420 Important Evidence 



that this ooiindy will supply it? — There 

 are now in LoikIok two persons of dia- 

 liiiction from Columbia, accompanied 

 by a very clever man, wlio has willi i>im 

 a statistical account oltlie conntry; and 

 from him I learn, that an Englishman 

 lias discovered a coalfieli! in tlic midst 

 of a mining district, and measures are 

 taking to work the mines. 'I'hc ma- 

 chinery used, from the first breaking the 

 farlh to the turning out of the dollar, 

 will all be had from England, if the 

 prohiljitory laws arc repealed. The 

 quantity will be large, and will, for 

 many years to come, be constantly an 

 increasing quantity. 



Arc you aware, that British-maile 

 machinery is wanted abroad, which can- 

 not be procured from hence? — Yes; if 

 the prohibitory lavvs are repealed, it is 

 probable that I shall send over a large 

 quantity. Large quantities are now 

 making for Mexico : if the law remains 

 as it now is, parts of machines will be 

 sent, and men must be sent out to 

 construct and complete the prohibited 

 parts. 



Would the suppl3ing that machinery 

 to South America be [irejudicial to any 

 branch of our home manufacture ? — 

 Perhaps it might, so far as reirards 

 copper sheathing from tlie nortliern 

 paits of Chili; a large quantity of cop- 

 per might be Hatted there ; but it is 

 doubtful to me, whether it could be 

 manufactuied and sent to China and to 

 the neighbouring islands, their only 

 markets, as cheap as it can be furnished 

 by this country. 



Have you had niucli experience with 

 respect to clubs, and combination of 

 workmen and their etn[iloyers? — Yes. 

 1 was for s()ti;e years a journeyman 

 m} self, and got sadly punished, by tl)e 

 masters combining not to employ mc: 

 this was for having interfered in a com- 

 binatiiiu of the men, with which 1 had 

 nothing to do until forced by the mas- 

 ters to join it. I alterwarde formed 

 several clubs, for the pinjiose of com- 

 pelling the masters to give an advance 

 of wages. I thought tlien, and still 

 think, it was proper. Wages were very 

 low in some trades, and the workmen 

 had no other means whalevr to procure 

 an increase. These combinations of 

 the men were all of them ultimately 

 successful. 



What was the foundation of tliera? — 

 The desire to increase their wages. I 

 give, as an instance, the leather breeches 

 makers, the trade to which I had been 

 bred. No man could in that trade, in 



before the Commit lee [June I, 



the regular way, earn more than ff)ur- 

 t< en sliillings a-week, on an average ; 

 other journeymen, in trades not re- 

 quiring more time to become expert, 

 could' earn about a guinea a-week. 

 Under my direction, therefore, a socitty 

 was formed, and, within two years from 

 its eommencemcnl, the masters were 

 obliged to give an advance of wages to 

 avoid a strike. 



Wh:it opinion have you formed of the 

 cffcets of the pr(>sent Comliinatiori 

 Laws, so far as they prohibit combina- 

 tions of Wfukmen, to rai-^e their waa;es, 

 or regulate their hours of working? — I 

 think those laws produce no goodefl'eels 

 vvhatever; they app<ar to mc to . be 

 M holly pernicious. They are a bond of 

 union to the men. I ktiow, practically, 

 tliat the men have been kept together 

 by them, when no coml)inalion vvould 

 otiierwise have existed. 



What are the impressions these laws 

 have made on the minds of the men? — 

 They believe that these laws keep their 

 wages lower than they wcuild otherwise 

 be, and they, therefore, look upon them 

 as oppressive, and their employers as 

 t} rants ;'1his is the general impression. 



What is your opinion of the i (feet of 

 those laws, as to the raising or lower- 

 ing of wages? — Generally, they have 

 had little rifcct in that way, taking a 

 number of years into the eonsiileiation. 

 I should say, they have neither raised 

 now lowered wages. In some particu- 

 lar trades, they have kept wages down 

 too low ; the type-founders, for instance. 

 In this trade, the masters in London do 

 not exceed ten, and a close combina- 

 tion at all times exists wmong them; 

 and they have thus been able, by aid of 

 the law, to keep wages very low. The 

 same course has been followed among 

 the sadlers; but, as their nami:er is 

 larger, it has had less ellect. 



Is there not a combination amorg 

 the journeymen tailors? — The journey- 

 men tailors have a perfect and perjie- 

 tual combination among them. I have 

 known only of two combiniitions among 

 the masters; one was to resist the men, 

 the other was to obtain an act of parlia- 

 ment ; the first failed, and the last was 

 not persevered in. 



What was the catise of the journej- 

 men tailors' combination, and wlmt is 

 the system they now pursue? — Their 

 system is all but a military system. 

 The orders come from their Executive, 

 and are always obe\ed. There are up- 

 ward? of twenty regular or Flint houses 

 of call iu London; each house has a de- 

 legate, 



