The Sun.
London, England, 1826-08-11 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOtTRNALS.

We have received a letter from a respectable house
engaged in the Spite Melds silk-trade. The declared ob-
ject of the writers is to vindicate themselves front a
Charge which had h'een' made against them at a late meet-
ing of the journeymen, to the effect that "they were de-
cidedly apposed to any advance of wages." It appears
as if the house in riiiestiou was more afraid of the unpo-
pularity alneng their work-people, resulting from such an
unrdration' than of any discredit which could be at-
tar.ned to them on account,of it in the minds of impar-
tial reasonable men. Every master manufacturer
strives' to pay the lowest wages for which he can pro-
cure competent. hands : with every journeyman it is the
acknowledged and natural endeavour to obtain from his
employerthe highest possible remuneration for his industry :
on both sides it is a struggle of adverse interests, deter-
mined only from time to time by the pressure of that
common and paramount interest which fortes them to meet
at some intermediate Point, on pain of any one party find•
ing his capital, and the other his skill, unproductive, lf,
therefore, our correspondents had been truly represented as
opposing an advance of wages, we can see nothing to be
liferred from such a fact, but their flattering,themselvee
that they' could get their work well executed for the
wages which they were already paying. It is pure non-
sense to mix up• fine sentiment with such matters, and
to blame merchants or tradesmen for the rule of busi-
ness which leads them to obtain the greatest possible ad-
vantages at the lowest possible price. Nor, as a general
principle of action, can any injustice be the fruit of it.--
The gentlemen to whom we are alluding have no mono-
poly of the silk trade, nor are we aware, of any trade in
which an individual house has the power of fixing the
sate of wages. If A. "or B.- refuses the market-price, he
gets no hands, or hands of inferior quality, and there is
an end of it, until he raises his offers to something near
the general level. Competition is, in thiii respect, the true
medicine for an excess of the cupidity out of which it
arises. But, with regard to our correspondents, what is
the feet ? The " lowest wages" which they are paying at
this moment will put in the power of one loom to earn
15s. er 17s. W. per week--.-not much, certainly, nor in-
deed sufficient to ensure a long supply of silk-weavers in
London, where such wages will hardly enable a single
person to live with decency, much less if he be married,
and have children. However, we are informed that in
most cases a family has two or more of such looms. If
this be correct, and that 15s. per week be the lowest rate
of wages, we are disposed to ask, whether there must not
be exaggeration in some of the statements circulated on
the subject of Spitalfields distress ? How far the gentle-
men above referred are warranted in the assertion that
French silks generally can rival our own fabrics in the
market of this country, with a weight upon them of 3.5
per ceot., we shall not now examine: the import trade is
yet but young, and experience not well enough establish-
ed to adrnit,of our refuting a misrepresentation by turning
to a Custom-house report.—Times.

To xne EDITOIt or Trtx TlNtEs..—Sir,—Ytlttr Paper a few
days since contained an account of the proceedings of a large meet-
nig of journeymen wearers, held for the purpose of " resisting the
attempts of such of the masters as were paying less than the book
prices for their work, and of providing a fund to support those
who might be thrown out of work for refusing to accept a re-
duced rate of wages."
Whether or' not it is reasonable that the weavers should continue
to have the " book prices," considering that the trade is in so de-
pressed a state—that 'Trench and East India good! are brought
into competition with those of English manufacture—and that,
during the year and a half of brisk trade which followed the re-
peal of the Spitalfields' Act, they .obliged the masters to pay them
more than the "boOk prices"—it is not our object particularly to
inquire, but to correct an erroneous statement respecting ourselves
in the account referred to.
it appears to have been reported to the mcetirg, that we were
" decidedly opposed to any advance." We beg to say, that we
have never made any such declaration. To the deputation that
waited neon us, we stated, " that we were no advocates for very
law prices; but that, however desirable it might he that all mas-
ters should pay alike, we thought they would had is diffteult to
accomplish it."
