A PUBLIC MEETING.
“How much did you fall short to-day?” inquired Allen, as he joined in
with a group of committee-men going to the meeting.
“Sixty pounds; but we shall make it up before three days are over,
depend upon it; and, besides, the masters will yield as soon as Clack is
done for, you’ll see. Wentworth is before us, going to the meeting. But
what have you been about, Allen, playing truant on pay-day?”
“Preaching fortitude and giving a fillip to the faint-hearted.”
“As Christian a duty as feeding the hungry and easing the poor,”
observed a companion. “If Allen is absent from a good deed, you may be
sure he is doing a better.”
There was no part of Allen’s duty that he disliked more than opening the
weekly meetings. The applause discomposed him. He could not, like Clack,
make a deprecating flourish of the hands, or shake his head modestly, or
look round with a proud smile. He was very apt to fidget, and swing his
hat, and make a short, ungraceful bow. As soon as he found this out, he
adopted one posture, from which he determined not to move till the thing
was over. He folded his arms and dropped his head upon his breast, and
so stood as if facing a gust of wind, till the clapping had sunk into
silence.—This day, the clapping on his appearance was twice as long and
twice as vehement as usual, Clack’s former popularity being transferred
to himself. Mr. Wentworth appeared in time to share his honours, and to
relieve him from applause, which seemed as if it would never end. Clack
would fain have appropriated both series of cheers; but he could not
manage it. As soon as he began to bow and look flattered, there arose
cries of “Off, off!” which strengthened into groans when he attempted to
brave them. With a nervous sneer, the orator observed to those within
hearing that his time would soon come, when he would carry off more
cheers than any of them.
“Better put yourself under Allen’s wing, if you want to be clapped,”
observed Mr. Wentworth. “I conclude it was because I stood next to him
that they cheered me to-day, instead of groaning, as they did a week
ago. We must submit to be beholden to Allen—hey, Clack?”
With a look of ineffable contempt, the orator withdrew as far as he
could from Allen, without going out of sight, while Mr. Wentworth sat
down to take a pinch of snuff on the edge of the waggon in which the
speakers were stationed.
The object of the meeting was to obtain the opinions of the people on
certain questions to be proposed; and, in order to put Clack out of the
pain of suspense, his affair was the first brought on. Allen expressed
himself in the most moderate terms he could devise, saying that it
sometimes happened that the usefulness of an individual was not in
proportion to his zeal in the cause he had espoused, or to his desire to
fulfil its duties, especially where the likings of two opposite parties
had to be consulted; that it so happened, in the present case, that the
individual in question did not possess the confidence of the masters,
and that his remaining a member of the Committee might therefore prove
an obstacle in the way of an amicable agreement. It was for the meeting
to declare whether they were willing to take the chance of an
accommodation by naming some substitute for Clack, who might be equally
energetic in their service, and more agreeable to their employers. After
a pause, and with evident effort, he added, that if the conduct of the
person in question had been, in all respects, such as the Union could
approve, it would have gone hard with the committee before they would
have sanctioned his removal from office; but, as it seemed too evident
that the cause had received injury by his means in ways which he might
be spared the pain of pointing out, they might consider themselves
relieved from the perplexity of reconciling consideration for the
individual with a regard to the interests of the body.
A hubbub ensued; a strong party of Clack’s friends raising shouts on his
behalf, while opposing cries rose on all sides of “Down with the
blusterer!” “Who waylaid the carrier?” “He is none of us. The Union
keeps the laws.” “Law and concord! No Clack!”
Quiet was restored on Mr. Wentworth’s rising to explain that his being
present was not to be considered as a sign that the masters would yield
on Clack’s dismissal. He had no authority to confirm any such belief.
