The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-26 00:00:00

sufferings of both masters and men in their un-
happy contests." By way of timely and vivid illus-
tration, of some of which first principles the honour-
able member for Edinburgh then puts the case
clearly before the judgment of these keen-
sighted working-men in the manner follow-
Let us assume," he says, " that the
average rate of interest [for money] is 5 per cent.
when laid out upon good security and without
trouble to the capitalist. If a capitalist, having
£lO,OOO, is desirous of speculating with it, so as to
bring him in a larger return than ordinary interest,
he may invest it in a cotton mill, or in building a
ship, or in publishing books, or in any other specu-
lation ; but, as all trading or commercial specula-

ng

•
tions are liable to greater risks than money lent on
good security, and as trade demands careful superin-
tendence, he is entitled to a return considerably

higher than he would receive from the funds, or
from lending it on the security of property. Sup-

posing, then, the ordinary rate of interest to be 5 per
cent., a prudent man would not engage in a manu-
facturing or mercantile speculation unless it pro-

mised at least 8 to 10 per cent. ; say, then, that dur-
ing the year he employed 20 men at 20s. a-week,
the wages of the men would be £1,040—the inte-
rest of his money at 8 per cent. would be £BOO,
from which he would have to pay insurance, bad

debts, and small items, and he would require some
remuneration for his own skill and superintendence,
say double the wages of a common workmen, £104;
then, to render this speculation worth carrying on,
it ought to yield an annual profit of £1,944; and
if it was a work requiring £lOO,OOO, and employ-
ing 200 men, then the annual returns should be just
ten times greater. It would be rash to speak
positively on this subject, as profits are effected
by so many accidental circumstances, but this esti-
mate will serve to explain the nature of the trans-
action. Let us see, then; what would be the effect of
the 20 workmen demanding a rise in their wages
from 20s to 255. This would be an additional de-
duction from the profits of £260 annually, which
would reduce the return on the capital employed
to £540, or little more than the interest of money
lent on property ; in which case, if the capitalist
were a prudent man, he would as soon as possible
withdraw from, the trade, and the men would be
thrown idle." Now, there is no getting over an
argument like this. Facts and figures such as those
here grouped together—not speciously, not over in-
geniously, not disingenuously, but as simply
and frankly as any facts and figures can in
any way be at all expressed—are such truly
stubborn things that they absolutely defy contra-
diction. "Whatever" Mr. BLACK then candidly
assures the labouring men who are listening to
him, to the number of two thousand on Saturday
at Edinburgh, but now, and for some time to come,
we doubt not, to the number of many
hundreds of thousands all over the United
Kingdom—" Whatever diminishes the wealth of the
capitalist injuriously affects the workman." And he
forthwith proves the validity of the assertion, to the
apprehension of the meanest capacity by the most
epigrammatic logical device of all the reductio ad
absurdurn. " If," says he " any sudden reverse
were to come upon the rich, by which their wealth
was to be annihilated, it would be one of the greatest
calamities that could befal the labouring classes ;
the country gentleman would be obliged to pay off
his servants ; the improvements on his estates must
be stopped, and those employed upon them dis-
charged ; the manufacturer would not have the
means of carrying on his operations and employing
workmen ; the builder would have no demand for
new houses. This," he adds, of course, "is suppos-
ing an extreme and improbable case, but by look-
ing at the extreme case we more clearly discern the
effects of the same causes in mitigated circum-
stances." Obviously for the effect (though, of
course, in a lesser degree, or rather, we
should say, in a manner more individualised)
must be the same through the capitalist or em-
ployer, the same (though in a lesser degree) as that
imagined to occur through the Rich, or, so to ex-
press it, the Employers of the Employers. It were
idle, however, to follow Mr. BLACK through the
whole chain of his admirable and manly arguments
link by link. There is his lecture now formally and
verbatim before the public tobe scanned and studied,
as we earnestly hope it will be scanned and studied
by the mass of the labouring population. It is a
worthy companion lecture to one we well remem-
ber, as having been devered some five or six years
ago by the hon. and learned gentleman late M.P.
for Midhnrst, the thoughtful and, in many respects,
masterly lecture on Labour delivered by Mr.
SAMUEL WARREN shortly before his first entrance
into the Commons House of Parliament.
Before concluding our remarks upon Mr.BLACK'S
address to the workmen of Edinburgh, we cannot
but refer to his noble and scornful reprehension
of the malign tyranny exercised over the working
classes by these inner dictatorial associations.
" One wonders," he says, "how sensible men—men
calling themselves free-born Britons—have so long
submitted to the dictation of this secret tribunal.
We are accustomed to laud free national constitu-
tions, but freedom to act in all social relations in such
a way as will be most conducive to a man's own
happiness, uncontrolled either by prince or priest,
or by any committee of his own trade, is the most
invaluable of social privileges. Britain has expe-
rienced the blessings of free trade, and I hope and
believe that our countrymen are determined to re-
sist every attempt to deprive them of this source of
national prosperity, and guard it with the greatest
jealousy." We should hear no more of these miser-
ably ruinous Strikes—we may be tolerably certain
of that—if the working classes could only bo brought
once clearly to understand, what is literally the
truth, that their evil influences fall almost entirely
upon the working classes themselves.

We are now practically reminded that we have a
distinguished ally. On the principle that every
man ought to be willing to pay for his honours,
what ought we not willingly to pay for the honour
of the NAPOLEON Alliance ? If our LEATHAMS,
CHARLESWORTHS, and CARDENS will spend four or
five thousand pounds for the honour of representing
us, ought we, the represented, to . complain of pay-
ing eightpence in the pound on one half-year's
income, nineteenpence in all, because a NAPOLEON
occupies the throne of France ? We know all
about the coming demand, to be sure; but tax-
paying is one of those inevitable evils which we
shut our eyes to till the moment they overtake us ;
and which, therefore, always seems to overtake us
suddenly. Our rent, to be sure, is a very regular
demand; but we glance around, and like the look
of our accustomed dwelling-place, and probably
think it worth the money, as houses go ; and our
grocer's bills, and certain others which our wives
and daughters present—. Well, we have had a
quid pro quo, and we' are partial to our tea and
coffee, and the last new gown, minus alv;ays the
crinoline, suits our taste, so we cheerfully pay.
Not so with a tax—above all, with an income tax—
that dead pull upon us, What do we see for it ?
Our very poor-rates 'serve us for a reply to the
beggar; and water, and pavements, and lights are
daily conveniences--but this vile income tax, and
this viler Bd. addition to it, what do we get for
that ? Answer, " A 1110 of new ships." And what