7. ment of the rection, and men there. CHAP. the manufacturing classes were such, in the latter months XXIX. of the year 1831, that a convulsion had plainly become 1831. inevitable. Opinions differed among economists as to Commence- the causes to which the inordinate distress was owing. Lyons insur- Some, among whom was the celebrated M. Say, had the condition of Courage to avow that they were mainly owing to the the work- frantic innovations of the Constituent Assembly, which, by destroying all guilds, fraternities, and associations among the working classes, had added tenfold force to the principle of competition, and left isolated destitute workmen, without leaders or corporate funds, to maintain a hopeless contest with their masters, resting on the resources of realised capital. Others, who were called the St Simonians, from the Duke de St Simon, their wellknown leader, were of opinion that the capitalist was the real enemy of the workmen equally with the consumers of their produce, and that the only way to reinstate labour in the rights of which it had been defrauded was to get quit of that class of employers altogether, and thus divide among the operatives the entire profits arising from the sale of the produce of their labour. As this system, however, absolutely required an advance of capital while the work was going on, M. Enfantin, the present leader of that sect, published a prospectus of an elaborate plan, according to which, it was said, by means of an inconvertible paper money, and myriads of shares allotted to the workmen, the necessary capital might be provided in the mean time to carry on the work till the sales came in. This project, which appeared in Le Globe newspaper, conducted by M. Chevalier, a great advocate of these principles, appeared to Government so dangerous, that a prosecution was instituted against the responsible editor of the newspaper for permitting its insertion. In Great Britain it has experienced a much more decided check than from the penalties of the law, by having been repeatedly tried and always failed. But meanwhile the distress in Lyons became so excessive that distant remedies could no longer be thought of. XXIX. 1831. Instant relief was required, and the CHAP. people loudly demanded, as they generally do in such cases, a forcible interposition of the constituted authorities to fix a minimum, below which wages should not be 409, 411; permitted to fall, whatever the prices of the produce ii. 53, 54. might be.1 1 Cap. v. L. Blanc, measures of Oct. 11, So ignorant were both the civil and military autho- 8. rities in Lyons, at the time, of the principles which should Absurd regulate their conduct on such a crisis, that they went the governor into these demands of the workmen; and a meeting of for fixing a and prefect the "Prudhommes," a sort of synod of workmen, called by tariff. General Roguet, the commander of the garrison, at once 1831. passed a resolution in favour of the fixing of a minimum for the workmen's wages.* The prefect of the city, M. Bouvier-Dumolard, a well-meaning and humane, but weak and partially instructed man, immediately adopted. this principle, and on the 15th October called a meet- Oct. 15. ing of the chamber of commerce, and mayors of Lyons and the three adjoining suburbs, at which it was agreed that the basis of the proposed tariff should be openly debated between twenty-two workmen, elected by that class, and a like number of masters, appointed by the chamber of commerce, which was entirely composed of the masters. This concession to the principle contended for by the workmen excited great alarm among the master manufacturers over all France, who greatly dreaded the fixing of a tariff which the miserably low prices for every species of manufactured produce would render them unable to pay. The workmen, on the other hand, who could 2 L. Blanc, not be brought to see that if the minimum fixed was iii. 34, 35; more than the masters could afford to pay, it would only 419; Ann. lead to their own dismissal, loudly applauded the steps 276, 399. which had been taken; 2 and the excitement among them * "Considérant qu'il est de notoriété publique que beaucoup de fabricants paient réellement des façons trop minimes, il est utile qu'un tarif au minimum soit fixé pour le prix des façons."-Declaration, 11th Oct. 1851; L. BLANC, iii. 33. VOL. V. M Cap. v. 417, Hist. xiv. CHAP. had already become very great before the 25th October, the day fixed for the discussion, arrived. XXIX. 9. 1831. On that day the appearance of the population was Progress of such as to excite the most serious disquietude. An between the immense multitude of workmen assembled on the heights masters and of Croix-Rousse, where they principally resided, and the strife workmen. silently and peaceably, but in military array, descended through the town to the Place Bellecour, where the discussion was to go on. They had no arms, but a huge tricolor flag waved in the centre of the column, and a ribbon in the button-hole indicated the leaders they were respectively bound to obey. After a long discussion, a tariff was agreed on, and signed on both sides. The joy of the workmen at this victory was excessive; their houses were all illuminated in the evening, and songs of triumph and festivity were heard in all the public-houses on the night of the signature. Proportionally great was the dismay among the masters, who loudly complained that the whole thing was unwarranted by law; that the concession on the part of their delegates had been extorted