Applause,—and Clack doomed by an overwhelming majority; whereupon his
supporters made their way to the waggon, agreed with him that the
meeting was not worth addressing, even if he _had_ been allowed to
speak; and carried him off on their shoulders to fish for popularity in
the streets of Manchester, while the meeting conducted its affairs as
well as it could without him. So ended that matter, except that somehow
Clack and his party were forestalled in their return into the town, and
the walls everywhere presented, conspicuous in white chalk, the phrase
which still rang in their ears, “Law and Concord! No Clack!” An
extraordinary number of little boys too seemed to have taken the fancy
to mimick the action of weaving, with arm and foot, crying at the same
time
“Clickity, clickity, clack,
Lay him on his back!
Clickity, clickity, clack,
Away let him pack!”
Far more decorous was the meeting in their rear, while the queries were
dismissed, each in its turn.
“The case of Ann Howlett being admitted by all parties to be a hard one,
(her contract being for wages which would not support her,) was her
breach of contract sanctioned by the Union?”
Shouts of “No; we would have helped her to perform it!”
“If this breach of contract had been sanctioned by the Union, was it
thought lawful revenge for the committal of Ann Howlett to waylay the
carrier and strip his cart?”
Groans, and shouts of “No revenge!”
Some one near the cart having spoken to Allen, he put the question,—
“Supposing this attack to have no connexion with Ann Howlett’s affair,
does the Union sanction forcible attempts to prevent work being carried
into the country?”
Answer, “No. Law and Concord for ever!”
“If the men abide by the law, and the masters are found disposed to
concord, will the Union be disposed to concession?”
Mixed cries, the most distinguishable of which was, “Stick by the Union!
The Union for ever!”
Mr. Wentworth and Allen exchanged nods, as much as to say, “You
see”—“Yes, I see.”
“Supposing the Union to be preserved entire, are its members disposed to
any concession in respect of wages?”
Cries of “Equalization!”
“An equalization is, as the Committee knows, indispensable; but the
point on which the Committee has not yet received your instructions is
whether that equalization may be fixed below the highest rate, _viz._,
that which Elliott is now giving?”
The answers were at first hesitating, then confused, so that no one
prevailed.
“Don’t press for an answer yet,” said Mr. Wentworth. “I may tell them
something which may help their judgments.”
Way was made for Mr. Wentworth, and he presented himself to speak.
“Before you put this question to the vote, let me just mention a
circumstance or two that you may not be aware of, from your having been
lately out of communication with the factories. There are few things
that we hear more of than of the changes that all mortal things are
liable to; and these changes affect the affair we have in hand, like all
other affairs. We are told that every one rises from sleep in the
morning a different man from him who lay down at night; there having
been a waste and repair of the substance of which the bodily man is
composed. In the same manner, you may find that your strike is a
different thing to-day from what it was at its beginning. Some of its
parts have fallen off, and others have been added. Whether your body,
having undergone this change, be the more vigorous, like a man refreshed
with sleep, you know better than I. But further, whenever you return to
your work, you may find a factory a very different place on re-entering
from what it was on your leaving it. There has been much waste, I fear,
without any repair. You know what kind of waste I refer to. You have
heard of large orders, which we have been unable to execute, having been
sent to Scotland and elsewhere. You know that much of our capital, which
ought by this time to be returning to us again, has been for many weeks
locked up in our stocks of raw material. You know that the expense of
keeping on our establishments has not been repaid by the production of
goods for the market; or the cost of maintaining ourselves and our
families, by the profitable employment of our time and our wits. We have
been consuming idly, and so have you; and thus there must needs have
been great waste.—And what is it which has been thus wasted? The fund
which is to maintain you; the fund out of which your wages are paid.
Your strike has already lasted long enough to change our ground of
dispute. You will find that the question with the masters now is,
whether fewer of you than before shall be employed at the same wages, or
fewer still at higher wages, or as many as before at lower wages than
you have yet received. Keep on your strike a little longer, and the
question will be, how many less shall be employed, at how much less.
Keep it on long enough, and the question will be entirely settled; there
will be no wages for anybody. Do you understand me?”
The speaker took snuff while the murmur of disapprobation went round,
and then continued.
