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raider the and immediatel effort that ca...
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The Protectionist Aoitatio!?.—Several co...
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Staffobdshirb MixERS. — The miners of th...
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THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND ' ¦ ^\ QUESTION...
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THE FACTORY "WORKERS OF LAKCA-\ SHIRE. T...
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; THE SPITALFIELDS WEAVERS. . : The term...
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Lord Coke a " Free Trader."—It should bo...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Madame Sontao In A Snow Drift.—On The Mo...
« , „ ground raider the causeway , and immediately _S _feint of Xosl 21 and 25 , _Bath-street , has lor some _^ neheen formed into vaults , ; which are at present _turned by Mr . Lauder , George-street , as an icew | _Themainpipeorthe Old Gas Company , as _« . understand , runs along the causeway at the _« L » of the gutter , near Bath-street , and is thus _rfSetothe vault adverted to . It is conjectured , Il slight subsidence of the ground at this point , Such has been observed for some time , that the <« rth had heen partially scooped from underneath the _nipe and that , thus left without support , it had _Twnfc and got partially cracked . The vapour , makin"Its escape in dense quantities , at first got ( _£ » _v _^ ess to the open air , but theintenBe frost of * __ - " -.- . « _ ' ___^__ 7 _—~ . A _;«« _,. J :. i . _
_Tcsterfay appears to have forced it through the _Ground in a lateral direction , and the ice-house in this way also got impregnated . No danger of _exrdosion was appreh ended in the vault itself , as the mace had been visited on Saturday night , when no L ell was felt . Monday morning , however , three men . in the emplovment of Mr . Lauder , who were aenttothevaultswi thcarts , forasupply of ice , had no sooner entered thep lace with lighted candles than a tremendous exp losion took place . The unfortunate individuals who had not got many yards past the door were thrown with great violence against the rail dreadfully scorched and bruised , and how any of them escaped with their lives is a matter of astonishment . -As before observed , the whole of the atmosphere around heing completely charged with
the combustible vapour , the explosion was simultaneous in every qu arter where it had collected hi _anv _quantitv , and this accounts for the great _destruction of _wijdow-glass which took place at so _inany different points . The houses that have suffered most are those of Mr . Corbett , 21 , and Mr . Brown , 25 , Bath-street , which appeared to have teen situated in the very focus of tho explosion , where hardly one pane has escaped destruction , ¦ while the cheeses suffered considerably . In Dr . JI'Leod _' _s house , "ffest-Sile-street , which is about sixty yards distant , no fewer than twenty panes of glass havebeen smashed , and atthe opposite corner street few have also been broken
of the same a . Wc _xeretto say that the most lamentable effect ofjthe catastrophe is its probable result , so far as _theinlured men are concerned . They were immediately conveyed to the infirmary . Two of them who acted as shopmen to Mr . Lauder , respectively named O'llara and Wallace , are very much injured , particularly Wallace , -whose life , we understand , is despaired of . The third man , whose name we have not ascertained , is less severely scorched , though none of them are beyond danger . "t \ o other casualty has occurred , notwithstanding the violence of the c oncnssion was so great that many of the houses actually shook .
Raider The And Immediatel Effort That Ca...
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The Protectionist Aoitatio!?.—Several Co...
The Protectionist _Aoitatio !? . —Several county _meetings are fixed for the ensuing week . The landlords , yielding _toanwprit de corps , are joining with apparent zeal in this movement , although they must be convinced in their hearts that the experiment is utterly hopeless , and that the agitation cannot be carried on without certain danger of still further exciting the demand for tenant-right and greatly reduced rents . The county of Monaghan has been convened by the high-sheriff for Tuesday next , thc Sth inst . The requisition is signed by Lords Clonmel and Bkrvney ; Mr . C . P . Leslie , one
of the county members ; the Mesas . Shirley ; Mr . E . Lucas , formerly Under-Secretary for Ireland . ; and more than twenty of the local gentry . Other comities ( including the "North Biding of Tipperary ) are convened ; but the most presentable requisition is that for the county of "Dublin , summoned by the hig h sheriff , Mr . John Ennis , for Friday the 4 th inst , which is signed by Lords JJrahazon , _Milltown , _Gormanstown . Longford , and St . Lawrence , and by the gentry , Whig and Conservative , to a considerable extent . A challenge has recently been offered to the Marquis of Downshire , to test public opinion upon free trade , by an open meeting in the connty of Down , where himself and ether landed proprietors ordinarily possess such paramount territorial
influence ; but where the tenant-farmers , as well as the manufacturers living in the towns , or scattered through the rural districts , would have an opportunity of pronoun -ing their real opinions upon the questions now engaging the anxious attention of all classes . _-According to the Northern Whiff , a zealous and judicious supporter of free trade in Ulster , the noble Marquis is not unwilling to accept the challenge ;— " Lord Downshire , " says that journal , " is , we understand , anxious " to hare a meeting ofthe county of Down ; and we certainly cannot predict very much discretion when he takes it into his head io act . We trust , however , that there are in the coonry a sufficient number of prudent men to counteract his lordship on this occasion . The more we
hear from various districts , the more thoroughly satisfied are we that there are no men in the community so much interested in preventing-agricultural agitation as the landlords . The tenants know well that there will not te a return to protection ; and tbe more the landlords agitate in its favour , just so much the more will they demand reduction of rents , or perhaps become reluctant to pay any . We know a large estate where the least reduction ihat is insisted upon amounts to one-fourth ofthe present rent . The _possibility or probability of ejectment for non-payment of rent is looked to ; and we have been assured that if that were to take place , no new comer would be permitted to enter into possession . " Of the existence of this spirit amongst many ofthe tenant farmers in Ulster there is ample evidence . U """ The Great Aggregate _Meetjs _3 . —The following is the requisition upon which the preat aggregate
meeting , to be holden on the 17 th of January , is convened : — " We , the undersigned , deeply impressed with the importance of _giving the fullest effect to the great national demonstration of Irish opinion upon ihe present condition of this country , and the absolute necessity of a change in the policy of recent legislation , as contained in an address to Her Most Gracious Majesty , of thePeera , Members of Parliament , gentry , magistrates , bankers , merchants , and tenant formers of Ireland , hereby request a meeting of those who have signed that address , to he held at the "Rotunda , in Dublin , on Thursday , the 37 th day of January , 1850 , at the hour of eleven , to deliberate upon the best mode of presenting the address to her Majesty , and to adopt petitions to Parliament , praying for the immediate redress of thc grievances under which Ireland labours from the withdrawal of protection to her agriculture and the oppressive burden of the present system of Poor Laws . "
The Texast Motemext . — -A vast out-door meeting was held at Templemore , in the county ot Kerry , on Wednesday last , in pursuance of a requisition couched in the following rather formidable terms ;—BEXTS ! BESTS ! I EEXTS ! !!—LOW PEICES ! LOW BEXIS !! A public meeting will be held on St . Stephen ' s day , at thc Cross of Keen , to petition Parliament to take into consideration the state of the farming class , as well as to lay before the landlords of this impoverished union the utter impossibility of their continuing to exact thc present exorbitant and oppressive rents , without ruining themselves and their unfortunate tenants . The chair will be taken at two o clock precisely . Down with the rents . ' and hurrah for cheap land , cheap food , and plenty .
