The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-05 00:00:00

selves. lam afraid we must admit that there are
very few parts of the country where the outdoor
aspects of nature are less agreeable than they are
here in the neighbourhood of Liverpool. We are
not favoured in that way, and that is all the
more reason why we should endeavour to make
compensation as far as we can by providing indoor
comforts for the absence of that which we cannot
have, however pleasant it might be in the summer
weather—for the absence of the green fields, and
the shady lanes, and the pleasant open commons of
the south. Well, then, the question is asked,
"'What security have you that an erection of this
kind will be supported ?" My answer is that we
hope, and we confidently believe, that it will be
not only managed, but also to a great extent owned
by those for whose benefit it is established. (Hear.)
Expressly for that purpose the shares have been
made of very small amount. It is the anxious
desire of the promoters that they should be so held,
and they are so at present to some extent ; they
will be so, I believe, to a much greater extent when
the thing is fairly in operation, and if they are
not so held, it will not be for want of encourage-
ment, because, by a stretch of liberality which ap-
pears to me even extreme, if I understand the ar-
rangements rightly, preferential advantages have
been granted to those who are holders of not more
than two or three shares over those who hold a larger
number, so that the former class are sure of their
return. I should have thought that stimulus was
unnecessary, but Mr. Laird has been the most active
and prominent manager of the concern, and I think
his name will be to you a sufficient guarantee that
the arrangements are sound and satisfactory in a
business point of view. (Cheers.) One thing more I
must say. If this club does not receive the support
—or rather if this hall intended for the reception of
a club does not receive the support which is expected
that may arise from mismanagement—everything is
possible—or it may arise from indifference, but of one
; thing I am surer it is perfectly idle to contend that
that may arise from the want of power in the work-
ing men who keep it going. (Hear, hear.) There is
a curious fallacy, there is a kind of mental confusion
that arises in the minds of newspaper readers from
the use of that very vague, and indefinite, and un-
satibfactory term " the working classes." People
'think, when that name is mentioned, of labourers in
rural districts, and immediately picture to themselves
a family whose weekly earnings barely suffice to meet
their weekly wants. I need not tell the audience I
am now addressing that a skilled artisan in these
parts is not only above the reach of distress, except
in such extraordinary circumstances as the/breaking
out of a war, a cotton famine, or the like ; but that
he is better off, so far as money goes, than very many
; of those educated men who embark upon the hon-
ourable perils of professional life. (Hear.) I have
lately seen—it was drawn up for me—a statement of
the rate of wages hereabouts, and I find that they
range (I am speaking, of course, of skilled labourers)
from 30s. to two guineas weekly, that is allowing for
those occasional holidays which we are all of us the
better for having, and which I suppose none of us can
do without. Allowing for those, it is an income of
from £7O to £lOO a-year—that is, for working in the
usual way, forl am told that if a skilful artisan is em-
ployed by piece-work he may generally command a
higher rate. Now, I do not think I shall be told
that men living upon these wages are unable to
support a club, and I think they might do much
more than support a club. I see no reason why a
1 large proportion of them should not, if they think
fit, and supposing that the proper agency of sup-
, plying the demand is provided, as I am told it is
here—l see no reason why a large proportion of
them should not, if they choose it, live in their own
freehold houses. (Cheers.) Now, I have always
looked upon five things as going together—cheap
schools and institutes, which are only the schools
continued ; cheap books and newspapers ; the
savings bank and the insurance office, which is
another form of savings banks ; the club ; and the
freehold house. Three of these you have already ;
the two others you may have if you choose to pro-
vide them for yourselves. (Cheers.) And lam not
in the least afraid, speaking in the interest of the
employer, that a man will work one bit the worse
for feeling himself in a higher and more satisfac-
tory social position. I don't talk here about inde-
pence—independence is a word which is sadly
iabused—nobody is independent except the savage.
(Cheers.) We are all dependent upon one another
--the rich upon the poor, the poor upon the rich,
and the rich just as much as the poor. (Cheers.)
Civilised society cannot exist otherwise, but I be-
lieve every thinking and feeling employer would
desire those who work under him to feel themselves
independent in one sense, in the true sense of the
word—that is, to feel that they are above the
pressure of immediate distress, that they are not
living from hand to mouth, and that they are not
liable to the caprice or the dictation of any single
individual. (Cheers.) My belief is that the more
you cultivate the feeling of self-respect, the more
you cultivate independence in that sense among
working men the better, the pleasanter, and not
more difficult you make the relations between them
and their employers. (Cheers.) I cannot speak
from any practical knowledge myself, but no man
has more of that than my friend Mr. Laird—(hear,
hear)—and I hope he will say a word to you. Now,
gentlemen, it only remains for me to wish success
and prosperity to this undertaking, and to express a
hope which I am confident will be realised, that
those who have given their money and—more than
money--who have given their time and their trouble
to its promotion, will be, as they deserve to be, long
and honourably among you. (Loud cheers, during
which his lordship resumed his seat.)
After short speeches by several working men,
Mr. JOHN LAIRD, M.P., who was loudly applauded,
said—Mr. Chairman, my lords, ladies, and gentle-
men, after the full discussion which you have had
upon the merits and demerits of this hall, and upon
the merits and demerits of public-houses, I shall not
occupy your time more than five minutes with what
lam about to say. The resolution confided to me
is that a vote of thanks be accorded to Lord Stanley,
Earl Grosvenor, and Lord Richard Grosvenor, and
other gentlemen who have honoured us with their
presence to-night. (Applause.) I know it would
be distasteful to those noblemen if I were to say
anything at all flattering in their presence ; but I
think I may remind the working men, a number of
whom are here, that those noblemen have not
been content with the high position in which they
were born, but they have been determined to show
by their attention to their Parliamentary duties, and
by the interest they. have taken in the various
measures which have been brought forward, not
only for the general benefit of the country, but
especially for the welfare of the working men, that
they did not win their present position by birth, but
they had attained it, and would maintain it, by the
force of example and the force of ability. (Hear,
hear, and renewed applause.) We have provided a
workmen's hall, and it is now for the working men
of this place to promote its success, for it rests en-
tirely upon the working indn themselves. (Hear, hear.)
We may start an institution of this kind, but if the
working men will not avail themselves of it the in-
stitution will be a failure. I believe the working men
of Birkenhead have the means of making this hall
pthroems
leriovuess,
of its
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notraegtehs they attend
mere
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andil availpro.
gross in social position and intellectual attainments.
If they are not now educated, and are determined to
become educated, and to educate their children, and
to lay by their money until, as one of the speakers' has
suggested, they are able to obtain a houselot them-
selves, they will become the most indepenUnt class
in the country. (Hear.) As an em,p`loyer of
labour I can fully confirm what was stated by Mr.
that a good workman, if he is not
Hodge—namely,
satisfied with his Rages or his master, can leave his
employment in a day ; but the employer of 2,000
or 3,000 men cannot do so ; he cannot move his
establishment ; therefore, in that respect, the work-
ing man has the advantage. (Hear.) But lam
sorry to say that working men in general, many of
them, at any rate, do not take advantage of the
opportunities for improvement which are offered to
them. If they attended more closely to their work,
and, instead of spending their money foolishly,
invested it in building societies and other institu-
tions established in this neighbourhood they would
become thoroughly independent of landlords, they
would themselves be the owners of houses ; and