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HOUSE OF LOHDS-Fbid . lt , Feb .- 24 . The Earl of Misto moved for returns respecting the present Blate of the navy . He reqnired explanation * as to -why there had been Jessship-buildinji lart year than had been contemplated , and why a redneed vote -was to be taken for the present year ? He inquired also the lessons of other redactions J The 3 > nie of Wellington doubted the propriety o ! furnishing the information adtedfor . The Earl of HUJDIXGT 05 -wished the Earl of Minto to postpone hia questions , and sire notice for another eveninr , -when he weaia be better prepared . into various details
The Earl « f 35 i : sto then entered Tespecting the prf-s-n . t condition of our dockyards , ice , and moved far -- •^ xta relating to them . The Eirl vi :-aDDisGTOfl explained that the reason "Why there •« - * less ship-building l ^ s . year than kad been contemplated , -was , that it -was deemed more economical to keep vessels already-built In good repair fttTi to build new ones . It had keen found impracticable in Woolwich Dockyard to build the number of steamers required , and the rednced estimates for the present year had been adopted -with great reluctance , bat it w&s felt that owing to the state of the finances , some reductions should be adopted . He concluded with giving information in reply to the Earl of Minto . lord Ashbcrtok expressed his regret that the information bad been given .
TheDake of W £ Li . ncGTON said he had given his opinion of the impropriety of furnishing the information , but Ms advice "was negiected , and the two Noble Lords , in defence of their respective govtroments , bad pnblished to the "whole world information winch should never have been communicated , and ¦ which night prove mischievous to the-csuntry . After some further debate , in wMch lords Minto sad Haddington vindicated themselves , and the Duke of Wellington remarked that he had alwsfs discouraged sneh motions , the Earl of Slinto "withdrew his motion , and the House adjourned .
Moxdat , Fkbr € * ht 1 Z 7 . Lord Caubscll moved for and obtained-cojies of l < ord Ellenborough's proclamations , and gave-notice , on the part of the Marquis of Clanricarde , of a motion on the subject , on the 9 in of March . lord Mossbagle ,, at the reqnest of the Dake oi 'Wellington -postponed his motion on the Corn laws , on account of the indisposition of the £ ; rl of Riporu After forwarding some bills the House adjeumed .
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HOUSE OF COMMONS—Thuhsdat , Feb . 23 . fin a pait of our lasi week ' s impression-we gave a very condensed and imperfect account of ihe proceedings in the House of Commons on the Enbject of Mr . "Walter ' s motion on the New -Po < ir Law . On account of its great importance we give tMs "week a mere -extended report , pariienlarly of ihe speeches of Mr . Waller and Mr ierrand . ]
FBIKCIPIES OF THE XEW POOR LAW . Mr . "Walter then rose , and -commenced his speech by observing that he could have wished that it had fallen to the lot of some abler or more eminent member to have bronght forward the present subject , for if tbe abilities of him who bronght it forward were to be "weighed or measured by the vast oonsequences involved , he-feared that be should be foand greatly deficient . If , indeed , he might have had Ms wish indulged , he should hare desired her Majesty ' s ministers themselves to have taken a more humane and constitntional view of the question , for sincerely did he wish them to pnrrae such measures as would secure them tbe love of the people —h& meant of the people taken in the mass ; and there
¦ was no one method by which they could so essentially have endeared themselves to tbe vast body of the country at large as by demolishing , -what he was sorry to say had been partially , and at second hand , their ¦ work , namely—the 2 Jew Poor Law . He was too old to court much popularity himself , and readily would he transfer whatever he might have attained to those whose general course of police be thought most calculated to appease the dissatisfaction and restore the prosperity of tbe country . He would ask them this -question briefly—had there been any satisfaction , any good temper , any adherence of tbe humbler classes to their employes . since this most unfeeling law had been invented ? Had there been anything in fact in the
country but brooding discontent , ever ready to break out into open violence , or to avenge itself by secret mischief ? He said none . Here they were in the ninth year since tbe -first movement against the old Poor Xaw of the country originating with one of " tbe greatest sovereigns—a female , too—that the land ever knew ; the Tery object of whoae noble policy it was to sustain the great masses of the people against hereditary oppression and aristocratic pride—partcre subject is , el debellaresaparbos ; and who , by trusting herself and her throne to the support of her people—not to family influences or herds of retainers—s % t the whole world at defiance . That principle of her ' s tbe new law did not Tfcfuim , did not restore , did not reinvieorate—but
reversed .- It protected , or affected t- » protect , the great landed interests first , and next tbe manufacturing interests , by the oppression , by the very destruction of those upon whom those elevated interests rested ; and by that attempt to destroy tbe very basis of all human society , be csnld tell them that those mere elevau-d interests must ultimately link . Every other foundation but that of the people was a sandy one . The "winds of disaffection would blow—tbe tempest of popular fnry would begin to rage—and . down wonld come their structure to the ground .- He had failed this Uew Poor -Law an invention , andKimch literally it was . It waB the nifual effort of legislation , when , through the lapse of time , old laws began to fail of their
appliac ion , to improve and adapt them anew—to cut off excrescences , and to invigorate the impaired parts—to -restore , to reform , but not to con-Tulsa -or destroy —( bear , bear . ) But what had been tbe course pursued in this most ominous affair ? A new invention , new to history as to tbe people , was nVnTf ^ r os ^_ ^ F ^ T ^ r ^ pl ^ fl yyry ^ derails , ^ ppti adcI d&c&inery "Were alike dixplacaL That el&u-of men who acted &s parochial officers of their parishes , and as jurors in their courts of law , were cast aside . A term of but modern invention ~ was adopted , or rather niched from a more respectable institution—that of " guardians " . And « goaxdians "—what were " guardians '' under this new act- ? Mr . Sheridan bad defined the office of a similar
protector , appointed , as he said , to exert over the nnbappy ^ Peruvians " such guardianship as the eagle afforded the lamb , covering while it devoured its prey " —( hear , hear . ) Bach , be had ever said , was the character of this new poor Jaw , and he had since become possessed of a document which justified him in asserting that fuch was the actual object of those who brought It forward—( bear , hear . ) He would now read to tie Hoase-a passage from ihat report : — " That at any time after the . passing of this act , tbe Board of Control shall have power , by an order , with such exception as shall fee thought necessary , to disallow the continuance of relief to the indigent , the aged , and the impotent , in any other mode than in a workhouse , regulated in such
manner as by the aforesaid Board of Control * h * y \ Ix determined . The power of the Commissioners "would be to reduce allowances , but not to enlarge Ihem . After this has been accomplished , orders may be sent forth directing -that after such a day all eat-door -relief ahonld be £ iven partly in kind ; after another period it ihoxJd be wholly in Uni that sfter * n cb-another period it should be gradually flimfawhed in geantitT , until ihat mode of relief -was extinguished—[ hear , hear . ) Freic ihe first the relief should fee altered in quality —{ tear , hear , )—coarse brown bread being substituted for flee white ; and concurrently with these measures as to ihe ont-door poor , a gradual reduction should be made Jn the diet of the
