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

,Ce

tereourse, the interchange of useful infiaina Lion , ana
increased uniformity and respectabilikfin the con-
duct, of business:" The society is maintained by en_
trance fees and annual subscriptions, an :l. the
admission is by ballot; three. black balls hicluca
ing. There is here, therefore, a sort of nucleus
round which the memb?rs of the building trade
can rally,• and on former occasions, when de-
mands have, been made by the men, special meetings
of the' trade-have been called at the instance of
this society to take those demands into considera-
tion. In August, 1853, for example, when the ma-
sons insisted upon areduction in the hours of labour
a meeting of this nature took place, when the fol-
lowing resolution was passed :
" That it is a matter of great regret that partial strikes
are taking place, and thus that treat injustice is being done
to individual tradesmen ; that o i.her • and better methods of
determining such questions as the rate of wages and regu-
lation of employment may well be found, or it is to be
feared that the employers will be forced into a combination
in self-defence—a course greatly to be deprecated."
Hence it appears that " a coMbination in self-de-
fence" is not a new idea on the pirt of the em-
ployers. The result of that movement of the men
was an addition. of 6d. a-day to their wages all
over the metropolis. They had succeeded six years
before (in 1847) in carrying what Was called the
" 4 o'clock" movement, by which they leave work
ou Saturdys at 4 o'clok instead of half-past 5, assort
other days. This was conceded without any reduc-
tion of wages, and amounted to a giving up, at the
then rate of ss. a-day, of 9d. per week 'per man, or
Where 1,000 men were employed, of £37 10s. per
week.

The pressure which has induced the master builders
on the preSent oCcusion to form themselves into a
central association is, first, the demand for a retitle-
Han in the hours of labour from 10 to 9 without
any diminution of wages ; second, the apprehension
that these demands will increase as the intro.
duction of machinery gains ground ; thirdly, that
concession in this respect has reached its limits ;
and, fourthly, that it is necessary, once and for all,
to make a determined stand against the dictation
of the trades unions. The trade regulations -in-
sisted upon by these unions . are. regarded by the
masters as very vexatious, as impeding the progress
and enhancing the cost of building,and as imposing
an immediate tax. upon the builders and a prospec-
tive one upon the public. Some of these, as related
to us, maybe enumerated. For instance, if 'a fore-
man is not a Unionist, it is said that the men will
strike against hire, and instances lie. recorded in
which aggressions •have been "attempted upon non-
society foremen, which, it is to be, hoped, if they
ever occurred, will never be repeated. Then the
foreman, once enrolle,l, is bound to employ none
but society men on his work. Again, they' direct
that a bricklayer shall never put the trowel out of
his right hand, the object being to limit the amount
of work that he shall do in a given time. It is
said, for example,that 1,000 bricks a day, can very
well be laid by an*averafie workman; but the prac-
tice is not to lay above 400 or 500 in a day, the
bricklayer, by keeping the trowel in his right hand,
not being able to lay above one brick at a time in
the interior of thick walls, when with both hands
at disposal he could lay two at once. An instance
is on record of 1,000 bricks being well and perma-
nently laid in an hour by a single workman. This
was done for a wager nearly 50 years ago in the
front of the old City of London Tavern, now the
site of the Wesleyan Centenary-hall, and is a well-
authenticated fact. Again, the labourers have re-
cently adopted some arbitrary regulations, and they
have determined that the number of bricks to be
placed in a hod shall not exceed 12.; whereas a hod
very well holds 16, and Laxton's Price-book autho-
ritatively and curtly states, " A hod . contains 20
bricks." Overtime also is objected to, by Which,
as is argued, a man losei the benefit of his industry
—and piecework is not permitted, by which he is
deprived of the benefit of his skill. ,
These regulations the men say the 3have been driven
to by the one necessity of upholding their order and
distributing work among their whole body. Ma-
chinery, they contend, displaces manual labour ; the
operative class is an increasing, not a diminishing
one ; their societies do not generally provide for the
relief of men out of work, and therefore they hold
it to be their duty so to arrange if possible that all
may be employed, which would not, they think, be
the case if overtime, piecework, and other practices,
which no doubt would greatly advantage both the
master and the individual man, were allowed. They
admit the truth of much that' is urged in favour of
overtime and piecework ; but they hold the other
consideration to be paramount, and many skilf'ui
and industriously disposed artisans no doubt make
no mean personal sacrifices' in obedience to it.
Another element which in their view is entitled to
weight in discussing the question of the hours of
labour is the length of time often consumed in going
to and from their work. They put the case thus :
Suppose that a:firm. whose workshops and establish-
ments are in Bloomsbury accepts a contract to erect
large works at Brompton. The workmen reside in
the vicinity of the employers' permanent establigh-
ment at Bloomsbury, and an hour and a half will be
occupied in walking to the scene of their labour.
The same time, of course, is consumed in returning
from it, so that three hours is thus added to their
daily worlr It may be said that this can be avoided
by taking lodgings near the works ; but obviously
this, to a man with a family, involves expense and
inconvenience, and he cannot be continually moving
to the neighbourhood of every new contract which
his employer accepts and sends him to work upon.
The men persist in their assertion that the em-
ployers will not be able to get operatives from the
provinces to supply the places of those who have
been " locked out." The operatives have received
letters from 80 provincial towns, including Man-
chester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Bath,
Coventry, Oxford, 'Newcastle, 'Birkenhead, and
Dumfries, expressing the determination of the
trades to support the present moment. Sub-
scriptions have also begun to cone „in froth the
country, and very considerable SYlanS lave been
contributed by the hands of almost-every building
firm in London. As these contributions flow in the
spirits Of the men appear to revive proportionately.
Subjoined is a copy of the check or file engage-
ment-book. The counterfoil is in this form:—
" No.--. •

