The Sun.
London, England, 1829-05-07 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP THE LONDON JOURNALS.

Mr. Baring brought in a Bill last night, for an
object on which it ought not to have been necessary
to legislate at all. It is to prevent Members of
Parliament who accept of offices, by which they
must be in distant regions, and entirely absent from
their duty, from retaining their seats. Men whose
minds are rightly constructed should need no Bill to
enforce this: they would resign of course a situa-
tion of which they cannot perform a single duty. It
is said of Mr. Lushington, to whom the new Bill
will apply, that he has been requested by his consti-
tuents to retain his seat! Who wonders at that ?
He may serve them and their dependents in India,
perhaps, even better than in Parliament ; but a per-
son in his station should have feelings above caitiffs
like these : he should not identify himself with them
and their sordid views. More absurd is it to call
the Bill, should it become law, retrospective. No
act which has not yet taken place can deprive Mr.
Lushington of the power which he now enjoys of
sitting in Parliament if he pleased: he will enjoy
that power up to the moment when the Bill receives
the Royal assent. The act, therefore, is prospective.
—Times.

We do now request most particular attention to
the letter signed " An Observer," in this day'sjour-
nal, and to the proceedings in Spitalfields, to which
it relates; and we are the more anxious upon this
subject, as we shall appear to make one of those
changes in opinion with which politicians are often
unjustly reproached. We say " appear," for the
fact is, that the change is not in us, but in the cir-
cumstances. However, the subject, as it relates to
the poor, is not one upon which we shall be said to
be bribed, we suppose. In fact, from the recollec-
tion of former times, we did really undertake the
advocacy of the Spitalfields sufferers somewhat
doubtfully ; but we were over-persuaded by the re-
peated applications of a highly respectable gentle-
man, in a station which we must ever venerate.—
And now what is the result ? Did the public pay at-
tention to a police article from Worship-street, be-
ginning at the bottom of the last page (not column)
but one in our journal of yesterday, headed " Ex-
tensive Destruction of Property in Bethnal-
green ?" If the public have paid attention to that
article, they have found out that while the kind
arid benevolent Christians of this metropolis were
taxiiig themselves for the support of Spitalfield-
weavers—totally, as they professed, out of employ-
ment—these wretches were planning an atrocious
attack upon the property of the first masters who
should send them employment; and, which is
worse, the very villains to whom, on the revival of
trade, the employment was sent, were in league with
the sham-rioters out of doors, and actually admitted
them into their houses to cut the silk from the
looms at which they pretended to work. Some
journalists would be cautious of what they said
here, for there may very likely be a fund in the
hands of a vile lawyer, or under his administration,
to prosecute all attempts upon the trade, but we
are above these fears. We say, then, that John
Lee, William Lee, and John Lee the younger,
William Long, and his daughter Matilda, James
Toy, Henry Middleton, and Samuel M'Overy,
did, without any necessity—nay, voluntarily
and readily—admit persons into their houses,
for the purpose of destroying their employers'
property then in their looms, against which
persons they will not now give evidence ; and that
in truth the whole is matter of connivance for the
purpose of raising wages. Is this to be borne—
that men are to be receiving relief with one hand,
on the pretence of starving for want of employment,
and with the other destroying the silk which is
sent to them for the purpose of being woven ? Is
this to be borne, we ask ? And now we cast our
minds back to antecedent times. We look at the
file of our Journal, and we find that last year (no
longer ago !), after a subscription of the same kind
as that which is now on foot, the weavers struck
for prices. A body of men put a seal on each
work ! and the journeymen shot a shoot or two
every eighth day, by which they thought they evaded
the law, which punished them if they neglected
their work for eight successive days; but on that
occasion, when the committee ceased to afford relief
(on which the journeymen who did not work sub-
sisted) the weavers resumed their work ! We are
therefore justified in saying, that were it not for the
relief now afforded by the benevolent subscription,
these acts of violence, knavery, and perjury, could
never have taken place. Now mark this, Spital-
fields weavers: you think you are eluding the jus-
tice of your country ; you have, in part, deceived
us; but a heavier judgment hangs over you if you
do not alter your conduct. It shall go hard but we
will root you out of that place, and disperse your
trade into other less populous districts. It is, in
fact, a great mischief, and a great detriment to this
metropolis, that any manufactures should be car-
ried on its bosom. No manufactures, we assert,
ought to be executed in London. It may be
said, there are riots and destruction of machi-
nery in the country, and so there are ; but a
disease in or near the heart is more dangerous than
one in the extremities. For the present, we shall
conclude with saying, what we hope will not be
disregarded, that if the Benevolent Committee, or
the Soup Committee, or by whatever other name
any charitable institution may be known in Spital-
fields, expend one halfpenny in support of the
weavers, till the fullest evidence is brought forward
against those who cut out the work from the looms
of the journeymen in Bethnal-green, the members of
that institution, be they who they may, will be
virtually in league with the offenders. And farther,
if the journeymen who let in the sham rioters to
destroy the property of their employers, be ever
suffered to throw a shuttle again—if they be ever
suffered to have any more than parochial support—
the masters who employ them are greater scoundrels
than those journeymen. We would just wish to
put a question before we conclude. Had those
journeymen who connived in the destruction of their
employers' property, received any money in advance ?
—lbid.
DISTURBANCES IN SPITALFIELDS.
TO THE EDITOR OF TUE TIMES.

