The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-21 00:00:00

The Coal Trade.

CHESTERFIELD, Wednesday.
A very large and influential meeting of the non-
unionists was held in the Barrow-kill Schools on
Tuesday evening last, when upwards of 800 persons
were present. Mr. Markham occupied the chair.
The CHAIRMAN, who, on rising, was received with
loud cheers, said that he congratulated them most
sincerely upon the great demonstration for the vin-
dication of their rights as Englishmen for the free-
dom and liberty of labour. (Cheers.) It was a
source of the greatest possible satisfaction to him to
find so large an increase in the numbers of the non-
union men, which amounted at that moment to
1,032, who were exclusively employed in connexion
with the mineral department of the company. The
promoters of that great movement were entitled to
the praise and gratitude of :lli- -fellows-workmen hi
coining forward, as he was cotiVinced that the move-
ment would ccufer au inestimable benefit on the
working men of England. As the education and
intelligence of the people extends I the non-union
movement would be m Te fully appreciated ; it was
to the working men of Staveley that the great move-
ment for the vindication of their rights as English-
men was especially due ; and to prevent the possi-
bility of any dispute as to originators of the move-
ment he had given instructions for a book to be pre-
pared, which would record the first and all subsequent
meetings of the non-union men, and on the 31st of this
month the names of every non-union man employed in
the mineral department of the Staveley Company
would be entered, and the book deposited in the Bri-
tish Museum. It had been a disgrace to the manufac-
turers and artisans of this country that they had per-
mitted locomotives to be manufactured in the centre
of France, that had been brought to this country at
considerable cost, and were now running upon the
Great East Railway. The Belgian manufacturers had
supplied large quantities of rails for the East Glou-
cestershire Railway, which were delivered at the port
of Gloucester at a less price than they could be ob-
tained from an English manufacturer. During the
past winter a large quantity of castings were re-
quired by the Leeds Corporation, which were com-
peted for by a Belgian firm, and it was stated by
the Leeds papers that their tenderacwoemrewniytl,iiwn who
few shillings of that of the Staveley pa
obtained the order. These examples would serve to
show, he said, how keen was the competition with
foreigners. Dlany of the rules and regulations of
the trade societies were, in his opinion, most unjust
and detrimental to the interests of the working man.
Their fundamental rules were to make every man
equal ; the idle and industrious apprentices, as soon
as they had completed their apprenticeships, were
bound by the rules of many societies to receive the
sameamount of wages as the skilful and experienced
working-man, who, again, was restricted in his la-
bour and prevented from using his talent to the best
advantage he could for the benefit of himself and
family. In many trade societies they did not allow ,
the employer of labour to have more than one ap-
prentice for every seven workers ; the master se-
lected the apprentices, and it might so happen that
not one working-man in twenty had the privilege
of obtaining for his children employment in his own
trade. Many families would, no doubt, wish to fol-
low the same employment as their fathers, but they
were not allowed by their trade societies to do so.
What he (the chairman) wanted to know was on
what principle any society had a right to interfere
with the liberties of the working-man's children.
(Cheers.) If every trade society carried out the
same rigid rule, and if the common labourers
were to do so also throughout the country,
and they had as much right to protect their
own labour as the skilled artisan, what would be-
come of the population of the country, and how
would it be employed? It had been stated that there
were 1,200,000 paupers in this country, and if the
development of trade societies were to extend, the
paupers must increase in a much larger proportion.
If a master was willing to give employment to the
sons of one of his workmen, it was his (speaker's)
opinion that it was the bounden duty of the father
to assist his children, and not to conspire for his own
personal benefit to defraud them of their rights and
liberties as Englishmen. (Loud applause.) The
rate of labour undoubtedly depended upon sup-
ply and demand ; if there was a superabundance of
labour, wages were low ; but if, on the contrary, as
was the case in that district, there was a great de-
mand for labour, wages steadily increased ; and this
great principle could not be modified by the rules
or regulations of any trade societies. The collies sea
and ironworks of that district, he said, had been
developed by the freedom and liberty of labour; and
it was very important for the working men to clearly
ascertain their relative position in that district as
compared with Yorkshire, where the works were al-
most
entirely under the dominien of the trades' unions.
The population iu this immediate locality had in-
creased 60 per cent. within the last ten years, and
the. wages paid at Staveley were higher than in any
other colliery district in the kingdom. If they were
not so, why, he asked, did men come from-Yorkshire,

