reen, who refused to work except at an
increased rate of wages, and made their way by night into the shops of
workmen possessed of materials belonging to the refractory masters, and
destroyed them. Overawed by the combination, the masters agreed
finally to pay the same wages that had been paid in 1824, although its
continuation would prove ruinous to them. Similar scenes were exhibited,
and the same results followed at Macclesfield, Nuneaton, and Bedworth.
Nor did the manufacturing districts of Yorkshire escape the contagion.
About the end of May the weavers of Barnsley, like the silk-weavers of
Bethnal-Green and Macclesfield, forced upon their employers a list
of prices. By August and September, however, the masters found it
impossible to keep to these prices; and when they proposed a reduction,
the workmen immediately left their work, and commenced a riot.
Warehouses were attacked, as were also the houses of such weavers as had
taken out work at reduced prices; and it was only by calling in the
aid of the military that tranquillity was restored. Yet lawless and
mischievous as these proceedings were, it was clear that they originated
from the misery of those engaged in them. A report, drawn up at
Huddersfield by a committee of masters, stated, "that within the several
townships engaged in fancy business, there were 13,000 individuals who
had not more than twopence halfpenny per day to live on; and out of this
they had to find wear and tear for looms." This report added, "Whatever
be the cause of such distress, it is feared that the agonizing condition
of families so circumstanced cannot long be endured. The difficulty
of obtaining relief by the ordinary course, and the aggravating
circumstances often attending applications for it, have a powerful
tendency to drive the applicants ultimately to desperation. In laying
these painful statements before the members of his majesty's government
and other influential gentlemen, the master manufacturers wish to do
it respectfully, impelled by a sense of duty which they owe to the
government and the public, and especially to their workmen, who have
hitherto borne their sufferings with extreme patience." The distress
was aggravated by a bad harvest and a severe winter, all of which
contributed to bring the productive classes of the community, and
especially the lowest orders, into a state of abject misery.

FOREIGN POLITICS.

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