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^irminnT fiTnvvntinnnAanta M£M l UJ. limi Uj>«l I t^yu UUVUli. ?——
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franchise in principle shall be made universal , they will prepare for themselves and the country many days of great tribulation .
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TIIE SHOEMAKERS' STRIKE . TO TIIE EDITOB , OP THE " LEAJOEB . ' Sir , —Having recently had an opportunity of conr versing with the Committee of the Shoemakers Strikein Northampton , I Avas able to learn some particulars of the contest , which I do not think have appeared in the London papers , and the publication of which will , I hope , lead to further inquiry , and the good offices of neutral powers to put an end to a prolonged and calamitous . struggle ^ and promote such measures as may tend to prevent similar . ¦ ¦ quarrels , between labour and capital . Having for many years paid attention to the question of strikes , I have become convinced that the interests of all parties would be enhanced by a systematic inquiry into every case that occurs , by some central and neutral committee of
investigation . This impression was strengthened by my interview with the Northampton Committee , whose members I found to be intelligent , and to all appearance honest , well-meaning' men , quite ¦ willing to listen politely and argue fairly upon the subjects in dispute . From verbal report and documents they gave ine I learnt that the strike was closely connected with the social conditions of their trade , and a laudable anxiety to avoid the evils of the factory system , from which they have been hitherto exempt . One of the printed papers put into my hands says : "It is not the introduction of closing machines into our trade which is our chief dread : it is the . accursed factory system that will accompany it that is most to be feared . . . . . . It has
hitherto been the : pride of the shoemaker to complete his work at home , and work at the hours he chose best for his purpose . This is to be set aside , and we are to be summoned to our daily toil , by the dismal toll of the factory bell . " One of the men said , that if the factory system were adopted , a much greater subdivision of labour than now exists would take place ; and the workman , bein » " able to perform fewer processes , would occupy an inferior position , while his domestic oonaibrt would be destroyed by his wife having to neglect her children , and go to the factory at six o ' clock in the morning . I do not know to what
extent their fears are likely to be realised , but there must bs a strong sympathy . with men who struggle—albeit in a mistaken manner—to preserve the independence they have hitherto enjoyed . I expressed to them my conviction that machinery would ultimately be introduced generally into their trade , whether or not they were right in imagining that under present circumstances it does not pay , And suggested that they might find far better methods of protecting their interests than spending money upon a strike . One ground that made them alarmed for the future was the high price of
leather , and the great value of the materials of a pair of boots as compared with the labour . employed in producing them . 1 endeavoured to explain that the use of machinery might lead to an indefinite increase in the demand for their commodity ; while Indian railways and African discoveries opened a prospect of an unlimited supply of hides , capable of being tanned into suitable leather . I also pointed out that the evils of the factory system were capable of diminution and compensation , and that the remedies must be found in the extension of
knowledge among capitalists and workmen concerning social and industrial questions . No harsh remarks were made to mo about the masters , but the men felt isolated from the , human sympathy that they were entitled to , and indignant at those who dig a great social gulf between the wealthier and the poorer classes of the community . I talked to them about sanitary reform , education , and other indircot but certain means oi
raising the condition of the working man ; and pointed out their interest in soieutihe discoveries and the extension of foreign trade ; and from the observations made I concluded that the wealthier classes in the town took no pains to show how the working man ' s future might be made more bright . I inquired what their Mechanics' Institute was doing , and found they cared little nbout it , which I did not wonder at , when I saw a report of its proceedings , at an annual meeting , in tho No ? 'thampton Mgrald . Although tho groat fact of
the tovm was , the strike , onl y one lectureon " Labour , Wages , and Machinery" — had any reference to the topics upon which in structiori was most needed . This lecture came among the gratuitous batch ; those paid for being on Robert Burns and Wedded Love , " " Optics , " " The Submarine Telegraph , " " The Atmosphere , " " Thomas Hood , " " Douglas Jerrold , " and " Beau BrummelL" with one or two more . The report made an excuse for the Institute not having done more , and congratulated its subscribers on ft rule to prohibit letting the rooms for the discussion of
any political or religious questions . The report lamented that nothing had been done to " provide cheap and healthy amusement for the working classes ; " and one of the principal speakers—a clergrman—hoped no politics would be allowed in the debating society . Thus , it appeared , nothing was done in Northampton- to diffuse the kind of information which the strike showed was . most wanted ; while , the non-provision of the kind of amusement referred to proved that an important means of-softening down class distinctions had not been tried .
