THE LANCASHIRE RIOTS.

Grey River Argus, Volume 21, Issue 3099, 22 July 1878, Page 2

THE LANCASHIRE RIOTS.

Events have occurred this week (May LO 17) in Lancashire in connection with ;he cotton strike of a graver character :haracter than have taken place in England for many years. There have been 3erious riots and acts of violence, such as have been scarcely witnessed before by the present generation. Disturbances Brst took place at Darwen on Friday, May 9, when collisions occurred between bhe mob and the police, and several persons were hurt and much damage was done to property. The disturbances were renewed on Saturday and Sunday, when a crowd of 3000 persons assembled armed with all kinds of weapons, but no acts of violence were reported, On Tuesday an attempt was made to settle the dispute, but it failed, and the disappointment of the, operatives led to serious aciß.^pf ' violence. In the afternoon delegates representing the operatives on strske waited on the committee of the Masters' Association in Manchester, and proposed either to refer the dispute to;,atrbitra;tioh or to accept 5 per cent reduction 'brlO per cent redaction with short time V* '; The;r slated that they would accept, the Earl oB De cby , the Earii of .Sei ton, .'and the JJishqpW of Manchester as arbitrators.' The masters' committee, refused to entertain any of the prepositions, and, adhered to their former resolution. ' This decision appears to have created great, irritation amongst the operatives, and disturbances occurred in several of the Lancashire towns. At Blackburn a mill belonging: to a town councillor - was partiallyr pulled down ; and the mob afterwards wrecked the house of Mr Hornby. ! This" gentleman offered them a "hundred .pounds todesist, but they refused • and appeared not only to have destroyed his property, but to have.personally:Ul-U3Bd him, as it is stated that he was wounded in the thigh. The mob then went tathe house of Colonel Raynsford Jackson^ chairman of the Masters' Association, and set fire to it. Colonel Jackson heard; the! mob coming, and escaped by a back door. The family were away from home. At halfpast eleven the Mayor went with the Town Clerk and magistrates to King street to read the Riot Act. ';He r had; previously sent for the soldiers. On Wednesday great excitement prevailed; : hut there was no repetition ' of the scenes enacted on the . previous : evening.;; ; • The Riot Act was. ( read;byt,the' Mayor, who also issued' an appeal to all peaceablydisposed persons to enrol /themseles;aa special constables! " .Detachments of infantry, cavalry, and police patrolled the street 3at intervals. Shortly 'after' the Riot Act- w,as; ? read;it~waa feared that the moby.wouid wreck the Mayor's residence, but the police and soldiery followed the crowds.and dispersed them..,. Inrthe evening two troops elf. the sth', Dragqph'Guarda arrived. Th'eeici^ement at Burnley was not less alarming than at, Blackburn. In the afternoon the operatives, numbering many thousands.. attended a mass meeting, and afterwards ;went in a~body f t6"Mr Alderman Kay's mills, ; the windows *bf which had been smashed. In the evening the Mayor read the Riot lAjßt, and telegraphed for the services of the military, Mr Kay's warehouse was burned, down. Serious apprehension . of a disturbance was felt at Preston on Wednesday night. The residences of some of the principal millowhers were guarded by soldiers, the police force was strengthened, and special constables were sworn in. At Darwen and Accrington, also, intense excitement prevailed. < The disposition -toTawWssueiis has extended to Craw'shawbobth. Tuesday night a mob ! of 400 people marched to the house of one of a number of operatives who have submitted to a reduction, and,- after -burning' ; an effigy, broke the windows of. the man's house. Some windows of the Britannia Mill were also smashed. ., In an address at Olddam on Wednesday the Bishop of Manchester referred to the Blackburn riot on Tuesday night. He ventured upon the assertion that the persons concerned in them were only the ordinary riff-raff '< to be found in any district, and usually to be met with in any town. If this be so (the Manchester Guardian remarks) the "riff-raff" is a large majority in some towns., S~ '••■' ']■. -..• Several arrests have taken 0 place in' consequence of these "riots. On . May ; 20 William Harrison (18), a grinder, ;Waa, charged with having his pockets, full of, stones for an unlawful purpose. .The prisoner was proceeding along Fishergate, when Mr Wi Brown and Mr T. Heaps, tradesmen, noticed something - bulky, in his pockets, and, upon being' convinced, of what they contained,, they, on th!eir s own" responsibility, took him intbcustb'dy. The magistrate, remanded' the prisoner, complimented the tradesmen on the action, they .had taken, and observed .that if other peace-loving townsmen had done the same they might have been spared, many of the mishaps whioh-they had now ; to deplore.; The residence of' Mrl A.> s Simpson, near Garstang, is now added- to' those which are deemed necessary to be guarded in an especial, manner. Mrs Townsley Parker is reported. to( be c dyirig , of fright in consequence of : the i distur- 1 , bance near her residence. The decision arrived at in Blackburn has cast a gloom ' among the operatives, who desire, heartily ; to resume .work. During May 30, the mill of,, Horrocks and Jackson*, Avenham street, was attacked by a band of youths, and many windows. .were broken. ) Two~ lads were apprehended, and the names of ten others were obtained. In the evening the Lancers patrolled the streets and roads in the direction of Blackburn, and later on a, troop 1 of the 4th. Dragoons arrived from Manchester and went on towards Garstang, where there are a number of^ residences of ; • manufacturers and several. mills! The police *^ dispersed; the crowd without :. much^r trouble. , . Apart from; the ever-Increasing [ and alarming: » destitution, there nis.o\-nbi> material change in the aspect of faffairsunui Preston. Beggings is becoming: t very prevalent- and small <shop r keepers iniome^ instances have suffered from blackmailing.^ Though the distress is great there are those of the operatives who are undoubtedly making" tradevout' of .their! unfortunates by soliciting alms whe*%l there is nb : necessity for it, and^here are only tod many generous -hearted people 1 r who were cajoled by their doleful tales. 1 ' The Association of Operative Weavers are' I assisting; distressed cases, but they have adopted the wise plan of sending visitors to the houses before granting relief.:; The Union cfßces are continually besieged by operatives, principally women, seeking relief, and many private persons are giving soup and provisions daily to the more necessitous. The cavalry have been patrolling the, disturbed; districts, and at present ,a]ii. is .quite,; From the action of

the Home Secretary and from the deter--mination of the magistrates throughout the country it would be found that if the operatives attempted anything of a lawless character, they would have to suffer most tremendously for it. In case of any emergency arising, an emergency committee of the board of guardians could be called at the shortest possible notice and take the steps that should be deemed advisable under the circumstances. The spinners at Birley Brothers' mill have been locked out in consequence of the continued dispute at Blackburn. Matters have now assumed their normal condition in, Accrington and Oswaldtwistle, every manifestation of turbulence and disorder having disappeared. Both the weavers and spinners sent delegates to Blackburn, and-as regards^the latter, it was a foregone conclusion that the 10 per cent reduction would not be accepted. The weavers are strongly opposed it. Before the strike their delegates threw upon them the onus of ceasing work and now' they are going to leave it with the maioritv of the weavers to say whether decision gives general satisfaction. The J havers' Committee at Accrington have k yet decided to accept the ballot. They eld an adjourned meeting, and came to no conclusion on the subject. Various opinions are entertained as to,, the result of the ballot, many believing that the wives and young -women'will all out-vote the men. who are desirous of continuing the struggle.., The 'ballot is be concluded on May 23. Whatever Jhe result, the employers can concede nothing further than a reconsideration of the question three months hence. .