The meeting was a very important one , and the most distinct expression of the feelings of the Irish tenant-farmer class , on the question of protection , yet given utterance to . The chair was occupied by-T . O'Sullivan , Esq ., of Prospect-lodge , and the following were among the resolutions adopted : — " That it is the opinion of this meeting , that the free importation of corn into this union is essentially necessary , not only for its well-being and prosperity , but for its actual existence ; and tbat any attempt to re-impose a duty on the importation of food can onl y have the , effect of swelling thc purses and increasing the rentals of a _' few landlords , whilst it must , of necessitytend to the
, starving of the people . " " That we do not by any means concurorparticipate in the cry that is being raised against tlie present Poor Law , inasmuch that , with all its defects , it places the burden of the poor on those who are best able , and who ought , to bear it . It , to a certain extent , relieves the struggling farmer of a heavy burden he had hitherto , sBlcly and unaided by tho landlord to bear , viz .. the support ofthe poor : and itleaves _^ no choice to the landlord "between supportmg the poor idl y and unprofitably in the workhouse , and their useful and remunerative employment in thc cultivation of the soil outside . "
- " . That the rents of this union have been at all times immoderate , and of late years so oppressive as to render it impossible to hold out any longer Tinder so grievious a burden . All our means have gone out for the import of food during four successive famines , our farming produce has fallen to half its value , taxation has been doubled , and yet the same rents—with few exceptions—have been deminded and paid with as much severity as they have been hi times the mostprosperonsandflourish"tng . Seeing , therefore , no disposition on the pari ofthe landlords to take our ease into consideration , *" _" sem H" * " _! meet and come together for no other purpose than to make more grievous tho yoke tnat has been for centuries cast upon us , it only _"S / _jf *<> K _* ign their lands , and betake ourselves to a country where a man mav feel tbat te H labouring for himself , and where the fruits _SX _^ _. _^¦^ _¦ _, _^ _^ _¦ _9 _te _¦ _u _, _a _, _l _¦
. Atafcrge meefa gofthe Colerauie Tenant Right _^ ata Mon _Eatarday last , J , Boyd , Esq ., « fl „ £ f _(* r - * _™ » _» _S » e chair , the Mowing _re""¦" _Moons were agreed to . " * _taTiJfe 1 _fte on _«« _nip- € d distress which has pre-T _^^ _JPS 110111 _** " _«> . _"U"lry during the last few , ean i _catefcndl y fa CTey j _^ ta iaj aud legislative
The Protectionist Aoitatio!?.—Several Co...
effort that can be . made , to check its progress and remove its disastrous effectsi . " " That much ; of this distress has arisen from the want of remunerative employment for the labouring population ; which is mainly caused by the absence of all legal security , to the tenant farmers for their permanent improvement of the ' soil . " . ' _l' * That in order toenablethe agriculturists of this conntry . to meet with . success the competition of foreigners , an extensive reform is required in the law of real property and " conveyancing , a general redaction of rents to a level with ihe present prices of agricultural produce , and a secured interest to the tenant farmer in the benefit of-all substantial improvements which his own capital shall accomplish . * ' " That if these just demands were conceded , there is enough of energy , enterprise , and scientific skill in Great Britain and Ireland to enable the tenant farmer to compete with foreigners as successfully as the manufacturer is now able to do . " « fTnrf f _riof /« nn Tia m < ir _? A _4- ' _A _aW _« aU . -li * . _^ .-i _^ . _ . _« . __ ¦ -- " - _ *¦
" That petitions he foi warded from this meeting , and as far as possible from all the surrounding districts , to both houses of parliament , praying for the legislative reforms pointed out in the foregoing resolutions . " ,- _' ¦ - ¦' .: ¦ ¦ The Repeal Association . —A meeting of this body was held on Monday at Conciliauou Hall , Mr . Kelch in the chair . Mr ; John Connell , M . P ., handed in £ 4 10 s ., the subscripth-n for himself , Mrs . O'Con nell , and their seven children . ' He said that he had anticipated the time for handing in his subscription by one day , because the period For giving in the necessary funds had come round when _persons should prove their devotion to the principles and the great cause of repeal . ( Loud cheers ) Some letters having
been read , Mr . O'Conneil addressed the meeting in opposition to the Protectionist movement , aud on other topics , and concluded by reading a long address to tbe people of Ireland , calling upon them to make " one more struggle for Ireland" to obtain a native parliament . The following is an extract of the address : — " Were you silent when the segsion opens , who can say whether the Glengall dodge—the rack rent and bread taxing movement that Glengall , aud others like bim , only known by their immitigable hatred of yon , your religion—nay , . your very existence—bave been getting up uuder the delusive cry of * Protection '—who can say but that it will be assumed that this wretched and shameful delusion has succeeded with you , and that your old oppressors have of a sudden become your chosen representatives ! What ! the people of Ireland wishing for a
tax on bread—for a tax to stint by one half or more the scanty measure of food to the working man and his shivering family—for a tax to swell still more the grinding poor-rate by . the . heavier cost of food—for a tax to bolster up the ' tottering system of rack rents and cruel extermination ? No , no , Lord Glengall , and you noble lords and honourable gentlemen ; you may delude yourselves , but " you cannot—you ehall not delude the right-minded and high-minded people of Ireland . " The rent was announced to be £ 1217 s . 2 d . Death of Me . J . F . Lam > b . —This young gentleman , whose writings on the land question in the United Irishman , and subsequent productions as editor of the Felon , excited so mu « h sensation , died on the 27 th ultimo . Mr . lalor was put into prison in 1848 , and , although released in a few months , never , it is said , recovered the effects of incarceration on a delicate frame .
The Great Southern and Western Railway Company Lave so reduced the tariff of charges lor the carriage of meat , poultry , vegetables , & e ., that any one residing in Dublin may obtain these _necessary articles of food from the country at the provincial prices , the rates of carriage being so small in proportion as scarcely to be taken imo consideration . This course is adopted to break down the monopoly of the retail dealers in food . The Freeman s Journal states , on the authority of a letter from Rome , that the Very Rev . Dr . Cullcn , for . many years the agent at the Holy See of the Ir sh Konian Catholic Church , has been appointed to the vacant Roman Catholic primacy m Ireland .
The mills of Messrs . M ' Cann , near Ferryhank , were entirely destroyed by fire on Friday evening . The destructive element raged nearly the whole night , and an immense amount of property , it is stated , was lost in the flames . The premises were insured , but not to any sum that could nearly cover the value of the property consumed . The new mayor of Drcgheda has given £ 50 \ to . be distributed among the poor , instead of spending it on a civic dinner , ... Accounts of two or three deaths from destitution ia the west of Ireland are given in the papers this
morning . . The workhouse of the Carrick-on-Shannon union is described as being in a most deplorable state from fever , neglect , and want of funds . j . . The frost still continues uninterrupted , and _skating can now be practised on all the ponds in the vicinity of Dublin . ' Robbing of the Mail . —Some few nights ago , as the mail car was on its way from Nenagh to Templemore , the driver was attacked hear Moneygall , and the mall bags taken out of the car .. . The bags were found by the police near the town on the next mornin _? , being robbed of their contents .
