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HOUSE OF LORDS-Fbidat , Feb . 24 , I The Earl ef 2 £ isto moved for returns respecting the 1 present stele of the navy . He required explanations as , to wby ihsra bad been less ship-building last jear than had been contemplated , and-why a reduced vote was to be taken for the present year ? He inquired also the j searonsof other reductions ? m ' The 3 > uke of Wxiiissxos doubted the propriety of inraishiijg the infermation asked for . The Earl of Haddi > GTON wished the Earl of Mint to postpone his questions , and eive uo ' ocs for acoU jj evening , - * htn he weuM be better pupated . The Earl « -f MlSTO then ^ r . tsrn *! inis Tfflkas ds' j = 2 a resi > H : tniz the present k >~ s w-b *>; wnr dockyards , &c , and moTed for retern :- re- . ing t « them .
ThsILrlof HaSK - uiOS explained , t b * •* -. » fwson -why there was Isss v-iip-bttilcrros last yc ^ ' V * a fcad been co-tempfeted , ins , that it "was deem * * asoie economical to keep vtssels -alreaiy bciR in goo d repair than to baiid new oses . Ittaa fcees found iaiprasticable in Woolwich Dockyard to buBS the n carter & steamers required , and the T = dueed - « tf Hiat * k Sot -tie present year had been cdoplfcd 'with ^ reat s : e ? aetanae , bet it ¦ w * s felt that owing Is the fcfcafc of the finances , some reductions shonte * be adopted . He eeocluifcd with sluing infoTHiaQon ia"reply to ? the Bail of iiiato . Lord ASBBUKTOJJ srpressed iis regret thai theinlormaticn had been given .
Ths 3 ) ake « f WECki » 3 TO > - * atd he Dad gxren his opinion of the impropriety of in jnSMng the inforajation , but his advice "was neglected , * a £ ~ ibe two Nobk 5 » ords , in aef ence of their -sespectv * e governments , tts . d published to the "srhola world ibfermataon "which should never bave been eoEnEunicsfjed ^ and "which migbt proye mischievous to the-eonntry . After some further debate , % h which LordsSKnto and Haddm ? toa vindiestfed th ^ iaaelves , and the 5 > ake of "Wellington remarked that- be had always discouraged such motions , the ? Earl c-f SiriLto -withdrew has motion , and tis House acSc-urned .
Mosdav , 3 ? ssacAST 27 . l * rd Ca 3 £ PBEU , moored for and obtaine £ * £ opies of lord iEUenborccarrs pro-sJaaeationa , and gave-norice , on ¦ tte part of the 2 &impns . ot . 2 Clanricarde , cf emotion on the subject , on the Stn -Df-Slarch . Lord > 10 S » eagle , _ at the request of tfeelrokeof Wellington postponed 'Ms cotion on the Core -laws , on iocount of the indispodlioo of the Eirl of Bipon . After forwarding some bills the House a&enrned .
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HOUSE UF COMMCKS—Thcbsdat , * Feb . 523 . Jin a par * -of out last week's impression we gare a TcTj -condensed asd imperfect acctsuit of the proceedings in "do House of Comssons on the subject of Mr .- "Walter ' s motion ce the Xew Poor * Law . On account of its great isiportance we give this week a more extendi'd- ^ spoTt , particnlsTlj of the speeches of Mr . Walts ? and Mr Ferrfecd . ]
PBJJfdPJLESOFTHE 2 fEW POOS LATV . M ? . WiiTEB then rose , and commenced-his speech "fey observing that he -could bsve -wished that it had fallen to lhe lot of some abler or more eminent member to ha-re bronght forward the present subject , for if the abilities -of him -wlw brought it forward - ^ ere to be -fftdrbed or measured bj the -rast constquence 3 inTciTed , le feared that he should be fonnd greatly deficient If , indeed , he might have-bad his vnsh indulged , he should fe&Te desired her Majesty ' s ministfers themseives to have taken a more humane end constitutional -view of the question , for sincerely-did he wish them to p ^ riue such xaeasases as -wosld seccse them the love of the people —be meant of the people taken in the mass ; and there ¦ was do one rn ? thefi by -which they could so--easentiaUy
tave eod « ared themselves to tfce "vast body of the conntiy at large as by -oamelishing , " > "hat he was . sorry to say had been ¦ Dartisliy , snd at second bind , their -work , namely—the He-w Poor law . He i » is too old to court zpucn popnteity himself , and res ^ ily would he transfer -whatever be might ha- ? e attained to those -whose general course of police Tae thought nvest calculated to appease the dissatisfaction and restore the prosperity ol the country . He would osk ibszn this question briefly—had there been any * ati * facdon , any goo 4 temper , any adherescs of the humbler classes to their employers sinee this most unfeeling law hid been in in
invented ? Had there bsen aisytliiD ^ tfce country bat brooding discontent , erer rea < 1 y to brtak out into open -violence , or to sreage itself by secret mischief He said none . Here they were in the ninth year since the first movement ££ akist tfce old Poor I « 2 w of the country ori ^ inatiEg with one of the crtatesi -soTersgns—a female , too—that the lasd eter knew , : the Tery obj-ct-of whose Eoble policy it was to sustain the great masses of the people against htre-ditary oppression and aristocratic pride— -patca * . rtibpuUis , et -cboel lare ssperbot ; aad -miio , by trnstiiig ht-rsclf auti her throne to the . support of her people—not to family infinences or herds of retainers—sst the whole world at
de&xace . Thai -principle cf her a the new law did oat reform , did not restore , did not rcinTicorate—bst lererssd . It protected , or a £ = £ ted t- prottct tbe great landed interests first , and Etxt the manufaetnriag interests , by tie opprt-ssion , iy the Vtry ^ dtstrnction of those upon whosi thr » se eleTated interests rested ; and by thst sttempl to rfestroy the very basis of all hnmsa s-eiety , he csuld ttll them that those m « e eleTated interests must ultimately sick . Srery ether focadation bui that cf the people was a sarjily cae . The winds of disaffection would blow—tte temptst of popular fury weald begin to rage—acd down would corns their structure to the grt-und . He bad called this 2 f ew Poor Law an invention , and mch literally it was . It was the uFual effort of legislation , when , thronch
the lapse of time , old laws began to fail of their appHac - ion , to itpprove and adapt them asew—to cut off excrescences , and to invigorate the impaired parts—to restore , to reform , but not to con-Tulse or destroy —( hear , hear . ) Bat what had been the course pursued in this most ominous affair ? A new invention , sew to history as to the people , was struck cut . Principles and details , men and machinery , ¦ were alike displaced . That class of men who acted as parochial ifibers of their parishes , and as jurors in theii courts of law , were cast a > ide . A term of but modem invention was adopted , or rather filched from , a more jespectabls instuulion—that cf " guardians " . And *• guardians "—what were " guardians '' under this nei * set ? Mr . Sheridan had dtfined the effise of a similai
