28th September 1817: Viscount Lascelles writes to Lord Sidmouth about the plight of the Croppers

My dear Lord.

In the course of the last Session of [Parliament] your Lordship may recollect that I together with a Deputation from the Cloth Workers, or Croppers, waited upon you upon the subject of an alteration of the Laws respecting Emigration―The ground upon which the application which deprived the Clothworkers of their usual means of employment. The machinery applicable to their particular branch of trade are the Gig mill for raising cloth, and the Shearing Frames for cropping it when raised. Your Lordship well knows that considerable objections have existed in the minds of this class of workmen to the establishment of these machines; that in 1812 some deluded persons attempted by intimidation to restrain the use of them, and that application at different times has been made to [Parliament] for their abolition, but without success. In the last Session of [Parliament] a petition was presented to the House of Commons upon the subject, setting forth, in the most respectful manner, the effect likely to be produced upon the interests of the Petitioners by the increasing use of these machines. A numerous meeting was held in order to discuss the point in question―;and the Parties were unanimously recommended not to incur the expence of proceeding in furtherance of the petition; in consequence of the general opinion which seemed to prevail that [Parliament] would not sanction the abolition of the machines, or lay a restraint upon the fair employment of capital. In failure of the accomplishment of their wishes, the Parties were desirous of being allowed freely to emigrate: and it is upon this part of the question I take the liberty of troubling your Lordship: for I am informed that no expectation is now entertained by the Clothworkers of accomplishing their object. It cannot be doubted that the use of these machines is rapidly increasing throughout the West Riding of Yorkshire, and that they supersede the manual labor of a body of men, amounting, as I am informed, to about 3,500, who have been regularly and almost exclusively brought up, to the exercise of this trade. A Deputation waited upon me last week, and I promised to communicate with your Lordship upon the subject of their present wishes, in order that they might have an opportunity of being considered by Government previous to a more regular application. The persons who communicated with me, allow that the Woollen Trade has considerably revived, and that reasonable hopes may be entertained of its progressive amendment; but that notwithstanding these circumstances, their particular situations will not be improved since the use of machinery deprives them of their usual employment. In all changes of this nature, altho’ considerable inconvenience may be experienced in the first instance, the population affected will generally find employment in other branches of the business, and I make no doubt this will be the case very shortly with some part of the Clothworkers; but still a strong desire is expressed by them to have the assistance of Government in conveying such of them as may wish to emigrate, to North America. According to my own calculation this body may be divided into three parts: that which will find employment in other branches of the Woollen Trade: that which wou’d endeavour to find employment in any Trade or Business rather than emigrate; and that which would prefer emigration as affording them the fairest prospects. The Parties are aware of the regulations furnished by the Colonial Department respecting emigration; but according to them, Individuals must bear the expences of the voyage, which the greater part or perhaps all these persons are unable to do: and the Articles furnished by Government when Grants of Land are made, being according to the means of cultivation possessed by the Grantee: the prospects of an advantageous settlement in the Country are quite hopeless unless Government should, under the particular circumstances of the case, think proper to render them such assistance as will enable them to remove; and secure to them both assistance, and protection for a certain time after their arrival in North America. It must be recollected that the population already engaged in the different branches of the Woollen Trade is probably, uner the present circumstances of that Trade, fully sufficient to supply the demand for labor.

I am aware that difficulties may present themselves in fulfilling the wishes of the Parties, but if they can be overcome I am persuaded the number that will emigrate will not be large. The restraints imposed by the Laws do not appear to be as necessary now as at the time they were made, because not only in Europe, but in other parts of the World, improvements in manufactures are no longer unknown.

I remain
My dear Lord
Your faithful and
Obt Servt

Lascelles.

[To] Viscount Sidmouth.

11th February 1817: Leeds Croppers petition brought up in the House of Commons

On Tuesday 11th February 1817, a petition from Croppers in Leeds about the use of cloth-dressing machinery was debated in the House of  Commons:

PETITION FROM LEEDS RELATING TO THE USE OF MACHINERY.

Lord Lascelles said, he held in his hand a petition from a numerous body of people in Leeds, and the parts adjacent, who were cloth-dressers, and who complained that the introduction of machinery had thrown many of them out of employment. They prayed that some relief might be afforded them by the wisdom of parliament. He had explained to the petitioners themselves, that the question relative to machinery was a matter of deep consideration; nor did he flatter them that parliament could be able, considering the state of the woollen manufacture in other countries, to afford them any relief on this head. There was another prayer in the petition: these people entertained the impression, that if driven to emigrate to other countries, the existing laws threw obstructions in their way, as being manufacturers. The noble lord had told them, that considering the state of manufactures in other countries, neither could he give them much encouragement on this head: but at any rate their petition should be submitted to the consideration of parliament.

The Petition was then brought up and read, setting forth, "That the petitioners are employed in the dressing of woollen cloth, to which business they have served a long apprenticeship, and which heretofore enabled them to maintain themselves and their families, but which, in consequence of the extensive introduction of machinery into that department of the woollen trade, they are no longer able to do; they trust therefore for the indulgence of the House whilst they submit to their consideration the following facts; the petitioners beg leave to state, that, during the last session of parliament, they presented to the House, on behalf of themselves and their fellow workmen, a petition signed by 3,625 individuals, setting forth their grievances and praying for relief and redress, and they respectfully solicit the attention of the House to the allegations and prayer of that petition; it was stated in that petition that machinery for the dressing of woollen cloth had increased so rapidly within the last seven or eight years as to have produced very great distress among the persons employed in that department of the woollen manufacture, great numbers of them having been deprived of their accustomed employment and reduced to hopeles indigence and beggary; the petitioners have now to add to this statement the more specific information, that there was on the 17th of August 1816, totally out of employment 1,043 persons, in partial employment 1,380. in full employment 922; and on the 28th of October 1816 there were totally out of employment 1,166 persons, in partial employment 1,352, in full employment 860; and on the 3d day of February instant there were totally out of employment 1,170 persons, in partial employment 1,445, and in full employment 763, and the wages of those stated to be partially employed do not average more than from five to ten shillings a week; the petitioners also beg leave to state that it appears from the evidence taken before the House, that in the year 1806 there were only five gig mills, and not more than 100 pair of shears in the county of York wrought by machinery, but that the number of gig mills is now 72, and the number of shears is increased to 1,462, and that the consequence of this increase has been that great numbers of the petitioners and their fellow workmen have been reduced to absolute want; the petitioners also beg leave to submit to the House that they have a particular claim upon the attention of the legislature for protection and relief, inasmuch as they are prohibited by the laws from seeking employment in a foreign state; they would also submit to the House, that the pleas of necessity and expedience which have been pleaded in the behalf of the introduction of this species of machinery are unfounded, as there have always been a sufficient number of workmen to perform all the labour that was required: the petitioners also beg leave to state, that cloth is neither dressed better nor cheaper by machinery than by the old method of dressing it by the hand; on the contrary, the advantage in both these respects is decidedly in favour of dressing it by the hand, the large sums expended in the erection and in the maintenance of these establishments more than counterbalancing any saving in the price of dressing. In respect also to the manner in which the cloth is dressed, the petitioners confidently affirm that the cloth finished by machinery possesses no advantage whatever over the cloth dressed by hand; they are aware that it will be asserted that the unrestrained use of machinery is necessary to enable this country sufficiently to compete with foreigners: the petitioners in reply to this objection, beg leave to observe, that the universal adoption of gig mills and shearing frames would not in the least tend to lower the price of cloth, and would not be the means of causing a single additional piece of cloth to be sold either at home or in the foreign market; they would further observe, that though this species of machinery is thus impotent in promoting the prosperity of the woollen manufacture, it has been the fruitful source of much evil to the petitioners, and would, if carried further, be the means of depriving many thousands of persons of employment in the business to which they served a long and laborious apprenticeship, and indeed of all work whatever, as the present depressed state of trade precludes them from all chance of obtaining employment in any other business; the petitioners therefore hope, and humbly pray, that under these circumstances the House will be pleased to take their case into their immediate and serious consideration, and afford them such relief by restraining the use of this kind of machinery, or by such other means as may seem most meet to the wisdom of the House."