“I do not suppose, any more than you, that we shall come to this pass,
because your capital must be exhausted sooner than ours, and then you
must have bread, and will come to us for work before our fund for wages
is all wasted away; but the nearer you drive us to this point, the more
injury you do yourselves. Let me hear your objection, friend,” he
continued to a man in the crowd who looked eager to speak. “Where do you
think me wrong? You acknowledge that a strike is a bad thing, but
sometimes necessary to obtain a good one. Refusing wages altogether for
a time, is to be the means of securing better afterwards. Do I
understand you right? Why, that would be very true if you had the power
or were in the habit of keeping workmen and wages in proportion to each
other. If the masters had more capital than was necessary to pay you all
at the rate you have hitherto received, you might gain your point by a
strike, not as you sometimes do now, just for a little time till the
masters can shake themselves free of their engagement,—but permanently.
But this is not the case. The masters’ capital does not return enough to
pay you all at the rate you desire. If they are to keep their capital
entire, you must either take less wages, or fewer of you must take wages
at all. If you will all have the wages you desire, the capital which
pays them wastes away, and ruin approaches. This is the worst event that
could happen, as I am sure we shall all agree. Your alternative,
therefore, is to withdraw a portion of your people from taking wages, or
all to take less than you are striking for. You are not satisfied yet?
(speaking to the same man.) Well, let me hear. There are places where
there are no strikes, because the workmen get as high wages as they wish
for? Very true; there are such places, and London is one; concerning
which I heard, the other day, a case in point.
“The money wages of skilled labour in London were higher from 1771 to
1793 than was ever known. They had been raised because prices were high.
They were afterwards somewhat lowered; but as prices fell in a greater
proportion after the war, the real wages of skilled labour are at
present higher than they had ever been. They cannot be lowered while, as
at present, there is an occasional deficiency of labour, since the men
would strike when most wanted by the masters, and the loss thus caused
would be greater than the gain of giving lower wages. In London there
are two seasons in every year; a slack season in which many workmen
remain unemployed; and a busy season in which they work overhours,
because there are not hands enough. Now, here, you see, lies their
advantage; in the supply of labour being limited. If it was the case
with them, as with you, that some of their class always remained
unemployed, the unemployed would undersell the busy, and wages would
fall. Then, as here, there would be strikes; and then, as here, strikes
would be of no avail. Where there are permanently fewer workmen than are
wanted the men hold the power. Where there is the exact number that is
wanted, the power is equal, and the contest fair. Where there are more
than are wanted, even to the extent of three unemployed to a hundred,
the power is in the masters’ hands, and strikes must fail. Must there
not be a larger surplus of unemployed labour than this in our
neighbourhood, and elsewhere, since wages are fallen too low to enable
the labourer to do more than barely exist? Allen, is there a silk
small-ware weaver present, do you suppose? They have just struck, I
find.”
Proclamation was made for a silk small-ware weaver, and several held up
their hands. In answer to questions, they stated that within two years
their wages had been reduced forty-five per cent. Two years before,
common galloon weaving was paid at the rate of 1_s._ 10_d._ per gross;
it was now reduced to 1_s._ 4_d._ per gross; and it was for an addition
of 2_d._ per gross that the men struck: little enough when it is
considered that, in the winter season, a weaver cannot average more than
twelve gross per week. As he has to pay for the hire of his loom, for
winding, for candle-light, and other expenses belonging to his work, he
has left only about 8_s._ a week for himself and his family.
“Could so dreadful a reduction have ever taken place,” continued Mr.
Wentworth, “if you had not undersold one another? And how are the
masters to help you if you go on increasing your numbers and
underselling one another, as if your employers could find occupation for
any number of millions of you, or could coin the stones under your feet
into wages, or knead the dust of the earth into bread? They do what they
can for you in increasing the capital on which you are to subsist; and
you must do the rest by proportioning your numbers to the means of
subsistence. But see how the masters are met! In Huddersfield the
masters are doing their utmost to extend their trade; but the multitudes
who are to subsist by it increase much faster. There are now thirteen
thousand work-people in that place who toil for twopence halfpenny a
day. At Todmorden, the most skilful work fourteen hours a day for the
pittance of one shilling. In the fair county of Kent there are thirty
thousand who earn no more than sixpence a day. Compare this state of
things with the condition of skilled labour wages in London, and see how
much depends on the due proportion of labourers, and the capital by
which they are to be fed. Would you could be convinced that your strike,
besides occasioning vexation and ill-will between the two parties,
besides inflicting distress upon yourselves, and inconvenience upon your
employers, cannot but be worse than in vain!”