in-doorpoor , and-strict regulations-snforced "—( bear , hear . ) These were tbe words of the earliest report placed in-the hands of the late ministers , and which the Bight Hon . ^ enUensan had termed " confidential , " the anthers being afraid , as he ( Mr . Walter ) verily believed them to be , of . sending it forth te general cognisance with their names attached . That confidential communication was followed by a report wjich was laid before the House , in which there was this passage : * ' As one bander to the increase of expendiwe in the detailed management , the commissioners shonld be empowered to fix a maximum of the consmsption per bead within the workhouse , leasing to the local officers the-liberty of reducing it belowihe maximum , if they
could safely do so "—( hear , bear . ) "J > o it safely . '" ' « ° Wj ***** ^ asS&t horrible esoagb ; bnt yet . not bo : pfiensively glaring as the confifiestial commnnkation itself . Prom that dark and mysterioss source sprucg the ^ a * st avowed report of the central ioard of pooivlaw SEE ? " ??" ' t of that existing body sometimes caued the triumvirate , bnt of the e ^ t commissioners 3 wL if * ?* Xondon aad Chester , Mr . Sturges SSSS ^ X /^* * ^ ** work * concoct ; sSSSrS
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Behold have wished Oat the ? bid SaSTiSS prejudioea arising from humane considerationB- bntS believed that there vas nota member of that commisl aion -whose mind was not made up , before a single witneas yn » examined , to racommend or introauce » ome-Cdng of » most severe a » d oppressive character . Mr "
Bowen , of Bridgewafcer , tad pn > Btranced this law a bill or indictment against all the poor of- the country . The WffifflJsIonew saifl / Jn thsir firat report , " \ ha duty of
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supporting parents and children in old age a d infirmity is so strongly enforced by our natr j&l reelings , that it is often well performed even amon . g Bavages , and almost always so in a nation deserving the name of civilised . We believe that England is tbje only European country in which it is neglected "— ( h < jar , hear ) . . . "If the deficiencies of parental and filial affection are to be supplied by the parish , and . the natural motives to the exercise of those virtues s . re thus to be witbdrawn , it may be proper to endeavour to replace them , however imperfectly , by artificial stimulants , and to make fines , distress-warrants , or iPiptisonraent act ss substitutes for gratitude or love . " ~ While the lower classes of people were thus libel ] ad , did no recollection occur to those who libelled them -of a great example once
afforded by both H < joges of Parliament , -who thought it necessary to stiv relate the natural affections here spoken of , not by p Ains and penalties , but by the larye allowance ef £ lO , 'iOO a-year for tbe trouble of visiting an afflicted father once a week 7—ihear , hear . ) Now , let the House co' jtrast this character of the people so blackly drawn by the commissioners with other descriptions of the sas * people , and opon that subject he had particular pleas are in quoting a passage from a letter of the Earl of R . pon to one of our colonial governors : — " The nam » , of pauper" - ( said xk-at Noble Lord ) " by no means imj jlies , as seemB to have been supposed , a man unable' unwilling to work—one whose irflrmity or whose idleness would disqualify him from becoming an eseful r » ettler . On the contrary , the whole of the
married lr tbourere in many of the parishes of the South of EnglaTid may be correctly described as paupers , iaasmnch as the want of employment has depressed ¦ wages to a rate at which it is impossible for a man , tiowever industrious , to maintain a family , without receiving parochial relief . * * It has been found that the idle and worthless panpers have frequently been rendered so by the hopelessness of their situation ; and when enabled to find -constant employment , at fair wages , a great change has almost invariably taken place in their conduct "—( hear , hear ) . Let tbe House contrast it , too , with the picture drawn , not so long since by the Member for Shtmeld from his own experience of the English poor . That Honourable Member had told that House , that " one-third of the working men in that
town and neighbourhood were out of employ . A grtat proportion of the remainder were ' employed only three days in tbe week , and in consequence tbe greatest distress prevailed . Those at work subscribed something from their wretched pittance to relieve the distress and keep off the parish others who had no work at all "—( hear , bear ) . Could tbe Honourable Member , if he had ransacked every storehouse of eloquence , have found wards bttter calculated to damage tbe New Poor Law in the estimation of every man of common humanity than the plain sentence which he ( Mr . Walter ) bad just read to them ! Men steeped in poverty and misery to the Tery lips were jet so impressed with the horrors of imprisonment in the workhouse , that rather than their starring brethren should undergo them , they made
their little pittance less , by subscribing to keep them off the parish . But it was not for this purpose that he adduced this passage . He wished now to ask , had these men earned the character which the commissioners bad attempted to affix upon them ? Did they deserve to be legislated sgainst in the manner the present bill legislated against them ? And still more , ought tbe ; to be subjected to that ever-increasing scale of cruelty prescribed and laid down by the private report of the eight commissioners—that private report from which the present bill , with its triumvirate at S--m ? rset-house , originated—( hear , hear , hfcar >* How the principle of successive reports was carried out he had plenty ot instances to lay before tbe House . T . ike this , for trample , from Cirencester ; the late member
for that borough said , Li his place in that House , that " he was chairman of a board of guardians . Both in his own district , and in others with which be was acquainted , the measure had acquired an immense popularity . Be thought the country was undtr the greatest obligation to those -who bad brought it furward . The bill worked well in tbe district with which he was connected . He hoped there would be no vital alteration of a measure which had worked to the entire satisfaction of the vast majority of the people . As to diet , the complaint was that the inmates of the workbouse lived too well . " ( Hear , hear . ) He ( Mr . Walter ) held in his hand the dietary of tbe Cirenctster Union , prescribed by the Poor-Law Commissioners , in which there was not one ounce of fresh animal food from
ytar ' s end to yeart end—( bear , hear , )—but only five ounces of salt bacon for the Sunday of each week—( hear , hear . )—and that dietary , be it observed , the guardians could not go beyond , though thty were to fce indulged with the odious power of reducing it , " if they could safely do so . " ( Hear , hear . ) He conld add many tales of similar cruelty on the part of boards of guardians . Most persons know the difficulty of dealing ¦ aith bodies of men . A body corporate , in fact , had no souL The individuals might have their separate feelings , hut the whole body bad nonesuch . ( Hear , hear . ) A man might be personally humane and charitable , bnt , when acting with other * , this Christian feeling evaporated and vanished . He would mention one rase , which occurred not very long ago in bis
own immediate neighbourhood . He was not a frequenter of boards of guardians , having no ( Treat respect for the institation itee . t ( Hear , b » ar , bear . ) He ( Mr . Walter ) was , however , particularly requested to attend a meeting , for the purpose of endeavouring to obtain eut-door relitf for an unhappy and afflicted object , with a wife and five children , who had been ordered into the workhouse , but after a night's trial of his abode there , went out next morning . He ( Mr . Walter ) had been desired to urge this man ' s title to out-door relifcf before tbe board . The alleged ground of their refusal was , that his wife had practised some imposition upon a benevolent lady , and therefore the husband and whole family were to be punished . With some difficulty the husband was admitted to the
