On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (4)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
dtmgevial %Bariiamtnt.
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
HOUSE OF LORDS—FHroAT , Mabch 4-Lord ClakehdoJJ requested information from Lord Aberdeen respecting the preparatiena -which were now making on the French frontier of Spain for a projected insurrection in that country . Both loldieis and civilians , who were known to have been ooncerned in . the late wvolt , and who made no secret of their present oljeei , had traversed Fiance from every quarter : -warlike stores "were openly being accumulated on the frontier ; and yet the French Government , with most ample msans at iU disposal , had made no effort to prevent , or ersn to impede , those proceedings . The end proposed to be obtained by this intended insurrection was neither
the restoration of tha Qoetn Regent , who had voluntarily resigned her power , noi of Don Carlos , whose cause was admitted to be hopeless ; it was merely to bnng back anarchy and disorder . Such an attempt was opposed to the feelings of the whole people ; it -would be vigorously resisted bj "Esparterp , under whose Governmtct Spain had made rapid progress in civilisation and prosperity , and he had no doubt it would entirely fail . It required , however , to be vigilantly watched , and he therefore wished to know if instructions had been ^ sent to out ambassadors upon the subject , and if in case of an insurrection , snips wonld be despatched to the parts cf Spain to afford protection to her Majesty ' s subjects ? , ¦
. Lord Abeedeex expressed his conviction ftat on " no Bubject were men cf all parties so firmly agreed as in the wish to render Spain really prosperous and independent Tee plot which was at present in progress had done nnch to insure its own failure . Its ramifications were intimately known to the Spanish Government , which was prepared to resist it with every prospect of success , while from France , in answer to bis communications , he received assurances that the preparations which were in progress upon the frontier were without he - sanction , and that every means had been , and should be , employed to intercept persons against whom there were
grvunds for suspicion . He must be cosfe-nt to receive ihr . se assurances ; but although the character of the Minister from whom they proceeded , entitled them to the utmost respect , thfre should be no want of vigilance , and no exertions should be wasting to aid the Regent in maintaininj ; his position , if it should be endangered . He did not believe tbat any alliance existed between the partisans of Bon Carlos and the ex-Begent Christiana ; and he considered the plot to be lees formidable than was represented . Still , however , Brhisb interests should be adequately protected , and ev « y assistance afforded to zn old ally in whose welfare this country felt so much concern . - '
Lord Bboi'Gham called the attention cf their . Lordthips to the very inadequate per-sions which had been assigned to the daughters cf the l&ts Sir Robtit Kennedy , who had been for many years at the head of the Commissariat Depatment . - The Duke of Wellington , after paying a high tribute to the merits of the deceased , promised his immediate attention to the case-of the daughters , that some provision might be made for them more wuthy of their father ' s services . Lord ilOMEAGLE then rose , pursuant to notice , to lay before the House his motion respecting the lste fraud in the issue of Exchequer-bills . Its object had no reference to tbat of the measure which had been introduced in the other House . It was simply that the question should be decided whether the frauds had been in zmj degree caused or facilitated by tha act or neglect of any public- ; nicer responsible to Parliament In the
management of the { -nice of Controller-General there had not been for npwards of a cest'iry any- change or sny relaxation in the previously existing rules . It had always been the custom to place much confidence in the holders of the principle offices , in the choice and appointment of whom the utmost caution was exercised ; and in ths case of the author of the late frauds , every eireuTBtt » nee of long-tried probity and high respectability of famiiy and character appeared to have combined to lull suspicion . The N « ble Lora then related the facts which had led to tie discovery of forgeries , and defended tha conduct of Government daring the examiuatlc-n of Exchequer Bills in withholding from the parties the forgea Bills thai they produced . The appointment of the commission , which had already made its iep-. it , would have superseded the necessity of his ntition were it not for five points upon which they stated that the fowner practice had been departed from , or farmer precautions rtlaxed . These were : —
1 st , " The abandonment of a second counterfoil wh > ch had been deposited in the Bank cf England . " 21 " The neglect of comparing the Bills with their COTmterfoils at thePaymasiei ' s-omce , at the exchanging , paying off , or fanning of the Bills . ' 3-1 " The distribution of tie counterfoils without the authority cf a Treasury warrant- " 4 ± . " The signing of Bills of the same issue by more than one person , and the omission of a notification in the Gazitte . where any ether person other than the prisclpal was authorised to sign . " 5 th . " The occasional signature of Bills without the presence cf n clerk , or of the signing-book , elsewhere thsm rn the office . "
Upon each of these instances of deviation from the established practice the Noble Lord shortly spoke in exculpation , and after vindicating the motives , by wiuch he had been actuated , moved that a committee of irqziiry be appointed , that it might be ascertained if aay seglect on his part had offered facility "to fraud . Lord BsorGHXH considered that the conrsa which had teen adopted by the Government wculd be more satisfactory than the appointment of a comnittee such as Lord Monteagle recommended . With respect to the points to which tke former commission had
directed attention , he expressed his assent to the explanation which had been afforded , except in the case f signing bills in other places than the p-. oper office . Sir John Newport had iadeed done so upon one or two occasions , but the bills so signed were dtficiect bills , while Lord Moateagle had signed S apply bills . He defended at considtrable length the practice of the office under Sir John Newport ' s iuptrintesdeiiee ; and after going very fnlly through all the details- of this subject , concluded by declaring that the vindication both of Lori Monteagle and his predecessor was in every particu l ar complete .
TheBukeof Wellington approved of the course Lord Monteagle had taken in bringing a question which had excited somuchat-ention under discussion , although eo blame had ever been laid to his charge by any authority . It was absoluttly necessary that there should be an inquiry which would protect the present holders of the bills , and support , the ciedit of the public securities ; but he trusted tbat no obstacle would' be thrown in the way of the investigation which had been ' entered vpoa hf the other Houss , by establiiiiuij another inquiry which would still ba liable to objection . " , He pressed Lord Monteagle . therefore , to withdraw hiB motion , pronrisiag thai the clauses he might wish inserted in the BL '! 1 now before the other House should receive attention . To this course Lord MoxteaGLE assented , and his motion bting withdrawn , their Lordships adjourned . Monday , March 7 .
The business consisted in 3 n explanation from the Earl of Aberdeen , as to the circumstances connected with the conversation which he had held with the French Ambassador , en the subject of the occupation of Algiers ; and a defence , by the Eirl of Miuto , of his administration of the nsval affairs i . f the conniry , from the animadversions of Sir Cbarle 3 Napier in the House of Commons , on Friday nigkt- This was held to be irregularly brought uncier discussion ; and the House shortly afterwards adjourned .
Untitled Article
HOUSE OF COMMONS . —Fwdxt , Masch 4 . The Speaker took the chair at five minutes before four o ' clock . Lord Mahox brought in th . e Copyright Bill , \ shich was read a first timu , and ordered to be read a second tune on Wednesday , the 16 th iast . On the motion of Sir C . Napieb , a return was ordered of the number of vessels arriving from America , at the Port of Liverpool , laden with corn , during the yeais 1840 and 18-11 , and stating the number of days each ship occupied iu the voyage .