Mr. Brougham could not abstain from expressing his pleasure at seeing this petition brought forward so satisfactorily by the noble lord. This was the proper way in which the complaints of the people should be treated. In fact, all that had passed at public, meetings showed that the people were still sound at heart; that they still looked up to that House as their constitutional safeguard, and the grand source from which they were to expect relief. With regard to the prayer of the present petition, it must be obvious, that to adopt any measures to check the use of machinery, was as impolitic as it would be impracticable; but it was surely very hard on the petitioners that any impediments should be thrown in their way so as to prevent them from bettering their situation by emigration, if they were so disposed. This branch of the ancient policy of the country required the serious consideration of the House. Nothing could be more wicked than attempts to destroy machinery, such as the country had lately witnessed; yet at the same time the feeling which existed against machinery must be a ground of formidable alarm; for it showed that, instead of now being, as it lately was, a source of wealth, it was the cause of the most severe distress to a great body of the people, because the hands thrown out of work by the introduction of machines in one branch could not now find employment in other lines. This was a serious evil, well deserving the serious attention of parliament; but he should not dilate on it at present, because he should soon have occasion to bring the distressed state of the manufacturers under the consideration of the House. He might here be allowed to explain, that in the observations which fell from him last night, he did not mean to advert to any seizures of persons that had been made under the authority of the secret committee.

Lord Castlereagh entirely coincided with the hon. and learned gentlemen respecting the proper manner in which the petition just read had been drawn up. He wished the House to be assured he was as anxious as any individual could be to preserve the right of petitioning, as one of the most valuable blessings of the constitution, and he was confident, if the people were left to draw up their petitions themselves, they would do it in the best and most respectful manner. It was the means made use of to delude them by imposing on them manufactured petitions that excited his disapprobation and disgust. It was an insult to an Englishman, to suppose him incapable of stating his own grievances in a plain respectful manner.

The petition was ordered to lie on the table.

30th November 1816: Another correspondent writes to the Leeds Mercury in the debate about shearing frames vs hand-cropping

MR PRINTER,—In your paper of the 23d inst. I observed a comparison between the dressing of cloth by manual labour and machinery. Now, though I cannot doubt the veracity of your correspondent, who asserts that more men are employed in the latter mode of dressing it; yet, being an old man, whose ideas perhaps may have been narrowed and contracted by age, I cannot give full credit to this assertion without some explanation, and such an explanation as may be comprehended by other old men, whose intellectual powers may be rendered equally callous and obtuse. I have, for more than forty-five years, had the government of trading concerns, have viewed improvements with pleasure, and have, in some degree, shared in the benefits thereof; and experience has convinced me, that the use of a certain degree of Machinery has benefited the labouring classes; but I am free to knowledge that I am not able to see, to my satisfaction, that dressing cloth by Machinery can produce to the poor shear-men any real advantage, because when in the dressing-mills I have seen that one man can well manage four pair of shears. If your correspondent, who has made the assertion, will be so good as give the A. B. C. thereof, in your paper, he will oblige me with many more of your readers.

It has been hinted to me, that if the croppers would lower their wages, say, be content to earn 20s. a week, instead of 30s.—that then the dressing-mill would not be employed. This may be worthy the consideration of the shear-men; but I admit that it is difficult to persuade men, that 20s. a week constant, is better for them than 30s. though liable to interruptions.

23rd November 1816: Correspondents argue about shearing frames in the Leeds Mercury

In addition to the above paper, on the general subject, the following observations on the use of Machinery in the Dressing of Woollen Cloth, have been handed to us for insertion:

"The finishing of woollens by machinery," says one of our correspondents, "does not diminish manual labour. In proof of which assertion, I beg leave to state, that I am acquainted with a manufacturer in the neighbourhood of Leeds, who finishes about twenty-two pieces of cloth weekly, and if this cloth was finished by hand labour, the journeymen's wages would amount to about 26l. Fourteen or fifteen workmen would be required in that way to perform this work, whereas, by machinery, twenty workmen are required, twelve of whom have from 20 to 40 shillings per week, four of them 15 to 20 shillings weekly, and the other four a less sum. Instead of a decrease, there is therefore, as I have asserted, an increase of manual labour. A journeyman cropper would finish at 5 cuts, that work on which machinery bestows 8, 9, or 10, and two men would raise in half a day as much cloth as can be raised by machinery in nearly double that time. These are not mere vague notions, but facts founded on experience. The principal use of machinery in this department of the woollen trade, consists in the superior style of finishing. Cloth dressed in this way is more valuable than that finished by hand, that is, if it be properly prepared, for if not, machine dressing injures the fabric."