beard ' s presence , and be ( Mr . Walter ) then ascertained , by the acknowledgment of both the medical officers , that he laboured under an incurable pulmonary complaint . He produced a good character from a highly respectable master . On questioning him , a doubt arose in hiB { Mr . Walter ' s ) mind whether the man ' s wife had really been guilty of tbe alleged impropriety , and , to afford time for inquiry , a week ' s out-door allowance was accorded to him , and the board was to meet in tbe week following . He ( Mr . Walter ) received a most complete and satisfactory answer from the lady whom the -woman -Baa supposed to have defrauded , assuring him that no such drcomsbuices had taken place ; aid , fortified with this denial , be went to the next board meeting , in full confidence that the guardian of the
parish who had brought forward too false charge would at least aid his efforts to relieve this family from the dreaded infliction of the workhouse . That guardian was , if possible , more callous than the rest The first order mast be maintained , because they had made it Into the workheuse were the family again sent ; though ultimately , after seme weeks' delay , outdoor relief was afforded . It was in vain to urge to these guardians that even if the poor man had been guilty of the offence of having an indiscreet wife , he was not to blame , and that if he went into the workhonse , there he would certainly die ; if they had no consideration for the poor man himself , why should the inmates of the workhouse have their feelings harrowed np by the transportation of a dying man into tbe midst of them —( hear , heari ? But
all hiB representations bad been in vain ; the cry was , that having once given their order , it should not be rescinded . He lived only a few months afterwards , a&d died in bis owb habitation , the guardian himself being called to his account first—( hear , hear . ) Was it to be borne that against such treatment as t&at the poor man should have no court of appeal , save only that of the triumvirate of Somerset House , in which the harshest principles of tbe whole system were represented and concentrated J It were endless to repeat all the cases—¦ wtli-authentieatefl eases , too—of unnatural Beverity inflicted by the operation of that law—( hear , hear ) He did not know a single crime that had not been multiplied through that operation , or a single suffering which humanity was heir to that had not been
aggravated and multip . ied also through that Uw—( hear . i Further than that assertion , which be oculd substantiate by the most irrefragable , evidence , fce would not at present trouble the House , but pass to . anothei practical difficulty , which , let them enact tbe law as unanimously as they pleased , they would never ha able te overcome . How long woold they get guardl&ns-to perform such labourious duties , and at a distance > from their own homes of perhstps fifteen or twenty miles ? Indeed , at that moment , he knew a pacish in which the parishioners were obliged to ctib a sum of money to pay the guardian they depete enly five miles distant . The office was these held to be anything but honourable or respectable . Lords an 3 country gentlemen might . endeavomr to give
it eclai at its beginning , but that zeal had much cooled , as well it might , and these offices were left to be performed by those who could ill brook to throw away their time for nothing . He had ; alluded , when this most unfortunate bill was passed , to the manner in which they would be overwhelmed by reports , amendment acts , acts explanatory , with every tcash of that description . Why , no human powers of either body or mind could comprehend or carry all that had been written and printed , at the expence of this deluded country , in support of that measure , by its prime agents —{ hear , hear ) . They were erecting a Jfelson Bonument of vast altitude . TLey might also e * ect a Poor Law monument of equal height , though of more corruptible materials , of the report * of those Cemiais-BionerB . They sought to destroy their enemies , not aa Oliver Cromwell said , with paper ballets , bat with paper bulwarks and artificial mountains . At the time that be first attacked that monstrous law , he estimated
tiat the paper defences would soon reach up to their ible . At present they would overtop the chair , He ad already got upon tfee English Poor Law npwards f 20 , 000 pages ; and it was ia vain to make an estilate of the Irish , since the first appendix to a report aclf woigbed fljlbs . Considering their bulk , no two orters could carry them , the English Poor Law papers weighing npwards of twelve stone . The expense of nnting them would support the poor of many parishes » hp knew not how many years . Bnt there was one igh authority against him , to which be should not ave ventured to allade , had it not been freqaeDOy ted against him , and that authority he hoped that he lould treat with proper respect When he heard the featest here of his age say , " I know something of overnors-Qeneral , . xod I know something of war and BdificulUesslso /' thstman who should not bow to ich authority would be rash and indiscreet to the tmoat extent of indiscretion &D < 1 rashness j but be must
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humbly contend that bis Q . race had not bad that expertence of the internal affaire of tbia country which other men of humbler general talents might and must have had ; and that great man was not , therefore , such overpowering authority upon these subjects aa upon those on which hia capacious mind had been , he might almost say , exclusively employed . ¦ But there was one fatality always attending the errors of great men , if such they ' were—that they carried an overwhelming welfbt with them , which the mistakes of others were not liable to . Would , indeed , that their opinlonawere always enunciated with proportionate caution , and never , as tie contended in the present case , before the subject conld have been folly examined and considered . They were informed in the Divine records of their
religion , that " wheu a great man speaketh every man boldetb his tongue , and a look , what he sayeth , they extol it to the clonds ; bnt , if the poor man speak , they say , what fellow is this I" But if he ( Mr . Walter ) had met with opposition en the one hand , he had likewise met with encouragement on tbe other , and that from the most honourable and excellent class of men—the clergy of the established church—a class , alBO , the individuals of which , he would venture to assert , were , generally speaking , quite as competent to deliver their opinions on the subject before tbe House as the immortal Dake was upon that of war ; for they lived with
tbe poor , in the midst of them , much more even than he had been in the midst of his soldiers ; they knew their wants , moral and physical , aud from that class of men he had also received the most useful information , as well as the most strenuous and undaunted support , though means were insidiously taken at first to prevent their interference by inserting the names of two prelates in the original central commission—( hear , hear ) . He wonld not , however , trouble the House with many of their statements , but , he must be allowed to read one from a gentleman inferior to none in bis sacred order in piety aud intelligence , and who was well known to many Members of that House : —
•• Knowing that you are about again to bring before tbe House of Commons the workhouse system as a ' dminiBtered under the present Poor Law , I thiuk it may not be without some use , if I state to you the result of my own observation of that system , not in all nor many of its bearings , but simply in its moral action upon those who come under it . To myself this is a painful though voluntary task ; for it showB me the error of my own anticipations , and reminds me of the fault of once defending as right what I now regret as wrong and pernicious .
