The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-21 00:00:00

'TIRE ,STRIKES,

(From the Times.)
A " strike " is in itself an exceedingly simple
transaction. You see a table at a broker's, fancy
that it may answer your purpose, ask the price,
think the broker asks a little too much, or that
the table is a little above your mark, and you walk
out of the shop. If you offer a pound less, and the
broker civilly declines to be beaten clown, that com-
pletes the idea of a " strike." You " strike" as
against the broker, and he " strikes" as against
you. In such an affair there is not much room for
argument, for rhetoric, or for abuse on either side.
You don't attempt to prove to the broker that the
table could not have cost him near the sum de-
manded—that it is a bad one—that you can get a
new one cheaper ; you don't appeal to his feelings
in behalf of your family circle, which wants a nice
table to complete its symmetry, sociability, or hap-
piness ; you don't denounce the broker and his craft
as hard-hearted, dishonest, treacherous rogues ;
you don't charge him with having an extra good
table in his dining-room at the expense of his cus-
tomers ; nor does he ply you with arguments, ora-
tory, and invective on his side of the question. You
walk out of the shop, forget the broker, and he for-
gets you. In all these affairs'the presumption is, that
every body understands his own business the best,
and has a right to fix his own terms. If a broker
were to part with all his stock on the terms of his
customers, orrather of those who would be his custo-
mers under such circumstances, he would soon
shut up shop, and the next man who was ready to
give a good price for a second-hand table would be
obliged to go elsewhere, unless, indeed, all brokers
were in the same case, and the whole trade extin-
guished, when of course you would only be able to
get a second-hand table by making your neighbour
a bid for his, or by some other such clumsy process.
On the other hand, if the brokers of a town put
their heads together, and resolved to double their
prices, they would simply have the pleasure of
walking backwards and forwards, admiring their
own property, at one time flourishing a duster, at
another time protecting the more exposed goods
from the rain, and be rendered weekly more and
more obstinate and foolish by the increasing des-
peration of their affairs. On finding that the
brokers of the town were mad, others would start
in the same line, and the old brokers would ere
long have to sell at very reduced terms, or to part
with their shops and goods to their new rivals.
Now, what substantial difference can be shown
between the relation of brokers and their customers
and that of operatives and their employers ? The
operative brings his day's work, asks a price for it,
the employer declines, and there the matter ends.
In such a transaction anything beyond the tender
of the article and its refusal must be superfluous.
It is the act of a madman to abuse the employer
because he will not take what he does not want as
your price, or because, being the best judge of his
own affairs, he cannot afford the wages you demand.
On the Ist of last June the weavers of Preston
resolved in public meeting to ask 10 per cent.
more for their day's work. They had a perfect
right to do so if they pleased, as indeed they had
to ask 50 per cent. more, or 100 per cent. more.
They had a perfect right to ask it either one
at a time, when of course the demands of the
individual would meet with very little atten-
tion, or to ask it in a combination of 5,000.
The demand made and refused, the weavers
had a perfect right to leave their work, so long
as there was nothing treacherous or malignant in
the movement ; that is, so long as they were not
taking advantage of contracts on the point of
completion, or other circumstances placing their
masters at an extraordinary disadvantage. What
they had not a right to do—what is wholly gra-
tuitous, useless, and ridiculous —is what the
Preston weavers and some loquacious persons
speaking and writing in their behalf have done.
They have " argufied " with the masters, expostu-
lated with them, declaimed against them, and
abused them. A Mr. George Cowell, said to be
the leader of the Preston factory operatives, has
published a manifesto in which he charges the
masters with "a degrading want of principle," with
"insult," and "rudeness unbearable;" with being
" conscience-smitten " at their own conduct ; with