SlR,—Perceiving from your paper the proceedings now
taking place in Spitalfields, will you allow me, as a well-
wisher of tha weavers, and of the working classes in
general, to subtnit to them and your readers a few remarks?
The weavers have now beep some time out of employ-
ment.ters can, 4 iirst. give low prices only. If the demand
Business, however, begins to revive, The mar-
continues, or increases, competition must take place
amongst the masters, who must bid against each other for
workmen, and thus the prices paid the weavers would be
gradually, but certainly, raised.
The weavers, however, insist immediately en high
prices; and not only so, but they proceed violently to
attack the persons and destroy the property of those who
offer to employ them at low prices. What will be the
consequences?
No master will give out work with the apprehension
that it will be destroyed. High prices the masters cannot
yet give, and they will be afraid to offer low ones. The
workmen, instead of little work, will have none. 'I hey
will have neither iow prices nor high prices. The manu-
facture will be driven from Spitalfields altogether, and
r-4 d OP
what then will become of the sufferipg ;:tpmande who
Gave he us
a Livelihood there?
in iPt hlCanchester,'
ails fcu
If, in conseinen,ce of these violent measures, the work
is not done in Spitalheld,', ;t w 4 dpne,: mnyntaheatr
i
neigh-
Louring
iassprung towns,up : woibeirtew, ofill years,blaetedont
We may place this matter in another point of view.
Great app,rekensions are expressed of the influx of French
goods. How is tiejj to, he prevented ? Evidently by
making our own gOods cheapiy---by care, skill, and im-
provement in our machinery and mode of roi.nufacture.
But the viQl;mt measures taken tend to prevent our making
silks at at all ; or, if made, to make them dear, and there-
fore unequid to the competition. If wages are to be kept
up by violence, and looms to he broken because they are
of superior construction, can we expect to excel our neigh-
bours? It is hard to reason with suffering, and perhaps
Dtarving, men, but when it is pointed out to them, must
they not perceive that such steps are calculated directly to
produce the very evils which they mistakenly attribute to
free trade ? Those who by violent or other means raise

the price here, compel the introduction of French silt
goods. If the importation should hereafter increase, to
whom will that increase be imputable ?
The generous disposition of the public has been rnani-
fested by the subscriptions raised, and, in a striking de-
gree, by the large and splendid attendance at the recent
concert. Who are the committee, or persons managing
the appropriation of these funds? May they not be con-
sidered as trustees for the public, and ought not their in-
fluence to be exerted to guard the public peace, and to
prevent a recurrence of the recent excesses ? The exten-
sive influence which your journal possesses over the public
mind induces me to trespass on your pages in this instance,
and I remain, Sir, your's respectfully,
Garraway's, May 6. AN OBSERVER.

