The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-24 00:00:00

THE PRESTON STRIKE.

PRESTON, SATURDAY EVENING.—Though the opera-
' tives who are in the habit of attending the frequent
open-air meetings still profess their firm adherence to
the cause, there seems every reason to believe that this
unparalleled contest is at length drawing to a close.
Whilst the contributions in aid of the unemployed are
gradually diminishing, the number of those seeking work
is on the increase ; indeed, it is stated that there have
been more applications from card-room hands than could
be accepted. With regard to the alleged extensive re-
sumption of work during the week, the following expla-
nation is offered on the part of the operatives Many
persons have been admitted to a participation in the
union funds who had not seen the inside of a cotton-mill
for years, and some, perhaps, who had never been em-
ployed in the cotton trade. This has elicited complaints
from the veritable factory operatives, and the corn-
• mittens have been induced to institute a careful re-
vision of their lists, and strike all such persons off.
About 700 recipients of relief have been thus disposed
of, about eighty of whom had been paid by the weavers,
and a large proportion of the rest from the card-room
hands. When these persons were dismissed, many of
them applied for work at the mills ; and this fact is urged
as the chief warrant for the assertion that the operatives
are resuming work in large numbers. On the other hand,
we are informed that the number of turn-outs return-
ing to veerk, and the voluntary immigration from other
districts of hands, both skilled and unskilled, anxious
for employment in mills, continues to increase daily, so
that it is almost unnecessary for the employers to con-
tinue their arrangements for immigration. It is also
stated that the whole number of persons employed by
the associated masters in the town and neighbourhood
previous to the wee-es dispute was between 15,000 and
16,000 ; that they have now at work about 7,000 ; and
that, therefore, they only require between 8,000 and
9,000 to make up their complement. If this be correct,
then, are there many more hands on strike than can
have employment in Preston, the total number now on
the books of the several committees being, according to
the returns, 13,073 The cessation from work has been
taken advantage of by many millowners to convert their
hand-mules into self-acting machines. Strikes have been
the main cause of the introduction of this labour-saving
machine. The strike of 1828 caused the attention of our
ingenious machinists to be directed to the subject, and
the result was the invention of the self-actor ; the strike
of 1836 caused its introduction to a large extent in
Preston ; the strike of 1863 has occasioned its general
adoption ; and hand-mules are now only used in works
where very high numbers are spun.
It is rumoured that the Preston masters unconnected
with the association, who have continued to pay the 10
per cent. advance, are now contemplating a reduction in
wages. In addition to this, it appears that a decided move-
ment is now being made by a number of the Blackburn
employers to induce the entire trade to give notice of a
a reduction. A memorial to that effect, agreed upon at a
meeting of the spinners' and manufacturers' association,
is now understood to be in course of signature. The
weavers of Blackburn held a meeting on Thursday night,
when the following strange story was told by a party a
operatives who had been sent as a deputation to Preston.
The deputation stated that they had been to Preston to
inquire into certain rumours relative to the existence of
dissatisfaction amongst some of the unemployed. From
the best observations they could make, it appeared that
the total number of hands at work in the various mills
of the associated masters was 1,069-938 of whom were
skilled Prestonians, and the remaining 131 strangers.
According to the returns of the employers, the number
at work, as already mentioned, is near upon 7,000.
Turning now to the balance-sheets, I find' that this
week the spinners are hi a similar position to the weavers
with regard to funds, the former requiring 1751. more
than their-subscriptions, and the latter having had to
borrow SQO/., The spinners' committee characterise the
present position of the movement as " a crisis awful and
important, if not most dangerous to the best interests
of this country." The card-room hands have again a
deficit of 61. 103. 9d., which, added to previous debts,
makes a total of 47/, 6s. 4d, due to the treasurer. The
amalgamated committee owe the treasurer 131. 2s. 4id.
Each of the other committees has a small balance in
hand. Most of the power-loom overlookers are ex-
pected to be at work in the course of a few days ; the
cloth-lookers are also about resuming employment.
The mills of Messrs. Paul, Cattrall, and Co., which
were disposed of some time ago to Messrs. Simpson, are
to be re-opened next Thursday, for the first time since
the lock-out.

THE CROPS IN THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND.—In BiX
weeks there has scarcely been a shower of rain in the
north of Scotland ; but, ns the ground was thoroughly
saturated with the heavy snow storms of last winter, the
young braird as yet has not suffered from the drought.
Grass is short, and cattle are not off the turnip so early
this year as usual, but there is still winter keep for a few
weeks, and with a few refreshing rains the season will be
in all respects a promising one. A great breadth of
potatoes has been planted, and in some districts a con-
siderable quantity of flax has been sown.