The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-26 00:00:00

Sheffield Trades' Union Commission.

society had paid them. Mr. Torr had never
spoken to him about returning the books which :
had been stolen from his warehouse—in fact, he
knew nothing whatever about them. The lock-out
in 1866 lasted 16 weeks. The cause of the lock-
out was in consequence of the grinders asking for
an advance in prices, which the masters refused to
give. Witness was examined by Mr. Overend for
the purpose of ascertaining whether the men who
were rattened during the lock-out were working at
the old prices or at the advanced prices. Ile said
he believed they were not working at all, because at
the time they were rattened they were receiving
scales. Witness had no doubt that Mr. Torr's con-
duct had been brought before meetings of the society
several times. He could not say how many times
his name had been before the meeting before his
hardening cistern was pierced. It was generally
understood that old water was the best for harden-
ing purposes, but it was not true that if a cistern
was pierced a manufacturer was stopped working
fur several months. Witness denied that he ever
paid a man named Wolstenholme £5O to induce him
to leave Mr. Torr's employ, but it came out in reply
to some other questions that he had paid Wolsten-
holme £1 a week scale for about 50 weeks. Witness
admitted that at one interview respecting Mr. Torr's
men resuming work he stated that if Mr. Torr would
pay 18 175., the sum which the society had paid to
his men, the Union would allow the dispute to be
settled. He admitted that the picketting system was
well carried out during the dispute with Mr. Torr,
for whenever he sent out any steel to be made into
files it was watched to ascertain where it was sent to.
He remembered that on one occasion Mr. Torr want-
ing some work done sent it to a Mr. Diet, whose
shop shortly afterwards was broken into. He con-
fessed that that looked very much like a trade affair,
but the society had no knowledge of it. The pickets
were paid a little more than the ordinary amount of
scale ; they were ordered not to use any intimida-
tion, and that if they did use any they would have
to stand the consequences. He believed that ratten-
ing was almost universally adopted in all grinding
trades. In 1864, when so many manufacturers had
their men out, he received a letter on which were
drawn a pistol and a coffin. Underneath these were
the words, " Death is sure and time is short." He
attributed this letter to a non-society man named
Benjamin Taylor. He had been intimidated several
times by non-society men, some of whom carried
knives and pistols for him, and on one occasion his
windows were smashed. The number of members
in his TJnion was upwards of 3,000, who now paid
a contribution of Is. 6d. each a week. The non-
society men numbered only about 100. Messrs.
Turlon and Son's men were now out, in consequence
of their employing a grinder named Jeffcock, who
had seven apprentices. In the File Smiths' Union
the rule was that no apprentice should be taken un-
less he was a son of one of the members of the
trade. This rule was occasionally broken to the con-
sent of the trade ; for instance, 200 apprentices were
taken some years ago to meet the demands of the
manufacturers. If Jeffcock were turned away or
reduced the number of his apprentices, Messrs.
Turlon and Son's men would no doubt return to
their work.

SEVENTEENTH DAY (TUESDAY).
At the sitting of the Commissioners to-day,
John Wood, a sawmaker, one of the auditors of
the Sawmakers' Union, was called at his own re-
quest, and stated that he never saw such an item in
the society's accounts as 10s. expenses paid by
Mr. Barker. He denied that he ever passed such an

item, or, indeed, ever saw it. He was aware that
Barker had been in debt to the union in the sum of

al,out £l7 or £lB. He admitted that he had been
a bad auditor, and that he had not gone carefully

through the accounts.
Mr. Overend—Then you have not done yourself
much credit in coming here, because you have
shown that you have audited the accounts im-
properly. The item might have been in or it might
not, for anything you can say.
John Blenkiron, the other auditor, also denied
that there was such an item as £7 10s. paid to Mr.
Barker.