protestor , appointed , as he siid , to exert over the uc- ' , Itsppy Peruvians " such cnsrdiinship as the eagle : afforded the lamb , covering while it devoured its prey" ' ' —Shear , hear . ) Such , be had ever said , was the charac- i ter of this new poor law , and he tad since become j possessed of a doonnsBt which justified him in asserting ! that such wzs the actual ohject of those who brought ' it forward—( hear , hear . ) He wonld now read to the j House & possige from that report : — " That at any time ! after the passing of this act , the Boar J- of Control sha- 'l ' have power , by an ordsr , with such exception as stall be thought nece . «« ary , to disallow the conthmancs of ' lelief to tie iudigeat , the aged , and the impoibnt , in any other mode thac in a woikfeouse , rt ^ ulated in such manner as by the aforesaid Board of Control shall ! be determined . The power of the Commissioners Wonld be to lecnce allowances , i > nt not to enlarge
them . After this has been accomplish ^ 1 , orders may be sent forth directing that after such-a day I all out-door relief should be given partly in kind ;! after another period it should be wholly hi kind ; that after Euch another period it should be gradually diminished in quantity , nntil that mode of relief was extinguished —? hear , hesr . ) Frem the first the relief ; ahonld fee altered in quality—( hear , hear , )—coarse \ hrown bread being substitated for fine white ; and con- j enrrently with these measures as to the out-door poor , i a gradual reduction should be made in the diet of the ' in-door poor , and strict regulations enforced "—( hear , ; hear . ) These were the words of the « srlie 3 t report ! placed in the hands of the late ministers , and which ' the Bight Hon . Gentleman had termed " confidential , " - the authors being afraid , as he (> Ir . Walter ) verily ' believed them to be , of sending it forth to general cognizance with their naroea attached . That confidential
communication wasfoilowed by a report which was -aid ' before the House , in which there was ibis passage : * ' As one hairier to the increase of expenditure in the detailed management , the commissioners should be empowered to fix a maximum of the consumption r > er head within the workhouse , leaving to the local officers the liberty of reducing it below the maximum , if thty conld safely do so- —( hear , hear . ) "Do it safely !" *\? " *> &at be thonght horrible enough ; but yet not so ofiensiTely . glaring as the confidential communication itself . From that dark and mysterious source sprung thb first avowed report of the central board of poor-law commissi oners ; not of that existing body sometimes * caUed tte triumvirate , but of the eight commissioners ; ~^ b Bishops of London and Chester , Mr . Sturges ! ^ ourne , ^ r . Senio r , and four other persons of less rote ! « ractmty _ whc . were previously Kt to woA t » ccmcoet J ^ T /™^ P ^ V ° rQle ^ aaaSeiBMJt of the poor . In that tanMe ^ l ^> ort , ^ liis ^ ^^ ones ^ : dl he ; ^^^™™**™** of ™' tyMa | cl
^ : « a . a and tmconsautionzl reconimenda ^; from wMch ^ fzA , ae lutare commisaoiiers-ihe txiumviratT-took their cue . In these abominable suggestions diSo andTecomm ^ dafions , therefore , £ he e ^ bJSSS TOy foundaaon of the bill itself . 8 uckC ^ origm and its objaets-to i filet progress ? fS tS ^^ ^ * *» & * a 8 ° POfl our poorer fellow . ee * tar ^ , whirh really out-Heroded aU the discoveries that had been made respecting tha treatment of the S * ^ 2 > ^^ fat *^ PJ > I * £ « nd subsequent tefflam ^ an to the West Indies to a * floatoV ^ onhMtteirftiie alaT ^ ader ^ tbear . hear ) . ^ reltatreas -wvMd on the fabrication of Qus central tommission , uptm . Gie asserted fart that it comprised men of all partita , -who -were petfecUy anpr « 3 uaieea _ fhear , hear ; He could have wished that they had had some natural " prejudices ariiiiigfromImmane consid erations ; bnt he believed that there was sot a member cf that commia tion ¦ whose miad was not iside np ; before a single witsen was examined ,, to recommend or introduce some .
thing of a most severe and oppressive character . Mr . Bowea , of Bridgewater , had pronoBneed this 1 st ? a bill of indictment against all the poor of the country , -The eommimoaea « id , in ftsir &rt report , * ' tiie d « ry of
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support jng p-xents and children in old age a d infirmity j is bo s" jungly enforced by our natural feelings , that it is often well performed even among savages , and almost alwa / s in a nation deserving the name of civilized . We Delieve that England is the only European country in- / rhlcb it is neglected "— ( bear , hear ) . . . "If the dp icieccies of parental and filial affection are to be Et . ppEed by the parish , and the natural motiws to "the e ierciss of those virtues are thus to be witbdrawn , it ' i » y be pwper to endeavour to replace thea , howevc ? Jmperfv"et ! y , by artiScial stinralxnts , and to make fines , fiiscres ? -warrants , or imprisoEment act « s substitutes far gratitude or sove . " While the lower classes of peopk were thus libelled , did no recollection occur to those who libelled them of a great txampla once
afforded by beth Houses ¦ of Parliam&t , whottieught it nectssary fe ) stisiulate the notu » l affections here spoken of , nrt by pains EQd penalties , but by tiie large aHowance « f - £ 10 , 000 a-year for the trouble of visiting sn tfir . cted father once a week?—< hear . hear . ) Now , S « t the HcKise contrast thii-char « ter of the peopli- so blackly driwn by tte-coinniissioners with Other dtscriptrons of &e same people , and upon that sublet he bad particular pleasure fe quofeing a ^ passag ^; froat a letter of the E 3 rl of Kipon to one of oar colonial governors : — The name of pauper" { said xfcat ^ oble Lord ) " by no means implies , ss ? &ems to have been supposed , a man usable or-unTrilling to work—one whose iofirmity or whese idleness would disqualify him 'from btcoming an useful settler . On the contrary , ibe whole of the
married labourers in many of the parishes cf the South of ^ England may bs correctly described as paupers , inasmuch &s tfce want of employment has depressed wages to-a rate at which it is impossible for a man , however induatrious , to maintain a -family , without receiving parochial ivlief . ' * * It has been found that the idle and worthless paupers have frequently been rendered so by the hopelessness of their situation ; and when enabled to find constant emplovment , at fair wages , a greet change has almost invariably taken place in their conduct "—( hear , hear ) . ' Let the Hous-i contrast it , too , v » ith the picture drawn , not so long since by theMenrber for Shf Held from " his own experience of the English poor . That honourable Member had told tb ^ t Eonse , tn&t •* one-third < sf the - "Kortema men in tbat
town ena EeigDbourhood were out of employ . A gr * -at proportion of the remainder were employed only three days in the week , and in -censtqneECe the 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 , hear ) . Could the Honourable Member , if he had ransacked every storehouse of eloquence , have found wsrds better calculated to damage the JJew Poor Law in the estimation of every man of common humanity than ¦ the plain tentence which he ( .. vlr . Walter ) had just- read to them ? Men steeped in poverty and misery to thd very lips were jet eo impressed with the horrors of imprisonment in the workhouse , that rather than their starving brethren-should undergo them , they made
