The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-17 00:00:00

THE BUILDERS' STRIKE.

The masons' committee reported on Saturday
that the following firms, in addition to those already
announced, had acceded to the terms of the men,
viz., Messrs. Wren, Pimlico ; Todd, Chelsea ; Fish,
Milbank; Williams, Bricknell, Clapham; Hay-
ward, Kensington ; and Holidge, Sydenham ;
making in all seventeen firms where the men had
resumed work under the terms of the compromise.
Several of the masons, withdrawn from the country
jobs of those London firms paying by the hour,
arrived in town on Saturday evening.
A considerable sum of money was received by
the treasurer from the country districts during
Saturday, but too late to strike a dividend. The
men, however, were all paid on Saturday morning
the allowance voted by the society, and they enter-
tain strong hopes of the question being speedily
settled, so many of the masters being impressed
with the reasonable terms of the compromise.
On Saturday, when the masons were paid off, at
twelve o'clock, at the Westminster-bridge Works,
under the new arrangement, a notice was issued
to all the workmen of every description employed,
that in future they would be paid off at twelve
o'clock on Saturdays, and if required to work
longer would be paid for overtime at time and a
half. It is needless to say that this notice gave
great satisfaction to the numerous body of men em-
ployed. The contractor, Mr. Johnson, has also
conceded the 6d. per day to the bricklayers on the
works.

At a delegate meeting of the carpenters it has
been determined that the opinion of the trade be
taken by ballot as to whether they shall adhere to
the demand for the nine hours, or unite with the
masons and bricklayers in demanding the terms of
the compromise.

(From the Times.)
A walk along the principal thoroughfares of the
metropolis opens at this moment some very strange
spectacles. Every here and there an imperfect but
noble-looking edifice, on which hundreds of work-
men have been engaged, lies abandoned, as it were,
to the elements, like a derelict vessel forsaken by
its owners. The scaffolding still stands, the cranes
and pullies are in their places, and there seems no
imaginable reason for the suspension of the design.
A foreigner might fancy either that we were the
most capricious and speculative people in the world,
or that some national convulsion, like the American
civil war, had called away all the industrious classes
from their ordinary avocations to the dreadful work
of a campaign. The simple truth of the matter is,
that there is another strike in the building trade.
After a few weeks' agitation and controversy the
decisive step has been taken. The Masons' Union
has ordered every member of the society to cease
working ; the mon have obeyed the order, and, as
the other trades cannot get on without the masons,
there is an end of all building for the present upon
which the unions can enforce their decrees. The
crisis thus produced is so important that we must
give the public a clear account of the circumstances
from which it has arisen and of the questions now
actually at issue.
It is but a short time since a general strike in the
building trades for the day of nine hours was ter-
minated by the defeat of the men, and the resump-
tion of work on the old terms of a ten-hours day.
The failure of the strike was complete. Not only did
the masters outlast ,the men, and compel them by
their superior resources to give in, but public opi-
nion was also decisively pronounced in favour of
employers, and against the demands of the unions.
Every reasoning man in the kingdom saw that the
claims of the workmen were without warrant. They
were getting a fair day's wage for a fair day's work.
They were suffering no oppression, and had no
ground of complaint. They were better off, in fact,
not only than most classes of operatives, but than
many classes of higher social position. As the con-
troversy proceeded, indeed, it became clear that the
movement had not been based on any grievance at
all, but had originated in a scheme for increasing
the general fund of employment. If every work-
man engaged in the building trades did one-tenth
less work than before, either more hands must be
taken on, or the job would last so much longer. The
same amount of work, in short, would support a
greater number of workmen, and therefore, to gain
this advantage, all the Unionists in the building
trades were ordered to strike. It was hoped that
the masters would be obliged to yield under such
organised pressure, and that the unions would have
their will. As it happened, the struggle ended the
other way. It was the men, not the masters, who
had to give in, and the victory of the employers was
confirmed by the hearty approbation of the public.
Nevertheless, as soon as the spring of the present
year brought a little pleasant weather, and some
large contracts had opened a good prospect of work,
the building trades unions were perverse enough to
renew their demands. They again claimed to re•
ceive ten hours' pay for nine hours' work, and revived
all their old menaces in the event of a refusal.
Under these circumstances a large metropolitan firm
adopted a course calculated not only to settle the
pending dispute, but to close the question at issue
once and for all. They determined to pay their men
not by the day, but by the hour, so that every work-
man might make his day as long or as short as he
pleased. The proposition was perfectly reasonable
in itself, but it was accompanied also by a gratuitous
piece of liberality. The current rate of pay was in-
creased, so that a man, by working the same num-
ber of hours as before, could earn a larger sum per
week, or earn the same sum though working two or
three hours less. Such good terms soon found favour,
and were accepted by great numbers of men ; but
the unions were bitterly opposed to them. The
new system struck at the very root of their
power, by depriving them of one of their
chief subjects of agitation, and removing the hours
of labour question from their cognisance altogether.
It was foreseen that they would make a desperate
fight for their prerogatives, and the anticipation has
now been verified. On Saturday, the Bth inst., the
masons' committee called all their members off
work, and the consequence is the present strike—to
be fought out in the old foolish and miserable
manner.

