The Sun.
London, England, 1825-08-13 00:00:00

CI9MBINATIONS IN FRANCE.

(From flie Etoile.)!
ROUEN, AUG. 7.—The commune of Houmel,
situate in the valley of Desville, has become the
theatre of a revolt hitherto without example. For
some time past the workmen employed in the nu-
merous cotton manufactories in this valley demand.
ed an increase of wages. They did not hesitate ,
to employ violence, in order to fix at their own
rate the price of every kind of work, and to
overthrow entirely the rules established up to
the present time in their manufactories. Some
master cotton-spinners were weak enough to give
way to their menaces. M. Levavasseur, one of
Them, believed that it was dangerous to yield to
their measures ; and after having satisfied those
demands which appeared to him just, he refused
to'submit to dictation. It was thus that the
revolt declared itself, which had been or-
ganized for some time past by conspirators
who happily have been marked. On Thurs-
day • last the workshops were deserted at a
given. signal. Express orders were given to the
workmen who had taken no part in this affair to
discontinue their labour, and such was the terror
inspired that no one dared to. disobey. A purse
had previously been made up in all the manufac-
tories for those workmen who, in default of work,
should be left without resources. On the fol-
lowing day the workmen formed themselves into
parties, mid did not proceed further than to make
menacing demonstrations ; but on Saturday, being
pay-day, the proprietor of the manufactory whose
men were in a state of revolt, having repaired to
the usual places for paying his workmen, the
coalition assumed a more serious character. A
vast number of workmen belonging to the diffe-
rent manufactories of the valley, - provided with
staves and clubs, made an attempt on the life of
Levavasseur, who, however, escorted by the
gendarmes that accompanied him, returned to
his house safe and sound.. The same evening a
crowd of seven or eight hundred workmen pro-
ceeded to the manufactory, and broke all the win-
dows of the ground floor, and of the-first story,
after having broken and thrown down the walls
of the enclosure. detachment of the Royal
Guard, who were in garrison in Rouen, and who
were dispatched to the place, succeeded in stop-
ping the further excesses of these madmen, who
would have" destroyed from top to bottom of the
finest establishments of the valley. His Majesty's
Procureur, informed of what had taken place,
proceeded thither yesterday, accompanied by a
Magistrate. After depositions had been received
from various persons, it was manifest that scenes
of a still more violent description were meditated.
The workmen of all the factories in the valley,
and even those of Darnetal, Pavelly, and Baren-
tin, were to assemble at Houlme, and to proceed
to the place of 'revolt. Every thing was to be
feared from the excesses to which this furious
multitude would proceed. Unfortunately, these
anticipations were realized ; there was a con-
course of some thousands of workmen : early in
the morning they dispersed themserti* in the
neizhhouring woods. from whence. as it seemed.
- they intended to direct their attacks. The armed
-force remained on the ground to resist the attack
with which they factory of M. Levavasseur
was menaced ; but a detachment of gendarmes,
and two companies of the Royal Guard, were
insufficient to repel this mass of rioters.-
-By the help of the stones, sticks, and pitchforks,
-with which they were armed, they managed to
- make head against the soldiers. Some workmen,
armed with muskets, and concealed in the woods,
even fired upon the military, and a gendarme, who
was remarkable by his intrepid exertions to quell
the riot, received a ball in the head. His life is
• despaired of. Other gendarmes, and some sol-
,diers belonging to the guards, were wounded
snore or less severely by the stones which fell in
showers from all quarters, and by the blows
whiCh were aimed at them by sticks. At length
the arrival of a new detachment of the Garde
Royale put an end to this contest, which might
have been more bloody but for the energy dis-
played by the authorities of Rouen. The gend-
armerie have just returned into the town, bring-
ing with them upwards of 40 workmen, taken in
the midst of the rioters, with arms in their hands.
Justice is upon the track of the culprits, and
every thing announces that .a severe example will
be given. The greatest praise is due upon this
occasion to the conduct of the gendarmerie and
Garde Royale, under the orders of. General De-
lapointe, Colonel the Baron Christophe, and M.
. Derouilleret, Lieut.-Colonel of the Garde.
Notc.—lt is ascertained that, to-day, other.scenes of devasta-
tion have occurred in the communes of Pavilly, Barentin, and
Desville, by the workmen of the cotton-manufactories. The
.Prefect of the Department has proceeded to the valley of Des-
villa, and has taken such measures as prudence suggested to be
necessary under circumstances of so. grave a nature.

COLONIAL CURRENCY.