Xiiack os Dovehill _liocsE . —A party of seven or eight armed men , on Friday last about the hour of uine o ' clock , went to the residence of Joseph Crawley , Esq ., at Dovehill , near Thomastown , and demanded admittance . When Mr . Crawlev heard the knocking , he went into the hall , and having asked what was wanted , they told him to open the door ; he refused to do so , and was then ordered to discharge from his employment his _present workmen , and to employ others ; in case he did not comply , thev told him they wonld find him at another time . At that moment Mr . Crawley fortunately stepped across the hall , and two or three shots were fired throug h , the door ; the contents shattered a table , a clock-case , and the railings of the stairs . About the hour the attack was made , it -was Mr . Crawley ' s habit to accompany bis herd tn see if the stock was all safe . —JSng s County
Chronicle . ¦ . The Lises Trade . —The _Conner of Ulster thus reports : — " We regret to report a still further reduction in the prices of linen fabrics during the past week , amounting in some districts _toafarthing a yard , " and others ; a halfpenny . __ The consequence has been a very general reduction often , and in many cases fifteen per cent ., on the wages of the weavers . The trade is fully as brisk as ever , the decline in prices having been caused by . the immense increase of hands at the looms , not by any want of demand on the part of customers . The export from Belfast , during the past week , amounted to 1 , 374 packages—considerably above an average . " - ¦ ¦ ¦ _Rephesextatiox of Limerick . —Mr . J . 0 Connell
has rather unexpectedly resigned the representation of the city of Limerick , and already several candidates are mentioned for the scat thus vacated ; amongst others , Colonel Tereker , son of the late LordUort , and Captain Gough , son of Lord Gough , both on Protectionist principles . On the Liberal side , Mr . F . W . Russell , of the eminent firm of Russell and Suns , has formally addressed tbe electors ; and Mr . G . J . O ' Conneil , it is said , means to trv his luck on the Repeal " dodge . " In his valedictory address Mr . J . O'Conneil thus states the motives which have induced him to bid adieu to Parliamentary life : — " Circumstances not of my
own creating have so limited my means as to necessitate the resumption and pursuit of my profession , abandoned twelve years ago at my father ' s desire ; and thc attention requisite for this purpose must incapacitate me from giving even occasional attendances in Parliament . 1 feel that it would be flagrant ingratitude , as well as gross injustice , were 1 to retain my high position as one ol your representatives when unable any longer to discharge even occasionally its duties in Parliament . I therefore shall divest myself of the high honour you so generously conferred upon me in 1847 , at thefirst intimation of your being ready and willing to proceed to a new election .
Staffobdshirb Mixers. — The Miners Of Th...
Staffobdshirb _MixERS . — The miners of the northern part of this county being convinced that union alone can save them , are again organising themselves . Large and successful , meetings have lately been held at Tunstall , Rurslani , Hanlcy , Longton , & c , which have been addressed by Messrs . Daniells and Lawton , and many added to the ranks of the association . Mr . Daniells has also attended meetings at thc Working Man ' s Hall , Longton ; the Odd Fellows ' flail , Bradley Green ; and at Xorton . Altogether the cause of _ununvis in a prosperous ccndition here , and co-operative societies are forming . All letters for tbe North Staffordshire miners to be addressed to Edward Lawton , 1 , Williamson-street , Tunstall , Staffordshire .
The Xegbo Emperor . —My first view of him was as he was riding through the city , as his custom is on every Sabbath morning , after having reviewed the army . Dis colour is the most thorough coal black , but his nose , lips , & c „ are more European than one would expect from his colour . From his forehead to the top of his head he is entirely bald _, lie rode a gray horse—very good for this countrywas accompanied by a hundred or more of his life guards on horseback , preceded by cavalry music , and passed through the princi pal streets ofthe city , uncovering his head and disposing freel y his bows and his smiles to the crowds as he rode rapidly
past them . He was dressed in full military unitbrin of a very rich character ; the entire front of his coat , as well as other parts of his dress , being overlaid with heavy golden trimmings . His age is a little above fifty , his form large and erect , near six feet in height , weighing about two cwt ., and well proportioned , with the exception of some corpulency . His .: horscman 6 bip is of the most perfect character . This attracts the attention of all foreigners , and their universal remark is that in this respect lie is rarely equalled . He usually rides to the Bureau of the . Port , the Custom House , and through Borne ofthe streets ofthe city , attended by a few of his guards , twiee during the week . —Aw fork Enquirer .
The Condition Of England ' ¦ ^\ Question...
THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND ' ¦ _^\ QUESTION .- ; V : ( Condensed from . the Morning Chronicle A ' I state of the ~ Tgricultural _Labourers in BUCKINGHAMSHIRE , BERKSHIRE , WILTSHIRE AND OXFORDSHIRE . Amongst ; those not practically conversant . with rural affairs , the impression prevails that the bulk of the labourers _live in detached residences on the different farms , with a certain tie existing between them and the soil , and , by consequence , between them and its occupiers . In Scotland , and in some portions ofthe north of England , this is . the case to a great extent although not now . to the same extent : in Scotland : as formerly . The times are ; past when ,, in the Lowlands , the farmer and his workmen wero mutually on such a footing that , after toiling together in the same fieldsthey sat --.- - . "' ' - -
, down together at the same table , and in many cases slept under the same roof . But still the bulk , of the labourers there live yet upon the . farms _, accommodation being generally , in such cases , afforded them in the " square , " the term frequently applied to the farm buildings . The consequence is , ' that farm labourers are in Scotland a less distinct and detached class than they arc in England , and they are far less frequently to be found , bearing in mind the relative proportions of the two countries as to numbers , clustered together in towns and villages , of which they chiefly consti tute the population . In England the case is different . Many labourers are hired , with their board included , whan accommodation is of course provided them on tho farm . But the great bulk of them form a distinct class of society , inhabiting the outskirts of the rural towns and the . villages , which they monopolise to .
