The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-16 00:00:00

NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, WEDNESDAY.

The conference between the delegates from the
Ironworkers' Association and the Masters' Com-
mittee was held yesterday afternoon, in the offices
of Messrs. Losh, Wilson, and Bell, Grey-street, in
this town. Mr. C. M. Palmer presided. The fol-
lowing employers were present at the meeting :
Mr. C. M. Palmer, Jarrow Ironworks ; Mr. W. H.
F. Bolckow, Middlesborough-on-Tees ; Mr. Thos.
Vaughan,Witton-park ; l‘lr. Firmstone (one of the
partners in the new limited liability company who
have recently purchased Messrs. Bolckow and
Vaughan's works) ; Mr. J. Hutchinson, Skerne
Ironworks, Darlington ; Mr. W. R. Tunes Hopkins,
Tees-side Ironworks ; Mr. Thomas Bell and Mr.
Henry Bell (Losh, Wilson, and Bell), Walker ; Mr.
David Dale, Darlington ; and Mr. George Dyson,
Weardale Ironworks, Spennymoor.

The workmen were represented by Mr. John Kane,
President of the Gateshead Council of the National
Amalgamated. Association of Ironworkers ; Mi. G.
G. Thomas, from Bolckow and Vaughan's works,
Middlesborough ; Mr. William Rollins, Tees-side
Ironworks, Middlesborough ; Mr. Henry Gilmore,
Albert-hill Works, Darlington ; Mr. John M'Kay,
Skerne Works, Darlington ; Mr. James Croft,
Witton-park Works ; Mr. John M'lver, Consett ;
Mr. Thomas Brown, Black-hill ; Mr. Oliver Duffel,
Jarrow ; and Mr. John Campbell, Walker.
Mr. PALMER, in opening the business, hoped that
nothing would be said to cause irritation, because
he believed it was the desire of all parties that the
question should be settled. (Hear, hear.) The
masters felt that they had been placed in their pre-
sent position by no fault of their own, and they
would he prepared to receive and hear anything
that the :1:--putation from the men might have to say,
wit:: a view of considering it. They would then
report it to a general meeting of the ironmasters,
Which would be called, provided the overtures—
which the Masters' Committee were only deputed
to receive—were such as to give some prospect
of settling the matter. The executive of the work-
men's unions felt now that they had committed
an error, inasmuch as they had since con-
demned what they at one time supported, and
they were now wishful to recall the recommen-
dation which they passed compelling the men
in North Staffordshire to abandon their work and
not submit to a reduction of wages. All parties,
whoever, believed fhata reduction ought to be sub-
mitted to, considering the depressed state of the
iron trade and the reduction in the price of iron. He
was sure that the propositions which the men would
make would be fairly considered.

Mr. KANE wished the masters to understand that
he did not attend that meeting as the mouthpiece of
the delegates, but as one desirous of promoting the
reconciliation, or, if necessary, to defend the reputa-
tion of the Gateshead Executive, which, he thought,
had been unjustly assailed. So far as the northern
executive was concerned, they had nothing at all to
do with bringing the men of North Staffordshire out.
They were brought out without the knowledge of
the executive, who held a conference at Sheffield
during the Christmas holidays. At that conference
a resolution was passed accepting the proposed re-
duction, because those present knew the depressed
state of the iron-market and the scarcity of
orders. The following week a delegate meeting was
held at Brierley-hill, at which the Northern Execu-
tive was not represented. That meeting considered
the Northern Executive had no right to take the
steps they had done. Hence they passed a resolu-
tion, and wrote to inform the body in the north of
the fact that they had determined not to accept the
reduction. That was the first intimation the Gates-
head Executive had of the resolution. The majority
of the men were against the movement. The con-
ference at Sheffield had broken up, and then the
Brierley-hill people had resolved to resist the reduc-
tion against the wishes of the executive. The Iron-
workers' Association had certain rules by which
they work in concert—Gateshead and Brierley-hill.
He had protested against the resistance, and he
wrote to Brierley-hill asking them to call another
meeting of delegates after the one at which it was
resolved to strike, but they refused to do so, on the
ground that it would be expensive. What, there-
fore, could the Gateshead Executive do under the
circumstances ? They had works under their control
in North Staffordshire, and they did not mind what
went before the world. The masters were banded
together for the purpose of looking to their own in-
terests, so were the men ; and in that respect it was
a fair battle. So far back as the 10th of January a
telegram was sent from the Gateshead Executive
against the strike, and another afterwards saying he
(Mr. Kane) would go over to Staffordshire to try
and induce the men to go to work. After that there
were resolutions passed that he should go over, be-
cause their rules distinctly embodied laws by which
the two executives were bound together in one united
course of action. But a difficulty arose in respect to
North Staffordshire, because it was in two divisions
—part in the Gateshead and part in the Brierley-
jurisdiction. He then wrote to Staffordshire, asking
them to call another delegate meeting at Brierley-
hill but he was told in reply that such a course
would be too expensive. Then came a meeting
at Gateshead, and at that meeting all the corre-
spondence on the subject was laid before the dele-
gates present, some of whom were prepared to speak
on the subject that day. Mr. Sambrooke gave a
true statement of the position of the strike, and he
was followed by Mr. Thomas and others, all of
whom advised the men to go to work. A resolution
was adopted to the effect that in the opinion of the
meeting the men be ordered to resume work, inas-
much as their strike was illegal,unjust, and uncon-
stitutional. After that resolution it was, agreed that

