The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-18 00:00:00

LA TEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

ARRIVAL, OF M. DANO.
BREST, Sept. 17.
M. Dano, the French Minister in Mexico, arrived
here this day.

employers to attend that meeting—(hear, hear)—
and he trusted that if the request for increased
remuneration were not complied with, at least the
reasons for non-compliance would be stated. (Hear,
hear.) All they asked for was a fair and temperate
consideration of the memorial which would be sub-
mitted to the employers—that the question should
be fairly argued and fully gone into, and they were
content to abide by the result. (Cheers.) The
meeting had before them the report of the sub-com-
mittee appointed on the sth of August last to pre-
pare a report on the resent position of readers, and
the means whereby that position might be improved.
The report in question contained, amongst others,
the following statements :
" Wages-195 bona fide readers receive weekly a
total of £394 125., being an average of £2 Os. s}d.
each. The salaries range from 365. to £3, but the
greater number are at £2 weekly. The details are
as follow :-33 readers receive 365. each weekly ;
37 receive 385.; 77 receive 40s. ; 13 receive 425. ; 1
receives 425. 6d. ; 2 receive 445. ; 18 receive 455. ;
one receives 465. 6d. ; eight receive 50s. ; one re-
ceives 525. 6d. ; one receives 555. ; one receives
575. 6d. ; and two receive 60s. each. Time : In 34
houses there are 19 variations in the number of hours
which constitute a week's work for the readers. In
one house the week consists of 45i hours' work ; in
one, 47} hours ; in one, 48k hours ; in one 49
hours ; in one, 49} hours ; in one, 51 hours ; in one,
51f hours; in three, 52 hours; in three, 52i hours ;
in two, 53 hours; in one, 53i hours ; in five, 54
hours ; in one, 541 hours ; in one, 55 hours ; in
one, 551 hours ; in three, 57 hours ; in one, 58
hours ;in one, 59} hours ;in five, 60 hours—in all,
34 houses, the average being 53 hours' work. The
reader's week is ordinarily counted as six hours less
than the compositor's, but is not always so favour-
able to him. When a man is promoted to the read-
ing-closet, his promotion usually stops ; and he is
compelled to stay there for life, unless he finds it
more profitable to go back to case, or leave the busi-
ness. When overseers are wanted, the choice very
seldom falls upon the reader, though on many
grounds he is likely to be the most suitable. Read-
ing is not a healthy employment. The reader is
subject to some of the most sad and most painful of
diseases, and that should he by chance live to be old
and past labour he is found to be altogether unpre-
pared in pocket to meet the contingency. Nor are
any of these misfortunes brought on by fair wear
and tear of time and healthy mental labour, but by
excessive application at times when authors and pub-
lishers are pressing; then the day runs into the
night and the night into the day again, until the
over:asked and throbbing brain, having long vainly
complained, begins to reel, and the mind is little
better than a hazy conglomeration of unconnected
ideas. As to a reader's education, if it has not been
expensive to his parents—though that is the case in
some instances—it has been obtained by great
labour, and by the denial to himself of those recrea-
tions which other young men are free to enjoy. The
chief points in which the position of readers re-
quires improvement are (1) the amount of wages ;
(2) the length of time they are required to work.
The average of £2 Os. sid. is without doubt too low
a sum to pay for a reader's work, being only a trifle
more than the wages received by good compositors,
and usually less than those of overseers, with whom
readers ought rather to rank. Considering the
amount of mental toil involved in the right perfor-
mance of a reader's duties, the average of 53 hours ,
is too long a period for a week's work, especially as
there is a manifest tendency to lengthen the esta-
blished week, either by occasional and regular over-
time, or by a permanent extension of the daily time
of attendance at work. In some cases this last ob-
ject is sought without an equivalent increase in
Isalary. There is also a growing tendency to cram
a greater amount of work into a given time. It ap-
pears to the sub-committee, then, on the grounds
herein submitted, that the readers of London are
justified in asking of their employers either an in-
crease of salary, or a reduction of the hours of labour.
But the request must be practically confined to the
first point, as a week of about 50 hours appears to
be necessary to the proper despatch of business." i
Mr. HARPER moved the following resolution :
" That, in the opinion of this meeting, the value
of the services rendered by the printers' readers of
London is not adequately recognised by their em-
ployers."
The CHAIRMAN announced that the resolution
would be seconded byMr., not Mrs., Harris. (Much
laughter.)
Mr. HARRIS having seconded the resolution, it
was put and carried unanimously.
The SECRETARY then read a memorial, intended
for presentation to the Masters' Association and to
the employers individually. The following is an
abstract of the memorial The lower purchasing
power of money of late years has been the cause of
an advance of wages in most skilled trades. The
major part of the printing trade has shared in this
advance ; but readers have been overlooked. Read-
ing being a mental operation, a reader's efficiency
depends upon his personal qualifications. A mini-
mum salary is not therefore fixed, but an advance
of 10 per cent. is requested. Overtime should be
better regulated, readers often getting a lower pay-
ment for night-work than compositors. The more
a reader learns the more valuable he is to his em -
ployer. Study should therefore b' encouraged by
liberal treatment. The recent advance having raised
the rate of the compositor, that of the reader should
be proportionately raised, so that the old distinction
should be at least maintained. Further, the employ-
ment is unwholesome, study is expensive, and a
reader's position and (if at all educated) tastes in-
volve a greater outlay in the necessaries and conve-
niences of life than those of other printers."
Mr. BEGG moved, and Mr. FORREST seconded, tho
adoption of the memorial.
The motion was put and carried.
On the motion of Mr. PARRY, seconded by Mr.
DUSTER, Messrs. Adams, Challoner, Forrest, Parry,
Upjohn, and S.lhlrhitwell, jun., were appointed as
acommittee,
wit power to add to their number,
to sign and present the memorial to the master
printers
of London, and if necessary to confer with
them thereon.