their little pittance less , by subscribing to keep them off the parish , But it - * ras not for tir . s purpose that he adduced this passage . He wished now to ask , had thes ^ men earned the character which the commissioners bad-attempted to afibtopon them ? Did they deserve to be ie « ifilated againBt in the manner tho prtsent bill legislated against tbenr ? And siill more , ought they to be subjected to that ever-increasing scale of cruelty prescribed and laid dowe by the private report of the eight commissioners—that private report from which tke present bill , with its triumvirate at Sonnr-Srt-hoase , originatf-d—lbear , hear , htar < J H . > w the principle of successive reports was carried out he bad pleaty of instances to lay before the Hruse . Take this , for txample , from Cirencester ; the 1 r *« member
fur that bun-cgb said , in hk placs in that Bouse , that " he « as chairman tf a board of guaTdiarj ? . Both in his owe district , and in others with which he was acquainted , the measure ? bad acquired an immense popularity . He thought the country was nnder the gTeattst obligation to thcea who bad brought it forward . "The bill worked wril in the district with which he wa : connected . He hoped there would be no vital alterstir-a of a measure which had worked to the entire satisfaction of the vast ntsj * rity of the people . As to diet , tho complaint was that - the inmates oi the workhouse liTtd too well" < Heac , hear . ) He tMr . Walter ) held inMs hand the dietary , of the Ciiencester , Union , prescribed by the Poor-Lav -Commissioners , in which there Kta not one ounce ofrfresh animal food from
year ' s ead to year ' s end—( hear , bear . )—but only five ounces of salt bacon for the HSunday of each weekihear , hear . )—and that dietasy , be it observed , the goardiaiKkSdnld net go beyond , though they w * re to be indnlzed with the odious power of jenncing ii , " if they conjd-safeiy do so . " < Hear ,-bear . ) He couldadd many taies-flf similar cruelty on the part of boards of guardians . Most persons know tbe difficulty of dealing « ith bodiee of men . A body corporate , ' in fact , iiad no euuL aLe individuals might -have their sepue&te feelis ^ s , bat the whole body had nose j-nch . ( Hesr , bear . ) A man might be personally humane and charitable , but , when acting with othtrs , this Christian feeling evaporated and vanished . -He would mentios one Cise , -s-hich occurred not very . Jong ago in hie
own immediate neighbourhood . H * was not a frequenter of boards of guardians , having no Brest respect for the institution itsef . { Hear , bt-ar , hear ; He jMr . Walttsr ) was , however , particularly requested to attend . a meeting , fcr the parpost of endeavouring to obtain tnt-door relief for aa unhappy and sfflJcted otject , wj ^ i a wife and five children , ttho bad been ordered into the workhouse , tut -after a night'sr trial of his abode there , went out ntxt . Fleming . He tilr . Walter ) had bees desired to urge tbvg . nan ' s title to ont-door reMtf before-the board . The alleged groucd of their refusal wu , that his wife had practiced some imposition upon a benevolent lady , ami therefore the tasband and whole -family were to be jmnisheii . With seme difficulty the husband was admitted to the
beard ' s presence , and be - } Mt . Walter ) tbt-n ascertained , by the acknowledgment of both the meJicaJ m&cbtb , thst he laboured under &n incural > le pulmonary complaint . He produced a good character from a highly respectable master . On questioning him , a doubt arose in his ( Mi . Walter ' s ) mind wiiether the msn ^ s wife bad really been guilty of the alleged impropriety , and , to afford time for inquiry , a week's * , nt-door allowance was accorded to him , and the hoMd was to meet in the week following . He iMr . Walter ) received a moat complete and satisfactory answer from the lady wbos the woman ^ as supposed to have defrauded , assuriDg him that no such circumstances had taken place ; and , fortified with this denial , he went to the next board meeting , in full confidence that the guardian of the
parish who had brought forward tho false charge would at least aid hia efforts to relieve this family from the dreadtd infliction of the workhonse . That gnardian was if possible , more callous than the rest The flrst order must be maintained , because theyliad made it Into the workheuse were the family again sent ; though ultimately , after some weeks' delay , out-door relief was afforded . It was in vain to nrge to these gnardhns that even if the poor man had been gnilty of the offence of having an indiscreet wife , he was not to blame , am ! ti » at if he went into the workhouse , there he would certainly die ; if they had no consideration for the p « or man himself , why should the inmates of the workhouse have their feelings harrowed up by the transportation of a dying man into the midst of them —( hear , hear )? But
all his r * -picaptations had been in vain ; the cry was . that having once given their order , it should not be rescinded . He lived onlj a few months afterwards , and died in his own habitation , the guardian himself being called to his account first—Ihear , hear . ) Was it to be borne that against such treatment as thut the poor man should have ao court of appeal , save only that of the triumvirate of Somerset House , in which the harshest principles of the whole system were represented and concentrated ] It were endless to repeat all the caseswell-authenticated cases , too—of unnatural severity inflicted by the operation of that law— shear , hear ) He did not know a single crime that had not been multiplied tkrongh that operation , or a single suffering which humanity was heir to that had not been
aggravated and multiplibd also through that law—( hear . \ Further than that assertion , which he could substantiate by the most irrefragable evidence , he would not at present trouble the HouEe , but pass to another practical difficulty , which , let them enact the law as unanimonsly as they pleased , they would never be able t « overcome . How long would they get guardians to perform such labsurioua dctits . and at a distance from their own homes of periiaps fifteen or twenty miles ? Indeed , at that moment , he knew a parish in which the parishioners were obliged to club a sum of money to pay the guardian they depute enly five miles distant . Tne tfiice was there held to be anything but honourable or respectable . Lords and country gentlemen might endeavomr to give
it eclat at its beginning , bnt that z al bad mccb cooled , as wtll it might , and taess ofaces were left to be performed by those who eynld ill brook to throw away thtir time for nothing . He had alluded , when thiB most unfortunate bill was passed , to the rnxnner in which they wonld be overwhelmed by reports , amendment acts , acts explanatory , witk evtry trash 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 scents—( hear , heat ) . They were erecting a Nelson monument of vast altitude . They might also erect a Poor Law iflonnment ^ of equal height , though of more corruptible materials ^ of the reports of those CdmmissioEers . They songht to destroy their enemies , not as Oliver Cromwell said , with paper bnllets , bat with