Another correspondent, writing on the same subject, says, "The usual payment made by cloth dressers to their workmen, for cloth dressed by hand labour, is 5 percent. upon the cost price of cloth; while the average wages paid for the last four years, by a house in this neighbourhood, pretty extensively engaged in the dressing of cloth by machinery, has been found on an accurate examination, to amount only to three and a half per cent.; so that the sum paid for labour is thirty shillings less in every five pounds. Or the matter may be put in another light: The men who work the machinery, being under no restrictions, and requiring less skill, are content to work for 18s a week each; but the regular cloth dresser working by hand, will own 30s. From which it would appear, that as many hands are required, but the labour employed in the new, is less expensive than that used in the old mode of dressing."

23rd November 1816: 'A Manufacturer' replies to 'Observator' in the argument about technology in the Leeds Mercury

MR. EDITOR,—I would not have troubled you with this, had I not felt much disappointment, on perusing your paper of Saturday last, to find but one reply to OBSERVATOR, on taxing Machinery, and that one so very leading lenient and mild. I am not in the habit of writing for the press; I am but a manufacturer, at the head of a considerable number of workmen, and therefore I must crave indulgence from the Critic, both for my grammar and composition. I should answer Observator, first, by stating a few facts which cannot be controverted, and secondly, by asking him a few plain questions.

First, then, a demand for goods has created all the manufactories in this country, and immense sums have been invested in building, machinery, and the capital necessary to make them answer.

Secondly, this property is rateable to the poor and to every other parochial tax, and pays a far greater proportion according to its real value, than the property of the gentleman of landed interest.

Thirdly, pauperism has not increased with Machinery.

Fourthly, the wages, arising from labour without Machinery, will not enable the population to purchase the produce of the land, and other articles of support, which yield a tax, besides relieving the landed interest.

Fifthly, neither the number nor the industry of the inhabitants of this country have diminished, and they never will to any great extent, either starvation or emigration

Sixthly, the morals of the population employed in manufactories are improved in a far greater degree than in any other class of labourers in the country.

I would now ask—has not the gentleman of landed interest had a hand in the increase of Machinery? Has he ever complained until now, that he too begins to feel the pressure of the times? Has he not been the principal supporter of unjust and unnecessary wars? Has not all his influence been directed to their promotion, in order that he might increase his rent-roll? Have not pauperism and the poor-rates risen and fallen exactly with the price of provisions? And has not the price of provisions been enhanced by the wars of the Ministers of the gentleman of landed interest, the paper-money system, and that horrible and engulphing system of corruption which pervades every department in the State? Is it not this which has left the mechant without orders, the manufactories without employ, and the operative class without bread? And lastly, has not the gentleman of landed interest been, for the last twenty-five years, enriching himself by supporting war, which, he says, has increased trade, and machinery, and population, to eat his dear corn?

I would now observe, that Observator must be very ill informed indeed, if he thinks that the present population will go back to the dressing, scribbling, carding and spinning of wool, by hand-labour, as they did forty years ago. Let him but propose such a thing to the few there are yet left, and they would laugh in his face.

He must be equally ignorant of the present state of information which the operative classes have attained, to suppose they will either starve or emigrate—no, they are too numerous and too enlightened to suffer or to do this, and he may depend upon it, that if employment be not found in the usual way, they will still find the means to live. Yes, the inhabitants born upon the soil will not leave it, and they will live upon it too. God in nature teach them this, and congregated in factories they have learned to feel themselves men, and are no longer the same ignorant and stupid beings they were previous to the introductions of Machinery. The light of truth is diffused over the land, and the hand-maid of truth is virtue, and its offspring is liberty. Factories have proved schools in which inquiry has been awakened, and the social feelings improved, by which the mists of delusion have melted before the rising sun of truth, and the midnight hags of ignorance and superstition can no longer bind the people by their spells.

Here this Observator, and read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest, before it is too late. It is the voice of a Manufacturer, who considers himself as only a foreman to several hundreds of human beings, his brethren in calamity, and in the eyes of God and nature—equal.

A MANUFACTURER

16th October 1816: 'Investigator' writes to the Leeds Mercury in defence of Machinery

Mr. EDITOR—I do not all agree with "Observator," in your last week’s Mercury, in the recommendation of a Tax on Machinery, neither do I think many of his arguments and conclusions are good ones. His remarks appear to have arisen from a desire to relieve his country from the difficulties under which it labours. But I conceive that, as well as many others, he has mistaken the legitimate objects that occasion our distress, and of course failed in pointing out where we are to look for remedies. Though pauperism may have increased with the extension of machinery, it does not follow that they should be cause and effect, nor even that there should be any connection between them. I believe there has not been any general scarcity of work for these many years past, until the present, nor while our trade flourished, did many apply to their parishes for want of work. Though they might be displaced by machinery yet they found employ in some other department, and I believe seldom had occasion to apply to their parishes. The great increase of pauperism may be accounted for by the lax state of the morals of the lowest class, and the decay of those principles of honour, which, from considering it shameful to become chargeable to their parish, taught them to provide for themselves against a time of need. What ought to have been laid up for the winter has been too often spent in the false sunshine of dissipation. There are still townships where this honour is preserved, when the labourer, like the industrious ant, provides against a day of scarcity, and I wish this were more general; but improvidence is one of the marked characteristics of our manufacturing poor. I agree with "Observator" that the factory system has had a great share in sapping the morals of the poor, and I lament it extremely with him.

His idea of a tax on machinery is so extremely speculative and impolitic, that I think very few words needful on that subject. For it is plain to be seen that such a tax on machinery as would create an expensive demand for manual labour, must be extremely high; machinery being so much cheaper a power, not to say any thing of the superior manner in which it performs many of the operations of the manufacturing process. Whatever tax might be laid on machinery would ultimately fall on the manufactured article, and would raise the price so much, that there is little doubt it would extinguish our export trade. If this is to be extinguished, as seems to be threatened from all more quarters than one, it is time for the British merchants, whose cheif trade is in the export of manufactured goods, to be looking around for some other country, where they may employ their capital unrestrainedly.

Instead of pressing remedies that would be worse than the evil they seek to cure, it is the duty of every Briton, quietly to wait a little longer for the amendment of the times. There is already in many places a considerable improvement, and I have no doubt the evil will work its own cure. We are not alone in our difficulties; so far from this, I know few countries where the people are in a better situation than in our own. If the disposition that is shown to relieve distresses by those are able to give, be met with equal readiness by the poor to submit to their deprivations for a time, I have no doubt but the sun, which has for a season been covered with spots, will again shine with increased splendour on the people of Great Britain.

INVESTIGATOR.

Leeds, November 11th, 1816.

