The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-28 00:00:00

THE IRISH CHURCH BILL AND THE
LORDS.

What the Lords will do with the Bill, is still the
undetermined question at the clubs. The latest gossip is
that Lord Cairns has soothed his party in Ireland, and
that such leaders of the Opposition as himself, Lord
Derby, and the Marquis of Salisbury are desi-
rous of not rejecting the bill on the second
reading, and are disposed to be absent on that occasion.
Mr. Disraeli, we understand, is inclined to this course,
but there is much difficulty experienced in commending it
to the violent spirits of the Tory party, who feel that
they are always abandoned by their leaders when the day
of battle arrives. If this is to happen, people begin to
ask, " Who, then, will be present?" and, as a stopgap,
the Duke of Wellington is mentioned. The report
is still current that most of the bishops will be con-
spicuous by their absence on the occasion of
the second reading, which, in its way, will be
an ecclesiastical event, and this bit of gossip
causes the Carlton Club to ask—" If the heads of the
Church dare not act on this occasion, when will they?"
The cynical remark is heard that the Bishop of Peter-
borough, who was so lately Dean of Cork, " intends to
speak rather as a good Christian than as an Orange.
man ;" and, lastly, it is repeated that Lord Westbury
is to appear as the friend of the absent bishops,
while it is whispered that the Bishop of Oxford will make
his first appearance in the interesting character, and quite
new part, performed by him for the first time, of a friend
to religious liberty and to the Government. —Echo.

MR. MUNDELLA ON TRADES UMONS.

On Wednesday night Mr. Mundella, M.P., at the
request of the trades unionists of Nottingham, made a
speech on the Trades Union Bill, in the Mechanics' Hall
in their town. He entered at some length into the history
of trades unionism, pointing out that its excesses had been
caused, in a great measure, by the unjust laws, which
refused to workmen that power of combination of
which they could not deprive their employers.
He sketched the progress of the present bill,
whose parentage was of a character which war-
ranted the goodness of the offspring. Hughes
Harrison, Crompton, and many of the ablest lawyers and
of the largest capitalists in England (including Mr.
Brassey, the member for Hastings) had devoted to it their
best abilities. He explained the provisions of the bill,
which would allow trades unions to be registered,
protecting their funds, and which would place capital and
labour upon an equalfooting. He had conferred with many
members on both sides of the House, and did not fear any
opposition from the great employers of labour, many of
whom were doing their best to advance the measure. The
Tory landlords would give the most opposition, as it was
a new idea to them that masters and men could bargain
upon equal terms, and they thought possible there might
come to be unions among agricultural labourers. He
hoped to live to see such unions which would make
the illused labourers of Dorsetshire, who sustained
a miserable existence on nine or ten shillings a
week, more like the stalwart Northumberland labourers'
who earned twenty shillings. In conclusion, Mr.
Mundella severely reproved thoie among the
unionists who sought to exclude machinery, to
keep the stone from being hewed at the quarry, or
who refused to submit their disputes to arbitration. The
principle of arbitration was spreading very fast, and
he had the pleasure of receiving since his present
visit to Nottingham a letter from Louis Philippe (who
might yet be Emperor of France), and who was the author
of a recent work on trades unions, stating that his time
had never been more usefully employed than in making
known in France what arbitration had accomplished in
Nottingham. Mr. Mundella was received with great
enthusiasm by the audience which crowded the room, and
resolutions in favour of the bill were adopted unanimously.

THE COLLIERY EXPLOSION IN MO2

MOUTHSHIRE.