During the last few sentences, several persons had been engaged in
conference with Bray, who leaned over a corner of the waggon to hear
what they had to say. He now came forward and placed himself beside Mr.
Wentworth, observing that all that had fallen from the gentleman seemed
pretty true and reasonable as far as it went, but that it did not at all
explain what course the people had now to pursue. It was poor comfort to
tell the people that wages could not be any higher on account of their
numbers, since it was not in their power to lessen those numbers.
“It is not with the view of giving present comfort,” replied Mr.
Wentworth, “that I represent what appears to me to be the truth: for
alas! there is but little comfort in the case any way. My object is to
prevent your making a bad case worse; and if it were possible, to
persuade you not to prepare for your descendants a repetition of the
evils under which you are yourselves suffering. All that you can now do,
is to live as you best may upon such wages as the masters can give,
keeping up your sense of respectability and your ambition to improve
your state when better times shall come. You must watch every
opportunity of making some little provision against the fluctuations of
our trade, contributing your money rather for your mutual relief in hard
times, than for the support of strikes. You must place your children out
to different occupations, choosing those which are least likely to be
overstocked; and, above all, you must discourage in them the imprudent,
early marriages to which are mainly owing the distresses which afflict
yourselves and those which will for some time, I fear, oppress your
children. You ask me what you must do. These things are all that I can
suggest.”
“But these things, sir, will not guard our children any more than
ourselves from the fluctuations in trade you speak of.”
“But they will prevent those fluctuations from being so injurious as
they now are. The lower wages are, the more are such fluctuations felt.
In India, where an average day’s wages are only three-pence, the people
live in the poorest possible manner,—such as the poorest of you have no
idea of. Any decrease of wages, therefore, makes the more weakly of the
labourers lie down and die. In Ireland, where the average is five-pence
a day, there is less positive starvation than in India, but more
distress on a fall of wages, than in England. In England, such
fluctuations are less felt than in old days, when the people knew
nothing of many things which you now call necessaries. The better the
state of the people, the better able are they to stand against the
changes to which all trades are liable; but the worst of it is that we
are all too little inclined to foresee the effects of these changes, and
to provide for them; and when we experience the necessary consequences
of a change which took place twenty years before, we are apt to suppose
these consequences arise from something amiss at the present time. When
a demand for any article of manufacture makes labour unusually
profitable, labourers provide for a great decline of wages in future
years, by bringing up large families to the same employment. During many
years, that is, while their children are growing up, they feel no ill
effects, and suppose that all is going on right. When a decline of wages
comes, they suppose it happens from some new circumstance, and not from
their own deed in overstocking the labour market. Again; it must be some
time before the effects of a decline in lessening the supply of labour
are felt. A part of the population perishes slowly from want and misery,
and others are made prudent in respect of marriage; but by the time
these checks are seen to operate, a new period of prosperity has
arrived, which is ascribed by the people to accident. It is this
impossibility of making the supply of labour suit the demand at a
moment’s notice, which makes fluctuations in trade so sensibly felt, for
good or for evil, by the labourer. Since he cannot, as you say, Mr.
Bray, diminish the number of workmen when trade is slack, and if he
wishes his descendants not to be plunged into degradation by extreme
poverty, he will do what in him lies to prevent population from
increasing faster than the capital which is to support it.”
Mr. Wentworth was encouraged to pursue his argumentative manner of
speaking by the attention of the people near the waggon. Some of them
had become a little tired of the weekly meetings at which their orators
had said the same things over and over again, and were pleased to be
reasoned with by one whom they esteemed, and to obtain, by these means,
a better insight into their affairs than was given them by leaders who
were all of one party. The more the present meeting assumed the
character of a conference, the more eagerly the most thinking men in the
crowd pressed towards the waggon, and cheered the questions and replies.