" Dated, ----.
" Initials of foreman or clerk,
The body of the check is in these terms :

"No. -,

" I declared that I am not now, nor will I during the
continuance of my engagement with you, become a member
of or support any society which directly or indirectly inter-
feres with the arrangements of this or any other establish-
ment, or the hours or terms of labour, and that I recognise
the right of employers and employed individually to make
any trade engagements on which they may choose to agree .
" Dated --- of 18—."

.
This is to be read over to the workmen who will
pledge his word to abide by it, and the body of.the
check is then handed to him, the counterfoil being
kept by the foreman or clerk. The masters are not
particularly wedded to this precise form, and if any
arrangement more acceptable to the workmen can
be suggested they will consent to it ; but it must
be based upon the condition that the men do not
belong to any such society as is above referred to.
The men are ready for the present to work as before,
provided that the " document" and the " declara-
soncsieest
tion" be withdrawn ; but it must not be concealed
aus l teerisi oits• obt jheec t
extinction
the nin eo hoursfa
All
of thee hteheir
t m
which impose objectionable trade regulations.

THE JOURNEYMEN BAKERS' MOVEMENT.--Oli
Saturday evening an extraordinary meeting of the dele-
gates of the various branches of the Associatien of
Journeymen Bakers was held in the Pianoforte Makers'
Hall, Castle-street East, Oxford-street. Mr. Blackmore
was called to the chair, and the names. of the delegates
having been called over, the rules for the government of
the constitution of the associations, as agreed to at the
meeting of the delegates held on the 30th of July, at the
Royal Tent, Silver-street, were read and confirmed. Mr.
e atpeptohineted, successfulan d othe
ear
1. business
gesesutwaesf
Blackmore was elected their future president, rand the per-
manent office bearers of the central conamittc:e or board of
management
denint were
ereanlcso
chairmanTHE
Tt eA 1
ir mEi nßaßt eidi 5 tchEe plrioucßeedDyirat,g.s_,
the principles of the association. .A. vote of thanks to the
who was convicted at; the last St afford assizes of the murder
William Worsey,
of his wife, has been reprieved dtr ring her Majesty's pleasure.
There is. reason to believe that f nis unhappy man had no in-
tention of killing his wife; and that, although in the
course of a quarrel with her he snatched up a knife from
their breakfast table and thre w it at her with fatal effect,
there was an entire absence of premeditation. The jury,
who made a strong application to the Crown in his , behalf,
stated that they should have found him guilty of man-
slaughter
but for the direction of the learned j adge, who
ruled that the offence was murder in the eye of the law,
and that it was their duty so to find it. His ~4entenc'
VDVERTIsEMENTI.—The difficulties
have
been
to
the little. bur
which feeds, strength(!iis, and removes. . all pa.
• • • fa,ats are so subject • to. The following
overcome by Du Barry's delicious R- I . ArabicaFooa,
and irregularities in
letter speaks volum es :—" Grammar_ School, Stevenage,
i ink it but opmmon.
• ' to you to state that I have,usied Du Barry's Refs-
justice
ditri •' • which ' our in-
fant for the last four months, a• , ti.me
16th Dec., 1850. Gentlemen.--I t'
much during the previoup' sixl months, i vhilst being
from which it had
sufferedevery
y caredisordered
w as vbc,r
,r, a. I s
akentto prevent. it. Had I
;• A sooner, it would have.
infmaunor
stwenhd
,a has
ht neveroyourugh
saved my infant much qv
‘••• in, ancl me also tae liesvr
valuable fee
expense of a wet nurse.—
, 4. ~ ss. 9d.; Ftb., 7 21b l!ts.• 12113.,
265. The 101 b. and 121 b. t
In tins,llb., 8,
' carriage free, on recei pt of post-
I. am, &c, ROBTaa .A,MBLER. '
office order. Du Barry,. ins
Fortnum, Mason, auad Co., 77te
182, 'Piccadilly ; Alibis, 60,
Gracechnrch-street ;
Co"
ide 63, and 150,. Oxford-
street ; 85, To+ t I,Dublin,
'el iliam-cthir-road. Also at
Bewley and Dra e
P •at Enburgh, Reim es awl Co.
1" Strand ; 49; and 60, 'Bishotsgate.
at Liverpool, 1`74i,0, ,
Scott ; at -Vex); Rq Oi-
-1 it ...,011
'lnes Blanchard, and Ci .
aniPton) 11:4tiall 41 ' - -
L and Thaw; at Manchest4 ir, S liarr and
1 .nd Son.