ISTo good will come from studying strikes purely as questions of political economy ; the whole group of social circumstances ' under which they arise will have to be considered before appropriate remedies can be devised , and an inquiry of this nature could be conducted by such a central committee as I have recommended . No reasonable man can expect confidence between employers , aiid employed to be a plant of quick growth , but we ought , on every hand , to witness organised efTorts for its cultivation , ' and it is the wealthy and best educated who should take the Lead . Strikes cannot be put down by force , but they would yield to the genial influences of knowledge aud social kindness , and
capitalists would find that larger mvestments in these articles would yield a good pecuniary-retnrnv I was told that aboxit 700 of the best workmen had left Northamj > ton since the strike began , most of whom liad got -employment elsewhere , and this migratory process , so ruinous to the town , was still going on—the wives and families of the wanderers being kept by the association until work was obtained . The quarrel has gone on for months . For seven 1700
weeks twenty-four shop . ? , employing , men , have been put on-strike . A large portionof these men have obtained employment . A strike conducted upon these principles may continue for a long tinie before it is compelled to stop for the want of funds , and the moral mischief it does is fully as great as its financial evils . There is much more that ought to be said on the subject , but I have already made my letter longer than I intended , and must now bringit to a close . IIjrnuy J . Slacke . 34 , Camden-square , N . W ., 12 th April , 1859 .
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«^ FRANCE . Paris , Thursday , G £ p . m . x'UAOJii on wau . Tub momentous question appears as remote from solution as ever . Indeed every clay seems to add to it fresh complications and uncertainty . People who hitherto have clang to the belief that pence would not bo disturbed , are now disposed to look upon war as inevitable . Cabinet councils are of almost daily occurrence . Yestorduy one was held at the Tuilerios , at which the ICmpuror and hia cousin , Prince Napoleon , assisted . It was anticipated that to-day ' s Monitcnr would have given some indication of what was to bo expected . Nothing , however , has transpired to allay the apprehensions of the public . Tho Cabinot councils are not the only mootlngs to which the Emperor lias rocourso . The < lay before ' yesterday his Majesty received to dinner eleven general officers j none of tho ministers , nor any civilian was present . It has sincj boon called the " council of twelve . " Of course , it would bo absurd to attempt to conjecture even what woro the subjects of conversation , for strict injunctions wore given by his Mnjesty to obsorvo silence . After dinner , tho twelve adjourned to tho drawing-room , wlioro a cortuiu number of Indies of high rank and station in society wore admitted , Tho ladies , I am assured , nro carefully selected to enjoy the intimacy of his Majesty on account of their vory large , circle of acquaintances , and tho extraordinarily . retentive memories with which thoy aro en Jo wad . As tho public press lias ceased to represent public opinion , or , at loasl , cannot bo rolled upon for that pm'poso ,
the head of the Government , it is said , is compelled to resort to something like the system employed by the illustrious Haroun , in order to leam what his subj ects think of his policy . Although the Government organs have replied to Austria ' s proposition for a general disar raament that France has not moved beyond the military conditions of peace . — that she has not formed , a camp with , a view to war ; that she has not moved her armies towards the frontiers—Trance is arming with extraordinary rapidity . The statement that she has not fprmed a camp with , a view to war is an equivocation ; for General Vimoy ' s division , which hitherto formed part of the army of Paris , is under orders to leave
