The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-22 00:00:00

The Lock-out in the Iron Trade.

WOLVERHAMPTON, Tuesday, March 21.
There are about 2,000 puddling furnaces in South
Staffordshire:and East Worcestershire, belonging to
about 112 firms ; and in North Staffordshire there
are about 220 puddling furnaces, owned by five
firms. The calculation is that in getting the coal
used in a puddling furnace four men and boys are
employed ; in the production of the pig-iron, from
the taking of the ore from the earth to the delivery
of the iron at the works of the finished iron maker,
eight men and boys ; and in the converting of the
pig-iron to the finished article, including its removal
from the works, ten persons find regular occupation.
Thus every one of the, say, 2,200, furnaces in Staf-
fordshire represents the labour of 22 persons, or a
total of 48,400. If from the total furnaces we make
a deduction of 15 per cent. for furnaces out of use
or undergoing repair at the time when the lock-out
commenced, we have a working total of 1,870
puddling furnaces, affording employment for 41,140
persons. If upon each of these persons we make
the living four human beings to depend, we find that
if these are unable to labour the subsistence of
164,560 persons is cut off. To ascertain the num-
ber of persons who in Staffordshire and East Wor-
cestershire alone depend upon the industry of those
employed about the ironworks and pits there, we
deduct three persons from the eight who produce
the pig-iron used in every puddling-furnace. We
make this deduction as a set-off for the pigs that
are imported into Staffordshire from other dis-
tricts. We then find that in Staffordshire and East
Worcestershire alone the stopping of the puddling
furnaces therein would deprive 142,120 men, women,
and children- of their usual means of support. At
the present time, however, there are 120 furnaces
belonging to six firms, that are being kept at work
in the district named. Deducting the people who
are supported by the operations of these furnaces,
we have a total of 133,000 persons living around
the Staffordshire masters who, if these six firms
only should resume, will, as long as the lock-
out lasts,•be deprived of maintenance in immediate
connexion with the ironworks so soon as the makers
of pig-iron for puddling purposes decline any longer
to make for stock.

Taking the number of furnaces out of the North
of England at 778, and applying the same calcula-
tions to them as we have employed upon competent
authority to the Staffordshire and East Worcester-
shire district, we find that the hands thrown out
there will number 14,782, representing 59,128 men,
women, and children, all immediately dependent
upon the ironworks. We have reason to know that
the richer masters are employing their influence to
prevent those who have less capital from being com-
pelled to open their gates. Arrangements are in
progress whereby the banks will, we are assured,
be able to arrange among themselves for the pro-
tracted currency of the " paper " on one or two no-
toriously weak firms. These bills should be met
early next month. The banks will experience less
difficulty respecting them, because, as the proba-
bilities are, no new paper will be " put on "by such
firms in April.

The insincerity of the delegates in Staffordshire,
in relation to their expressed desire that the men in
the northern division of that county should return
to work, is being referred to by the masters as fur-
ther manifested by their allowing the London trade
societies to determine to support North Staffordshire
without any protest being raised by the I3rierley-hill
Executive, notwithstanding they professed to have
been aggrieved by the course which North Stafford-
shire was and still is pursuing.
The delegatemeeting terminated on Monday night
at a late hour. There were 20 districts represented.
Those districts were Brierley-hill, Wolverhampton,
West Bromwich, Wednesbury, Great Bridge, Tip-
ton, Tividale, Smethwiek,,Walsall, Pelsall, Kinver,
Bilston, Morley, Derby, Shropshire, Liverpool,
Manchester,Warrington, Openshaw, and Pendleton.
They reported that the number of members locked
out and entitled to receive relief were—Brierley-hill,
1,054 ; Wolverhampton, 370 ; West Bromwich, 430;
Wednesbury, 260 ; Tipton, 460; Tividale, 85 ; Man-
chester, 110 ; Walsall, 87 ; Pelsall, 83 ; Kinver, 64;
Morley, 87 ; Bilston, 28.
It was explained that in Bilston the men belonged
partly to the Gateshead and partly to the Brierley-
hill Executive, the members under the latter being
those employed at the Regent Works of Messrs.
Beard. Altogether, relief would be claimed by 3,749
members on the Brierley-hill Executive. In all, the
number of members who would be able to contribute
to the support of the rest locked out was 874. The
opinions of these 874 having been canvassed, the
delegates reported that they were willing to pay a
levy of ss. per member per week in behalf of their
brethren throughout the executiveo jurisdiction, in