William Dronfield, honorary secretary to the De-
fence Committee and secretary to the United King-
dom Alliance of Organised Trades, was the next
witness. He said, as secretary to the Defence Com-
mittee, he issued a circular in February last to the
secretaries of the various societies in the town and
neighbourhood. The circular had reference to the
Commission sitting in London and the Trades'
Union Commission, and, among other things, it re-
quested that information might be given as to the
outrages committed in each trade, the method of
enforcing claims, &c. The answers in the circulars
returned were read. The answers returned by
Broadhead created some amusement. The question
relating to outrages was filled up with a list of the
crimes with which the public has lately been sur-
feited, and, added Mr. Broadhead, with reference to
Linley's case, " Whether these outrages on Linley
were perpetrated by union men or others has never
been ascertained." At the end of the list he wrote—
" And there is the Hereford-street outrage, which I
was nearly forgetting (if it is to be attributed to our
trade)." He also professed the readiness of the
officers of the union to attend before the Commission
and give evidence of what they knew, " which was
very little." As to the mode of enforcing claims,
he said, "If the men cannot be prevailed upon to
observe the rules and regulations they often get
rattened, but as a general rule the hands are re-
stored when the difficulty gets settled. A few of
the societies admitted the practice of rattening, as a
means of enforcing claims, but the greater number
of them said the only means they had was " per-
suasion," and in the event of that failing calling
out the men with whom the refractory members
were working. The course adopted by some was
to strike members who were iu arrears from the
benefit of the union. The only societies which ad-
mitted rattening were the Saw Grinders', having
200 members ; the Scythe Grinders', 60 members ;
and the Sickle and Hook Forgers', 190 members.
The Edge Tool Grinders, a small trade, admitted
annoyance, but not rattening. On the contrary, of
the societies who had filled up schedules, societies
numbering 4,000 members denied rattening alto-
gether. Sixty schedules were sent out, and replies
from 40 societies only were received. Broadhead
said rattening prevailed extensively. Witness
could not speak of his own knowledge to that. He
was not prepared for Broadhead's statements there
at all, and he did not believe that rattening pre-
vailed to the extent he stated. He believed it was
confined exclusively, or almost exclusively, to the
grinding branches. There are 34 trades united
together in the Association of Organised Trades of
Sheffield, and of this number 18 are grinding trades
In some trades, as, for instance, the saw trade,
there is an amalgamation or understanding among
the unions of the several branches, by which one
branch assists another in enforcing obedience upon
the members. In this way the grinders " rat" for
the other branches of their own trade, the other
branches bearing the expense. That is effective in
this way, that when the grinders are stopped the
other branches are necessarily brought to a stand
also. In such cases it seems to have been the prac-
tice for the trades for which the grinders rattened
to pay the wages of the grinders for such time as
they were unemployed in consequence of the rat-
tening. Battening has existed among the grinders
because of the facilities afforded for the carrying
off bands and nuts, especially in the old grinding
wheels on the rivers, to which there was the easiest
possible access. Witness believed that the granting
powers to the unions to recover contributions from
members in the County Court would do away with
rattening. It could only then be used to coerce
members into joining the unions; and that object
could be accomplished by the union men refusing to
work for employers who had non-union men. The
practice of rattening ceasing to be used to enforce
payment of arrears would fall into general disuse.
He did not think the unions were prepared to give
up their rules restricting the number of apprentices
but they could be enforced by " taking out" the
men where necessary.
In reply to Mr. Overend, witness explained that
the old grinding wheels were worked by water power.
The wheels were, as a consequence, built upon the
streams running down the valleys surrounding the
town, mostly in lonely situations. There were low
buildings, exceedingly easy of access. He believed
the facilities thus afforded for taking wheel bands
had originally let to the practice of rattening which
was peculiar to Sheffield.
John Wilson, pen and pocket blade grinder, gave
evidence to the effect that he was formerly a mem-
ber of that Union, but he left it in consequence of
things being transacted of which he was ashamed.
On one occasion he saw a man come to the society
and get paid for blowing up a wheel at Dronfield.
Some little time afterwards he ceased his connection
with the Union. He said that rattening was exten-

sively carried on in his own trade, and that the money
for it was paid out of the funds. Ile also said that
rattening was carried on in all the grinding trades.
If rattening failed to make members pay or to in-
duce them to adhere to the rules, force was resorted

