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Lyttelton Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 1926, 20 February 1867, Page 2

A numbee.,of."delegates, representing tlie working, men /.of, Britain;/Erance, Belgium andonedrtwpotlier countries, lately met at Geneva* -They : took into consideration tlieii'pwn class in ; : terests, /and the best .means : of :pro~ mpting them, It seems most probable that they hoped to secure special ends of their own as against the classes to which they had placed themseh'eß in

antagohißmiutheirrespectivecouiitries.' Blit in several respects, their, different kinds .of experience nad : a;yery instructive, and sometimes a very neutralising effect. _ '••■' ,: In every country the working classes are apt to look with a jealous eye upon; those who are possessed of capital. This is indeed much less^the : caseinFrance than elsewhere, abolition of.the rights, of primogeniture;! And the rapidity with which thelargest; possessions become subdivided.: among' families. But the very different forms' under which the supposed antagonistic; power of capital is found to operate in.; the different countries help wonder-,; fully to open the eyes of ;all; to/the; actual claims and rights of capital;iir virtue of the real benefits which; it; confers upon every community: The peculiar cbaracteristicß ;bf the : different nations were also, brought into play in a manner likely to P ro " duce a very wholesome effect; The.;; enthusiastic, speculative,..and' intole-. rant character of the :; Erench artizah; was tempered by the ..quieter, more cautious, and ■■.. more candid, spirit of the English: workman,,. And noteless; would the improvident habits arid ten-; dericies to self-indulgence of the: : latter: be rebuked by themoresober, economical, arid/rational tastes : bf : his cbntir nental brother. To pur minds there is much more' likelihood; of the battle of Hastings; being fought over again than.the battle of Waterloo. But oil thia.'.occasion, the contest will be a; bloodless; one,,; and between a very different 1 kind of combatants. The conflicting hosts which are now in ;the, field are not composed of kings andmaiiedknights: and barons, but of the various classes; of working.] men. It is in these; now that the chief power of each; country is to.. .be foundj as. formerly it was an the warriors./ The battle of Hastings ; was; lost, to; England because of the intemperance:; of the Anglo-Saxon army. Harold j" was a gallant. leader,,and hisarmy did", prodigies of valour in defeating their : Danish foe in' the norfch, ; and in hastening so boldly to confront the; i Norman in the south, , But a fit of : drinking and debauchery on ;the;riight before the battlei sealed their -fate,; And the more abstemious warriors of William of Normandy gained the day in fair fight: The contest is now gradually .com. mencing between the continental and the English workman; ■■.■Np.-,small amount of British capital is'slowly finding its way to the .Ehenish provinces and to Belgium, The better educated and more temperate workman of the continent, is able to cpmr pete in skill with his English /rivaland to under-bid him in price. With more moderate, more rational tastes he can live at a lower rate, can finish his wOrk at less cost, and so can command tha market. Were the strikes; which have occurred in England to increase in .power and frequency for the...next .fifteen years as they have been doing for the p'aß't fifteen, the results would be ypry unfortunate for the general British population, but especially for its operative class. What America is to the working man as a field for emigration, many parts of the continent of Europe are to the capitalist aafa : field.. for his investment. The consolidation of Prussia, as a great, free, and; Protestant country has done much to increase the facilities for this process within its own •boundaries, and also indirectly to give stability to the general institutions, though perhaps not to the reigning family of France. Perhaps one great result of the working men's congress'at Geneva will be to Open the eyes of British workmen to the formidable rivalry which awaits them, and to induce them to practise those habits ■ of self-restraint and moderation; which, added to their straightforward, integrity and energy, would make them invincible.