Mr . Fekeand gave notics , that when the Hon . Member for Saiford ( Mr . Brotherton ) brought forward his motion for an "Address for a return of the names or firms of all occupiers of cotton , woollen , flax , and silk mills or factories , who pay the wages of their workpeople in goods instead of money , or who directly or indirectly , by their pirtnera , servants , or relations , supply goods or provisions on the truck system ; and also the names of the places where such mill 3 are situated ; " it was his indention to more , after the words " silk mills or factories , " that the following words be introduced , " print-works , csal-works , and iron-works , " and that there be added to the proposed motion , " and also the names or firms of all oecupiers cf print-works , coal-works , and iron-works , who compel their workmen to raride in cottages belonging to their employers . "
Lord J . Rcssell said , he had received letters stating that with respect to the scale of towns from which the averages were to be taken , it was considered they had not been properly selected . Some towns had been included hi the seals where very little corn was sold , and other towns where large quantities were sold , had keen altogether left out of the scale . Sir R Pekl : I will move for leave to bring up the report , and then I will answer the Noble Lard . The Report on the Corn Law Importation Act baring been brought up and read , -
Sir R . Peel said , the bill which had been proposed was in strict conformity with the resolutions which had been agreed to , and toe explanation which he gave in moving for a committee on the subject ; he wished to state that he had received letters from inspectors , stating hardships on them , and asking for compensation . The arrangement he proposed with respect to the inspectors , he proposed to keep in office all efficient officers , placing them under the control of tha board of excise , and in all the new towns to have the averages taken by the excise , officers . He trusted the whole
Untitled Article
duty would be taken under the superintendence of the excise , so as to cause little or no additional expence , He proposed that the bill should , as toon as it receded the sanction of the legislature , come into immediate operation ; and he should not therefore , postpone that operation until tae settlement of the question of averages . He always , in proposing an extended area for the averages , sought to have additional opportunities for taking them , and additional precautions against conspiracy to raise the averages . In the revision of the lists of towns he had acted on this principle ; there were near 150 towns from which the averages were collected , in that number there were a certain proportion of manufr . cturicc , agricultural , and commercial towns ; and in his plan ' he had followed the same ratio in the new towns selected . But the whole would be open t # the revision of the House , according to the information it shonld receive . ' " :
Mr . Cobdek begged the attention of the bouse for a few moments to a matter relating personally to himself . He alluded to the observations made a few evenings ago by an Ron . Member cl that House , who si ^ tsd that -whilst he ( Mr . Cobden ) was calling for a repeal of the Com Laws , b . 8 was working his nii'I night and day , and , moreover , tbat by this cruel means he bad amassed a large fortune . At the time that statement was made he declined trespassing on the attention of the House , in order that by not doing so then he nifght be better prepared to do bo at a subsequent period . With that view he h ~ A written to the country for the fullest and most precise information upon the subject of the Hon . Member ' s charge , to which he would solicit the attention of the House . He would first of all mention that
the concern vrith which he was connected employed about six hundred persons , and he found , from the information whick had been supplied him , that during the last eighteen years there had been employed durl- g night twenty men , and that during an interval of eighteen months , ten men had been c&sually employed at night finishing up some work . Now , by the charge of cruelty he believed it was intended to convey the impression that those who worked at night worked also by day ; bnt that was not the case . They were fresh hands ; they were persons who had notairg else to do , and who would have been altogether idle if they had not been bo employed in the establishment with which he was connected —( Hear , hear . ) The letter he received on the subject stated , "I only wish we could employ
five hundred extra hands at Bight ; for wo could have five thousand if we required them , and very glad those five thousand persons would be to get work to do by night , for they never were so badly off as they are at present "—( hear , hear . ) As the difference between cotton spinning and cstton printing did not appear to be well understood , be wished to observe that covt * n printing was something like paper printing—it had its seasons ; and to prevent persons engaged in tbat branch of trade from occasionally employing half a d » z » n extra hands by night , would be like interdicting the proprietor of a magazine from employing printers by night towards the end of the month aid just previeus to its publication—( hear . ) The Hon . Member who brought forward the cbarse also spoke of those manufacturers
who belonged to the Anti-Corn Law League , as being in the habit of paying thair workmen ' s wages by truck jsysrem . Now , as that was a breach , or at least an evasion , of the law , it became a matter of serious charge , and as he { Mr . Cobden ) was proud of belonging to the Anti-Corn Law League , and hoped he might long bo so—( a laugh ) , —he felt himself bound to show the House how far tbe Hon . Member ' s statement was correct by reading another passage from the letter which he held in his hand . It said— " Of course you are aware that our wages are paid every Saturday , as is well known , at eight o ' clock In the morning , so that the workmen can lay out their mon » y to the best advantage , and wherever they please" —icheers . ) Nothing could ba more futile than for & person , like Mini ( Air .
Cobdeui to di 85 " . aiui the truck system if he really sancu' < n&d or practised it , because the shopkeepers , who were exceedingly jealous of anything of that kind , were also exceedingly acute in discovering who were thepajties who paid money and who did not ; and in answer to the charge against himself , he begged to Eay that he paid 420 , 000 in wages during the last ten years ; that duriug that time he had never , directly or indirectly , been connected with a shop , or with any other than his own establishment , and that every farthing of the Bum he had mentioned had been paid in cash—( cheeM ) . That was notorieus to svery one in the neighbourhood of the establishment to which he belonged ; and wben the Hon . Member opposite mr . 'le his charge * o broadly and without excepting him ( Mr . Cobden ) , he
was aware—because he had be * o informed by an Hod . Gentleman who sat near him , and who was opposed in politics to him ( Mr . Cobden ); the Hon . Member was at the time aware that the chargewasucf » unde < J —( cheers He iMr . Cobden ) called npoa tbe Hon . Member for Wigan to say whether what he now stated was not literally correct and true . What he said a week ago he now repeated , that he considered this a very undignified occupation for them to be engaged in , and he hoped he would not in future be expected to come" forward to repudiate and rebut charges of this kind from tie sama quarter—( cheats ) . If any Hon . Gentlt » an should condescend to take the slightest interest In his pf rsonal
character , he referred him at once to his neighbours and his working people , hoping that he would a « t upon the principle of " do unto others as you would wish others to do unto you , " and , before he relied upon testimony from any other quarter , inquire after his ( Mr . Cobden ' s ) character in his own neighbourhood , where be was best known—( bear , hear ) , la conclusion , he would state , that an Hon . Gentleman in &tm House had been intrusted with declarations from a large bo 4 y of individuals in Lancashire against the charges which hod been made aga ust those respectable gentlemen who were members of the anti-Corn Law League , and requesting him to lay before the House a distinct denial of those
charges . Mr . C . Yilliebs rose before the Hon . Member for Knaresboio' -igh , because he was tbe person to whom the declarations referred to by the Hon . Member for Scockport had been confided . The House would remsmber the circumstances under which certain charges had been made by the Hon . Membor for Kaaresborough against the manufacturers . The Hon . Member , iu opposing hia ( Mr . Villiers ' sj motion , siid tbat his arguments against tt "were founded upon certain charges which he brought against the manufacturers , and those charges be qualified by saying that he did not apply them to the manufacturers of England gt-nerally , but to those manufacturers who had contributed to the Anti Corn Law Leaffue . The nature of these charges having become
