The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-07 00:00:00

her voice heard, will pronounce for Italy, may give
the drooping Italians some courage. For our part,
we have no hope that a Congress will arrive at the
only satisfactory solution the formation of a
powerful Italian' kingdom in Upper Italy ; and we
would strongly discountenance the idea that Eng-
land will do more than exert her influence for a
cause which, though now claiming our support,
Piedmont herself took out of our hands.

THE BUILDERS' STRIKE. to

Mr. George Potter, the of the Trades'
Conference sitting at the Paviours' Arms, and one
of the leading representatives of the men now " on
strike," has addressed us a letter, which we yes-
terday published, on certain points recently in
debate between the contending parties. With one
exception these points are but of minor importance.
We have already said that in our opinion it would
have been wiser in the masters to recognise the
authority of the Conference, inasmuch as, whether
its conduct had been laudable or otherwise, it was
at any rate the authority acknowledged by the men.
Recriminations, however, of this kind signify little
or nothing to the real questions at issue, and these
questions we think it now desirable to place before
the public in a perspicuous form. How far Mr.
Potter's general representations possess any value
will appear as we proceed.
The first great feature in the case was the "strike"
—a term which has been since used to embrace all
the events of the contest, but which, in reality, was
only one transaction out of a series. The operatives
engaged in the building trades had been prevailed
upon to join in a demand upon the masters for ten
hours' wages in exchange for nine hours' labour,
and upon the refusal of the employers to concede
such terms the men engaged at Messrs. Trollope's
were deliberately called off their work by the Confer-
ence of the united trades, and directed to strike.
The intention of the conference was to maintain
these men out of contributions made by others, who
were still to continue working for their respective
employers on the terms repudiated at Messrs. Trol-
lope's, in order that funds might thus be secured
for carrying on the struggle. It was expected that
Messrs. Trollope would be unable to hold out against
such indefinite force, and that when they had been
thus coerced into surrender the same tactics should
be employed against other building firms in succes-
sion until the whole trade had been brought under
control. These plans, however, were frustrated by
a combination of the masters, who, in self-defence,
formed an association of their own, and resolved
that when the men at Messrs. Ttrollope's had actu-
ally struck they would eachand all close their shops
until Messrs. Trollope could resume work. This
measure, which was effectually carried into execu-
tion, deprived the operatives of their expected funds,
and placed the masters on a level, for power and
union, with the men themselves. Accordingly, Mr.
Noble, one of the conference committee, confessed
in a public speech that, except for this proceeding,
which was called the " lock-out," and which formed
the second feature in the case, the men must have
won, whereas they were now left in some straits
fbr money. . •
These two acts—the "strike" on the part of
the men, and the " lock-out" on the part of the
masters—constitute the whole case up to a certain
point, and up to this point it has now become evi-
dent that the masters were entirely in the right.
The " lock-out," which Mr. Potter describes as a
measure not to be exceeded for its tyranny, was an
act of pure and necessary self7defence, as his own
friends have been compelled to own. It was the
inevitable sequel of the "strike," so that, unless the
strike" could be justified, those who concerted it
must bear the odium of that and the " lock-out" too.
So clear, however, is now the folly of the " strike"
that nobody has so much as a word to say for it.
The public saw at once that the "nine hours move-
ment" was utterly unjustifiable. The operatives of
the building trades were neither underpaid nor
overworked. These " poor men," as Mr. Potter now
pathetically terms them, were men in receipt of as
much daily pay as an ensign, and more than many
a curate. For such wages they performed only
the amount of work which can be legally exacted
from women and children in factories, while that
work itself was made as light as possible by trade
usages, forbidding a man to exert his natural
strength. In short, it could not be pretended that
the men employed had anything to complain of,
and the true design of the agitators was ,simply to
quarter upon the employers a certain additional
number of workmen who happened to be unem-
ployed. Of course, so preposterous a requisition
could never be sustained, and we were told last
week upon the very best authority that it never took
well even with the working people themselves. All
this is now clear, but it is not to be forgotten in a.
fair appreciation of the case that the contest com-
menced with an aggression on the part of the men
since confessed to be without justification.
At this point, however, the masters took another
step. They resolved to resist, once foi all, the dic-
tation and interference of those Trades' Unions by
the agency of which the " strike" had been con-
cocted. The " strike" itself was but the climax of
a long series of provocations, and at length they
fairly turned to bay. Rejecting the nine hours'
agitation altogether, as a proposition which might
safely be left to fall by its own folly, they took
their stand on a resolution directed not so much
to the existing controversy as to the security of
trade for the future. They said they would
take no unionists, or members of trade socie-
ties into their emp!oy, and they framed a
" document" or " declaration," to be accepted
by every applicant for work, which would bind him
for the time to abstain from any connection with
societies professing to interfere authoritatively be-
tween masters and men. At this the indignation of
the Unionists was naturally great, for the measure,
if enforced, would destroy all the machinery by
which they hoped to " rule the destinies of trade,'
and reduce them to insignificance, not only on the
present occasion, but in all future time. Stimu-
lated, therefore, by this conviction, and desirous
also of escaping from the first false position to more
tenable ground, they concentrated all their attacks
on the " odious document," and, by the aid of some
public sympathy, established a better kind of case.
It must be remembered, however, even at this point,
that the most to be said against the masters was
that they were going a little too far. On the
mere principles of the controversy they were
still right, and the men still wrong. The men
had been the aggressors, and they had given mani-
fest provocation. All that was urged on their
behalf—and it is not much for Mr. Potter to