That the public may not he deceived upon this subject, allow
us to add that the lowest prices we are paying at this moment will
futshte one loom to earn lbs. or 171. 6d. per week, without
t.i,erkirig extra hours. That in most cases a family has two or
more of these looms, and that within the last six weeks we have
had many refusals to take work at these prices.
W 5 are, Sir, your most obedient servants,
WILSON, MOORE, & ROBINSON.
Milk-street, Cheapaide, Aug. 8.
It seems rather too much to require that the Lord
Chancellor should add to his other grave arid solemn of-
fices that of a theatrical. manager. Yet it appears that be
has got into that line of business ; and his management, if
not very successful, promises to be very extensive. He
said, during the bearing, of the cause Const v. Harris, on
'Wednesday, "MC 'knew no instance of a theatre being
brought into the Court of Chancery before that. of the
'Royal Circus, in the time of Lord Thurlow; but as in
this great commercial country business of all kinds had
very much increased, so it was found, in consequence of
the above precedent, he supposed the Drury-lane, the
Haytnarket, Covent-garden, the Royalty, the Opera-
house, and several other theatres, had been successively
brought into Court." He added, that "it had fallen to
his lot to be engaged with theatres - for some years, for
which no allowance was ever made." Thus it is evident
that the Learned Lord is in danger of being invested with
a very troublesome, 'and, as he describes it, a very unpro-
fitable appointment- that 'of Manager-general of all thea-
tres ! and may be under the necessity of assuming the
buskin while' seated on the Woolsack—a combination
which the prophetic wisdom of Lord' Bacon never dreamt
of, and which:would have startled even the imagination
of Sfilkapeare. Indeed, if the duties of this new avoca-
tion increase upon the Learned Lord, it will be necessary
to annex a " green room" to the Court of Chancery,
where all the arrangements and scandal of the manage-
ment may be talked over; nor should we .be surprised to
hear Mr. Heald and Mr. Shadwell oftener quoting Shaks-
peare and Otway, than Coke upon Littleton. Whether
such practice would facilitate the business of the Court
may be doubted; but it is certain that it would render its
proceedings far more entertaining. The Lord Chancellor,
however, speaks with so much modesty on the subject,
that- we are afraid that he will never have assurance
enough to make a successful manager. He says, in refer-
ence to Covent-garden, " the Court had endeavoured, to
some extent, to manage the theatre itself, but had made
sad work of it." We suspect there is no other manager
in the kingdoni would wake the same admission. We
have heard a great deal of late of the extravagant salaries
paid to the principal actors, but it is probable that the
hugest share of the profits will, for a long time, go into
the pockets of, the performers in the Court of Chancery.
who deal' in fiction as largely as the dramatic poets, but
are better paid for it.—Aforning Herald.
The manner in which private A.ets of Parliament are, in
general, passed, is a great scandal to the Legislature.—
they are often quite unattended to, except by the persons
interested in forwarding them, or those whom they have
canvassed. The consequence is, that under the name of
Private , Acts, the principles of public justice and the
rights of individuals are frequently infringed upon, and 1,
sometimes totally subverted. The disgraceful scenes
which took:place last session in the Committee Rooms,
respecting .the pawl% of Joint Stock Company Bills, are
still fresh in the public reeollection. The exhibition of
sordid passions—the cupidity—theigue—the scram-
ntri
blie
g for profitable jobs--which made•
tant sharesif Committee business, np the most
reflectedimpor-
deep disgrace
.o
upon a great proportion of our Representatives—wit
. showed themselves not only destitute of the higher qua-
lities of Senators, but forgetful of the decent habits and
honourable sentiments of gentlemen. These practices
prOve to what a head the evil of vicious and interested
legislation had obtained by long and corrupting usage--
for uniseppily the records of local law-making demonstrate
theta), mischief,is.not of recent origin.We see in-
stancean of its effects, in producing what may be called a