matter of notonity , and he ( Mr . Villiers ) having stated in his remarks to the House that they were of so serious a character , and had been received in so striking a manner—ich * eri)—as evidently to show that they were generally credited by Hon . Gentlemen at the opposite side of tbe Heaie—those manufacturers against whom they were made had deemed it right to take them into their considi-ratisn , for the purpose of seeing how far the Hon . Member for Knaresborough might have been justified io making them . He ( Mr . Villiers ) would , thei-etoTt , tronole the House , in the first instance , with an extract from the speech of the Hon . Member . He said— " When detailing the other night the misery , tbe oppression , the plnnder , and robbery committed on the poer by the Anti-Corn Law League manufacturers , I
brought under ike notice of the House the evils of the t-nck system . I have since received some f urtbsr information upon that subject But before I read to the Hcu-se a statement which will make it stand aghastwhich wili fre « B » its blood with horror , 1 wish particnla-Tiy to Tc-aasert , in the presence of the House , that 1 Uo not charge the wh le of the manufacturers of England with b-.-ins ; parties to this nefarious system . I positively declare that I charge only the anti-Corn Law League msnnfacturers . I have been told by many manufacturers in my ow » neighbourhood—as honourable mtn as tver lived , and of whose society I am proud—I have been told by them , time after time , that they cannot compete with the anti-Corn Law League manufacturers , because it was their practice to pay their men
in money , and not in goodf . It is a notorious fact , that master manufacturers clear twenty-five per cent , by the gooes they sell to their workmen , and ten per cent , by the cottages in which they are compelled Vi reside . There , then , is the glorious system of fr * e traiie , under which the anti-Corn Law League manufacturers stand up in tha House of Commons and exclaim , Before us tbe landed interest shall falL'" He had then taken the liberty of Bayicjr thai the charge could not rest there , and these who made it , and those who by their vociferous cheering sanctioned it—( cheers )—were bound to see that such a charge was proved —( loud cheers . ) The charge had , of couwe , fallen under the notice of tbe persons implicated , and they had drawn up the following statement , which he would rtad to the house : — " We , the undersigned manufacturers , being subscribers to the anti-Cora Law League , having heard , with
surprise , the statements made in the House of Commons by Mr . Fenand , the member for Knaresborough , do hereby repudiate them in the most distinct and uncqui-VOC 2 . 1 manner , and do declare them to be utterly destitute of truth . We distinctly state that we keep no truck-shops , and that we do not pay our workmen otherwise than in the current coin of the realm "—; loud cheers from the Opposition . ) This declaration was signed by seventy-two manufacturers who were members of the anti-Corn Law League—( cries of " Name , name . " ) He had no objection to read the names . The Hon . Member read the names of the subscribers to the declaration , and then said that he was quite ready to give a copy of the document he had just read to the Hon . Member for Knaresborough , and he thought the House would agree with him that that Hon . Member was bound to give some explanation of his statement—{ cheers . )
M-. Fekbxnd said , that in the first place he would apply himself to the complaints of the Hod . Member for Stockpart- He had not charged that Hon . Member with cruelty to his workmen—( loud cries of Oh ! oh !") No notice had been given to him of the coarse intended to be pursued tkat evening —( "Ohi ' and cheers)—and the present conversation had come upon him quite by surprise ; but as far as he could recollect what he had said with regard to the Hon . Member , it was this , that , whilst he came down , nurht after night , to that House complaining of the Bufferings of tbe people , he was keeping his own workmen employed in working his mills night and day —( cheers . ) That was , to the best of bis recollection , the statement he had made . He had sot made use of the words " abominable cruelty , " ner had he referred to any particular cases of ill-treatment on the part of tbe Hun . Member towards his workmen—( bear . ) The Hon . Member had said he had charged him with being a party to the
Untitled Article
truck sysem . He had never done any such thing . If it had been his intention to prefur any such charge against him , he should have teld him of tho charge plainly and without equivocation —/ cheer * . ) But it was not hte intention to charge him with participating in that system . On the contrary , an Hon . Gentleman on that ( the Ministerial ) side of tbe House had told him previously that the Hon . ' Member for Stockport was not guilty of that charge , and that he paid all his men with money—( bear . ) He hoped that statement would convince the Hon .. Member that he had misunderstood him—( loud crie « of " Oh 1 ohv from the Opposition benches . ) Ko # ' with regard to the statements of the Hod . Member for Wolverhampton , he begged leave again most positively to assert , and ho
was ready to prove his statement by the evidences of credible witnesses before a committee or at the bar of that House , that Members of the Anti-Corn Law League did pay their people in goods—( Criesof "AH , all ? " ) He had never said they all paid their workpeople in that manner—( cries of " Oh I oh ' " and ironical cheers ;) He had never used the word " all" at all—( laughter , and repeated cries of "Oh ! oh !**> He again asserted what he had said , and he was prepared to prove every tittle of it by the evidence on oath of magistrates , clergymen , gentlemen of high standing , manufacturers , tradesmen , and workpeople , who , since be had made his statements , had given him . information on the suVj « ct in their own names , and who were prepared to prove tbe truth of every representation he had made—( loud cheers . )
Mr . Villiers—I beg most distinctly and unequivocally to say , that the Hon . Member did charge all the manufacturing Members' of the ar . ti-Corn Law Ltogue which being parties to this system —( cries of "Order , '' " cbair , " and loud chetrt . i I can remind tke House of a circumstance—( Renewed cries of " Ord * . " ) The Chanckllob of the Exchequer—Sir , I rise to enter—( hear , hear . ) I put it to you , Sir , if when an Hon . Member distinctly and positively repudiates the use of a certain expression any other Hon . Member is justified in persisting in attributing that expression to him . In the present case the Hon . Mtinber denies that he attributed to all the manufacturers a participation in tae track system—Mr . Villiers—Oh M do not say that he did —( cries of " Order" " chair" )
The Chakcellou op the Exchequer ( not noticing the interruption)—and I am sure tna House will be satisfied with that Hon . Gentleman ' s statements , and that you , Sir , will interfere to prevent this sort of recriminatory conversation . Mr . VlLLiEBS again rose amid loud cries of " order , " " order , " but gave way to Mr . Laboucuere , who said that he had certainly not understood the Hon . Member for Kuarcsboroujh to charge the truck system upon all the manufacturers of England , but he did understand him to attribute it to the great bulk of the manufacturers—those of theni , namely , who had joined the anti-Corn Law League—( cries of " order . " and cheera . )
Mr . Villieks said , he would take the liberty to remind tae House of a circumstance conn « ct « d with the debate at the close of which the Hon . Member had made his charge . The House would reuember , that in the course of his ( Mr . Villiers ' s ) reply , he had said that tbe charges brought against the British manufacturers would not be allowed to rest there . The Hoi . Member for Knaresborough immediately made a motion signifying dissent , and an Hon . Friend near him reminded him that tee charge was limiud to those manufacturers who had joined the League . He ( Mr . Villisrs ) then
said— " I understand the Hon . Member limits bis charge to the manufacturing numbers of tke anti-Corn L » w League "— ( hear , hear . ) Those were the wards he used , and he had a distinct recoliection tbat the Hon . Member ( Mr . Ftrranu ) touched hiB bat and said " Decidedly "—( vociferous cheering from the Opposition . ) He ( Mr . Villiers ) did not , therefore , attribute to him that he had brought the eharge against all the manufacturers of England , but he did say , that he included every manufacturer -who contributed to toe anti-Corn Law League—( renewed cheers . )
The Speaker said , be must remind the Hon . Member that , after the positive denial of the Hon . Gentleman , it was highly ir egular , and contrary to the rules of the House , to question his assertions—( hear , hear . ) Mr . VlLLlEES was perfectly ready to say that he had entirely misapprehended and misunderstood the Bon . Member , if he had intended to limit bis reference to a few of the great manufacturing body . Sir B . Hall would take the opportunity of referring to the motion concerning the truck system , of which tiio Ho : i . Member for Saiford had given notice , and with regard to which the Hon . Mtinber for Knaresborou # h had stated that be should move an amendment He wished to know whether , provided the House acceded