" Leaving , however , such personal considerations , let me briefly state to you tbe conviction to which I have come on tbe subject , and the reasons which have brought me to it . My conviction is , that whatuver may be the maladies under which our social system is suffering in tbe labouring part of it , tbe present workhouse practice ia not their remedy ; it is rather under tho promise of present relief , an aggravation of the disease . " I have seen the working of the system under , in many respects , favourable circumstances . I have marked its effects with all the clearness I could by personal observation in union bouses , especially in one with whick I have been nearly connected , and by personal inquiry among those who have been inmates of
those houses ; and the result of both observation and inquiry has been the same . It is a demoralizing system , tending to connect poverty with licentiousness , and to generate pauperism and crime . 1 only state to you what 1 know to be li ' erally true , when I say that in nnion houses supposed to be administered as well as the system will permit , the work of demoralization has been going on in every ward except those of sickness and old age . Among the poor unhappy children , among the adults of either sex , among the able bodied , this propagation of evil has gone on . To particularise and classify its forms would be a revolting task . It would comprehend tbe recital of some of the most disgusting practiced of licentiousness and many acts of crime .
Persons well known to me have avowed , that many as were tbe temptations to sin without those walls , those within were far more mischievous and dangerous . Tbe danger arises from the constnnt infusion of fresh and varied incentives to vice , by those evil communications which , in the world at large , are kept in check an < T weakened in power by many causes . The day of entering those walls takeB , even from the man of fair character , much of the honourable sense of shame which be had before ; and the bad man enters them to disdain , and ridicule , and hate all moral influence—to teach mischief , to make the tongue and ear and mind familiar with those sins in the practice of which be has attained to the greatest proficiency .
"It would require some experience , or considerable imagination , to comprehend the extent of this mischief . It is a never-ceasing agent of evil , leaving its infection behind , when its actual presence is gone . A ward comparatively clear of it to-day may to-morrow , with a fresh inceative , break out into every abomination that can pollute tbe tongue , or corrupt the heart . " Now , to omit , for thu present , all other objections to this system—to say nothing about its trenching hard upon the feelings of humanity , or the laws of God— I would only ask two questions in regard to it Can the legislature be justified in inflicting on the poor a moral evil that , apart from such legislation , has no necessary connection with poverty ? We know that in the correction of crime this is done through necessity ; but
that it is crime , not poverty , that is to be dealt with . Tbe prison will always be a school of moral evil , aa well as a place of punishment ; but tb « re the inmate has brought the evil upon himself—he baa forfeited the protection of the laws of the country , and this is a part of tbe recompence of evil which be has reaped . But what has a poor family done—poor only because they ate numerous , and their wages insufficient ?—what have they done that , after having striven in vain to support themselves , and then come to claim the protection which the criminal has forfeited , they should be , in one respect , treated in the same manner with him ?—that they should be placed where , whatever moral sense they have must be blunted and destroyed , and where their children will hear the lessons , if not witness the practice of profligacy ?
" Another question I wonld ask . Is this tbe way to extirpate pauperism from the country ? . If it be , we mu » t unlearn every maxim which connects prosperity , either on a large or narrow scale , with moral character . " Bat it is not . Whatever were the calculations or intentions of the framera of thia measure in otber respects , they appear to me to have overlooked its moral effects altogether . Certain it is , that it 8 practical effect is to undermine the moral character and wellbeing of tbe poor . Its action ia all downwards . It has no tendency to raise the moral condition of tbe labouring classes ; it has a direct tendency to degrade and deprave it ; and , if this be trne , it stands marked with tbe worst stigma that can be placed upon any lawthat of demoralising those upon wbom it acts . " I am , dear Sir , " Wish sincere respect , " A Country Clergyman . "ToJohn Walter . Esq . M . P . "
But there was another argument with wLich he was plied , in favour of this most painful important measure . He was told that gentlemen were pledged to it . Upon that point he could give a decided negative ; no gentleman , he affirmed , was pledged to it Gentlemen might , nncappilj , at the first origin of this system of niiBcbief , not seeing what its consequences might be , have been pledged to the introduction of it ; but did any man , at the time of its introduction , daringly pledge himself to cany it through , however it might affect the people—however odious it might proveijGwever , in fact , it might subvert the whole order of society ? All that , be said , bad been and was being pcoduced . Was any man pledged then , or could he now plead that be was pledged , to persevere ia the
io £ iction of such evils on the country ? To whom was he—to whom could be be so bound ? Te his countryto bhe poor—to hia conscience ? Or to his party—hia friends—bis political leaders ? Nay , more unworthy still , did be mean that , having given his vote once for thia monstequsevil , he was bound ia consistency—bound in care foririB own reputation , to persevere in the fatal course heibad begun ? Whatever was the case be bade that man pau&e . He bade him retrace his steps . Let him not speak of pledges given , or supposed to have been given , when he wta totally unable to look into futurity . If any man bad unhappily so involved himself , he ( Mr . Walter ) owaed his difficulty , bnt did not doubt as to what was hie iduty . Facts—the facts of the last nine years—had esacelled his obligation . His vote was not
his own but his country ' s ; and his only honourable retreat waa in owning his mistake , and amending it . He conjured , therefore , the Conservatives of the House to step forward to the conservation of England . Great iflpprebensiens had been expressed in that House and elsewhere of a certain league , to the practices of whose leaders he was as moeb opposed as any man . But let gentlemen ask theni&elves how this league , now so meaacing , first sprang up . He would tell them ; it was suggested by a preceding league against the poor of this counfry , whose , diet was to be reduced in quantity and corrupted in quality . What a burst of indignation would have been excited in that House , as well as throughout the country , if any resolution against the negro population , of a character similar to this against
onr fellow-subjects here at home , should have been produced—that those blacks were first to have their daily food debased , and after tbafc diminished—( hear , hear )! Gentlemen hod been benevolent enough abroad ; let them look around them at home , if , as they had been told , they hod elevated ihs condition of tbe negro slave to snch a state of prosperity that be could now drive his gig and drink his Champagne , surely he was not asking too mueh when be called upon them to elevate the condition of the free white labourer and artisan of England , whom this law crushed to the earth—at least te afford him such subsistence as would preserve him from sinking
under a gradual prostration of strength . If they could not give him his cottage and piece of land which the negroes , had obtained , at least let them not insist on his selling everything that his hovel poasessas in order to qualify him for being a tenant in their vast gaolsthi union workhouses . If they could not give him Champagne , they could give him the cheap , the wholesome , the nutritious , the national beverage of our land —beer . It was not , perhaps , too late yet to retrace their steps . He felt strongly convinced also , that not only that , but all the other great subjects of contention , which kept the country in a ferment , might be composed and beneficially arranged , if gentlemen would in good earnest turn tbeir thoughts to those subjects ,
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rattier than employ thair whole time in struggles for political ascendancy . If it were said that Buch an object was desirable , but that it was impossible to attain it , he would at onee reply that he acknawledged no such impossibility with respact to objects tbat were rational . He recollected a happy maxim of Mr . Burke upon the subject : — " I know , " said he , " it is common for men to say , that such and such things are perfectly right , very desirable—but that , unfortunately , they are not practicable . Oh no , air , no . These things which are not practicable are not desirable . There is nothing in the world really beneficial that does not lie within the reaoh of an informed understanding and a welldirected pursuit There is nothing that God has judged good for us that be has not given us the means to accomplish , both in the natural and moral world "—( cheers ) . He ( Mr . Walter ) would not longer detain the House than by moving the resolutions . The folfowing are the resolutions moved by the Honourable Member : —
" l . That in a document entitled , ' Measures Eubmitted by the Poor-Law Commissioners to Mb Majesty ' s Ministers , ' appear tbe following passages : — " < That at any time after the passing of this act the Board of Control shall have power by an order , with such exception as shall be thought necessary , to disallow the continuance of relief to the indigent , the aged , and the impotent , in any other mode than in a workhouse , regulated in such a manner as by the aforesaid Board of Control shall be determined . ' " The power of tbe Commissioners would be to reduce allowances , but not to enlarge . '
" ' After this has been accomplished , orders may be sent forth directing that after such a day all out-door relief should be given partly in kind ; after another period it should be wholly in kind ; that after such another period it should be gradually diminished in quantity , until that mode of relief was extinguished . From the first the relief should be altered in quality , coarse brown bread being substituted for fine white ; and , concurrently with these pleasures as to the out-door poor , a gradual reduction should be made in tbe diet of the in-door poor , and strict regulations enforced . ' " 2 . That these recommendations , applicable alike to every class of the poor , and enjoining an indiscriminate reduction of their physical comfoits to the lowest endurable point , 'are shown by the subsequent orders and practice of the Poor Law Commissionars , to form the teal though unavowed basis of the present system of Poor Law relief .
