The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-16 00:00:00

THE STRIKES IN SOUTH WALES.

The state of affairs between the employers and em.
ployed at Dowlais continues in much the sames position
as last week. The bulk of the colliers havemoved away,
and it is said there are not above 100 colliers in Dow-
lais altogether. Some 40 or thereabouts of petty agents
and others have gone underground, but the rest of
the colliers are still indisposed to submit, and, in-
deed, the submission of these few would still leave the
dispute unsettled. In addition to the colliers' strike
there is another arising from it. Raving no coal to
make 'Welch pig iron, the company have required the
men to work Scotch pig at the same price—viz., 7s. 6d.
per ton, whereas the price paid elsewhere is 2s. 6d.
more for Scotch than for Welch pig-; hence the pud-
dlers complain, and the case has come before the magis-
trates, though it still remains unsettled. The -dis-
pute, however, will probably cease on having an
adequate supply of coal. All the men in the employ of
the Dowlais Company are under notice to leave, and
that notice will shortly expire. The consequences of the
dispute, like those of most strikes, are lamentable in the
extreme, the trade of the hole district having
suffered severely ; it is, however a matter of con-
gratulation that the men on strike have conductedbeo
themselves so peaceably and calmly that hitsomrto
there has been no breach of the peace. There was
w...
bitterness of feeling in the early part of the we _ ,tn
but ►it
regard to the "turncoats," as they are termed,
has since subsided. The 16 furnaces which were
lown
dvance of
out, partly for the purpose of beingleslt
re-
main fireless and flaraeless. Thehel,
unpleasantness,
nae tbi
10 per cent. is the cause of all
and the three masters who gave thseatrts :7:Jae:l:here have
it nrefrainedow. frlotm
sgisvaiindg it, or
o.n.lthe.ey
for
gitivieatitwthheeny
hould not withdraw
advance should not he
_NsfvoituliraarPrreTd
three iron masters out of
it,
'the price of iron is
T. Crawshay told the
cstoeualddilyveraydvawneolilngaffolir.
Ea.nTd
lune in his employ that his father was being offered
contracts
-ton above the pi esent market
pre ii.P 1Y
doubteda the propriety of taking them
ei
bo a
he
e In
until he was assured that the men would work. The atti-
tude of the men belonging to Cyfarthfa, Plymouth, and
Penydarran is eminently pacific, and they are determined
there shall be no strike among them. They will probably
consent to work upon the reduced rates, though with a fee!:
Dig of dissatisfaction, and a conviction that they ought to
receive the advance which is now withheld. In the mean-
time the tide of emigration, which has never stopped,
is likely to become still greater, for the walls are
pla-
carded with offers of "Free emigration to Australia,"
and large numbers of working men are continually on
the wing. The Ivor Works puddlers are at work, but
those of the old works are not. They complain that
they cannot get the usual supply of raw material to
work with (that is of the same quality), and request to
be paid off and have their regular discharges. We un-
derstand that 7s. 2d. per ton was the old price. Mr.
Evans offered 7s. 6d. to work the Scotch refined iron ;
the men asserted that 10s. was paid elsewhere ; but they
would work it for Bs. 6d. during the time the furnaces
were out. It is in contemplation to hold an aggregate
meeting at Merthyr.