9th November 1816: 'Observator' writes to the Leeds Mercury advocating the taxation of machinery

To the EDITOR of the LEEDS MERCURY.

SIR—I rely upon your well-known for the insertion in your widely extended paper of the following remarks on the general distress of the country, with the subjoined hints, calculated to relieve the community from the enormous burthen of poor rates and taxes.

The employment of so great portion of our population to carry on the late eventual war so drained us of men, that, to enable us the carry on our trade at the same time, which increased to an enormous extent, in consequence of our naval superiority, factories were filled with machinery, to perform the work that had before been done by hand; and the Agriculturalist following the examples of the trader, establishing the thrashing-machine, &c. &c. Whilst we, as it were, held the world in subjection by blockading the ports of our enemies, and engrossed to ourselves not only the trade of Europe, but nearly of the whole world, these inventions added sinews to our country, at the same time that they enabled the traders to acquire immense fortunes. But since peace has been restored, those Powers who were compelled to use goods of our making, now make for themselves, consequently our trade has diminished; but the number of labourers increased by the return of thousands from the army and navy: thus, the necessity of machinery is done away by the diminution of trade and the increase of labourers: still the machine continues to be worked while the labourer is unemployed and in a state of distress.

As the gentleman of landed interest is obliged to support the pauper, it would seem wise to employ him to thrash out his corn: and as the factories do not employ our poor, or support them when unemployed, and as they do not increase our revenue by import or export duties, it would seem expedient that the machines used in them should be done away, or that the articles made by them should be subject to a tax, so as to put manual labour on a footing with machinery.

The observations that follow will, I believe, apply to all the various concerns conducted by machinery, but, as the clothing trade is more familiar to me than any other. I shall confine my remarks to that only. Whoever will take the trouble to trace the progress of machinery in this business from its introduction to the present time, and its effect upon the landed interest, will find that just in proportion as labour has been done away by its employment, so has the land been burthened to support the poor, although it was not so severely felt whilst we had nearly trade of the whole world, and the war demand enabled the Agriculturalist to obtain his own price for the produce of his land. About thirty years ago the carding-engine and spinning-jenny were introduced: this was the first serious encroachment on the labourer; up to this period the whole female population of a manufacturing district was constantly employed spinning, &c. and the male cultivated the land: there was not a cottage within twenty miles of a manufacturing town whose inhabitants were not furnished with labour, and consequently with bread. A reference to the parish books would enable any gentleman to trace its effect on the poor-rates. The next step of innovation that lessened labour was the use of the scribbling engine; this branch of the trade employing fewer persons, chiefly men and boys, and being introduced during the war, was less felt; then followed the various machines used to dressing cloths, called gigs and shearing frames, whose operation collectively has transferred the labour of the country to an immense pile of building called a Factory; the machinery of which is worked by water or steam, and managed by a few persons only, instead of giving employment and support to thousands, who would, in their turn, by the wages arising from labour, be enabled to purchase the produce of the land, and other articles of support which yield a tax, and thereby contribute to take the burthen from the landed interest. It is, I believe, a political axiom not disputed, that the strength of a country consists in the number and industry of its inhabitants: if this be true, I begin to suspect, that unless some employment be found for the labourer, we must in the next war fight our battles with machinery, or become an easy prey to some daring invader, when emigration and starvation have depopulated our country. In an overgrown factory, one or even two hundred cloths are made a week by the employment of a few persons only; so that if we could retain the trade of the whole world, and combinations of persons continue to extend mechanical influence to the exclusion of manual labour, the population of the country must be in a state of starvation, and would demand support from the landed interest: furnish the poor with employment instead of using machines, and there will immediately follow a decrease of poor-rates, for then none will require parochial relief but the orphan, the aged, and infirm.

With one quarter part of our trade, conducted without machinery, there would be no want of employment for the poor, and instead of a company of three or four persons, with an overgrown capital, engrossing the trade of a populous district, it would be divided amongst the many, and the industrious man with a small capital would be enabled to bring his goods to market on equal terms with this opulent neighbour. The introduction of machinery has enabled the facturer to glut the market in a few weeks, let the demand be what it may: so that even the persons employed in these factories, some of whom get great wages, when at work, are sometimes revelling in drunkenness or debauchery, or starving for want of employ. The introduction of machinery has contributed also to debase the morals of society, by huddling the sexes together, in these factories, beyond the conception of persons not acquainted with its effect.

The charitable donations of the opulent, (which operate as a tax on the landed interest) can at best afford only temporary relief; and if it could be continued, would not fail to convert our hardy industrious labourer into a cringing servile beggar. If the gentlemen of landed interest, who must support the starving poor, do not enact some salutary law on this subject, these Trading Companies will ruin the country ruined the country to enrich themselves; and while they assume a style of splendour that eclipses and astonishes the country gentleman, their poor neighbours starve.

Tax machinery and you will give the poor employment: you will make them independent, and will make them happy.

OBSERVATOR.

6th November 1816: West Riding Magistrates fear return to a 'Luddite System' following the murder of a gamekeeper

Kildwick Novr 6th 1816.

My Lord,

We the undersigned magistrates acting in & for the West Riding of Yorkshire beg leave to call your Lordship’s attention to the following statement of a most atrocious murder which took place on Friday Evening the 25th Octr last at Silsden a Village in this neighbourhood where the Earl of Thanet is Lord of the Manor & nearly sole Proprietor—a man of the name of Thomas Hanson who was employed to look after the Game within the manor & his whole crime appears to have been a zeal to do his Duty in that capacity by strictly looking after the Poachers (who are become very numerous in this part of the Country & a Terror to the peaceable Inhabitants) was diabolically assassinated by some villain or villains who fired at him thro’ the Kitchen Window of a Public House in the village where he had been about an hour in Company with some others of his Neighbours—the particulars will be laid before your Lordship in a Duplicate of the Depositions on the Coroners Inquest, which will be sent tomorrow—We are met for the purpose of further investigating this horrible plot, & we are unanimously of Opinion that if Government should think it is of sufficient importance to aid our exertions, by offering such a reward as they may think proper, together with a pardon to any accomplice, who would make discovery of the Offence except the Person who actually fired the Piece, it might have a powerful effect & we beg further to suggest that if an active & intelligent Bow Street Officer was sent down to the purpose for the purpose of Investigation, he would greatly assist our exertions for the People in general thro’ the whole neighbourhood are so panic struck with the apprehension of the return of the Luddite System, that they really dare not come forward in lending their assistance towards making any discoveries or taking any active part whatsoever in the business. We mean to adjourn from day to day & any communication, that your Lordship may be pleased to honour us with on this subject may be addressed to J.A. Busfield Esq:, Chairman of this Meeting at Cononley Hall near Skipton in Craven Yorkshire—

We have the honour to remain
Your Lordship’s most
obedt. humble Servts

J.A. Busfield
Matt: Wilson
Edwd Ferrand.
Walker Ferrand
Wm Rushcliffe
Anth: Lister

30th October 1816: Croppers lose wages case at Pontefract Sessions

A court case regarding Croppers' wages that came before Pontefract Sessions is a good example of how the spectre of Luddism was invoked to arguably alter the outcome. It is noteworthy that the case lasted 14 hours. The case was reported in the Leeds Mercury of 2nd November 1816:

COURT OF THE HONOUR OF PONTEFRACT.

