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

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ft it.:NS PA PE li
._ _:.---__lf 1 .:1-s,•.\
defence. It was so in "tkrejease of, titif --.lt,'":'`2•.\-)1
engineers in 1852. The employer :their ,Ns4.,
i . 17,,
other safeguard to their independent iiiitl iii'i ;.:;--,.i:: ':1.4
and they applied it with resolutio 4411-.sisci sett* ilit4
1
but the moment there was a public aelcliow:r:::,,, r -,4:/,:;,:i. i
by the misguided men of the injusticeur : --11.-1-14- ..1.
mands, the moment the society expunged tiii r 4} S
which professed to control labour, the "declaration"
fell into disuse, the masters' society became a thing
of the past, and lbygones 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 labour against capital,
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 in 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 with perfect right adhere
to the "document" until the clubs publicly disavow
all rules professing to regulate employment, but at
the same time they should announce their willing-
ness to treat with any man for his services 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
wimnnadinuk's industrious oeuy
hiss
10 hours willgive 10s. a-day to the skilful and
man wh o canand d
geot
it well.
through that value of
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 wages 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 market at ne 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 number 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" aru 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 agricultural 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-
e 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 the streets may get some of the employers'
wages. In both cases the men were wrongly
advised, and the courses they have Firsued have
aggravated the evils they sought to remedy.
And so it will always 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 doetri,: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 Jaw
affords them of comb;ning, 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
tyrannical. Under active interference of these
dangerous organisations capital would soon become
iii,nhpeyrod
mustuctie' an
fromr
a c tr of trade.
their
character
rulers of the destinies of trade" by the men, and.
be disowned be
wn e d withdrawni
the masters will then do well to withdraw the de-
claration and abandon every practice invidiously
illustrating the advantages of capital overlabour.—
I am, sir, your faithful servant, Amicus.
Manchester, August 24.

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