26th May 1814: The Reverend Becher reports a meeting with Leicestershire magistrates to the Home Office

Southwell
26 May 1814.

Dear Sir,

I have been prevented from communicating with the Rev. Mr. Storey by the absence of his Son from this County. Yesterday however Mr. John Story who acts as a Magistrate both for Nottinghamshire & Leicestershire & Mr. Philip [Storer] who act for the latter County, waited upon me.—As Mr. Philip Story was present when his father took the depositions transmitted to Lord Sidmouth and had examined very minutely the premises at Donnington when the outrage was committed, we [informed] very fully upon the subject. They had very much over-ated the pecuniary resources of the Union Society; and were of opinion that much might have been effected towards discovering the Offenders by sending down some intelligent Magistrate or some Bow Street Officer—as to the funds of the Society I convinced them that their amount had been much exaggerated; and on stating the result of the visit made by Mr. Conant & Mr. Baker to Nottingham & the Bow Street Officers who I knew had been identified by the Delegates for the express purpose of avoiding them,—I think I convinced them that our own personal exertions must constitute the chief instrument towards the preservation of the peace & the punishment of offenders.—At the same time I mentioned that I had been expressly desired by you take the earliest opportunity of assuring Mr. Story, that Lord Sidmouth entertained an earnest disposition to afford the Magistracy in the disturbed Counties every countenance & support that could be consistently granted for protecting the civil authorities in their endeavours to bring the perpetrators of the prevailing outrages to justice—This appeared quite satisfactory—[The] Mrs Storys lamented the terror pervading the Manufacturers as well as the workmen who may have incurred the displeasure of the Society; but I could not discover that they had devised or collected any suggestions that were likely to conclude towards the detection of the principals or the suppression of the mischief.—

Unless you instruct me to the contrary I shall prosecute my enquiries with unabating vigilance & assiduity but will not trouble you unless when some occurrence of importance authorises me to address you

I have [etc]
John T. Becher.

[To] John Beckett Esq
&c &c &c

24th May 1814: The Reverend JT Becher writes to the Home Secretary with his views about the Framework-knitters Union

Southwell
24th May 1814

Dear Sir,

In conformity with our arrangements I have abstained from trespassing upon your attention until I found myself enabled to state some of the circumstances materially connected with the offences prevailing in the County of Nottingham.—

The Union Society, as it is styled, does not conceal its existence; altho the printed regulations with which I supplied you are no longer to be procured.—The principal leader is stated to be Grosvenor Henson,—the man alluded to by T. Large in his letter some time since addressed to me.—Henson does not now work at his trade, but is maintained by the association at a weekly allowance of about three guineas.—In connection with him are many desperate characters, who are strongly suspected of being the Frame-breakers and the Instruments of popular vengeance upon all who, in the language of the Society, are "denounced."—The names of the ruffians are very carefully concealed; and as their number is small I entertain little expectation of detecting them until they have been emboldened by success & impunity to the perpetration of more frequent or more tumultuous outrages.—It is not imagined that this Nottingham Gang has ever been broken by the prosecutions formerly instituted;—and the terror impressed upon the minds of the Manufacturers by the existence of such a daring conspiracy has placed the Masters in a state of almost unqualified submission to the demands of the workmen who dictate their own terms.— —Every branch of the Lace & Hosiery trades is represented by a set of delegates; and these Sub-committees hold a regular communication with the grand Executive Committee.—The subordinate Committees are but little acquainted with the application of the sums contributed; or the purposes of the Society: they merely profess that they expect to procure some beneficial changes on behalf of the working Mechanics.—Mr. Nixon ascribes the demolition of his frames to the modification of the Frame-breaking Bill by substituting transportation for life instead of capital punishment at the renewal of the Act; with which alteration I was not acquainted until he mentioned it.—However, altho I regret the mitigation of punishment I cannot entirely agree with Mr. Nixon since many of the machines have been destroyed under circumstances of disguise & violence amounting to a capital Felony.—He feels convinced that the order for demolishing his frames was issued by Henson; and that the evidence which he gave against the bill for regulating the Framework knitting trade & his non compliance with the exorbitant demands of his workmen other sources of provocation.—He has now been compelled to advance the prices of labor in defence of his property tho the Nottingham Hosiers are manufacturing at from 10 to 20 percent above those at Tewkesbury, and the rate of workmanship is such as to preclude the prospect of a successful competition with the foreign markets.—

