The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-23 00:00:00

wishes, and they were dispersed by the police, as
soon as there was no further excuse for their remain-
ing together.

- - Mr. Daniel Rose, of Bull's-bridge Walks is an-
nounced as having set on one of 11.3 mills this

morning.
The three blast furnaces. of Messr Bagnal, on
the other hand, have been " blown down."
lIANLEY, Wednesday.

The Earl of LICHFIELD, the Lord-Lieutenant of
Staffordshire, presided at a public meeting held to
inaugurate a working men's club at Hanley yester-
day evening, and in the course of his opening speech
referred at some length to the question of the lock-
out in the iron trade. He believed the greatest
difficulty in all these disputes arose from a want of
a free, open, and frank understanding between the
parties, and he was persuaded that there was not
a sufficient knowledge of all the attendant circum-
stances in the possession of the public to enable
them to form an opinion upon the matter. They were
told that the origin of the strike in North Stafford-
shire—for the strike, if there was one, was there—
was owing to special circumstances which did not
exist in other parts of the country. He did not ex-
press any opinion as to whether that was right or
wrong, but he must say that he, for one, had not
been satisfied of what those special circumstances
were. He should like to see established in this coun-
try a system of arbitration by which these disputes
between employer and employed could be governed,
and he believed that and a good understanding be-
tween the parties were the only solutions of the dif-
ficulty. Another question on which the public were
in the dark was—How did it come about that the
men in North Staffordshire were acting in opposi-
tion to the wishes of the rest of the Union ? This
was apparent to all who read the history of this dis-
pute in the papers, and he must own that this matter
had not been made sufficiently clear to him. Again,
it appeared difficult to understand how it was that
persons peculiarly circumstanced, as they said they
were, should have influence brought to bear upon
them from a distance? One naturally asked were
theselmen, who belonged to unions in other districts,
sufficiently informed to be able to form an opinion on
these special circumstances, aird to govern the action
of the men who were under those peculiar circum-
stances? The public did not clearly see how this
dispute originated, nor how it was being carried on.
What to him as a Staffordshire man was especially
deplorable was that, somehow or other, Staffordshire
as a county had obtained a most unenviable noto-
riety in this dispute. He feared, from what he saw
and heard, that the working classes as a body were
too much disposed to trust to two or three men, who
in many cases constituted themselves their leaders,
and did not judge for themselves as much as they
were capable of doing if they set to work.
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, Wednesday Afternoon.

As regards the lock-out the situation appears to
be unaltered to-day. Another mediator, however,
Mr. James Morrison, who is largely interested in the
pig iron trade, and an owner of considerable blast
furnaces and other ironworks, has come forward to
recommend mediation.

The emigration scheme seems to have thoroughly
taken possession of the minds of the men. About 50
applications have been made to the lodge at Jarrow
to arrange for passages to America, and about 20
puddlers from Walker have intimated their readi-
ness to proceed to the same destination. A commu-
nication from Witton-park says :

" After the failure of the York conference the men here
had decided to take no further steps in the present state of
affairs, but to wait patiently until the masters do something
of themselves. The notice received from the Gateshead
Executive regarding the offers of emigration to America
has been laid before the men, and many of them intend to
avail themselves of its advantages. Thirty men, consisting
of puddlers and heaters,' have already given in their
names to the secretary (Mr. Gibbon) as being desirous to
emigrate. Among those men are most of the best workers
at Witton-park."

From Corsett the news is that all continues per-
fectly quiet, the only point now under discussion
being emigration. A great number of respectable
and provident men are making preparations to take
their departure. The men in the Darlington district
appear to be the only body of the unemployed work-
people who are making any movement to appeal to
the masters again with a view to arrange a settle-
ment. A joint meeting of the two lodges—viz., the
Albert Hill and the Skerne Ironworks—was held
yesterday forenoon, when they came to the unani-
mous resolution of holding their meetings for the
future conjointly, and that so far as the object they
have in view—the settlement of the present unhappy
dispute—they shall act as one society. Following up
the resolution, they further came to the determina-
tion at the same meeting of having one more inter-
view with their masters, so that they may do all in
their power to bring about a settlement of affairs,
and, should they be unsuccessful in this effort, then
it is their intention to throw themselves entirely
upon the public for sympathy and support.
With this view it is intended to hold a public
meeting of the inhabitants generally at the
Mechanics'-hall, to devise some means by which
they can better the condition of those who
are locked out through circumstances over which
they have no control. The Atherican emigration
agents have sent a notice for the names of as many
persons belonging to the different lodges as wish t o
emigrate, and this has been promptly replied to, no
less than 80 persons having signified their desire to
leave the country by the means thus offered them.
A resolution was also passed at the same meeting to
the effect that as many as could conveniently afford
it should abstain from drawing upon the funds of
the association, so that the Executive might have it
more in their power to assist their less fortunate
brethren, and to this appeal nearly 100 persons
signed their names.
A special meeting of the Labourers' Association
was held yesterday at the Lodge-room, Crown Inn,
Skinnergate, Darlington, at which the executive
body took into consideration the present state of
affairs, and after a long and deliberate consultation
they came to the conclusion that there was nothing
left them but to appeal to the public for counte-
nance and support in their present struggle. One
of the rolling mills was reopened on Messrs. Pal-
mer's works at Jarrow yesterday. As the Union
millmen absolutely refused to go to work unless the
puddlers were set on, the mill is kept going princi-
pally through the agency of Mr. Bladen, the mana-
ger, and his foremen. Some of the Trades Unions
of the north are holding meetings of their members
to raise funds to assist the locked-out puddlers ;
but a general movement in that direction has not
commenced yet. The masters are making no sign;
but it is believed that there is a council meeting of
the trade in London to-day, when something may
be done to remove the dead-lock into which rela-
tions between masters and men have drifted. Of
course, unless there is a re-approachment on one
side or the other, or mediation is offered and ac-
cepted, the lock-out may continue for weeks or
months. At present, to all appearances, there is a
strong determination of both masters and men to
hold out.

