The Forest of Dean Examiner : — 1875-02-12 (Blakeney, Gloucestershire, England)

CORRESPONDENCE.  THE SOUTH WALES LOCK-OUT. To the Editor.  Stn.—There are 120,000 men thrown idlo on account of this monstrous act of Welsh masters, and how those Masters can sit in their mansion, and partake of the rich blessings of this lir,. obtained for them by the very men to whom thy have cruelly said "Unless you submit to our terms you must starve," I am at a loss to know. We talk about slavery, sir, and slave mask, ; we talk about serfs and serfdom; we seam! history for examples of tyranny and oppression ; we bring up Nero tram the dark ages, and say, "What a monster!"—but, sir, I ant in . dined to think if Nero, and some of the slave dealers who have long since been in their graves, were living to-day in Wale,. with its present light, would not act half so inhuman towards the poor miners in Wales, as Welsh masters are doing at the present time. If mass. sir, is a responsible being, and some day west give an account of his actions, I would not like to stand in the shoes of Welsh masters; I would not like to be charged with the crime of starving my brother man. I would not like my dying hour to be crowded with the thin forms of the women and dear children, who are now pining for bread in Wales. I would not like the form of that once virtuous woman to stalk before my vision, and haunt me with the thought of being her death by withholding her daily bread. I would not like for the blood of that poor suicide to rest upon my shoulders, who takes avray his own lib- an account of starvation. Could Welsh masterssee the misery, aud could one scene of it after another pass before their eyes. which will be caused by the present. lock-out, one should think it would melt their hearts into tenderness; but some men have no hearts, no sympathy, no feeling, no sense of justice, no love of honesty, their one grand aim is to clutch all, to make men tremble at their nod. This seems to be the disposition of the Welsh masters towards their workmen; but the time will come when the oppressor's rod shall be broken in pieces across his own beck; the day is coming on when the bosoms of the poor, desolate :es death, shall send forth their voices of living agony, which shall rend the very air with their cries of being starved, pierced, wounded and wronged, and God shall listen and come to their help, and break asunder the chain that is bound round the arm of toil, for the tyrant will not always rule; the poor toiler will not always be in bondage. He shall pass through the • Red Sea, while Pharaoh, with his chariots and horsemen, shall be eng-ulphed. This is no dream of a bigot or au enthusiast. It is a solemn reality, for those who erect their desolate thrones of ambition in their own hard and selfish hearts, will have measured out to them what they have measured out to others. I would wish these masters to know that those who keep back the bread from the poor, the same shall curse them. Why should masters scruple to give the workman his hire? What profit is there in putting on the strew? Is the profit only in pounds, shillings, and pence? Is the profit only in having a splendid mansion and walls richly adorned with pictures? Is the profit only in that which enables one poor mortal to sit on his couch enjoying his champagne, whilst his brother man site in his hut enduring real pain? Then the profit is ass immense loss, for the very attributes of an employer's mind are made a part of the stock in the awful trade of avarice. To Welsh masters we would say, give your men their rights, don't let those innocent children and women starve, let justice rule, lest the naked sword of divine retribution defend the miner, and let the nation know that the labourer is worthy of his hire. Oaleengates, Shropshire.