to this motion ( which be feared it could not , for he did not know how the returns could ba procured ) in that case either of the Hon . Members was prepared to take any further steps in connection wibh the subject—( bear , hear . ) He was the more impelled to make this inquiry because it was quite witain his own knowledge that the system did exut to a very great extent in tbe iron districts with which he was connected— \ hear , hear )—and because he felt tbat it would be quite impossible to leave the question where it stood at present—( hear , hear . ) He did not know tbat anything the House could do would entirely put an end to these sort of transactions , but if there was any effective way of stopping it it would be by making public all the particulars of bo nefarious a system —( cheers . )
Mr . BiioTHEBTO . N said , he had no doubt it wonld be quite practicable to get ail the returns which he had given notice that he should move for . His idea had been tbat the inspectors of factories could themselves furnish all the necessary information . With regard to the particulars wanUd by the Hon . Member for Knaresborough , he was not so sure that they could be obtained . The inspectors did not visit print : and iron works , and consequently could not be supposed to be able to give any information as to the extent of the truck system in
those works —; hear . ) His ( Mr . Brotkerton ' B ) principal object had been , not to show the * xt « nt of the system , but to prove that it was not entwrtained by the proprietors of silk and cotton mills —( hear . ) With ngard to those mills , as he said before , he could get the information he wanted , but he feared that the effect * i the amendment of the Hon . Member opposite would be , to throw impediments in the way of the return . If the information he required was absolutely utOKsaxy , pechaps be would not object to move tor it in a separate motion .
Lord John Russell expressed his persuasion that no krge class of men , either manufacturers or agriculturists , were jubtiy chargeable with tke offences alleged against the Anti-Corn Law League , or with intentionally sacrificing the public interests to their own . He added that it was the intention , on bis own side of the House , to tike a debate and a division upon the second reading of the Corn Duty Bill : upon which Sir R . Feel said , ho was much pressed , from many q : iarters , to make a statement of the intentions entert&ined by Government respecting the finance and commerce of the country ; and be was anxious , from considerations of public convenience , to make that statement ou Friday next But he felt it necessary first to obtain the votes which were to decide the ainonnt of the naval and military force tJ be maintained by the country in the ensuing year . Hti ultimately fixed Wednesday ntxt for tke second reading of tlie Corn D « ty Bill .
Sir A . L . Hay , at Lord John Russell ' s request , then postponed his motion respecting the Scotch Church , in order that the estimates mi ^ ht not be delayed . After a motion by Mr . O Cornell . for papers , ' which were ordered , and a short conversation respecting the relations of France , Spain , and Jtaigfond , the House resolved itself into committee of supply . In this committee Mr . Sidney Herbert , as Secretary of the Admiralty , ' moved the Navy Ettimatte . He stated it to be the intention of Government that the existing number of seamen should be retained , but that , in order to avoid the disadvantage of sending ships to sea with less than their complement , the number of ships should be diminished . He explained the iletai . ' s of the estimates , ami proposed a vote for 43 , 000 seamen , including 10 , 000 marines .
Sir C . Napier assented to the opinion tbat a smaller number of ships well manned was more effective than a larger number manned incompletely . Ha adverted to the great age of our adrairalB , and the impracticability of finding among them men strong enough for active commands . In such a state # f things , the late caval promotion ought to have been more comprehensive , and to have borne a neater proportion to the brevet in tbe army . He wisha « the Government to pension off a considerable number of old captains , to make some commanders captains , and in all future promotions to give a certain proportion to seniority . He proceeded to recommend also some additional advantages for tbe subordinate classes of the service . He finally amused the House with some criticisms upon the sterns of several ships lately constructed , particularly one named the Queen .
Captain Rous entered at length into the merits and defects of modern shipbuilding . He complained of the insufficiency of the p 3 y of naval officers , observing , that the pay of a French captain is one-third more than that of an English one ; and that tbe pay of an American captain actually doubles that of an English officer of the same rank . He touched upon the late case of Mr . Elton , of whose conduct he took a very unfavourable view . He complained pf the appointment of so aged an officer as Sir Edward Owen to command the Mediterranean fleet , great as were th 6 abilities and honours of that distinguished admiral , and recommended that a system should be adopted by which younger officers should be brought forward , suggesting promoting by purchase . It waa not wise to keep strong and healthy men upon the shelf , and draw out old aad infirm ones into a description of service requiring vigour and activity . . : .
Sir Qt . Cockbubn stated the mitigating circumstances which had induced the remission of a part of Mr . Elton ' s sentence . Ha vindicated the appointment of Sir E . Owen , whom he described to be in fall possession of his powers . It was not every youug officer who could command a fleet , though many of them thought they could ; and the weight which greater experience and reputation carried was a compeasation for some diminution in bodily activity . He pointed out the great bervicea rendered by many officers far advanced in years . He thought that a certain intermixture of promotion by purchase , as suggested by Captain Roua , would have its advantages , in bringing forward a pro-
Untitled Article
portion of younger officer , and providing a comfortable retirement for old does . Captain ^ E ' RKELEV ^ ett ^^ ' tb > islowne )| s . of . naval promotion . He congratulated the country on the course now taken by the Admiralty in duly manning the shipf . The naval service , however , must always sustain a disadvantage In corapyifion with the military , while the Fipt Lord of the Admiralty shouW be a civilian , and the Commander-in-Chief a soldier . Lord IHGESTKIE urged the necflesity of keeping up a constant stream of promotion , and entered into some discussions upon naval architecture . , Sir GEokQE Cock BUEN gave jioihe explanations upon the last topic . ¦ ; " ;¦¦ ' -. ' . ¦ ' ' - - . ¦ ' - ¦ ¦ ' : \ - : ' ' ¦ ' . ' ¦ : ' ¦' ¦¦ : ¦' ,.. ¦ . '' ¦ ' - ¦ ¦¦ . ';;
Lord Stanley , In reference to a question which in the course of the debate had been asked about the inten tions of Government respecting a renewal of the expedition to the Niger , declared that no white sailors would be employed in tbat service / but thatperhaps a vessel navigated by negroes , with whose constitution the climate bad never been found to disagree , might make occasional ascents of that river with advantage to the objects originally contemplated . -v Mr . C . Wood congratulated Mr , S . Herbert on the ability and perspicuity with which he had opened the estimates . He had himself no fault to find with them . Indeed , they mainly coincided with those of last year . But he did not well underataiid yrhy the Admiralty were how abandoning the old principle ,: that in time of peace the complement of a ship need not be kept up to the point at whicb it is required to t » maintained in timeVpt war . He proceeded to discuss , at great length , a variety of details , and was briefly followed by :- .- x . v- \ ., ¦ ; - :- ^ - / v , " -v '^ - ¦; . - . ¦ ; - ::
Sir G . COCKBU rk , who stated that tfee circuiiastan ? ces of the world ia general , and tho preparations of some foreign states , had made it indispensable to increase the peace compliment of our nhips . Sir B . lNGLis recurred to the subject of the Niger expedition . He deeply regretted the loss of the fortytwo men wlto had perished in it , but thought the House ought not to be . too sensitive in condemning a step taken for purposes of pure benevotence . Captain Berkeley said , that on his return from the Mediterranean , in August , 1840 , he had appriawl the Admiralty of the defective manning of our ships , and that it waa not ¦ ¦ tfl'i January ; ¦ ¦ .. ¦ i 84 l i- that the Whig Administration Bent out seamen to supply the deficiency . ¦ - ¦ " ¦ ' ' . ¦ ::. ' ; - ¦¦/¦ : ¦ '' : ¦¦ : " ¦ ' ¦ : ¦ -. ' :. ¦ ¦'¦' . ' ¦' . ¦ ¦ " ¦ ' .
