The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-22 00:00:00

Trades' Unions.

Last night a meeting was held in the large room
of Exetkr Hall, which was convened by the Society
of Amalgamated Engineers for the purpose of taking
into consideration, in conjunction with the members
of trades' associations generally, the recent decision
in the Court of Queen's Bench; the Royal Commis-
sion for inquiry into the conduct of trades' unions ;
and Mr. Neate's Bill, now before Parliament, for
giving protection to their funds.

Mr. W. NEWTON presided, and the ball was filled
by a very numerous audience, consisting princi-
pally of working men. In opening the proceedings
the chairman said that the subjects on which the
meeting was called to deliberate were of the most
Taal importance. Ile would try to show that the
Trades' Unions were justified in maintaining the
priucipit--,s upon which they had been established.
During the decision of the Friendly Societies' Act in
the House of Commons in 1851 and 1855 some of
the representatives of the Trades' Unions put them-
selves into communication with the late Mr. Sotheron
Estcourt, Lord Goderich, and other members of
Parliament, with a view to secure as much as pos-
sible the contributions of working men against the
defalcations of those who were intrusted with the
management of their associations and funds. A
special committee of the House of Commons consi-
dered the whole question, and in 1854 reported that
they were of opinion that, inasmuch as the state in
which numbers of unregistered societies found them-
selves from being unable to remedy by law if they
should be defrauded by the officers of these societies
was most unsatisfactory, what was formerly a pri-
vilege ought rather to be extended as a matter of
policy and justice. They therefore recom-
mended that a clause should be introduced
giving power to the members of all Friendly So-
cieties, unregistered as well as registered, to sue and
to be sued as among themselves and their own offi-
cers. The bill of 1855 was then prepared and in-
troduced on this recommendation, the 44th section
of which was specially framed to carry out the ex-
pressed opinion of the committee. The speaker then
read a portion of the judgment of the Chief Justice of
the Queen's Bench, and continued to say that in
1851 Sir Alex. Cockburn, at that time Attorney-
General, gave it as his opinion that it was legal for
men to combine to resist reduction of wages, in-
creased hours of labour, or other encroachments on
their interests, and to persuade others to act with
them, provided that neither violence to persons orpro-
perty, threats, intimi lation, or molestationwereused
or intended; and further that, though certain rules
might have been framed with greater certainty, he
was of opinion that they were not objectionable in
point of law; and the members of the society would
not incur any penalties in conforming to them, re-
gard being always had to the law as pointed out in
the answer to the first query. The same authority,
therefore, who had supported the principles upon
which the trade societies were established and admi-
nistered in 1851 had pronounced their condemnation
in 1867. The working men of England deprecated
as much as any class in the country outrages like
those which had been perpetrated in Sheffield. They
were not afraid of the results of the Royal Commis-
sion which had been appointed, for they knew well
that they would be favourable to those whom it most
intituately concerned. But he could not see why a
commission should not be issued, or the operations
of the present commission extended, for the purpose
of ascertaining the constitution and transactions of
those combinations of masters by which wages were
lowered, and the state of the working man so much
deteriorated. Reports had recently appeared in The
Sun, in which it was stated that the Thames Iron-
works Company had lost a contract because the ship-
wrights in its employ were not satisfied with 6d. a
day less than what they demanded. But they should
remember that, since there were only 60 men con-
cerned, the total sum which had induced so consi-
derable a loss would amount to nothing more than
the inconsiderable sum of £450. The speaker then
spoke of the effects of trades' unions in their influ-
ence on the exportation of capital, and concluded by
saying that they were calculated to raise the character
and to raise the social status of the working man.
Mr. APPLEGARTII, of the Amalgamated Engineers,
proposed the first resolution, which was to the fol-
lowing effect :—" That in the opinion of this meet-
ing the recent decision of the Court of Queen's Bench
in the case of Hornby v. Close' virtually destroys
the protection which trade societies have enjoyed
since the passing of the Friendly Societies Act, and
takes from them the privileges the Legislature in-
tended to give in the passing of that measure. It
therefore calls on all trade societies to support the
following requisition to the Home Secretary in
favour of Mr. Neate's Bill."

The requisition alluded to in the resolution set
forth the considerations urged in the chairman's
address, and prayed that the Home Secretary would
grant his concurrence to the bill introduced by Mr.
Neate, which would be temporarily efficacious, and
that at the same time he would undertake the intro-
duction of a permanent measure such as would in-
sure to Trade Societies the protection which for the
last 12 years they thought they possessed, and thus
do an act of justice to thousands of industrious and
deserving workmen.

The proposition was seconded by Mr. CriTILE, an
ironfounder, who, in the course of a lengthy and
discursive speech, eulogized the principles and con-
stitution of Trades' Unions, and vehemently endea-
voured to prove the superiority of artisans over
every other class in the community.
The first resolution having been put and carried,
Mr. ODGERS, London Trade Council, rose to pro-
pose the second, which ran thus :—" That in the
opinion of this meeting no commission of inquiry
into the doings of Trade Societies can give satis-
faction to the working classes unless they be repre-
sented on the commission by members of their own
order ; and that, as the Royal Commission ap-
pointed to inquire into the organisation and trans-
actions of Trades' Unions contains no such direct
representation, we feel bound to express our disap-
pointment and regret that the commission has not
been more equitably composed."
It was seconded by Mr. MArrz, a compositor,
and having been carried unanimously, the proceed-
ings closed with the customary vote of thanks to the
chairman.

