The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-24 00:00:00

The Lock-out in the Iron Trade.

WOLVERHAMPTON, Thursday.
The secretary of the masters whose men are now
upon strike was present at the meeting in this town
yesterday of the Committee of the Ironmasters' As-
sociation, and the pledge of the committee was volun-
tarily given to him as the representative of the North
Staffordshire employers that the association would
stand by them to the last. Much sympathy was ex-
pressed towards the North Staffordshire masters,
because they had been selected for an attack which
was intended to apply equally to both divisions of
the county, and it was hoped that the present disas-
trous state of things would by the scheme for intro-
ducing temporary workmen into North Stafford-
shire be soon terminated. If such a result should
not be attained, the struggle, it was thought, would
have to be continued until the men had learnt that
they were not able to force their employers to adopt
their terms. Instances of the interference of the
district secretaries and others in the management
and conducting of works were given by most of the
members of the committee present ; and it was de-
clared that the whole power of the masters must
now be exercised to prevent the contimiance of such
an unseemly state of things. This result the com-
mittee believed would be brought about by the em-
ployers being able on this occasion to show that they
were more powerful than their men, and the attain-
ing of such an end was declared to be of more im-
portance to the employers than the granting or
withholding of the wages for which the strike had
been begun. To effect the object which the masters
have in view, it was declared to be unnecessary for
them to aim at the breaking up of the men's union.
Their right to a union was fully admitted.
BIRMINGHAM, Thursday Evening.
There was a very large attendance of the iron-
masters and others interested in the trade in this
town to-day. The first and apparently a very ex-
citing subject for discussion was the announcement
made in the newspapers that Messrs. Lloyds, Foster,
and Co., of Wednesbury, are reopening their works.
Such is not the fact, and there was but one feeling
on the subject among all present to-day—regret or
extreme vexation that such an announcement should
have been made. In reference to this matter we
have received the following letter from the firm
referred to :

" The statement that Messrs. Lloyds, Foster, and Co., of
Wednesbury, contemplated reopening their works is erro-
neous. They had no intention of doing so without a general
resolution to that effect on the part of the Ironmasters'
Association. The firm suggested that the workmen should
sign a declaration that they would not, individually or
otherwise, assist the men on strike in North Staffordshire;
and they hoped that in the general adoption of this docu-
ment the masters' association might see a way of putting an
end to the lock out.' The men referred the proposed docu-
ment to the Brierley-hill executive, for their approval, but
the executive, instead of approving it, contented themselves
with stating that no contributions should be sent to North
Staffordshire from the union, and that the executive would
not countenance any collections by their members for that
purpose." This, it will be seen, was by no means equivalent
to the declaration suggested by Messrs. Lloyds and Foster,
and therefore those gentlemen could take no further steps
in the matter. It should be added that they have not set a
single puddler to work."

At the meeting to-day not a very encouraging
view was taken as to the future. Mr. W. 0. Foster,
M.P., and all the influential members of the trade
were present, and the question—" What is next to
be done about the lock-out ?" was very anxi-
ously discussed. Eventually it -was determined
to request the Earl of Lichfield to meet a number of
the men from North Staffordshire and those from
Brierley-hill and the southern part of the county, in
order that means may if possible be devised to bring
this unfortunate strife to a termination. In the
event of Lord Lichfield assenting, it is not unlikely
that the conference may take place on Saturday or
Monday next.

NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, Thursday Afternoon.
The prospect of an early settlement of the dis-
pute between the northern ironmasters and the pud-
dlers who are locked out seems much more hopeful
to-day. Mr. C. Al. Palmer, the chairman of the
Northern Ironmasters' Committee, issued a letter
this morning explaining the position of affairs from
the masters' point of view, and suggesting the basis
of an adjustment of differences.

A meeting of the ironmasters, it is stated, will be
held in this town to-day, and it is strongly believed
that the Gateshead Executive will call the iron-
workers' lodges together immediately, to deliberate
upon the proposals made by Mr. Palmer in his
letter. The emigration movement is still going on
in this district. Mr. Millington, the secretary to
the Gateshead Executive, has had 370 applications
for passages from persons to go to
,America. But
the prospect of a settlement will soon put a stop to
that movement. Seventy-nine labourers were paid
off at Jarrow yesterday, and about 1,000 workmen
are out of employment at that place. From Middles-
borough, Darlington, Bishop Auckland, and other
parts of the iron district there is nothing special to
note. The mass of unemployed men are conducting
themselves in a most orderly and exemplary manner.
Some of the more improvident are beginning to feel
the effects of being kept out of employment, as the
majority of the shopkeepers have refused to give
credit.

Last evening a meeting of the London Trades'
Council was held at the Sussex Hotel, Bouverie-
street, Fleet; street, for the purpose of taking into
consideration the lock-out in the iron districts. Mr.
Coulsen having been voted to the chair, Mr. Lanton,
from the north of England ; Mr. Biddlestone, a
delegate from the Millmen's Association ; Mr.
Baker, the secretary of the strike in North Stafford-
shire ; Mr. Phipps, from North Staffordshire, and
Mr. Allkins, a member of the Brierley-hill Execu-
tive, addressed the meeting.
Mr. CREMER then moved the following resolution :
" That this meeting regrets exceedingly the great
suffering and sad feeling which the cruel act of the
employers in locking out so many thousands of the
workmen has created, and hopes that the workmen
in the iron trades will agree to submit the whole
question to arbitration."
Mr. ODGERS having seconded the resolution,
Mr. APPLEGARTH supported it, but considered
that the arbitration should be entered into condi-
tionally.
Mr. POTTER considered the resolution very am-
biguous, and proposed an amendment, which was
seconded by Mr. How.
Ultimately the resolution was carried by a small
majority.
Mr. THOMAS next moved that, in the event of the
employers refusing to accept arbitration as a means
of an amicable settlement of the question, the dele-
gates present pledge themselves to use every means
in their power to support the men on strike.
Mr. APPLEGARTH having seconded the resolution,
it was adopted by the meeting.
A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the
proceedings.

AUTHORS NOT GOOD CRITICS.--Waller said
" Paradise Lost " had no merit but its length.
Voltaire called Shakspere a barbarian. Burnet told Dryden
" The Hind and Panther " was the worst poem of the age.
Horace Walpole thought Jephson superior to Beaumont
and Fletcher. Peacock compared Scott's novels to the
pantomimes of the stage. Wordsworth insisted that
Thomson's seasons won popularity by common-place sen-
timentality and a vicious style. When Brougham " woke
snakes " by remitting the " Hours of Idleness " to that class
of poetry "which neither gods nor men aro said to permit,"
Byron vindicated himself by a ferocious onslaught on his
follow-poets, criticising them with considerably greater
vigour than fairness.—Chamberis Journal.