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

THE ARMY.

Orders were yesterday issued from the Horse
Guards to the officers commanding the cavalry and
infantry depot battalions at Maidstone, Canterbury,
Chatham, Colchester, Winchester, Walmer, Fer-
moy, Buttevant, Cork, Stirling, and Aberdeen,
directing the following reinforcements from the In-
dian depots under their command to hold them-
selves in readiness to embark for Bengal, Madras,
and Bombay, for the purpose of reinforcing the
British regiments serving in those presidencies—
viz., 62 men of the Ist (the King's) Dragoon
Guards ; 65 men of the 2d (the Queen's) Dragoon
Guards; 13 men of the 3d (Prince of Wales's) Dra-
goon Guards; 95 men of the 6th Dragoon Guards
(Carabineers) ; 49 men of the 7th (Princess Royal's)
Dragoon Guards; 91 men of the IVA Hussars ; 19
men of the Bth Hussars ; 64 men of the 12th Lan-
cers ; 70 men of the 17th Lancers ; 6 men of the Ist
battalion Ist Royals ; 281 men of the Ist battalion
4th (King's Own); 89 men of the Ist battalion sth
Fusileers ; 248 men of the Ist battalion 6th Regi-
ment ; 71 men of the Ist battalion 20th Regiment ;
153 men of the 28th Regiment ; 120 men of the 31st
Regiment ; 7 men of the 34th Regiment ; 78 men of
the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment; 200 men of the
37th Regiment ; 123 of the 42d Royal Highlanders;
77 men of the 43d Light Infantry ; 7 men of the
44th Regiment ; 182 men of the 46th Regiment ;
169 men of the 48th Regiment; 4 men of the 51st
King's Own Light Infantry ; 67 men of the 56th
Regment ; 91 men of the 57th Regiment; 251 men
of the 2d battalion of the 60th Rifles ; 217 men of
the-67th Regiment ; 1 man of the 68th Light In-
fantry; 78 men of the 69th Regiment; 28 men of
the 70th Regiment; 82 men of the 71st Highland
Light Infantry ; 114 men of the 73d Regiment ; 424
men of the 77th Regiment ; 103 men of the 79th
Highlanders ; 99 Men of the 80th Regiment ; 2 men
of the 81st Regiment ; 6 men of the 83d Regiment ;
46 men of the 88th Connaught Rangers ; 1 of
the 89th Regiment; 173 men of the 90th Light
Infantry ; 88 men of the 91st Regiment ; 6 men of
the 94th Regiment ; 11 men of the 95th Regiment;
2 men of the 97th Regiment; 71 men of the 98th
Regiment; 89 men of the 99th Regiment; 276
men of the Royal Artillery ; and 15 men of the
Royal Engineers.
The troops in Portsmouth garrison, including the
mounted Artillery, will be put through the ma-
noeuvres of a field-day on Southsea Common ty
Major-General Sir J. Scarlett, K.C.8., at 3 p.m.
to-day. Blank cartridges will be served out to the
troops for the occasion

Major-General Sir J. Yorke Scarlett, K.C.8.,
Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth, and command-
ing the South-Western district, issued invitations
to a grand ball at the King's Assembly-rooms,
Southsea, on Tuesday evening. Upwards of 500
persons were present, comprising the majority of
the military and naval officers, with the elite of
the town and its neighbourhood.
On Tuesday last the 10th Regiment, the 36th,
Royal Marines, and Warwick Artillery Militia,
were paraded on the Hoe, Plymouth, by Major-
Gen. Eden, Commander of the Forces in the West,
who presented Private William Blowes with £5 ;
John Fitzharris, £4 ; William Davis, £5 ; Michael
Mtwara, £5 ; and Philip Moriarty, £5, for long
and creditable services in the 10th Regiment.
Mr. Lindsay, for three years Deputy-Assistant-
Commissary-General at the Colchester Camp, has
left for another appointment on the coast of Africa.
Mr. Lindsay has been succeeded at Colchester by
Mr. Napier.
The Queen's Own, or Royal Regiment of Staf-
fordshire Yeomanry, will assemble; er-eight days'
training on Saturday, the 17th of September. The
men are under orders to muster at Liehfield.