" 3 . That the suffering already caused by their partial enforcement , and the amount of out-door relief in spite of them still administered , show their provisions to have been at one cruel and impracticable . " 4 . That the attempted substitution of punishment for legal relief has more and more tended to imitate and dishearten the po . ar , to check industry , to increase crime , and to encourage various kinds of tyranny , without even the proposed compensation of reducing the expenses of the rate-payers . " 5- That this house think it , therefore , expedient to demand such a reconstruction of the existing system as fehall make it conformable to Christianity , sound policy , and the aneient constitution of the realm . " Mr . Feurand seconded the motion . The question having been put from tho Chair ,
Mr . Walter again rose . Hon . Members had asked him where he got certain information from to which he had alluded . He had received it from a person who requested that hia name might not be personally given . Sir J . Graham was in hopes , when the Hon . Member rose for the second time that he was about to supply a most important omission . In his speech he had made an omission that was somewhat startling ; he had read extracts from a document which he had declared to be confidential , and when he rose a second time he ( Sir James Graham ) was in hopes he was going to show how he became possessed of it , but nothing was less satisfactory than hia explanation . Upon a former occasion the Hon . Gentleman had asked him if he recollected
these documents , and upon that occasion be said he did not , but since then he had some indistinct recollection that some such document existed , and he thought he could inform the House how that was the case . In 1832 , Lord Grey ' s Government appointed a Commission to inquire into the condition of the labouring poor , with a view to amend the law , and tho Hon . Membor had mentioned to the House the names of some of the most eminent individuals forming that commission—the Bishops of London and Chester , Mr . Sturges Bourne and others , whose names were a sufficient guarantee to the House of tho beneficent character of the Commission— ( hear , hear . ) The Hon . Membor had said that a particular document was of a cor fidential nature—that it emanated from the Commission , and was submitted to Lord Grey ' s Cabinet .
Mr . Walter observed that he had not said so , but the Right Hon . Bart . had . Sir J . Graham believed it was in the recollection of the House when he asserted that the Hon . Member had said he was in possession of a confidential communication —( hear , hear ) . - Now he ( Sir James Graham ) conld tell the House tho precise circumstances under which that document came into the Hon . Member ' s possession—( hear , hear ) . He had understood tho Hon . Gentleman to say that it was a confidential communication ; but whether he said so or not it was certain that it was confidential . This Commission having prosecuted their inquiry , made their report , which was laid before them and the public after that report was printed , in order to bring the
subject in a more tangible form under the consideration of Lord Grey ' s Government , certain heads or referenda were prepared from tho report . The Hon . Gentleman said that this document was never signed ; it was true , it was not denied by the Commissioners . He believed that those heads were prepared by the professional gen'lemon employed by the Commissioners in drawing up their report . He believed those heads were not known to the Commissioners , but were drawn up by the professional gentlemen merely for the consideration of the Government . He ( Sir J . G . ) was told that of this document not more than twenty copies were printed . The Hon . Gentleman was very unfortunate in not having been present in the House during the last session , when the Poor Law , in all it « bearings , was largely discussed . ( H No , " from Capt . Pechell ) . Why he thought every thing except the Gilbert
Unions was settled to the satisfaction of the Gallant Captain . The Hon . Gentleman appeared to imagine that the House was pledged to the Poor law . He ( Sir James Graham ) did not rest at all on any opinions which had been announced by the Hon . Gentlemen on either side of that House , he was willing to rest the measure upon their praotical knowledge and experience of the bad and good in the working of the system —( hear , hear ) . The law was based on the policy of" feeding tho hungry , and clothing the naked ; " its tendency was to elevate the character of the labouring population ; the proportion of those relieved out of doors , as compared with those relieved within the workhouse , was as six to one ; the law was , therefore , not opposed to Christianity or upund policy ; and he would meet the first resolution by the previous question , and the others with a direct negative .
Mr . Wakley censured Sir James Graham for attributing improper motives to Mr . Walter . It now turned out that there was such a document , notwithstanding the faint recollection of Sir James Graham when the subject was first mentioned . Mr . Borthwick declared his opposition to the Poor Law , and supported the resolutions . Mr . Aglionbt had supported the New Poor Law when it was passed , and believed that its operations had been generally beneficial : but some of its provisions were harsh , and had been harshly worked out , and therefore he would support the resolutions , as a means of declaring his opinion that the law should be amended and improved . After a few explanatory observations from Mr . Cripps ,
Colonel SiBTnoRPE declared his opinion that the old system of Poor Law had been excellent , that it bad only been mismanaged in a few instances , and that it would be better to return to it . Mr . Stuart Wobtley had never pledged himself to his constituents to vote for the repeal of the Poor Law . He was opposed to many of its provisions , and wished it to be improved , but he could not support the resolutions . Geneial Johnson ' s great objection to the Poor Law was , that it put the people out of the pale of the constitution , and placed them under three individuals at Somerset House .
