The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-24 00:00:00

T_HE WAGES MOVEMENT.

PRESTON, JAN. 23.
This we..tx s income of the power-loom weavers' com-
mittee amounts to 2,0811., including a balance of 981.
remaining over from last week. The chief items re-
ported at the delegate meeting yesterday were as fol-
lows :—Blackburn, 6501. ; Stockport, 300/. ; Over Dar-
wen, 1501. ; Ashton-under-Lyne, 1501. ; Preston, 1301. ;
Oldham, 901. ; Staleybridge, 701. ; Church Paris, 501. ;
Accrington, 45/. ; Clitheroe, 44/. ; Hyde, 40/. ; Bolton,
301. ; Droylsdea, 28/. ; Padiham, 2961. 10s. ; Chorley,
20/. ; Enfield, 201. All the other sums were under 20/.
An important placard, headed, " Are the delegates
anxious for a settlement of the dispute ?" has been issued
to-day by the printers for the masters' association, and
therefore, I suppose, with the authority of that body.
The following is a copy :

" Many of the writers upon the wages question have
laid great stress upon the fact that the leaders of the
strike—those who direct the movement—are ' paid
agitators,' and that, therefore, any recommendation of
their must be viewed with suspicion, as not being disin-
terested. We have, hitherto, not attached much im-
portance to this objection, because we have thought that
when men were really working for their fellow opera-
tives they had a right to remuneration ; and, when they
were acting mischievously, we preferred 'raising objec-
tions to their proceedin,;s on their intrinsic merits, with-
out making insinuations of corrupt or interested motives.
We have reason, now, however, to believe that those who
lead the Preston operatives in this war with their em-
ployers are n ,t anxious for its settlement, and, indeed,
care little hew it is prolonged. Our reasons for express-
ing this opinion are formed from the conduct of Mr.
Cowell himself.

" On Monday, the 2d inst., a communication was made
to Mr. Cowell, to the effect that a gentleman of position
and influence, one practically acquainted with the cotton
trade, though in no way interested in it, seeing the
misery caused by the obstinacy with which the dispute
was being prolonged, and anxious for a settlement of it,
offered his services as a mediator. He had no doubt that
any proposals made in a proper spirit would be similarly
received by the masters, and there was a reasonable pro-
bability that a negotiation conducted in good faith might
have led to a satisfactory issue. Mr. Cowell received
the suggestion favourably, and promised to make the
communication to the committee, who would at once
give an answer to it,—acknowledging at the same time,
the kindness which led to the proposal. Will it be be-
lieved that, on Mr. Cowell being asked this week for the
answer—more than a fortnight after his receipt of
the offer—he had never mentioned the fact to the
committee at all ? His excuse was, that he had
forgotten it. It requires a large endowment of cre-
dulity to accept this answer as satisfactory ; but, if
correct, it certainly displays an amount of indiffer-
ence to the great interests at stake which we could not
have believed possible. The strike is continued because
Mr. Cowell forgets what is communicated with a view
of putting a stop
.to the agitation. Defective memories
are awkward things for professional agitators to be
troubled with, but we find them generally prevalent in
that class. It is evident that Mr. Cowell will take no
step to bring the disputants together. Comment upon
such a fact is, however, needless ; it tells its own story."
In reply to this placard, Mr. Cowell says that the de-
legates have done all they could to bring the dispute to
a,,n amicable settlement, but without the least success.
Nye have offered," he said, " to abide by the result of
arbitration ; we have offered to meet and confer with the
masters, each appointing an equal number; we have
offered to send them deputations of their own work-
people ; we have offered to resume work on being paid
according to the Blackburn standard list; and finally,
we have invited them to make propositions of their own,
pledging ourselves to accept them if they were based
on equity. While we have held out these propositions,
all that the masters have done has been to offer to re-
ceive the names of those who were willing to resume
work at the March prices."
There was a meeting of the unemployed held in
the Orchard at noon to-day—Mr. Beever in the chair.
Addresses were delivered by Messrs. Smith, Rhodes,
Grimehaw, Cheetham, and Cowell. The last-named
speaker submitted a list of poor law guardians who had
rendered themselves obnoxious by the course they had
pursued towards those factory operatives who had sought
parochial relief, the meeting being reminded that the day
when these gentlemen would offer themselves for re-
election was near at hand. Mr. Cowell also stated that
the weavers' committee were removing families from the
town by wholesale, and that, as a consequence, when-
ever the mills opened there would be a dearth of hands.
He implored the masters at their meeting on Thursday
next, to reconsider the line of policy they had been pur-
suing. "They say," ke added, " that this is not a wages
question, but a question of mastery. Let them give us
a trial, pay the wages we ask, and then, if any of the
hands are insubordinate, discharge them. Here they
are bringing bankruptcy upon many of their own class,
and ruin upon the middle class of Preston. The town
is receiving a shock from which, perhaps, it will never
recover. The manufacturers ought to consider these
things, and it is to be hoped the matter will receive seri-
ous attention on Thursday next.„
As usual, the meeting concluded with several 'round
of cheering for the 10 per cent.