THE TOULON ARSENAL.

(From the Times.)

" Veluli in speculum." was the favourite motto
by which in former days the frequenters of thea-
trical entertainments were taught to improve the
occasion, and learn the duties of their own situa-
tion from the mimic action of the stage. In the
present day the legend might be appropriately pre-
fixed to the correspondence which, from all parts of
the world, finds its ways to publicity in the columns
of this journal. These letters now convey to every
class of the people a far more complete impression
of foreign transactions than " the grand tour" com-
municated to noblemen and gentlemen a century
ago. We have gone from China to Japan, from
America to Australia. One day we are addressed
from Vancouver's Island, another from Hongkong ;
one morning we print news from the borders of
Affghanistan, and the next from the city of the
Mormons. Yesterday there was a similar picture,
taken nearer home, but replete with interest, and
perhaps instruc ion, for us all. It wasla descrip
tion of the famous dockyard of Toulon, with its
wonderful basins, its arsenals of fabulous extent,
its guardships, its galley slaves, and its guns.
We do not refer to the subject with any jealousy
or uneasiness, but purely in the way of ordinary
comment. The opportunity is too good to be
overlooked, and we may find something in the
shape of a moral by gazing impartially into this
mirror of life.
France possesses two natural centres of maritime
energy,—Toulon and Cherbourg; from the one the
Atlantic can be contemplated, from the other the
Mediterranean. It is in this point of view that
Toulon acquires its importance, and those who re-
member the busy Ministry of M. Thiers will not
be surprised to learn that the first development of
this celebrated arsenal took place under his aus-
pices. The French proceeded in their operations so
exactly as we have done that no reflection of objects
could possibly be more perfect. They took one de-
partment of shipbuilding first, and expanded it so
largely as to render all the others insufficient, so
that the new scale had to be applied on every side,
till by and by Toulon could no longer contain itself.
The beginning was made with the smiths' shops,
and four furnaces and 96 forge fires soon promised
power enough for anything. In their growth, how-
ever, they stifled and swallowed up the timber
stores, building slips, and block factory, so that all
these departments bad to be carried to a suburb
before they also could find room to grow in their
turn. Presently the suburb itself was found insuffi-
cient, and aq entirely new district was then added
to the yards. Here at length there was room for
the graving docks, and no Roman amphitheatre was
ever more grandly modelled than these magnificent
works. In all this we see our own doings over
again, except that we have probably no fabric so
extensive or so beautiful as the great dock of Cas-
tigneau. But the course of proceeding was exactly
the same. Ship were designed to carry far heavier
armaments than in times of old ; as a natural con-
sequence they required heavier engines and more
ample dimensions generally ; the new engines re-
quired new forges; the new hulls required new
docks; and the result was that everything pertain-
ing to naval architecture became twice as vast and
twice as costly as before.
There is another light, however, in which this
picture may be viewed. French and English aro
here in the same trade. We are rival manufac-
turers, and while, therefore, we are naturally anxi-
ous, in the fair way of business, not to be left behind,
we may also glean a lesson possibly in the way of
economy or prudence. Truth to say, if France looks
at England, and England looks at France, there
appears more to be learnt in the shape of warning
than in that of example. "When our correspondent
quits the machinery of the Toulon Dockyards, and
turns to the most recent products of the establish-
ment, he can scarcely find a specimen of which the
success is not at least doubtful. First of allcome the
iron-cased frigates, a pair of which are now rapidly
approaching completion. Nothing can exceed the
solidity, apparently impregnable, of these redoubt-
able ships, but when we look at their construction,
and observe the enormous weight of iron all accu-
mulated above the water line, it is impossible to
avoid thinking that their topheaviness must be fatal
to their efficiency. In the case of the floating bat-
teries the result is still less equivocal. These vessels
are so constructed as to combine the smallest risks of
damage with the greatest power of offence. When
one of them has steamed into action she sinks her
funnel and lowers her mast, while her screw lies out
of shot reach, and her gunners are protected by
shields of iron. Even the commanding-officer, who
alone stands on the upper-deck, can place a species
of bulwark between himself and the guns of the
enemy, so that the problem of fighting with im•