desirousrfcf
for
raeust
ti:hnt er
country, and
onlfdaa'Wales,nbtodo
u crroea
extricatingmminndam Yorkshire? from
was
contrary
a r part
e
workmen weriefubinetitotienctoyrnserpts'
ehai
eat
neni himdns
etosahwettne.
themselves
dmvsas
he
sotobea.tdethf Staveley,trettoyeoßmr
weourttoemhtm eiledtut
remunerated
eri
raf an
remainttneh
great fact that men then workinf, in Yorkshire
bawcasktoa
were
oa ft the Staveley
Trades'
y
a district where freedom and liberty of labour
existed. Some of the delegates had endeavoured to
incite the farm labourers to form a great combina-
tion, with the avowed intention of improving their
condition. If such a combination were possible, the
small farmers, who were the most industrial class of
men in the country, would be compelled to convert
all their arable land into grass land, and would, con-
sequently, only be able to employ one man where
three are now employed, and the result would be
that the price of labour would be still further re-
duced. Ile believed that all combinations were bad,
and that it was desirable that fair and legitimate
competition should exist in all trades, and then
everything would take its own natural course, and
find its own natural level. There had recently been
a great combination of capitalists against labour in
Staffordshire, and more recently in the North of
England, and the result in both cases had been in-
jurious to the interests of both masters and men,
and had caused immense suffering among the work-
ing people. All disputes between masters and men
should be settled upon a fair and equitable basis—
but if trade societies combined among themselves to
crush an individual employer of labour, they could
not object..to masters forming a combination on a
similar scale. It was to him a source of great satis-
faction
that everything that science, skill, or capital .
could command had been done to insure the safety_
of the mines, and to protect the lives of the work-
men. The company employed as consulting viewers
two of the most experienced engineers in the coun-
try. They possessed in Mr. Campbell one of the
most experienced practical men in the kingdom,
whose great sagacity, experience, and unwearied
attention had been devoted .to his bursiness, and he
(the chairman) belieVed that at the present mo-
ment there were no collieries in the kingdom that
could be compared, in safety and efficiency, with
those belonging to the Staveley Company. (Loud
cheers.) No expense had been spared that con-
tributed in any way to the safety of the working
man. " The company had recently expended a very
large sum in an improved system of ventilation, and
they were extending the same principles to some of
their other collieries. In conclusion,LMr. Markham
observed that it was by the merchants' weight the
wages would be reduced 25 per cent., as the diffe-
rence in the weight was precisely one-fourth. It
was hardly necessary for him to refer to the ques-
tion of-the weight of 28 cwt., which had been made
use of by the delegates as a grievance against the
Staveley Company, as it was well known to every
working man at Staveley that he was paid for a
given quantity, or a lot of 28 cwt. It was of course
quite immaterial to the company whether they (the
men) were paid by the merchants' weight or by the
exceptional weight which had so long existed at
Staveley. The weight of all the coal raised at the
collieries was reduced in the office to the merchants
weight, as it was a great fact, as previously stated
when the union was first brought into the district,
that during the past 12 months the Staveley Com-
pany paid the colliers for 23,793 tons more coa
than sold. It could make no difference to the work-
ing man whether he was paid by 20, 25, or 30 cwt.
so long as it was a bargain, and prices were paid
upon a fixed quantity. The understanding with
the colliers was that the draught of the scale should
cover all deficiencies, inclusive of the colliers' coals,
that are given to them without charge, the dirt and
refuse picked out in clearing the coal, and the fuel
required to feed the engines in working the pit.
All the company required was to have as many tons
of coal to sell as they paid for, and whatever the wages
might be, this principle would always be adopted.
It had been said there was a lock-out at Staveley,
which was not a fact. They had exercised their right
to give notice to a certain number of men, while
on the other hand, a considerable number of Their
workmen pact ;lire-) in their-notices, and left their
employment in a proper manner. A lock-out had
never taken place at these works, as he (the speaker)
was totally opposed to them on principle, and he .
made up his mind to work the collieries with those
men who were desirous of foilowing their employ-
ment. The Staveley Company would never consent
to employ union men, as they did not wish to be in
constant war with their workpeople.