paper bulwarks and artificial monntaias . At the time that he first attacked that monstrous law , he estimated that the paper defences woald «» n reach ap to their table . At present they wonld overtop the chair . He had already got upon the English Poor Law upwards of 20 , 000 pages ; and it was is Tain to make an . estimate of the Irish , since the first appendix to a report itself weighed 9 | lba . Considering their bulk , no two porters could carry them , the English Poor Law papers ¦ weighing upwards of twelve stone , The expense of printing them would support the poor of many parishes for hB knew not how maay years . Bat there waa one high authority against him , to which ha should not have ventured to allnde , had it not been frtqaently cited against Mm , and tha& authority ha hoped' that he ihonld treat with proper respect When he heard the greatest hero of bis age Bay , I know something of Governors-General , and I know something of war and its dificult ' es also , " that man who should not bow U > such authority would be rash and ir . tfUereet to the utmost fcsteut of indigcitUanend rashness 5 bat he mast
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humbly cor . tead that his Grace had not had that expert " ence of tb . e internal affaire of thU country which Other men of ' aumbler general talents might and must haw had . ; and that great man waa not , therefore , such oveP ' powering authority upon these subjects as upon those on which his capacious mind had been ,. he might alyiost Bay , exclusively employed . But there was one fatality always attending the errors of great men , if such they were—that they carried an overwhelming weight with them , which the mistakes of others were not liable to . ¦ Would , indeed , that their opinions were always -enunciated with proportionate caution , and \ never , ss fcs cont ^^ ded iu the present caso , before the I subject could have been folly examined and considered . They vrere informed In the Divine records of their
relijcion , that " whou a great man speaketh every maa holdeth his tongue , and a look , what he sayeth , they extol it to tbe clouds ; but , if the poor man speak , they say , what fellow is this ? " Bat if he ( Mr . Walter ) had met v ? iih opposition en tbe one hand , bo bad likewise met with ¦ enctmrsg > -mcnt on tbe other , and that from the most honourable and excellent class of men—the eleruy of tbe established church—a class , also , the individuals ef which , he would venture to assert , were , ge : erally speaking , quite as competent to deliver their opinions -on the subject before the House as thB Immortal Du' -e was ; upon tbat of war ; for they lived with
tte poor , in the midst of them , much more even than he had been in tho midst of his soldiers ; they knew their wants , moral and phys cal , and frum that class of men he bad aUo received the most useful information , as nOl as the most strenuous and undaunted support , though means were insidiously taken at first to preveut their inteiferenco by inserting the names of two prelates in the original central commissien —( hear , hear ) . He vould 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 his sacred order in piety and intelligence , and who was well known to many Members of that Housa : —
" Knowing that you are about again to bring before the House of Commons the workhouse system as administered under the present Poor Law , 1 think it may Dot be without some use , if I state to yon tU 8 result of my own observation of that sy » tenii not in all nor mnny 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 shows me tbe error of my own anticipations , and reminds me of the fanltof once deveaaicg as right what 1 now regret as wrong and pernicious ,
¦* ' Leaving , however , such personal considerations , let me britfly state to you ths conviction to which Z have come on the subject , and the reasons which have brought me to it . My conviction is , tbat whatever may bs tbe maladies under which our social system is suffering in the labouring part of it , tbe preseat workhouse practice ta not their remedy ; it is rather under tho promise of present relief , an aggravation of the ( itsease . " 1 have seen the wo-, king of tlie system under , in ma . ny rcsptcU , favourable circumstances . I have mar&e- 'l its effects with all tht » clearness 1 could bj personal observation in union houses , especially in one with whicb I hiwe been neatly connected , and by persons ! inquiry amoug 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 , teudi&g to connect poverty with licentiouabess , and to gmerat > 8 pauperism and crime . 1 only state to you what I know to be li erally true , when I say that in nr : ion bouses supposed to be administered us well as tbe syt , U-m will permit , the work of demoralization bas been going on in every ward except those of sickness and old age . Among the poor unhappy children , among tbe adults ot -eitber sex , among tho ab ) o bodied , this propagation of evil has gone on . To particularise and classify its furtus would be a revolting task . It would com pit-head tho recit . il of some of the most disgusting practices of licentiousness and many nets of crime .
Persons well knovvn to ma buve avowed , that many as were the temptations to sin without those waHs , those within "were far more mischievous and dangerous . The danger arises from the constant infusion of fresh and vuribd incentives to vice , by those evil communications which , iu the world at large , are kept in check and weakened in power by many causes . The day of enterinK those walls takes , even from the man of fair character , much of tho honourable sense of shame which be Lad before ; and the bad man enters them to disdain , and rieicale , and hate ail moral influence—to teach mischief , to aiafce the tongue and ear and mind familiar with those sins in the practice of which be has attained to the greatest proSciency .
" It would rtqnlre some experience , or considerable imagination , to comprehend the extent of this mischief . It is a never-ce&sing agent of evil , leaving its infection 1 behind , when iu actual presence is gono . A ward comparatively clear of it to-day may to-morrow , with a fresu inceBtive , break out into every abomination that can pollute tbe tongue , or corrupt tbe heart . " Now , to omit , for the present , all otbtr objections to this system—to say nothing about its ttenchina hard upon tb * feelings of humanity , or the laws of God— 1 would only ssk two questions , in regard to it . Can the ieglslatuTe be justified in itJfccting on the poor a moral « v > l that , apart from such legislation , has no neooasary connection with poverty ? We know that in the cor . section of crime this is done through necessity i but
thct it is criiUH . not poverty , that is to be dealt with . Tbe prison will always be a . school of moral evil , as woU as a place of . punihhmentj but there the inmate has brought tbe evil upi > n bimi-ijf—bo bas forfeited tbe protertien of the laws of the country , and this is a part of the recompence of evil which he has reaped , fint what has a poor faini ' y < ione—poor only because they are numerous , acd their wu ^ t-s iosarficieot ?—what bave they dene that ofter having striven in vain to support tbfrm&elves , and th . n ccnie to claim the protection which the criminal ha * forfeited , they should be , in one respect , treated in the same in * nner with him?—that th « y should be placed wh ^ re , whatever aural sense they have must be blunted and destroyed , and where their children will hear the lesBons , if not witness tbe pract : ce of profligacy ?
