The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-26 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1853.

Once more we have rumours that the Eastern
difficulty is susceptible of a pacific termination.
It is also gravely asserted that " the resources of
diplomacy are not as yet exhausted, and that
whatever may still be the irritation, real or
affected, of the Emperor NICHOLAS, Europe will
be spared the horrors of war !" Be it so ! We
are not desirous of bloodshed, and shall be per-
fectly satisfied if France and England abandon

the vacillating, cowardly, and dishonourable
policy hitherto pursued, and act with vigour and
efficiency, even at the eleventh hour. We confess
that we place but little reliance on the statements
respecting the warlike or pacific tendencies of the
AUTOCRAT. We do not assume as elements
in the calculation anything based on his
supposed moderation, or on his high feelings
of honour. We believe that he will act solely as
his interests, or what he believes to be his inte-
rests, may dictate—that he will recognise, or be
influenced by no other considerations. His mo-
deration forsooth ! It is that of the wolf, when
determining whether he shall attack the lamb
during the absence of the guardian dogs. His
punctiliousness—it is that of the brigand, who
doubts whether he shall persevere in his attack in
the face of armed protectors, or desist for a brief
period, until a more favourable opportunity may
occur for carrying out his nefarious projects. If
he believe that the Western Powers can be either
cajoled or bullied, he cares not which, he will per-
severe until the Russian standard be planted on the
walls of Constantinople, and his fleet rides triumph-
ant off the Golden Horn. If on the contrary he sees
that France and England are determined to resist
a routrance, that they will cordially cc-operate to-
gether to protect and sustain their injured ally,
he will devise some mode of sneaking out of the
contest, and devour his leek with becoming humi-
lity. It is unprovoked and unwarranted aggres-
sion that has created the difficulty. He is respon-
sible for all the mischief, and must submit to the
fitting retribution, and he will do so if the Wes-
tern Powers act in a manner befitting their ancient
reputation. He may bluster and vapour, but if
he perceives a manly and firm resolution on our
part he will eventually succumb. He is too
well aware `of the impossibility of resisting the
combined action of the Fleets of France and
England, of the enormous price which he must
pay for even the attempt to carry his ambitious
projects into execution, to brave the avenging
NEMESIS-t 0 encounter the fitting retribution of
his iniquitous schemes. He knows what will be
his own fate when the commerce of Russia is an-
nihilated, and her ports blockaded, and their
entrances hermetically sealed. He will not brave
a risk so formidable. But he will go on until as-
sured that we are in earnest—until the good
and excellent ABERDEEN be removed from the
position he unfortunately holds in the Councils of
his Sovereign—until the British Parliament as-
sume its natural functions, and refuse to be hood-
winked by any man or body of men—until these
events occur, he will persist steadfastly and per-
tinaciously. Then, and not until then, he will
make the best retreat practicable—ready to make
another onslaught whenever a favourable oppor-
tunity may arise.

Let not the public, then, be deceived by these
rumours, which are invented by interested per-
sons, and circulated for the vilest purposes. The
Bears are but two well aware of the effects pro-
duced on the public mind by constant excitement.
They see, and take full advantage of, the opportu-
nities for plunder thereby afforded. Let bona fide
investers in stocks or shares, however, refuse to
fall into their traps. Let them rely confidently on
the resources of their Fatherland, and the impos-
sibility of its sustaining any serious damage in the
conflict, if such should really be forced upon it.
But, above all, let them be well assured that no-
thing is so well calculated to avert war as the exhi-
bition of a firm and unyielding front and inflex-
ible determination. There was much truth in the
blundering assertion • of Sir BOYLE ROCHE, that
" the best way to avoid danger is to meet it full
in the face." If among the means of peace said
to have been exhausted by our diplomatists, we
had, on the crossing of the Pruth, moved our
vessels to the Sea of Marmora—if we had accom-
panied that movement by a distinct and unequi-
vocal declaration that on the first shot that was
fired in anger the combined fleet would bombard
Odessa and Sebastopol, and that another division
would sail for the Baltic and keep watch
over Cron s tadt, the question would have
been long since amicably arranged, and we should
have been spared the enormous loss and inconve-
nience occasioned by the long-protracted negotia-
tions, and the unsettled state of affairs. Let us,
then, ere it is too late, adopt a vigorous and
manly policy worthy of our ancient reputation.
It is by such conduct only that we can partially
repair the damage already inflicted, and prevent
further and more serious injury from being
sustained.