A cordial vote of thanks was then, on the motion
of Mr. CHALLONER, passed to Mr. Dickens for pre-
siding.

The CHAIRMAN, in acknowleding the vote, said—
Gentlemen, I beg to thank you very cordially for
your hearty response, and to assure you that you
have been most fully welcome to my small services.
I sincerely trust and believe that your very calm
and temperate proceedings will finally result in the
establishment of relations of perfect amity between
employers and employed, and consequently tend to
the general welfare. (Cheers.)
The meeting then separated.

ABUNDANCE OF ITERRINGS.—It is said that al

the herrings that man, by exercising the greatest
possible industry, can tako from "the sea are not of any
consequence whatever ; or, in other words, that they do
not in the slightest degree affect the supplies. Not to
speak of the havoc that the millions of cod and other fishes
make in the shoals, it has been calculated that the solan
geeso of St. Kilda alone require au annual supply of
214,000,000 herring. This is equal to 305,714 barrels—
much more than the total average of herrings branded at
all tho north-east coast stations put together in any one
of the last three or four years. Tho quantities eaten by
fowls and fish, and the number destroyed by other equally
destructive agencies, are no doubt in proportion to thuso
figures.—Macmillan's Magazine.
THE SALMON RIVERS OF SOUTH "TALES.—Since

the passing of the Salmon Fishery Act, the local conser-
vators of South Wales have made every effort to carry out
the provisions of the act, and the effect has already been
seen hi the greater abundance of salmon this year than
usual. Mr. Frank Buckland, one of the insp2etors of
fisheries, has paid a visit to the south Welsh counties
during the past fortnight, and ho was present at the
Eisteddfod held at Carmarthen, whore he made SOlll3
suitable remarks on the importance of saluiou culture,
and there is little doubt that the suggestions ho threw out
on the occasion will be generally acted upon. Efforts are
now being made to prevent the deleterious refuse of iron,
tin, and other works being thrown into the rivers, and the
various inventions proposed for utilising the refuse, in-
stead of allowing it to run into the waters, aro being ge-
nerally adopted. Improved fish ladders aro also being
erected at different points on the rivers, and the weirs
are being in several instances rendered less obstructive.

The fishermen in many localities have hitherto suffetel
through the operations of the act; but ultimately it is
clear that they will be greatly benefited, and it is believed
that year by year there will be a gradual increase iu the
take of salmon.

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4, Al, 11, 13-1
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_

HER MAJESTY.

BALMORAL, Sept. 15'
The Queen, Prince and Princess Christian,
Princess Louise, and Prince Leopold attended
Divine Service in the morning in the parish church
of Crathie.
The Rev. Archibald Charteris, minister, of Glas-
gow, officiated.
Lady Frances Baillie and Mr. Hardy had the,
honour of dining with the Queen and Royal FanlHP