themseives , having no capital or resource but their labour , no certainty , that that will be called into exercise , and no guarantee for its employment , even when it is called into use , beyond a week at a time . It were , better for them , as a class , to be kept more apart from each other than they are—for it is not under . all circumstances that , men improve Irom the constant intercourse which is the result of their congregating in masses together . ; In . some cases , the sites of their villages belong to one proprietor—in others , to several ; but it by no means follows that tbey are employed either on the farm of which ' a village site may form a part , or even on the property of which the farm may bo but a portion . Indeed , it frequently happens that the only
connexion between them and the proprietor or occupier of the soil on which their habitations are erected , is that of landlord and tenant . Their labour is at the command of any one who bids . for it ; and as their employment is precarious ' and their wages fluctuating , their lives are spent , in the majority of cases , in constant oscillation between their bomes and the workhouse , with no alternative beyond but starvation or the gaol . Much has , of lute years , been said in this country in reference to the dwellings ofthe poor , and public sympath y has been largely excited on the sub _« ject . Both in the towns and in the country districts the matter has been vastly investigated , and facts brought to light which were a . disgrace to thc
nation , because revolting to humanity . The coHsequence has been that much has been done for the amelioration of the domiciliary condition of the lower orders , but , though much , it his fallen far short of what is required . The very fact that , notwithstanding the extent to which the subject has been agitated , such frightful revelations in reference to the dwellings of the poor have lately been made in the metropolis , where one would have supposed their horrible condition was least likely to have escaped observation , will of itself suffice to indicate the trifling extent to which improvement in this respect has been pushed in the countrv districts , where its absence is less likely to obtrude itself upon the public attention . What has been done has not been effected on any largo preconcerted plan , calculated to embrace the whole of a
neglected class in the benchts of its operation . The effect has been local and partial , not national . Here and there a proprietor , from motives cither of shame , benevolence , or interest , has , by improving their dwellings , enbanced the comforts of some of , or perhaps of all , the peasantry on his estates . But there has been no general action in this direction , and ordinary comfort is a thing yet estranged from the great hulk of the habitations of the poor . For one good cottage , with adequate accommodation for a family , numbers are still met with utterly unfit for human occupancy . There is no large district in the group of counties now under consideration in which-the improvements havebeen universal , and there are few estates on whicb the bad are not yet largely , intermingled with the cottages of a better description . ' -. .. ' .- - ¦ ¦¦ : ¦
The writer , describing the sleeping accommodation of one of the families visited , says : —They all sleep in the same room—if the scanty space between tho lower ceiling and thc thatch can be called a room . There . is no bedstead . The beds are large , sacks stuffed with chaff . The boys and girls sleep together . They undress below , and crawl over each other to their sleeping-places . There are two * blankets on the bed occupied by tho parents , the others being covered with a very heterogeneous assemblage
of materials . It not unfrequently happens that the clothes worn by the parents in the day time form the chief part or the covering of the children by night . Such is the dormitory in which , lying side by side , the nine whom we have just left below at their wretched meal will pass the night . The sole ventilation is through the small aperture occupied by what is termed , by courtesy , a widow . In other words , there , is scarcel y any ventilation at all . Wliat a den in the hour of sickness or death ! What a den , indeed , at any time !
Let it not be said that this picture is overdrawn , or that it is a concentration for effect into one point of defects , spread in reality over a large surface . _Asatypt ofthe extreme ofdomiciliary ivretchedness in tiie rural districts it is underdrawn . Some cottages have only one room both for day and night accommodation . Some of them , again , bave three or four rooms , with a family occupying each room ; the families so circumstanced amounting each , in some cases , to nine ol- ten individuals . In some cottages , too , a lodger is accommodated , who occupies the same apartment as the family . Sueh , fortunately , is not the condition of all the labourers in the _agricultural districts ; but itis the condition of a very great number of Englishmen — not in the back woods of a remote settlement , but in the heart of Anglo-Saxon civilisation , in the year of grace 1810 . It behoves the
"——— -gentlemen of England , AVho live at home at ease , ' ' to ponder seriousl y upon the condition of such of their fellow-subjects as are so wretchedly circumstanced . Such anomalies but ill accord with the civilisation to which we lay claim . In its main outline our national fubric may be brilliant and imposing ; but is it sound in all its component parts ? Whilst improvement has brushed over the prominent points , burnishing them brightly , it has passed over many of the deep crevices which intervene , and in which the gangrene is being engendered which is silently eating into the very vitals of society . But it may be urged that the misery here depicted is exception ;!] , and that it cannot be
accepted as the type of'tho condition of any numerous body ofthe peasantry . I speak r . owofonly four ofthe forty counties of England , and assert that it is the type of the condition of the great bulk of the peasantry in these counties . ; They may not be all equally wretched as regards some of the comforts of life , because they are not all equall y burdened with large families . But the house accommodation of the great majority of them is of the lowest and most miserable description . ; , The universal testimony , indeed , of those in better circumstances ' on the spot is , that the accommodation of the peasantry in this respect is far from what it should be . There is ground for this opinion in the condition of the labourer on the great bulk of what was once
the Duke of Buckingham ' s property , as also in tbat of some of the peasantry on the Marlborough estates . The state of their domiciles in tho vicinity of Aylesbury , Wycombe , and Crcndon , will also attest its truth . Leaving Bucks and passing into Oxfordshire , we have not to go far for evidences of its soundness . Taking the town of Thame _, as a centre , and describing around it a circle with a radius of about seven miles , we have abundant proof in the portions of the circle which fall within that county—again excepting , the property of Mr . Henley—that the house accommodation afforded to the labourer , is not what . it should be . Close to the town of Thame is the hamlet of Moreton , where any change made must almost necessarily be one in tho direction of improvement . The same maybe
said ofthe village of Tcts worth , about three miles from Thame , and of Lord Churchill ' s property in the , vicinity of Crcndon . But , perhaps , the climax of misery in this , respect , in the district , is to be found in tho village of Towerscy , about a mile distant from Thame . One house was pointed out . to mc there , with four rooms , each room occupied by a separate family , some of the families being very numerous . It was a two-story house , covered with tiles . There was no communication between the upper and lower stories , the former being approached from the outside by- a flight of stone steps , which rose over the door leading into the latter . One of the families counted eight or ten , of
both sexes , some of whom had attained ma turity . , The immorality to which their domestic condition g ives rise , I shall bave occasion hereafter to refer to . There was a common necessary for all , situated at a little _distaneb'from the house . It had no door , and its occupant , of either _sexr was exposed to tho gaze ofthe passer-by . This relation may shock delicate nerves ; -but it is as ' well : that the truth should be told without mincing it . All around was filthy it the extreme . As the soil about , was heavy and wet , tbe drainage was , most imperfect . Something has recently been done in the way of improvment under tho Sanitary Act , but the state of the village is still such that the work seems yet to be
The Condition Of England ' ¦ ^\ Question...