committing "an act of despotism which has aroused
the virtuous indignation of all classes." " Yea,"
adds this sensible gentleman, " the feeling of exe-
cration has already penetrated to the southern and
far-west States of America, and resounded back,
that they find no parallel to it in the history of the
much-sympathised-with negro slave and despised
slaveowner."
The particular forms of negotiation compelled by
circumstances on the two parties do not at all take
the matter out of the class of ordinary business
transactions. The operatives met in public on the
Ist of June to agree upon a common demand, which
they accordingly proceeded to make by circular.
Then ensued partial " strikes," owing to a want of
united action on the part of the masters. The
latter subsequently came to the conclusion that it
was incompatible with their interests to allow this
half-and-half system, in which the whole organisa-
tion of the operatives might be brought to bear in
succession against every individual master. Accord-
ingly, they brought their united action to bear agains t
the united action of the operatives, and gave notice
of their intention to close all their mills by a certain
day, unless all the operatives came to their terms,
these terms being, as it happened, though it does
not matter much to the purpose, the terms that
have prevailed for some years. The operatives, who
were now as one man, refused the terms of the
masters, now as one man, and the mills were closed,
as they remain to this day. All these were per-
fectly legitimate transactions on both sides. The
operatives made one move and the masters made
another, both strictly according to the laws of the
game. If the masters cannot afford to keep their
mills shut, or the operatives to stand out for the
10 per cent., that is a wholly distinct question,
and, in fact, is not a matter of argument, but for
every man to decide for himself. There are in
this country thousands upon thousands who are
undergoing great misery, and sinking lower and
lower in the scale of existence, all the time sup-
ported by a proud consciousness that they do not
give in to the conditions of society, and have a
system of their own. The satisfaction they derive
from this thought is to them meat and drink ;
it makes hard fare, threadbare coats, garrets, and
vermin a luxury to their minds. It compensates
for the want of happy wife and smiling child.
We shall not, therefore, argue with the Preston
operatives on the choice they have made, and
which is probably as much to their taste as the com-
forts of life and the pleasures of society are to ours.
They will, it is thought likely, hold out so long as
the rags hang on their backs and their bones hold
together ; but they will feel they are standing out
for what they think their right, and they may also
have the additional gratification of seeing some of
the millowners as much put to as themselves. With
such a taste, knowing the great diversity of tastes,
it is not for us to quarrel, particularly as we are
charged with too strong a leaning to the base sug-
gestions of human prudence, and the peaceable use
of creature comforts. Perhaps the Preston opera-
tives have taken, after all, the grander part, and
will see their wives and children precede them to
the grave, martyrs for what they think the rights
of manual labour. We do not dispute the right or
the dignity of the part taken by the operatives
under the guidance of Mr. George Cowell. We
only say that, as they have made their own bed,
they must lie upon it, and may as well allow the
millowners the same liberty of action which they
assume for themselves.

VERNON GALLERY, MARLBOROUGH HOUSE.—This ex-
hibition is to be re-opened to the pubtio on Monday
next, the 24th inst.
THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY.—It is shown by a late
return obtained by Mr. W. Williams, M.P., that in the
year ended the sth of January last the bounty on slaves,
payment to commissioners to prevent traffic in slaves,
and bills drawn on account of captured negroes amounted
to 90,7841., which was paid out of the public revenue.
LONDON AND ITS CESSPOOLS.—If we imagine a mon-
ster giant, with a spade a quarter of a mile square, to
take a thin slice off the surface of the City of London,
we may feel assured he would think us dirty animals to
live amongst such muck, and would shrink from even
putting his foot in passing on the spot where we dwell.
—The Builder.

THE FLY PLAGUE.—Speaking of the immense clouds
of minute black flies, which have been seen in various
parts of the kingdom, but especially in low-lying sheltered
localities. The Commonwealth says—" Paragraphs are
already rife in some of the newspapers on the subject of
the "Fly Plague," and there are not wanting alarmists
who, by reference to statements contained in MSS. in
the British Museum respecting an abundance of flies in
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the more necessary that we should explain the cause of
their appearance, and their real relationship to the inte-
rests man. The fly which has come under our observa-
tion is the species known to entomologists as Aphis Fake,
the bean-fly. It feeds upon beans and other plants, to
which it is very injurious, and it has been multiplying
itself in vast colonies throughout the summer in the
bean-fields, but during that season is not furnished with
wings.
In the autumn, however, it acquires the means
of flight, and, impatient to try their newly-acquired
powers, the aphides with one accord mount into the air,
and are carried along by the slightest breeze ; hence their
sudden and mysterious appearance at this season, in
such vast quantities, in localities which knew not their
presence before. This brief account of their habits will
serve to explain the true nature of the phenomenon
which is presently exciting attention, and will, we trust,
serve to allay the alarm of those who regard it as por-
tending the speedy spread of cholera throughout our
land."