National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1871-10-06
Labor Strike In England.

Labor Strike in England.
The number of workingmen NJ this
moment on strike in England, says a
correspondent of u New York paper,
may be counted by tens Of thousands.
They did not all begin at once, and will
not end ut once, nor is there an under
standing among them all still, il is easy
10 see how one strike brings ON another
aud how the history OF nearly all may be
read in the history of one. That at
Newcastle comprises the greatest number
of men in oNe body, and attracts more
interest than any other. II began by u
time strike in Sunderland, where the
shipbuildcrs struck for nine hours dny,
and they got It, But the first sirike
included only the shipcarpenters. fhe
enpine-smiths still worked ten hours,
and the situation speedily became impos-
| sible, for the two casses Of men toiled
together on the same ship, one outside,
the other iusidn aud the smiths obtained
! the same conc ssion. Many of the Sun
derland engineers belonging to the New
castle Trade Unions, the contagion soon
spread to the banks of the Tyne, and the
Newcastle engineers, counting on easy
success, followed the Sunderland exam
pie and struck for nine hours. This
happened over four months ago. The
masters in response refused to see the
men, refused all consultation or explana.
ton, and sent them lawyer to confer
with. The men resented that treatment,
and nearly '0,0JO struck work in body
Nearly 5000 skilled workmen left
Newcastle. So great is the demand for
ships and for that kind of skill which
goes to the binding of ther that many
of the 5000 found little difficulty in get
ting work elsewhere, and 1900 Of tho'H
are still ut Nawo"ntic.
The manager of the strike is the Chair
man of the Labor Trades League, John
Burnett, an able man, speaking and
writing in good temper at all times. 1t
is he who carries ON the negotiations
and directs the movements of the men.
They have learned the secret of organi-
zation and the value Of discipline. 1t is
wonderful how obedient they can be-
these strong-willed giants, with their
bread at stake and their families welfare
dependent ON the success of such an
experiment sa STRIKE or on what seems
to slow mo ing Englishmar the much
rasher cxpel lert OF changing his home
and going either into the next county
or to far off continent.
As matters now stand, there is nothing
to indicate speedy settlement. The
masters have brought in a considerable
number of men from other towns, but
the relief to them is very partial, and
/ fresh difficulties have arisen with the
newlv-imported men. They sent far out
of England Tor supplies, to Belgium,
Denmark, Prussia, and elsewhere The
1 Unionists sent out their own agents to
counteract the employers, and We're sue
cessful in preventing many Germans
from coming over. Those who are en-
/ ploved do not have a very pleasant true
o1 II, ana many Of them have. left the
work, after they had made contracts for
the season.
The employers were by no means
asleep while the League worked. They
went to the magistrates and got out war
rants to compel the Germans to carry
out their contracts, and many of them
were sent to prison for breach Of contract
A London workman was sentenced for
two months on the same charge. This
has served TO rouse a good deal of indig-
nation in Newcastle and wherever else
there are workiugmen. Certainly il will
not assist the immigration which the
mi sters are striving to promote. The
members of the League have distributed
more than $4,000 among their own
mep, and say they are ready to pay as
much more, if need he, to keep posses
sion of the advantage they have got, and
to close the doors against that foreign
competition which the employers invite.
Newcastle, meantime, is not altogether
an agreeable place of residence. There
have been disturbances, MS there must
be, with such numbers of idle men
about, and such fierce rassions burning.
The law deals harshly enough with all
these the magistrates svmpathies being
seldom on the side Of the workingmen
in England. The number of men still
on the books of the League is 2, 1Sl, and
of children 2,S2S. The allowance to
each man was Sl.5U per week, and 20
cents for each child. One day there
was great mass meeting of workmen
on the Town Moor, at which the for
eigners who were in Newcastle were
present, and some so of the best of them
came with their bundles on their Shoul-
ders, made speeches in their own Ian
guage, and then marched off to the
railway station and started for home.