[Illegible] [Beresford], Oct. 30th, 1816.

Before JOHN HARDY, ESQ.

[BROWBRIDGE] and KITCHEN, v. LISTER.

This was an action to recover the sum of £3 17s. 9d. due to the Plaintiff for wages on the balance of an account, three pounds and three pence was paid into Court; the only question was, whether the further sums of seventeen shillings was also due unto Plaintiffs. As this cause has excited some interest, we shall, without entering into a detail of the evidence, state the nature of it in as few words as possible.

The Plaintiffs are working cloth-dressers, and the Defendant is a master cloth-dresser, residing in this town. In the month of July last, the Plaintiffs were employed by the Defendant to dress for him 23 pieces of cloth for the Russian contract. It was stated by the witnesses of the Defendant, that when about six of these pieces had been done, Mr. Lister stated to the Plaintiffs that the pieces were only to be backed and not half dressed, an operation which was explained as requiring less labour, and that the price would be reduced from five to four shillings a piece. This proposal being demurred to, Mr. Lister said he would give the same price as other dressers gave for goods dressed in a similar manner. No objection appears to have been made at the time to this proposal: but upon a settlement of accounts, the Plaintiffs demanded 5s. a piece, and refused to take less. Several witnesses were also called to shew that 4s. shillings a piece was as much as was given by other dressers, and was a fair and full price for this species of dressing, and that by reasonable industry 30s. a week might be earned at that rate. On the part of the Plaintiffs several witnesses were called, the object of whose evidence was to prove, that the alteration in the price had not been mentioned to them until the whole of the pieces, except three or four, had been dressed; it was also contended by the Plaintiffs, that as the whole 23 pieces had been delivered the Plaintiffs to dress at the understood price of 5s. a piece, no alteration in this parcel could take place without the consent of both parties. Mr. Hardy said, there were two questions for the Jury to decide: first, was there a special contract? if there was, was that contract four or five shillings a piece? If there was no contract, the Jury would then have to determine from the evidence, what was a full and fair price for the labour performed upon the cloth. If they found that there was a contract, and that the contract was for 5s. a piece, the Plaintiffs would be entitled to recover the sum claimed. If four shillings a piece was the contract, the Defendant would be entitled to a verdict. If there was no contract, the Jury would then find for the plaintiffs or for the Defendant, as the evidence should satisfy then, that five or four shillings was a fair price for the dressing of this cloth. Mr. Hardy said, the Jury were to dismiss from their minds all the insinuations which had been thrown out as to the Plaintiffs belonging to an illegal combination; this was a charge, which, whether true or false, they had nothing to do with. Mr. Hardy then proceeded to make some observations on the ruinous nature of these kind of combinations; he observed, that labour, like all other things, would best find its own level, and that all confederacies to keep it up were destructive, because they had a tendency to drive trade and manufactures to other countries, and he mentioned Nottingham as an instance of the fatal effects of this system, and stated, that in consequence of the frame-breaking, which had been so long carried on there, the manufacturers were rapidly removing from that town neighbourhood, and that these deluded men had taken the most effectual means of depriving themselves of the means of subsistence. The Jury found a verdict for the defendant.

The Court, with the adjournment of one hour, remained sitting from ten o'clock on Wednesday morning until about two o'clock in the morning of the following day.

25th September 1816: Large demonstrations of unemployed men occur in Leeds

On Wednesday 25th and Friday 27th September 1816, large demonstrations took place in Leeds, involving hundreds of unemployed men. The protests were against their predicament, but also directed at the publisher of the Tory Leeds Intelligencer, who had recently published editorials scoffing at the distress of the unemployed.

Both Leeds Newspapers carried reports and editorials about the demonstrations.

The Leeds Mercury of Saturday 28th September 1816 carried a long editorial:

On Wednesday last an assemblage of several hundred men, chiefly work-people out of employment, took place in front of the Leeds Intelligencer Printing Office, but after remaining in that situation for some time they separated, without committing any act of riot or excess. The motive of this meeting we have heard differently stated, but we believe the real object of the unfortunate people of whom it was composed, was to shew the town, and more especially to prove to the Printer of the Intelligencer, that the distress which has been felt and complained of in this town and district is a reality, and not, as he has indiscreetly and insultingly represented it, in his paper of the 16th instant, a mere "farce" and an "excellent joke." After the meeting in Cross-Parish a number of the people adjourned to the Workhouse, where the Committee, consisting of the guardians of the poor, was then sitting, and the applications for the relief of distressed families were on that day unusually numerous. 

In speaking of the public distress in this town, we have uniformly guarded with extreme caution against those exaggerations into which we think opposite sides have fallen. We have stated repeatedly, that according to our views, the Mayor's Letter to the Ministers of Religion in the town, coloured those distresses too highly; but his error was on the side of humanity; and we are far from thinking that he could be guilty of the folly of wishing to impart éclat to the conclusion of his mayoralty by seeking to obtain contributions for distress which had little or no existence. Such an insinuation it remained for those who condemn others for speaking disparagingly of authorities, to level against the chief magistrate of the borough. The truth of the declaration made from the hustings in Westminster we have also denied, not in degree, but to the extent. We have said, and we now repeat, that the distress is neither unequalled nor indescribable. But while we have combated these exaggerations on one side, we have with equal earnestness, and certainly with more feeling, denied pointedly and positively that the distress on which so much has been said, has no existence. Existence it unfortunately has, and to an extent too that no well regulated mind can contemplate without feelings of deep commiseration. But it is not sufficient that the public should feel; it is necessary that they should act; and we hope the time is not far distant, when the town of Leeds, properly convened, will have an opportunity of shewing that they are alive to the destitute state of  their distressed neighbours. In the mean time, it is the wisdom of men of all parties to sooth the public feelings, and to guard against those exaggerations, as well on one side as on the other, which are calculated only to convert into a subject of discussion, those misfortunes which it ought to be the business of all, by united efforts, to alleviate, if they cannot remove. 