punity. might seem at length to be solved, But it
is not so. The crews of these floating batteries,
like many a cavalier in the olden time, would be in
danger of suffocation from their own armour. The
heat and smoke of a protracted cannonade might
stifle them at their posts, and the open air, with all
its perils, would be safer than the reekingdungeon
below. Last of all comes the gunboat—that latest
and, as it is sometimes thought, most successful
type of a man of war—presenting in itself no
mark to an enemy's shot, and yet launching bullets
of tremendous magnitude from its single cannon.
Alas for the speculations of mortals ! The gun
is admirable, the shot. most destructive ; but,
besides that the scant capacity of the vessel tells
strongly against its convenience, it is found that
the thing has been overdone. So small is the
boat, and so large the weapon, that the one can-
not carry the other ; and when the Coudon, an
excellent specimen of the class, returned from the
Adriatic she was fain to unship her gun and re-
move the iron plates from her bows—a combatant
without either sword or shield.
Here, then, is a mirror for our machinisis. All
these vessels we, like the French, have either built
or are building. We have our floating batteries and
our gunboats, and are anxiously looking out for our
iron-cased frigates. Shall we fare any better? And,
if we do not, what is the reflection suggested by all
this outlay of money and consumption of skill ? Mr.
Cobden could hardly find a text more suitable to
his doctrine than our long returns of labour wasted
and experiments lost. Of the two, the French have
the advantage. They have produced more than we
have for their money, but what might not be done
in works of peace if all these funds had been dis•
bursed in that direction ? Dockyards and barracks,
after all, are but outlays on insurance, to make the
best of them, and no man boasts of the expense
which his " doubly hazardous" situation compels
him to incur. Both countries wish naturally to be
safe •, both countries as naturally wish to be pow-
erful, but the race of emulation is costly, and the
lost labour occasionally deplorable to witness. For
ourselves, it is doubtful enough whether, after all
our commissions, we have got to the end of our
novitiate. The only things that seem to grow for
certain are the estimates. We know that we spend
more and more, but whether we get nearer to the
object in view is far from being as clear. In a few
weeks Mr. Gladstone's collectors will call for their
£4,000,000 extraordinary, all in a lump, after which,
according to that eminent authority, things will
either grow worse or better. We sincerely trust
that the latter alternative—already become pro-
bable—may completely and speedily be realised.

THE COLONISATION AND SETTLE-
MENT OF INDIA.

