The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-28 00:00:00

TRADES DELEGATES' CON-
FERENCE.-(THIS DAY.)
The delegates from the united trades of the country
met this morning, at half-past nine, at the Parthenium
Room, St. Martin's-lane ; T. S. Duncombe, Esq., in the

chair.
Letters were read from Worcester, Birkenhead, and
Edinburgh, expressing their concurrence in the objects
of the conference and their determination to support
those objects.
Mr. FIRTH, delegate from the plasterers of London,
moved that the names of delegates on each division be
published.
Mr. FLEbITNG was of opinion that it would answer no
useful rurpose to publish the names of delegates voting
on all occasions. Such a course might be useful on
certain occasions, but not indiscriminately.
Mr. FIRTH, seeing the sense of the meeting against
his motion, withdrew it.
Mr. WHITE proposed that the names of the delegates
who voted on the fourth resolution (yesterday) be
printed and entered on the minutes.
The motion was seconded, put, end carried.
The CHAIRMAN said the next point the delegates had
to cot Sider was whether-
6. The Central Committee should be instructed to
carefully prepare a constitution for concentrating the
energies, legalising the proceedings, and giving practical
effect to the growing desire for location in the land, and
other measures for the profitable employment-of the
funds of such unions as might be desirous of thus
using them.
Mr. FLEMING, in supporting the resolution, said that
he thought it would be much better, in the present state
of public opinion, to avoid consolidation, and make the
Committee a medium for collecting useful information,
and upon that information to prepare the best constitu-
firm they could for the support of the trades, and then
to put that constitution in practice.
Mr. PASQUIL (miners) moved an amendment to leave
out the words after the words " desire for," and to
insert the words, " and, therefore, giving practical effect
to the growing desire for a general trades' union."
After some discussion the amendment was withdrawn.
Mr. GEORGE WHITE then proposed a second amend-
ment, "'That the consideration of the 6th resolution b
postponed ; and that a Committee of seven persons
be appointed to collect the views of the delegates
present on the 6th paragraph, for the purpose of founding
a resolution thereon, so that the opinion of the Conference
be condensed, and placed before the country."
The CHAIRMAN put the amendment, which was
negatived
On the original resolution being put,
Mr. TAYLOR moved an amendment, which was subse-
quently withdrawn.
Mr. numeric then moved an amendment to the same
effect, but
The CHAIRMAN said it would be unfair to receive that
amendment after the other delegates had withdrawn
theirs, especially after guarantee had been given that the
subject would be fully discussed in another stage of the
proceedings.
Mr. DUNNING would not withdraw his amendment.
The question was put from the chair, whether an op-
portunity. would be given to that delegation to discuss
the question, and it was decided by the Conference that
the subject was intre duced prematurely, and should not
therefore be discussed.
Mr. PRIOR was sorry and astonished that the dele-
gates should so long delay the discussion of the real
question for their consideration. He believed the best
effects would be produced from different trades forming
themselve s into unions to protect themselves. Ile be-
lieved that labour might be created if there was
only a proper understanding among the trades, and that
would create the means of consumption, which was the
great object they had in view.
The CHAIRMAN suggested that the word " plan"
should be substituted for " constitution."
The resolution was put in the amended form and
carried.
Mr. WAINE begged that, as the delegates from the
country were put to much trouble, and to considerable
expense, by a residence in town, that the addresses of
members of the Conference should be as brief and as
mush to the point as possible. Too much time
had been wasted by delegates listening " to their own
swee t voices," and he trusted that, for the future,
eloquence would be discarded, and business attended to.
There were no less than thirty-f .ur of the London dele-
gates absent that morning, and that certainly furnished
but little encouragement for the country deli gates to re-
main in town.
Mr. WKrrE, in order that the Central Committee
might be in possession of the opinion of all the delegates,
would make the follow ing motion :—" That it be an in-
struction to the Central Committee to recommend the
trades to adopt the principle of endeavouring to become
proprietors of their own labour, by forming local
societies for that purpose, on rules to be here-
after placed before them, a portion of which
rules for the establishment of stores for the benefit of
the members, and manufactories for their employ, thus
enabling them to apply the profits arising from their
labour and the stores above-mentioned to the rental of
purchase of land for the use of the members of such trade.'
He felt confident that the trades of England if they
wanted to raise themselves from the slavish position
they occupied, they might du so—(Cheers)—and they
might depend uron it if they made the attempt
they would occupy next year a very different
position to what they did at present.—(Cheers.) What,
he would ask, was the position of the working-classes
now ? Why, nothing but machines, for the benefit of
others—(Cheers)—who had capital while they had not.—
(Cheers.) If they all joined together they would havecapi-
tal to preserve themselves from being cheated by others.