Sir Bobekt Peel denied tbat the principle of the amended Poor Law was opposed to the acts of 34 th and 43 rd Elizabeth , or that it was more harsh in its provisions . This he illustrated by citing some of the provisions of these Acts , especially the power given bj tha 43 rd of Elizabeth over the children of such parents as were unable to maintain them . The 1 workhouse test , in lieu of the labour test , was enacted . by the 9 th George I . ; and , therefore , it was neither a novel nor an unconstitutional principle . No great measure was ever passed without having suggestions being submitted for the consideration of the
Government ; and it would lead to much practical inconvenience if each confidential communications , whether they had been adopted , or , as in the present instance , they had been rejected , were produced and publicly made use of . He adduced the amounts paid for the relief of the poor , as showing that there was more expended on them than on the poor of any other country , and after expressing his surprise at the course which Mr . Aglionby had avowed he would adopt , comjueoted somewhat humorously on the arguments whic . Vhad been used by Mr . Walter . He conoluded by waring the House against tamper ' ing with the Poor Law ^
Lord John Manners would support the resolutions , as expressive of hisr wish to have the support of the poor placed on Christian and constitutional principles . Mr . Muniz attributed the aversion of the people to the poor law , as one cause of the late insurrections . Sir Walter James objected to the motion of Mr . Walter . But the question of the Poor Law would never be settled without a well-regulated sjstem of out-door relief .
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Mr . Ferrand said , that on rising to address the House upon a question ob which be had long taken a deep interest , tie begged in the first place to offar his sincere thanks to the Hon . Membar for Nottingham for having bronght ( to light what he ( Mr . Ferrand ) considered to be the foulest conspiracy ever entered into in the dark against tho rights , liberties , and privileges of the poor . Itlwas now twelve years ago since he ( Mr . Ferrandl had first taken part In public affairs , and on this question h ! e had often received advice from the public speeches of the Hon . Member , which bad cheered him on in the coarse he had pursued in opposing , by every constitutional means in his power , this law , and little did he then think that he shonld have the honour and the privilege of sitting beside his Hon . Friend
when he gave , as he had that nighfe given , the death blow to the New Poor Law . He ( Mr . Ferrand ) deeply regretted the speech which the Right Hon . Baronet at the head of the Government had made that evening . He did not think that the Right Hon . Baronet had aoted fairly to ! the Hon . and Learned Member for Cockermouth . iThe Right Hon . Baronet saw a rising spirit of independence flowing into the Hon . and Learned Memb ' er ' a breast—he saw that the Hon . and Learned Member was actuated by no party spirit , and the Right Hon . Baronet was afraid lest the indepen dence the Hon . jand Learned Member had shown shonid become contagious on both sides of the House , and that if the feelings which actuated the Hon . and Learned Member to stand up in the independent
manner he had doue should be acted upon on both sides , the Gavemment would be in a minority on the present occasion , —( hear , hear . ) But what had been the remarks ofjthe Right Hon . Baronet the Secretary for the Home Department towards the Hon . Member for Nottingham ? j The Right Hon . Baronet said this was a private document , only intended for the eyes of the late Govermtnti , of | which he had been a member . He ( Mr . Ferrand ) wished the Right Hon . Baronet had remained on that side of the House ; if so , Conservative principles would have stood much higher in the eyes of the people than they did at present —( hear , hear , and a laugh ) . The Right Hon . Baronet had taunted his his Hon . Friend the Member for Nottingham with a breach of confidence . He ( Mr . Ferrand ) contended that hia Hon . Friend bad only discharged a public duty . He had found out ; and dragged to light a document which , without any breach of confidence on his part , he found
placed amongst his papers—he cast his eyes upon it , and said to himself , " New I will bring before the eyes of the people of England thia monstrous system of oppression . " And how had the Right Hon . Bironet himaalf acted the other night , when he ( Mr . Ferrand ) moved for a return of two letters which emanated from certain manufacturers when the New Poor Law was under consideration , j and on which they entered into an express and declared agreement with Mr . Chadwick , the secretary to the Poor Law Commissioners , that if they only fiained the New Poor Law in such a mariner as to throw a large portion of thq . working classes of the south Into thaj north—that if they were able "to absorb" the surplus population of the south into the manufacturing districts of tbe North of England , it would enable them , ihe manufacturers , to reduce the price of labour in the ] north of fiBglani , and to pat a stop to the outbreaks ) for raising wages ? Mr . Wallace—Who said tbat 1
Mr . FekRand . —Tha letters of Mr . Ashworth and Mr . Greg ; they were in the first report of the Poor Law Commissioners . The words be bad often quoted before , and no one nian had ever denied tha truth of the quotation . Now ; at that very time a committee of the House was sitting to inquire into the then condition of the hand-looni weavers , and it was proved before that committee that the hand-loom weavers were then struggling for existence upon ten farthings a-day . Bnt what bad the Bight Hon . Baronet said with respeot to these two letters ? ' Why , he said they were private communications—that the first letter of Mr . Ashworth Waa on the file of tha Poor Law Commissioners , but that tbe letter of Mr . Greg could not be found . They Were , he added , private communications , which were never
intended to see daylight , bnt tbat be bad no objection to produce Mr . Aahworth ' s letter and lay it on the table of the House . Now , what was the difference between the conduct of the Right Hon . Baronet in placing that letter , which he said was of a private nature , and never intended to see daylight , on the table of the House , ' aud in that of his Hon . Friend the member for Nottingham , who , finding a paper which bad been submitted to the Government , brought it before the House ? Thia was said by the Right Hon . Baronet to be a breach of confidence—he ( Mr . Ferrand ) maintained there was no breach of confidence except on the part of the Right Hon . Baronet himself . The Right Hun . Baronet bad expressly stated , that tbe letter written by Mr . Ashworth to the Secretary of the
Poor Law Commissioners was a private communication , and { now he ( Mr . Ferrand ) begged to ask the Hight Honourable Baronet the First Lord of the Treasury ( who had always shown an earnest anxiety to prevent the slightest attempt to conceal public documents ) if there waa any necessity to keep back Mr . Greg ' s letter ? It was said not to be on the file . Why was it not en tbe file ? Let the Government say at once that it would be inconvenient to produce it because tb ^ re were expressions in that letter which ought not to appear before the public . Such be ( Mr . Ferrand ) understood from the Hon . Member for Oldham to be the case , but at all events it was tbe duty of the G ivernraent to make a strict and searching inquiry as to the reasons and means used to prevent the
