MOTS IN THE MANUFACTURING DISTRICTS.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 43, 31 December 1842, Page 172

MOTS IN THE MANUFACTURING DISTRICTS.

The disturbances in the manufacturing districts, to which we adverted last week, appear f to have been of a more serious character than 'any which have taken place for many years. We 'have therefore collected such particulars as our space will suffer us to give. . At Manchester the first symptoms of a serious outbreak were manifested. Large numbers of men who had struck repaired to. other manufactories, and, by intimidation, induced others to follow their example. On Friday, August 12, the mob attacked the print works of Messrs. Wilson, when five men were wounded by the discharge of a blunderbuss loaded with small shot. During the whole of that and the following day, excesses of all descriptions were committed—railway trains stopped, mills attacked, and provision shops emptied — one hundred thousand persons being then unemployed. On Sunday morning a battalion of the Coldstream Guards, consisting of 700 men, with a considerable supply of the munitions of war, arrived there Other military reinforcements were made early in the week, which had the effect of preventing any further outbreak either in that place or its neighbourhood. Although, however, there was no new attempt at a breach of the peace, and some of the mills resumed working, the state of matters for some time was far from satisfactory. Meetings of Chartist delegates from all the trades were held, at which violent Chartist resolutions, in the face of the authorities, were unanimously adopted, while vast and alarming assemblages of the populace daily took place in the leading parts of the town. In the meantime, in addition to the strong military force in Manchester, the authorities issued proclamations, and took every possible precaution to preserve the peace. At Wigan, matters wore a very alarming aspect in the beginning of the week. . On Monday a very riotous mob, consisting of many thousand persons, entered the town, armed with bludgeons and other weapons. They immediately proceeded to the mills and factories; which they stopped, and turned about 3,000 persons out of employ. The provision dealers and other shopkeepers were obliged, in selfdefence, to supply them with food. After marching through the streets, to the great alarm of the inhabitants, they proceeded to the North Union Railway station, where, by their savage yells and menacing manner, they threw the passengers who were departing or arriving by the train into a state of the greatest consternation. Their numbers at this time were estimated at 8,000. After quitting "Wigan, they did not return to disturb the tranquillity of the town. At Preston, the state of affairs was still more fearful. For some days previously a breach of the peace had been apprehended, and on Thursday, August 11, 36 soldiers arrived from .the neighbouring towns, that being as great a number as could be spared. On Friday the assembled in vast numbers, and turned out nearly all the ' hands at the various, mills. "Wherever they met with resistance they broke windows, and otherwise destroyed property. At the factory of Mr. .F. Seddon, the workmen refused to turn out, and turned the water-pipes ' on the mob, in the hope of driving them away. They were, however, overpowered by the malcontents, and compelled to turn-out — the mills in th« meantime suffering considerable injury from the violence of the mob. In one of. the leading streets, the mob were afterwards met by 33 soldiers an 4 a body of the police. A collision took place; stones and other missiles were thrown at the military and, police by the disaffected ; and Captain Woodford, in securing one of the ringleaders, was knocked down, kicked while on the ground, and otherwise seriously .maltreated. The conduct of the mob now became so alarming, that the authorities caused the Ridt Act to be read, and told them that, if they did not disperse, the military would fire on them.' They, however, paid no attention to the warning- given them. Stones, brickbats, &c, were thrown at the mayor and other local authorities, and so formidable were the mob becoming tbatftipptehensions began to be entertained that they would soon obtain possession of the town. At this crisis the military were ordered to fire. The result was, that twelve or fifteen of the rioters were wounded, come of them severely, and two were killed. The malcontents then dispersed, and though great excitement afterwards prevailed, there was no further outbreak. At Blackburn the mob attempted to turn out .the men at the Messrs. Livesey and Rodgett's mills. They were met by two companies of the 72d Highlanders, by whom they were beaten back. The police aided the military, but the , mob would not disperse till they were fired on by the soldiers. Two men were killed and several severely wounded. On the following day, notwithstanding this', the turn-outs again congregated in Jarge numbers, when they attempted to stop various mills and turn out the workmen.,. $key A were, npwever, defeated by tbemilittrjfo/- ; ,- At SheltQn, small .town in the Staffordshire Potteries, a, meeting of the colliers took place, at which resolutions were unanimously passed, expressive ot the determination of the colliers not to resume^work unttythe Charter had become th»4tw-of the land. • At the close of the proceedings, "tte colliers went in a body to the Hanley sttS^Sr&lton station-house, where they demanded*''flfe l 1j seyßs eyB from the police, opened the lock-up, cleared it,of all its arms and irons, and released the only prisoner who- happened io be jn the station-house at the time. TBey tfcen proceeded to the residences of several magistrates, which they entirely gutted. On the fofchnrmf day*be nob resumed the work of 0e- ] Mroctooo, JMviog burnt down the houses of the BtwPr. Bqrfctf-fhe Rev. Mr. Atkins, and Mr.