to, either by the men being withdrawn from the

Christopher Rotherham, sickle manufacturer of
Dronfield, a very aged man, said he was a very de-
termined non-Unionist, and he had had to suffer for
it. He had had his works blown up three times,
nine pairs of bellows destroyed, 12 bands rattened,
and other damage done. Once one of his houses
was blown up, and his two nephews, who were
sleeping therein, narrowly escaped. He bad also
received numbers of threatening letters. The out-
rages had been commenced because ho had refused
to compel his men to join the Union. He had per-
sisted in allowing them to please themselves whether
they joined the Union or no. The last titne an at-
tempt was made to blow up his works was about 18
months ago. On opening his warehouse one morn-
ing a two gallon can full of powder was found in-
side. The fuse attached had not burnt down. Close
to the works were rooms occupied by five members
of his family, and had the power exploded nothing
could have saved them. Shortly before the explo-
sion he received several threatening letters. Ile had
since advised his men to join the Union, as he could
hold out no longer. They paid small sums and
were admitted, and he had not since been interfered
with.

shop where the refractory members worked, or the
master was a3ked to use his "good offices," which
meant, witness said, that the screw was to be put
on. He considered that the majority of unionists
in the town went into the Unions voluntarily, but
he said there was a large number of society men who
joined Unions through fear of their tools being
destroyed.
Henry Cutts, secretary to the Filesmiths' Union,
which consists of the file cutlers and forgers, was
the next witness. The society was in affiance with
the grinders and hardeners for the purpose of car-
rying out. the rules of the "Union, but not for the
purpose of committing outrages or rattenings. There
had been a few rattenings of men in the trade, but
they had not been done with the knowledge or sanc-
tion of the society. One case of rattening occurred
during the lock-ont which took place in 1866. The
man who was then rattened was working in com-
pliance with the rules of the Union, and witness at-
tributed the rattening to private malice. Another
case of rattening occurred during the same lock-out,
the man rattened being a member of the Union and
receiving box pay. In February, 1864, the men
who were working for Mr. Wm. Torr, a file manu-
facturer, were taken out by the Union because he
was not paying according to the statement of prices.
He remembered Mr. Torr's hardening cistern being
pierced, and the hardening water in consequence
running away ; he also remembered that in the same
year Mr. Torr's warehouse was broken open and
some of his books taken away. He knew nothing
*Whatever of the warehouse being broken open. At
th tt time Mr. Torr's men were out, and his manu-
factory was picketted—that i 3, men were stationed
outside, so that when men applied for work they
should be informed why the others were out. He
could not give any reason for Mr. Torr's warehouse
being broken open ; he knew that all his men left
him with the bitterest feelings of enmity against
him. He was not particularly obnoxious to the
trade, so far as he knew of, except this—that he re-
duced the prices of his men. His men had come out
on three different occasions, and at length he agreed
to pay according to the statement of prices, and the
men resumed work. At the request of Mr. Torr's
manager he furnished him with a list of the
men who had been out and the sums which the

Mr. Overend—Have you paid to the Union ?
IVitnes3 —No ; I would rather rob them of a
sovereign than give them one. (Laughter.)
Mr. Overend—After the explosions did you go to
the secretary of the Union and complain ?—Not I.
I would rather have blown them up. (Laughter.)
The secretaries used to come to our men ; but they
would not see me, as they did not like me.
(Laughter.)

Thomas Holland, joint secretary with Mr. Cutts,
was next called, and confirmed generally the evi-
dence given by Mr. Cutts. He also denied that any
of the rattenings or illegal acts that had taken place
in the trade were done with the sanction of the
Union.

Joseph Roily, secretary to the File Grinders'
Union, said rattening prevailed in the trade, but it
was not approved by thQ Union. In 1857 a file-
grinder named Gillott was blown up. At the time
he was not subscribing to the Union. That was the
last outrage, he believed, that had occurred in his
trade. If a member fell into arrears with his con-
tributions he ceased to participate in the bene-
fits of the Union. Nothing was done to him. The
contributions were 2s. 6d. per week for a man and
ls. 6d. for a boy. Two days before Gillott was
blown up a general meeting of the trade was held
and a committee was appointed to investigate cases
of men who were in arrear, but witness denied that
the outrage was connected with the trade. Gillott
was not more obnoxious to the trade than the other

men who were in arrears.
George Gillott, file grinder, the person referred to
by the last witness, said one night in 1857 some
person broke the cellar grate of his house in Bramble-
street, and put down into the cellar a can of gun-
powder. Six persons were in the house at the time,
but they escaped uninjured. The house was very,
much shattered by the explosion. Some time before
a man named Royston threatened to blow him up if
he did not join the Union. Royston was apprehended
on suspicion, but was discharged. He believed he
was blown up because ho refused to pay to the
Union. His house was blown up 21 years ago,
and he had also been rattened. He had never re-
ceived any threatening letters.