FENIANISII IN NOTTINGHAM.

Yesterday John Kearney, aged 26, au Irishman,
living in Ferrars-street, St. Ann's Well-road, Not-
tingham (a private in the Robin Hood Rifles), was
brought before the mayor and borough magistrates,
at the police-court, Nottingham, charged with be-
ing concerned in the Fenian conspiracy. Mr. Chief-
constable Freeman said on Wednesday afternoon
he went to the prisoner's house in Ferrar's-street,
and said to the prisoner, " From a statement I have
heard I believe you are connected with the Fen ians."
Prisoner replied, " I know nothing about it—l am
no Fenian." Witness then called Inspector Berring-
ton and Detective Atherton, and they then searched
prisoner's house. The wife of the prisoner threw
some papers into the fire, and witness snatched
w
something out of the fire, which proved to be a copy
of the Irish People newspaper. They then took him
into custody. Thomas Roult, aged 18, said he had
known the prisoner for about two months. Wit-
ness was an Irishman. He had been to the pri-
soner's house several times since November at Kear-
ney's invitation. He generally went with a man
d ap S
Their conversation was generally
aboutea e
Fee
iP esanhiesridn. . Prisoner used togive them Irish
p
to read. On the 12th of December he
nn
was at prisoner's house, and they took a walk up
Derby-road. Prisoner asked witness if he would
be sworn into the Irish army or Fenian Brother-
hood. Witness replied that he would. Prisoner
then administered the oath to him in a passage,
They were alone ; part of the oath was that " he
should take up arms at a minute's notice, and fight
against the British Government, and obey the com-
mands of the superior officers." Witness
then kissed the Catholic Prayer-book, and
said, "So help me God." Upon taking
the oath prisoner asked witness "if he had
clenched him now ?" and authorised him to
swear in others as Feuians. He told him he could
swear in Lockhart and Shepherd, two of his com-
panions, both of whom are Irish. Witness left the
prisoner soon afterwards. He bad since been to

the prisoner's house, and they had conversed freely
about the prospects of Fenianism. Prisoner said
that fighting would shortly commence in Ireland,
and added that he had had a letter from Ireland,
stating that Colonel Kelly was in that country.
Prisoner was in the Robin Hood Volunteers, and
advised witness to join, as by that means he could.
be drilled and ready for action. Witness had not
joined the Robin Hoods. Prisoner said to witness,
the magazines." Ie
c alsooui d said,
Fenian ranks, and then fight for
6, In case you do join, and we do garrison duty, we
the
can do greater harm than if we were sent to Ireland
blowingnut over m
to Iz n w
P
wb y e
were
the Irish republic."
Prisoner told witness that the army was affected
with Fenianism. Shepherd was generally with them
during these conversations. Prisoner promised
witness that if be could swear
in nine men he would
be made a sergeant and have the command of
them. Prisoner, upon being cautioned by the bench,
slid he knew nothing about
it, adding that it was
a conspiracy against him. In reply to several ques-
tions put by the prisoner, the witness Roult stated
that when he was at the prisoner's house other
publications bad been shown him besides those of a
Fenian character. Witness had, however, soon a
book of the circles of Fenianism iu Philadelphia
and other places. The bench said that prisoner
was in a serious position, and advised him to
have legal assistance. The prisoner was then
remanded.

Mr. Hook, of Trinity College, Cambridge, and
Mr. E. Bond, scholar of St. John's College, Oxford, have
been appointed to Yasterships at Radley College. Mr.
Bond gained a first-class in Classics (Moderations) in
Easter Term, 1864, and a first in Classics in the final
schools in 1866.

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