The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-08 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

An order has been received at the Aberdeen
depot battalion for the depot of the 78th High-
landers, under the command of Capt. St. George,
to move to Fort George on the 10th inst„ there to
await the arrival of the regiment, which is ex-
pected from India about the middle of September,
The depot at present numbers about 320 men, with
the following officers :—Capt. St. George, com-
manding ; Capt. 1 ielden; Lieuts. Bindon, Thomp-
son, M'Neill, and Graham ; Ensigns Inglis, Sir A.
Mackenzie, Murray, Davies, Williamson, Baillie,
Richardson, Swanson, and Ingle.
The 16th Regiment 'of Infantry embarked on
board the Himalaya, at Kingstown, 011 Saturday
morning for the north of England, having been re-
lieved in Dublin by the 22d Regiment, from Man-
chester.
With the view of improving the sanitary condi-
tion of the troops at Chatham who are now under
canvas, orders have been given to the authorities
at that garrison to have the camp supplied with
water from the waterworks. Pipes have accord;
ingly been laid down to the Spur battery, where
the troops belonging to the 2d battalion are en-
camped, and a bountiful supply of water is thus
placed at the service of the men.
In addition to the troops belonging to the 2d and.
3d battalions at Chatham who are now under can-
vas,: several tents have been pitched within the
grounds of the several military hospitals, and these
are occupied by upwards of 100 of the patients, it
having been found that by placing the sick troops
under canvas they are restored to health much
more rapidly than when confined in the close hos-
pital wards.
The coroner's jury recently assembled at Wool-
wich to inquire into the circumstances attending
the death at the hospital of James Whitehead, the
unfortunate gunner of Lieut.-Col. Michel's battery,
Royal Artillery, have received an answer from
Brigade-Major Shaw, informing them that their
application requesting a military inquiry will be
complied with. Ii appears by the evidence adduced

at the inquest that the lock of the ward whence the
lunatic effected his escape was damaged, and the
order for its repair was in course of signature ; but
that, in consequence of the circumlocution necessary
for the performance of even the most trifling act,
the lock remained perfectly useless, and the door
was not secured. A carpenter is :constantly about
the hospital, nevertheless, any act, even the driving
a nail, cannot be performed by him without a re-
quisition first being made by the steward to the
purve3-or, and from him in succession to the prin-
cipal medical officer, the barrack master, and the
Royal Engineer. The consequence is considerable
delay, which in this instance, as in many others,
has proved of fatal consequences. If the lock of the
guard ward had been secure the attending orderly,
in the event of any violence or attempt to escape,
could have obtained assistance in sufficient time by
ringing a bell at hand, which the sudden escape of
his charge prevented him from doing, and having
another invalid in the same ward he was unable to
follow.

The whole of the building labourers and mechanies
'employed at Woolwich by the firms of Messrs. Lucas
Brothers, Kirk and Parry, Myers and Co., Piper,
Hicks, Smith, and others, on receiving their weekly
pay on Saturday evening, were informed that their
services would not be required until the firm of
Messrs. Trollope and Co. commenced work. Conse-
quently the building establishments in the Royal
Arsenal Dockyard, Marine Infirmary, &c., are at a
standstill, and upwards of 3,000 men are for a time
unemployed.
The Northumberland Artillery Militia were in-
spected at Tynemouth Castle last week by Colonel
Marryat. They were exercised in drill in the line
and in artillery practice, chiefly in firing shot at a
target placed in the sea at a distance of 600 yards.
The men gave the greatest satisfaction to the in-
specting officer. The Tynemouth Volunteer Rifle
and Artillery Corps, 'which have been enrolled by
the Government, are now drilled twice a week by
the officers and non-commissioned officers of the
militia.

The Bedford Militia will leave Aldershott camp
for quarters at Weymouth, Portland, and March-
wood this day.

THE NINE HOURS MOVEMENT.

