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May 25, 1850.] Mifrt ^Lta^tt^ 197
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CONDITION OF IRELAND. The intelligence f...
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LABOURERS AND THE LABOUR MARKET. The fac...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Resistance To The University Commission....
enjoy his bounty ? In the case of religious services prescribed by the founder , but now prohibited by law , does it appear to be the wish of the founder that in case no such religious services could be performed the foundation was or was not to aid in the purposes of education ? In the case of Royal foundations how far has the Crown the power of consulting the good of the university in the application of the endowment of a former Sovereign ? These and similar questions require care for their investigation and prudence in their solution . For this purpose the utmost care will be taken in selecting commissioners , who may not only be well qualified for their important task , but who may inspire confidence and respect by their character and position . "
Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington not deeming himself altogether competent to give an appropriate answer to Lord John ' s letter , very prudently laid the matter before the Board of Heads of Houses , which body , after due deliberation on the very important topics contained in the Ministerial missive , has expressed its doubts and fears regarding the Government proposal in a long letter to the duke . In this document they express how much satisfied they are to find Ministers so anxious to promote * ' the interests of religious and sound learning , as well as to advance the cause of education . " Adverting to the declared
object of the Commission , they respectfully submit that such , an inquiry is unnecessary and would lead to injurious consequences . As to the supposed obstacles to the full development of that large and improved system of study which , the Universities have sought to establish , if any such obstacles exist at Oxford , the board affirms that " they produce no material effect upon the general academical system . " With reference to that part of Lord John's letter in which he speaks as if little change had taken place in the course of studies for three centuries , the Heads of Houses show how grossly ignorant he must be by
appealing to the fact that , so far as Oxford is concerned , •' the whole body of its statutes and the academic eystem of study was admirably arranged two centuries ago . " Since that period further changes have been made . Indeed , if we might believe the Board , the University has , for the last half century—since the year 1800—been continually engaged in a series of academic reforms designed to adapt the system to altered circumstances . " If these reforms have not always fulfilled expectation , or met the wishes of all parties , still it cannot justly be said that the failure has been through the supineness , indifference , or incornpetency of the professors .
As respects those trusts and vested rights to which Lord John directs attention , the venerable Board warns Ministers that none of these could be abrogated without great detriment to the future interests of charity , and great injustice to the persons , and families and districts interested in these endowments . In conclusion , they express their conviction that the appointment of such a commission would not only interrupt their labours and studies , but check and obstruct " the natural and healthy progressof improvement which has of late years proceeded as rapidly as
is consistent with the proper working of the academical system . " As regards the legality of a commission appointed only to inquire and report , they decline giving any opinion ; but they hint that it would be rather an " unconstitutional" proceeding , and hope that they will not be exposed to the painful alternative of withholding evidence , " or of allowing her Majesty ' s Commissioners to listen only to imperfect information and partial statements upon subjects of great importance both to the universities and the community at large . "
Lord John Russell , having forwarded a similar letter to Prince Albert , Chancellor of Cambridge University , the resident members of the senate of that university have addressed a letter to the Vice Chancellor , in which they say they have looked with the greatest alatm at the announcement that a Commission is to be appointed , believing , as they do , " that any attempt to compel the colleges to appoint teaehprs or to reward proficients , by external agency , would be an interference with their internal freedom
of a kind utterly unheard-of except m the worst times , and altogether destructive of their just and ancient corporate rights . " The university has already evinced " a willingness to make charges " such as are desired ; but their " effectual operation" requires time , and will take place best " if the university be left to itself . " " The interference of Parliament would prevent a natural progress . " The writers of the address believe also that the Royal Commission is illegal and unconstitutional " ; and they hint at the possibility of its not being recognised by the university .
" The commission , as is reported to have ho . cn officially declared in the House of Commons , would be without power to compel evidence . This being so , persons in positions of trust in the university , and in colleges , may think it their duty to decline giving evidence before the commission on the matters committed to their trust . And if this should occur , tho whole evidence brought before the commission will be that of persons who have no official knowledge of the stato of the cuse , nnd may very possibly bo coloured by partial feelings und opinions adverse to the university and its recent proceedings . " The Vice Chancellor is , therefore , requested " to
take such steps as the emergency may appeal to require ; and to consider especially whether it may not be proper to represent to his Royal Highness our Chancellor the interference with our freedom , rights , statutes , possessions , and usages which appears to be threatened . "
May 25, 1850.] Mifrt ^Lta^Tt^ 197
May 25 , 1850 . ] Mifrt ^ Lta ^ tt ^ 197
Condition Of Ireland. The Intelligence F...
