Act, depends on the degree of perinanent degradation to which the workmen can be reduced by such a law. Such charges imposed on workmen are precisely like a rise in the price of food, which always, in the first instance, subjects the labourer to live worse, but does not, in the long-run, necessarily compel him to consume a less quantity of food. By a process which we will not now explain, his wages, unless he consents to be degraded, rise to the price of food. As the Combination Act must ultimately be inoperative, no permanent degradation, we believe, will ensue from it, in which case the employers will have to pay not only the expense of carrying the law into execution, but to increase the wages of the men by the whole amount of the expense they may be put to in resisting it.

In the second place, it is evident, whatever may be the rate of wages, that the competition among masters, and the general competition in society, will prevent them from getting more than the average rate of profit, and the ultimate consequence of their beating down wages, is merely that they sell their commodities for a less sum. An indi`vidual master may appear to gain something by lowering wages; but if the profits of any particular trade are high in consequence of low wages, other individuals will enjoy it, and reduce the profits of an individual master to the general level. Thus it is said that the wages of cotton-spinners, do not exceed 6s. per week, and the consequence is, that cotton-cloth is sold in London, and at Leipsic, for 6d. per yard. The manufactarers do not pocket more inoney, but sell their cloth cheaper. As far as commodities which are produced by labourers who are badly paid are consumed at a cheap rate by other labourers equally ill paid, nothing is either gained or lost. But many such comnodities are consumed by others than fabourers, and many of them are sent qut of the country, and it is solely for the advantage of consumers who are not labourers, and of the foreign consumers, that the wages of our own labourers are beat down. Some few employers and merchants may have a despicable vanity gratified by the semblance of a large business, which low prices enable them to carry on, but the whole mass of employers are in no wise benefitted by a low rate of wages, except in that degree in which 'they consume the articles for making

which the workmen are badly paid. Now, this very trifling, and even despicable advantage is more than compensated by the law, and other expenses which are caused by the Combination Act, and which they are obliged to pay.

In the third place, it is an established principle that the rate of profit in every society depends on the quantity of labour necessary to prepare commodities for consumption. It is clear that all the labourers must be subsisted, and in pro portion as they are numerous with regard to the commodity produced, there must be less of it remaining for the profit of the employer. Thus if it requires thes labour of four men to produce a quarter of wheat, and each of them gels a bushel for his own subsistence and that of his family, there are four bushels remaining for the farmer or landlord; and if the same wheat can be obtained by the labour of two men, why then there are six bushels remaining for the landlord or farmer. So if the labour of four men is required to produce 100 yards of cotton cloth, and 80 yards pay for their subsistence, there remains 20 yards for the employer; and if two men can produce these 100 yards, there then remains 60 yards for the employer. Thus, as processes for abridging labour go on, the profits of capitalists, employers, masters, landlords, &c. constantly increase. The immense quantity of goods produced in our country with comparative small quantity of labour, is the cause why there is such an immense sum of profit to be divided among the non-labouring classes of every description. The means by which labour is abridged and profits increased is the discovery of new processes, new inventions, and new modes of exerting labour, all of which result from the thonght and ingenuity of men. In pointing out the effects of the Combination Act on the workmen, we stated, that it occupied their attention, talents, and ingenuity. It is, and must be obvions, that a law made with a view of keeping them in poverty, whether it has that effect or not, must constantly turn their minds to a means of evading it. This will be the object of the most intelligent amongst the workmen ; and accordingly we do find that schemes of combination are not only extensive, but they are, most ingeniously organized. Now, as such schemes are only formed by the workmen from the hope of bettering their condition, it is a fair conclusion, that if no law made such schemes necessary, all

the talent which is now exerted on them would be turned towards discovering the means of abridging labour and increasing its productive powers. We have already shown that all such processes ultimately increase the profit of masters: thus, by the Combination Act they lose the benefit of all that ingenuity which is now turned to the organization of schemes of combination and mischief. Let them only consider the vast number of men on whom the Combination Act operates, and the facilities which such men have of acquiring practical knowledge, and they must, we think, blush for their own absurdity if they can any longer support an act which chains down the energies of so many ingenious men, or misdirects them to consider of the means how they may safely violate an unjust law. All the processes for abridging labour and increasing profit sprang from the mind of man, and here we have a class of men peculiarly interested in the increase of profits, who bring forward and support a law, the direct tendency of which is to occupy the minds of upwards of two millions of persons which would otherwise be directed to the means of abridging labour, solely with thoughts of an unjust law, and this too to many generations, making in fact the whole number of minds thus occupied almost too numerous to be calculated, and the whole sum of profit thus lost to themselves and the country, far too great even for imagination to conceive.