a deputation should be sent to South Staffordshire,
and Mr. Duffel and himself was appointed for that
purpose. They urged on the Council the propriety
of endeavouring to come to a settlement, but fruit-
lessly, and the deputation left them for home, to
chalk out their own course. When the deputation
got home they sent another telegram to North
Staffordshire but the officers said they could not
get the delegates together before the Saturday fol-
lowing, when the men refused to go to work. Such
was, in a condensed form, the real substance of the
whole matter as far as the Gateshead Executive was
concerned.

Mr. PALMER said the northern masters gave notice
along with the rest of the trade throughout England
of a reduction. They said that in all their districts
the reduction had been found just and right, and it
was accepted by the men. But it was afterwards
agreed between the two executives of the Men that
those on strike should separate the North Stafford-
shire men between the two executives. The result
WS that the men struck, and he had with him a
letter signed by Mr. Kane, and dated the 28th of
January, in which he said :
" That a delegate meeting was held at Brierley-
hill, and a resolution was passed to the effect that
the men of North Staffordshire resist the reduction.
The Council of Brierley-hill called their number of
North Staffordshire men out on strike, and acting
in concert with our friends at Brierley-hill, and
seeing the necessity of such, we immediately in-
structed the men of Hanley and district to come out
also to the number of 450."

The ironmasters resisted the men, and would not
give the advance which the men sought, and which,
in fact, the state of trade would not permit. They
resisted for some seven or eight weeks, and then
they found that large sums of money were subscribed
from Gateshead and Brierley-hill towards the main-
tenance of the men out. The masters of Stafford-
shire therefore came over to those of the North of
England, and said the latter were acting in concert
with the men, and were supporting indirectly those
on strike by contributing through the workmen to
a fund to enable the men on strike to fight the
masters. The masters of North Staffordshire asked
the northern employers to .come forward and sup-
port them in putting an end to the strike. They
said the South Staffordshire masters had agreed to
shut their works a week before if such a step were
thought necessary in the North of England. Before
closing the works in the North of England, a meet-
ing of the masters' association in this district was
called, and they invited deputations of masters from
North and South . Staffordshire to attend, so as to
inquire of them the then state of affairs before taking
the extreme measure of closing their works. He
(Mr. Palmer) put questions to the Staffordshire
masters to this effect :—Notwithstanding the reso-
lutions passed by the executive, or whatever the
union was called, condemning in toto the resistance
of the men, had money been sent over? Because
he conceived that some mode of settling the dispute
might have been devised if the support had been
withdrawn from the men on strike. The masters
said Mr. Kane had gone over to Staffordshire and
had taken money with him for the support of the
men ; and he had been mobbed because he had not
taken enough.
Mr. ICANE—I took no money at all after the resolutions
were passed.

Mr. PA put out the notice dated the 28th
of January, and the people in the northern part of the union
continuing to subscribe, there was nothing for the masters
to do but to act up to the notice they had posted at their
works. The masters had been driven into their united
action simply from the men having in many instances united
in a most oppressive manner. Unless masters were left to
control the force they employed, it was impossible to con-
duct trade successfully.

