The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-24 00:00:00

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.-Aug. 23.

{From, the Times.)
The Kidderminster weavers have returned to
their work. They have consented to yield their
demand for an increased scale of wages, to work
twelve hours a-day, and to receive payment when
the werk is finished. Thus, then, this " strike"
may be considered at an end, if the intelligence
forwarded to us should prove to be correct. The
wretched victims of the delusion have, however,
already paid a heavy penalty for their error—so
many days out of work—so large a deduction from
their earnings —so heavy a run upon the little
sums accumulated in the savings-banks—so fre-
quent the visits to the pawnbrokers' shops—so
deep the distress of wives and families—so great
the loss of confidence and goodwill between
employers and employed. For the moment we
will only consider the effects of these " strikes"
upon the fortunes of the labouring classes, because
the injury they inflict upon employers, although
grievous enough, is of far less importance. The
money-loss is sustainable in most instances without
any very heavy deduction from the opulence and
comforts of the wealthy capitalist, but the result
to the labourer is in most instances permanent
embarrassment. We do not say that this would be
a reason for abstaining from a just demand, but it
does constitute a very important reason for hesita-
tion before engaging in a contest which must be
fought at such frightful disadvantages. There are,
no doubt, exceptional trades ; but we believe that
in by far the greater majority of cases a " strike "
among mechanics and artificers will lead to ono of
two results. Either machinery, which will work
and not " strike," will be introduced in substitu-
tion for men, who will " strike" but not work, or
strangers will be introduced from distant parts of
the country to perform those parts of the under-
taking which absolutely require the intervention of
human hands. We remember well a case in the old
days of the bleaching trade, when all the hands in
an extensive establishment struck for increased
wages. In the course of a week a sufficient number
of workmen was introduced from France, and they
carried. on the works with success, while the mal-
contents were turned out upon the world to beg-
gary and starvation. That which was possible
years ago is far more simple now, with our in-
creased facilities of communication, and we heartily
bid our English artificers to be upon their
guard, lest, by their own act, they cause
foreigners to be brought in over their own
heads. Nor can they hope for public sympathy
in their distress. Public opinion sympathises
quickly enough, and warmly enough, with the real
grievances of the labouring classes, but there is
about it nothing of a maudlin or irrational charac-
ter. The public will take the liberty of inquiring
on which side lies the fault. If it should be proved
that the masters are in reality paying a fair rate of
wages, and that the men are but acting in blind
obedience to the dictation of a few turbulent ad-
venturers, there is little doubt that public opinion
will do justice between the parties to the dispute.
It would be superfluous for us to point out to any
rational men that little is to be gained now-a-days
by violence and breaches of the peace. Happily
we are freed from all further apprehensions of
Luddites' and framebreakers. The organisation of
the police and military forces of the country, when
backed by public opinion, is so complete, that an
overwhelming force could at any given moment be
brought to bear upon any point for the suppression
of riot and disorder. Such a course has never yet
been productive of anything but misery and dis-
grace to all who entered upon it ; but, at least at
the present period of our history, the ruin of their
imitators—if any should be found—would be more
speedy, if not more complete. The present series
of " strikes" has, however, been tarnished by but
one actual outrage, and the result of that may be
read in our assize intelligence yesterday.
It is curious enough to see how readily workmen,
who might be supposed from their daily occupation
to understand the money or market value of the
material with which they are dealing, permit
themselves to be led away by misstatement.
In our impression of Monday we published
a copy of a memorial addressed to the iron
masters of the Merthyr district. In this do-
cument was contained a statement to the effect
that Mr. Robert Crawshay, the son of the
great ironmaster, had informed a number of his
workmen " that his father was being offered a con-
tract of 1/. per ton above the market price." It
turns out that Mr. Crawshay, jun., had not only
made no such statement, but, in fact, said " that
he had heard the price of rails was 9/. a-ton, but he
did not believe it." The whole question of the
strikes in South Wales turns upon this one point,
viz., the price of rails. As evidence of his good
faith, Mr. Crawshay has written to Mr. Thomas
Stephens, the chairman of the meeting, and offered
to supply him, or any customer he may bring, with
10,000 tons of rails, to be delivered between now
and the 31st of March next, at the rate of 8/. 10s.
per ton, Mr. Stephens to be allowed the usual com-
mission. If Mr. Crawshay be right in his figures
—and it would be difficult to give a better proof of
his sincerity—the movement among the workmen
in South Wales is founded upon error. We sus-
pect that in very many instances the credulity of
the workpeople has been taken advantage of in a
similar manner by a few adventurers. If the simple
truth were brought home to their minds that their
employers are, in point of fact, paying as
high a
rate of wages as the state of the market will per-
mit, they would be somewhat slow to court all the
evils inseparable from such "strikes." It is credit-
able to the times in which we live, that in all the
declarations from the employers to the employed
which have fallen under our notice we have invari-
ably found the masters pointing to the prices of
their commodities in the market as the only crite-
rion of wages. They endeavour, as in the case of
the Manchester dyers, to obtain the services of men
who are not affiliated to any of the trades' unions ;
—they claim, as in the case of Mr. Crawshay and
the South Wales ironmasters, to be themselves the
judges of the equitable proportion between wages
and profits ; but we find
no trace of any desire to
screw the men down to the lowest point for which
human labour can be obtained in the competition
for employment always proceeding in au old and
over-peopled country.
upon
Befere concluding these remarks, we would add
a few words of admonition to the employers as well
as to the employed. Much depends upon the man-
ner in which they conduct these painful disputes.
Patience should be on the side of intelligence. If
the masters are in the right, it is quite as easy—as
Mr.Crawshayare basr, as
of instant dismissal if they do not adopt the views
odtoonte—urnto sho v h
e the workpeople
they with threats
of their employers, be they right or wrong. It is
but right that the labouring classes should partici-
pate in the general prosperity ; it is equally so that
they should be made aware of their true position,
and not be abandoned to the propagandism of the