The Report of the Select Committee on this sub-
ject is before the public. It was issued yesterday,
and the report proper fillsl space of 15 pages. This
amounts to little more than a resume of the opinions
of the witnesses examined. These generally state,
that " wherever Europeans have settled a marked
improvement in the country has followed," and the
various products of the land have been developed.
Another good effect of settlement is its tendency to
promote the maintenance of order. A large exten-
sion of the number of-settlers over India would be
a considerable guarantee against any future insur-
rection, and tend to lessen the necessity for main-
taining an expensive army. The dangerous effects
of the climate of India have been (it is said) greatly
exaggerated. The planters from Bengal are a
" healthy and hardy race of men." Such as ap-
peared 'before the committee looked like bluff
British farmers rather than transmarine cultivators
in quasi-tropical latitudes. The hill districts of
India appear peculiarly fitted for the reception of
English settlers.
So far as the committee have inquired climates
favourable to European health may be found at a
due elevation on the Himalayas, on the Neilgher-
ries, and on other hill ranges yet incompletely
explored, especially in the south of India. At about
4,000 feet above the sea level the Himalayas offer
an European climate. On the eastward portion,
indeed, of that extensive range the prevalence of
rain may be frequently a serious objection, though
not so formidable as is generally supposed. Fur-
ther to the westward the rainfall sensibly dimi-
nishes. It has" been suggested that asylums
like those originated by the lamented Sir Henry
Lawrence, might be advantageously formed on the
hills, where, in a climate like that of our own coun-
try, the children of soldiers and of other persons
might be trained with a special view to the practi-
cal improvement of India and to the acquisition of
a knowledge of the people and the country. Me-
chanics and practical agriculturists are greatly
wanted in India. The planters state that young
men acquainted with the native languages are much
required for their establishments. Thus educated,
they might also be employed, as commercial travel-
lers are in this country, for extending the commerce
and manufactures of treat Britain and of Europe in
the East. Few objects of contemplation can be more
interesting than the formation and progress of these
establishments on the hills. The rapid rise of the
settlement at Darjeeling, in Sikkim, about 300 miles
north of Calcutta, is described in the interesting
evidence of Dr. Hooker. It appears that the popu-
lation (4,000 or 5,000 in 1848) doubled itself in the
course of two years. The natives of Bhotan, Thibet,
and Nepaul flocked to be employed by the Euro-
peans. Other favourable evidence is not wanting.
The coffee grown on the slopes of the Neilgherries
is stated by Colonel Onslow to be the best in the
London market, and the resources of Mysore are not
generally known. "Of all countries," says Col.
Onslow, " it is the most favourable for settlement."
Another favourable position fir settlers exists in or
near the tea-growing countries of Assam and Cachar,
where the climate is a "delightful and beautiful one"
(on the Cossya hills, 5,000 ft. in height). One want
in the hill regions is that of good roads, and it would
seem to be important that settlers, zemindars, and
natives should be led to interest themselves in the
state of these communications from place to place.
The committee regret to find transit duties retained
in some of the native states. Works of irrigation,
so necessary, should be combined with navigable
canals, water being in India the most suitable me-
dium of traffic. As regards the produce of the soil,
it is shown that there are great openings to settlers
in the cultivation of cotton, wheat, tea, hemp,
flax, coal, and iron. Wheat may be grown more
cheaply in India than in America, according
to Dr. Moore and General Tremenheere, and the
Punjab is often "one vast expanse of corn." The
same may, perhaps, be the case hereafter with re-
spect to cotton. There is reason to hope that the
tea of the Himalayas will beat the Chinese out of
the markets of Central Asla. The witnesses think
the English in India may drive a good trade with
Central Asia. It is gratifying to find that the
Messrs. Schlagintweit (recent travellers in Central
Asia) confirm the remark of Moorcroft, that " it is
at our option whether Central Asia shall be supplied
with goods from Russia or from Englasd.' Mr.
Atkinson considers that our cottons and our hard-
ware would claim a preference over those of other
countries. Our broadcloths appear to have been
once a successful article of trade, and to be still
highly valued in Thibet. For such a climate our
woollens would seem to be particularly suitable.
But from Thibet we are excluded by the Chinese.
It were to be desired that this and other parts of
Central Asia where Chinese authority prevails
should be opened by a commercial treaty. The
articles of interchange with these Trans-Himalayan
countries are mentioned in the evidence of Dr.
Hooker. " Immense quantities of wool," says Sir
J. Lawrence, " come from the conterminous coun-
tries, Affghanistan and Beloochistan, into the
Punjab, and I suppose it is tenfold what
it used to be." It appears that there is a
great abundance of gold in Thibet. All these Cen-
tral Asiatic nations are now supplied with tea,

_
which they most extensively use, well known under
the name of " brick tea," from China. Their dis-
tance from that country is immense. As the culti-
vation of the tea plant extends along the line of the
Himalayas, we may justly entertain the hope that
it may at some future time successfully compete
with the tea of China in the markets of Central
Asia. _ _