In the Silk Stocking trade all the Workmen of Mr. Ray have struck because he rejected their application for an increase of wages.—

The Framesmiths have discounted their employments for similar reasons, and are collecting money to sustain themselves.—

The Bricklayers encouraged by the success of the journeymen in the Hosiery trade are endeavouring to affect their purposes by a conspiracy of this date same description.—I enclose one of the hand bills which they are now diligently circulating.—The Title & Style of the address as well as the Printer's name, testify clearly its origin.

Such an extensive system of subordination & terror will, I conceive, be deemed incompatible with the existence of our manufactures: and apprised as we are of the industry & success with which these principles are disseminated among mechanics of every description throughout the empire the expediency of some remedy will unquestionably be acknowledged.

To devise the means of prevention constitutes the difficulty.—Specific regulations between the Masters & the workmen appear to be utterly impracticable.—Labor must find its own value in the market—but the standard ought to be established by free competition, unrestricted by combination on either side.—With this view I have strenuously urged some of the manufacturers to prefer an application to Parliament.—They speak in very grateful terms the attention dedicated by Lord Sidmouth & yourself to their case; and will, I am assured, avail themselves of your countenance.

To render the Bill palatable the Masters as well as the Men should be prohibited from combinations; and to secure efficiency the existing punishments should be considerably augmented.—

For my own part I attribute the late as was as the present outrages to those jacobinical principles with which the Inferior orders have been sedulously inoculated by our Nottingham Reformers; who have, in many instances, become the object of that secret organization & malevolent confederacy which they fostered by their pernicious examples, their licentious harangues & their seditious press for the attainment of their fractious projects.—

Thus have the evils, of which I complain, been introduced & cherished until they have become intimately incorporated with the state of society in this and other manufacturing districts. I do not apprehend that the result will produce any general tumult but I forsee that the ferment will not subside without it be coerced by the interposition of the legislature.

Circumstances seem to require that the law be armed with more extensive powers, adapted to the emergency; and that some formidable examples of punishment be exhibited whenever an opportunity presented for bringing the Offenders to Justice. [For] until these Confedericies which are the source of all our mischief be suppressed we never can hope to close the scenes which have too long disgraced this County.—

I have requested Mr. Allsopp who is now in London to wait upon you.

I enclose the only two pieces information which he has hitherto been able to procure.—The "Minutes of the annual conference." seem to be drawn up with a design of giving something like a lawful appearance the objects of the Society.

I have [etc]

John T. Becher.


To
John Beckett Esq.—

6th March 1813: The Reverend Becher pleads on behalf of absconded Luddites

Southwell March 6
1813

My Lord Duke

I have the honor of stating to your Grace, that several Inhabitants of your county, knowing that some of them were advertised in the Hue & Cry & that others had been charged before the Magistrates with the offense of Frame Breaking, did abscond previously to the Lent Assize in the year 1812; and have since remained in concealment.

Many of these Men, as I have been informed, are desirous of returning to their occupations & their abodes; but I prevented by the tenor of his Majestys late pardon which does not extend to persons charged with offences. – I therefore beg leave to submit their case for the consideration of your Grace; since Magistrates are not competent to prescribe conditions without the sanction of some higher authority than their own.

I have [etc]
J. T. Becher

To
His Grace
the Duke of Newcastle
&c. &c. &c.

29th July 1812: The Reverend Becher writes to the Home Office about the death of both Renshaw & the Framework Bill

Southwell
July 29. 1812

Dear Sir

I beg leave to request that you will have the goodness to communicate to Lord Sidmouth the high sense which I entertain of the honor conferred upon me by the favorable opinion of his Lordship, accompanied with an assurance of my best endeavors to assist in the investigation of those complaints which have been urged against the gaoler of Lincoln by the Prisoners under his care.—In prosecuting such an enquiry, it scarcely seems possible to secure the full approbation of either party; but since the question must depend upon a minute statement of facts and thus consistency with our established laws, I trust there is no reason to apprehend any breach of friendship.

