The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-28 00:00:00

THE SUN.

LONDON, FRIDAY, NOV. 28, 1862.

One by one, facts are creeping out—indicative of
the generosity of the much abused mill-owners.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, it may be re-
membered, took occasion very recently to mention
a single instance in which a firm (the name of
which was not specified by Mr. GLADSTONE) was,
to the knowledge of that right hon. gentleman,
acquitting itself of its responsibilities, in the midst
of the surrounding distress, with a princely munifi-
cence. The name of the house, alluded to by Mr.
GLADSTONE, we are now happily enabled to par-
\ tioulaxise. It is that of the 'Messrs. Pia i Y and
Co., of Deanston in Ayrshire. Tidings from Catrine,
conveyed to us through a recent number of the
North British Afraid inform us, " This little town,
containing 2,526 inhabitants, is almost entirely
dependent on the cotton manufacture. The em-
ployers," says our north country contemporary,
"are Messrs. FINLAY and Co., who have also mills
at Deanston (Ayrshire). Two mills have been
closed since the 17th of September, and now the
bleaking works, also belonging to Messrs. FIN-
LAY and Co., are stopped, so that altogether 785
operatives in Catrine are unemployed, yet the
company pay half wages to all their hands, and
also give schooling to those under sixteen."
Well may the admiring recorder of these acts of
generosity exclaim, " Such liberality deserved the
world-wide fame given to it by the Chancellor
of the Exchequer recently," namely, upon the
occasion referred to, when Mr. GLADSTONE was
addressing the vestry meeting, holden at St.
Martin's-in-the-Fields, in' his capacity not as the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, but simply as a
parishioner.
Another instance of open-handed kindliness de-
serves to be related here as a match to this now
well-known deed of generosity performed by the
Messrs. FINLAY and Co., of Deanston, Ayrshire.
The instance we are about to particularise comes
to us, through the same channel, from Milugavie,
and relates to the Messrs. M'GREGOR and Co., of
that ilk, extensive millowners. " Here," we are
told, "the cotton mill of Messrs. ROBERT M'GRuGOR
and Co., ceased running on Tuesday week, owing
to the scarcity of cotton. By this event, up-
wards of 130 persons have been thrown out
of employment. But it is gratifying to be
able to state that starvation will be kept
from their houses nevertheless, by the
ample provision the company have made for
making them comfortable during the cold and dreary
months of winter. The great majority of the workers
live in houses belonging to the firm, and they have
unsolicited allowed them to sit rent-free for some
time past, as the mill was working short-time, and
now they have given each family a cart of coal.
They have also, at considerable expense, erected
two excellent soup-boilers, capable of holding 45
gallons each, and appointed two of the most
experienced of the female workerlAaNspcEoßokms,
,uoitE
nder
~
the superintendence of Mrs. ALEXANDER
GOB, who personally inspects the food to see
that there are no grounds of complaint, and whose
conduct in this matter cannot be totiormhsiglhiklye
commended." Now, remembering that
those of the Messrs. FINLAY and Co. and of the
Messrs. M'GREGOR and Co. are themselves among
the foremost sufferers from the prevailing distress,
the generous aid afforded by them, thus promptly
and spontaneously,with open hands and open hearts,
cannot but be recognised as doubly munificent.
The unobtrusive manner in which their benevo-
lence is lavished around them, moreover, enhances
our sense of its nobility. Like JOHN KYRLE, the
Man of Ross, they—
" Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame I"
It is quite impossible to suppose that instances
like
purelykethose here mentioned, are absolutely isolated
exceptional. We believe, on the con-
trary, that instances of an, opposite character,
; instances of coldblooded niggardliness and appa-
rent indifference to the distress now desolating
the manufacturingedoiusltaricats, are. the incidents which
are exceptional.
performedaceurate
anything like
ily an
list be made of the deednsy
by the millowners among their own
People
dingo gat the Cotteli amine began in dreadful