CONDITION OF IRELAND . The intelligence from Ireland is not so full or precise as to enable one to say very accurately at what rate improvement is going on , but the general tenor of the accounts is of a favourable character . We are sorry to learn , hoAvever , that evictions are still taking place on a large scale , in various parts of the South and West . The process of clearing out the old occupiers , like so many vermin , and consolidating their farms , is carried on with relentless perseverance . No attempt is made to assist the unfortunate creatures who are driven from the land , to any other means of
supporting themselves . Those who can raise the means go to America and thrive ; but a larger number of them , come over to England and compete with Englishmen in the over-crowded labour market . The result of this may be easily guessed . The evil is felt more in Liverpool than in any other town in the kingdom , from its being the great landing-place of Irish immigration . The labouring population of that town complain bitterly of the daily influx of raw and unskilled labourers " , " according to the Morning Chronicle Commissioner , " will often labour for 6 d . or 9 d . a day rather than not get a job . "
We are glad to perceive from the Irish papers that , notwithstanding the low price of wheat and other kinds of farm produce , a much greater breadth of land is under tillage than during any of the last four years , and that the husbandry is also superior to what was ever before witnessed in Ireland . The petitions for the sale of land in the Encumbered Estates Court still continue to be forwarded from all parts of the country . The total number presented is now between 800 and 900 . During the week ending
on the 14 th instant , the commissioners pronounced forty conditional and absolute orders for sales . The average rate at which most of the land has been effected is from fifteen to twenty years' purchase . The Earl of Glengall ' s estates , which are about to be sold , were worth £ 20 , 000 per annum before the famine . It is questionable if they will now bring much more than half that sum , in which case the encumbrances , amounting to £ 200 , 000 , will probably swallow up all the purchase monej \
It is encouraging to see that the Tenant Right question has now assumed an extensive character , and that it bids fair to become a most important one . The movement is spreading in all directions , and meetings are announced to be held in parts of the country where , a short time since , the subject was not dreamt of . In the county of Meath a meeting is announced for the 30 th , and several others in the south and west . The Kanturk meeting , on Sunday last , is said to have been most successful as a demonstration of popular feeling on the subject . The Dublin Evening Post , the Castle organ , speaks thus favourably of the all-absorbing qnestion : —
" The movement now so general throughout the country proves at once the deep and all-pervading anxiety amongst the tenant class for a prompt adjustment of the relations between the owners and occupiers of the soil , and the necessity of taking advantage of the favourable circumstances now existing for getting rid of the manifold evils in the land system which must be apparent to all , and which have been productive of so much misery and crime . "
Labourers And The Labour Market. The Fac...
LABOURERS AND THE LABOUR MARKET . The facts we have collected this week relative to the condition of those who live by wages are of a mixed character . In manufacturing towns the condition of the peop le has decidedly improved ; in most parts of the country the labourers are also better off than they were , though still wretched enough , notwithstanding the cheapness of food . It is said that the wages of the labourers employed upon the highways in North Devon have been reduced ; men with families are to have lOd . per day , and those without 8 d . — Western Times ,
, The distress which prevails in North Nottinghamshire is assuming a painful character . The occupiers of shops in the agricultural towns complain that there is no trade , and large numbers of labourers are thrown out of employment . —Nottingham Guardian . I have been an agricultural labourer for the last forty years . My wages at present are 8 s . a-week , out of which I must provido everything for myself , my wife and five children , none of whom arc able to earn a penny . I have ; not had more than 8 s . a-week for many years . We have very hard work to make a living out of such wages , but we arc not so badly otf * as we have boon when food was dour . —Oral Statement of an Oxjordsfure
Labourer . Thfi wages of labourers in Norfolk are at present 8 s . a-woek , in some places a rcvluction to 7 * . i * spoken of . A great proportion of the work on farms , however , is done by task work or contract , uritl tho ruU > of wfgos , t . hrrrTn :-e ,
on by children are sometimes paid for in this lastmentioned way , a man engaging to do what is required , for so much , and employing all the children he can collect in gangs to get through with it . The evils of such a state of things are obvious . The boys and girls , thus brought together from considerable distances , frequently do not return home at night , and sleep in stackyards or barns or wherever they can find shelter . Another point connected with farm labour in Norfolk is the employment of women in the fields—a practice which does not exist the most
in some counties , and which some of intelligent agriculturists here strongly condemn . They contend that it has a most demoralizing effect , causing women thus employed to lose all feeling of self-respect , rendering them bad housewives when married , and unfit , from want of experience , to exercise that strict economy m expenditure and to provide those small firesidecomforts which are so necessary in a labourer ' s wife . It is further said to be very questionable whether , even with the low wages paid to them , they are employed remuneratively to the farmer , as they are generally slow and indifferent workers . —Times Commissioner .