I have just returned from Nottingham and you will be gratified to hear the tranquillity appears to be completely restored.—Renshaw was executed this morning for arson & sheep stealing. The spectators amounted to ten thousand; yet, altho’ the only guards were six bailiffs & two constables, the slightest tendency to insubordination or tumult was not manifested. This testimony of good order appears doubly satisfactory after the recent failure of that singular bill which the Frame work knitters proposed to Parliament.

I have [etc]
J.T. Becher

[To] J. Becket Esq.
Whitehall

11th February 1812: Reverend J .T. Becher to Home Office

Southwell 11th February 1812

Sir,

As the attention of parliament will soon be directed to the outrages, prevailing in the county of Nottingham, I shall not, I hope, be censured for intrusion, if I venture to transmit such observations as have been suggested to me by the subject.

In bringing the state of our manufacturing concerns under your consideration, I must beg leave to request your particular attention to the principle, upon which the machinery, employed in the fabrication of lace & stockings is supplied. The conditions are, I believe, almost peculiar to this branch of business; and to this origin, as I humbly conceive, the present grievances may, in a great measure, be imputed.

The Frames, upon which Lace & Stockings are woven, are hired by the workmen at stipulated weekly rents, seldom amounting to less than 12 per cent,& occasionally to 20 per cent, upon the original cost. The prices of these frames vary from £16 to £50, without including additional machinery; and the interest arising from capital so vested has induced Farmers, Servants, Laborers, & others, totally unacquainted with the interests& management of the trade, to become frame owners & to embark their money in this speculation, which was artfully recommended by those hosiers who were desirous of engaging in the lace or hosiery business or of extending their concerns without possessing sufficient pecuniary resources. The frames thus introduced are denominated ‘Independents’.

Until the commencement of the present war the demand for the Nottinghamshire manufacture exceeded the produce of the machinery & labour in the market. The frames were regarded by every workman as the tutelary guardians of his house: To these the family was indebted for food and raiment, so that they became the objects of their attentive care & most vigilant protection. Females and children attained the art of using them; and those who declined this exertion, were occupied in seaming stockings, ornamenting clocks, or embroidering lace. Abundance thus rapidly acquired by those who were ignorants of its proper application hastened the progress of luxury and licentiousness, and the lower orders were almost universally corrupted by profusion & depravity, scarcely to be credited by those who are strangers to our district . . . Among the men, the discussion of politics, the destruction of game or the dissipation of the alehouses was substituted for the duties of their occupation during the former part of the week; and in the remaining three or four days a sufficiency was earned for defraying the current expenses. These emoluments contrasted with the wages of common laborers inducements too powerful to be resisted, and the children of the poor were consequently withdrawn from agriculture to trade. The difficulty of procuring servants created general complaints; and the inconvenience was aggravated by want of diligence in the males & of virtue in the females. Such was the conditions of the inferior classes and, if we examine the conduct & character of the Hosiers or Masters, much will appear deserving reprehension. Some were distinguished by liberality towards their workmen & by their firm attachment to the established government, but these were not the features of the majority. The bulk of the Hosiers had commenced their pursuits without fortune or education, and were far more inclined to censure the conduct of administration, than to correct their own ignorance & inhumanity. Hence an incessant struggle arose between the high & the low party. This in the elections of members of parliament was signalized by flagrant outrages, which at length subverted entirely the freedom of election, and produced the act 43 Geo. 3 c.45 by which the justices for the county were empowered to exercise a co-ordinate jurisdiction with the Mayor & Corporation of Nottingham within their precincts. Keeping pace with these changes in the habits & characters of the lower ranks, an increasing population exhibited to every considerate mind a prospect, at no great distance, of complicated distress whenever the manufactured articles should glut the markets. The policy of our enemies, by prohibiting the introduction of British commodities upon the continent, may have accelerated the crisis; but altho it might possibly have been postponed, it could not have been prevented. For nothing but the fall of the structure could have demonstrated to the artificers the impossibility of sustaining it at the height to which it had been raised; and, when the crash convinced them of their error, the subsistence of numbers was inevitably overwhelmed by the event.