Captain Pechell quoted the debates of the French Chamber to contradict Sir J . Graham , who bad told his constituents , at Dorchnetor , that the French Government , from its confidence in Sir R . Peel ' s MinMry , was reducing its naval force . : No such reduction appeared to have been made . He would not concur in any factious ppositieh to the present Board of Admiralty .: - . ' - ; - ; . "' ¦ "¦ ¦ ¦' ., "¦ . ' ' ¦¦ : ' : ' .. ' Mr . Williams made some observations upon Post ? office packets , and j ) r . BowaiNG on the mode of keeping the public accounts . - ;; . ¦ ' . ; .,. ' . . .-. ¦ ¦¦¦ ¦ ;; : " ¦ . - . ' ¦ . ' : ' ¦¦ . ' ¦; Mr . Baring gave some explanations respecting the steam conveyance now employed for the Government mails . Tbe seamen were then . voted . On the , vote for the Board of Admiralty ,
Sir C . Napier objected to have tke navy ruled by a civilian . It was tiue that a Naval Lord might be apt to prAr the officers who had served under himself ; but even a civilian would always be guided in such ' matters by some naval man . ' The / real reason why a civilian was thus preferred to a naval man was , that naval men Seldom possessed the station aud influenca which the First Minister wanted in the members of his Cabinet . The late First Lord had assumed a power which did not properly belong to him
individually , but to the whole Board . Similar encroach ' menta bad been m-vde ! by former civilians ia the same situation . Hu proposed a scheine of , his own for a Board which should regulate naval matters . Und « r the recent Administration the dock-yards and the stores had been suffered by the Board of Admiralty to fall iuto unwarrantable d » cay . Sir James Graham had done great good in abolishing the Navy Board and the Victualling Board ; he shoultl have gone a little further , and abolished the Admiralty Board also . ¦ . . ' ¦ ¦' . ¦ . ¦ •¦ ..: ' ¦ ' . ' " :. .. ¦ - ' . ¦ . "¦ . ' : . ' -- . . ¦ ' .
Captain Carnegie contended fora naval First Lord . He cit « d several recent iniUncea of civil and dlplon . atic ability evinced by Admirals on their stations . He hoped , at ail events , that if the First Lord must needs be a civilian , the subordinato patronage of the Admiralty would be bestowed upon naval men . :- If a civilian were necessary , he must admit that there could have been no better selection than ef Lord Haddington . ; Lord Howick thought that while no bar existed to exclude a naval man , there was no objection to the system . He had been Secretary at War with anulitiry Cdmuiauder-in-Chief , and the working of that arrangement was one which be shwuld be very sorry to see applied to the navy . If the First Lord should be disposed to trausgresS his province , tho check would be that the naval 'lords would tender their resignation . Sir H . HaRdinoe protested against the notion of supers » diug the Coittmander-in-Chief by a eivllian .
Captaiu Berkley viudicated his own condueV in pub ishing the paiuphlot written by him at the time when he resigned his seat in the Admiralty . He contended that the First Lord ought to be a naval officer . Mr . ' C . Wood controverted some of the facts stated by Sir C Napier ; aud CapUin Beruely explained . Sir R . Peel said he should be very sorry that there were any exclusion of nava m <) u ; but neither would he confine the office to naval men only . Never had the achievements of the navy been more brilliant than tvuder civilians . Whenever reductions should be required , civilians would be much fitter to execute them than navul men . The First Lord was always assisted by naval cffi ; era : at this moinont , for exauiple , the iufluenca of so eminent a coadjutor as Sir G . Ceckborn must make itself powerfully felt . It was a considerable advantage to have a man nt the head of the navy wiio was free from all professional partialities and prejudices . '¦'" ' ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ .- . ' . .: '¦ . - . -. . '¦ V : ' ¦ ¦ .. ' ¦
Sir C . Napier returned to the charge , ' and read a Utter written many years since by himself to Lord Melville . Ho ridiculed Lord Howick's proposal of Vaiiuferring the offio * of Com » ander-in-chief to a civilian . A civilian was First Lord when the order was given to our Captains not to engage the American frigates , which order he huustlf , as soon as he received it , I-u : into the quarter-gallery . The stir made by the Duke of Clarence as Lord High Admiral did a world of good to the service . Ho moved a reduction of £ i , 5 Q # in the vote , which was negatived without a division . The House then adjourned .
Monday , March 7 . On the motion that the Speaker should leave the chair for ( fee purpose of their going into a committee of supply , Sir . R'Peel stated , in answer to a question from Mr . C . Wood , that he did not propose to renew the committee on the currency . Tliu subject was <« e which , he said , could be fitly consider * d only by the Executive Government ; but , pressed as he was with other business , he could give no / assurance that Government would produce any measure relating to it in the course of the present sessien .
THE CHARGES AGAINST THE MANUFACTURERS . Mr . FERRAND said , that having on Friday night been charged with having made assertions which were not facts , and with having used '" expression ' s that he had not used , he trusted that when it was considered that he stood there as tha advocst * of the cause of the ¦ working classes of the north of England—( loud ironical lauahtor)—be should hot be considered to be deviating from the strict rules of the house , if he occupied a short space of its time in adverting to the charges ' brought against him . Since Friday evening , he had had an opportunity of ; looking at what he had said , and he found that ho had never used tho word " all" at all , and that he never charged the Hon .