It has been suggested to us, that all discussions on these subjects are prejudicial; and if he be meant all intemperate discussions, we fully concur in the truth of the observation. But if it be meant to deprecate all mention of the subject as well that which exaggerates as that which tends to place the matter in a sober and proper point of view, we must beg to express our decided dissent from such a proposition. Truth, humanity and justice, never suffer by investigation. The gloomy silence of studied suppression, is, if possible, more mischievous than even the language of violent discussion. It closes the door of hope. It appears like abandoning the cause of the poor in despair; and that we will never do while we have a mind to exercise and a pen to wield in their behalf. 

WHILE we are upon this subject, we must be excused, if we expose the extreme want of candour, and the palpable, and we will add, wilful misrepresentation that has taken place regarding the statements in our last paper. We never adduced as a proof of the public distress the fact that only 1046 men were out of employment in the whole of the West-Riding of Yorkshire; what we said was, that's 1043 men were out of employment in one particular department of a single branch of the woollen manufacture. It is dealing fairly with the public, is it honest towards the labouring classes, to make these wilful and deliberate perversions of the truth? Let any man of integrity answer that question. We did not, as a proof of public distress, say that an accumulated surplus of £400 was at this moment in the hands of the parish officers. What we did say was, that an accumulated surplus of £1800, which was in the treasury of the parish in May last, had since that time been reduced to £400. Are not these repeated efforts to deceive, a proof that they are a part of a system? and what must be done the nature of that cause that requires such support? 

It is in pursuit of this system, that the Dissenters of Leeds are represented as answering the solicitations of the Mayor "to contribute to the relief of their suffering brethren, with dry eyes and immovable countenances, quietly keeping their hands in their pockets, and protesting that they could not discover any objects on whom they could properly bestow their charity." Do the Dissenters deserve this reproach? Let the numerous charities in Leeds answer this question. Do they deserve, in a time like this, to be held up, in a public newspaper, as fit objects for popular indignation? Is this a just representation of their conduct, or of the language of the paper that might be supposed to speak their sentiments on the occasion in question? In the first place, the letter of the Mayor was not, as is here insinuated, confined to the Dissenters. It was sent also to the Clergy of the Established Church, who acted, and very properly acted, in the same way as the Dissenting Ministers. But is it true that "the organ of the party" denied the propriety of raising funds for the relief of the distressed? Did we not, on the contrary, recommend that the inhabitants of the town should be called together, "to devise a mode of relief, that should be, in some degree, commensurate with the distress it is meant to abate?" And yet our accusers have the unblushing effrontery to come forward and state publicly, that the propriety of raising funds, for the release of the distressed, was denied. We have long treated the calumnies and misrepresentations, flowing from the contaminated source in which these imputations originate, with silent contempt, and impunity has made the slanderers audacious. There have evidently been making an experiment upon public credulity, and endeavouring to compress into a focus the greatest possible mass of misrepresentation, calumny, and falsehood.

The same edition also had a shorter article about the demonstration on Friday:

Yesterday another assemblage of unemployed workmen took place in Briggate and Cross-Parish, from whence they proceeded to the Court-House, where the Magistrates were sitting, and paraded for some time in front of Park-Row. Though we are by no means dispose to censure these meetings with undue severity, the first of which might be considered in some degree necessary in order to prove by an argument the force of which could not well be resisted, the reality of the public distress; yet we must say, that we do not perceive any good, and we fear much ill, may arise from their repetition. We hope and believe, that no violence or outrage is intended; but all large bodies of men, assembled under such circumstances, resemble a magazine of combustibles, and who shall say that some incendiary hand, either from a mistaken zeal, or from worse motives, may not cast in a spark, the consequences of which would probably be less fatal to those without than those within the garrison? It is, we allow, a great evil for men that are willing to work to be unemployed; but there are still greater and more lasting evils. In a country like this, no man will be suffered to perish for want. The masters in general, are as anxious to give employment to their workmen as the men are to be employed. They have a common interest. One cannot be pinched by penury, but the other must be threatened with ruin. They are embarked in the same ship, and the crew may depend upon it that the officers will not suffer her to sink, if any effort of theirs can keep her afloat. The mess at present may be slender, but popular commotions would not strengthen it. We hope trade will soon begin to improve; we hear, indeed, that some alteration for the better has already taken place. In the mean time, the more opulent inhabitants of the town, will, we do not doubt, do their duty. There never yet was a well founded appeal made to them in vain. It is some consolation to know, that in many branches of trade work-people are tolerably well employed, among those may be ranked joiners, bricklayers, and handicrafts men in general; there are, to be sure, many exceptions, but the principal distress is found among those usually employed in the different branches of the woollen manufacture.

The Leeds Intelligencer posted the following editorial about what had occurred, and in response to the Leeds Mercury's comments:

In our Market-place, on Wednesday and Friday last, there was an assemblage of between three and four hundred men, who stated themselves to be out of work. They paraded in different places, but, we are happy to say, did not commit any violent acts of outrage. The general belief is, that the sole object of this assemblage was to convince us, that there were so many persons as composed it out of employment. 

As this belief is avowed by our opponents, we would ask, Why then, do they insidiously seize such a moment, to enter into a long strain of falsehood and declamation, in order to render us as odious as possible in the eyes are lower orders? They know we cannot treat them, in a reply, as they deserve, without the hazard of adding to that irritation which has already been excited, and which we are anxious to allay, not on our account, but for the sake of public tranquillity, and of the misguided men themselves, whose safety might be compromised by their own unthinking rashness. 

We have never contended that no distress whatever existed—that not any persons were out of employment;—this has, all along, been self-evident. What we have argued, and that merely in refutation of the Westminster Patriots, is, that the distress the poor, in this place, did not warrant the assertions of the redoubted Major Cartwright, and the truth of this is fully admitted, even by those who have taken the occasion to malign and misrepresent us. That even a single individual should be destitute of work, we lament as much as anyone—but we will not, though the task would not be difficult, cast back or recriminate the foul aspersions put upon us by our angry and insidious adversaries. 