He wished the delegates, before they separated, to give
a pledge to c cacti other to support one another, and thus
prevent them from being the slaves of te profit-
makers.—(Cheers.)
Mr. SEELToN, in seconding the resolution, adverted to
the incompleteness of trades' unions for the purpose of
protecting the labourer, because machinery was brought
to such a state of excellence, that half the labourers
were unemployed. The delegate went into a number of
statistical details to show that while manufactures
had increased wages had diminished ; and he argued
that strikes had only wasted the strength of the work-
men, without in the least degree improving their con-
dition.
Mr. EVANS said that some hundreds of years ago the
working man could command any price for his labour,
and there were enactments upon the statute-book limit-
ing the remuneration for that labour, but now there was
a power in this country created by machinery equalling
in amount that of 600,000,000 persons, while it
was well known that the three kingdoms only comprised
a population of 30,000,000. With this extraordinary
power to compete with, it was no wonder that the
working man was obliged to succumb. What was
the remedy ? He would point out as the first, and
of most importance, that of emigration. There
were lands in America to be purchased at a
very low calculation—why should the trades of England
not invest some capital of their own in this species of
property ? They might also obtain land in Venezuela
without any sinking of capital, because the ruling powers
there wished to people their land. There was a, present
only a population of some one million there, while the
surface was three times that of this country. The
speaker compared the fertility of the American soil with
that of England, and eulogised the former, as returning.
its riches without any labour on the part of the husband-
men. There they had also to pay scarcely any taxes,
while in England they were charged at least 10s. an
acre. lie trusted that the Conference would come to
some decision in this matter before it finished its delibe-
rations ; and whe n they became possessed of
some 12,000 acres of land, which he hoped
would be before the year was out, they would
be enabled to set the power of the employers at defiance,
and instead of as heretofore the workers returning to
their labour, after the funds had been exhausted which
had supported their strikesethey would be enabled to
withdraw the workers altogether, to plant them upon
those lands, and so to neutralise the influence possessed
by the capitalists of the country.
Mr. HAWKHURST, of Sheffield, said the present propo-
sition was that which his trade had directed him to sup-
port. That which prevented coroutrption in their line
of business was the exorbitant prices the seller demanded
for the work of the artisan. He discarded the prin-
ciple as unwise of buying in the cheapest and
selling in the dearest market. He most cordially
supported the proposition. All they wanted was better
remuneration for their labour. The cutlers of Sheffield
had been prevented from going into the Ann rican markt t
in consequence of the spurious articles that were con-
tinually teing brought into the market and represented
as being manufactured in Sheffield. The operative
cutlers of that place, with the de termination of putting
a stop to this, had adopted the plan of stamping their
work with the words " She& ld Operative Cutlers'
Company."
After some further discussion, the Conference ad-
je.eirned till two o'clock.
The Conference resumed at Two o'clock.
The resolution, or recommendation rather, was the n
put to the meeting and carried.
Mr. DUNCOMBE (in reference to a very thin meeting)
said that he was punctual, and he trusted the delegates
would be also. As it was, he should certainly go on
with the business before them.
Mr. ROBSON then proposed that it be an instruction to
the Committee to recommend to the trades—first, the
payment of ,s 3 weekly sum, as may suit the circum-
stances of each trade,-to be used for the purpose of en-
abling such member to become possessed of lend sufficient
to raise him from the fear of povertysunder which the
working classes now labour; and for the better e lucidatiee
of the principle, the follon irg recommendation be put
forth to show the capability of the trades to emancieate
them elves from their present thraldom: when the funds
amount to 151. per member, they can be so applied as to
carry out the proposition, the details of which can be
placed at the service of the Central Committee.
Mr. SEDGWICK seconded the resolution.
Mr. SHERRARD advocate d the principle of home
colonization, as tending to improve the condition of the
working classes by providing for the surplus labourers.
Mr. FLEEING was desirous before entering on this
subject of hearing the prevailing opinions of the dele-
gates, for though nominally the representative of a sec-
tion favouring the idea of home colonization, he was yet
vittually the medium through which a large body of
n esseciated into a society five and a half
years ago to carry practically into effect ehese prize-
eilles—a body of men who had purchased their 1,200
or 1,300 acres—a body of teen who could look out on
their owe vales, and woods, and hills—who could hear
sthheeep, andlowie
ofse theirte own
snaok
e,f i ei
cattle,o the bleating
chimneys leatio of their
li
curown
g
from their own homes—he was the medium through
which these amen made known their principles. That
association was formed in consequence of a strike among
the hatters of Sheffield, Manchester' Ashton, Stockport,
Oldham, and other Oleos, in the year 1841.
They found that a strike, did wet answer
the purpose it was intended for; and they