The adjourned meeting of the London Trades'
Delegates was held last evening at the Sussex Hotel,
Bouverie-street, Fleet-street, Mr. George Potter in
the chair. There were present delegates from South
and North Staffordshire and from the Millmen's
Association.
The CHAIRMAN said that since their last meeting
much had been said and done in regard to the lock-
out in the iron trade, which might be briefly sum-
marised. At the former meeting they passed a re-
solution expressing their belief that the course which
the masters had adopted was wrong, cruel, and un-
warrantable ; at the same time the meeting seemed
desirous to keep the strike and the lock-out distinctly
apart, and he wished it to be understood that the
delegates who attended the meeting from the two
Executives at Brierley-hill and Gateshead had no-
thing whatever to do with the latter part of the re-
solution, which expressed a desire to raise a sub-
scription for the support of the puddlers of North
Staffordshire who were locked out. He the more
had earnestly desired this to be understood, because he
seen it stated in the press that those parties
were in some
degree responsible for that resolution.
Now, the 1-1,-;eriAey-hill Executive had some weeks ago
--
declared their
opinion that the North Staffordshire
, and, if they refused to do
so, the Executive would cease to subscribe towards

their support. The North Staffordshire men did
refuse, and the Brierley-hill Executive abided by
their decision. The Gateshead Executive had also
assured the masters that they would not support the
North Staffordshire men, and the Millmen's Asso-
ciation, who had never sanctioned the strike, would
not now support them. Therefore, with what the
trades of London did last week the two Executives
of the Puddlers and the Millmen's Association had
nothing whatever to do. Such having been the
course pursued by those bodies the masters had no
excuse whatever for continuing the lock-out. The
Brierley-hill Executive had been blamed for not
attending at a meeting of the masters where the
Gateshead Executive were present, but they saidthat
they had done all they could in the matter. If the
masters would give them some idea of what proposi-
tion would be received by them, then the Executive
of Brierley-hill would take it into consideration.
But the masters would make no proposition or con-
cession. They took their stand upon the demand
that the North Staffordshire men should resume
work. The Brierley-hill Executive therefore de-
clared that they could do no more. Mr. Potter then
said that two important resolutions would be sub-
mitted to the meeting. The workmen of London
did not wish the prolongation of the lock-out ; they
would do anything that was honourable to bring it
to a termination. They felt that the masters had
shut out of employment many men, and had de-
prived their families of bread in order to punish the
North Staffordshire men. In this the men of Lon-
don believed the masters were wrong, and they were
confirmed in that belief by many eminent counsel,
and if the question were tried there was no doubt
the masters would be proved to have been guilty of
an illegal combination in the present lock-out.
There was no question of wages at issue. The men
had accepted their masters' conditions, and were
willing to work on those conditions, but they were
not permitted to do so by this illegal conspiracy on
the part of the masters. The question would be
raised in the House of Commons, and an important
debate would no doubt take place on the subject.
The resolutions, therefore, to be proposed that even-
ing, if adopted, would greatly strengthen the posi-
tion of those hon. members who take part in the
debate. There had been a great deal said on the
subject of emigration. Now, it was not patriotic to
advise men to emigrate. They took no part in that
scheme. Let those who compelled the necessity of
such a step bear the responsibility of it.
Mr. ALLKINS, president of the Brierley-hill Exe-
cutive, then addressed the meeting. After describ-
ing the steps taken both by the masters and men to
organise themselves into unions, he said that the
Association of the Masters had become too strong for
resistance. The men in North Staffordshire repre-
sented that in consequences of the dearness of living in
their part of the country they required higher wages
than in South Staffordshire, and it was then proposed
that the North Staffordshire men should resist the
proposed reduction of wages by the masters, and
that their fellow-workmen elsewhere should assist
them in doing so. In consequence of this the North
Staffordshire masters appealed to the South Stafford-
shire masters to close their works. There happened
to appear a letter in the papers signed by Mr. Kane,
the treasurer of the Gateshead Executive, pressing
the trade to come forward with their levies to assist
the north in their struggle ; and yet since then the
Gateshead Executive had endeavoured to throw the
whole blame of the strike upon the Brierley-hill
Executive. The masters had extended the lock-out
to the men of South Staffordshire, although they
were willing to work at the reduced wages ; but it
was required of them that they should get the North
Staffordshire men to resume work. This, however,
it was impossible for them to do. They had passed a
resolution calling upon those men to go to work, but
when that resolution was submitted to the masters
they doubted its sincerity. If it were possible to
bring this unhappy struggle to a close by means of
arbitration the men of South Staffordshire were quite
willing to use whatever influence they possessed,
which he feared was very little, to accomplish that
end.