To the proposal of those adversaries we fully agree, and are willing to abide by the judgment of an impartial public, which of the two has advocated the cause of Liberty, and which the cause of Licentiousness—which has contended for the honour of Britain, and which has supported the cause of her most inveterate enemies. In the real, unexaggerated distress of the labouring classes, and in the present depression of trade (which is not confined to this country, but which extends all over Europe, and even to America) we ever did, and ever shall, feel the deepest interest: and whatever our enemies may insinuate or threaten, we shall never be found wanting, as far as our feeble means allow, in giving our support to the cause of humanity. Have not our columns, on every agitation of great questions in commerce, and on the recent Wool Question in particular, been zealously crowded with articles to promote that commerce and the consequent employment and prosperity of the labouring classes? For the vigilance with which we have watched over their real interest, we are not afraid of a comparison with any paper in the Kingdom. Have we, in public or in private, ever withheld our mite from any effort to relieve public distress? We may be represented as enemies of the poor: but the consciousness of an exactly opposite character, and the invariable exercise of that character in the discharge of our duty, shall with us, as we trust it will with the Public, suffice better to silence the voice of calumny, than the prolongation of a discussion which several reasons render it improper to continue. For the actual difficulties that exist, both with respect to workmen and their employers, we trust the returning title of prosperity will speedily bring an efficient remedy, if it be not interrupted and frighted back by the designing clamour of those whose business it is to sow dissatisfaction, and to excite despair.

13th July 1816: Report on the weather in the Leeds Mercury

The Weather.—The oldest man living does not recollect such unseasonable weather as we have lately experienced. But this is the case not only in England, but in the most mild and salubrious parts of France, and every other part of the Continent. A letter from Bordeaux, of the 15th June, says:—"We really do not know here where we are. We sit with our doors and windows closed and fire burning as in the middle of winter. It is cold as in October, and the sky is dark and rainy; violent winds accompanied with heavy rain and hail rage round the house our country houses; the low grounds are under water; if we have one tolerable warm day, several cold and rainy ones like the preceding, are to follow. The oldest people in the country do not recollect such a summer. Vegetation suffers, particularly the vines. The time of the blossom should be past, and they have not yet begun to blossom.—This is a bad prospect of the vintage, as the grapes cannot possibly ripen."

20th June 1816: The Mayor of Leeds request troops from the Home Secretary

To the Rt Honble the Lord Visc Sidmouth
His Majesty's principal Secretary of State
for the Home Department

My Lord

I had the honour to Address Your Lordship some time since from a Meeting of the Magistrates of this Borough, requesting some Military aid in Support of the Civil power, which Your Lordship was so good as to send us, and which we found to be adequate for the purpose of protecting the Inhabitants against the mischievous disposition which then prevailed,. But that force was soon withdrawn, and some Acts of Violence having been lately attempted, and the delinquents taken into Custody, but afterwards rescued, for want of sufficient power to retain them, there is reason to fear that the spirit which prevails may produce some sudden ebulition & serious mischief without the presence of some Military to support the Civil Authorities.

I am requested by a Meeting of the Magistrates here this day, to entreat your Lordship, to send us a Small force of Military Cavalry, to be Station’d at Leeds as soon as may be, to prevent any disorder or danger to the peaceable inhabitants, by exhibiting adequate support to the Civil power in case of need.

I have no doubt but the wise Caution given to us by Your Lordship of the former Occasion, will be Strictly obeyed by the Civil Magistracy here

And I have [etc]
W. York
Mayor

Leeds 20 June 1816

26th April 1816: The Secretary of the Leeds Cloth Dressers' Union outlines their distress to the Leeds Mercury

To the editor of the Leeds Mercury.

Sir,

Who is the true Friend of his Country? This Question strikes me more forcibly at a Time like the present, when it is acknowledged by all, that general Embarrassment and Want of Employment pervades the whole Nation. The Man, (at such a critical time,) that does every thing in his power to give employment to the lesser class of the community, must be acknowledged to be a friend truly to his Country, and if he should make a small sacrifice, so much the more. Now, Sir, it is a well known fact to every one that properly understands it, that the Machinery for the making of Cloth in the Town and Neighbourhood of Leeds throws Two to Three Hundred [Men] out of Employment, with very little benefit to the Owner, if any, and the Work, to say the least of it, no better done. If this be true, and it is too true, what will be the feeling of those brave Men returning from the Army and Navy to find all their hopes blasted, and their former employment [taken] by Machinery?

Likewise, the Cloth-workers, who have borne the weight of heavy Taxes and dear Provisions during the War, at the return of peace to [have] every thing turn from them that would Support them and their Families. The Person that gives Employment to the Working Classes encourages Consumption and helps the Revenue, and is worthy the gratitude of all good Men. It is unnecessary to say any thing more, the following statement will say sufficient:

The Quarterly Report of the Clothworkers’ Brief Institution, taken from the 1st of January, 1816, to the 31st of March.

In January there were out of Employ…… 317
In February…….D………...D………….. 378
In March ………..D……….D…….…… [389]

In this Number are included the lately returned from his Majesty’s Service.

The Number of Children dependent on these Individuals or Support is, 1134.

In the course of the last Quarter the Institution has paid to the Relief of their own Sick and Funerals 61l. 6s.

JOHN SUNDERLAND, Secretary.
April 26th 1816.

N.B. There are at present not less than Six Hundred Pairs of Sheers going by Machinery.

26th February 1816: The Huddersfield solicitor John Allison informs the Home Secretary about the latest Luddite attack in the West Riding

Huddersfield 26th February 1816

My Lord

It is with extreme concern that I have to report to your Lordship, that a system of disturbance & outrage similar to that which raged in this part of the Country 4 years ago, has again made its appearance – and by the direction of Sir Josh Radcliffe Baronet, I transmit the Copy of an Examination taking this Morning before him – In addition to the facts which it discloses, I have learnt that Roberts who has used the Improved Machinery ever since the Special Commission for this County, has been frequently threatened an abused of late by persons whom he did not know, but who appeared to be Cloth Dressers – that when the attack was made upon it, as stated in the Examination, no Fire Arms were used – no Guard stood over him, or any part of his family – no Shouting or threats were used at the time, nor did the perpetrators com into the House as formerly was the case—. I beg leave also to add for your Lordship’s Information, that in my humble Opinion, there is no apparent scarcity of work in the neighbourhood to justify any such proceedings, and that provisions are very cheap; it may therefore be hoped that the present outrage may proceed more from private malice against this Individual than from any determined Spirit of Opposition to the improved Machinery; altho’ it is much to be lamented that that Spirit is merely smothered but not destroyed—. I have made most of the leading persons who have adopted these Improvements acquainted with this Movement, & have every reason to expect they will use precautionary measures, & will actually Defend their property as they ought to do — I have particular Assurances from Mr. Wm Cartwright of Rawfolds, and several others, that they will be prepared to meet all future movements, in case any shall be made & there shall be no supineness to prevent these disgraceful proceedings on the part of

My Lord,
your Lordships very obt & faithfl hble St
Jno. Allison &c

25th February 1816: Four shearing frames broken by Luddites at Quarmby, their final action in the West Riding

At 1.00 a.m. on Sunday 25th February 1816, the final Luddite action in the West Riding took place - just after the fourth anniversary of the first actions in the County.