boast of—was that a very natural sentiment -01-1-t1;

part of the masters had carried them rather beyond
the mark.

At length, however, and as the latest phase of the
case, the masters are showing symptoms of reason-
able compromise, while the men are betraying a con-
sciousness of wrong. The masters have in some
measure modified their views, and both in their ne-
gotiations with the masons, and in subsequent ex-
planations of the case, have appeared willing to fore-
go the " declaration " if the several Trade Societies
would consent to such a revision of their rules and
bye-laws as would purge them of the obnoxious
element. This, we believe, would satisfy the
opinion of the public, but it is perfectly evident
that the Unionists and their leaders regard such
proposals with decided repugnance. The masons,
although the masters were ready to stand by the
very law of the land equitably interpreted, cried
off instantly when this critical point was touched,
and redoubled their agitation. The Paviours' Athis
Conference has done little better, though this is the
point to which we alluded as forming an exception
to the general unimportance of Mr. Potter's com-
munication. He here tells us that his constituents

"have agreed" to the proposed purgation of their
rules and bye laws, but he proceeds to say that the
agreement consists only in " adopting Mr. Ingram
Travers's and Mr. Marsh Nelsou's proposal to amal-
gamate our societies on the pattern of that of the
Engineers." Now, we are by no means sure that
the Amalgamated Engineers will furnish the -model
most desirable. If they do, the society must have
undergone considerable changes since 1852, when
it appeared before the public in no very favourable
light. In any case, however, this proposition of a
selected reference will bear no comparison with
that of the masters, who offer to be bound,by the
decision either of any retired Judge of the Superior
Courts, or of any eminent impartial authority what-

ever, and who, 'besides this, are content that this
umpire himself shall be bound entirely by the spirit
of the law. Between these two proposals there is

no room for hesitation. The masters ask plainly
and distinctly for lawful protection, not only on
their own behalf, but that of non-unionist workmen,
and they ask for nothing more. The men speak
by no means so frankly. The mas•ms scarcely
conceal their resolution to maintain the usages
giving them a control over others. and, if
Mr. George Potter can say anything better for
his immediate friends, it must be by a more pro
raising, offer than that described in his last epistle.
—Times.

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MR, _ROWLAND HILL.