(Before Mr. Sergeant Adams.)
SELLING FORGED ORDERS OF ADMISSION TO " THE
ADELPHI."
George Newman, 47, pleaded guilty to having unlaw-
fully attempted to obtain by false pretences from John
Pallett, one shilling, with intent to cheat and defraud
him thereof.

It appeared that on the 4th inst., the prisoner went
to the shop of Mr. Pallett, a fishmonger, in Hunger-
ford-market, and asked him if he could make use of an
order for the Adelphi Theatre. He told the prisoner to
call for an answer in a quarter of an hour. He went
away, and returned within the time mentioned and
handed to Mr. Pallett what purported to be an admis-
sion to the Adelphi Theatre. He asked for money for
it, and represented that he was Mr. Webster's mes-
senger. The prosecutor, while the prisoner was away,
had sent for an officer, who apprehended him, and on
his being searched, a bundle of similar " orders" was
found upon him. It would seem that he had been driving
a rather successful trade in his own way, for one night
no less than 60 of these spurious orders were presented
at the theatre, but were of course refused. The pri-
soner set up that in consequence of the great cab strike
the play-going public could not get to the theatre, which
had been the reason of an overflowing issue of orders to
make up a house. This was untrue, and the order he
had attempted to cheat the prosecutor with was a
forgery.
The Assistant-Judge said he found the prisoner had
twice been convicted of felony, and then sentenced him
to one year's hard labour.
(Before Mr. Witham.)
SINGULAR CASE OF ROBBERY.
Elizabeth Billings, 19, was indicted for having stolen
a mahogany box, eight gold rings, and other articles,
value 201., the property of Selina Deane, in the dwell-
ing-house of Abraham Simmons. Mr. O'Brien appeared
for the prisoner.
The prosecutrix stated that she was the kept mistress
of Abraham Simmons who was formerly landlord of the
Sir John Falstaff public-house in Brydges-street, Covent-
garden. The prisoner had been in her service as maid-
of-all-work at that house, and during the time of her
servitude several articles were missed. The prisoner left
for a short time, but she returned again to her place on
the 25th of July, on the following day she missed a box
containing eight gold rings, a guard chain, four gold ear-
rings, and other articles, the value of which she esti-
mated at something more than 201. On the morning of
the 28th of July she went with a sergeant of the detec-
tive police to 15, Lewisham-street, Westminster, where
the prisoner was apprehended ; and on the way to the
station in Bow-street, she began to cry, and asked wit-
ness whether, if she told all about it, she would not for-
give her ; to which she replied, that if she told all about
it before a magistrate she would forgive her, if he would,
as she had no wish to prosecute her, and she then said
she had taken the things and had pledged part of them.
Several pawnbrokers' assistants proved the pawning
of the articles by the prisoner. It was an important cir-
cumstance in the case that one of the rings was pawned
on the 23d of July last, but the assistant could not, he
said, swear that it was pledged by the prisoner.
It was proved that the prisoner said at the police sta-
tion, " I took the things and afterwards pledged them."
Mr. Witham then read from the depositions the fol-
lowing statement made by the prisoner before the magis-
trate on the 4th of August :
" Last Wednesday week Mr. Simmons gave me the
mourning ring. Last Monday morning week I went to
his house ;he was standing at the door. I went in
with my sister, and he told me to get him a cup of tea.
I could not find my mistress, and he told me to go into
the kitchen. I went there, and he followed me and be-
gan pulling me about in a very indecent manner, and I
told him to keep his hands to himself. I went into
the bar parlour, and he followed me in there. My sister
(a child) was outside the bar, and she began to cry. He
then brought this box out of a cupboard in the parlour
and three receipts. He told me to burn the receipt, and
gave me the mahogany box, saying, I will make you a
present of this—it contained the rings and the ear-rings,
and he behaved very indecently towards me, and I told
him I would not allow him to touch me from what I had
heard of him. I said to him here's my mistress coming
down stairs, and he said no she is not, she is fast asleep,
and he began again with me ; and I said if he did not
leave me alone I would go out of the house and call an
officer. He said I will make you a present of these
things, and if anybody asks you anything about it, deny
it, and say I did not give it you. I was not to mention
how he acted towards me. basked him for some Luci-
fers to get out of the house, and he gave me some
money to get some, and gave my sister a cake or a half-
penny not to cry. When he had got hold of me the
barman came in, and he went away."
The prosecutrix, in cross-examination, denied that she
ever taxed Simmons with any impropriety of conduct to
the prisoner. She knew Laura Graham, and had seen
the party with Mr. Parkinson at the house. Simmons
did not get the money he demanded of Parkinson, but
probably he would yet.
Simmons was then called. He positively denied ever
having given the prisoner any of the articles, and indig-
nantly answered in the negative when asked as to the
charge made against him by the prisoner. On the morn-
ing of the 25th July, when the prisoner alleged this to
have occurred, she came to the louse with her sister,
and he set her to work to get his breakfast. The bar-
man was present, and could bear him out in stating that
what the prisoner had stated was all false. The priso-
ner's sister, "An interesting child, 17 or 18 months
old," he said, began to cry, and he gave her some
bread-and-butter and a cake. She cried because her
sister was away. He denied he allegations one by one,
and swore they were utterly false.
In cross-examination, he said he could not recollect
whether the Chief Justice told him in his case (Simmons
v. Parkinson) that he ought to be indicted forperjury, and
told the jury not to believe him on his oath ; but this he
knew, that the defendant, Parkinson, owed him more
than 4,0001., and that they said he charged too much
for goods, and that the jury believed the other side
more than they did him, for he didn't get the verdict.
Mr. O'Brien—Were you ever tried yourself ?
Witness (carelessly)—l don't know.
Mr. O'Brien—Don't know, sir ! Do you expect that
jury there to believe anything you say after giving that
answer ?