The Leeds Mercury of 2nd March carried the following report about the attack:

Outrage near Huddersfield.—Last Sunday morning, about two o'clock, several persons broke into the house and shop of James Roberts, of Quarmby, near Huddersfield, cloth-dresser, and after demolishing all the windows and window-frames, for several yards square, proceeded to break the shears and improved shear-frames used in the cloth-dressing business; and, having effected their lawless purpose, retired without molesting any part of the family. It is fervently to be hoped, that the outrages which disgraced the neighbourhood of Huddersfield some years ago, and which proved so fatal to their perpetrators, are not about to be renewed; but should that be the case, we are assured that the persons whose property is likely to suffer in the event of a renewal of the frame-breaking system, are determined to defend their property against any attack that may be made upon it, and to render mutual assistance to each other for this important object.

The passage was a press release by the authorities, since the Leeds Intelligencer also quoted the same text and acknowledged they had received it from Huddersfield and didn't wish to add comment.

James Roberts gave a deposition to Joseph Radcliffe on the 26th February, confirming the time of the attack as 1.00 a.m. Throughout the attack - which he said lasted for 3 hours - he remained in bed because he was so afraid, and he also confirmed that not one word was uttered by the attackers. Attached to the deposition was an estimate of the cost of the damage: 3 broken frames, 1 damaged frame, and 4 pairs of hand shears - £16, 17 shillings sixpence; and for damage to the windows, £25, 17 shillings sixpence.

17th February 1816: Weather report from Bradford

The Leeds Mercury of Saturday 17th February 1816 carried a local report about the increasingly cold weather being experienced in the 'year without summer':

Thermometer.—At Bradford, on the morning of the 9th inst. At nine and till near ten o'clock, the thermometer stood at 10 degrees, being 22° below the freezing point. The depression being so great, induced the observer to check it by three other thermometers, which proved the accuracy of the first. The situation in which it is placed in due North, and quite open to the country.—Barometer, at the same time, one line below changeable.

8th February 1816: Temperature of minus 12 Fahrenheit recorded in Leeds

On Saturday 10th February 1816, the Leeds Mercury carried this brief article about the extent of the severity of the winter weather recorded 2 days before:

A Correspondent observes, that last Thursday night, at 8 o'clock, the Thermometer, in Leeds, stood at twelve below the freezing point, being eight degrees lower than at any time during the present winter.

20th January 1816: Fire at a Scribbling Mill in Leeds, 'cause not yet ascertained'

The Leeds Mercury of Saturday 27th January 1816 reported a fire that had taken place in Leeds the week previously:

Saturday morning, about half-past 3 o'clock, an alarming fire broke out in the manufactory of Messrs. Glovers, in Park-Lane, in this town, from some cause not yet ascertained, The flames spread with such destructive rapidity, that in less than an hour, the scribbling-mill in which the fire originated, with all the machinery, was totally destroyed, and for some time the most serious apprehensions were entertained for the adjoining buildings, but at 6 o'clock the fire was happily got under, and the dwelling-house, and warehouse, with the engine-house, all adjoining, were preserved. It affords us pleasure to add that the stock, machinery, and buildings were insured in the Royal-Exchange office. Providentially the morning was extremely calm, and to this circumstance, combined with the most active exertions of the inhabitants; the preservation of  any part of this extensive property is to be attributed.

17th January 1816: Cloth belonging to Wormald, Gott & Wormald damaged in Leeds

Some time in the evening of Wednesday 17th January 1816, some cloth upon the tenters at the Park Lane factory of Wormald, Gott & Wormald was cut and damaged. The subsequent reward notice gave more detail:

REWARD OF

One Hundred Guineas.

ASSOCIATION

For the PROSECUTION of FELONS.

Tenters Cut. 

WHEREAS, late last Night, or early this Morning, some Person or Persons, did wilfully and maliciously CUT TWO PIECES of COARSE MIXTURE CLOTH, in various Directions, on the Tenters in the Front of Mr. Gott's House, in Park-Lane, Leeds, the Property of Messrs. Wormald, Gott and Wormald, of Leeds, Merchants. 

F Whoever will give Information of the Offender or Offenders shall, upon Conviction, receive a Reward of NINETY GUINEAS from the said Messrs. Wormald, Gott and Wormald; and a further Reward of TEN GUINEAS, at Mr. Smith's Office, Trinity-Lane, Leeds. 

Leeds, 17th January, 1816.

16th January 1816: The Leeds Cloth Dressers Union case comes to court

On Tuesday 16th January 1816, the case of the Union Officers arrested and charged with aiding and abetting an illegal combination (i.e. Trade Union) by Leeds Magistrates in December was heard at Leeds Borough Quarter Sessions. The Leeds Mercury of 20th January 1816 gave a good summary of the proceedings:

TILLOTSON, SUNDERLAND, & OTHERS, Appellants, REX, Respondent. 

The Appellants, who are cloth-dressers, were convicted on Tuesday, the 19th of December last, by Whittell York, Esq. Mayor, and Thomas Ikin, Esq. on a charge of combining to hinder Messrs. Oates and Hardisty, cloth-merchants, of this town, from employing Thomas Marshall, as a cloth-dresser. Mr. Williams, who came from Preston for the purpose of sustaining the appeal, had been especially retained by the Appellants at a very considerable expence. His assistance, however, turned out to be unnecessary, as Mr. Maud, who was Counsel in support of the Conviction, stated to the bench that it was impossible the conviction could be legally sustained, as the Magistrates before whom the the conviction had taken place had no jurisdiction in the case, the act having especially provided, "that no Justice, being a master in any trade or manufacture, concerning which any offence is charged to have been committed should act in execution thereof." On this ground Mr. Maud said, the conviction must necessarily be quashed, for if that Court should affirm it, the Court of King's Bench would, would, under the circumstances of the case set such conviction aside. He concluded with moving that the conviction be quashed, to which the Court of course assented.—Conviction quashed.