Member for Stockport with 'abominable cruelty , " but that waa ; another lapsus lingua of the Hon . Membur , akin to that concerning his mills and print works . The Hon . Member had Bald , that during the last eighteen years only twenty men had been employed at his v / orks during night . He was was sure , the Hon . Member would be glad pf the opportunity , of explaining a point , to which , jfr Leonard Horoer had referred in ona of his reports . Mr . Horner had Said that no one could work in any printworks without being as-sisted by a child , who put on the colours , and assisted iha men generally . He said , —" The eniployment of children is to prepare the smooth surface of colouring matter on which the carved block is . 'pressed , and to take up the colour that is to be transferred
to the clokh . There is a circular frame , like toe side of a sieve , upon which a flue woollen cloth is stretched , and on this the colour is spread . These pots stand by the side , and a child , who assiBta the man who print * , transfers the colour from the pot to the sieve ; spreading it over the cloth with a flat brush to make a smooth surface . This is called ' tearing , ' and the child who performs the operation , whether : male oi fjmale , is called a tearboy . ' Every printer has a table and a ' tearboy . ' When any printing is going on the .- tearboy * must be there , and they perform their work standing . The temperature of the room shonld hot be less than seventy degrees , and the air should be rather humid . " Now . he would take leave to ask the
Hon . Member whether , during the eighteen years his men hod worked between six in tho evening and eight o ' clock In the morning , these" tearboys" had not also been Working in his factory ? And he asked this , as he said before , that the Hun . Member might have an opportunity of explaining whether he was correct in the representations he bid made , or whether Mr . Leonard Horner was correct in his report The Hon . Member for Wolvarhatnpton had read in the House a declaration , signed by seventy-tw » cotton-spinners , and had forwarded to him ( Mr . Ferrand ) a copy of that declaration , to which were annexed two extracts from his speech . The Hon . Member was about to read the declaration , when
The Speaker intimated that it was out of order to refer to anything that 'was said out cf the House on the subject ef whvt had taken place Within its walls , and therefore the Hon . Member must : not read the statement . ;' - ' : : '' '' ¦" , '¦ ¦¦ ¦' . - ' ¦ : " -- - : ¦ ¦" : ¦ ' - ' >' :- ' ¦ ¦¦ ¦¦ :- ^ . - ¦' Mr . FERRAND ( in contlnnation ) . —These people said that they kept no tiuck-ahops , and that they : paid all their workpeople in tho current cain of the realm . But he did atk , did they not hand the key to their workmen ; did they not make them rent tbefr cottages ? Did
Untitled Article
they know nothfn ? of tbefiV « rpM tf ?— ( load langhter ) —nothingU the ahoddy trade , nothing cf the oldrags and the deyiVa dust ? - ~( roars oT Jaughte *) . They vftsserted that they kept no t ^ ck-shopa , And that theypaid in no other way but in the current coin fit the realm ; but he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had nvta charged them ^ With doingthew things— { cries of " oh , oh ! " from the opposition benches ) . He had never charged them with ksep ; ing truck-shopa . What he haa said was , that they evaded the law by letting their relittives keep truck ' shops , and that , although they might pay their men in the current coin of the realm , y ft they stopped a great part of it on its way home . But suppose he admitted all that the subscribers to this requisition urged—suppose ae allowed that they were the seventy-two just
men of the League—did the Hon . Member mean to say that these were the whole of the subscribers to that asseciation ?—( hear , hear ) . Why , he thought that they boasted of having extended their ramifications through every part of the country ? He thouttht they said that this was a national : League—( laughter)—that it had branches in every part of Eaglond , Ireland ^ Scotland , and Wales ? How happened it , then , tbat these men undertook by a quibble to deny and repudiate the system of their fellows throughout the nation ? But he turned the page of this declaration and he found a circular addressed by the agitators at Manchester to their correspondents ; it ran this : —V Manchester Anti-Corn Law League . —You will oblige the council by affixing your name to the declaration and
returning it at the earliest possible moment . " Now , in the declaration as read , there was not the name of one single Yorkshire manufacturer of the seventy-two parties subscribing the declaration there was not one who did live in Manchester or some other largo town where they dared not carry on the truck system for fear of the shopkeepers— ( a cry of" Hear , hear , " from the Oppo 8 ition . y ; It was in ^ eeoret—it was in dark corners that this infamy was perpetrated . It was where there were none to rise up and explain the nefarious system as he had done —( loud laughter and ironical cheers from the Opposition benches . ) Oh , their interruptions would not put him down . He stood there to speak the truth , and those who rose for that purpose were not to be silenced by clamour . It waa in the
name of the working classes of England that be addressed that House —( ironical cheering ) , and he recommended them to follow the advice of the Hon . Member for Oldham and leave him alone . The Hon . Member for Oldham had told them that they had better let this matter drop . When the representative for Wolverhampton bad Said that these charges should not rest there , the Hon .. Member for Oldham had said to him , '' You had better let the matter rest , for I can undertake to prove all Mr . Ferrand has said—and ten times worse "—( hear , hear . ) He challenged the Hon . Member for Wolverhampton , then , to move for his select committee . Let them institute an inquiry into those
charges—let them examine and see who was right Tonight he woald undertake to ttite the charges which he had made against the diahemtsVpart of the manufacturers , and if Hon . Members opposite denied the trutk of his ali « gation 8 , he would drive them to the course of asking for a Belect committee of inquiry . The letter he was about to read was from a poor man in a manufacturing town in Lancashire , and he did trust that Hon . Members opposite , if they would not listen to him , would at least listen to a poor man . Members opposite boasted that they were the champions of the poor man , and that they came to the House of Commons to ask for a repeal of the Corn Laws for the taka of the poor man . Let them listen for a moment to the words of a
poor man : — - " Bolton , March 1 . "My dear Sir , —It is with the greatest pleasure I read your speech of last Thursday . It was one of the sort that bus long been wanted ; but . Sir , though it appears to havsi struck aucU a pan iu amongst the iu as they ( the Anii-Corn Law Leajguo ) little expected , you did not positively ; more than : half do it . I wish some one on the Conservative side of the House would move for a committee of inquiry . I feel confident it would strike such an awe over them as they would ; not be guilty of such practices . On Monday eyeningj . the 21 st ult ., a meeting of the Anti-Coru Law League was held in the Temperance Hall , when —— was called to the cbair . . Now , Sir , thia is a ; spinning-roaster , and
occupiee a large mill ia —^— street . He lives about a mil © otit of town in a splendid mansion on the —r- —road , near which is a farm which keeps ^ about twenty cows . Mind , Sir , he was not worth a suit of olothes when he came to Bolton at the first , but a poor Irish lad , ali rags aud tatters . This man how , Sir , not only conipels hia spinners to have cottages , but also reelers ( girls 16 years of age ) must als » pay rent from 2 s . Gd . to 4 s . 6 d . per weefe , or they umst have no work . They must also have a quart of iuilk a day , whether they can drink it or not Dear Sir , the heuses are of the worst description , and are relet by the workpeople from a , shilling to haif-a-crowB a Week , and very often not let at all , ; and then , of course , they lose all tLe rent The piaster stops it but of their wi « e 3 , if they havo not a peitay to take
home . Most of the spinning-masters compel their spinners to bava cottages , but none except they of the Anti-Cora-Law League make girls . These gentlemen are always screwiBg and bppresaing . I will , tell you of another rascally trickof -r—^ . . ''¦ Hemakes a jwraotice of running his mill from Monday until Satur < i .-iy , and because Siturday is a short day , on which we work only nine hours , be stops at noon , and only pays the hands for five days and a half . I wish ycui would just give him a touch in the House of Commons on this point , I think it would stop him , and yau would confer a blessing on hundreds of poor helpless factory people ( helploss , I say , beeause too many of us , owing to the coupling of wheels ^ &c . ) " I am yours , && , 11 . Lancashire ..