It has been suggested to the Leaders of the
Peace Conference, we suppose in the way of
banter, that they should undertals .e the task of
reconciling the masters and ram, who have
mutually struck. We really see no reason in
sober seriousness why they should n ot accept the
challenge. If successful, we are oonfident that
already thousands of families would say, " Blessed
are the peace-makers," and every week will in-
crease the numbers of wives, mothe rs, and chil-
dren, at least, who would give them heartfelt
thanks for deliverance from debt, sex ni-starvation,
and the pawnbroker. If unsuccessful, no one
would reproach them for failure in so benevolent
an attempt. It is, we fear, vain. to reduce a
strike of classes to its componenA elements of
individual dealing. It may be true, as far as it
goes, that the transactions between operatives and
the millowners should be as simplice a matter as
dealing between a tradesman and his customer.
In practice, however, many incide n.tal differences
widely distinguish the two cases. The most im-
portant are the distinctness with -which, to the
vulgar eye, the relation between a manufacturer
and his workman stands out to -view ; and the
fact, that it is only by the hands in. a factory, or
other large business, combining as one man they
can produce any impression on the one who
stands in the same relation to them all.
Fundamentally the buyers and milers of labour
must obey the same laws as other tux: yers and sellers.
It will require, however, all the heimely eloquence
of the Anti-Corn-Law Leaguers to convince the
Preston cotton weavers of this ruadoubted fact.
To the eye of the many the Master appears to
be the man who doles out to each workman his
living. He seems to hold in his, hands the mea-
sure of each man's comforts. Et is easy to ima-
gine, especially when he builds a mansion near
his mill in the country, or erects one out of the
town when inconvenienced by its smoke, that if
he would he could spare somewhat more to each
of his servants. It looks like getting rich at tbe
cost of their imperfectly requited. toil. To a dis-
interested and educated man it is generally easy
enough to show the fallacy of the se imaginations,
but not to an interested and illiterate man. All
the orators, too, to whom the operative listens
(too often knowing much better) cherish and
strengthen his delusion, and occasionally success-
ful strikes tend yet more to confirm it. Further,
to get rich by paying labourers as little as pos-
sible will always seem more invidious than getting
rich by obtaining the best price for mere articles
of trade in the open market. Commercially, a
pound of sugar and a day's lab our are equally
articles of sale ; but the pound. of sugar knows
nothing of comfort or discomfort in the process—
saupgeanrnsytimll,owrehoilrelaessfefworpietnleeeavpeseri.:dt
abyutmaorpeouonrdleossf
for labour touch the comforts' it may be the
vital necessaries, of a family
of our brother men.
The close proximity, so to speak,
of the wages of
labour to human happiness or mita'rY
make the price of labour more a ew alwaysconsiderationillf
for
the heart than the price of other things. Even
when, as now, the cost of necessaries and comforts
is so painfully felt by many, there is more ten-