NEWDEG%I.7'E, 211. P. ov REFOR3L

SUTTON COLDFIELD, Tuesday
The annual meeting of the Warwickshire Agri-
cultural Society was held this day in Sutton Cold-
field-park, where prizes to the extent of upwards°
£BOO were distributed. A large number of the
members and friends of the society dined together
in a splendid pavilion on the show ground. In the
absenze of the Earl of Warwick (the president of
the society), the chair was taken by Lord Leigh'
and among the gentlemen by whom his lordshlP
was surrounded were Mr. Newdegate, MY., Jr.
Wise, Mr. Greaves, Mr. V. Holbecke, the Rev. lu
Kittoe, Mr. G. A. Hackett, &c.
The usual loyal and constitutional toasts having
been given and honoured,
Mr. GREAVES proposed the health of the members
for the county—Mr. Newdegate for the northern
division, and Mr. Wise for the southern division.
(This toast was received with loud and prolonged
cheering.)
Mr. NEWDEGATE, in responding to the toast, said
that out of the discussions on the Reform Bill bad
arisen a truth which ought to have been known be"
fore, which ought to have been felt before, but
which at the same time had not the cogency which
it had now attained, and it was this—that the county
members of England were not members of the
counties only. Ile had had the honour for four-and-
twenty years of representing in
a large measure
the great town of Birmingham. He had also had
the honour of representing the city of COventrY,
and the truth was this, that the freeholders, the
householders, and the copyholders, resident and
qualified by property within these several cities
and boroughs, voted for the county members.
(Hear, hear.) They (the county members) were
the only members who could claim to be represen-
tatives of the whole community of the district which
they represented. (Cheers.) He felt it a great
honour to have his name connected with the agri-
culture of Warwickshire. The county
might not
be represented so fully as it bad been represented
on former occasions at meetings of this description.
But why was this ? It was because they were
threatened with the cattle plague, and, for one, as
a part of his duty, he called upon the Government to
adopt such regulations with respect to the ports as
would establish certain ports only as ports for the
import of cattle. The Government had thought fit
to retain within their own discretion much more
than he would have allowed them. He regretted
t
that the House of Commons bad not decided that
the Government should within a certain period
name certain ports as those into which only cattle
should be imported from abroad, because
ports had been designated, in those ports re„
uld
lations might have been adopted such as would
have secured us from the importation of disease:
from the Continent. (Hear, hear.) He hepesa,
that the representatives of the Liberal interest
would support those of the agricultural interest
in insisting that certain ports should be named into
which cattle should be imported, and in which „
pro-
per regulations might be adopted. It was
a knoiN;
if tilos_
fact that the disease had been suppressed E
t'
land, and if it broke out again it must be imported
from abroad. (Hear.) So much as to the eau!
which had limited the exhibition of the present oc-
casion. He was not going to limit himself exactly
to the interests of agriculture. lle must remind all
present that a Reform Act had been Passed' io
considered it a most fortunate thing for the
country
that that measure had been passed. (Hear, hear)
The truth was this—that the House of Commons
and he spoke as a member of the House of Com-
mons, having been attached to it for the last -4°_.
years—the House of Commons found that there was
an opinion largely prevailing out of the House
it did not duly represent the people of England, an
u
the consequence was that the House of Commons
lost confidence in itself and in its vigour. The
House of Commons was not sure that the people
would believe that the opinion of the country would
sanction their decision, and the effect was this, that
influences that were not strictly English gained too
large a powerin the House of Commons, and that was
the reason that for eight years, as many of his consti-
tuents were aware, he had been anxious for a Reform
Act. If his constituents were to be represented as
they ought to be—being an important section of the
people of England—their representatives must
have confidence their commission was not doubted,
and therefore he sought for the passing of a Reform
Act. That Reform Act had been passed. He did
not say that it was perfect, but he asserted that it
was a great thing that the Legislature had done its
best to secure a real representation of the
•
gence of the people of England. (Cheers.) The
representatives of the people might have failed or
might have been mistaken, but this circumstance
was patent, that the House of Commons, which he
had now the honour to represent, had done its best
to secure the county representation. By an inde-
pendent vote they increased the number of seats al-
located to the counties by ten. The House of Lords
—and this was a matter which ought to be remem-
bered by the cities and boroughs of England— at-
tended rather to the representation of the towns.
By adopting the proposition of Lord Cairns they
secured the recognition of minorities, and showed
that they attended rather to the towns than to the
counties. That was an answer to the assertion that
the House of Lords were only the representatives
of the agricultural interest. They asserted this
principle—that where the minority in towns is so
considerable that in point of numbers, to say nothing
of intelligence, they exceeded the whole of the con-
stituencies in many boroughs, the minority should
have a voice in the representation, and that was the
great principle of the constitution of England as
distinguished from the constitution of other States,
for in this country it was considered most desirable
that where there was a large minority their voice
should be represented in the Legislature—(hear)'hitherto through the small boroughs, but always
efficiently in the representative assembly of the
people. (Hear.) And now having touched upon
these points, rejoicing in the fact that he represented
not only the opinion of a class, but of many classes
—rejoicing in the fact that he shared in the repro'
sentation of Birmingham and Coventry, while ho
was nominally the member for North Warwickshire
--he thanked all present for the honour they had
done the members for the county in drinking their
health, inasmuch as he appreciated the task which
devolved upon them of representing not only the
agricultural interest, but a variety of other interests,
which, excepting the maritime interest, was a fair
representation of all the interests of England'
(Loud cheers.)
Mr. WISE also responded to the toast.
Mr. NEWDEGATE then proposed " Prosperity to
the town of Sutton Coldfield."
Several other toasts followed, and the party then
separated.

• -
GARIBALDI AND THE REFORM BANQUET. —Wrt3
understand that General Garibaldi has definitely refused
the invitation to bo present at the Reform banquet at the
Crystal Palace, fixed for the 30th inst., on the ground that
he does not know what matters may be then engaging his
attention in Italy.
THE EASTERN FISHERIES. The quantities of
herrings landed by the Great Yarmouth boats have pre-
sented considerable fluctuations during the last few days,
but the quality has improved. Prices have ranged at from
£lO to £l7 per last (13,200 fish).
STABBING IN LIVERPOOL.—NO less than five eases
of stabbing were brought before the Liverpool magistrates
yesterday. In one case a woman had nearly cut off the
nose of another virago. The prisoners were remanded.