The check imposed upon the trade of Nottinghamshire was, at first, but partially felt,because the stock on hand was comparatively of little value; but, as the practice of multiplying Frames & Artificers was continued with unabated zeal, long after the demand for them had ceased, the period arrived, when the warehouses were crowded with goods for which no vent could be found: and the Hosiers, sensible of their difficulties, began to devise arrangements for preventing their increase.

In this emergency, if the Hosiers had acquainted the Workmen with the true situation of the trade; if they had retained those who by long services or large families possessed the best title to protection, the young men would have engaged in other employments or would have entered into the army or navy; and none of our present disturbances would have occurred. But the workmen had, in the season of prosperity, dictated with insolence to their Masters; and an opportunity for retaliation now appeared, of which the latter indiscreetly & unfeelingly availed themselves.

The first attempt to abate the prices of labor originated, as I have been informed, with Mr. Nun the lace manufacturer above seven years ago. As the proposal was novel to the workmen they could not reconcile their minds to a reduction upon the compensation allowed for work; but, after many conferences, they tendered an increased rent for their frames to which the agent of Mr. Nun acceded & all parties were perfectly satisfied. This agreement however was erroneous in its principle & injurious in its operation, since it assisted in concealing the redundancy of labor in the market, while it encouraged the introduction of independent frames with which the trade was then overstocked, and facilitated the projects of needy adventurers who carried on their business by means of the ‘Independents’. About two years since, the consequences were severely felt; and an endeavour was made by many eminent lace manufacturers to reduce the rents of the lace frames to such sums as might entirely preclude all profit upon the machinery & thus annihilate the system of trafficking by the aid of ‘Independents’. This measure gave rise to much contentious discussion, but has now, I am told been carried completely into effect, with advantage, as I conceive, to the trade; but with considerable loss to those, who had ventured to furnish the independent machinery. This ferment in which both Masters & workmen were involved was followed by a diminution of the prices for work; & by the fabrication of very imperfect article called single pressed lace, which was highly disapproved & publickly reprobrated by respectable tradesmen, as disgraceful to the general character of the business.

Meanwhile the Hosiers were pursuing the same object by a different path. Knowing that the Framework-knitters would be little disposed to endure an abatement of prices which had been sanctioned by uninterrupted usage, about two years ago the Masters determined to change the fashion & figure of the work & to effect their purpose by deducting from the workmans prices more than a proportionate consideration. As soon as one change in the fashion & prices was established another was proposed. The quality of the manufactured goods was progressively deteriorated; and the Workmen found their utmost industry incapable of securing a livelihood. Some Masters in addition to these arrangements delivered out only half the usual weekly work to the Artificers, while they claimed the full rent of their frames while the means of employing them was denied.

Under these circumstances representations were urged by the workmen, and the example of many respectable tradesmen, who discharged their supernumary men & continued the remainder in full work, at equitable prices, was urged as a model for imitation. A meeting of the Hosiers was convened and standard prices were fixed & published in the Newspapers. But the result was only a fresh source of irritation & disappointment to the Petitioners. When they looked for the operation of the advertisement they were mortified by the galling refusal of their application; while their claims were countenanced by those Masters, who had from the commencement behaved with honor & humanity; and who now saw others enabled to undersell them in the market by petty profits, oppressively extorted from the starving necessities of the poor. It is not be supposed, that liberal men could behold this surreptious traffic without indignation & comment. — Neither could their sentiments remain long concealed from the objects of their commiseration. Pressed with hunger & exasperated by faithless promises of redress, the Framework-knitters denounced vengeance, & their threat has been amply fulfilled. They began their destruction work last spring by demolishing a few of the frames belonging to those who were most obnoxious — but as this warning did not produce any advances in their favor - they recommenced their outrages in November last, directing their fury against the machinery of every person by whom they conceived themselves to be aggrieved or oppressed. In one or two instances they have destroyed the property of their best employers, but this has been unintentional. The general tendency of their system is a proscription against persons & work of a specific description; and their designs have been generally accomplished by an understanding, if not a conspiracy, between the frame breakers & the frame renters, who mutually rejoiced in the event. The number of frames broken is supposed to exceed 1000; and the value of them may be estimated at £10,000. — By individuals the loss will be severely felt but as far as the general interests of the trade are concerned, it is universally allowed, that the machinery remaining is still abundantly more than sufficient for the market.