dency to blame the payers of unaltered wages than
the sellers of food. Wages will seem more de-
pendent on mere will than the prices of articles
of which PROVIDENCE has furnished but a dimi-
nished quantity.
To such circumstances as these may be traced ,
so much of the bitterness attendant upon strikes.
Masters think men dissatisfied and grumbling be-
cause having done with so many shillings per
week they ask for more. Men think masters
avaricious and hard, because trade being brisker
they are unwilling to advance. It becomes a
question of will, and will not ; of mutual misun-
derstanding of each other's positions; of false views
of honour on each side, till what was begun as a
tolerably cool fight ends in the bitterest exaspera-
tions, the deepest distress, breaches of the public
peace, the trade of a district perhaps ruined, and
the orders transferred for a permanency to other
lands. We are sorry to observe that already
the Preston contest begins to assume a more
than commercial aspect. The grand complaint,
according to Mr. GEORGE COWELL, whose letter
has attracted so much attention, now is, that
while many of the masters received the deputa-
tions from their workmen with " a courtesy and
respect which did them the highest honour,"
and which, be the result of the contest
what it may, " will be remembered with gra-
titude," the majority " spurned the hands
from their presence, treated them with insult,
and, in a few cases, with rudeness unbearable."
Of course we have only Mr. CowELL's word for
this. If it be true, we certainly wish it were not
so ; far be it from us to encourage masters in un-
gentlemanly behaviour, and least of all towards de-
pendents. But while no doubt bearish masters
can be found, as well as bearish workmen, the
latter must take care not to confound the sense
of independence in a master with rudeness. We I
think it perfectly natural that many a master did,
from the thoroughly English feeling of keeping
his own concerns to himself, pretty decidedly re-
sent the demand for proof that he could not
afford the advance of 10 per cent. Bad enough,
he thought, to have to expose my income to the
agents of Mr. GLADSTONE, but to have all these
workmen debating my profits and losses at every
tavern—no, I will starve rather than submit to
it. Mr. COWELL, too, must forgive us, if we are
compelled to doubt, however respectfully they
might think proposals intrinsically repulsively
worded, whether the bearers of the proposals
always discharged their ungrateful office in the
least irritating manner. Mr. COWELL, though
striving to write like an apostle of meekness,
indulges in some rhetoric as bad in temper as it
is deplorably vicious in taste ; and it is therefore
almost certain, that some of his legates did not
altogether refrain from provoking language.
We know too well the threatening impudence
with which Trades'illnions, and other combined
bodies of men, confident in numbers and organi-
sation, are but too ready to use towards their
masters. Corporations of this kind are tempted,
like all corporations, to behave unitedly as they
would not individually. We must repeat, then,
our regret that the bitterest and most lasting
element of strife and ill-will should have been in-
troduced into this dispute. It will be a great
advantage if any who on either side have
descended to bad temper and irritating expres-
sions, would recal all that is offensive on that
score immediately.
As to the final result, there appears to us little
doubt, that after:terrible suffering, if the contest
be prolonged, the men must give way. They
are by no means so well provided with the
sinews of war as were the amalgamated en-
gineers ; over whom the masters obtained never-
theless a complete triumph. No doubt, if
vengeance be a gratification, some of these
masters must suffer by the strike ; by no means
all of them, however, in the actual state of
trade. But what are their sufferings com-
pared with those of the men ! What numbers
of families are put upon short allowance,
at once, and what numbers will have immediately
to pawn some of the acquisitions of their late good
employment. The master will not alter his daily
diet, or scarcely retrench a pleasure ; the work-
man, his wife, and children must immediately eat
less food and worse, and know no pleasure but
that of attending exasperating meetings, and lis-
tening to orators who enrich themselves by leading
him to penury. It is certain, we think, that the
masters will not give way; they have the means
for the longer battle, and their temper is roused,
as well as all their notions of factory government
violated. Meantime, the price of food is almost
doubled to the man who has lost half his wages
at least. He is punished both ways :he receives
less and pays more. His miserable dole from the
committee will not purchase much more than half
what it would have done this time last year.
Nay, he is trebly mulcted ; for the price of food
mulcts him of employment. His master's cus-
tomers have to spend millions more on mere living
than they had last year, and all these millions are
withdrawn from the purchase of manufactured
articles. With a home market greatly diminished
by the cost of food, the operative, after starving
and fretting for weeks or months, must return to
his toil in broken spirits, and with only the hope
before him that PROVIDENCE in mercy may grant
us another year a good harvest and .peace.