Perkins. Nothing could exceed the terror which prevailed. Trade ofjevery kind was at a perfect stapd. The military at length interfered, the Riot Act having been -previously read. Thej mob, who were well armed with bludgeons: boldly stood their ground for a time. Three of the leading rioters were killed, and several more 6eriously wounded. The rest were ridden over and speedily dispersed. The greatest alarm prevailed at Huddersitield, in consequence of the formidable numbers of the turn-outs, who seemed resolved on mischief; but, with the exception of stopping the mills, nothing of a serious nature occurred. At Halifax a great deal of serious rioting took place on August the 15th, which, however, was eventually put down by the military without any loss of life. The number of persons assembled in the outskirts of the town was estimated at 14,000 or 15,000. On the following day, about 1,000 men, armed with bludgeons, entered the town. The military immediately met them. Large stones were thrown at the soldiers, two of whom were very severely, if not dangerously, wounded. The mayor then caused the Riot Act to be read, but this produced no effect on the mob. They continued to assail the military with stones and other missiles, when the soldiers were obliged, in self-defence, to commence firing. The scene that ensued was terrific. The mob eventually took to their heels, leaving many of their number lying wounded. After the lapse of an hour, when it was supposed that tranquillity had been restored, the rioters returned, and recommenced an attack on the soldiers with redoubled fury. The latter fired three rounds, when many of the mob were seen to fall, amidst the shrieks and savage yells of their companions. The rioters then retreated, but not until thirtysix of their number were taken prisoners. 4* At Stockport, after closing the mills, the turn-outs proceeded, armed with bludgeons, to the union workhouse, where they demanded admittance. The lodge-keeper refused, but his wife, fearing that his life would be sacrificed if he persisted in the refusal, snatched up the keys and threw them to the rioters. They then entered, to the number of 2,000 or 3,000, and possessed themselves of 700 loaves, a number of bags of oatmeal, and other provisions which were in the kitchen. "While retaining possession of the workhouse the military appeared. In the collision that ensued, one of the officers was assaulted with a large stick. The mob were soon reduced to submission, fifty-one of their number being taken into custody. Since then the town has been in a state of tranquillity. Great apprehensions were entertained at Liverpool, Ashton, Wakefield, Leeds, and other neighbouring towns, lest the mob in these places should follow the example of those at Manchester and elsewhere; but, beyond stopping .a few mills, no breach of the peace took place, ""vj At Dunfermline several disturbances toftp place. The rioters set fire to a number of looms, and visited the shops and residences of those who were obnoxious to them, and emptied them of all which they contained. Troops were despatched from Stirling, who restored something like order. The agricultural districts in the neighbourhood of Glasgow were much disturbed by the miners, who had turned out, visiting the potato fields and carrying off the crop, declaring at the same time that, while there was plenty, they would not starve. Even the metropolis itself was not without its apprehensions of an outbreak on the part of the mob. Meetings of disaffected persons, in some cases attended by 7,000 or 8,000 persons, were held at Stepney-green, Islington-green, Clerk-enwell-green, Bethnal-green, and Lincoln's-inn-fields, but, beyond a serious assault on a policeman, who had taken one of their number into custody, no breach of the peace was committed. There was at one time a report prevalent that eighty-four soldiers had arrived bandcuffed at the £uston-Bquare railway terminus, in consequence of having refused to fire upon the mob when they had been on duty in the manufacturing districts. The report, though of course wholly unfounded, was generally believed, and led the Chartist orators to assert, ft. the most confident manner, at their meetings, that the soldiers, as a body, would not be prevailed on to fire on the people. Every precaution against disturbances was taken by the Home Office, the commissioners of police, and by the lord mayor; and the alarm, which existed for some days, gradually abated. The Bristol Mercury of August 27 has an article on this outbreak, which is much to the purpose : — " The aimless agitation has, with a few aught exceptions, worn itself out, and the disturbed districts appear to be once again settling down into something like a state of tranquillity. We