The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-20 00:00:00

MORNING SIThT

STRIKE AT THE HOUSES OF
PARLIAMENT.-THE LAW OF COMBI-
NATION.

The very outrageous conduct of the masons lately
employed in the erection of the Houses of Parliament,
followed as it has been by the turn-out of the masons
engaged in Messrs. Grissell and Peto's other works,
naturally directs public attention
to the necessity of the
to the defective state
otfetglieslaltanwreodfenoinrng m
combinations, anding
to release work-people
frn:;;,!l,l,esatyysrtahnenyof
Reportthosef
thele agues.
Hand-loom Weavers Com-
aaissione►.
" the ruling power of any community allow
rities to frame rules affecting,
arg
ployments, and their propiearttihees, their daily
other autho'
habits, their t,713
bodies of men ; to affix to ele breach of these rules
penalties rising through everc gradation of suffer-
ing, from si:nple insult to mayLaern and death, cad
to proceed in organised bodies, a'ad in the faze of
ob., to inflict these punishments ; that ruling power
his a..'slicated its functions so far as respects those
among its :übjects whom it has surrenderCd to its self-
constituted rivZls. When we are told that in Glasgow
the power of the c0..-abinations is irresistible, ti. at no one
thinks of resisting it Any more than they would re-
sist the Queen's Guards t when we are told that
in Dublin no one who violates their rules can e,lnsider
his life safe for one day ; it is obvious that in ;hese
cities, so far as the manufacturing population is
concerned, the ruling power is not the state, the pre—
valent law is not the law of the land ; and the punish-
ments most to be feared are not those inflicted by the
legal executive. To edmit that there is no remedy for
such evils would be to despair of the institntions and
prospects of the country ; to admit that they may
be remediable and not to endeavour to suggest the
means, would be a failure in the duties imposed upon
us by your Majesty's Commission?'
The Act now in force respecting combinations is the
6th Gco. IV., c. 129. The priunipal section of the
Ace, is the third, which enacts that—

" If any person shall by violence to
the person or
property, or by threats or intimidation, or by molesting
or in any way obstructing another, force or endeavour
to force any person to depart from his hiring, eropit.'Y'
inement, or work ; or to return his work before lila
same shall be finished, or prevent or endeivour to pre'-
vent any person not being hired or employed from ac-
cepting work or employment ; or if any person shall
use or employ violence to the person or property of
another, or threats or intimidation, or shall molest
or in any way obstruct another for the purpose of forc-
ing or inducing such person. to belong to any dub or
association, or to contribute to any common fund, or to
pay any line or penalty, or on account of his not belong-
ing to any particular club or association, or not having
contributed or having refused to contribute to aoy com-
mon fund, or to pay any fine or penalty, or on account
of his not having complied or of his refusing to comply
with any rulss or regulations made to obtain
an advance of wages, or to alter the hours of
working, or to alter the quantity of work, or to regd.-
late the mode of carrying on any business, or the'
management thereof ; or if any pet son shall by vio-
lence to the person or property of another, or by threats
or intimid4tioe, or by molesting or in any way ob-
structing another, force or endeavour to force any
manufacturer or person carrying on any business,
to make any alteration in his mode of regulating,
managing, conducting, or carrying on such manufacture
or busioesq, or to limit the number of his apprentices,
or the number or description of his journeymen, work-
men, or servants ; every person so offending, or aiding,
abetting, or assisting therein, being convicted thereof
in manner hereinafter mentioned, shall be imprisoned
only, or shall and may be imprisoned and kept to hard
labour, for any time not excee:ingthree calendar months."
This Act revivel the common-law against combias-
tiozn, with ore exception, it exempts from punishment
persons meeting to determine the wages or hours of la-
bour which the persons present at the meeting shall give
or require, or entering into an agreement among them-
selves for such purposes.
" All other combinations or agreements," says the
Report before quoted, " to the prejudice of third per-
sons, are still conspiracies, and on indictment, punish-
able at the discretion of the Court by fine and
imprisonment, to which, in case of an assault in fur-
therance of a combination to raise wages, the Court
can, under the 9th Geo. IV., cap. 31, sec. 2.5, add:
hard labour for any term not exceeding two years.
" We are inclined to believe that the state of the
law in this respect is not generally known. It
seems to be supposed that combinations are not
punishable unless accompanied by violence, intimi-
dation, or molestation. This is true as respecta
the statutory punishment, but not as respects the
far heavier punishment awarded by the common kw,
All meetings or agreements whatever, for the purpose
of affecting the wages or hours of work of persons not;
prctent at the meeting, or parties to the agreement,
are conspiracies. So are all agreements for con-
troging a master in the management of his busi-
ness, in the persons whom be shall employ, or
the machinery which he shall use. So, of coune,
are all agreements not to work in company with any
given person, or to persuade other persons to leave their
employment, or not to engage themselves. In fact
nenc frscarcely act- v..f...ned by any workman,
as member of a trades union, which is not an act of
conspiracy or a misdemeanor."