We regret being obliged to state that the rioting
in Manchester still continues. We refer our readers
to a communication from that place, in another co-
lumn. The Magistrates, on Tuesday evening,
issued a Proclamation, stating, in the preamble,
" that the most daring riots have existed in the town
of Manchester, during Monday, the 4th day of May
instant, and the same hare been continued almost
without interruption, and do still prevail to an alarm-
ing and dangerous extent, and the most atrocious
acts of violence and destruction have been committed
against the persons and property of individuals."—
It would appear that on Tuesday the mob confined
themselves to levying contributions, and only pro-
ceeded to acts of violence when they met with re-
sistance. When the rioting commenced on Mon-
day, the town was completely destitute of soldiers.
On Tuesday it appears that Dragoon Guards and
Foot Guards had arrived ; but the system of ex-
torting supplies met with little interruption; for as
soon as the soldiers had passed, the mob com-
menced their exactions. The Ardwick Police
and Special Constables, armed with cutlasses, by a
determined and indiscriminate attack upon the first
of the mob, succeeied in preventing their progress
into Ardwick district, but this merely sent them
into other streets. Our correspondent says, "it
was melancholy to see with what avidity they
grasped at the loaves which were given to them,
and with what care they picked up, out of the mud
upon the street, the smallest fragments which fell
in the struggle to obtain a part of the bread. The
miserably emaciated countenances of many of them
shewed distinctly enough that their eagerness was
not without cause." Of course the effect of these
proceedings will be to aggravate the evil, because
the country people will be afraid to bring provisions
to market. But when poor creatures are starving,
they are not in a condition to listen to reason.
Means must be taken contemporaneously with the
attempts to give effect to the laws to supply the
more urgent necessities of the sufferers. It is greatly
to be regretted that the temptation should have been
afforded to the people, by the absence of all military
force, to try their strength. It is always a danger-
our experiment to allow the mob to become ac-
quainted with their own force ; and a repression in
the outset often prevents much mischief. A great
manufacturing town like Manchester, inhabited by
200,000 people, and surrounded by adensely peopled
neighbourhood, should never one moment be with-
out at least 500 soldiers. Yeomanry are a very im-
perfect substitute; first, because the people are al-
ways much more irritated against their masters and
superiors than against soldiers; secondly, because
the Yeomen are naturally intimidated, from knowing
that they are marked, and that their properties, their
wives and children, and relatives may be exposed to
serious consequences on their account ; and lastly,
because they do not possess the coolness which
soldiers, from experience and training, may be ex-
pected to display in difficulties. There are many
well-meaning people in this country who are us-
able to appreciate the changes which the last hun-
dred years, but more particularly the last forty, have
wrought on the situation of this country. They
talk of standing armies, as our forefathers did, who
were spread over the face of the land, and who had
comparatively little to apprehend from any distress
occasioned by stagnation. A hundred years ago
Manchester had not ten thousand inhabitants,
Glasgow and Birmingham were little better than
villages, and, excepting London, there was not a
town in the island with more than thirty thousand
inhabitants. Now the people are every where con-
gregated in immense masses. The periodical ab-
sence of employment, which is inseparable from
manufacturing, plunges thirty or forty thousand
persons in an instant into a state of dreadful suf-
fering. ls it to be supposed for one moment, that
thirty or forty thousand persons brought in face of
each other will tamely suffer destitution, while they
see others enjoying plenty around them ? To guard
against the paroxysms of despair, and prevent out-
rages which can only aggravate the distress of the
sufferers, it is prescribed as well by a regard to the
general safety, as by humanity to the sufferers, that
every great manufacturing town should be con-
stantly garrisoned by soldiers. Instruct the people
as much as you possibly can ; deal honestly by
them; do not attempt to mock them by mystifica-
tions, the common vice of the higher classes of
this country. It is the duty of the rich not to
delude, but to instruct the poor. But instruction
produces its effects at a distant period. Want
and hunger are urgent, and must be met by imme-
diate measures. It is quite a mistake to suppose
that distress is more frequent among manufacturers
of late years, than at former periods. Let any man
examine our domestic annals during the last century,
commencing, for instance, with the reign of the first
George, and he will find a constant succession of
disturbances, among one class or other, of manufac-
turers. A change of fashion almost always carries
with it distress to some class. When calicoes began
to encroach on silks, the Spitalfields weavers used
to tear the calicoes off women's backs, and to de-
stroy the works at Printfields. At one time all the
clothiers, walkers, &c. in the West of England,
were in arms against the use of stained linens. At
another time the makers of coloured serges rose
against the makers of white serges. But the whole
manufacturing population bore then no proportion to
the present numbers, and could easily be dealt with.
If, however, even in the infancy of our manufactures,
it wasnecessary to cbll in troops, what must it be now,
when, in a single day, large cities may be in flames ?
The following extract from " The Political Annals
of 1718," exhibits in miniature the drama now act-
ing on a large scale:—

