Star.
London, England, 1824-11-06 00:00:00

bLASGOW COT'TOig•SPINNEIii.

FROM THE GLASGOW FREE FRESS.
Sunday evening last but one, a body of cotton:
spinners assembled in Anderston•walk, just it the limits
of the Royalty, and condlicted themselves in a most
disorderly manner, setting. at defiance thb police, who
were sent for, but dared not act beyond their bounds.
On Monday, a spinning master was followed by six
operatives into a public.house, and would have beta
assaulted there, but for the interference of the owner.
On leaving the house, however, just as he got into the
street,. a person tapped him on the• shoulder, %lel
turning his head, he received a blow with an instrument
sufficient to have done for him had it been in the rigl►t
place. One of the miscreants is in custody. A ixor
girl has been shamefully beaten for continuing to wont;
So late as Friday, some spinners were observed oprosi;e
the windows of a mill-owner, who is endeavou►ing I,
carry on his business in defiance of the strike. U:►e of
those persons charged a pistol, and gave it into the
hand of another man, pointing up to the house of the
master. Is this to go on ? We call upon every rain
among the cotton•spinners, who has a character to pie.
serve, to endeavour to dissolve this most perti:ccois
combination, or else to break at once from its shackles,
and set it at defiance, relying on the protection of the
aws, and the countenance of his fellow•citizeres.

A strike is a desperate remedy, and ought to be the
last thing resorted to—and never resorted to but in a
desperate case. It is incredible upon how slight carries
this strong and hazardous measure has teen adored.
When we stated hypothetically, the other day, the ca•e
of cotton-spinners entering the counting-houses of tl.tir
masters, and demanding the dismissal of his clerks,•tte
little thought that such a case had actually occurred.
Some months ago, we have been-informed, a body of the
workers demanded upon certain grounds, that the deli,
and carding•masters of a particular establishment should
be removed. The cause of complaint was inquired
into, the complainants being taken into the office, and
the books examined before them, when it was proved
to a demonstration that their dissatisfaction was utterly
unfounded. Notwithstanding this, they perevered is
their demands, with which the master, snorer than pro-
voke a strike, complied. Two days after, these same
workers came for Ward, and stated that they would allow
the discarded individuals. to return, being convinced Ant
they were innocent of the charges that had been brcri,glit
against them !—ln another establishment, a man was
paid off for repeated drunkenness and Megalith'
attendance. The rest of the workers would not allow any
one else to take his wheels, which consequently stood Lid
a spinner from the Shaws was brought in to take charge
of them. The spinners came forward in a body,
required that this man should be pot away ; but the
master resisted, and they instantly struck. The man,
conceiving his life to be in danger, deserted the whetl,;
upon which he had been put, but was subsequently
brought hack by the spinners, as the master would no:
allow them to return to their work without him.

Is it not a disgrace to a body of rational men, that
business shall he impeded. and embarrassed on pretests
so unjust and frivolous as these—that the master of
an extensive establishment may be reduced to the di-
lemma of failing to fulfil his contracts, or else allowing
the men who receive his wages to dictate to him as to
whom he is to take into his employ, or whom he is to
dismiss from it? We ate accustomed, in this country,
to lift up our hands and eyes when we hear of the bar.
barons Itisli, who will not allow the inhabitants of 4
neighbouring county to settle as farmers or labonTe3
among them—what shall we think when.we are told that
the very save kind of thing exists in our own neigiliy,us.
hood, among these cotton-spinners ? It is a fact—or c
have been most shamefully nrisintormed—it is a fact that
the working spinners of Lanarkshire have brought tLe
system of exclusion to such a pitch of perfection, that
no man but a Lanai kshire man dares enter a mill in this
country--an obvious reason for which will be perceived
by our readers, when we tell them, that in Lanarkshire
the prices are 12i per cent. higher than they are in Ren-
fiewshire. Now, we have reason to believe that the
masters would abandon Me per tentage they demand, if
the men would consent to work at Renfrewshire prices—
not that the masters want to break the prices of their men,
but that they are desirous of giving them an option.
We here give a copy of a series of Resolutions en-
tered into some time ago by the spinners of an extensive
establishment in this neighbourhood. The spirit in
which this document was drawn up will be sufficiently
evident to our readers, and will develope, without any
elucidation of ours, the aims of those who framed it :
" GRIEVANCES.—We unanimously agree, that we are
defrauded in our sizes. We wish the quadrant and reel
to be adjusted. We wish seven cops to be rasped, the
four top rasps taken off, and the seven next fur the
quadrant, as it was formerly. We wish all the fines to
be entirely done away with. We entreat you to take
these two men back to their wheels, as you see no other
man will take them; and we hope it will prove better
for you and us both. We have too many masters ;
therefore we insist on you to give the power to one man,
and we will abide by him if reasonable. We consider
that Mr. and are too vigilant, by
imposing on the general part of the men; therefore we
wish you to give them a reprimand before us.
" We consider Mr. to be no judge of his busi-
ness; therefore, we insist on you to turn him off, and
get a man who is a judge of his business.
We INSIST that you will make no examples on this occasion, a;
we are all involved alike, and will stick to each other if done.

Lastly-
-44 We muse that you will admit no indifferent characters to
work among us, and that may not be adreitud
with us in inure.
Anderstone, 7th Aptil, 1824."
The Ayrshire weavers are all profiting by the strike
made by the Glasgow weavers against Mr. Hutchison.
Such is the demand for that gentleman's work, that it
has been found necessary to establish regular agents in
all the country towns. The work is so well paid that
the webs are disposed of as soon as the agents receive
them ; and it is in contemplation to have a large esta-
blishment in Kilmarnock, with warping mills, &c. for
the convenience of the surrounding districts. The
wages for weaving were previously paid very low by
other houses. In Galston, where there are 420 looms,
an agent took an average of the work of the sthok of
his weavers, amounting to nearly 200, from June,lB23,
to June, 1824, and it came to 7s. 7d. a week, without
deducting for 100m-rent, &c. The same agent took an
average of his best weavers, and it amounted to 95- a
week. Out of the number one man made 271. and the
rest about 231. a year. None of these were. Mr. Hut-
chison's weavers. In Mauchlin, where there are 200
weavers, nearly one-half are working for Mr. H. and
their wages average from 13s. to 16s. a week. In New'
milns, where there are 700 weavers, they are turning
to Mr. Hutchison's work as their webs are finished.