The Hand-loom Weavers Commission, in stating the
existing law, attribute much of its defects as proceeding
from an " attempt to legislate by one act for countries
S 3 different in their common law, and in their form of
procedure, as England and Scotland, and so different
in their habits as England and Ireland," and recom.
mend that, after due inquiry, three Acts should be
passed in accordance with law, procedure, and habits
of the three countries.

The Commissioners themselves suggest several
ansendmeLti in the law, which we may arrange under
the following numbers :

" I. \V recommend that the statutory process and
renaltics be extended to some acts new subject only to
the se% ere punishment, but inconvenient process of com-
mon law. Suck are agreements by workmen to strike
lor the purpose of forcing a master to discharge a given
peeson, cc to disuse a given sort of machinery, or gene-
rally to chance his mode of managing his business.
Suell, again, are acts on the part of !rasters far the pur-
pose cf occasioning or promoting strikes on the part of
the workpcople of other masters. We believe this con-
duct on the part of the masters to be so common, and
so mischievous, that we recommend the penalty to be
distinct and severe ; and that, sa far as it is pecuniary
it be recoverable by any party aggrieved, or by a com-
mon informer. We further recommend that some acts
be declared punishable, the criminal character of which
has not yet been distinctly recognised.
. We further recommend that, for the purpose of
fauciillti; of o atin the apprehension and conviction of persons
g gutra3e or intimidation, any master, workman,
or other person aggrieved, or any persons assisting him,
including, of course, the police, be authorised to seize
any persons so offending,
without summons or warrant,
to carry them before a justice, and there compel them
to give their names and addresses. We recommend
name address
or
rl e further,
givingthat a
thfealsree founsein, gbe a
giveto
distinct a
and
o r
cumulative
offence.

.. 3. We further recommend that the justices have
power to convict and punish without naming the con-
vict, identifying him by description or otherwise.
"4. We also recommend that any serious in-
jury inflicted on the persons or property of masters or
workmen, in consequence of their resistance to a com-
bination, or of witnesses, be repaid by the hundred or
other similar district. Those who have had sufficient
moral and physical courage to make such a resistance.
or to give testimony against a combination, and have
suffered for so doing, are martyrs in the cause of liberty.
The community whi-th has profited by their firmness is
hound, as far as is possible, to make good their looser.
"5. The last amendment in the 6thGeorge IV.
Ea Act
which we have to recommend is, the return to the
of the sth George IV., by repealing
the j2appeal to
of the 6th George IV., that. by
so recognisance
Quarter Sessions is given on
judgment is suspended on the parleys.
believe that this
and that of two sureties in 10/.
of the other de-
clause has contributed more than
BPtTbe 101.' security
fects in the Act to its utter failure. The
the funds of the
can of course always be obtained eewebvicho-coriction, and
period of appeal has
need fear punishment before
bw
much, even among edu-
cases
which
we
erabe.c.considerinitclyel convicted
i. uanldmeorsttheowAacy:
among the uneducated,
combination,
arrived.
A n
ds owet that
know
more
000rnfes
cued persons, and still
oPrnes more distant. But in th.
its terrors as it Punishment, even if certain, loses
every evil andfowe:
weeks; an accomo
impunity.
treaty for an accommodation, generally
lotion,
or
a the Quarter Sessions are held, and of
before
takes place d or understood that the prosecu-
tions's arrange
course It 1
d from shall be discontinued."
appealed
________
etrriYkes last

ran artilleryman, tavl:eoi.nwia.nahinis COrlgriht
fineTnitir,eteidniaet.itslreoa)bg,ftiolrimacsleilsf ofby Douai
openingfor misconduct, at_
himfir s ,t
manbu but
tempted to c
arm. Some
his knife,
endeavoured
threatened
dtot t
n restrainthe
brandishing
•,,lin should touch him. The guard having been called
he was overpowered and laid upon a bed, apparently
in the avnies of death, and the guard went fur a sur-
geon. On the return of the guard the man, to their
great astonishment was no longer to be seen. He had
escaped to the ramparts, and thence to the opening
fields.
On the following morning he returned to the barracks,
covered with blood and dirt, and with his feet naked
saving,—" I am come to surrender myself, because I am
Iningry."—Memorial de Douai.
BRIGHTON RAILWAY. --- Professor Barlow,
who was specially deputed by the Board of Trade to in-
quire into the causes of the recent accident on this line,
has not yet made his report; we trust that it will be ex-
pedited, and that full and extensive publicity will be
given to it. This is absolutely indispensable after the
painful excitement which has been created in the publie
mind. It is stated that Professor Barlow, so far from
impugning the opinions expressed by Sir F. Smith, fully
confirms them, and pays a just tribute to the ability and
energy of the engineer,Bistrick.

MORN' 1N (3- SUN

FROM LAST NIGHT'S GAZETTE•
FOREIGN-OFFICE, OCT. 19.

