttrtirseamtelTH:
" 2. The diicharge of the individuals who
subscribed the same."
In other words, our d workmen of
''SreBcractary-:
prive peaceable and
means of subsistence,
atnceipate employ 6viugd selimp-
WierileilSibirtio3s,e-e:creeroefguhi.;i:e
tied to ruin both.
pplooryteedd their efforts eafftoyrrtasnt;
Sir, your obedient servant
Central .A tEiihpioyeis lif Opitretive Ea-
:nail of
gill 8, 30, tick ersbury, LAtuoi., April 8.
e r es
Association

Rturn of the number of Persons of the following &no-
'm na ations who have signed the Deoloration of the
Central Asoci.,-.!l' n of Employers of Operative En-
ginrers up to and inclusive of April 3, 1852, viz.:—
ViCeMen, 1,702; turrnrs,
e
1,198; smiths and strikers,
1,306; moalle:-s,
;, AV rn-in,,l;nr,, 9.06; efirpenters, 337; martnne:mPn,
978; dressers, 438; millwrights, 255;
phial, le, bivkif.tb bc,,;. ~Jl3'; b4li,r-inakt,r6, 746; labou-
rers, 1,563 ; Return up
others, 1,212. Total, 10,939.
to Maroh 22, 10,217. Increase, 722.