here in a day or two to form a camp in the southeast of France . -Detachments' of cavalry come into Paris daily on their road to the south . The camp of Chalons is to contain double the ordinary number of men ; that of Sathonay is filled to overflowing . The levy of recruits is fixed at 100 , 000 men , in addition to which the six months' furlough men have all rejoined . The National Guard of Paris , which is considered useful for the defence of the capital , is to be increased from 30 , 000 to 150 , 000 men ; and nothing but the necessities of the situation would induce the Government to place arms in the hands of those who have been disbanded ever since the June insurrection of 1848 . I fear this is the most ill-omened sign of any that have occurred ; unless it be the order
given to the Maritime prefects to call in all the sailors on leave who have served in the Imperial Navy for less than four years . This -will give the result of four conscriptions , and must be equivalent to art impressment of at least G 0 , 000 disciplined sailors and marines . I am not aware that Austria has so formidable a navy as to require such extensive preparations . The passed midshipmen and mates of the Brest division , after supplying the necessary number of officers to the three frigates fitting out in that port , are to be forwarded , to complete the staff of tho twelve gun frigates fitting out at Cherbourg , and all officers of that rank absent on extension of
leave have been called in . Austria cannot necesr sitate such naval preparations . If they are not intended for her , against -whom are they to be directed ? The steam transports , built two or three years back , are actively employed in bringing over troops from . Algiers to France . Last week th 2 Mogador brought over 1 , 000 men of the 45 th , and the Sevre a company of the 2 nd squadron of the military train , with their horses and mules , complete for the camp of Snthonayv A temporarycamp has been established outside the town of Marseilles for the reception of the Africans . The Zouaves and the Foreign Legion .: —composed chiefly of deserters from other European armies—are expected daily . FRENCH VIEWS ON INDIA . Allow me to call the attention of your readers to a work just published here on the history of India —Histoire de tlnde Ancienne ct Moderne—which , independently of its literary and historical interest , has a certain political importance . The author is M . de Janeigny , who first arrived in Hindustan in 1811 . After a short sojourn in the Peninsula , he revisited , Europe , and returned to the East subsequent to the events of 1814 . About 1880 ho was in Oude , as colonel and aide-de-camp to tho reigning prince , by whom lie was entrusted with a special mission to England in 1835 . When this was concluded , M . de Janeigny entered into the diplomatic service of His native country , and was charged with aspecial mission to the Philippines , China , arid tho Dutch East Indian possessions .
... . The main conclusions which aro the most likely to interest your readers , and which tho author declares to havo drawn as much from personal observation as from the records of the past , are , that the people of Hindustan , ' destitute for ages oi sufficient power to self-government , aro incapable to take the management of thoir own n ( Fairs , , and require for their happiness and orderly direction a foreign rulej nnd , secondly , that in spito of this inaptitude to self-government , tho Hindoos aro far from being disposed to submit to any-kind of Government , and , that a foreign rulo to be -established and enabled to hold its own in tho country , ought to conform to certain national exigencies , tho inertia wnoreoi is only apparont , but of which tho constant lorco is Invincible , Tho reador will not fail to remark how completely those conclusions confirm those contained inthe lust letter of tho Time * correspondent .
, A Government writer of tlio day takes iclvantagq of M . De JonolKny ' s publication to submit the folio wina questions to the Fronoh nation which , inaeuondeivtly of thoir impertinence , aro curiously iScatlvo of a policy , cautioualy and artfully prepared for yours past , but not yet arrived . Ho asks whether it bo truo that tho populations so diverse of India , in spito of tho grout and poworfu energies with which they nro endowed , aro afflicted , with an incurable incapacity for self-go vornmont ? Whether
^Irminnt Fitnvvntinnnaanta M£M L Uj. Limi Uj≫«L I T^Yu Uuvuli. ?——
< Dr ujinnt dfrnTJCs ^ oiutente .
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_^ Q 1 473 April 16 , 1859 j _ _ THE LEADER . 499
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 16, 1859, page 499, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2290/page/19/
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