On Saturday, at 3 o'clock, the operatives of the
building trades engaged at most of the large esta-
blishments in and immediately around the metro-
polis ceased work, and began to collect their tools
previous to quitting their employment at 4 o'clock,
the masters having intimated to the men that they
should close their establishments this day unless the
latter would pledge their word to belong to no
trades union society, and the men, declining to give
this undertaking, considered their engagement to
be at an end, claiming for themselves that they have
not struck against the masters, but that the masters
have struck against them by insisting upon a pledge
from every workman which has not hitherto been
required of him. This they think may have some
effect upon the interpretation to be given to what is
known as the "strike clause" in contracts. The men
carried out their proceedings, as far as we have
been able to learn, in a cool, orderly, systematic,
and evidently pre-arranged manner. There was
no exhibition of feeling evinced on either side, but
the simultaneous packing up of tools, and the few
expressions which dropped from the men, plainly
enough indicated their intention to hold out, and
not to return to their labour this morning.
It should be observed that, although this was the
case at most 'of the large establishments, matters do
not appear to have been pushed to this extremity
at all of them. In the ordinary course of things,
when master and man are working harmoniously
together, and when the works are expected to pro-
ceed as usual upon a Monday morning, it is cus-
tomary on paying wages on a Saturday afternoon
for the pay clerk to retain in his possession what is
called the " back day's day." This is, in fact, one
day's pay, which is kept in hand as a guarantee
that the men shall not break faith and leave their
employers suddenly, but that they shall return to
their labour on the following Monday. It is pre-
sumed, therefore, that at those establishments where
on Saturday last the back day's pay.was retained
work will be resumed to-day as usual. Nothing
will be said on either side about the " document"
or the " declaration," and the men will go on for
the present working their ten hours as before, the
only strike, as they allege, on their part for the nine
hours at this time being at Messrs. Trollope's works.
This is strictly correct; but the strike at Messrs.
Trollope's is admitted to be only auxiliary to a ge-
neral movement for the nine hours in other direc-
tions. Those masters, on the other hand, who on
Saturday paid up the arrears of "back day's pay,"
and who have posted about their establishments
the notice agreed to by the Central Association,
may be supposed to be resolute in their determina-
tion to close their doors until Messrs. Trollope's
firm resume work, and then not to open them save
to nim who will pledge their word that they are
not members of any objectionable society.
Among the firms who retained the "back day's
pay" on Saturday, and who may be said to continue
open, the following 43 were reported to the Confe-
rence of the Trades at the Paviors' Arms up to 12
o'clock on Saturday night : —S impson, Hooper, Glin-
ton, Elliott and Watney, Avery, Seth Smith, Orm-
son, Phillips, Cox, Westminster-bridge, Banton,
Davis, Colins and Green, Cutler, Glinton, Booth,
Hall, Piper (Stangate), Dawson, Willmott Dowl,
Ayres, Bland and Glinton, Griggs, Murray and Son,
Burton, Farmer, Field, Roper, Edwards, Bailey,
Fish, Macey, Thomas, Clark, Spurgeon, Hill, Fin-
lay, Walker and Naves, Carter, Ellis, Walker
(Strand), and Slaughter.
Among those where the resolution to close is
maintained, and where the "declaration" is insisted
on, are the large and well-known establishments of
G. Myers, T. Piper and Son, G. Smith (Gillingham-
street),. G. Smith (Warwick-street), Freeman, R.
Ashby and Sons, J. and C. Rigby, T. Cubitt, W.
Cubitt and Co., H. Faulkener, J. Jay, Jackson and
Shaw, Nixon, Browne and Robinson, W. Moxon,
Watts and Sons, Bowley Brothers, W. Hill, Lucas
Brothers, S. S. Williams, J. Wilson, M. Patrick
and Son, W. Jackson, McKelly, Wardle and Baker,
Laurence and Sons, G. W. Heath, Gale, Poole,
Rider, M'Lennan and Bird, Peto and Betts, W.
Downs, Waller and Son, W. Norris, J. Jacob, J.
Drew, White, T. Mills and Son, and E. B. Gammon.
At Messrs. Piper and Son's the men were re-
quested to leave their tools and to meet Mr. T.
Piper at noon to-day. To this they assented. Mr.
Myers, on Saturday, sent to his men and intimated
to them that if they had anything to communicate
to him he would meet them at four o'clock, or that
if they would appoint a deputation he would meet
them at his office. To this the men replied that
they had nothing to communicate. Mr. Myers had
intimated his intention of closing his works on
Monday, and that they took to be a notice to leave,
on which they were going to act. At some other
establishments it was predicted that a speedy re-
opening would take place, and the men were ad-
vised to leave their tools. Acting upon previous
concert, however, they one and all refused to do so,
and took leave of their employers, many in sorrow-
ful mood, no doubt, but still determined to hold out
to the last, and to stand by the Nine Hours Move-
ment.

-----
The master-builders have incurred censure from
a good many quarters for having formed themselves
into an association to resist the combination of the
men, and it has been pointed out that really
they lay themselves open very much in this respect
to the charge that is brought against opera-
tives. "If the men are not to combine, (it is
said) neither shall the masters. Let labour be free,
and let trade arrangements be made between the
individuals without reference to others." The mas-
ters' defence is precisely that which the men urge,
viz., that if they do not combine they will be taken
in detail, and thus defeated, and possibly ruined.
Those who are acquainted with the building trade,
however, must be aware that it is a singularly dis-
united body, and that nothing but extreme pres-
sure would every produce combination or commu-
nity of action among the master builders. This
arises from the intenseamount of competition which
is peculiar to trades where works are undertaken
by contract. The competition is of a double nature.
In the first place, there is that "general"
competi-
tion
which in a large community is common
t 0
every trade, and then there is the " particular"
competition which attaches to every individual
transaction arising out of a
When a work of any
system of tendering for
theconstructionmagnitude ofo
be
works.
executed, specifications and
plans are issued and tenders are invited; then, the
respectability of the competitors being ascertained
and guaranteed by sureties, the work is usually let
to the contractor who has sent in the lowest ten-
der. From this it is argued that the circumstances
brought the leading must have been
nvgerfiy urrmsgntoefthwe hmicehtrocpooullid have
brought hetoge-
ther, and induced them to enrol themselves in a
central association within so short a time, for until
the meeting of August 1 no such organisation was
in contemplation. There has, indeed, been in exist-
ence for a quarter of a century a kind of club called
the Builders' Society, the object of which, as set
forth in thg Ist by-law, is " to promote friendly in-