* ' Another question I would ask . la this tbe vray to extirpate pauperism from tbe country ? If it be , we inu « t unlearn every maxim which connects prosperity , either oa a large or narrow scale , with moral character . " But it is not Whatever were the calculations or intentions of the trainers of this measure in other respects , they appear to me to have overlooked its moral effects altogether . Certain it is , that its practical effect is to undermine the moral character and wellbeing of the poor . Its action is all downwards . It has no tendency to raise the moral condition of the labouring classes ; it has a direct tendency to degrado and deprave it ; and , if this be true , it stands ninrked with tbe worst stigma that can be placed upou any lawthat of demoralising those upon whom it acts . " I am , dear Sir , With sincere respect , " A Codmrt Clergyman . " To John Walter , Esq . M . P . "
Bat there was another argument with wLicb be was p ifcd , in favour of this most painful important measure . He was told tbht gentlemen were pledged to it . Upon that point he could give a decided negative ; no gentleman , be effl nibd , wns pledged to it GenUermm might , unhappily , at the first origin of this system of mischief , not seeing what its coESfctjUsnces might be . have been pledged to the introduction of it ; but did any man , at the time of its introduction , daringly pledge himself to carry it through , howe-rer it might affect the people—however odious it might provehowever , in fact , it might subvert the whole order of society ? All tbat , be said , had been and was being produced . Was any man pledged then , or could he now plead that he was pledged , to persevere in the
infliction of such evils on the country ? To whom was he—to whom could he be so bound ? To his countryto tbe poor—to hid conscience ? Or to his party—his friends—bis political leaders ? Nay , more unworthy still , did be mean that , havisg given his vote once for this monstrous evil , be was bound in consistency—bound id care for his o-wn reputation , to persevere in the fatal course be had begun ? Whatever wa 3 the case ke bade that man pause . He bade him retrace bis steps . Let him nut speak of pledges given , or supposed to have been given , when he was totally unaMc to look itto futurity . If any man h ^ d unhappily so involved himself , he ( Mr . Walter ) owned b ^ s difficulty , but did not doubt as to what was his duty . Facts—the facts of tbe last nine years—had cancelled his obligation . His vote was not
his own but his country ' s ; ai . d his only honourable retreat was in owning his mi-stake , and amending it . Ho conjured , therefore , the Cousurvatives of the House to step forward to the cockervition of England . Great apprehensions bad been exiT ^ sed in that House and elsewhere of a certain league , to the practices of whose leaders he was as much oppottd ns any man . But let gentlemen ask themselves how this league , now so menacing , first sprang up . He would tell them : it was suggested by a preceding lt-icuo against the poor of this coustry , whose diet was to be reouced in quantity and corrnp ' ed in quality . What a burst of indignation would have been excited in that House , as wull as througbont the country , if any resolution against the negro population , of a character similar to this , against
our ffcilow-surjects here at lit me , should have been produced—that those blacks were first to have their daiiy food debased , and afior th . it diminished —( bear , bear ) . ' Gentlemen had been benevolent enough abroad ' ; let them look around them at hoaie . If , as they had been told , they bad elevated tbe condition of the negro slave to such a state of prosperity that he could now drive his gig and drink his Champagne , surely be was not asking too much when he called upon them to elevate the condition of tbe free white labourer and artisan of England , whom this law crushed to tbe earth—at least te afford him such subsistence as would preserve him from sinking
under a gradual prostration of Btrength . If they could not give him his cottage and piece of land which the negroes had obtained , at leatt let them not insist on his selling everything that his hovel possesses in order to qualify him for being a tenant in their vast gaols ttw union workhouses . If they could not give him Champagne , they could give him the cheap , the wholesome , tbe nutritious , the national beverage of our land —bec-r . It was not , perhaps , too Iat 8 yet to retrace their steps . He ft-lt strongly convinced also , that not only that , but all the other great subjects of contention , which kept tbe country in a ferment , might be composed and beneficially arranged , if gentlemen would in good earnest turn their thoughts to those subjects ,
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rather than employ their whole time in struggles for political ascendancy . If it were said tbat such an object ! was desirable , but tbat it was Impossible to attain it , he would at onee reply that he acknowledged no such impossibility with respect 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—bat that , unfortunately , they are not practicable . Oh bo , sir , no . These things which are not practicable are not desirable . There is nothing in the world really beneficial tbat does not lie within the reach of an informed understanding and a welldirected pursuit There is nothing that Gad has judged good for us that he has not given as 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 : —
" 1 . That in a document entitled , ' Meaeures submitted by the Poor-Law Commissioners to his Majesty ' s ' Ministers , ' appear the 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 Bball 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 tbat after such a day all out-door relief should be given portly in kind ; after another period it should be ¦ wholly in kind ; tbat 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 measures as to the out-door poor , a gradual reduction should be nude in the diet of the in-door poor , and strict refutations enforced . ' " 2 . That these recommendations , applicable alike to every class of the poor , and enjoining an indiscriminate reduction of their physical comforts to the lowest endurable point , are shown by the subsequent orders and practice of the Poor Law Commissioners , to form the real though unavowed basis of the present system of Poor Law relief .
" 3 i That the suffering already caused by their partial enforcement , and tbe 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 posr , to chock 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 tbe existing system as shall make it conformable to Christianity , sound policy , and tbe ancient constitution , of the realm . " Mr . Ferrand seconded the motion . The question having been put from thn Chair ,
Mr . Walter again rose ., Hon . Aiembers had asked him where begot certain information from to vshtch he had alluded . He had received it from a person who requested thtfc hia name might not bo personally given . Sir J . Graham was in hopes , when the Hon . Member rose for tho second timo that he was about to supply a most important omission . In his speech he had made an omission that waa somewhat startling ; he bad read extracts from , a document which he had declared to bo confidential , and when he roso a second time he ( Sir James Graham ) was in hopeB he was going to show how he became possessed of it , but nothing was less satisfactory than his explanation . Upon a former occasion the Hon . Gentleman had asked him if he recollected
these documents , and upon that occasion be said ho did not , but since then he had some indistinct recollection that some such document existed , and he thought he could tuform the House how that waa the case . Iu 1832 * Lord Grey ' s Government appointed a Commission to inquire into the condition of ( he labouring poor , with a view to amend Che law , and the Hon . Member had mentioned to tho House the names of some of the most eminent individuals forming that commission—rtho Bishops of London and Chester ^ Mr . Slwges Bourne and others , whose names w ;^»; a sufficient guarantee to the House of the beneficent character of lhe Comumsion- ~( hear , hear . ) The Hon . Member had said that a particular document was of a cor fidential nature—that it emanated from the Commission , and was submitted to Lord Gray ' s Cabinet .
