ABSTRACT
Although the condition of the working population of this district was a little more tolerable in the year 1813 than it had been during the black year of the first Luddite risings, employment still remained scarce, provisions very dear, and taxation very heavy. Such being the case it is hardly to be wondered at that the mobs of half-starved wretches often invaded the markets in large towns and oomjjelltd the dealers to sell their produce at prices that were within their reach. One of the most serious riots of this kind took place about the time the authorities were beginning to break into the Luddite organisation. The dealers in Leeds market were demanding the astounding price of nine pounds per quarter for wheat, and a serious riot consequently occurred. I leaded by a virago who assumed the title of “Ludv Ludd,” the desperate populace furiously assailed the dealers in the market. Not contented with dictating the price at which wheat should be sold, they seized upon a considerable quantity and threw it about the streets. Then they repaired to the works of a miller at Holbeck, who had made himself obnoxious to them by what they considered to be unfair efforts to keep up the price, and did considerable damage to his premises. The labouring classes of this district were indeed at this time in a most depressed and unhappy condition; they could with difficulty procure the necessaries of life, and the spirit of outrage need not therefore be wondered at, however we may condemn it.
