The Bishop of Manchester has written a very able and
tem- perate letter on the Lancashire cotton strike, in which he urges on the cotton operatives the danger of losing a considerable por- tion of the trade, if they insist either on keeping up the rate of wages when trade is bad, or on their favourite remedy, a diminution of supply as a panacea for low prices. He shows that in the Welsh iron trade there is a deadness which, in the opinion of the beat judges, is hardly likely ever to pass away ; and that Welsh miners are emigrating in large numbers from the districts where they were not long ago so busy ; and further, that a great locomotive manufactory in Manchester has had to refuse an order of about £45,000 worth of engines, because the hands declined to accept the reduction of wages needful to execute the order, at the highest price authorised, without serious loss. The Bishop seems to think that even in the cotton manufacture the competition of lower-paid labour may also be, or be about to become, an important factor, and points out that if that.should prove to be so, the "limitation of supply " for which the operatives so eagerly argue, would rather enhance than diminish the mischief. In fact, the Bishop's letter is full of sagacity and wise warning, and though we still hold that at the beginning of the crisis the wisdom of a limitation of supply was almost demonstrable, still the longer the strike lasts, the less truth will there be in that allegation, till at last that which once was of the nature of a remedy, will have become an aggravating element in the disease. The operatives have too much contempt for the danger of losing our market through the competition of cheaper labour. Though it certainly was not the cause of the recent cotton troubles, it may before long be the cause of new and worse troubles of the same kind. Fortunately, the good- sense of the men seems to be at last beginning to prevail. We see with pleasure that work has commenced again at the reduced rate in some of the Burnley sheds and elsewhere, without hamper- ing conditions. There is a time to give way, as well as a time to hold out.
Previous page