In the commencement of the disturbances three haystacks, belonging to those who had assisted the civil power, were burned; and some threatening letters were sent, but no such crimes have been recently committed. So that, altho I listened with attention to those, who at first taught me to believe, that the outrages were connected with political views; & that money might have been supplied thro’ secret channels, I now am firmly persuaded from diligent enquiry & vigilant observation that these opinions are not supported by facts. l ascribe the origin & progress of our present offences solely to internal animosities between the manufacturers themselves, and between the manufacturers & their workmen, acting upon the passions of a necessitous & dissolute class, who had been trained for insubordination by those who are now the objects of their vengeance; and who had been repeatedly told by many of their employers, & by the licentious paper brooded under their patronge, (the Nottingham Review), that the sovereignty resided in the people, and that it was their province as well as their duty to avenge their wrongs & to retaliate upon their oppressors.

Even at this juncture the Manufacturers who have endangered the safety of the country by their misconduct, continue spectators of the mischief without having, to my knowledge, done any act as a collective body to subdue the evils or to bring the offenders to punishments. Indeed they seem to be more occupied in murmuring against the executive government & in abusing the magistracy than in vindicating their own proceedings or in recommending any plan for effecting reciprocal conciliation.

Possibly it may be asked how are the Frame-breakers or ‘Luddites’ supported. To this I reply, that they are not numerous, that they receive contributions from the people in work; and that there is scarcely a Stockinger who will not give half his victuals or his money to these ‘friends of the poor man’, as they are styled, who beg in the evening from house to house, exposing to sale the Framework-knitters act, as a protection against the vagrant laws.

Upon a review of the circumstances which have been stated, the means of restoring the public peace and of preventing similar occurences in future, appear to demand attention.

The Bill now preparing for parliament, if the duties are executed by principals and not by substitutes, with the cooperation of the military force, will, in all probability, enforce good order especially as the distresses & opportunities peculiar to the winter season will soon have ceased.

But if tranquillity is to be permanently established it will be necessary to adopt some plan for preventing the frequent renewal of such alarming conflicts. l am aware of the delicacy attaching to any interference with regulations of trade, yet I beg leave most respectfully to submit for your consideration the expediency of passing an act to prescribe by a regulated table, what could be easily drawn, the rent to be paid for every species of frame used in the lace or stocking trade, which might be so estimated,as not to exceed 7½ per cent upon the prime cost, and to prohibit any person not supplying a frame with full work from demanding more than half the rent. The advantages which, I humbly conceive, likely to result from such a measure are these. It would remove a temptation to over stock the market with machinery by means of the independent frames. It would prevent the speculations of needy adventurers. It would create a closer connection between the manufacturers & the machinery, and render them more circumspect in their conduct from a consciousness that they must by oppression endanger their own property, which, under the present system, in many instances is not the case. It would materially conduce to settle the minds of the workmen if they learned that Parliament was not unmindful of their distress; as far as I can judge from the opinion of those to whom I have mentioned the plan it would prove acceptable to the substantial manufacturers. Since the late depreciation of wages is the first that has occurred within the memory of man in the lace & stocking manufactures of this county the poor have been less prepared than those in other districts for the indigent situation to which they are so unexpectedly reduced, and may therefore have been incited to the perpetration of more flagrant excesses than would otherwise have prevailed.

I have now, Sir, to apologise for having so extensively trespassed upon your attention for which the importance of the subject will I trust supply some excuse.

I have [etc.]

John T. Becher