The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-10 00:00:00

a strike by the men, that would be a lock-out by the masters.
There are others who ask why at the instant of victory—say
rather at the climax of starvation—for the North Stafford-
shire men had got down to ls. sd. each per week, so great
did the co-operative sympathy show itself—the masters
should give way ? But surely noblesse obi/lye—the stronger
should give way to the weak—the richer to the poorer—
just as those, who hare to care for children, disregarding
their little petulances, go on to conduct them to their good,
unheeding small offences. " Respect the Emperor,"
cried his jealous suite, when on a narrow hill-path in St.
Helena the great exile was confronted by a porter carry-
ing a large trunk. "Respect the burden," said the Em-
peror, stepping aside to' let the man pass more readily.
It is with this feeling of regard for the burden that the
masters have been actuated in their recent conduct.
We trust the forbearance will be appreciated and not over-
tasked. For ourselves, we persist in our original proposi-
tion—the deadliest enemies of the men in this district are
their unions ; with these there is only one way to deal.
Thoroughly sift their accounts and diminish their funds by
every fair and legal moans. By the first it will become known
hoW shamefully they have been mismanaged; by the second
their funds, their power of mischief, will be destroyed.
Take away the money and there will be no paid orators, no
spouting, no travelling from district to district to beat up
commotion. There is an insect in pond waters which has
two heads, with one of which it stirs up a perpetual agita-
tion, to create bubbles that it sucks in with the other, and
so7gets its living on perpetual whirl and worry. This is the
delegate. .Now, the whole machinery of a benefit club,
from which, as a point, the unions first star' 1.. with-- the
original basis of which their power is constitute( • ly,
is supplied at the present moment with great :.,:lvantages
and at a cheaper rate, only with ono exception, by the Go-
vernment in the Post-office deposit banks and the now life
assurance and provision for old age, both by weekly pay-
ments. Here we have the burial club and the provident
fund. In their sick fund alone have the unions an ad-
vantage. Let there be a subscription for a guarantee fund
to this purpose, and let " Gladstone Clubs" be opened
offering provision for life and death and health, based on
Government security for the two former and a guarantee
fund for the latter. By this means the ground will be en-
tirely cut away on which the union funds are built up.
We shall have much pleasure in assisting and advising to-
wards the wholesome end. The men are going in ; the
delay until Monday evening, in some instance; entirely
arising from the fact of there not being time to get the fur-
naces ready for the puddlers so as to make wages for them
for the Saturday; hence they prefer to make a clear week by
commencing on Monday. It may serve as an instance of the
little faith to be placed in the honesty and directness of the
executives of these unions to mention that great efforts were
made by the Gateshead Union to prevent peace in North
Staffordshire. Amemorial—said to have been signed by the
nortorioue Kane, on behalf the body over which he is
president—was presented on Thursday night to a meeting of
the Brierley Union. In this precious document it was sug.

gested that the men of the north of England, though they
were pledged to the northern masters not to support the
North Staffordshire strike, considered themselves as quite
free to give every assistance to 'the South Staffordshire
men if they would consent to turn the lock-out into a strike,
and help to aid in carrying the North Staffordshire proposi-
tion. The Brierly men, however, had experienced quite
enough, and voted to resume work, but postponed doing so
until Monday evening.