Kurrachee, Umritsir, and Shikarpore (especially
the first), offer great inducementsC to British capital
and enterprise. The committee report that a well-
conducted and efficient body of police is much
wanted in Bengal. They urge the necessity of in-
troducing uniformity in the administration of jus-
tice by framing a code to embrace the civil rights
of men of all races and creeds, under the same rules,
with due reservation of their customs and respect
to their religions. A legal title to land should be
attainable by a scheme of registration. An uniform
law of contract is deemed very desirable for the
protection of settlers. The present settlers enter-
tain a strong opinion in favour of the use of the
English language in courts of law ; and on the
authority of many witnesses judicial training is
wanting in the body of civilians.
The greatest horror is felt by settlers at the idea
of extending the power of natives to try Europeans
in criminal cases, and the "Black Act," so called,
has caused great alarm. The Affray and Recog-

nizanee Bills are also a bar to free settlement. In
civil cases the native judges appear to be unobjec-
tionable. The resumption of free lands by the Go-
vernment of India is condeMned, as tending to
shake the very foundations of property.
During the investigations of the committee the
Government appears to have partly, if not entirely.
conceded two points of great interest to British set-
lers—the right to acquire land in fee simple, and the
power of redeeming the land-tax in Bengal. "If (say
the witnesses) you will grant Europeans waste land
in perpetuity in India, India will prosper, like Java
and Ceylon." There are, no doubt, many parts of In-
dia (described or alluded to in the evidence) where
waste lands in habitable and healthysituations could
be thus granted by the Government; as in Assam,
the neighbourhood of the. Neilgherries, Kumaon,
Gurwhal, and 'other districts. Some of the civil
servants of the Government, as well as settlers, are
favourable to such a policy. It has been suggested
that it might also be expedient to allow to pur-
chasers of the fee simple of land the power of pay-
ing their purchase money by instalments. For a
similar reason the committee have, from the first,
looked favourably on the concession of a power of
redeeming the land-tax ;in favour of this conces-
sion (which applies especially to Bengal) there are
many witnesses.
There is one very important point on which the
witnesses appear to concur ; thatis, the introduc-
tion of non-official Europeans and natives into the
Legislative Council of India. The example of Cey-
lon is quoted to show the good effects-of this reform.
It is stated that one of the defects of the Legislative
Council is a want of local knowledge. Such know-
ledge the reform suggested would supply.
It appears to the committee that there is want-
ing in India less of central and more of local govern-
ment. It is stated by Major Wingate, that " the
administration in Bombay is paralyzed by the cen-
tralization of supreme authority in Bengal." Roads
may be wanted in Bombay, but the want of roads
in Bombay cannot be equally appreciated in Ben-
gal. On the other hand, it is stated that to the
officers of the other Presidencies Bengal itself is
" nothing less than a foreign country."
The system of " forced labour" under the coercive
power of Government, as prevalent in many parts
of India, is condemned as objectionable and injuri-
ous. A convertible paper currency, or " Govern-
ment paper," is much demanded. Just before the
rebellion it was the practice to convey a lac of
rupees guarded by 100 soldiers. The report thus
concludes :