(From the'Free Press.)

'HALIFAX, JuLY 19.—The specie that has been
sent out for the use of the Colonies is, we understand, the cur-
rent money of Great Britain, in crowns and half-crowns, shil-
lings arid sixpences, and not a peculiar coinage on purpose
for the Colonies. We regret this had not been' the case, as it
would- have been more likely to remain among us. The ster-
ling money, by a law of the Province, has its value already
regulated, and we cannot see how any Order or Proclama-
tion in Council can supersede a positive legislative enact-
ment. By law, the crown iy. a legal tender for ss. .6t1., and
for la. Id. Tbese divisional parts have been found
so inconvenient in trade, that the. sterling money has hitherto
passed merely .as currency, and 'we do not see how the retailer
is to regulate himself in his common routine business. By the
Proclamation 4s. 4d. sterling is ss. currency, or one dollar; a
shilling then is Is. 2d. currency, or else the English id. must be
of mote value than our four splitfish, Sir I. Coffin's Magdalens,
or our eight Nova Scotia thistles. We had better not have in •
terfered with the currency at all, or, if any alteration had been
Made, to have considered ourselves as an integral part of the
Irfothfr Country, and made all our contracts and agreements in
sterl6g. This might facilitate commercial negotiation, and
do away with the 11 and a fraction per cent., which now enters
'into the calculation between sterling . and currency. Had our
. House of Assembly acted with common sense, last Session,
and incorporated a Bank, it would have been the interest
of that Establishment to have kept always a supply of
change commensurate with the wants of the community.
—But the 'desire to bolster up the Province paper prevented
this, under the sanction and restrainsts of a charter. A private
bank, composed of some of our most wealthy men, will soon be
established, their paper will get into circulation, and if it can
• be redeemed by gold and silver at all times, not only on four
slays in the year, and within certain hours, it must have a pre-
feience in the market, and will tend to depreciate our provincial
paper. The late proclamation has also the same tendency. We
:nay expect, therefore, soon to know it true value.

BRADFORD COMBERS and WEAVERS.

The conduct of the workmen at the outset
was deserving of the severest reprobation and Ihe firmest re-
sistance, but we also concur in thinking tfra when they
changed their tone, and lowered their pretensions, their em-
ployers ought also to have made whatever reasonable ad-
vances towards a reconciliation the nature of the dispute be-
tween them would allow. The resolution to stop the mills
cannot be too strongly censured. By throwing those men idle
who had withstood the alternate threats and seductions of
the Union, and reducing them in emolument to the level
of the refractory, while in other respects they are degraded
to the rank of mendicants, upon the charity of their masters, at
once destroys independence of feeling on the part of workers,
and gives a bounty to combination. We sincerely lament that
such a line of conduct should be pursued. On the state of
affairs this week at Bradford, we received the following letter
late last night from our correspondent :
BRADFORD, AUG. 10, 1825.

No alteration has taken place in the situation of the masters
and men since my last, except that the mills of those masters who
continue united have stopped, consonant to the resolution pre-
viously passed. None of the masters who left the association
with Messrs. Garnett have given the wages asked by the men,
though it is said that overtures were made last Friday by Mr.
Fawcett to his men, to give them employment on the terms they
have proposed, on condition that they would withdraw from the
Union till they had taken their work out, and that then they
may rejoin the Union immediately. This the men refused to
do, as they would not violate the pledge they had given, not to
leave the Union till the advanced wages were given. The men
had a meeting at FaiiWeather,green, on Monday last, as usual,
when the following resolutions were passed :-
1. That as it has been ieportetllhatthe Committee are acting ,
presumptuously, in refusing t. 6 allow any discussion between I
the masters of Bradford and their workmen, they not only posi-
tively affirm that such a report is-absolutely false, but they now
declare that they are willing to meet the masters at any time, to
discuss the subject of their differences.
2. That the Combers and Weavers are still determined to
continue in Union, and that neither party will return to their
' employment at the advanced price, unless the advance shall
also be given to the other.
3. That the thanks of the meeting be given to all our friends
in every part of the kingdom, for the friendly and liberal man-
ner in which they have supported us, and that they be requested
to continue, to us their assistance, and not to relax their exer-
tions on account of any report that may be in circulation, as we
have pledged ourselves to let all our friends know, by circular
letters, when any thing of importance shall have taken place.
Since the 31ills have stopped, several of the masters have
commenced schools, for instructing the children who have con-
tinued working during the strike.—( Leeds Intelligencer.)