begun . ' ¦ _' jSucA' is _iUtp _^ _miV- of' iht / eonditiori of BritUh subjects iviihin twelvemiles ofthe greatest seat _oflmnnngmMwrld } _^ ( _"ftmtfcMuty . _^ _v _^ Passing into Berkshire _^ we fin _^ inusfticiency ' arid even wretchedness' 6 f accommodation to be the rule in almost every direction _^ . ' In the neighbourhood of Lambourn aiid Hungerford _^ hot far from ' Readiog _, and almost under Hi * shadowsof old Windsor . _itselfi this is . found to be the case : ' In' Wiltshire , it is notoriously and extensively so : ' Not far frbmCalhe are cottages of a very inferior description . ¦ JNear Chippenham ,, iii excellent situations , like that Of Colerne , not far from Bowood , in the vicinity of Marlborough
, in the north-east , and of Mere' in the ' south-west of the country ; in the _Winterbourris , 'and along the whole line leading from Salisbury towards Hungerford , they are in the majority of cases , worse than bad . Almost midway between Old and _. New Sarum , too , specimens of a very questionable description may be seen ; The Old and the New : are herc'b : ought within the / cbin pass of a single virion , showing the advance which society has made iii the lapse of centuries . . But the peasantry seem not to have participated in that advance . Tlie old seems , to have gradually merged into the new _vritliout including them in the , change ; _^ -v .: _^ ' " _"•" ¦ _'' . _*•" '• _, <>' _- _/\* i '" - - ""_ '''
For the accommodation which _theyippssess , insufiV cient and scanty , as it'isj the _V'ottaee ' rs ' almost invari _^ abl y pay rent , and ini some"caceB » highTrent , / Ihe rent varies from 6 d . to 2 sl per week , the amount of rent not being _so _' muoh determined by the character Of the house as by that of the landlord . Mr . Camm ' _s tenants pay much _higherrehts than Lord Pembroke ' s for which they are in general far less comfortably lodged . In most eases , a ; small piece of ground is attached to the cottage by way of a garden . Iri Bucks , Oxford , and part of Berks , this , which'seldom exceeds the eighth of an acre , is included In the rent ; but in other parts ' of Berks ' , and _throughout Wilts , generally , it is not . Here again the Pembroke , estates
are in exception . When extra rent is charged , the lowest is three-halfpence a pole . In some cases it is three-pence , and / in others as high , as a shilling . NOW the average rental of land , iii Wilts is about £ 1 per acre , or about three-halfpence a pule ' . . The poor wretch , therefore , who rents , say twenty poles , and pays 2 s . 6 d . a year for it , pays the farmer ' s rent pro tanto . Iii cases in which he pays . beyond that , the farmer makes a profit ' out of him . In addition to this , allotments are sometimes made to them in the fields . This is particularly the case : in Bucks and Oxford , where they take each , on the average , from a quarter to half an acre , " for which they pay at tbe rate of about 30 s . per acre . - ¦ ' ¦ '
Even were the diet-of the peasantry good and ample , personal and domestic cleanliness would be indispensable to their health ; But , existing as they do on insufficicntfood , to which they are condemned by the scantiness of their wages , their only chance of preserving health is by keeping clean their persons and dwellings . Soap and soda ; the chief ingredients in the process of washing , are now cheap , and many keep their cottages , ' persons , and wearing apparel as clean as possible under'these circumstances .- But whilst their _iaiserablecondition gives many an excuse for thefilthiness to which they are prone , it drives others , originally better disposed , into careless and untidy habits . There is a point at wbkh man ceases to struggle with his fate , ' and resigns himself to the 6 eeming necessities of his condition . Many an
English peasant is , in ; his circuit ! stances ; sunk so far below the line of comfort ; decency , and self respect , ' that tbe effort to reach it seems beyond his power . He convinces himself that he cannot better himself ; and ceases the endeavour . At length he" does not even cherish the wish , and becomes indiffeient . " How can we be clean with eight in a room ? " replied one of them ; oh my alluding to the state of his lodging . Hence the complicated fo _.-ms of _disease with which the small communities in . the ruialdistrictsare so often afflicted . 'Diseases of a catarrhal character , dysentery , and fevers ; particularly of the typhoid ' type , are constantly lurking about their wretched _inbabitations _/ Hence ; too , the vice which so alarmingly prevails , for impurity of mind becomes the invariable concomitant of habitual impurity of body .
The Factory "Workers Of Lakca-\ Shire. T...
THE FACTORY "WORKERS OF LAKCA-\ SHIRE . The houseof the Manchester , operative , wherever it be— in the old district or the new—in , Ancoats , or Cheetham , or , _Ilulme—is- uniformly a two-story dweling . Sometimes it is of fair dimensions , sometimes a line fourteen feet long would reach from the eaves to the ground ; In the old localities there is , in all probability , a cellar beneath the house , sunk some four or five feet below the pavement , and occupied _perhaps by a single poor old woman , ; r by . a family , the heads of which arc given to pretty regular alternation between their subteri anean abode and the neighbouring wine vaults _.,.: In the modem , and
_improved qmrtiers , tbe cellar retires modestly out of sight , and is put to a more legitimate use ns a home for coa s or lumber . The worst class of houses ,, not being cellars , commonly inhabitated . by the " mill hands , " consist each of two rooms , not a _"but-and-aben , '" but an above , and below , the stair to the former leading directly . up from : the ; latter , and the door of the ground , floor parlour being alBo at the door of the street . In " some cases the higher story is divided into two smallbedrooms , but in tbe superior class of houses there are generally two small bnt comfortable rooms on the ground floor , and two of corresponding size / above . The street door in these te : ements opens into a narrow passage , from which the stairs to the bedrooms also ascend . The
window of the ground floor _.. room , opening . to the street , is always furnished with a pair .-ef substantial outside shutters , and the threshold is elevated from the pavement , so as to admit of very emphatic stone door steps with flourishing scrapers , both of which , by the way , are generally to be found in a very commendab ' e slate of purity ; A local Act of Parliament obtained afewyears ago , and providing that every house built after it * enactment in Manchester should be constructed so as to possess a back door opening into a small back yard _/ has been of _immsnse advantage to the newer portions of the town . The unheal . 'by practise of building houses back to back was thus at once ' put down . A free current of air was permitted to circulate in the roar as well as in front
of the tenements , and ample space was obtained for the necessary cesspools , ' ashpits , & c , 'ibe , while convenient _approaches for the cleansing of such receptacles from the back , were everywhere formed . Take , for example , a part of Hulme , which I inspected the other day in company with Mr . Taylor , the exceedingly intelligent manager _< of Mr . Birley ' s mills . Between every street weretwo rows of the " best class of operatives ' houses , each with four rooms and a cellar a piece ; and between eachof the rows , running the whole length , wasapaved courtway _, with a gutter in the centre , formed by the back walls of the yards ofthe tenements on either , side : _thewalls-in question being pierced with apertures , through which all sorts of domestic refuse could be easily got at
and conveyed a » ay , with as little annoyance , to the inhabitants as may be . Certainly the plan was a vast improvement upon the old style of building . Still more might have been done ? Most of-the streets were provided with regular drains and gratings . The rents paid by operatives in Manchester vary from 3 s . to 4 s . 6 d ;; and'in some cases , 5 s . per week . This is for an entire house . Cellar dwellings fetch —I give the statement upon the authority of Mr . P . II . Holland , surgeo » , whose report upon thesanitary condition of ¦ Chorltcn was published in 1841—from Is- to 2 s . weekly , according to size . There is , however , I am happy to understand , upon all sides , a growing disinclination to those unwholesome abodes ; but as their rent is lowi-a , period of stagnation in trade often forces the people to occupy tliem . In 1844 Mr . Holland calculates that : in Chorlton one cellar ineye _^ y six was empty . The numberof !