The Queen has been graciously pleased to appoint the
Right Hon. Henry Lord Cowley, G. C. 8., to be her Majesty's
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the King of
the French.
The Queen has also been gyaciously pleased to appoint the
Right Hon. Charles Lord Stuart de Rothesay, G. CB. to be
her Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
to the Emperor of All the Russias.
The Queen has also been graciously pleased to appoint the
Right Honourable Sir Stratford Canning, G.C. 8., to be her
Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to
the Sublime Ottoman Porte.
The Queen has also been graciously pleased to app►',nt the
Right Honourable Sir Robert Gordon, G.C.8., to be her
Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Pleiai.votentiary to
the Emperor of Austria.
The Queen has alse been graciously pleased to appoint the
Right Hon. Lord Burghersh, K.C.8., to be her Majesty's
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the
King of Prussia. _ _ _

WraTEHALL, OCT. 18.
The Queen has keen pleased to appoint John Hope, Esc.,
Dean of Faculty in Scotland, to be her Majesty's Justice
Clerk and President of the Second Division of the Court of
Session in Scotland, and also one of the Senators of the Col-
lee of Justite there.
Commi-s;.on by the Lord Lieutenant of the County of Fife.
The Ron. James Bruce to be Deputy Lieutenant:July 5.
DECLARATIONS OF INSOLVENCY.
GE'JRGE GANDY, silk-manufacturer, Princes street,
MILES COE, lacernan, Goldsmith-street, Wood-street,
Cheapside.

BANKRUPTCY SUPERSEDED.
GEORGE POTTER and SAMUEL POTTER, calico-
printers, Manchester.

BANKRUPTS.
WILIAANI BORROWD ALE, paste-board manufactu. er,
Scenery-till, Branthwaite, Cumberland, to surrender, Nov. 2,
and 30, at twelve, at the Black Lion Inn, Whitehaven. Stubbs,
Furni tal's-inn, Loudon ; Perry, Cross-street. Whitehaven.
I.3RIDG3IAN aril WILLIAM DRYL AND,
ta.tow mellers, Upper Chapman-street, St. George's East,
(-let. 26, at hali•-past one, and Nov. 30, at twelve, at the Court
of Bankruptcy. Whitmore, official assignee, Basin ;hall-street ;
Crowder and Maynard, iNhnion-house Place.
HENRY THOMPSON, timber merchant, Chadwell-street,
Clerkenwell, Oct. 26, at two, and Nov. 30, at eleven, at the
Court of Bankruptcy. Groom, Abchurch-lane, official a -
signee ; Shoubridge, Bedford-row.
COOPER SEARLE, printer, Bury St. Edmund's, Oct.
23, 'at ten, and Nov. 30, at twelve, at the Om Bell Inn, Bury
St. Edmund's. Parker, Sr. Paul's Church-yard, London ;
-Lech, jun., Bury St. Edmund's.
GEORGE DORRINGTON, printer, Percival-street,
Doswell-street, Oct. 26 and Nov. 30, at eleven, at the Court
of Bankruptcy. Gibson. Basinghall-street, official assignee;
Goddard, King-street, Chcapside.
ROBERT CATLOW, victualler, Leeds, Oct. 27, at one,
and Nov. 30, at two, at the Commissioners'-rooms, Leeds.
Makinson and San:!ers, Middle Temple, London ; Foden,
Leeds.

DIVIDENDS.
At the Conrt of Bankruptcy, Basinghall-street.

K. F. H. MacKenzie, merchlop, King's-Arms-yard, Cole-
man•-street, Nov. 11, at half-past eleven—C. D. Heys, master
'mariner, Meriton's-wharf, Bermondsey, Nov. 11, at half-past
twelve—A. Boss an.l J. Murray, merchants, Leadenhall-
buildings, Gracechurch-street, Nov. 9, at one—W. and F. J.
Appleford, drapers, Holborn-bars, Nov. 11, at half-past one—
A. M'Nair, merchant, Abchurch-lane, Nov. 9, at two—J.
Tozer, carver and gilder, Duke-street, Grosvenor-square, Nov.
11, at half-past eleven—C. Terry, quill merchant, Shoe-lane,
Nov. 9, at half past twelve—M. H. Bellemois, manufacturing
chemist, Porn!, 3,--street, Old Ken•-road, N:tv. 9, at twelve—
A. Turnbull, boardinghouse keel:er, Arundel-street, Strand,
Nov. 9, at one—J. T. Thompson, upholsterer, Long-acre,
Nov. 11, at txel;e—H. E. Wartnaby and H. Richardson,
silkmen, Wood-street, Cheapsido, Nov. 11, at half past twelve
—C. Hall, upholsterer, Piccadilly, Nov. 9, at half past one.
In the Country.
L. Palfrevman. scrivener, Sheffield, Dee. 4, at one, at the
Town-hall,- Sheffield—J. Rodgerson, ship builder, Hylton
Ferry, Durham, Nov. 9, at twelve, at the Bridge Inn, Bishop
Wearmouth—W. Mutton, dealer, Field-hall, Staffordshire,
Nov. 11, at twelve, at the George Inn, Stafford—J. W.
Braddick, tanner, Bristol, Nov. 12, at one, at the Commercial-
rooms, Bristol