" Your committee welcome with satisfaction the
account given by many witnesses of the improved
state of feeling between the settlers and the natives.
It is clear that, for governing a country like India,
important as may be laws and institutions, much
must also depend on the silent but certain influence
of manners. It is painful to read the following
statement, made by a most competent witness—that
the natives have not beeh so kindly treated by
Europeans as they ought to have been. I know
that they feel it deeply. When they are treated
with respect, and honestly dealt with, Europeans
may acquire great influence over them.' It is also
painful to find it averred that drunkenness is a
great obstacle to the settlement of Europeans of the
poorer class in India. Let those who unexcep-
tionally condemn the native character reflect that
it is the growth of ages of misgovernment, and that
there are many instances of the just and temperate
European winning the confidence and attachment
of the natives. An instance of the great ascen-
dancy which good conduct and good management
may acquire is to be seen in the success of Mr.
Fischer, whose influence is stated to be widely and
beneficially felt in the province of Salem. It is
mentioned by Mr. Saunders, that during the recent
mutiny the respectable natives protected his pro-
perty during his absence : that the neighbouring
zemindars worked his plantations and restored to
him the profits after the mutiny was over. While,'
therefore, your committee have felt anxious to
embody in their report such general and practical
information as relates to European settlement in
India, they desire to express their hopes that indi-
vidual co-operation may not be wanting to promote
it. Every Englishman should go to India with a
deep sense of his responsibility, not only to those
whom he is about to govern or among whom he ie
about to reside, but to his own country, whose
, -
character fur firmness, justice, and forbearance he
is bound constantly, zealously, and by personal
example, to maintain."

THE BUILDERS' STRIKE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—The strike in the building trade has nos
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 pro'Jably, clearly seen through. Mr. Potter's
authority is not at an end, for is there not £l,OOO
to distribute amone, 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 doot..
So the fight will go on ; and it is very certain that
capital will have to put up with many serious
losses, and labour endure much bitter misery befoe
things right themselves.
How, then, can those who view these painful difl'-
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 ydur
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
recognisedd d
e l
beyond dispute that the clubs.
that they area
me
organisation for trade purposes ,
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 moment
arrives. Let them proclaim their League to be but
a temporary combination, and the " declaration"
a protection used reluctantly and only in self-