say ' something like,' because there can be no real tranquillity so long as the distress and suffering which led to the late outbreak remain unremoved. The question now is— ; Will our rulers, in their joy at being relieved from the embarrassments occasioned by the riots, overlook their origin, until startled afresh by some more overwhelming social convulsion; or will they set themselves steadily to work to mitigate the real causes which have brought industrious thousands to the verge of pauperism, and then have the courage to apply the remedy ? They cannot lay the ' flattering unction to their souls ' that the state of things which has prevailed for the last fortnight in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire, is to be attributed to machinations of the Anti-Corn-Law League. They would be but too happy to believe so ; but, with the responsibilities of government upon their shoulders, it will not do to comfort themselves with (he assertions of their creatures — assertions which will scarcely be swallowed without suspicion even by the most credulous of country squires. The very ' weak invention,' they know, has limply been got up to serve .to distract attention during the recea?, 'but we are glad to learn that it is not

likely to last its full time, as it is stated*by the Manchester Guardian that ministers have themselves resolvedJto make inquiries as to the immediate origin aWrapid and unchecked spread of the ditfcijrbances, and it is supposed that these inquiries wjy^lpecially bear upon the want of promptitude displayed, in several instances, by the magistracy. " But ministers must look for other causes for rioting than that of mill-owners inciting mobs to destroy their own property, or want of activity on the part of the magistrates. If they do so, in an inquiring and impartial spirit, then perhaps the fright which society has just suffered may not have been altogether in vain — There is a aoul of goodness in things evil, Would men observingly distil it out — and the disturbances which have just subsided may, if accepted as a warning, bethe means of averting far more frightful convulsiihs at some future and perhaps not far distant period. Even now, who does not tremble at what might have been the consequences had there been a deficient harvest ?—? — and, sooner or later, the deficient harvest will, in the natural course of events, arrive. " Admitting that Sir Robert Peel's little piddling modification of the sliding scale (got up to please the landowfltes, and of which he is himself, no doubt, heartily ashamed) should be saved from destruction for a few months by a bountiful harvest, what avails fair-weather plans, when clouds and storms are gathering in every direction ? The people want more employment and better wages. How are these to be found for them ? The landowners, who pay the worst wages, cannot give extra work, and they say unto the millowners, you shall not extend trade nor employ more hands. But the people increase and must be fed, and how are they to be fed, if trade be not extended ? The report of the Poor-Law Commission on the sanatory condition of the labouring population, which has just been handed to Sir James Graham, demonstrates that the increase of people is in such a ratio as to_ require a couple of towns, as large as Leeds and Manchester, to be built each year for their accommodation ; and, for their subsistence, an annual addition to the territory of England exceeding in size such counties as ' Surrey, or Leicester, or Nottingham, or Hereford, or Cambridge, and nearly as large as Warwick !' There requires, says this report, to feed this yearly increase of population, ' in the same proportion that meat is consumed by the population of Manchester and its vicinity, an annual increase of 27,327 head of cattle, 70,319 sheep, 64,715 lambs, and 7,894 calves.' But Conservatism takes no heed of these things, and Tory landlords are inaccessible to argument. If Conservatism could regulate supply and demand, and wages and weather, and the law of population, it might be a snug little affair enough ; but, not being able to do any of these things, its idea of standing still, and making the past the standard for the regulation of the future, is as ridiculous as it is impracticable. True Conservatism would seek to preserve by changing, and by continually adapting our laws and institutions, and commercial arrangements, to the onward and ever-varying condition of society ; but lazy Toryism — ignorant, and arrogant, and idle — is afraid and incapable- of the task. It seeks a refuge for its imbecility in the stand-still system, and denounces, as reckless innovators, all who advance the heretical doctrine that three mouths take more feeding than two, and that six pair of