The Shropshire Examiner and all round the Wrekin advertiser. — 1875-12-17 (Wenlock, Shropshire, England)

MINERS' IVIEETIG IN NORTH WALES. Last week Mr. Martin Cooper, in addressing the Welsh miners, spoke as follows :—Gentlemen.—l on come to give the hest advice to you that can under the circumstances in which you ' are placed. But you may say I don't intend to pin iny faith to any man's sleeve. I don't care what conclusions you have arrived at. I will confide in the ex,reise of my private judgment, and net for myself. But remember the man who always confides in his own judgment must be immensely conceited, and will probably soon bring himself to grief. Perhaps the next time you are very ill you will exercise your private judgment, call in no medical man, and do the doctoring yourself, and if ever you are so unfortunate as to kave a dispute that brings you into a court of law, though your opponent secures the ablest counsel, you. will rely on your private judgment and plead your own cause and have what a wellknown proverb tells you for your client, that is yom infallible judgment. The reason why I have made such remarks is that my judgment may not he thought infallible. In fact, I want you to know that I am not a self-conceited sort of a man, but you must allow the lessons of experience to teach • you better lessons. I therefore would Ray ! to all of you, commence work on Monday 'at the reduction, and if you can get every miner into the union then will be the time to ask the masters for better wages. For as long has one part of the men are out and the other in the masters will do what they like with you. There are some men at work and others standing out. This is one miner fighting against another, and the tabernacles of such robbers will not prosper. The man that is enjoying ft.- short hours and other blessings the Union has brought to him, and not paying into it is worse than a murderer—(hear, hear). Many of the miners who will not pay into the Union spend a large portion of their wages at the tavern. WhtLtwill a man's children have to say of such a father. They will have cause to curse their dust —(hear, hear). Did you ever hear the word husband explained? It means literally the band of the house, the support of it, the person who keeps it together as a band keeps a sheaf of corn. There are ninny married 111C11 who are not husbands, because they are not the hand of the house. Truly, in many eases, the wife is the husband, for in many cases, she, by her prudence and economy keeps the kouse together. The man who will not pay to the Union, may. in a legal sense, be the husband, but his actions tend to allow other people to strip his house of all comfort. Hp cannot he said to be keeping the house together. "Strip my house naked and I will be content." Is this a man foe a woman? I say that he should not have a pig of mine—(hear, hear). Ignorance cannot be pleaded in North Wales in reference to the union, and the man that keeps aloof from . it is nothing befter than a fool. I trust that all the miners of Wales will be in the new union in a short time, and then they will have greater power with masters. In conclusion, the masters , of your collieries I have seen, and they have , agreed to draw out a sliding scale for the future regulation of wages, that strikes may be avoided in time to come. I hope, therefore, that you will I resume work, and join the union to a man. Then , you will get hack that which thb masters have taken from you. Mr. Cooper sat down amid rounds of applause. The men agreed to commence work at the reduction for a short time, until the union funds . were increaved, though believing that there was • no need for any reduction. t Votes of thanks to Mr. Cooper ended the . meeting.