But this is not all. We have already proved that the Combination Act does not prevent combinations. It makes them, however, illegal. Now, were it not for this act, the workmen would have no motive for concealing their proceedings, and their measures which are at present concerted in the silence and secresy of night would be carried on in open day. "The Combination Laws," says a well-informed writer, "have given an illegal and dangerous character to what would otherwise have been perfectly legal and harmless. They have given to secret clubs and midnight committees the management of what would otherwise have been transacted in open day; they have taught the people to believe there is one law for the poor' and another for the rich; and they have in consequence done more to engender a deadly hatred between the different orders of society, to turn the masters into petty tyrants, and. the workmen into rebellious slaves, than can be easily conceived or imagined.". It must be known, we apprehend, to all our

readers,that the manufacturing districts of . our country have frequently been disturbed and even convulsed by secret combinations. A large amount of property has been destroyed, and several lives sacrificed in the wantonness of tumult, and by the more appalling, if not so wanton means of formal execution. Now, it is clear, if combining were not illegal, that no force could be required to check it. There would be no motive, besides, for those secret meetings which fill a whole neighbourhood with terror, and make individuals who are more than ordinarily afraid, have instant recourse to the magistrates, who immediately call out their assistants both civil and military. Heats,. animosities, deadly hatreds, tumults, riots, and murders, have all been fostered and engendered by the Combination Act. Putting out of our view the innumerable. evils of a moral nature which result from. this state of things, we merely beg leave to ask masters and employers, "Who pays all the expences of this? Who fees the magistrate and rewards the soldier? Why: of course the master. By far the greater part, in fact the whole, of the expenses, of government, are paid out of profits. Whatever, therefore, like the Combination Act, sows hatred and discord in the. society requiring force to preserve obe-. dience, must necessarily cost a consi-derable sum to pay for that force, and. the sum, whatever it may be, is paid out. of the profits of employers.

The Combination Act has the same. effect on the masters with regard to profits as on the men with regard to wages, obscuring to their view the natural laws by which profits are regulated.. The few columns we have written,`, must have satisfied the reader that the rate of profits is quite independent of the rate of wages, and is regulated by. totally different circumstances. To confirm it, we may add, that at this moment, the rate both of profit and wages is much, higher in the United States of America, than in any part of Europe. But the law pretending to decree a low rate of wages as a benefit to the masters, ›› strengthens their absurd notions that it is so, and perpetuates the error. fact, too, by interfering between the natural laws both of wages and profits,. and their ultimate effect, the law pre-, vents the masters from ever acquiring: any correct notion of these natural laws, and induces them to be guilty of a multitude of inconsistent and absurd actions.

In

Perhaps masters and employers, however, sharing one of the most mischievous

opinions that ever became general in society, the source of nearly all the legislatíve errors that have been committed in times past, and may be committed in times to come; namely, that men have no motives to behave well but the fear of being punished by human laws,--may imagine, that if there were no Combination Act, the labourers would combine, not only to secure themselves a just share, but to take the whole property of the society. No supposition, whether dictated by avarice or fear (those two, after love, perhaps the most blind of all our passions), can be more unfounded. It is essential to the success of every combination, that it be founded in justice. It is clear that the great majority of the people of this country have a great, and indeed a profound respect for the right of property as by law established. It is not, therefore, possible that there can be any extensive combination among them to violate this right. If it were possible to engage many individuals in such a combination, a conviction of wrong or of error would soon find its way into the minds of some, and the combination, like all combi nations for an unjust purpose, would fall to pieces. Combinations hitherto amongst the workmen have only succeeded because their object has been just. "There is," says an eloquent advocate for the men, 66 an efficient cause always acting to prevent exorbitant demands, a cause which has not only hitherto, but will continue to prevent them, and that cause is the good sense of the journeymen themselves." We say that this is satisfactorily proved by the present state of things. The journeymen have combined, nothing has been able to prevent their combinations, and the present rate of their wages is a proof that their demands have been never exorbitant, and their combinations always, for a just and proper purpose. repeat, that for their combinations to last a single week, it is essential every man should be convinced that they are founded in justice.

We

The only possible apparent advantage the masters can derive from the Combination Act is, that it keeps down wages; but as we have shown, if ever it has the effect, which we do not believe, no feal advantage results from this to employers, but to consumers, among whom the labourers also rank, though not to so great a degree as some other classes. Employers, therefore, receive no benefit whatever from it; and it is pregnant, as we

It costs

have shown, with evils to them. them a great sum of money, and engenders numerous evil passions, by which they suffer both in person and purse. If after this they can persist in supporting the Combination Act, or any such Act, they must certainly, in intellect and good sense, rank far below the men they think they have a right to oppress. We trust, however, that they have more good sense, and understand our interest better than to do this, and that they will heartily join the men in asking for the repeal of a law which serves no better purpose than that, as we have before said, of sowing discord where nothing. but love and kindness would otherwise and ought to exist.

ADHESION OF COMMON NAILS.