production of tbat letter . He now came to the question of the working of the New Poor Law in the North of England . And what bad been its effects there ? It happened that amongst the letters contained-in tbe first report of the ! Poor Law Commissioners there was one from Mr . Ashworth in which be told Mr . Chadwick that it would be desirable that 20 , 000 labourers should be sent from the south down to Sbalybridge . Now , the inspector of factories for that district had , within the last few days , forjwarded his report to Her Majesty ' s Secretary of State 'for tbe Home Department , and in it what did they find ; there , proved to be the s ^ ate arb present of Stalybridge-rthe district into which ^ tfe ^ Chad wick , with the consent and at the request of those cottonspinners , and through the agency of Dt . Kay—who , for
the part he had taken in securing the election of Mr . P . Thompson at Manchester , bad been made a Poor Law Commissioner , and who , in a pamphlet , had described tbe workiDg . population of Manchester and its neighbourhood to bt \ at that moment , in a state of starvation —had induced tens of thousands of the population of the south to go into the manufacturing districts of the north ? He ( Mr . Ferrand ) wiuhed the manner in which these wretched poor had been kidnapped and sold into a state of slavery , and brought to a speedy'death , could be exposed to the bouse . But with respect to | Stalybridge and its neighbourhood , be found the folio wing statement made by Mr . Hnrner , the factory inspector , in his last report : — " The population of the three adjoining towns of Ashton ,
Dukenfleld , and Stafey bridge included , with an area of a mile and a half radius from the most central part of tbe district , is considered to be not less than 55 . 000 ; and the proportion of tbe working population , tbat is , those below the rank of shopkeepers , has been estimated at eighty per cent in Ashton , ninety in Staleybriiige , and [ ninety four in Dakenfieki . This dense population has been brought together chiefly by tbe extension of tbe manufacture witbin a very short period . The ) population of the borough of Ashton and township of pukenfield together was , in 1821 , 14 . 318 ; in 1831 , 29 . 352 ; and in 1841 , 45 , 074 . I am unible to give the exact numbers for the whole district , because Staleybridge is partly in Lancashire and partly : in Cheshire , but the increase there has probably been in a
similar ratio . " Now , he asked the House to listen to what followed : — " How little the moral and religious improvement of the large number of the humoler classes has been hitherto an object of solicitude , tbe following facts will show : —In the borough of Ashton , with a population of 25 , 000 , there is no national school , no school of the British and Foreign School Society , nor any otber public day-school for the children of the working classes . The same is the case at Staleybridge and Dukenflttld , with the slight exception I shall now state . I mentioned in the report above referred to that a national school had recently been built at Staleybridge , bnt , I regret to say , it is not yet in operation . " No ar this Dr . Kay , who , by the by , held also the situation of secretary to the Education
Board , was tbe agent employed by Mr . Chadwick and the Poor-Law Commissioners to carry down 20 , 000 southern labourers to a place where there was not an atom of chance of their receiving tbe slightest education . Now , was not this something serious and alarming—namely , that for tbe purpose of carrying out tbe New Poor Law it was necessary to absorb the population of the south into the north 1 Where did ben . members think tbe first outbreaks took place ? Why at Staleybridge , where there was a population whose minds , from their sufferings , were easily excited by men of deeper designs , but who bad hot the courage to show their faces , and who left their victims to appear at the bar of justice , and pass thence to transportation , while they slunk away into the dark . He maintained that the . origin of
tbe outbreak was the iniquitous , atrocious , bloodthirsty Poor Law . But for that law the population of the north of Eagland would not have had their market for labour entrenched upon by the introduction of tens of thousands of tbe masses of tbe south , —and they wonld bave bad some chance of earning a subsistence , by a fair price for their labour , if they had not been robbed of it under tbe operation of the New Poor Law . He found the other evening that tbe hon . member for Manchester thought proper to deny some statements he ( Mr . Ferrand ) bad made with respect to tbe treatment of children employed in a mill belonging to a cotfcoD-spinner in Lancashire . The bon . member said be ( Mr . Ferrand ) bad told the House tbat that there were certain Poor j Law unions where the overseers banded
over tbe orphans under their care and protection to employers without inquiring into tbe mode of treatment to which they would be exposed . He ( Mr Ferrand ) bad stated the circumstance upon an authority on which he knew be could place reliance—be bad learned it from persons of unquestionable veracity ; and , although the matter bad been denied by the Hon . Member for Manchester , he ( Mr . Far rand ) knew very well tbat the boor was not' far distant when be would receive ah authority backed either by persona who had beheld those scenes of cruelty , or who were prepared to prove every word which he ( Mr . Ferrand ) bad uttered . No sooner had tbe Bpeech of the Hen . Member for Manchester reached tbat town than tbe representatives of tbe working classes , who advocated tbe Ten Hours Factory Bill , met and PfWB 9 d resolutions , which as they related
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to himself be would not uow read . But he had received a letter from one of the body , Mr DuherhT which corroborated all he had said . He trusted thi House would allow kirn to read that letter . Year after year these poor girls were kept in a state of slavery - butat last human nature could bear it no longer the 4 burst from the chains of the manufacturer and ran away to their parents . And what was their punish ment ? ¦ ' He ( Mr . Doherty ) saw the room in which these gills weie confined : the light was completely excluded ; they were notiiliowed either fire , light or bed , and their usual allowance of food wasconMder ably diminished . Their hair was cut off , and their confinement lasted for several days . Baring the con flnement of Esther Price , several of her fellow " apprentices mitigated the rigonr of her punishment bv
putting in through tbe crevices of the wainscoting which separated this room from the adjoining apartment portions of their own rations , as well as cloaks &c , to cover her by night On the Friday afternoon tbe matron died , and the remains lay in the next room to that in which the poor girl was confined . When she heard this , she was driven almost frantic with fright . On the following d&y , when refreshments were brought her , she rushed out of the room , and told the person having her in charge that she Would not , under any circumstances , pass anether night in that apartment The man said , * Well , Esther , if you pledge yourself not to be seen , I shall say nothing about it but you know , if you are seen , it is si much as my place is worth . " These
cbildren were placed in that man ' s power under the operation of tbe New Poor Law . It was from the union workhouses tbat this man was supplied with these apprentices , and he would ask the Right Hon . Baronefc whether , in a civilized country , the people of England would long allow these things to exist , and whether the working classes owed allegiance to the Government , if , on those circumstances being brought to its knowledge , it did not immediately take steps to put a stop to snch proceedings ? There was another instance of ill-treatment of the poor which he bad alluded to the other evening when he had moved for certain returns relative to the operation of tbe New Poor Liw . H 8 bad stated that in the month of May , 1842 , there were a number of people sent from tbe Skipton Union work .