by threats and intimidation; and that those delegates had been appointed at a meeting of masters which a number of them had not attended, and by the proceedings of which they were not bound. All murmured against the tariff. Some refused to abide by it. They were prosecuted for their refusal before the council of Prudhommes," and decree went against them. This only made matters worse. The general discontent among the masters went on increasing; and at length, on November 10, four hundred of the principal masters of Lyons signed a protest against the tariff, and declared they would no longer be bound by it. M. Dumolard, upon this, saw he had gone too far, and wrote a letter to the council of iii. 36, 39; "Prudhommes," to say that the tariff had not the force of Nov. 19, law, and therefore was not obligatory, except on such as Nov. 10. Nov. 17. 1 L. Blanc, Moniteur, 1831; Cap. 66 v. 419, 420. chose to abide by it. At the same time the Chamber of Commerce at Paris published a manifesto against the XXIX. tariff and the conduct of M. Dumolard, and Government CHAP. testified its displeasure at what had been done, and recommended that the tariff should be allowed quietly to become a dead letter. 1831. 10. ment of the But it is an easier matter to excite the hopes and passions of a starving multitude than to allay them when once Commenceexcited. The murmurs and discontent of the workmen were insurrec now as loud as those of the masters had formerly been, and tion. a review of the national guard of Lyons on the 20th November brought matters to a crisis. Some, and they were Nov. 20. the richest portion, were clothed in the splendid uniform of the Restoration; the legions from the poorer quarters were arrayed in the humbler garb prescribed in the last ordinances of Louis Philippe. This difference gave rise to sarcasms and menaces, and everything announced a rupture on the day following. The prefect requested an interview with General Roguet; but the latter had become distrustful of him, from his leaning to the popular side, and refused to see him. The regular troops in Lyons only amounted to three thousand men, and on one of the regiments (the 66th of the line) little reliance could be placed. Bouvier-Dumolard had remonstrated with Government on the weakness of the garrison, but his representations met with no attention. General Roguet persisted in declaring that his measures were already taken, that there was nothing to fear; and the mayor of the Croix-Rousse shared his fatal security. Thus nothing was done to guard against the approaching danger but to station guards at the five gates leading from the CroixRousse to Lyons; while the workmen on that eminence Ann. Hist. spent the night in the most vigorous preparations for a 281. decisive conflict on the succeeding day.1 1 L. Blanc, iii. 60, 61; Cap. v. 419; xiv. 280, rection At seven in the morning of the 21st, some hundred 11. silk-weavers set out from the Croix-Rousse, and, descend- The insuring towards Lyons, began forcibly to eject from the work- spreads, and shops those of the workmen who had agreed to take less proves sucthan the tariff. They were met by a column of grenadiers Nov. 21. cessful. XXIX. 1831. CHAP. of the national guard, composed of the masters; and as they refused to retire, the national guard fired, and eight workmen fell severely wounded. Upon this the body retreated hastily to Croix-Rousse, where they spread, uttering cries of despair through the streets and lanes. Immediately a frightful tumult arose. Everywhere the cry was heard, "Aux armes! "Aux armes! on assassine nos frères!" and with the rapidity of lightning, furious combatants issued from every house, armed with sticks, stones, and pitchforks. More effective weapons, however, were soon found in the muskets and two guns of the national guard, which from the workmen's quarters of the city all joined them. Armed by this important accession of force, the workmen arrayed themselves in columns, threw 64, 65, up barricades, and again descended into the city, preceded 421; Moni- by a banner, bearing the words, which are sublime from the intensity of feeling they exhibited, "Vivre en travaillant ou mourir en combatant." 1 1 L. Blanc, iii. teur, Nov. 26, 1831. 12. Half the national guard join the insur gents, who make the prefect pri soner. The remainder of the 20th was spent in vain endeavours on the part of M. Dumolard and General Roguet to effect an accommodation. The workmen demanded wages which the masters asserted would render sales on their part under existing circumstances impossible. The générale beat in all quarters of the town, but not a third of the national guard appeared, and those of the CroixRousse, La Guillotine, and the other suburbs, all took part with the insurgents.* More than half of the entire civic force of Lyons had joined them before the night of the 21st, and of such as had not, nearly the whole had disappeared and left their ranks. The prefect, in one of the parleys, when he was endeavouring to persuade the workmen to desist, was surrounded and made prisoner. General Ordonneau, who commanded the national guard, was also made prisoner in the same manner, and the insur "Des quatre bataillons de la Garde Nationale de Lyon, on peut à peine réunir six cents hommes,-deux bataillons presque entiers, composés en majeure partie des ouvriers des quartiers de St Georges et de St Jean, passerent dans les rangs des insurgés, ainsi que ceux de la Guillotine et de la CroixRousse."-Depêche du Prefect, 22 Nov. 1831; Capefigue, v. 420. |