February 24, 1824. GENTLEMEN;-It sometimes happens that our attention to new subjects leads us, in some measure, to neglect many of the old and useful. There are many subjects of greater importance, in practical mechanics, considering the numerous purposes to which it is daily applied, than the strength of adhesion of a common nail, driven into wood of various kinds, and to various depths. In the course of the last 50 years there have been many experiments made on the strength and stiffness of various substânces used in the construction of buildings and machinery; and although nearly all the operations of the common carpenter depend upon the strength of adhesion of the nail, I think I may venture to say, that few of the persons whose daily work essentially depends upon this adhesion are able to say what is the force necessary to draw out direct a common sixpenny nail. By way of encouraging an examination into the first principles of the art of carpentry, my experiments have been extended to a great variety of nails, and to various depths with the same nail, both as to the force necessary to press or drive it into wood, and to draw the same out by steady and direct tension. At a distance from my papers, I cannot give the details; but to show something like the proportion of resistance to extracting a nail from

DOMESTIC MEDICINE.

CHOPPED HANDS.

To have chopped hands is always an unpleasant and not unfrequently a painful complaint. Handicraftsmen, and artists in nice branches of work, requiring great sensibility of finger, as well as others whose employments expose their hands to wet and cold, often experience a degree of inconvenience from this complaint, which amounts to a serious disadvantage, such as would scarcely be credited by those who have not felt it themselves. The following is the best remedy with which I am acquainted; and as it may be of serIvice to many of the useful classes for whose information your work is intended, I hope you will give it a place in your Magazine. J. N.

January 15, 1824.

Wash your hands with any kind of soap (I prefer the common yellow), apply it with a flannel, and, if necessary, use a brush, in order to get the dirt from under and round the nails and fingers, till they are perfectly clean. The water in winter, if convenient, may be warmed. Then rinse them in a little clean water, and while they are yet wet, rub them well all over with about half a teaspoonful of good honey; then dry them well with a clean coarse towel. This should be done once or twice a day, and always before going to bed.

✰✰ NEW PATENTS.

To Pierre Jean Baptiste Vietor Gosset, of Queen-street, Haymarket, merchant ; for a combination of machinery for producing various shapes, patterns, and sizes, capable of receiving an oval, round, or other form; communicated to him by a certain foreigner residing abroad.-18th December, 1823.

TO CORRESPONDENTS. We regret to learn that "the Aberdeen Mechanic's Institution" is on the close system, confined to "smiths, wrights, and masons;" but, with every wish to do justice to the more liberal views of its projectors, we must decline the insertion of "One of our best Friend's" letter till we have fuller information on the subject. Can be favour us with a copy of the Laws of the new Institution, and other printed papers which it may have issued?

We shall be glad to avail ourselves of T. L, of Chelsea's, obliging offer in all points, and shall take care that the conditions are duly observed.

We are in doubt as to the subject of "An Original Subscriber's" note, but shall make inquiry, and let him know the result.

Communications received from J. W. R.-G. B.-A Constant Reader-Transcriber-R. C.-Z.-L. E.-T. M. B.C. K.-A few Birmingham Mechanics (whose wishes shall be attended to) A. P.-James Hogan-R. ClesanceS. R.-H. A. H.-W. K.-W. J.—A Layman (the ground of whose complaint shall be removed)-W. B.-F. S.A. O. Z.-X. T.-Erraticus (whom we beg to accept our thanks and best wishes)-H. D. Portsmouth-A Bookbinder-P. M. N.-S. S.-A Ship PumpMaker.

The papers of Mr. George and Mr. Davies, as well as several others, are in type, and only standing over for want of

room.

GENTLEMEN;-I take the liberty of submitting to your notice a simple invention of mine for saving the lives of those who unfortunately break through ice while skating. Numbers have perished by going too near the broken parts, to extricate persons that have fallen in; but I think the plan I have now to lay before your readers, will ensure perfect safety to all who have it in their power in such cases to render assistance. If machines of this construction were kept near the Serpentine, and other places resorted to by skaters, I think they would not fail of preserving many a valuable life. The expense would be trifling; a single person can manage them; and the mode of operation is so simple, that nobody could misun derstand it.

Description of the Engraving. A is a platform, about six feet long, by two feet wide, fixed on four wheels, with a pole in front to draw it by. B is a fulcrum or prop, that

revolves on a centre pin at bottom, secured at the underside of the platform A. On the top of this fulcrum is a hoop E, which works on a centre, to enable the pole C to slide through, and dip at pleasure. The pole C is about 16 or 18 feet long, and at the end there is a hoop D, about two feet diameter. The mode of operation will at once be seen by inspection of our engraving.

Let the machine be drawn on the ice, and pushed to within four or five feet from the spot where the person has fallen in; then decline the pole, so that the hoop shall dip into the water: when the drowning man has caught hold, weigh down the other end of the pole, by means of the rope F, and swing the person rescued, round on a secure part of the ice,

Should more than one person have fallen in, the operation can be repeated with the greatest celerity, as often as may be necessary, without ever moving the machine.

G. GLADWELL.