"To- —Fermnd , Esq ., London . " This was a poor labouring man , # ho had not got the education tbat many ^ tber people had , and he therefore trusted the House would excuse the plainness of his language . Mr . W . Williams—Name , name . Mr . FERltAND—I will give it to the Hon . Member , ' if he pleases , as soon as I sit down , and if he leaves the House for that purpose 1 will follow him . But let me tell hita the poor working men have suffered too much for attempting to expose the tyranny of their masters , and if a select committee should b » granted by the House these poor wretches wijl never dare to come forward and give evidence unless : they receive the protection of the Government of the cowjtry . He
( Mr . Ferrand ) knew his statements on this subject to be true , and he would tell the House that the working classes themselves asserted thorn to be true , and of tbat he would convince tbe House before he sat down . He had given them an instance of the tyranny practised in Lancashire ; he would now give them another Which occurred in Yorkshire , in his own neighbourhood , and again he said he was prepared to give up his authority to any Hon . Mtinber who required him to do so :- ^ fl A poor weaver , resuiing in the township tf —— , with a wife and family of small children , has been for some time employed by a wealthy , worsted , yarn , and stuff manufacturerj who has practised the abominable system of having a retail shop on his premises , where his workpeople well understood tbat they
are to expend their hard-earned pittance m the purchase of shop goods . This poor man incurred a trifling debt , of about 10 s . 6 d ., at this said shop , which he agreed to liquidate by allowing a deduction of Is . weekly from his wages . But , alas ! poor man , ; hough he had not food for a day's sustenance for his family , when be carried in his work on the tuking-in day , at the close of the week ending on tho lath of February instant /; thia wealthy millocrat deducted the 16 a . 6 d ., which was the full amount of his wages due , aud sent him away penoHeas , and refused to give him further employment in this state of distress he applied to a magistrate , ob Menday mornine , tfi-i 21 st instant , for a summons for his . wages , 10 a 6 d . v which he obtained ( and 1 . am glad to say , that the clerk
gave him credit for his fee ); but , what do you think ? The tyrant shrank , for fear of the exposure , and compromised the affair with his injured slave , and thus ended an investigation of the case by a magistrate . " These . were the anti-Corn LaW League men 1—( cheers from the Ministerial , and laughter from the Opposition benches- ) He had scores upon scores of such cases in his possession , which he was prepared to prove before a Select Committee—aye ; not only that , but he would tell the House that the working classesof England were rising up in defence of their cause , and were prepared to > rove every word he had said . What Would Hon . Members opposite say when he told them that , in spite of all tbe calumnies which might be heaped oa his head by interesttd parties out of doors , the working
classes of Birmingham had assembled in public meeting , and had unanimously passed ft vote of thanks to him for exposing the conduct of their hard-hearted taskinastera ? ( The Hon . Member here read the following notice of the meeting from a newspaper : — " At a meeting of the working classes , convened at the King ' s Head Inn , Dudlej-street , Birmingham , a vote of thanks was unanimously passed to M ** . Ferrand , the patriotic representative of Knareaborough , for hia philanthropic defence of the operatives of England ; his fearless exposures of the fraudulent designs of the anti-Corn . ' Law League , and the oppression and tyranny of Whig-Radical miUocrate . " ) He would tell the House that at tbat meeting the working men stood forward , and justified everything
he had said within those walls , and declared themselves ready-to prove hi 3 statements by evidence . Let it no longer be said that the weight of the charges he had made lay on his own head . Again , he callenged Hon . Members opposite to move for a select committee , and if they would not do it , he would . ( Cheers , and lau&hter . V He must now allude to what was said by the Noble Lord the Member for the city of London ou a previous evening . That Noble Lord stated that he understood he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had only charged a limited number of manufacturers with the frauds which he had brought nnder the notice of the House . When
the Noble Lord sat down , he ( Mr . Ferrand ) rose and told 'him he bad . brought the charge to a great extent against the manufacturers , and that he was also ready to prove it . He had thought it hi * duty on Saturday last , in deference to the high position which that Noble Lord held , not only in that House , bnt also in the estimation of the publio out of doors , to send the Noble Lord a sample of the common sort of cloth sold in Lancashire to the working classes . He had also sent a sample to the Prime Minister , for he was determined that hia proceedings should not be in the dark , and tbe ; should haye ocular demonstration of what he bad asserted , and what he w * a wepared to proTe .
Untitled Article
TV as there any Member who wonld QQBf that the C 9 nt « mon sort of manufactures were daabed over with Sour paste ? He had a sample of the cloth in his band , and he osked the Noble Lord the Member for the city of London , who knew a good deal pt the affairs of the world , if he ever in his life saw such plunder as that to which the working men were exposed by this means . It was dreadful to contemplate ; it was horrible to behold . Yes , the shirting which was sold to the poor people of Lancashire was completely daubed over With flour paste . ( Great laughter from the Opposition . ) He asked Hen . Members who laughed
whether an inquiry ought not to be made into what he said , if it were true , and if it were untrue , whether such an opportunity of contradieting it had ever been offered to opponen ta ? If wh ^ t he asserted were true , did they by their smiles and derisive cheers hope to put it down ? If the poor were robbed , as he fiaid they were , was it not the duty of the Legislature to protect ; them ?—( cheers ) . Tbey came and asked the protection of tbat Hbuie . Did be ask anyttiing unfair ? Did he say anythin ? in their bebaif at which tbB House Bhonld ghrink 7 If he did , fairly and with heartfelt gratitude would he give pSace to any Hon . Member who would stand op and defend their cause within those walls . He was
doing what he could for the poor ; and , therefore , let not the members of that House soecrr at him . He felt that he was acting conscientiously j his own heart guided him in what he did , and if he erred in the slightest degree let the blame fall upon his own head but let not the cause of the poor suffer . He asked the Noble Lord opposite if he was not convinced , from what be ( Mr . Ferrand ) bad shown , that it wvsthe dniy of the legislature to step in and prevent the robbery committed upon the poor through the frauds which he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had exposed to the House ? He would now read a letter , published on the first of December last , in ^ the Mdncketlcr Guardian , * news * paper considered the organ of the anti-Corn Law League , which would throw some light on the fraudulent practices to which he bad alluded , and their effecta i—¦«• The Cora Laws—To the Editor of the Uatukesfar 'Guardian . ¦ ¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦ ::: '¦ ' ¦ . '¦' : -- ¦¦ : " .: ¦ ¦ - ' - ¦¦¦¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦ . '¦¦ .. ; ¦ ¦¦ . .