Mr. BIDDESTON, a delegate from the Millmen's
Association, said he did not think that the strike and
the lock-out could be regarded as two distinct things.
They stood in the relation of cause and effect. The
lock-out was simply the effect of the strike in North
Staffordshire. Remove the strike, and the lock-out
would cease. It seemed to him that the North Staf-
fordshire men had not been treated with justice by
the two executives by whom they were originally
called out. The men were called out on certain con-
ditions, and which conditions had not been fulfilled
by the two executives. The men had been promised,
he believed, 10s. a head, but he understood they had
only received 2s. 6d. per head. He considered that
in justice the two executives were bound to pay the
men on strike the whole of the money they had been
promised from the time they were locked out up to
the present day. This would induce the North
Staffordshire men to return to work, and thus an
end would be put to the lock-out. But that not being
done, the men felt that they had been made the cats-
paw of other parishes, and had resolved not to go to
work, let the consequence be what it would. But if,
after all, the men still refused to work, then he would
say, let them perish. It was far better that 1,000
men should perish than that 150,000 or 160,000 who
were to all intents and purposes innocent should be
utterly ruined. He saw no other way by which the
lock-out could be terminated. As to the question of
the illegality of the conduct of Ale masters, he thought
it would be well to say nothing about that. Who
could tell but that the action taken by the work-
men might be quite as illegal as anything done by
the masters ?

Mr. BAKER, a North Staffordshire delegate, com-
plained of the conduct of the Brierley and Gateshead
Executives in having cut off all allowance to the
North Staffordshire men after having caused them
to strike for wages. If. the two executives had, in
the first instance, advised the North Staffordshire
men to accept the reduction of wages he had no
doubt they would have done so, and there never
would have been any lock out. But the executives
had turned against them, and the North Stafford-
shire men had to fight their .own cause. He, how-
ever, could assure the meeting.that the men of North
Staffordshire, rather than give up the union, would
suffer death one by one. Those men last Saturday
only received 2s. 9d. each. If, however, the masters
would consent to open their works to the men of
South Staffordshire, then themen of North Stafford-
shire were willing to resume their work and leave
the question of wages to be settled by arbitration.
Mr. STRAHAN, from Gateshead, would say nothing
about the origin of this dispute, or as to who was to
blame for it ; that was a matter between the three
parties—the Brierley-hill and Gateshead Executives
and the North Staffordshire men. What the public
were anxious about was, how could the dispute be
closed in a satisfactory manner to all parties.
The parties on strike said that they had a state-
ment of grievances to make. Let them furnish that
statement. Let the men of North Staffordshire set
forth in writing what were the circumstances which
they believed justified them in not going to work.
Let that statement be submitted to their masters,
and let the masters answer it, and then lethematter
be left to the decision of four gentlemen to say who
was right and who was wrong. Let the decision be
mofmadeatsht masters
rn bye
nLo
might
arnd
tab
nk
byStanleyfia fit to
yt
oandtwo
wapop Lord
oint E
other
. Aml cseh on
men
whom
to the
nibehalfques-
tion
of legality or illegality, he thought the masters
were quite as justifiable in the course they had pur-
sued as the men. He did not mean in a moral or
humane sense, but as far as the combination laws
were concerned. He thought there was prima facie
evidence that the masters were justified in proposing
a reduction of wages, so far as the price of iron
was concerned—it was therefore a very fair question
to be left to the consideration of some neutral per-
sons to say whether that was the fact or not. He
denied that the Executive of Gateshead took any
Po
resolution awdaosp t
adoptede d for
atcallinga
meetingt he m eant
f rB uaio:tt ms.
to inn on the That resolution
the 2d of January, at which no delegates
the Gateshead Executive attended.
A DELEGATE asked whether Lord Stanley or Lord
Eorl
h,
of
ro
ironworksA wereiAe knor to possess any knowledge of iron
DONALD, President of the Miners' Na-
tional Association, explained how it happened that