THE SHEFFIELD OUTRAGES SHOCKING DISCLOSURES.

West Coast Times, Issue 600, 27 August 1867, Page 3

THE SHEFFIELD OUTRAGES SHOCKING DISCLOSURES.

beoadhead's examination.

At the meeting of the commissioners on June 20, Broadhead was examined in the first instance with reference to tho constitution and management of the Saw Grinders' Union ; and after describing the duties of the committee, the examination by Lfr Overend proceeded as follows : —

And do all questions connected with the trade come before the committee ? — Not all ; all do not come before them. What questions have not come before the committee ?—Witness, firmly ': Such questions as those which engaged the attention of the cpurfc yesterday And have such things as engaged the attention of the court yesterday at all taken place ?—? — Not in committee, sir. But anywhere ?—? — Yes, sir. What questions do you allude to ? — Those that engaged the attention of the court yesterday. What do you mean ; be explicit if you please? — I mean the Linley outrage. Before whom — that is if they went before anybody — did they go?— They came before myself and the parties who have named them (Crooke3 and Hallani) ; and I am prepared to endorse in substance all that they have said. (Sensation). In some of the details I think they are mistaken, but in substance their statement is correct. There are some slight deviations in the details, but they are immaterial. Am Ito understand from you, then, that you did, in the first instance, hire Crookes to shoot at Linley? — (After 1 a little hesitation) : I regret to say, sir, that I did. (Great sensation.) And did you pay himL2ofor it? — That I can't cay ; my impression is that it was Lls, but I wilf not he certain about it. Then you paid him Lls or L2O ? — Yes ; but my impression is that it was Lls. Did you hire Crookes and Hallam to shoot at Linley on the second occasion ? — Yes, sir. Did you pay Crookes and Hallam the sum of L2O for the second shooting at Linley? — (After a little hesitation) : My impression is that it was Lls on both occasions, but I will not be certain ; they (Hallam and Crookes) may be right, but my impression is that I only gave them Lls. Had you any personal quarrel with Linley ?— No, I had no personal I quarrel with any one. What induced you to i hire Crookes to shoot at Ljpley the first time he was shot at?— (After a little hesitation) : Well, sir, I have no wish to extenuate my conduct, but I wish to state to you the whole truth. Crookes came to me and made me an offer, and what induced me to accept it was because Linley was then doing a great deal of harm to the society, having a little time before left hi? own trade in consequence of the bad remuneration caused by a want of union in it, and come into the grinding trade because it was better paid, which was a result that had been obtained by the union. Then you did in point of fact — for it must come to that — you hired Crookes to shoot Linley because he had done great harm to your union, having left his own trade and come in yours? What harni did he' do by coming into your trade ?—lt? — It was not so much harm, his coming into the trade, as setting all the rules of tlje society at defiance and taking a large number of apprentices. What induced you on the second occasion to engage with Crookes and Hallam to shoot him ?— Well, I had begun to dismiss that thing from my mind ; but one clay I went to the Engle works for the purpose of collecting the contributions, and as he was about leaving the wheel Hallam came up to me and he said something to this effect : — " What about Linley ?—lt? — It can be done for L 15." I think that was the sum he named. I then paused. It came upon me as an unpleasant subject. Something was said about the mischief and the injury he was doing, and after considering for a time I said to Hallam, " I will consider about it." I then left him. The subject, as I before stated, was a painful one ; but I felt that for the salvation of the society it was necessary that something must be done. But it crossed my mind that Hallam was not a man to be trusted, and I reflected upon it several days, until Crookes came to me upstairs, when ho mentioned the subject to me again. When ho came upstairs he said he had come to sec mo about tho matter I and Hallam had talked over, and I felt myself more at liberty to be free with him. I asked him what he proposed to do, and he detailed what ho proposed doing in tho manner described by him in his evidence yesterday, Did he tell you he proposed to shoot him ? — Yes, but not to kill him. Yes, but to shoot him ? — Yes, but not to kill him. But you were not to kill him ? ' r-y ? p, fljaf was fche undpritoadjng b^wpen.

us. He said, then, he should shoot him? Was nothing said as to where he should be shot ? — No ; that was the point. Not the part he was to be shot at ?— No ;it v?aS nb't intended to be a vital part. I cannot aay whether any particular part was mentioned ; only I can speak distinctly to this, that the understanding was that he was to wound him and not to kill him. (Sensation.) I had confidence in him, both as to his nerve and as to his being a marksman. With this understanding, and with very great pain — (derisive titters) — I assented. But if you had so much pain, why did you assent to it? — Because I felt the necessity for it, or otherwise the union would be destroyed, knowing that there was no legal protection for the union, and viewing it, wrongly if you will, as an absolute necessity. Linley 's taking six apprentices was the sole cause of his being shot. I considered ho was ruining the whole body by violating that rule. The example, if followed by others, would soon bring such an increased number to be supported on the box, that it would be utterly impossible for the society to exist. Indeed, it has had this effect on the society, for in five years something like LSOOO has been spent in money paid to the sick and unemployed. Then it was entirely upon trade considerations that you came to this horrible conclusion ?—lt? — It was, sir, and a very painful thing it was to me. The witness went on to say that he knew Hallani and Crookes were dodging Linley for weeks. He also admitted having induced many other outrages. His further examination was adjourned.

(To he concluded, in our next.)