Mr . Walter observed that he had not said so , but tbe Right Hon . Bart . had . Sir J . Graham believed it was in the recollection of the House when ho asserted that the Hon . Member had said he was in possession of a confidential communication —( hear , hear ) . Now he ( Sir James Graham ) could tell the House tho precise circumstances und »> r vrhioh that document came into the Hon . Member's possession—( hear , hear ) . He had unders'ood the 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 head- ; or referenda were prepared from the report . Tho Hon . Gentleman sail ) that this document was never signed ; it waa truo , it was not denied by the Coinmibtfioners . Ha believed that those heads were prepared by the professional gentlemen 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 twonty copies were printed . Tbe 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 . ( " No , " from Capt . Pieohell ) . 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 aide of tha * . House , he was willing to rest the measure upon their practical 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 the hungry , aud clot-hin ;; the naked ; " its tendency was to elevate the character of the labouring population ; the proportion of those relieved out of doors , as compared with th ^ so relieved within the workhosse , was as six to one ; the law was , therefore , not opposed to Christianity or sound 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 waa such a document , notwithstanding the faint recollection of Sir James Graham when the subject was first mentioned . Mr . DouTHwicii declared his opposition to the Poor Law , and supported the reauluiions . Mr . Agliokdy had supported the Now Poor Law when it was passed , and believed that its operations bad boen generally beneficial : but so mo of its provisions wore harsh , and had been hardhiy worked out , and therefore he would support tho resolutions , as a means of declaring his opinion that the law should be amended and improved . Af ' . er a few explanatory observations from Mr . Cripp 8 ,
loltiiiGl Sibthorpe declared his opinion that the old system of Poor Law had been excellent , that it had only been mismanaged in a few instances , and that it would be better to return to it . My . Stuart Wortlev had never pledged himself to h'S constituents to vote for the repeal of the Poor Law . He was opposed to ma ay of its provisions , and wished it to bo improved , but ho could not support the resolutions . Geneial Johnson ' s great objection to the Poor Law waa , that it put the peoplo out of the pale of the constitution , and placed them under threa individuals at Somerset House .
Sir Robert Pekl denied that 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 by tha 43 rd of Elizabeth over tb . 8 ohildrcn of such parents as were unable to maintain them . The workhouse test , in lieu of the labour test , was enacted iby the 9 t . h 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 iuconvenienoeif such 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 p 3 id for the relief of the poor , as showing that tb-sre was more expended on them than oa the poor of any other country , and after expressing his surprise at the course which Mr . Aglionby had avowed he would . sdopt , commented somewhat humorously on the arguments which had been used by Mr . Walter . He concluded by warning the House against tampering with the Poor Law .
Lord John Manners would support the resolutions , as expressive of his wish to have the support of the poor placed on Christian and constitutional principles . Mr . Mu . Niz attributed the aversion of the people to toe poor law , as one cause of the late insurrections . : . Sir Walter James objected to the motion of Mr . Walter . Bat tlie question of the Poor Law would never be settled without a well-regulated system of out-door relief .
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Mr . Ferrand said , that on rising to address the Souse upon a question on which be had long taken a jeep intent , he begged in the first place to offer his sincere thanks to the Hon . Member for Nottingham for having brought to light what he ( Mr Ferrafid ) considered to be the foulest conspiracy ever entered into In the dark against ! the rights , liberties , and privileges of the poor . It waa now twelve years ago since be ( Mr . Fetiand ) had first taken part in public affairs , and on this question he had often received advice from the public speeches of the Hon . Member , which had cheered him on in the course he had pursued in opposing , by every constitutional ! means in his power , this law , and little did he then tntnk that he should have the honour and the privilege Sof "sitting beside his Hon . Friend when he gave , as he had that night given , the death blow to the New V . oot Law . He ( Mr . Ferrand ) deeply regretted the speech which tho Right Hon . Baronet at the head of the Government had made that evening .
He did not think ] that the Right Hon . Baronet had acted fairly to the Hon . and Learned Member for Gookermouth . Th 4 Right Hon . Baronet saw a rising spirit of independence flowing into the Hoa . and Learned Member's ] breast—he saw that the Hon . and Beamed Member waB actuated by no party spirit ,. and tbe Right Hon . Baronet -was afraid lest tbe indepen dence the Hon . andJLearned Member had shown should become contagious I on both aides of the House , and that if tbe feelings which actuated the Hon . and Learned Member [ to stand up in the independent manner he had done should be acted upon on both sides , the Government would be in a minority on the present occasion , — - ( hear , hear . ) But what had been the remarks of tbe Right Hon . Bsronet the Secretary for the Home Department towards the Hon . Member for Nottingham ? The Right Hon . Baronet said this was a private document , only intended for tke eyes of the late Gr <> vernKn& , of which he had been a member . He ( Mr . Ftrrand' wished the Rieht Hon . Baronet had remained
on that side of the House ; if so , Conservative principle * would have j stood much higher in the eyes of the people than they did at present—( hear , hear , and a laugh ) . The Right Hon . Baronet bad taunted his his Hod . Friend the Member tor Nottingham with a breach of confidence . He iMt Fenand ) contended that his Hon . Friend hah 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 npon it , and said to himself ; " New I will bring before the ejes of the people of England this monstrous system of oppression . " And hoW had the Right Hon . Baronet himself acted the other night , when he ( Mr . Ferrand ) moved
for a return of two letters which emanated from certain manufacturers jwhen the New Poor Law was under consideration , and ion which they entered into aa express and declared ! agreement with Mr . Chad wick , the secretary to the Poor Law Commissioners , that if they only framed the New Poor Law in such a manner as to throw a largo potion of the -working classes of the sooth into the north—tbat if they were able " to absorb" the surplus population of tbe south into the manufacturing districts of the North of England , it would enable them , the manufacturers , to reduce the price of labour in the north of KnglanJ , and to put a stop to the outbreaks for raising wages ? Mr . WALLACE-rWho said that ?