About the middle of November, we were alarmed by
advices from Exeter, and other places in Devonshire, im-
porting that several hundreds of weavers and. woolcombers,
&c. were got together in a tumultuous manner. Other
letters imported that the journeymen weavers had risen in
great numbers, sometimes nine hundred in a body, and
continued roving about from town to town, and insulting
the master weavers and exporters of serges, particularly
at Tiverton, Collumpton, and Taunton, cutting in pieces
their looms, breaking their jars of oil, &c. At Crediton,
as the Portreeve of the place, who deals in serges, offered
to read the Proclamation to disperse them, they knocked
him down and beat him very severely, and did the like to
the Mayor of Bradnedge, who is also a serge-manufac-
turer. They threatened to pull down the houses of several
exporters of serge' at Tiverton ; insomuch, that they
were obliged to send for some sailors from Topsham to
defend them. Eighty soldiers being sent from Exeter,
uj night to Tiverton, and seized several of them,
who were
b
ererbrought to Exeter gaol. Their complaint was,
that the great demand there was at present from Holland,
&c for white serges, hindered their employment in the
coloured serges, which is a different trade ; and the price
of wool being risen, the master weavers of the coloured
'Srg which there was but a small demand at that
time) could not employ journeymen to have goods lie on
their hinds, unles's they would work for lower wages.
prdera were issued at the Secrkary of War'a Office for
Tteginient of Foot, and the Regiments of Dragoon!
of Bowles, Munden, and Tyrrell, to march into Devorl-
..
shire," &c.
In short, throughout the whole of the last century
there was hardly a year in which there were not
riotingl of manufacturers in one district or other.
Again and again have the Spitalfields weavers pro-
ceeded in bodies of thousands to the Houses of
Lords and Commons, to intimidate the Members.
As long ;is modes and fashions vary, and seasons
vary so as to affect the ability of the purchasers=as
long as foreign demands must vary from similar
causes, so long must manufacturers be subject to
periodical want of employment. The difference be-

tiro!

TEn.

Same pe-
This riod last
year. year.

Bags, &c. Bags, &c.
Liverpool 2/38,650 199,120
London 26,726 21,£488
Glasgow 10,506 11,084
Total exported in 1829
Same period 1828

I EX MAUD.
Previous.
ly this
) ear.
Bags, &c. Bags, &c.
701 11,536
1,090 16,451
237
30,015.
25,862.

INSTItTCT OF SviDEnti.-4. small spider
pimira Pfacipma, LyraEtr.T.) had spread its net he-
tween two neighbouring trees, at the height of about nine
feet. The three principal points to which the supporting
threads were attached formed here, as they usually do, an
equilateral triangle. One thread was attached above to
each' of the trees, and the web hung from the middle of it.
To secure a third point of attachment, the spider had sus-
pended a small stone to one end of a thread ; and the
being heavier than the spider itself, served in place
lower fixed point, and held the web extended. The
solitftottniheee'pebble was five feet from the earth. The whole was
observed, and is described by Professor WEBER, of Leip-
sin.--Archice fiir Anatomie,lB27.