We have repeatedly said that if the men choose to
strike they must do so. Such combinations are no
longer unlawful, nor can anybody interfere between
a wilful man and his way. But we have also said,
and we now repeat, that the public will judge the
merits of the quarrel, and will not be slow to ex-
press an opinion when a great department of indus-
try is wantonly deranged. We tell the men that
in the opinion of the country they will find no
support. The present strike is more perverse
than ever strike was before. The last was bad
enough, because it was founded on an untenable
claim, but this is far worse, because it is the revival
of a question which had been absolutely decided,
and about the merits of which there no longer re-
mains the slightest doubt. The men have no
right in the world to ten hours' pay . for nine
hours' work, and, if they object to this system
of payment by the hour, they have only themselves
to thank for it. They drove the masters to adopt
it. Without any regard to the reason of the case,
or to the deliberate opinion of the public, they re-
newed their demand for a day of nine hours, and
openly declared that they would extort by impor-
tunity what they could not obtain by argument.
They were ready to strike again for the nine hours,
and, when the masters judiciously shelved that
question by a new method of reckoning wages, they
struck against that method itself, though nothing
can be fairer than the proffered rate of pay or the
system by which it is calculated. Of course such
proceedings are at their own discretion, but they
must not count on any public sympathy. In reality,
they are not striking either for a rate or a method
of payment. They are striking in obedience to an
edict of the Unions, framed in the hope of getting
command over the trade. As their demands are not
sustainable by argument, and are supported only by
organised force, it is perfectly pain that they may
be renewed over and over again up to any point of
extravagance. After extorting payment by the
day, they might rule that the day should consist of
eight hours instead of nine, or of seven instead of
eight. If, under such conditions as these, they got
the better of the masters, it would simply prove
that the masters were completely under their power,
and would be obliged either to accept the dictation
of the Unions or to quit the trade. Hitherto the
element of reason has entered very beneficially into
these quarrels. The public, being perfectly impar-
tial, and having no bias whatever in favour of
either side, acted as a species of arbitor, and
brought out the true merits of the case. We may
say, in fact, that with a reasonable case the men
would probably win, and with an unreasonable one
would certainly lose. Now, however, reason is set
aside altogether. The men, though their claims
stand convicted of injustice and extravagance, have
renewed them in reliance upon farce alone. They
have gone into win by organisation and power.
They have no case, but believe themselves to possess
great strength. We believe they will find them-
selves mistaken, and we are very sure that even
their own interests would suffer if the Unions could
establish their despotic authority over masters and
men together.—Tines.

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