tWSPA PER
z •
5- z
L e
defeece. tit was so in the case of t 71r- V, .e,a V,
thigineers in 1852. The ern loyers th ex
other safeguard to their inde dence an
and the apOlied it, With 'Haien an
~....ileajese_7/alff
but the moment there was a pliblilek%ovettieltitii_E-W;77/1
by the miiguided'ineit pha- s
mends, the moment the society expunged the roles
which professed to control labour, the "declaration"
fell into disuse,, the masters' society became a thing
of the past, and tbygones were allowed to be by-
gones. So it should be now. And, as encouragement
to employers to follow in the same footsteps, let'me
say a word in praise of the good faith which the
" Amalgamated Society" has observed. Since
1852, as far as I know, there has been no endea-
vour to enhance the position of the labourer by
any hostile resistance of labdur against
and innumerable proofs might be adduced of
the benefits which both masters and men have
derived from the unfettered working of a system
of free contract. It is quite natural that this
should be so. The best men--the really skilful in
their trade—are deservedly earning more than
they ever did before, while the "ruck," the men
whose want of skill was formerly paid for by keep-
ing down the clever workmen iu that dead-level
system of equal wages insisted upon by the club,
are, as Mr. Sharp has told your readers, rightfully
earning what they are worth, and no more. I would
earnestly counsel the calm consideration of this
course to the, master builders :—They may be firm
and decided without being revengeful. They may
make it. known to their men that the " lock-
.out"
was adopted for the safety, nay the very existence
of their trade; they may perfect right adhere
to the "document" until the clubs publicly disavow
all rules ,profeising to regulate employment, but at
the same time they should announce their willing-
ness to treat with any man for his serrias as a
mere matter of bargain, and state further, that
while they object to pay the drunken or unskilful
bricklayer ss. a-day simply because he is a society
man, they will give 10s. a-day to the skilful and
industrious map who can get through that value of
work in his 'lolours and do it well.
As regards the men, what can be said to remove
their delusions which has not already been told to
them over and over again ? When will they un-
derstand that the wagcs.of labour can be fixed nei-
ther by club, councils, nor abitrary employers, but,
like, other commodities, must vary in value or
amount according to the supply of men and the de-
mand for their handiwork? If there occur an abun-
dant harvest throughout the world, corn will become
cheap ; if all the railway companies in the world
are in the mark et at one and the same time for mate-
rials, the prices of those_ materials will rise. The
men understand this very well, and yet they are so
hoodwinked by the specious arguments of their
agitators, and so blind to their own interests that
they cannot see, or, at least, will not admit, that by
strikes they bring forward fresh competitors for
their own legitimate employment, and thus, by add-
ing to the nu mber of men seeking work, diminish the
rate of pay to each. Let me endeavour to
make clear to the workmen, by reference to the
present and one of the past strikes, how they must
lose by resorting to forced idleness; for I maintain
a " lock-out" or a " strike" are alike occasioned by
themselves. In 1851 the engineers' club demanded.
that none but skilled hands and society-men should
be employed to work certain tools. The masters
would not consent, and for three months the battle
or strike raged -between them. What was the re-
sult? The masters brought labourers and boys
from the agriculturel districts into their workshops,
taught them their trade, and when, at length, the
club yielded, and its members were ready to return
to work, many of the .old hands found their places
filled, and had to seek employment elsewhere.
They had forced an increase in the number of
workers at their own trade, and the mass of them
not the best, paid the penalty of their folly in a
permanent reduction of their rate of wages. So
again with the London builders. The masters will
gradually bring up from the country masons and
bricklayers, joiners, painters, slaters, plumbers, and
labourers. Do the men on strike suppose that
when they choose to resume work all these men
will quietly return to their former homes? They
bitterly deceive themselves if they think so. By
their conduct They have invited a permanent addi-
tion to the number of London operatives in the
building trades, and if the extension of metropoli-
tan buildings should diminish, or even remain, sta-
tionary for a time, the inevitable result. to these
men is a fall in their wages.
In both cases I have referred to the complaint of
the operatives that there was an over-supply of
labour. The engineers had unemployed members
of their society for whom they demanded employ-
n ent in,working certain machines. The London
builders say they wish to work only nine instead of
ten hours per day ; that their brethren who are
walking *ire may get some of the employers'
wages. In both cases the men were wrongly
advised, and the courses they have Flrsued have
aggravated the evils they sought to remedy.
And so it will alwa3s be until the workpeople
abandon combinations for the purposes of trade
dictation, and admit that both master and man
ought to be at perfect liberty to do what is most
for their own interest.
The free agency of the working man in selling his
labour at the best price is the only system that will
work well and secure him his commodity's greatest
worth. Such a feeling awakens within him feelings
of independence, self-reliance, and self-respect. His
energies are stimulated—his talents brought out—
and he becomes a better parent, a worthier citizen,
and a richer man. Once free from the thraldom of
club law he will feel happy in having only his own
good sense and judgment as masters, soon he will
see how shortsighted he has been to his own in-

terest, how fallacious are the doctri::es he has
listened to at the Paviours' Arms. How foolish and.
utterly in vain must be any attempt to organise
labour, and how wicked it is to encourage a strike.
This is no imaginary picture I have attempted
to paint, its truth will be vouched for by many a
hard-working man who has learnt to trust to his
own strong hands, and to the brain-capacity God.
has given him. Let the men on strike in London
think over my words deliberately and calmly—and
pick holes in them if they can. I repeat to them
that free bargain for their labour, and a frank dis-
avowal of control on the part of any society, is
their manliest course—nay, their only chances of
justice. Trades unions have already taught the
masters ho .v to use the privilege which the law
affords them of comMning, and in such combina-
tions the employers stand at an immense, an almost
unassailable advantage over the employed. But
the men have only themselves to thank for the
machinery which is brought into operation against
them. Trades unions are unjust, mischievous, and
i:piteianl would soon become
teferenceofthese
tyrannical.dangerous organisationsU nda
ct
capital
tihnd withdrawnr
ef rhonmr a e
tterra doe
f.
They
mroducutsixt•e,heanddise
bwenedw
" rulers of the destinies of trade" by the men, and
the masters will then do well to withdraw the de-
claration and abandon every practice invidiously
illustrating the advaßtages of capital overlabour.—
I am, sir, your faithful servant, Amicus.
Manchester, August 24.