THE PRESTON STRIKE OF 1836.
Some of the Lancashire trade circulars, in speaking of the infatuated conduct of the factory operatives, and of the injury they are likely to in- flict on themselves and others should they refuse to listen to reason, have reminded them, by way of warning, of the last great strike in Preston, and the suffering it entailed on those engaged in it. From a paper read in the statistical section of the British Association at Liverpool in 1837, we learn that the former Preston strike took place precisely seventeen years ago ; and it is rather interesting to remark the various points of similarity between the position of the factory operatives of that town in October 1836, and of their fellow townsmen in the same locality in Oc- tober 1853. Seventeen years is a large section of a working man's life, but, high as the rate of mortality is in Lancashire, there must still be a few of those spinners alive who took an active part in the former strug- gle, and who could give some wholesome advice to the power-loom weavers who now take the lead in demanding from their employers an ad- vance of ten per cent. Some of the Lancashire trade circulars, in speaking of the infatuated conduct of the factory operatives, and of the injury they are likely to in- flict on themselves and others should they refuse to listen to reason, have reminded them, by way of warning, of the last great strike in Preston, and the suffering it entailed on those engaged in it. From a paper read in the statistical section of the British Association at Liverpool in 1837, we learn that the former Preston strike took place precisely seventeen years ago ; and it is rather interesting to remark the various points of similarity between the position of the factory operatives of that town in October 1836, and of their fellow townsmen in the same locality in Oc- tober 1853. Seventeen years is a large section of a working man's life, but, high as the rate of mortality is in Lancashire, there must still be a few of those spinners alive who took an active part in the former strug- gle, and who could give some wholesome advice to the power-loom weavers who now take the lead in demanding from their employers an ad- vance of ten per cent.
The most remarkable coincidence between the former Preston strike and the present one is with respect to the price of food at the two different periods. Frequent reference has been made to 1835 and 1836 as the two cheapest years witnessed in Great Britain during more than half a century ; but that cheapness was rapidly disappearing when the Preston operatives struck work. Partly owing to the increased consumption which good trade always brings with it, and partly owing to a very deficient harvest, the price of wheat, which had been as low as 368., rose in the autumn of 1836 to 61s. 9d. per quarter. In 1853, after two or three years of cheapness, we find the same rise of prices occurring precisely at the time -when the power-loom weavers of Preston are pledging themselves never to resume labour "till the employers comply with their just demands." Had the cry for "ten percent" been made last year when wheat was about 386. a quarter and nothing seemed likely to interfere with the prosperity of trade, there would not have been much difficulty in gaining their point. But now, with wheat at nearly 60s. and the demand for goods declining, the power of the operatives to enforce their demand must be very much weakened ; and the sooner they can be made to see that, the better for all.
When the strike of 1836 took place, the number of mills in Preston and the neighbourhood was forty-two ; requiring about 1200 horse-power, and employing about 8500 hands ; of whom, however, only 660 were spinners ; the rest were card-room hands, reelers, power-loom weavers, overlookers, engineers, and pieeers. The class that demanded the advance of wages was the spinners only ; but on their leaving off work, nearly all the others were thrown out of employment. During the first fortnight of the strike, several meetings of the masters and the men were held, but nothing came of them. An advance of ten per cent was offered to the spinners, on the condition that they would withdraw from the union; but they would not listen to the proposal. They preferred starvation to sub- mission ; nor was it long before many of them were put to the test. At first the spinners received 58. a week each from the union funds, and the " piecera "-or spinners' assistants from 2s. to 3s. each. That, however, was but a small pittance for men who, with their families, had been earn- ing five or six times that sum, and most of whom had always lived up to the full amount of their wages. In December, when the mills had been closed little more than a month, the streets of Preston began to be crowded with beggars, and a grant of 1001 was made by the Corporation towards relieving the general distress. By the end of that month the suffering had become universal and intense ; and the masters came to the resolution of opening their mills, in order to give those who wished for it an op- portunity of resuming work. In doing so, they announced their de- termination _to abide • by their former offer of an advance of ten per cent in the rife -Of wages, but to require from all those who should enter the mills a written declaration that they would give up the union. The return of the spinners to their work, which was very slow at first, was precipitated a few weeks after the opening of the mills by the exhaustion of the funds of the union. Small as the supply from that aouroe was, it had kept the spinners from absolute starvation, and when it was gone they had no other resource. On the 5th of Fe- bruary 1837, exactly thirteen weeks from the day on which the strike commenced, work was resumed in all the mills to its rutteitl extent Nearly the whole of the old hands returned to Worby thaCtline, with the exception of about two hundred spinners who had taken a very pro. minent part in the agitation, and who were replaced by new4stmds from other towns.
The struggle was attended with the usual results of such a .contest Some five or six thousand persons were exposed during that inclement winter to much suffering from hunger and cold ; in the majority of fami. lies the greater part of the wearing apparel and hodehold furniture was pawned ; in nine houses out of ten considerable arrears of rent were doe; the investments in the savings-bank by spinners and overloekers were diminished to the extent of 9001.; the retafttrade of the tewri.suffered severely, many of the small shopkeepers having been *AV tcli/ied, and some of them completely so. The total loss to the, spinners and other factory operatives was estimated at about 65,0001., that of the masters 45,000/., making an aggregate loss to the town of 110,0001.,=rrither a dear lesson to the men, and one which the survivors of that strike cannot have forgotten.
One remarkable difference between the movement of the Preston fac- tory operatives at the present day and the one of which we have been speaking is the line of tactics now pursued. Unwilling to try the effect of a general turn-out, the policy of late has been to take the employers in detail. Thus the hands in one mill make their demand for an advance of wages ; and, if that is refused, they strike, in full reliance upon receiving largo assistance from their fellow workers in other establishments. To meet this union among the operatives, the millowners of Preston have united for the purpose of bringing the struggle to a crisis. They are de- termined not to carry on their mills subject to the dictation of the council of the Union, and of men who live by agitation ; and therefore they have announced their intention to close their factories simultaneously at the end of next week, unless they can come to such an arrangement with the men as will put an end to the present system of dictation. Should they persist in doing so, the loss to the Preston operatives will be much greater than it was in 1837. The number of factories and weaving-sheds in that town is now sixty-four, with about 3000 horse-power, and giving em- ployment to nearly 25,000 men, women, and children. Should the cessa- tion of work take place, the operatives' committee calculates upon re- ceiving about 25001. a week from the adjoining districts to support the unemployed ; which would only give an average allowance of 2& a week per bead.
Supposing the present strike to last as long as the former one, and the average loss of wages per head to be as great as it was -then, the aggre- gate loss to the whole of the operatives would be at least 130,000/. We trust that some means will be taken to prevent so deplorable a result; and that should any member of the British Association, at its annual meeting,—which by another curious coincidence falls to be 'held in Liverpool next year,—feel disposed to give an account of the Preston strike of 183, that he will be able to show how much more wiriely it was managed than the strike of 1836.
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