¦ collars , ' as comparedwiih' that of houses , was then oiie iu twenty-eight ; - Mr . Holland adds , " they ( ihe cellars ) are much disliked , and justly so . They are always badly lighted and ventilated , and generally badly drained . " In _CjorltbrPMr . Holland calculates that about one-third of the working " population live in houses constructed back to bactc , aiid consequently without any thorough ventilation . About one-eiphth live in " closed courts , or streets which are little better than courts . " Now Chorlton being neither a very new nor a very old district , maybe taken as giving not a bad idea of tho general style ofthe working homes of . Manchester . The proportion of people living in _nnvcntilated , uridrained and unwholesome buildings ; in the districts tra versed by the St . George _' s-road , the Oldha m road and Great Ancoat _' s-street , must be much more con siderable , while in such districts as Ilulme the case is reversed . " ' v ' . .
1 ' I ? . . 1 . Manchester , like most g reat , manufacturing and commercial cit ' es , is scantily supplied with water , and that . which is to , bo procured is not by any means universally transparent ior tasteless . The streams which traverse the town are incarnations of watery filth . _! A more forbidding-looking flood than the Mcdlock , a 9 it may be seen where it . flows beneath the Oxford roud , it would be difficult to conceive . The black feettd water often glistens with the oily impurities which float _^ upori its surfaco _^ and the wreathes ' and : patches " , of green , froth which tesselate it prove the effervescence ' produced by impure gases . For any household purpose whatever , the water of this uncovered sewer is quite out ofthe question ; and the contents of the larger stream of
the Irwell are not much . better .. Manchester , therefore , obtains its water partially by means of pipes , partially by means of wells and pumps .. The last satisfactory statistics , which have been .. _published upon the subject are those containedin . the " . Manchester Police Returns , " compiled by Captain "Willis , the head of the constabulary force , forl 847 . ' .-By these returns _itappears that the . numberof 7 Streets , squares , alleys . Ac , within theborough : bf Manchester , " was , atthe date in question , 2 _, _95 & . The riumr ber of dwelling-houses was 46 , 922 . Of these there were " supplied' with pipe wafer in the interior , including shops , " 11 , 100 ; while not less than 12 , 770 " houses , Ac , " derived their water from a common cock or lap in the street . The number of houses
The Factory "Workers Of Lakca-\ Shire. T...
which' reaped no advantage , ' cither _fromi ' _pipesi con- ' ' ducte _^ _'ihfotheiriritOT _^ was nearl y a ? great as the- amount of dwellings proyided for in eitlierof . tlies e ' _. _waysj'beirig 22 , i ) 56 . . The number of dwelling cellars mthe borbugh _^ was 5 , 070 . Of these only 1 ; 108 were ' provided with pipe water . Upwards of 1 , 968 bad the advantage of a common tap ,- -and 1 , 994 were entirel y dependent upon other _means'bf supply . The " water sold b y the Waterworks Company is derived from a 'tunnel' called Gorton s Brook , which is principally land drainage . -So intensely impureis the . atmosphere over Manchester , that the rain water is unfit even for'washing until it
has stood for some time to purify and settle . Many of the poor who have no cisterns to allow the water to rest in , and / probably , no room for them even if they had . carry the fluid to be used for . washin » and scouring from the canals , aiid are frequently so economic in their use of it that they keep a buoket-full until it stinks . ' Mr . Holland has'' frequently detected tho practice by the abominable smell , produced . in a patient ' s sick room : " Generally tbe landlord ' ofa set of bouses sinks one or more wells , covering them of course with pumps , for the use of his tenants ., The right to draw water from these sources is purchased by the neighbours at the tate of from fid . to Is . per quarter . ¦ •' - '" : ' : - . _•' - ¦' ' . ' . " : ' ' 7- V ' : ";''' _-:- _' ' . . ' _* - _'¦
' ,. It would appear as if , in the manufacturing _distrietSj ' . ev ' erything moved quicker than in . any ; other parts , of the world . The child toils ' sooner , attains physical developement sooner , marries sooner , ha * children in his ' turn sooner , andin the present sanitary state of ' matters , dies sooner . But OYer ., and above this natural precocity—the Crowding together , as it were , of the ordinary epochs of life—it may' be observed _th'it an existence of constant laboHr , and not unfrequenv privation , has an universal tendency to diminish the time during which the family tie subsists in all cohesive powers . The members of a family living [ in comfortable ease , continue hound together far longer than'those of a family struggling to live This rule is as , natural as "it is universal . In the latter case each child , as it grows up , must neces
sarily labour for itself . The family income is not earned by a common' head , hor does it flow from a common source . The circle becomes a sort ol jointstock company , and as that great and universallyprevailing law of- self-preservation - conies gradually into play , 'the force of habit and of affection weakens , while that of individual interest strengthens , and as surely as the different personages of the company begin to peieeive that they are contributing , either in money or in comfort of situation , more to the family than the family contributes to them , so surely do they withdraw from the association to labour , in isolation , Or to form ; new and more profitable social combinations for themselves . I am assured on the very highest authority , that nothing in Manchester is more uncommon than a child after the age of
sixteen ' _systematically contributing to the support of his or'he ' r parents , or parents" doing anything for the support of a child above that age . The family tie may ,-therefore , be considered—allowing three children to each family-as broken up about twenty years after the marriage from which the children spring . '" Nothing , " says my informant , a gentleman of high official _standing , " nothing can be more keen than tlie affections of parents throughout the cotton districts for children , so long as they continue children , ' arid-nothing more remarkable than the lukewarm carelessness of feeling which subsists . between their parents and their children after the . latter are groimi vp and doing for themselves . " In this respect the instinct observable in the lower animals is . strongly developed to the classes of ivhich I speak . Affection
lasts iu its strong degree only so long as helplessness subsists .: It is asin the caiie of the birds- the young one ; when full feathered , flies away , and parents and nest are forgotten together . If , in the manufacturing districts , the flight takes place unduly early , it is because the plumage appears unduly early also . A-vast proportion of the mortality in Manchester is thatof children ; but of children , be it observed _, under the age ts labour in the mills . Out of every 100-deaths _^ in Manchester , more than forty-eight take p lace under five years of age , and more than fifty-one under ten years of age . In some of the neighbouring towns—particularly Ashton-under-Lyne—the proportion is still more appalling . There , by a calculation made embracing the five years
ending with June 30 , 1843 , it appeared that , out of the whole number of deaths , 57 per cent , were those of children under five years of age .,. It is , of course , generally known that the first five years ' of life are the most fatal in all districts ; but upon comparing a series of cotton spinning districts ihthe North with a , series of purely rural districts inthe West and South , I find that , while the infant mortality in the former is about fifty per cent ; , speaking in round numbers , that of the latter is only _abottt thirty-three per cent . In this difference of proportion is to le found the great evil of the factory ¦ system as it at pwm cmts _, ~ an evil not committed bij the work of thc mills _^ but by the work of the mills _draidng individuals in certain conditions from their homes . ' ¦ ' ' ¦ ' .
