The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-10 00:00:00

duty of the law of the lard to protect every in-
dividual in the exercise of his personal freedom,
in social as well as commercial matters, working
men ought not to be surprsed.that many of their
fellows loudly complain of the threatenings of
committees and violent partizans, or that the capi-
talists, who wish to buy in the cheapest market,
should sympathise in their resistance to such
foul and unprincipled tyranny. If there be one
duty more incumbent than another upon the loud-
tongued advocate of poplar freedom, it is the
resolute assertion and practical maintenance of the
rights and liberties of others as well as his ow
The intelligent and well-disposed workmen there-
fore consult not only their own honour, but even-
tually their own interest, when they set their
faces against every species of dictation by their
fellows, or of compulsory organisation in any
form, however specious.

A similar line of conduct is likewise demanded,
by the spirit of commercial freedom, from the
buyers of labour. It is idle for them to deny to the
workmen the right to combine, if the combination
be voluntary and its action interferes not with the
indulgence of a similar right in others. It is idle
to rail about " dupes and knaves," inasmuch as
such specimens of humanity are well known to
infest all classes ; and that speculators, capitalists,
and traders, great and small, by no means present
any remarkable exception to the rule. It is idle to
stand upon a phantom " dignity" and decline to
treat, in a commercial spirit, with deputations ap-
pointed by those whose labour they seek to pur-
chase. If a man enters into trade, no matter what
may be his wealth or position, he must be prepared
to act like a tradesman, and not like an aristocrat
of twenty generations, who regards personal bar-
gain-making as something derogatory to his social
standing. In fact, all such disputes ought to be
fought in a commercial and not in a military sense.
When the latter alternative is adopted, neither
party can be said to gain a substantial victory.
All is sacrifice, and sacrifice generally to empty
vanity and ignorant impulse. The moment a strike
or lockout ceases to pay, a common sense compro-
mise ought to be effected. It either is or ought to
be merely a question of pounds, shillings, and
pence, and every tradesman knows that fifteen or
even ten shillings in the pound is better than no
dividend at all.

In the recent great strike and lockout, which
spread its devastating influence over the important
manufacturing town of Preston, the employers
adopted what they considered to be a parallel move
to the combination of the operatives. They closed
all their mills to prevent their " hands" subscribing
to the relief of others "on strike" at one or two
similar establishments. This was a fatal error, a
violation of the acknowledged law of political
economy referred to, and a bad example to the
operatives. It turned into the streets to starve, or
to seek relief from the parish authorities, thousands
who had, neither directly nor indirectly, any con-
nection with the movement of the " turnouts."
Much privation ensued, and the poor-rates were
consequently augmented to a considerable extent.
The masters vainly attempted to throw the blame of
this reckless policy on the " turnouts" committees,
because, forsooth, said they, if the working men on
strike would consent to accept the terms of the
employers, or the buyers of labour, the latter were
quite willing to cease their oppression of the
thousands who had not even for months or years
refused their services on the masters' conditions. A
military despot, of course, claims the right to fire
his cannon, if he fears a gathering mob, in the
streets or squares of his capital, and he views with
indifference the incidental destruction of the pro-
perty and even the lives of a few loyal subjects.
A similar indifference to such casualties obtains
generally in national warfare; but the assumption
of such authority by a commercial firm, in a free
country, protected by a powerful constituted au-
thoriti-, would be regarded as monstrous, nay, unpar-
alleled ! The public peace ought to be respected by
all parties in these boisterous bargainings, under
severe pains and penalties; and where the public
law is inoperative, public opinion ought, and will,
come to the rescue.
The true parallel move to the combination of the
operatives to obtain what the masters deem to be a
higher rate of wages than the aspect of commercial
affairs appears to warrant, is for those who enter-
tain that opinion to subscribe towards the expenses
to which the menaced firm is subjected. It would
then become merely a battle of pecuniary endurance
between the real combatants: the innocent would
be spared, and the general operations of the trade
remain intact. The result, in whichever direction
it might lay, would be more tangible and mere in-
structive. The vengeful feelings engendered in the
breasts of those who, otherwise, had been the vic-
tims of the folly or ignorance of the contending
parties, would of neccessity, have no existence. The
lesson learned at Preston has not been without
fruit. A similar contest is now raging in Lanca-
shire. The manufacturers have discarded their old
and:merciless tactics ; they are content to subscribe
towards the expenses of the employers whom they
deem justified in their oppostion to the demands of
the operatives. The general trade is flourishing ;
and but little public attention is drawn to the dis-
pute. It assumes, as it ought to do, much more
than heretofore the character of a small mercantile
panic, or the sudden stoppage of a large firm from
fire or bankruptcy.
Would not some such method of conducting the
pending struggles in the metropolis be more hon-
ourable and humane, as well as, eventually, more
satisfactory to all parties interested ?