"Sir , —A power-loom manufacturer workiBg 1 , 009 looms ia now paying more by £ 15 per week , or upward of £ 750 per annum , for the flour used in hia manufa « tory in the process of dressing , tuan he did for the samo quantity in 1835 . The present duty on corn gives $ h » foreign manufacturex an advantage ef several hundreds a year in such an establishment over the English one " in the single article of s ^ ing flour . The Corn Law * , by limiting the demand for goods at home and abroad , cause ruinous prices , heavy stocks , and general stag * nation and depression , such as we are now suffering nnder . While these exut the manufacturer , in his efforts to save himself , endeavours to reduce the cost of
production , and if he pays more for . flour he must pay less for labour . Thus wages are reduced , and this is one way in which the workpeople suffer from the high price of grain . A complete spinning and weaving establishment consumes aa much flour in the process of dressing as the workpeople employed in it eat ; and if flour was at the same price now as it was ia 1835 , the manufacturer could as well afford to give his hands nearly half as many loaves as they consume , in addition to their present wagea , as he can now afford to pay them the latter . ' " I am , Sir , yours , "A Manufactubbe . ' * " Stockport , Nov . 30 , 1841 . " ¦
Would Hon . Members opposite now deny that flour paste was used in the making of calico ? When he said that 100 , 000 quarters of wheat were consumed in the manufacture of such articles , under a system most baneful to the public , he spoke within ^ bounds . He had thought it his duty on Thursday ; astt 9 inform the Noble Lord the Member for the City of London that ha should find it necessary , in defending himself from the charges brought against him by an Hon . Member opposite , to refer to the correspondence which took place between the Noble Lord and Mr . Baker , superintendent of factories , ordered by the House of Commons to be printed , June 21 , 1836 , when the Noble Lord was Secretary for the Home Department-. He did not blame the Noble Lord for nob understa ding the manufacture
of shoddy cloth , for at that time there was scarcely a man living in the souta of England who knewanything about it . Tbe letter of the auperintenvJant was as f 6 l « lows : —V My lionl , —In the casa of Taylor / Ibobtson , and Co , I took the evidence from the mouths of the boys themselves They stated to : me they commenced working oh Friday morning , the 27 th of May last , at six o ' clock a . m , and that , with the exception of meal hours and one hour at midnight extra , they did not cease working till four o ' clock on Saturday evening , having been two days and a night thus engaged . " This would sufficiently show the horrid cruelties inflicted on the poor by their pretended friends ; and he begged the House to recollact that these men , Taylor , IbboUon , and Co ., were great anti-Corn Law man . This was
the true character of the members of the League , who felt so much for the sufferings of the poor , and who were so anxious to repeal the Corn Laws for the benefit of the poor man , and not for their own .: ( Coeefs . ) Another working man wrote to him as fellows : — "I am employed in . the shoddy trade , in Botley , near Dawsbury . I have not seen your last speech on the Corn law debate , but I hear you made * some reference to the use of shoddy ^ but that is not the worst part of the business . In every piece made there is 31 b . and upwards of the best \ 6 f iftour used as stifienfng , to < leceive the wearer , and eventually ruin the trade , in the parish of Batley there are some hundreds of pecks of the very best flour used in this way in the year . Batley Carr , another village a mile distant from Batley ,
used to have a very good trade in the manufacture of paddings and druggets , bat they carried this shoddy and stiffening to such a length that trade is lost , all the village ruined , and but a few masters retired independent . In the stiffening off druggets and paddings tbere were were used Tom 51 b . to &ib . per piece . " Let Hon . Members listen for a few more moments , and be would show them how the trade of the country bad declined . It was the frauds practised in the manufacture which had ruined the trade of many districts , and not the efffcts of the Corn Laws . He had given titent testimony to this out of the mouths of the working nien , and now he" would read them the account which a manufacturer residing at Witney , in Oxfordshire , gave of those frauds . This person wrete to him : >— " Witney ,
February 26 , 1842 . Sir , —If you want further corrbboration about the rags , && , used by some of the nothem manufacturers , and would not mind inquiring of Messrs . Ligbtfoot and Morris , the Government inspectors at Daptfurd Dockyard ^ thoy could give you some very good proofs of it as used up in the jackets- for our sailors , and technically called ' shoddy . ' It is composed of old coarse woollens , soeh as blankets torn up after they are comparatively woru out There is bo staple left to the wool and however nicely got up to- please the eye , cloth made of such stuff , when it cornea to be exposed to the wind and rain , will rot in a very little time . Ask . them if the blue flushing , made here last season ( in consequence of the complaints made of the cloth used for the sailors' jackets and troasers , ) did nofc
give every , satisfaction , as it was made of long English wool . It was in consequence of the many ; complaints on this score that the Navy Board last year substituted the old Witney pattern of cloth again , after having 1 dd it aside for ton years in consequence of the Yorkshire people always underselling them through the Use of 'shoddy * or ' devil ' s dust' I will give you further information , for , although a Whig and a manufacturer , I am an enemy to all trickery , and some of year remarks are bitingly true ;—Z . " He asked Hon . Membeis opposito to do him as much justice as this manufacturer . If they wese anxious to surve their country ; and the working people , they would not allow politics to stand in the way . He called on the Hon . Member for Saiford
to come forward and lend his aid in the prosecution of this , inquiry , and he was mo&t ready to bear witness to the noble , manly ; and generous exertions of that Hon . Member in tha causa of the factory children . Though , oh this question , the Hon . Member and himself might be at daggers * drawn , still ha hoped the day was not far distant when they should join hand and heart together in theattsmpt to rescue the poor factory children from tho state of degradation to which they were now reduced . He bad trespassed oh the time of the House , in order to defend himself from the charges brought against him on Friday last He felt that he had only done his duty : he ccmld prove every word he
had said , and , while standing there in defence of the working classes of England , he was forfcfied and strengthened by receiving , with every post , scores and scores of lettara from those poor working men , as well as others front every grade and class of society , begging him not to be ; confounded and put down by any opposition in that House , and imploring aim to make the truth known . It was with that intention he had come into the House ; on that ground he took his stand , and was determined never to be put down . In tbe name of the workiug classes of England he challenged Hon . Members opposite , heimploredthem , toask fora Select Committee .:
Mr . C . P . Villiers said he held in his hand the names of thirty other manufacturers who wished to add them to the declaration he had read to the House on Friday night , conveying their indignant denial of tha charges made by theHon . Member for KnaresbprouglJ He should think any man might be astonished by hearing the Hon . Member calling on gentlemen on that side of the House to ask for » select committee . The Hon . Member had made the charges himself , and it was his duty to move for an instant inquiry into them . Not a single Member on that side of the House woald oppose him . Any manufacturer would , he was sure , be glad to second a motion for inquiry , and then Vml would be ready to vindicate themselves from the charges brought againstthem . : V , '¦ - [¦
Mr . J . Fielden was inaudible for several seotenoei at the commenoement of his remarks . He said he Relieved there was a great deal of truth in what had been advanced by the Hon . Member for Knaresborougb . U a committee of the House were granted there would b » such a development of the prooeediags of a great onanf manufacturers as w « uld call for tbe application of » effectual remedy of some kind or other . ( Hear ,: bea ^ O It was asserted that the poor were suffering grists oppression in a variety of ways . The quantity of V » persons unemployed was Inoreasing , and tbe oppreMJ ^ j of the poor increased in the same proportion , " fie should be very willing to Becond a motion for a . ; . sr" jact committee to Bxamine the acouracy of the aUtw , ents which bid heen set forth . He thought it W jod b « ( Continued in oursevmthjutgdj
Dtmgevial %Bariiamtnt.
dtmgevial % Bariiamtnt .
Untitled Article
JB ^ T HE NOR THE R If STAB , ' _ ¦ , ¦ - ¦ -- - :. . " . ; - ^ i - ^ ' L ^^ jJ ^ - . ^ y ^
-
-
Citation
-
Northern Star (1837-1852), March 12, 1842, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct421/page/6/
-