The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-22 00:00:00

WESTMINSTER.

A VERY HARD CASE.—DEFECTIVE STATE OF ME LAW
—A very respectable-looking woman, about 30 years of
age, applied to Mr. Selfe for redress under th• following
circumstances :

Applicant—l have been living last in the Brompton-
road, and I have to complain very much of the treatment.
receiTed. there. They have been opening my letters and
keeping them from me. They then ordered me out on
Saturday without my wages, and turned Ana out into the
street with nothing but what I stand upright in.
Mr. Solfe—What mado them open your letters ?
Applicant—l can't say, hut they have opened and kept
other servants' letters as well.

Mr. Selfe—flow do you know they opened your letters?
Applicant—l found the letter two days after it had been
received under an ornament on my mistress's mantelpiece ;
it was then open.

Mr. Selfe —They have no right to do that; but I am not
aware that I have any power to help you.
Applicant—lt is very hard if you have not. I went to
the postman who delivered the letter last woek and to the
postmaster, and both of them directed me to commence a
prosecution.

Mr. Selfe—lt was an offence for a letter-carrier to open
a letter, but not an offence for anybody else to do it. There
is no power to prosecute persons criminally out of the
post-office.
Applicant—There were two stamps in the letter.
Mr. Selfo —lf you can prove they took the stamps it may
alter the circumstances. How do you know the stamps
wore sent.

Applicant—l have seen the person who sent the letter
since, and I found one of the stamps upon the hearth-rug
at the time. I discovered the letters on the mantel-piece.
Mr. Selfe— They might have dropped out of the letter
unobserved.

Applicant—Can't you order them to pay me my wages ?
Mr. Selfe—l have no power to do se. Your remedy for
your wages must be in tho County Court.
Applicant —I think I have been very badly treated.
Mr. Selfe—lt is certainly a most improper thing, but it
is not a subject for summons here. I will, however, send
one of the officers with you to see whether I can obtain
you any redress.

Applicant—l am much obliged to your worship, for I
don't know what to do.

Strike of Operative Tailors.

On Saturday evening a general meeting of the
committee and delegates of the London Tailors'
Association, together with the delegates from the
Amalgamated Society, took place at the Green Dra-
gon, King-street, Regent-street, for the purpose of
receiving the replies from the master tailors to the
circular addressed to them on the 16th inst., in re-
ference to their final acceptance or rejection of the
amalgamated time-log, as agreed upon by the men.
From a statement circulated in the room it appeared
that the present dispute was not one of wages, but
simply an adjustment of the time allowed for making
the various descriptions of garments, which, if
adopted, would enable the men to realise what they
were supposed to have obtained after the struggle of
last year-7d. per hour. Mr. Lawrence, the secre-
tary, read the letters which had been received. from
the masters in reply to the circular—about 20 in
number ; but none of them were of a definite cha-
racter, some requiring further time for considera-
tion, and others declaring the writers did not belong
to the Masters' Association, and therefore consi-
dered they should not be interfered with. The let-
ters and the present position of the trade were fully
discussed, and the resolution ultimately adopted was
that the policy hitherto pursued should be perse-
vered in, and the amalgamated time-log enforced,
consequent upon the refusal of the masters to con-
tinue the uniform time-log negotiations with the
united committees. Resolutions were then adopted
to be submitted to the aggregate meeting of the
trade, to be held this day in the Alhambra, at
which it is expected fully 8,000 men will be pre-
sent. If these resolutions are agreed to at the meet-
ing, about which there appears to be no doubt, the
committee will be empowered to draw out the men
from all the shops and firms, where they may think
it expedient to do so. A list of these has been pre-
pared, in none of which will the men go back to
work after the meeting, until the amalgamated time-
log is accepted as the log of the trade. About 2,000
is the number of men expected to be drawn out in
the first instance, mainly from the West-end firms,
and it is believed this number will be sufficient to
fight the question upon. The committee received a
k s were
i close 1 o
complete
at tv
itlarge sum from the 2s. levy per man, which had been
Nunelr
ye
laid on last week, in anticipation of the struggle
likely to take place, and a considerable sum was
still unpaid when boo
the
o'clock. The finance committee sit this morning to
receive the levy payments.
There
in the present proceedings between the indoor and
outdoor workmen, and the men say they have no
fear of any competition from foreign workmen.

LIVERPOOL COTTON MARKET.
This Day.

Market very irregular in tone and prices. Sales
probably 7,000 bales.