Mr . Ferhand . —jTbe letters of Mr . Ashworth and Mr . Grej ;; they were in the first report of the Poor Lavr Commissioners . Tne words he had often quoted before , and no one man bad ever denied the truth of the quotation . Now , at jthat very time a committee of the House was sitting to inquire into lhe thin condition of the hand-loom weavers , and it WdS proved before that committee that thejband- ' -oom weavers were then struggling for existence upon ten farthings a-day . But what had the Ri ^ ht Honi Baronet saVd with respect to these two letters ? Whyt he said they were private communications—that the ! first letter of Mr . Asbworthwas on the file of the P- > ir Law Commissioners , but that the letter of M r . Greg could not be found . They were . be added , private communications , which were never
Intended to see dajlight , but thnt he had no objection to produce Mr . A * hwortb ' s letter and lay it on the table of the House . Now , what was the difference between the conduct of the R'ght 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 , and in thnt of his Hon . Friend the member for Nottingham , who , finding a paper ¦ which had been submitted to the Government , brought it before tbe Houso . ? This ^ was siid by the Rig ht Hon . Baronet to be a breach of confidence—he ( Mr . Ferrand ) main , tainert time was nb breach of confidence except on the part of the Right Hon . Baronet himself . The Right Hon . Baronet hah expnssly statod , that the letter written by Mr . Ashworth to the Secretary of the
Poor Law Commissioners was a private communication , and now . be (> Tr . Ferrand ) begged to ask the Right Honourable Baronet the First Lord of , the Treasury ( who bad always shown an earnest anxiety to prevent the slightest attempt to conceal public documents ) ft * there waa any necessity to keep back Mr . ( Jreg ' B latter ? It was said not to be on the file . Why was itj not en the file ? Let the Government say at once tbat it would be inconvenient to produce it because there were expressions iu that letter which ous ? ht not to ! appear before the public . Such he ( Mr . Ferrand ) understood from the Hon . Member for Oldh .-iin to be the c . i . » e , but at all events it was the duty of the G > vernment ; to make a strict and searching inquiry ns to the reasons and means used to prevent the
production of tbat letter . H now came to the question of the working of the New Poor Law in the North of England And what had b ~ en its effects there ? It happened that amongst the inters cont lined in tbe first report of the Poori L * w Commissioners there was orie from Mr . Ash worth in which he told Mr . Chadwick that it would he desirable that 20 , 000 labourers should be sent from the south down to St-ilybri < ii ? e . Now , the inspector of factories for tb ^ t district had . within the last few days , forwarded his report to Her Majesty ' s Secretary of State for the Homo Department and in it what did they find there proved to be the state at present of Stalybridge—the district into which Mr . Chad wick , with the consent and at the request of those cottonspinners , and through the agency of Dr . Kiy—who , for in of
the part he had tak ^ n securing the election Mr . P . Thompson at Manchester , had been made a Poor Law Commissioner , and Who , in a pamphlet , had described tha working population of Manchester and its neighbourhood to be , at tbat moment , in a state of starvation —bad induced tens j ef thousands of the population Of ths south to go into the manufacturing districts of the north ? He ( Mr . Firrand ) wished tlie minner 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 tts neighbourhood , he found the following statement made by Mr . Hnrnor , thefaotory inspector , in his last report : — " The population of the three adjoining tow :: s of Ashton ,
Duken-Seld , and Stale ? bridge included , with an area of a mile and a half radius from the most central pa t of the district , is considered to be not less than 55 , 000 ; and the proportion of the working population , that is , those below the rank of shopkeepers , has been estimated at eiahty per ( cent in Ashton , ninety in Staleybridge , and ninety-four in Dukf-n 9 ekl . This ( lease population bos been brought together chitfly by the extension of the manufacture within a very short period . The population of the borough of Ashton and township of DukenSeld together was , in 1821 , 14 , 318 ; in 1831 , 29 . 352 ; and in 1841 , 45 , 074 . I am un . ible to give the exact numbers for the whole district because Staleybridge is partly in Lancashire and partly in Cheshire , but tbe increase there has probably been in a
similar ratio . " Now . he aeked tho House to listen to what followed : — " How little the moral and religious improvement of the ' large numb ' er of the humbler classes has been hitherto an object of solicitude , the following f : tots will show : —In tbe borough of Ashion , with a population jof 25 . , there is no national school , no school of the British and Foreign School Society , nor any other public day-school for the children of the workicgfclasses . The same is the case a-t Staleybrit ' . ge and Dukenfield , with tbe slight exception I shall now state . I mentioned in the report above referred to that a national school had recently been built at Staleybridsfei but , I regret to say , it is not yet in operation . " No if this Dr . Kay , who , by the by , held also the situation of secretary to the Education
Board , was the agent employed by Mr . Chad wick 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 the ; slightest education . Now , was not this Bometh ' ng serious and alarming—namely , that for the purpose cf carrying put the New Poor Law it was necessary to absorb tha population of the sduth into the north % Where did hsn . members think tbe first outbreaks took place ? Why at StaleybrWss . where there was a population whose minds , from their sufferings , were easily excited by raen of deeper designs , but who had not the jcouroge to show their faces , and who left their victims to appear at the bar of justice , and puss thence to [ transportation , ¦ while they slunk away into the dark , j He maintiined that the origin of
the outbreak was the iniquitous , atrocious , bloodthirsty Poor Law . But forj 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 the masses of the south , —and they would have had some chance of earning a subsistence by a fair price for their labour ! if they had not been robbed of it under the operation of the New Poor Law . He found tho other evening that the bon . member for Manchester thought proper t 6 deny some statements ho ( Mr . Ferrand ) had made with respect to the treatment of children employed in a mill belonging to a cotton-spinner in Lancashire . ; The hou member said he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had told the House that that there were certain Poor Law unions where the overseers handed
over the 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 be knew he could place reliance—he had learned it from , persons of unquestionable veracity ; and , although the matter had been denied by tbe Hon . Member for Manchester , he ( Mr . Farrand ) know very well that the hour was not far distant vj-hen he would receive an authority backed either by persons who had beheld those scenes of cruelty , or who weTe prepared to prove evsry word which he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had uttered . No sooner had the speech of the Hen . Member for Maushescer reached that town than the representatives of the working classes , who advocated tue Ten Hours Factory Bill , met and passed resolutions , which as they related
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to himself be would not now read . But be bad received a letter bom one of-the body > Mr . Doherty , which corroborated all he had said . He trusted the House would allow him to read that letter . Year after year these poor girls were kept In a state of slavery but at last human nature could / bear It no longer , they burst -from the chains of the manufacturer , and ran away to their parents . And what was . ' their punish * ment ? He ( Mr . Doher ^ rsaw the roo m fa which these girls were confined : the light was completely excluded ; they were not allowed either fire , light , bt bed , and their usual allowance of food was considerably diminished . Their hair waa cut , off , and their confinement lasted for several days , paring the confinement of Esther Price , several of her fellow *
apprentices mitigated therigour of her pnnisnment , by putting in through the crevices of tbe 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 sha heard this , she was driven almost frantic with fright On the following day , when refreshments were brought her , she rushed oat of the room , and told the person having ' her in charge tbat she would not , under any circumstances , pass another 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 as
much aa my place is worth . " These children were placed la that man's power under the operation of the New Poor Law . It was from the union workhouses tbat this man was supplied with these apprentices , and he would ask the Right Hon . Baronet whether , in a civilized country , tbe people of England would long allow these things to exist , and whether tbe working classes owed allegiance to the Government , if , on those circumstances being brought to Us knowledge , it did not immediately take steps to put a stop to such proceedings ? There was another instance of ill-treatment of the poor which he had alluded to the other evening when he had moved for certain returns relative to the operation of the New Poor Law . Ha had stated that in tbe ftttmfcb of May , 1842 , there were
