Star.
London, England, 1819-09-11 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR.

The Public Meeting at Hanging Heaton, (mel-
tioned in my last letter) near Dewsbury, which took
place this day, was numerously attended ; but it war
chiefly for the purpoe of taking into consideration
die present deplorable situation of the manufacturing
labourers and their families, arising from the unpre-
cedented low rate of wages paid in the Calico and
low Woollen Cloth trades. A series of Resolutions,
consonant with the object of the Meeting, were
adopted ; and the persons assembled dispersed peace-
ably to their respective homes, a. an early hour in
the evening. There was not -he least dispo,ition to
tumult or inflammatory language of any description.
All they wanted, they said, in return for fourteen of
fifteen hours' daily labour, was to get a sufficiency
to maintain themselves and families, without being a
burthen to their respective parishes, and subjecting
themselves to the odious appellation of Paupers !
Forty-six of the principal Manufacturers of Wool-
-len Stuffs, in Bradford and its neighbourhood, have
published an Address to their brother Manufacturers,
and to the Merchants, which does honour to their
beads and hearts. They have agreed to bring up
the wages of the men to the old regular standard ;
and call upon the other Masters, as an act of com-
mon justice, to do the same. Six of the most re-
spectable Mercantile Houses in Leeds, have sub•
scribed their names as approving of the Resolutions
of the Manufacturers, and urging that they should
be carried into effect with as little delay as possible.
The Resolutions are only three in number, but too
long to be transcribed in time for this post. They
are, as you will see when you receive them by next
Mail, in strict unison with the excellent remarks that
have from time to time appeared in The Star, as to
the evil tendency and pernicious consequences likely
to result from the prevalent low rate of wages. In
one word, you have opened the eyes of the Employers
of best character to their real interests, and the sys-
tem of oppression is on the point of being torn up
by the roots.—" We wish," say these worthy Gentle-
men, " to arouse the Manufacturers to a sense of
their danger, and call upon them to bring up their
wages to the regular prices. For, it is a well known
fact, that at this moment a considerable proportion
of the goods brought into the-market, are woven for
less than the regular prices, to the great detriment of
the trade at large, by causing the labourer, in order
to earn the same amount of wages, to produce a
proportionate additional quantity of inferior work,
when it is least wanted, and thereby creating that
glut in the market, which has for some time back
been so ruinous and prejudicial."
The names of the very respectable Mercantile
Houses in Leeds, who have already given in their
names as approving of the Resolutions of the Manu-
facturers, are BANES and GOODMAN ; ALMAM, PEASE
and Co. RIDSDALES and JOHNSON, RAWSON and
THACKREY, BROTHERS, RICHARD PULLAN and Co.'
and THOMAS C. STUBBINS. Every one of these names
ought to be engraven ire letters of gold. Conduct
like this will do more to allay the spirit of discon-
tent which is now stalking abroad, than incarcerating
men in dungeons, or hacking them to pieces with
the sabre.