The details of the colliery explosion confirm the report
we published' yesterday. The pit is called the Sinking
Pit at Cwmnantdda, about two miles from Pontypool,
Monmouthshire. It belongs to the Ebbw Vale Com-
pany, and Mr. Evan Jones is contractor for it, Between
300 and 400 men are employed in it, and it is fortunate
that when the explosion took place all but a few had left
work. The workings are generally supposed to be free
from gas, and, after being tested with a safety lamp,
are used with open lights. At the time named some
ten men were down, making roads in what is called
" the deep," some 700 or 800 yards from the
bottom of the shaft. It appears from the accounts
in the several local papers, that about twenty minutes past
eight o'clock on Tuesday night, three men were working
some distance higher up in the pit than where some of the
headings in the lower are situated. Just before the explo-
sion, the three men referred to noticed a quantity of sul-
phur in the air, and they at once made their escape, and
directly after an explosion was heard in one of the headings
in the lower vein by a man named Charles George, and he at
once repaired to the spot ; but owing to the " after choke"
he had to heat a hasty retreat. The two horses (with the
three men in the higher part of the pit) and a donkey
were killed, but the men fortunately escaped. At twelve
o'clock at night search was made for the missing men in
the lower vein, and six dead bodies were discovered before
three in the morning, all of them being burnt and dis-
figured in a very shocking manner. The names of those
discovered are : Thomas Williams, John Jones, and Evan
Rees (single), and William Cooke, Alfred Davies, and
David Rees (married). Soon after the bodies of the above
men were recovered it was ascertained that Anniah
Williams was missing, and it was supposed he was work-
ing with the unfortunate men at the time of the explosion.
Another search was made, and soon after his lifeless body
was discovered under one of the dead horses, but so fright-
fully burnt and disfigured that scarcely a feature was
recognisable.

Like many other similar accidents, there is no knowing
at present how the accident happened, all the poor fellows
who were working in the heading where the accident
occurred having lost their lives.

There were only a few men working in the pit at the
time of the accident, which, had it occurred in the day.
time, not less than fifty lives would doubtless have been
sacrificed.

The bodies now await the coroner's inquiry, which will
probably throw some light as to how the accident occurred.

A Cabinet Council will be held on Saturday at
the First Lord of the Treasury's official residence, Downing-
street.

The Judges assembled on Thursday at Westmin-
ter, and made the following arrangements for the Summer
Assizes : —Norfolk—Lord Chief Justice Cockburn and Mr.
Justice Byles. Home.—The Lord Chief B ron and Mr.
Justice Mellor. Western.—Mr. Justice Keating and
Mr. Justice Lush. Oxford—Mr Baron Pigott and Mr Justice
Smith. Northern—Mr. Justice Hannen and Mr. Justice
-Hayes. Midland Mr. Justice Brett and Mr. Baron Cleasby.
North Wales - Lord Chief Justice Bovill. South Wales—
Mr. Baron Channel'. Mr. Baron Bramwell remains in
town.

The three judges selected to try election petitions
for the year ending the 2d of November next, namely,
Justice Blackburn, Justice Willes, and Mr. Baron Mar-
tin, having now nearly concluded their labours, will have
a holiday till next Michaelmas Term, when throe fresh elec-
tion judges will bo chosen for the ensuing twelvemontb,
which in all probability will be the next seniors, viz., Jus-
tice Mellor, Justice Byles, and Mr Baron Bramwell. Un-
less there should be a general election their duties must be
necessarily very light, as it is quite opti,Alal with the
learned judges themselves whether they sit iu Westminster
Rail or not during their twelvemonth's tenure of office as
Election Judges.

On Wednesday a meeting of the operative joiners
and carpenters of Leeds was held, for the pui pose of discussing
what they declared to be a "flagrant violation " of the deci-
sion given by Mr. Rupert Kettle in the arbitration of the
dispute with their employers last year. That decision was
to the effect that men of fair average skill should be paid
Cid. per hour, and that this rate should be in force for
two years. The mon say that out of GOO or 700 joiners in
the town there are only about seventy receiving Gid., and
they therefore contend that the agreement has not been
carried out. A resolution was passed by the meeting, de-
puting the chairman to request Mr. Jowett, the umpire
appointed at the arbitration, to call together the Board of
Conciliation, and instructing the representatives of the
joiners to demand a fulfilment of the agreement on the part
of the employers,..or the dissolution of t4oj3„ 9.4r4 Of
Arbitration.