THE SUN. LONDON. WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUAE 26, 1867.

the number of the representatives of Scotland which
certainly has never been exceeded. Therefore, I
may appeal to that Bill as an evidence that it is the
desire of Her Majesty's Government to deal liber-
ally, largely, and effectively with the question of
Scotch representation. Now, I don't want at all at
this moment to be wearisome ; neither of us have
sufficient time to enter into any minute criticism of
the Government measure. It is now before Parlia-
ment and the country, and we have wished that it
should remain for some time in order that it might
be well considered, particularly by the representa-
tives and people of Scotland. We do net consider
ourselves bound as to the details of the representa-
tion which the Bill confers, or even to the number
of representatives proposed. On the contrary,
those are questions open for criticism and for
friendly communication between members and the
Government. I have never supposed that the mea-
sure or any measure of this kind would be precisely
carried as it was at first proposed ; but the general
principles on which we wish to deal with the repre-
sentation of Scotland are there clearly enunciated
and applied without reserve. It is for the Govern-
ment and for the members for Scotland, without re-
ference to party, by friendly and frank commu-
nication, and by that spirit of compromise
and mutual concession without which no public
business can really fairly and satisfactorily be
accomplished to agree upon the terms of a measure
which will, on the whole, give general satisfaction.
Therefore, I wish it to be clearly understood that
we are ready to receive any representations as to
the details of the measure, and that we shall fairly
consider them. (Cheers.) With regard to the great
question which particularly interests this deputation,
namely, the increase in the number of the repre-
sentatives of Scotland, I can only say, on the part
of her Majesty's Government, that they wish to see
a fair and adequate representation of Scotland.
(Cheers.) They have proposed, in that respect, a
considerable measure, but, generally speaking, all I
have to say now is this, that they are resolved to
carry a measure for Scotland, if they can, which
shall considerably increase :the number of its repre-
sentatives. (Cheers.) I will not go into the con-
troversies which are now raging as to how this in-
creased numbers are to be supplied, whether by in-
creasing the number of members of the house or in
any other way. These are subjects on which we
have pretty well made up our minds, but I will not
enter into the controversy here. This, however, I
will repeat, that we are resolved to carry a mea-
sure by which the representation of Scotland shall
be increased, and when I hear of difficulties upon
that subject I say that when the Government are
resolved to carry a measure so far as its influence is
concerned, I really think, if the Scotch members
are unanimous in supporting
the Government, that
there can be no doubt upon the matter. (Loud
cheers.)

Colonel SYKES,
M.P.—The right hon. gentleman
has overlooked one part of the question put to
him—namely, whether he will take care that the
opinion of the house is taken in reference to the
Scotch Reform Bill before the English Bill is
finally passed.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCREQUER—I was
never asked any question upon that subject, and
my hon. and gallant friend must really allow us
to manage the business of the llouse of Commons in
the way in which we think best. (Laughter and
cheers.)

Mr. M‘LAREN, M.P.—The question raised by the
member for Aberdeen is one which it is not neces-
sary that we should discuss now, but I should like
to mention one fact, if the right hon. gentleman
will take it into • consideration—namely, that the
number of representatives that was added by the
Reform Bill of 1832 was quite adequate to the re-
venue of Scotland at the period. A glance at the
figures will show that the English revenue at that
time was 9f times larger than the revenue of Scot-
land, but it is now only seven times larger. If you
multiply the number of representatives, namely, 53
by 9f, you will arrive at the proportion given by
the Reform Bill of 1832, but taking the proportion
due to England as only seven times more than that
of Scotland, the numbers now will be 75.
The deputation having thanked the right hon.
gentleman for the courtesy with which he had re-
ceived and listened to them withdrew.