The witness here got very violent, and said he came
there to speak the truth, and nothing but facts, and he
wished to know what this had to do with the present
case. Ho said he was tried about six years ago for re-
ceiving a thousand pound note, but Baron Parke, the
judge on the occasion, stopped the case before three
words were said. He had received the note as a bet on
the course at Epsom, one Derby day, from a man named
Green. "The case (he said) never went to the jury,
and why is this brought up agin me now ?" and he pro-
ceeded, heedless of the admonition of the Court, to give
the jury his account of all that took place in the bar
parlour on the morning of the 25th of July, very
earnestly protesting that his only object was to tell the
truth.
Mr. Witham said the witness was conducting himself
with great impropriety.
In further cross-examination, he said he had seen the
prisoner's father in reference to the case. He did not
say to him that if the prisoner would withdraw the
charge she had made upon him, he would not prose-
cute her—but that if she did se he would recommend
her to mercy.
Mr. O'Brien—Has Miss Deane ever charged you with
impropriety towards this young woman.
Witness—Well, this is fresh—You ask curious and
funny questions-
-1 Mr. O'Brien—Do you know Laura Graham ?
Witness—Yes I do—
Mr. O'Brien —And acquainted with her as you are,
you think these funny questions and something fresh.
—Answer the question, sir.
Witness—Why no, e never did.
The barman was then called. His evidence fully cor-
roborated that of Simmons in negativing the charge
made by the prisoner. Had anything of the kind oc-
curred he must have both seen and heard it. The pri-
soner's sister was five or six years old.
Mr. O'Brien then addressed the jury. Re urged upon
them that the evidence of Simmons was apt worthy of
credit, and that as the case depended entirely upon his
oath, the jury would see of what value what he had said
on oath was. The learned counsel then alluded to the
late case of Simmons v. Parkinson, and the part the
plaintiff had borne in it—the painted horse,
the immense
sums of money charged for jewellery, and Miss Laura
Graham, with whom he had slept—and said it was
clear that his denial of what the prisoner had alleged
had been got up between him and the barman.
The prisoner's father deposed that before the final ex-
amination before the magistrate, Simmons sent for him
and offered to forego all prosecution, if the prisoner
would withdraw the charge she had made.
Mr. Witham, in summing up, dwelt strongly on the
admissions made by the prisoner, that she had taken
the things. If the defence was not true, it was an infa-
mous one, for then the prisoner had taken advantage of
Simmons' bad character—for it could not at all be said
that his character was good—to make up this charge
against him.
The jury found the prisoner guilty, with a strong re-
commendation to mercy.
Mr. Witham inquired on what grounds ?
The Foreman said—Under all the circumstances o:
the case.
Mr. Witham did not think it was a case for mercy

all, after the defence set up.
Mr. O'Brien said, as he stood there, he believed every
word of what the prisoner had said; and though twelve
men would not believe the man I.eamonti in ame of