Those on the outskirts, who were more fond of noise and display, were at
liberty to come and go as they pleased; to listen to Mr. Wentworth, or
to follow Clack.
Bray now observed that population must increase rapidly indeed, as it
had outstripped the increase of capital in the cotton manufacture. He
believed so rapid an increase of capital had never been known before. To
this Mr. Wentworth replied by asking of the crowd whether there was any
one among them who had known James Hargraves. An old man stept forwards
and said that he was a native of Blackburn, and had been accustomed, as
a boy, to frequent Hargraves’ workshop; that he remembered seeing the
carpenter busy about his invention, and his own delight at having the
design of the spinning-jenny explained to him by the inventor; he saw
directly how eight threads could be spun instead of one, and thought it
a very fine thing, and had little notion how soon it would be so much
improved upon as that a little girl might work one hundred, or one
hundred and twenty spindles. When was this? Why, a few years after the
old king George began to reign; in 1767, he believed.
“When that king came to the throne,” observed Mr. Wentworth, “the whole
value of the cotton goods manufactured in this country was only
200,000_l._ a year.”
“There were very few people employed in it then,” interrupted the old
man. “We had no factories and no towns full of cotton-spinners and
weavers. My father used to take his work home to his own cottage, and
grow the flax that was then used for warp in his own garden, and set my
mother to card and spin the raw cotton for the weft. This, and getting
the warp from Ireland, was the way till Arkwright’s spinning frame came
into use.”
“Then was the time,” said Mr. Wentworth, “that the people in China and
in India had no rivals in the market for whatever was made of cotton. We
owe it to these machines, and the mule-jenny, and the power-loom that
came in afterwards, that though we have to bring our cotton from
thousands of miles off, and though the wages in India are, as I said,
only 3_d._ a day, we have beaten them in the competition, and can carry
back their cotton five thousand miles, made into a cheaper fabric than
they can afford. Such powers as these must make our capital grow; and
the fact is that the cotton manufacture is the chief business carried on
in the country, and that it has enabled us to sustain burdens which
would have crushed any other people. Instead of 200,000_l._, the annual
produce of the manufacture is now more than 36,000,000_l._ We have no
means of knowing how few persons were employed sixty years ago; but it
is reckoned that the manufacture now affords subsistence to more than
1,400,000 persons. This enormous population has arisen naturally enough
from the rise of the manufacture; but your present condition shows that
it has already gone too far; and it rests with yourselves to determine
whether the evil shall be found to have increased fifty years hence. And
now, Allen, you know the reason of the clause I added to your query in
the arbour.”
“Will our trade go on increasing?” was the next question asked.
“I hope and trust that it will, as we have got the start of our
competitors abroad; but it will probably increase at a slower rate; and
a succession of strikes may prove its destruction.”
Here the speaker abruptly ceased, and nothing could induce him to say
more. He let himself down from the waggon, and quietly made his way
through the crowd, thinking perhaps that the people would draw their
inferences from what he had said more freely in his absence.
The substance of Mr. Wentworth’s argument, and especially the last words
he spoke, left Allen and others thoughtful. They would not, on the
impulse of the moment, advise a compromise with the masters; but
appointed another general meeting for the next day, to take into
consideration some matters of important concern.
One matter of important concern was taken into immediate consideration,
however. As soon as Allen had turned his back, some members of the
committee recalled the crowd for a few minutes, related how Allen had,
from time to time, refused money in compensation for his services, and
moved that a suit of clothes should be voted to him. This was a present
which he could not refuse, if given under colour of enabling him to
appear more respectably as their advocate before the masters, and would
serve to make a proper distinction between such a sound friend to their
cause as Allen, and such a frothy fellow as Clack. The motion was
carried by acclamation; and as all Allen’s scruples were so forestalled
as that he could not decline the gift, he was, before nightfall, clothed
in a suit which must mark him out at the meetings as leader of the Union
proceedings.
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