The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-25 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—The strike in the building trade has now
lasted some weeks, and yet it is, I fear, too early to
hope that wise counsels will immediately prevail.
Blood is up on both sides. The masters can't
yield, and the men won't—yet. The former are
indignant at an unjustifiable and ruinous interrup-
tion to their trades ; the latter exultant in their
crusade for the "rights of labour." The fustian of
the tap-room orator is neither exhausted nor yet,
most probably, clearly seen through. Mr. Potter's
authority is not at an end, for is there not £l,OOO
to distribute among 10,000 men ? No master is
yet in the Insolvent Court, and so far the workman
has neither sold nor pawned the last of his goods
and chattels, and knocked at the workhouse door.
So the fight will go on ; and it is very certain that
capital will have to put up with many serious
loses, and labour endure much bitter misery before
things right themselves.
How, then, can those who view these painful diffe-
rences with regret—who know from study and ex-
perience the frightful injuries which result from all
strikes —who would fain take the weaker side in the
present dispute, if the weaker side were not in the
wrong—how can they aid in reconciling differences
and in smoothing the way to a permanent harmony
of interests ? Only, sir, by keeping constantly before
the disputants the opinion and reflections which
result from an earnest and unprejudiced considera-
tion of the main features of their case, and from the
study of those laws of social economy which in-
fluence the relations of master and servant, and
which are in themselves as unalterable as the tides.

In 1851-2 I took a prominent part in your
columns in the discussion of the strike brought
about by the proceedings of the Amalgamated
Society of Engineers. Again, in 1854, I think,
when a very important movement was agitating
the body of engine-drivers in the employment of
the London and North-Western Railway Company,
and in 1856, during the lengthened strike of the
cotton spinners in Preston, you kindly permitted
me the free expression of my views on these most
important social problems. If, therefore, familiarity
with my subject constitute any claim to attention,
I trust both employers and employed will read
what I have to say. It will depend on their truth
and cogency whether my arguments shall in any
way influence the conduct on either side.
First, then, to the master-builders. I admit at
once and freely not only the necessity but the
wisdom of their combination. Threatened as they
were, no other course was open to them, save one
—their quiet submission to a system of tyrannous
dictation from without, which would have de-
stroyed their authority and speedily brought ruin
upon them. This submission was not to be ex-
pected, and would have been cowardly and wrong
if followed. It is useless now to beat about the
bush and throw dust in the eyes of the public ; it
is too late for the different clubs in the building
trade to proclaim that they are simply benefit
societies, distributing aid to the sick and needy.
The general demand for full pay for nine
hours' work, the universality of the movement,
the notices served upon Messrs. Trollope, the in-
stant carrying out by an entire workshop of an
arbitrary club order, and the speeches of the men
themselves since they have been on strike, prove
beyond dispute that the clubs are a recognised
organisation for trade purposes ; that they meddle
constantly between masters and their workpeople ;
that their members are not free agents in the disposal
of their own skill and labour ; and that, as with the
Amalgamated Engineers in 1851, the gist of the
present quarrel is whether the employers or the
club magnates are to be " the rulers of the destinies
of the trade." No honest and disinterested person
will hesitate for one moment as to the truth of this
statement ; and this granted, the combination of
the masters is justified and their adoption of the
declaration or "document" becomes neither " arbi-
trary nor unjust." It was their most formidable
weapon, and under the unsolicited difficulties of
their position they were right to use it. When a
man's existence is threatened, the most certain
means of self-defence is the best. If you are at-
tacked from behind and alone, it matters not
whether a bludgeon or a revolver is the means of
dispersing your assailants.

The employers, then, having with them the fiat of
public opinion, have only to guard against indis-
cretion. They may err from over-zeal or undue
alarm, and err grievously. Vindictiveness would
undermine their strong position, and I would
earnestly impress upon them the expediency of
conciliatory measures when the right inombeq
arrives. Let them proclaim their League to be but
a temporary combination, and the " declaration"
a protection used reluctantly and only in self-