a number of people sent from the Skipton Union workbouse to a man named ThrelfftH , amiltowner at Halifax : He had asked tbe Right Hon . Baronet the Secretary of State for the Home department if there wss any commum ' cation extant between the Poor Law Commissioners and thai millowner » The Right Hon . Baronet had replied that there was no statement or correspondence whatever in the office of the Poor Law Commissioners on this subject , After that , he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had asked him if he would cause an inquiry to be made in the office of Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there was any such communication , as to him , in his high oflaca , the poor must look for protesUon if their rights and privileges were invaded . That Right Hon Baronet had informed him that there
W 3 S not any such communication . With tbe permis . sion of tho House he would read a statement connected with the transportation of these people from tba Skipton Union worfch .-use to this mill : — " Sir , —I thank you for the attention you have paid to the Bubject of my letter , and for your communication . It was Skip , ton Union workhouse from which the hands were brought to ThrolfalPs mOL Tha precise number cannot now bt > ascertained , but , as far as I can learn , there would be about twenty ; four of those were so lame that they could not walk between Sklptou and Artdingham , a distance only of six mites , bo they were brought in Threlfall'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 Elizibetb Townend , was so lame , that she was unfit for any employment , much less to stand twelve hours a-tiay in a factory . After her day ' s work she tvss scarcely able to walk to her lodgings . Thus are tie poor creatures conveyod 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 ; but , 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 the world acquainted with those fasts which have been proved before you in a court of justice . Alice Morrill it so far convalescent as to be able partially to
resume her employment . " Now , here he would ask what chance there wa 3 for protection forjthese poor people ? The father of Alice Morrill declined to maka any statement , as he was an overlooker in Mr . Threlfall ' s mill . There was another instance of the cruelties practised under this New Poor Law , and ifc discovered the secret motives that had influenced the first proposers of this law—of the Ash worths and the Gregs , 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 tbe wages of the labourers , of their own workpeople . The workpeople of Mr . Threlfall were so badly paid , and so ill-usad and over-worked ,, that they had struck for wages ; and for the purpose of
enabling him to carry on his mill , he applied to the Skipton workhouse , whence were forwarded to him twenty hands ; and these poor people were obliged to work for the wages he chose to give him . Tna Hon . Members for Bolton and Manchester had warned thehouse against his statements unless authenticated . They had insinuated , as usual , that it wou'd be desirable that the House and the country should not listen to what he ( Mr . Ferrand > said , unless it were fully proved before the House . He ( Mr . Ferrand ) little thonght that on the following morning the report of the Fa * tory Inspectors would be placed in his hands . Since then Hon . Members of that House had gone to him , and said , — " Why you understated the conduct cf the manufacturers in the North of Eapland . When the Secretary
of State for the Home Department chided you for having used tike expression ' monsters in human shape , ' you did not to the extent you were justified express your abhorrerjee of their conduct . " Ho would ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department , whether he felt it his *' uty to inquire whether the guardians of the Skipton Union had placed in the power of this manufacturer twenty hands for his mill , three or four of whom were cripples unable to walk , and one of them an idiot ? He * was about to read an extract front the report of the inspectors of factories for the halfyear emling the Sl ' st of Dumber , 1842 . It was rather long , but he trusted the House would bear with it—( hear , hear ) ; and he would ask the House to rescue the masses ' of the people from the
oppression and plunder inflic > d upon them , for their burden was too heavy to be borne . This was t&e report of Mr . Saunders , and wa 8 dated the 25 : h of January , 1843 —the last report , « I was about to prepare my report for the last quarter . ta the early part ot tha month , when I received noti ce of one of the most gross and oppressive violations of the law ,, during-the week emling the 25 th ultimo , that hh « occurred to my kn . o . w > ledge since the Factory Act was passed . This induced me to delay my report , in order t » wait * 9 resul . * careful investigation of the circu . 'nstances relating , tothat offance . and the adjudication of any complaints which might be preferred against t be ofLnders . ine investigation was very efficiently i '• onducterf by Mr .
Baker , the superintendent" Ho wou W here beg leave to bear his testimony to the conduct of Mr - ™ f ?> " * he i Mr . Feirand ) never saw a man t wdM ^ hunssfJ with more justice to the parties concek < ned * "f * regret to say the wilful and deliberate oi 'erworkmg or various young persons , both boys and girls , & * - cnieny the latter , between the ages of fourteen » r ei 8 JJ * fel : was clearly established . This occurred at nuU at Addingham , in Yorkshire , which has oniy b « ien occupied a few months , in cotton spinni g . by th * ~? , Messrs . Ssed and Co ., of which a Mr . William ' ^* f' * is the managing partner . The mili was at woi . Ir 0 ™ . six o ' clock on Thursday morning , the 22 nd ult ., && >
twelve o ' clock the sime night , which ( allowing « " » hour 3 for meal time ) was an employment for six ' ea * hours of the several persons detained between th ^ periods , some of them being under eighteen years > * age . This waa , however , comparatively a slight offence to what followed . The mill commenced workitig again the next morning , Friday , the 23 rd , and the machinery continued running from that ttae , with only short intervals for meals , during the whole of Friday night , tbe whole of Saturday , aud until three ociock on Sunday morning ( Christmas Day ) , a period of forty-five hours . Now , thes , 9 twenty paupers w « re placed in . the power of this " nionstar in human shape , "' and ba asked the Right Hon . Birouet Would he mako an inquiry into this statement ? He ( Sir J . Graham ) must , or place himself in the position to be called on to resign DiB office . " There c * n be no doubt but that some of the
hands under eighteen years of age were present dating the whole of this excessively long period ; but . this poiut was not proved in tho cases selected for the prosecution , because it was necessary , in order to obtain more than one penalty , to lay distinct informations for the wrong employment of different young persona for e ich separate day . It was , however , proved , that gala of fourteen had been kept to work from seven o ' clock on Friday evening , the 23 d , during all the nig ht , tbe next day , and through Saturday night , until three &m . on Sunday , the 25 th , —a period of thirty-two hours ; the same persons having been worked on the previous day ( Thursday ) till twelve at night , and . a ? ain for part of the Friday afternoon . Such conduct towards young and tender , females , who cannot bo deemed free agents , merited , in my opinion , the heaviest penalties which the law imposed for such offences ; and I felt myseli justified in sanctioning Mr . Baker ' s arrangement of nw
complaints in such a manner as to affjrd the magistrates an opportunity of awarding » punishment in some degree commensurate with the offence . Tne offenders were convicted on seven different informations , six of which the magistrates deemed so serious aa to demand severally the full penalty of £ 20 ; and the other offance was punished by a pajKient of £ 5 . " Now , he wonld rail the attention of tbe Right Hon . Baronet , the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what was now doing by this millowner . Ho was trying to avoid these penalties ; he was getUng up ft petition to the Right Hon . Baronet to be relieved from them , and that petition bwd been already signed by one magistrate who was a part-owner of that mill .. : He 15 h' » Farrand , knew that Mr . Threlfall would apply «^ am to the Right Hon . Baronet He ( Sir . FenaoakKnew , that so far as money could make this monster pa }'«» his atrocities , he must pay the whole amount or tne ( Continued in mr Seventh page . )
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Untitled Article
£ THE NORTHS RN 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) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct984/page/6/
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