Tbo undue proportion of infant mortality , the principal portion of which , arises from tiie neglect of mothers who are compelled to leave their young childrenat [ home while they labour at the mill . This I hold to be the blackost blot on tho factory system . > Vhether it can be remedied is a question which I will not attempt to answer . "¦ "Pregnant women , " says Dr . Johns , "frequently continue tlieir work up to the very last moment , and return to it as soon as ever they can move about . " , " In' Ashton-vnder-Lyne , " says Mr . Coulthard , " it is iio unfrequent occurrence for mothers of the tenderest age to return to their work in the factories onthe second and third week after confinement , and to leave their helpless offspring in the charge of mere girls or superannuated old women . " The same authority mentions the case ofa nurse
" suckling three of these children , " and so exhausted as to be " unable te walk across the room , " while the children were " almost unable to move thoir hands and feet . " The inevitable s esult of this system is the reckless and almost universal employment of narcotics . First , the child is drugged until it sleeps and too often it is . drugged until it dies . There is a notion abroad that laudanum , as a stimulent , is frequently . used by adults in the manufacturing districts , instead of spirits . Upon this subject I have made inquiries , which have convinced riie that the practice , if it exists at all , does so only in exceptional cases . Medioal men have generally said that little or nothing of the kind came under their observation . Druggists are exceedingly shy and reserved upon the whole subject of narcotic dosing ,
and indisposed to admit that laudanum is commonl y g iven in any cases except those in which it is medically necessary . The truth is , however , that in England opium-eating , or drinking what De Quineey calls ' " laudanum toddy , " is an anti-social vice , practised in secret , and of which its praotisers are ashamed . The man who thinks no harm of admit * ting that he takes his elass of wine , or his tumbler of grog , or his pint of porter , will be sorry to make any such confession in favour of preparations ofthe poppy . If he gets drunk on opium pills , ho will keep the failing , to himself . In the case of infant drugging , although the subject is generally mentioned with reserve both by those who sell and those who employ the medicine , the practice is too notorious and universal to be for an instant denied . Still , says Mr . Coulthard , writing of Ashton—and his experience corroborates my own— " both buyer and seller are aware that they are doing wrong , and try to mistily tho facts . " Tho truth is , there is
not a more thoroughl y household word through tho cotton sp inning towns than " Godfrey . " Indeed just as tne gin-loving race of London delight to call their favourite beverage by dozens of slangy affectionate titles , just as there is " Cream of the Valley , " and " Regular PJare-up , " and" Old Tom , ' so there . is to be found in the druggists ' shops in the lower districts hero , "Baby ' s Mixture , " " Mother ' s Quietness , " " Child ' s Cordial , " '' Soothing Syrup , " and so forth , every ono of these lulling beverages , being a sweetened preparation of laudanum . In Ashton these abominable doses aro actually sold at many of the _public-housc 3 , and 1 think it highly . probable that the samo practice may exist in Manchester . In the former town , the weekl y sale of the narcotic drugs in question , by fifteen vendors , was on the average six gallons two quarts one and a half pints . In Preston , as it appears from the report of the Rev . J . Clay , twenty-one druggists sold in one week
oflbs . ozs . urs . Godfrey ' s Cordial .. .. .. 23 5 5 ' Infant's Preservative .. ,, 18 4 0 Sjriip of Poppies ; . .. .. W 9 0 Opium ¦ ¦¦ . ¦ . ' .. .. .. 1 1 _CJ ' Laudanum .. .. .. .. 782 _i Paregoric .. .. .. .. 0 9 0 3 ' .,.- . — — — - ! . ' . .. ; _/ . 68 1 51 Appended to the return mado by tho largest of theso twenty-one vendors is the following note : —'' Such preparations are only g iven , he belioves , to enable the mother to work at iactory . " A smalt quantity of laudanum is noted as sold for adult consumption , but the proportion is quite trifling . _, - , -
; The Spitalfields Weavers. . : The Term...
_; THE SPITALFIELDS WEAVERS . . : The term Spitalfields , at an early period of the history of London , 'designated the _suburbanfieldssituate between the ancient highway of Bishopsgate-street and the Whitechapel High-street . ' In the year 1197 one Walter Brur . e , a citizen of London , founded in these-fields a large hospital for poor brethren of the order of St . Austin _; hence tbe surrounding meadows were called tlosp . ital-fields , and ultimately Spitalfields . One of the district of Spitalfields , the
weaving population for a long period was chiefly conhned to Christchurch , but it has emigrated principally to the parish of _Bethual-green . This was formerly one of the hamlets of the ancient manor of Stebon Heath , now called Stepney ' : In 1740 , according to . the act of p ' afliameht for making it a distinct parish , arid erecting a parish church ) the hamlet contained , 1 , 800 houses , and 15 , 000 people , being upon an average rather more than , eight persons to each house , Its extent at that period is riot' stated . Now , however , it occupies an area of nearly one square mile and a half , and _ctnatitutes a little more than a tenth part oi
; The Spitalfields Weavers. . : The Term...
the metropolis . The population in 1841 was 74 _, 088 j and the number of inhabited bouses 11 , 782 , being in the proportion of rather more than six individuals to each-house , arid nearly seventeen houses ? to each acre . The average '! umbtr , of individuals per house throu ghout London is 7 . 4 ; and the average number of houses per acre is 5 5 , so that : we see , though each particular house contains one individual less , still each acre of ground has twelve houses more built upon'it than is usual throughout London . From this wc should naturall y infer that the generality of tenements in this district would . be of a ' small and lowrented character ; and accordingly we find , from the returns of Mi- ' . Bestow and the other parish officers , in 1839 , that the number of houses rated under £ 20 was about 11 , 200 , out of 1 L 700 and odd . Hence we see the truth of the remark , that there is no parish in or a _"; _out London where there is such a mass of low-rented houses . " The houses ot the weavers , "
says Dr . Gavin in his valuable ''Sanitary Ramblings , " generally consist of two rooms on the ground floor and a workroom above . This work-room always has a large window for the admission of light during their long hours of sedentary labour . "Whole streets of such houses abound in Bethnal-greon , and a great part of the population is made up of weavers . Thero are some , but , ndt . a great number of . dwellings ' consisting of one roorii only . Such houses are . always of the worst description . ' With very fuw exceptions , the dwellings of the poor are destituto of most of those structural conveniences common to the better classes of houacs . There are never any places set aside for receiving coals ; __ dust bins to hold the refuse ofthe houses are exceedingly rare and cupboards or closets are nearly altogether unknown . There are never any sinks , and the fireplaces are constructed without the slightest regard to the-convenience or comfort of the inmates . "
The history of weaving in Spitalfields is interesting , and tends to elucidate several ofthe habits existing to this day among the class . Upon thc revocation ofthe edict of Nantes in 1085 , numerous French artizans left their native country , and took refuge in the neighbouring states . King James II . encouraged these settlers , and William III . published a proclamation , dated April 25 , 1 GS 9 , for the encouraging tho Frencb Protestants to transport themselves into this kingdom , promising them his royal protection , and to render their living here comforttably and easy to them . For a considerable timo the population of Sp italfields might be considered as exclusively French ; that language was universally spoken , and even within the memory of persons
now living their religious rites were performed _m-French in chapels erected for that purpose . The weavers were , formerly , almost the only botanists ; in the metropolis , arid their love of flowers to this day is a strongly marked characteristic ofthe class . Somo years back , we are told , they passed their leisure hours , and generally the whole family dined on Sundays , at the little gardens in the environs of London , now mostly built upon . Not very long ago there was an Entomological Society ' and they were among the most diligent entomologists in the kingdorii . This taste , though far less general than for- ; merly , still continues to be a type of ' the class . There was at one time a Floricultural Society , an Historical Society , and a Mathematical Society / all
maintained by the operative silk-weavers ; and the celebrated Dollond , the inventor of the achromatic telescope , was a weaver ; so too were Simpson and Edwards , tbe mathematicians , before they were taken from the loom into the employ of governirient , to teach mathematics to the cadets oi Woolwich and Chatham . Such were the Spitalfields weavers at thc beginning of the present century ; possessing tastes and following pursuits the refinement and intelligence of which would be an honour and a grace to the artizan even of the present day , but which shone out with a double lustre at a time when the amusements of society were almost all of a gross and _brutalising kind . The weaver of our own time , however , though still far above the ordinary artisan _, both in refinement and intellect , falla
far short Of the weaver of former years . Ofthe importance of the silk trade , as a branch of manufacture , to the country , we may obtain some idea from the estimate ofthe total value of the produce , drawn up by Mr . _M'Culloch , withgreat care , as he tells us , from tbe statements of _intelligent , practical men in all parts of the country ; conversant with the trade , and were able to form an opinion upon it . The total amount of wages paid in the year 1836 ( since when , he says , the circumstances have changed bnt little ) was upwards of £ 370 , 000 ; the total number of hands employed 200 , 000 ; the interest on capital , wear tear , profit , & c , £ 2 , 600 , 000 ; and the estimated total value of the silk manufacture of Great Britain , £ 10 , 480 , 000 .