Mr. KANE said there was a difference between the two
combinations. The masters' steam engines ate no food,
but the men's stomachs still required it in a lock-out or a
strike. Hence, if all that had been read was correct, as
soon as the movement assumed its present form its aspect
was changed. The statement that because he did not take
sufficient money to North Staffordshire to tide over the
lock-out his life was jeopardized was not correct. It was
known that he had £260 ready the week previous, and that
this had been stopped by order of the executive ; yet, in
spite of that determination a resolution was passed in oppo-
sition to the executive. If the latter thus had no control
over the men, how could it be expected that they could
force the men to work ? They had withheld their funds
from them, and withheld them still. For the purpose of
preventing the strike or of bringing it to a conclusion, he
had visited Yorkshire and Staffordshire and had gone to
Tunstall in the latter county, and no floubt they had seen
the result. On that occasion he took no money with him
for the men. It was the 21st on which he didn't pay the
men, and it was a week previously to that time that the
money was put up antl;paid.
Mr. DALE said that what the masters and what the public
must really understand was that the Gateshead Executive
did really call out the men in North Staffordshire, and had
since supported them ; but the Executive now desired to
withdraw that support, and had withdrawn it. That in
itself evidenced that, whatever their connection with
Brierley-hill was at the outset, they had felt themselves
entitled to withdraw their support. That was apparently
all that they had to say to the masters. Ho accepted the
statement of Mr. Kane, that the original policy of the North
Staffordshire men was against the judgment of the execu-
tive. However they might disapprove it now, they were
active parties to it in calling the men out and subsequently
supporting them.
Mr. DUFFELL said he was at the North Stafford meeting,
and, granting that the Northern Executive participated in
the meeting, they had afterwards wished for a meeting of
delegates to prevent the turn-out. The meeting of the
delegates condemned the North Staffordshire affair in toto,
and he and Mr. Kano were appointed to go to North Staf-
fordshire to persuade the men to go to work, inasmuch as
it was unjust to disobey the orders of the executive. When
he came back from the south he attended the executive
meeting, and there it was stated that the disaffected men
should have no moremoney from the north, and if they did
not go to work the executive did not consider themselves
responsible for the actions of the men on strike. The exe-
cutive of the north could wash their hands of the affair,
and they had decided that they would pay up the men for
the time they had lost up.to the passing of the resolution
on the 11th discountenancing the strike, and that resolu-
tion had been strictly adhered to.
Mr. Horxrcs—lt seems that at this moment the North
Staffordshire men are receiving pay from somewhere.
Mr. SANE—There is not a penny going from the North
of England for their support to my knowledge, nor will
there any go.

Mr. DUFFELL—They have a fund of £6OO of their own,
They have private funds to last for many a long week yet.
Mr. PALMER said the discussion had shown that the mas-
ters of North Staffordshire had a proper claim upon the
masters of the north for some assistance as long as support
went to the men on strike from the north. But when the
delegates present declared that support was entirely with-
drawn, and that they had separated themselves entirely
from the southern district, ho thought that fact might lead
to some proposals or overtures.

The delegates pledged themselves through Mr. Kane
that the North Staffordshire men would not get a single
shilling of support from the Gateshead Executive after the
period the executive ordered them to go in to work, the
masters' committee retired to consider the matter, and
after about three-quarters of an hour's absence they re-
turned, and
Mr. PALMER said the committee felt that they were not
empowered to deal with the matter at present, and it would
be requisite for them to call a meeting of the trade gene-
rally. He might say, however, that the committee felt
that the delegates had made proposals for the solution of
the difficulty tending to an amicable conclusion of the
strike, but they also thought that any settlement of it ought
to comprise the South Staffordshire people. They also
thought that the unjust proceedings of the men in North
Staffordshire had arisen to a great extent from the men in
that locality who called them out ; and the committee
wished to impress upon the delegates to call on the executive
of the Brierley-hill Union to get the same declaration from
South Staffordshire that they (the Gateshead Executive)
were prepared to give.
The masters' committee subsequently announced that a
meeting of the North of England and Staffordshire masters
would be held at York on Friday, to which representatives
from the Gateshead and Brierley -hill Executive were invited
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between the masters of the North of England and those of
Staffordshire had been joint also, they, therefore, proposed
to call a meeting, to be attended by South Staffordshire
masters, on as early a day as possible, but giving sufficient
time to the Executive of Gateshead to put themselves into
communication with the Executive of Thierley-bill, in order
that they might put into shape some proposition to enable
both districts to start simultaneously ; but whether the
propositions would bo entertained by the meeting it was
not for them as a small committee to say; therefore, it was
necessary to postpone the meeting and take the sense of
the masters on the subject.
Mr. DUFPELL hoped they would not be long in starting,
as there were several of the men going off for other places
and other lands. Some of the men from his district had
gone to America.
After some further conversation the meeting dispersed.

LONDON.
A meeting of the delegates from the Trades' Societies of