bouse to a man named Threlfall , a millowner at Halifax , He had asked the Right Hon . Baronet tbe Secretary of State for the Home department if there was any communication extant between the Poor Law Commissioners and that millowner ? The Right Hon . Baronet had replied that there was no statement or correspondence whatever in the office of the Poor Law Oomnimumets on thia subject , After that , he ( Mr . Ferrandl had asked him if he would cause an inquiry to be made in the office of Secretary of State for the Home Daparfc . ment whether there was any such communication , as to him , in his high office , the poor must look for protection if their rights and privileges were invaded . That Right Hon Baronet bad informed him that tbere was not any snob communication . With tbe
permission of tbe House he would read a statement connected with the transportation of these people from tha Skipton Union workhouse to this mill : — " Sir , —I thank yon for tbe attention you bave paid to tbe subject of my letter , and for your communication . It was Skip , ton Union workhouse from which tbe hands wtre brought to Threlfall ' a mill . The precise number cannoi now be ascertained , bat , as far as I can learn , there would be about twenty ; four of those were so lame that tbey could not walk between Skipton and Andingham , a distance only of six miles , so tbey were brought in Torelfall ' s tax cart ; also one was very much deranged in her mental faculties , These were all females . The name of the poor idiot was Hannah Cockshot . I regret that I am unable to give you the names of the four
cripples . One of them , whose name is El zibetb Townend , was so lame , that she was unfit far any employment , much less to stand twelve hours a-day in a factory . After her day ' s work she ¦ was scarcely able to walk to her lodgings . Thus are tie poor creatures conveyed like subjects for dissection , from tbe union workhouse to the factory to be experimented upon by the manufacturers . These facts are well known to many in Addingham ; bat , if you , Sir , do not think them sufficiently authenticated to warrant an exposure in the Senate House of Britain , I hope you will at least make tbe world acquainted with those facts which have been proved before you in a court of justice . Alice Morrill is so far convalescent as to be able partially to resume her employment . " Now , here he would ask
what chance tbere was for protection for these poor people ? The father of Alice Morrill deelined to make any statement , as he was an overlooker in Mr . Threlfall ' s mill . There was another instance of tbe cruelties practised under this New Poor Law , and it discovered tbe secret motives that bad influenced the first proposers of this law—of the Ashwortha and the Gregg , when they wrote their letters and did their utmost to urge forward tbe law , and to get into their districts the' population of the south to beat down the wages of the labourers , ef their own workpeople . The workpeople of Mr . Threlfall were so badly paid , and so ill-used and over-worked , that tbey bad struck for wages ; and for tbe purpose of enabling him to carry on bis mill , he applied to the
Skipton workhouse , whence were forwarded to him twenty bands ; and these poor people were obliged to work for the wages he chose to give him . The Hon . Members for Bolton and Manchester had warned the house against bis statements unless authenticated . They had insinuated , as usual , that it would be desirable that the House and the country should not listen to what ha ( Mr . Ferrand ) said , unless it were fully proved before the House . He ( Mr . Ferrand ) little thought that on the following morning the report of the Faetorj Impecc tors would be placed in his hands . Since then Hon . Members of that House had gone to him , and said , — " Why you understated the conduct of the manufacturers in the North of England . When the Secretary of State for the Home Department chided you for having
used the expression ' monsters in human shape , ' yoo did not to the extent you were justified express your abhorrence of their conduct" He would ask the Secretary of State for tbe Home Department , whether he felt it his duty to inquire whether tbe guardians of the Skipton Union had placed in the power of thismumfacturer twenty hands for his mill , three or four of wbom were cripples unable to walk , and one of them an idiot ? He was about to read an extract from the report of the inspectors of factories for the halfyear ending the 31 st of Daceraber . 1842 . It waa rathar long , but he trusted the House wonld beat with it—( hear , bear ); and he would ask the Housa to rescue the masses of the people from the oppression and plunder inflicted upon them , for their burtha
den was too heavy to be borne . This was report of Mr . Saunders , and was dated the 25 th of January , 1813—the last report , "I was about to prepare my report for the last quarter in the early part of the month , when I received notice of one of the most grosj and oppressive violations of the law , during the week ending the 25 th ultimo , that has occurred to ay knowledge since the Factory Act was passed . This induced me to delay my report , in order to wait the result of s careful investigation of tbe circumstances relating tothat offence , and the adjudication of any complainta which might be preferred against the offenders . The investigation was very efficiently conducted by Mr-Baker , tbe saperintendent ' He would here beg leave to bear his testimony to the conduct of Mr . Baker , lor be | Mr . Ferrand ) never saw a man conduct himsell with more justice to the parties concerned . " And I regret to say the wilful and deliberate overworking or . but
various young persons , both boys and girls , cmefly the latter , between the ages of fourteen or eigh t een was clearly established . This occurred at a mill at Addingham , in Yorkshire , which bas only been occupied a few months , in cotton spinning , by the firm or Messrs . Sied and Co ., of which a Mr . William Threlfall is tbe managing partner . The mill was at work from , six o'clock an Thursday morning , the 22 nd alt , nnttf . twelve o ' clock the same night , which ( allowing two hour 3 for meal time ) was an employment for ats&een hours of the several persons detained between those periods , some of them being under eighteen years ot age . Tbis was , however , comparatively a sugB * offence to what followed . The mill commenced wors > itg again the next morning , Friday , the 23 rd , an ^ the machinery continued running from that time , with only short intervals for meals , dura * the whole of Friday nighttbe whole of
Sstur-, day , and until three o'clock on Sunday morning ( Christmas D . iy ) , a period of forty-five noura . Now , these twenty paupers were placed in the power oi this " monster in human shape , " and ha ^^ . rz Right Hon . Baronet ' would he make an inquiry nw this statement ? He ( Sir J . Graham ) must , or place himself in the position to be called on to resign nw office . There can be no doubt but that some or tne hands under eighteen years of age were present daring the whole of this excessively long period ; but inw point was not proved in the cases selected for tnei prosecution , because it was necessary , in order to od roi
more than one penalty , to lay distinct informations the wrong employment of different young persons : i » r each separate day . It was , however , proved , ™» P ™ of fourteen had been kept to worfe from seven ©<»«* on Friday evening , the 23 d , during all **»?« " •/ £ next day , and through Saturday night , until & *** ; •* on Sana * the 25 » h ,-a period of tbirty-twc , *«¦ . the same persons haviqg been worked on tne wero »? day ( Thursday ) till twelve at night , and ¦«»»«* £ ? £ of the Friday afternoon . Such conduct towards young and tender females , who cannot be deemed £ «• fgjg merited , in my opinion , the heaviest penalties jWg the law imposed for such offences ; and I «« ¦ £ ? £ justified in sanctioning Mr . Baker's ™* & ™ f £ . £ . ^ mniAinte In snch a manner as to afford the msg » -
trates an opportunity of awarding a punisnmeni w some degree commensurate with the _ offen <» jJJ offenders were convicted on seven different uiforn * tions , six of which the magistratesi deemed £ < ^™ £ to demand severally the full penalty of £ 26 ; and tne other offence was punished by a ^ ywent of £ 5 . ™ J > be would call the attention of the B'ght H «?• ^ "g the Secretary of State for tbe Home ^ f ^ rytag s » i = SKft 25 a »? 2 S SSirES ' SIS KoS ^^ - ^^ Stb 8 ( Continued in our Seventh page . )
£M$Tmal Sparltamrni.
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6 THE NORTHERN STAR .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), March 4, 1843, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct471/page/6/
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