Silver Mines in Nevada.

The San Francisco Times, of November 29th,

says: --

" Quite a crowd of people were collected in front
of the Bank of California yesterday, watching the
struggles of a powerful team of horses in their at-
tempts to move a waggon load of silver bricks. The
load was so heavy that the wheels sunk into the
cobble stones nearly to the hubs. After a long
struggle, and the assistance of several of the by-
standers, the team started the load, which consisted
of about one hundred large silver bricks from the
State of Nevada."

Silver bricks from Nevada, and gold bars from
California, will soon work out the problem so diffi-
cult in the eyes of European financiers—how the
United States are to return to specie currency, and
at the Same time pay off the large national debt.
It is becoming widely known that the slopes to the
west of the Rocky Mountains arc rich to a wonder-
ful degree in argentiferous ores. Nevada literally
possesses mountains of silver, mixed with quick-
silver, lead, and antimony. In 1865 the population
of Virginia city, situated in the centre of Washoe
mining region, was estimated at 15,000. This city
is stated to have exported daily an average sum of
i 3,000 in bullion. The yield of the Washoe dis-
trict was said to be fur the year 1864 $24,000,000
in silver, and the total exportation for the same
year was thirty millions of dollars,* or six millions
sterling. The surface of the State is mountainous,
even its valleys stand at the average elevation of
about 5,000 feet. The peaks of the Humboldt
ranges attain an elevation of 6,000 feet above these
valleys, or 11,000 from the sea level. In the
vicinity of the mountains the valleys are fertile,
containing extensive grassy tracts suited for pas-
ture. The land of the State is generally barren,
but capable of cultivation if artificially irrigated.
Though the level of the Territory is so high
-the winters are neither severe nor of long duration.
The climate ii healthy, having a period when some

*Nevada is also Territory,

rain falls, and about six or eight months of dry
weather. Though there is a deficiency of water in
the State there are several extensive lakes, and
some deposits in the desert of pure salt, which is of
incalculable value to the miners in roasting the
silver ore. A canal has just been completed through
the Humbolt country to supply water to the mines,
and for the purposes of irrigation. The railway,
which is to connect San Francisco with the Salt
Lake City, passes through this State, and is being
pushed forward with the greatest vigour. The Great
Ocean line of steamers now plying between San
Francisco and China will make available the enor-
mous amount of surplus labour with which China
is stored. So rich are the deposits of silver on the
one side of the Sierras, and the deposits of gold on
the other side; so extensive are the regions over
which this wealth of ore is spread ; so great are the
advantages in the proximity to the greatest labour
market in the world, and in the construction of a
railway which, passing through these mining dis-
tricts, will connect the Atlantic with the Pacific,
that the effects must soon be felt over the world.
All now required for the development of these won-
derful resources is capital. Bodies of hard-working
diggers combine to open mines and to penetrate
with great labour through masses of rock to the
veins they strive to reach. But their efforts are
marred at every turn, and their labour wasted, for
want of the necessary implements and machinery.
The process of extracting the metal is so rude that
not only is there much waste both in time and
material, but the advantages given by nature
are in a manner neutralised. This class, as a
whole, are opposed to capital, and desire above
all things to secure the opportunities for
themselves. But they are beaten by these cir-
cumstances, and compelled to appeal to San
Francisco, to New York, and to London, for the
means of developing their chief mining concessions.
IN, here such companies have been formed, and the
necessary capital been forthcoming, the success that
has attended the operations is astonishing. We
have before us a list of the dividends divided by the
shareholders of these mining companies during the
past year. They count their returns by the month,
and the average of the whole number is 51 per cent.,
or at the rate of 6G per cent. per annum. The re-
sult of combined capital and labour, applied to such
astonishing natural productiveness and artificial
advantages, cannot fail to have an effect on our
metallic currency. If, in its present rude condition,
the returns of Nevada are so large,what are they
likely to be when some of the capital now lying idle
and unproductive sets in motion scientific machi-
nery and appliances, and the State is brought into
direct communication with Europe, by the comple-
tion of the Union Pacific Railway—the unfinished
link of the new highway of the world ? It is to be
hoped if the tide of speculation sets in this direction
that the lessons of the past will not be forgotten.
There are always those ready to foist on the public
concerns that have no intrinsic worth, or indeed
other existence than in fraudulent prospectuses and
reports, and there will never be wanting allies in
the commercial emporiums to aid in floating such
bubbles. It is the invariable habit of the Anglo-
Saxon race to run into the wildest extremes, and to
bring into discredit the soundest and most profitable
undertakings by the encouragement they give to
those who seize these opportunities, as means to
plunder.