Now , according to the census of the weavers of the Spitalfields district , taken at the time of the Government in 1 S 38 , and which appears to be _conaidored by tho weavers themselves of a generally accurate character , the number of looms at work was 9 , 302 , and those unemployed , 894 . But every two of the looms employed would occupy five hands ; so that the total number of hands engaged in . the silk . manufacture of Spitalfields , in 1838 , must have been more than double that number—say 20 , 000 . This would show about one-tenth of tho silk goods that were produced in Great Britain in that year to have been manufactured in Spitalfields , and hence the total value of the produce of that district must havo been upwards of one million of money , and
the amountpaid in wages about ± 370 , 000 . Now , from inquiries made among the operatives , I find that there has been a depreciation in the value of their labour of from fifteen to twenty per cent , since the year 1839 ; so that , according to the above calculation , the total amount of wages now paid to tho weavers is £ 60 , 000 less than what it was ten years back . By the preceding estimate it will be seen that the average amount of wages in the trade would havo been in 1839 about 7 s . a week per hand , and that now the wages would be about 5 s . 6 d . for each of the parties employed . - This appears to agree with a printed statement put forward by tho men themselves , wherein it is affirmed that " tho average weekly earnings of the operative silk weaver in 1824 , under the act then repealed , taking the whole body of operatives employed , partially employed , and unemployed , was 14 s . Cd . Deprived of legislative protection , "" they say , *• there is now no means of readily
ascertaining the average weekly earnings ofthe whole body of the employed and unemployed operative silk weaver s ; but , according to the best approximation to an average which can be made in Spitalfields , the average of the weekly , earnings of the- operative silk weaver is now , taking the unemployed and tho partially employed , with the employed of those remaining atta _' ched to the occupation of weaver , only 4 s . 9 d . But this weekly average would be much less if it included those who have gone to other trades , or who have become perpetual paupers . " Hence it would appear that the estimate before given of 5 s . Od . for the weekly average wages ofthe employed is not very far from the truth . It may therefore be safely asserted that the operative silk weavers , as a body , obtain £ 50 , 000 worth less of food , clothin _? , and comfort per annum now than in the vear 1839 .
Now let us see what was the state of the weaver in that year , as detailed by the Government report , so that wo may bo the bettor able- to comprehend what his state roust be at present : "Mr , Thomas Heath , of No . 8 . _Pedley-street . " says the Blue Book of 1839 , " has been represented by many persons as one ofthe most skilful workmen in Spitalfields . He handed in about 40 samples of figured silk done b y him , and they appear exceedingly beautiful . This weaver also gave a mmuio and detailed account of alibis earnings for 430 weeks , being upwards of eight years , with the names ofthe manufacture and the fabrics at which he worked . The sum of the gross earnings for 430 weeks is £ 322 3 s , 4 d ., being about 14 s . ll _^ d . —say 15 s . a week . He estimates his expenses ( for quill-winding , picking , die ., ) at 4 s ., which would leave lis . net wages ; but take .
the expenses at 3 s . 6 d ., it is still only lis . 6 d . He states his wife ' s earnings at about 3 s . a week ; He gives the following remarkable evidence - . —Have you any children ? No ; I had two , but . they are both dead , thanks be to God ! Do you express satisfaction at the death of your children ? I do ! I thank God for it . I am relieved from the burden of maintaining them , and thoy , poor dear creatures , aro relieved from the troubles of this mortal life . " It this , then , was the conditionand feeling of one of the most skilful workmen ten years ago , earning lis . Gd . a week , and when it was proved in evidence by Mr . Cole that 8 s . Od , per week was theaverage net earnings of twenty plain weavers—what must bo the condition and feeling of the weaver now that wages have fallen from 15 to 20 per cent , since that period ? . ( To be Continued
Lord Coke A " Free Trader."—It Should Bo...
Lord Coke a " Free Trader . "—It should bo mentioned to the credit ofthe chief justice that he steadily supported freo . trade in commodities . A bill "' to allow the _salo of Welsh cloths and cottons in and through tho kingdom of _^ England'" being opposed on " reasons of state , " he said , _^' reason of state is often used as a trick to put us out , of the rig ht way ; for when a man can give . no reason for a thing , then he flyeth to a higher strain , and _saith it is a reason of state . "Freedom of trade is the life of trade . " On the samo principles he supported a bill ¦ " to enable merchants of the staple to transport
woollen cloth to Holland , " and a bill being brought in " to prohibit the importation in corn for the protection of tillage , " he strenuously opposed it , saying , ' , ! If we bar the importation of corn when it aboundeth , ' wo shall not have it imported when we lack it . I never yet heard that . ! a bill .-was ever before preferred iuparliament _. agauist the importation of corn , and I love to follow ancient precedents . I think this bill truly speaks Dutclvahd ni'ftt _ tn _§ benefit of the Low Countrymen , " -Campbell _s lives of the Chief Justices , . _^ ¦ _.-.. ¦ „ „„ I never receive suoh comfort from othersuw from myself . I _should oonsider _mabdity to com fort myself under a misfortune afar greater evil than the misfortune it _, $ elf , ~ HumbQMt _>
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 5, 1850, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_05011850/page/7/
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