The rate of wages in Lincolnshire is at present 10 s . a-week , and labourers are said to be very well off . They , however , often pay high rents for their cottages , being swept out of parishes held by one or two Targe proprietors , and compelled to live in open parishes at a great distance from their work . In no county yet visited by us have the evil effects resulting from the present law of settlement been more prominently brought before us than here . Labourers , finding six or seven miles of a
walk added to their day ' s labour , frequently ride on donkeys to their work and home again at night . The farmers willingly give accommodation to the donkeys , as they save the men . The system of driving labourers off the large estates appears now to have received a check , and landlords are paying more attention to the building of good cottages and letting them at moderate rents to industrious men . We found in Lincolnshire that some of the farmers board a certain number of their regularly
employed farm servants , paying them yearly wages . Others , who do not like to have them in their houses , send them to live with their bailiffs . This last-mentioned plan does not seem to work well , and the first also has some disadvantages ; but in these times of severe pressure it becomes necessary for the farmer to consider whether it is most economical and best to feed and house as many of his labourers as possible , or to pay them wages and leave them to provide for themselves . —
Times Commissioner . During the present month , we understand , many of the best and most valuable farm servants in the neighbourhood of Spalding , intend emigrating , in consequence of the want of employment and low rate of wages , many of the farmers having reduced their establishments , in order to enable them to meet the pressure of the times ; nearly all have lowered wages . At the fortnightly market at Boston but few servants of either sex were hired , and most of those hired were at reduced wages . — Lincolnshire Chronicle .
A medical correspondent of the Times , who describes himself as residing •« in one of the moat pauperised agricultural counties in England , " gives the following comparison of the state of the poor in 1847 and 1849 . " In the year 1817 , when corn was at a famine price , the poor-rates in this parish were Ss . in the pound ; and to give you some idea of the extent of pauperism , it will be only necessary for me to state that in the first quarter of this year , out of a population of about 3000 , I attended 245 pauper cases . And I can safely aver that the one-half of these cases were brought on by insufficient food . Contrast this with the quarter of the present year up to March 25 . Corn is now about 40 s . per quarter . Our rates this year will be about 3 s . Gel . or 4 s . in the pound , and the number of cases of illness which I have attended in this quarter is 122—as near the half as possible of those I attended in 1847 . "
At the weekly meeting of the board of guardians , held on Wednesday , the relieving officer stated that he had not a single application for relief from the parish of Lyncombe and Widcombe , containing 10 , 000 inhabitants . Bath Gazette . At tiic weekly meeting of the Board of Guardians , on Wednesday , there was not a single application from the parish of Walcot , which contains a population of 20 , 000 inhabitants , for either out-of-door relief or medical relief ; a circumstance almost unprecedented since the formation of the union . —Ibid , The labour market of Liverpool is cruelly overstocked ; yet every week , and every day , the sixpenny deck passengers from Dublin and elsewhere , pour in their multitudes , at the imminent risk of pauperizing of thousands of men who have hitherto managed to earn a decent subsistence . — Morning Chronicle Commissioner .
According to the Durham Advertiser , the crown glass trade , once so flourishing on the Tyne , is now perfectly paralysed . There are some twenty crown glass houses on the Tyne in which there were formerly manufactured from 15 , 000 to 20 , 000 " tables " weekly . At present there arc only three houses in operation , and even this small number is not fully employed . It is a gratifying fact that a larger number of shipwrights are now in full employment at Workington than at any former period within our recollection . —Carlisle Patriot .
According to Captain Willis , the chief constable of police in Manchester , there was in that town last year a decrease of about 1500 out of about 5000 apprehensions , and of nearly 200 out of 800 commitments for trial . He attributes this doorcase chiefly to the improvement in trade , nnd to the comfortable state ; of the working classes during the year ; and adds that the character of the working classes has greatly amciidrd during the last ten years , owing , in ymrt , to the greater attention paid by the masters to the comforts and improvement of the workpeople , by looking after their houses and providing libraries , & c .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 25, 1850, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_25051850/page/5/
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