The English press is seldom deliberately unjust
in its criticism of distinguished public servants ;
and if betrayed into a harsh judgment, founded on
a misconception of facts, it rarely attempts to
justify its blunder by abusing the victim of its in-
justice. But a leading contemporary has during
the last two days made and repeated a violent and
uncalled-for attack on one of the most experienced
and meritorious officers in the public service—an
attack, we venture to say, which the public, that
has profited so largely by his labours, will not
easily forget or forgive. There is hardly a single
family in the country that is not directly indebted
to Mr. Rowland Hill's persevering and laborious
exertions in the national work of postal reform. He
has been engaged for 20 years in devising and
carrying out a system of cheap and expeditious
communication, and during that time has effected a
revolution in the department over which he presides
such as is rarely accomplished in the lifetime of an
individual. Yet the Times, on the very, slightest
provocation, thinks it becoming to speak of this
public servant as a conspirator against our national
rights and liberties. On the faith of representa-
tions that are not only erroneous but false, it ranks
him with Austrian informers and French spies. His
past improvements in the machinery of the Post-
office are stigmatised as tyrannical " caprices." We
have letter boxes attached to our hall doors; there-
fore the Englishman's house is no longer his castle.
London is divided into postal districts which in-
volve " the possession of immense local knowledge,
and of acquaintance with arbitrary geography," in
order to direct letters aright : therefore the liberty
of the subject is destroyed. Finally there is a right
and a wrong way of directing newspapers, and
Mr. Rowland Hill having recommended the
former, is represented as an official despot, issuing
his " ukase" from St. Martin's-le-Grand. When he
writes to explain :the actual facts of the misrepre-
sented case, our contemporary treats him as a pre-
sumptuous upstart which it is its business not to
reason with or oven listen to, but to put down.
Now, even supposing the facts really were as re-
presented by our contemporary, this is hardly the
tone to adopt towards a most meritorious public
servant. All servants of the Crown are of course
amenable to criticism, and must expect to be criti-
cised. But some consideration is due to those who
through a long course of arduous duty have proved
themselves not simply servants of the Crown, but
benefactors of the public. Distinguished merit may
at least claim to be treated with common courtesy.
The zeal, energy, and public spirit which have been
tested for 20 years, which have carried blessings to
every home throughout the country, and won the
gratitude of the nation, constitute, indeed, no im-
munity from censure. But these qualities uniformly
manifested through such a term of service, are a
fair plea in favour of inquiry and examination be-
fore a sweeping verdict of condemnation is pro-
nounced. In the present case, however, there is
really no ground for such a verdict at all. The
charge brought against the Postmaster-General is
simply false. An inquisitorial circular, it is alleged,
was issued to the employes at the Liverpool Post •
office, by the authority of the Postmaster-General.
This is untrue. No circular was sent to the clerks
of the Liverpool office. A confidential note, contain-
ing the questions referred to, was addressed by the
local Postmaster to a kW of them for a special
purpose.

- Whether the note be wise or foolish, innocently
or so criminally inquisitorial that it is the duty
of the press, in the select language of our con-
temporary, "to drag it before the bar of public
opinion and brand it as intolerable," it was
written and sent without the knowledge of the.
Postmaster-General. He knew nothing whatever
of the pretended circular. It is something more
than vapouring on the part of the Times, therefore,
to speak of it as an " outrage on the right of private
life perpetrated by the Post-office Department ;"
and to repeat in various phrase that " Mr. Rowland
Hill has no right to torture the servants under his
control." He has not done anything of the kind.
The Liverpool Postmaster acted on his own re-
sponsibility, and he has been called upon by his
superior for an explanation of his conduct. If !vir.
Rowland Hill has not yet publicly pronounced any
verdict on the act, it is fair to suppose it is because
it is still under investigation.
Why, under these circumstances, hasten to c -
demn a public servant, and persist in reiterating an
-odious charge, when the facts on which it rests have
been explicitly denied ? If our contemporary has
forgotten Mr. Rowland Hill's great and memor-
able services, the country has not. There will be
no sympathy with this hasty and groundless outcry
against the man whose splendid administrative re-
forms in one of the most important and far-reaching
departments of the public service have won the gra-
titude and admiration not only of England but of
the whole civilised world. The Timm characterises
these reforms as " caprices," tyrannical caprices to
which we have submitted in the past, but can really
submit no longer. It has enumerated those by which
we secure the.prompt and rapid delivery of letters.
But it has omitted some of the more important
items of his tyrannical administration. There is

