It is becoming quite evident that nine hours is soon
to be the recognized length of an English day's labour. The engineer firms have given way everywhere ; even in so out-of-the-world a place as Ipswich ; and all the trades are now forming a General Council to secure this single object. Even the Railway servants, pointsmen, and so on are joining the movement, and they certainly plead exceptional and monstrous grievances. At a meeting at Manchester, attended by delegates of almost all the Northern lines, it was shown that fifteen hours a day was a common stint. Nine hours is amply sufficient, but the men ought to be a little more fair in insisting on honest labour. If their remarkable leader, Mr. Burnett, will only secure that, a hearty agreement on this one point may be reached between employers and employed.
Previous page
