The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-15 00:00:00

TEE WAGES' MOVEMENT.

MEETING OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES.
PRESTON, DEC. 13.

With a view of obtaining increased support from the
inhabitants of this town, the leaders of the wages' move-
ment in Preston deemed it expedient to convene a meet-
ing of the middle classes, in order that they might be
made acquainted with the origin and present position of
this dispute. That meeting, which was called by cir-
cular, took place in the theatre last night. The building
was crowded to excess in every part, the audience in-
cluding many tradespeople and other respectable inha-
bitants of the town. Mr. Councillor Dixon consented
to preside.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, remarked
that he had taken no part in this movement, either on
one side or the other. He knew very little of the merits
or demerits of the case beyond what he had read in the
public papers. But he appeared before them as an Eng.
lishman, anxious for an amicable settlement of this dis-
astrous dispute. (Hear, hear.) The object of the meet-
ing was to give the inhabitants of Preston a full and fair
explanation of the question at issue between the em-
ployers of labour and the employed ; and he hoped that
no personal or offensive remarks would be indulged in
on that occasion. (Hear, hear.) He congratulated the
operatives on the very peaceable and orderly manner in
which they had hitherto conducted this most serious
struggle. He hoped they would continue to pursue the
same creditable course, and that under no circumstances
would the peace of the town be disturbed. (Cheers.)
The chairman then introduced

Mr. G. COWELL, who sketched the history of this
movement from its commencement to the present time,
adding that the operatives were still willing to refer the
matter to arbitration. After intimating that he should
be happy to answer any question which might be put
to him, the speaker concluded by moving the first reso-
lution :—" That this meeting is of opinion that the mas-
ter manufacturers of Preston have not acted in accord-
ance with justice by debarring so many thousands of
their operatives from earning their daily bread, and
thus bringing on our town that amount of poverty and
privatien we are sorry to find ourselves placed in."
Mr. GALLAHER seconded the resolution, and spoke of
the higher wages paid in Oldham and Blackburn than
in Preston.

Mr. G-. ECCLES contended that the spinners were
justified in seeking an equalisation of prices. There was
a certain millowner in that town who paid 2s. 3d. for
spinning 100 lb. of 32's twist ; there was another, with
the same kind of machinery, who paid 3s. 31d. for the
same work. (Shame !) While working for one gentle-
man, all he could earn, by his utmost exertions, was
10s. 6d. per week. On going to another mill, in the
same town, with the same kind of work and similar
machinery, he was able to earn 16s. He appealed to
the middle class to aid the operatives with their subscrip-
tions, re:nembering that
" The smallest help, if rightly given,
Will make the impulse stronger ;"
and he certainly did hope with the poet--
" It will be strong enough one day,—
Wait a little longer."
(Loud applause.)
A person here asked whether the Operatives' Com-
mittee were prepared to show that the Blackburn
prices for weaving were higher than those paid in
Preston ?

Mr. COWELL replied, that a list of the prices paid in
Blackburn, Oldham, Stockport, and Preston was in
preparation, and would shortly be issued. (Hear.)
Mr. B. HUMPHRIES introduced the second reso-
lution :—" That we, the people of Preston, deeply sym-
pathise with the factory operatives in their present un-
happy dispute with their employers, and pledge our-
selves that, so long as they continue to be governed
with the same good conduct that has hitherto charac-
terised their proceedings, they shall have our sympathy
and support."
Mr. J. WADDINGTON seconded the resolution, and it
was supported by
Mr. R. RICHARDSON, who said there was not an opera-
tive cotton spinner in Preston better paid than himself;
and yet he could prove that he was just 101 per cent.
under the standard list of prices paid by the associated
masters of Bolton. Having got the 10 per cent. ad-
vance, and not been locked out, he felt that he had a
duty to perform to his employer. That gentleman had
to compete with others in the same market, and there-
fore he (the speaker) considered that he ought to do
what he could to make others pay as good a rate of
wages, in order that his employer might not be placed
at a disadvantage. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. GRIMM:LAM proposed the third resolution :
" That the trades of this country having so nobly come
forward to aid the factory operatives of this town in
withstanding the encroachments of the masthr manufac-
turers on the wages of their workpeople, we pledge our-
selves that we will, in unison with the trades, exert our-
selves in supporting the factory operatives until we ul-
timately place them in that position we feel they are
justly entitled to occupy as the producers of an augment-
ed national prosperity." The speaker suggested that
shopkeepers and all classes of the community would be
benefited by the factory operatives being better remune-
rated for their labour.

Mr. K. SMITH, in seconding the resolution, remarked
that if the manufacturers would agree to refer this dis-
pute to arbitration, neither party could gain a victory,
because the result would be governed by reason, justice,
and truth. The operatives of Preston asked for a fair
day's wage for a fair day's work ; they asked no more,
and he believed they would never take any less.
(Cheers.)
Mr. RHODES briefly supported the resolution, describ-
ing the origin of the wages movement in Stockport.
The whole of the resolutions were carried unani-
mously.
Thanks were then voted to the chairman, and the
meeting, which commenced at 7, terminated at 10.

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locked ; but the thief had most adroitly cut it open with
a knife and extracted the document without her being
aware of it till some time after. The cheque has been
stopped at the bank on which it was drawn, so that for-
tunately the thief will be sadly disappointed.
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