the "caprice" by which he has increased the facility
for transmitting small sums of money from one part
of the kingdom to another, so that the number
of money orders issued has increased within a
few years nearly forty-fold. And there is the
crowning "caprice" of all, by which we now pay
a penny for sending a lettera hundred miles instead
of ninepence or a shilling. The payment of that
heavy sum was a time-honoured custDm to which
we had almost a prescriptive right. But the ruth-
less hand of the reformer has swept away that
clumsy and expensive process. Other despotic ca-
prices have tended to render the work of reform
complete, so that we now have our letters carried
and delivered with unexampled cheapness, expedi-
tion, and punctuality. It is no doubt too bad. We
are the miserable victims of wholesale reform, and
naturally avenge our outraged rights in a burst of
objurgation against the author of our calamities.—
Lally News.

PRESEI?VATION OF LIFE' FROM 8111P-
' WRECK;

A meeting of the Royal National Lifeboat Insti-
,ution was held yesterpay at its house, John-street,
Adclphi, Mr. Thomas Chapman, F.R.S., in the
chair. There were also present Sir Edward Per-
rott, Bart; Admiral Gordon, Deputy-Master of
the Trinity-house; Mr. George Lyall, M.P., and
Mr. Alexander Bootefeur. Mr. Lewis, the secre-
tary, having read the minutes of the previous meet-
ing, a reward of £3O was voted to the crew of the
institution's lifeboat stationed at Southarold, the
silver medal to John Craigie, her coxswain, and the
second service clasp to B. Herrington, for their
gallant service in rescuing, during a strong gale
of wind and heavy sea, the crew of ten men and
the master's wife from the Prussian brig Lucinde,
which was wrecked off Milner Haven on the night
of the 17th ult. The officer of the Coast-guard re-
ported that the lifeboat had behaved nobly on the
occasion, as well as the boat's crew. A reward of
13 was also voted to the crew of the society's boat
stationed at Bridlington, for rescuing between
three and four o'clock on the morning of the 16th
ult. the crew of six men from the brig Eliza of Sunder-
land, which was wrecked off Bridlington during a
heavy gale of wind. A reward of £ll was likewise
voted to the crew of the Castletown, Isle of Man,
lifeboat, which belongs to the institution, for put-
ting off on the night of the 30th August and
rescuing three men from the Norwegian briganeste
Ospreinsingen, which during a sudden gale of wind
had become disabled. The Wick lifeboat, which
is on the institution's plan, was also reported to have
saved recently a ship's crew during a heavy gale
of wind. 'the boat was under the command of
Captain Tudor, RN., who for a previous act of
bravery in rescuing life wears the society's silver
medal. Rewards amounting to £l5 10s. wire also
voted to the crews of the society's lifeboats stationed
at Fleetwood, Dorer, and Boulmer, for putting off
in reply to signals from vessels, which, however,
did not require the boats' aid. The Ramsgate
lifeboat, which is also on the institution's plan, had
recently in conjunction with the harbour commis-
sioners steam-tug and some luggers, succeeded in
bringing int) harbour from the Goodwin Sands
the brig Quickstep, of London. They had been
engaged in the arduous undertaking two days. A
reward of £5 was voted to the crew of five men of
a Harwich smack for their valuable assistance in
saving the crew of seven men from the brig Fame,
of South Shields, which was wrecked on the Ship-
wash Sands during hazy weather on the 6th ult.
A reward of £2 10s. was also voted to a boat's crew
for putting off and rescuing two out of six men
who had been capsized from their boat outside
Mevagissey Harbour, Cornwall, on the evening of
the 24th ult. The institution decided to station a
new lifeboat at Silloth, near Carlisle. Sir James
Graham, Bart., M.P. had offered his co-operation
to the humane undertaking. The society also
ordered a lifeboat to be built for Porthcawl, n--ar
Cardiff. The establishment had received the very
liberal support of Mr. Talbot, M.P., lord-lieutenant
of
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. .
THE FLOGGING IN TIIE 01ESAIL—It is staled that
the poor fellow who was flogged in Keyham yard for muti-
nous conduct on board the etesar, and who wa3 afterwards
epnt to Exeter gaol, in accordance with his sentence, shortly
After die;}therp.—.Pipm g
th Joefrn