hands require more employment than four. " The landlords cannot give this additional employment, and they cannot prevent the people increasing, and hence their quandary. They ignorantly abuse the manufacturers, who are, in fact, the preservers of their estates, and who, by paying wages to at least a portion of the surplus population bred upon the land, prevent that land from being rendered valueless by excess of pauperism ; but they will not allow these manufacturers to extend our markets, and how long they will be permitted to play such pranks with impunity depends upon the course of events. " It is, indeed, to be hoped, for the sake of the welfare of the countjy and the permanency of our institutions, that Sir Robert Peel will look with a thoughtful and far-seeing eye on the present condition and future prospects of England, and not allow himself to be cajoled or bullied out of what he conceives to be for the general good, by an arrogant faction, equally regardless of the rights of others and ignorant of their own interests. That he may, by possibility, pursue such a course, gives them no little trouble, and we perceive that their fears of the new minister ore again beginning to get the better of their hopes. A Tory pamphlet, jjist published by the Rivingtons, mournfully and emphatically declares that the hopes of Toryism have been blighted and its strongholds betrayed by mock Conservatives, and that ' Conservative principles have noplace in the present cabinet.' " Some remarks in the Spectator of August 27 appear to us to be worth quoting : — " In every part of the disturbed districts, turbulence appears to be subsiding, and the rioters themselves show signs of being almost as tired of the contest as the police and soldiery whose vigilance they have fatigued. Of the mining-strike, which began in Staffordshire, we hear little this week; the most activity being shown, and that with considerable moderation, at Merthyr Tydvil in Wales. The patience of the miners of West Scotland is exhausted. The manufacturing-strike, of which Manchester has been the centre, begins to fall to pieces, and nowhere more decidedly than in Manchester itself. The Chartist movement, which it was attempted to graft on the strike, is defunct and abandoned by its promoters. The trade delegates, whose numbers had dwindled down from a gross to a dozen, suffered a coup de grace in the arrest of their chairman ; and they broke up, bequeathing to their party the advice to postpone the strike for • the Charter,' which they had recommended, because of the embarrassment which the wages-strike had caused to them. Still the mills do not generally resume work. In many places the workpeople are free -to enter the mills if they please ; others are. sufficiently protected against violence from without ; many trades have relinquished their organized resistance and their corporate resolution not to work ; but the individual workpeople do not go back to business. They seem to be sulky ; and that is one of the worst symptoms of the time. Hopeless dkcomfort seems to have made them reckless of increasing their own misery by staying away from work. That too is at a time when there are signs

and reports of reviving trade, Moreover, jjjyj tistical facts have come out occasionally *flfl prove that, whatever may have -been the ' pnH tion ' wages of thqpe who were alwayr on tH verge of destitution for years past — as the hand loom weavers of Bolton— the wages received b; many of those engaged in the strike would, b' called princely income in the South of England The wages for labourers on the Bolton and Frestoi Railway are three shillings a day, for ten and v i half hours' work: the wages at Merthyr fylivl have only been reduced twenty-five percent tttaci times of prosperity, and some figures given shoi a mean of nineteen or twenty shillings per weal What, it may be asked, did the workpeople di with their money, when they received so mud that their present receipts are accountedmH beggary ? was their condition then quite comfort able ? did they save money ? And if they aij now so destitute and hungry, why do they not g to the employment and wages which await them It might also be guessed that they profited s little by ' prosperity,' physically or mentally, thi they are sick of life — ennuyeis."

A barrel of American salted beef, imported into Dundee under the new tariff, was brought to Perth by an individual belonging to this place, who sold it the same day at 3d. per pound. The meat is said to be of good quality, fat, and wellflavoured. We believe that a regular supply of this novel commodity will soon be obtained in this quarter. We are informed that a- quantity of American mutton hams have also been sold at 3d. per pound. — Perth Advertiser.