The National Register. — London, England, 1819-02-15 00:00:00

.r; a.. a CL:IIWEN'S SPEECH ON THE DOOR LAWS. 'Mr. Cr HWEN said, the Hon. Gentleman -who had *tee sat dimes was entitlota net only to the individual thanks of every lslember et; that Hottee..hat to the ap probation of the keoutitry at large, for the ability and perseverenee nntli which he applied himself to this suit e-feet. It was, therefore, with some pain that be rose to creme The motion fir a Committee. For, thmigh he thought that, in the first instenee, the appointment of a Committee was tile hest coiner -that teeuld = c resorted to, in order to briug, ffic:ent evidence Mitre the House, yet, es there now appeared to be a compleat detail on this most i=tcy.-tat-1. and alarming subject. he con etsi ved -finer' ought at once to meet the question fairly. Nettling could he done in tlicCommittee to remedy the wails complain d of; they credit linty be removed by a •eveat.zed comprehensive view of the subject, taken by ;hose whose situation in the state gave them an oppor tunity of investigeting the question, with a reference to all the various relations of the country, and who were able to take upon themselves the responsibility of such measures as appeared to them calculated to effect this object. Out of the vest inherent 11.nciplesurf the Poor's Laws erote auto of the evil of which the exemtey cern plinned—fin certainly, when it hey took out of the hands oftindisruleals fee trouble of providing fir themselves, they rendered them mere careless of their own personal evelfare- This was evident front the commencement of eherystem, when meirris were taken to check the growth .ef-patiperiem—in the first instance, by the operation of shame, and ultimately by the assistance o4' terror. Poor /teases were erected, and individuult, tele) were torn from their homes, were immured in those places. From the great tramber of paupers, this measure was found raeffielest,.anti the evil continued to increase. This de tente...Wring system, cost the country 2,000,00 n/. per aorartm 25 years ego—but since that period, the ex pense was more Chan quadrupled. The evil was of such a stature, that temporizing measures could do no good. To cointeracted, its true sources must be explored. To tit eeegreat causes tie attributed the present situation of the country, with referecee to the Peor's Laws. First, execs/live taxation-2d, the deen-eciation of money—and .31y, the great rise in the price of the necessaries of life. Those were the causes of the exirting distms—and those who imaginedthey would conic oat of the Com mittee with a revaedy for any but the minor abuses, at t.:lea theroselvee, he was afraid, to a hope, that, in the.ead, would not be realized. Tile lion. Gentleman himself admitted that his hopes weie very feeble. For kis own part, he cherished no hope whatever front the adoption &any measure, except the removal of the causes by which the present state of things was sera /ions:4. That could only be done by those who had it 4 their paxior to take 'effectual means for putting Sri CALICO the system to which the actual evil could be traced. la Ste course of 25 yeart, the increase of wages Lad been one.fourth ; and, in the same time, the rise ierthe. price of provision.; wasone-third. Salt. leather, slap, and coals, were articles of primary importance to workirg matt. Now upon a fair calculation, it would appear that, to emotive these, onr.ninifi of the whole of his income was swallowed up. If this country were to 'be preserved in that proud situation, which, from the nature of her free Constitution, she ought always to Le `placed in, it teuld only be done by meliorating the situation of the working classes of the people.—( Hear. ) He could not join in praising the Noble Lord for the statement he had made, on a former et-miser, relative, to the situation of eietii try. It was, he believed, in a deli erate state, and could only be relieved by guarding against every attempt at an undue or unnecessary ex penditure of the public moucv, from the Crown 'down to the bunt lest officer in time state.—( !fear, hear ). Ltsnking throughout the country, he believed it would be found that the money paid fur the maintenance of the poor had increased and not diminished in the last year. That branch of taxation, exacted by the l'oor's Laws, though nominally paid by the teeeple at large, tame in reality from the Latidholders. Whatever was pail by the farmer was only nominally peid If a far rier laid Ma a veer rent mid 2.i1. for Piedsllutes, the intrinsic value of his farm may lie e.onsidereil to be 1251. se that though nominally the Pot'sliates were paid by the Tenant, they were aettrirly paid by the Land would it o u t then be better 14 al vaults at once to meet and take this harden on themselves and exoner ate the week ing tiger; from the degradation of partici pating in it ? However str -norms in my opposition to omtitluaniv el the Property Tee, which I eonsidered as etrabine the Government to continue a scale of ex penditure calculated to exhaust the resources of the country—yet for the purpose of removing home dig. tractive of the happiness and comfort of the great mass of the people, I should not hesitate in supporting a FeepertyTax, so ely arid exclusively confined to the re moval o f burdens which paralise the industry and des troy the indepsedence of the laboring community.—Our n,ational pre-etnii ence depends me our preserving the iudependent— of our natietial character—That once slestroyed and we shall wirdy descend into the scale of other nations. Ha did tort wis to take the burden wholly from the shoulders of th- Larelhohler—•he was nay desirous that it should be fairly and equally harm. 'UE NATIONAL lIEGlizTrIl If this system went on, it would be . impossible to pre- I vent the whole kingdom from being pauperized. If there were to be compulsory charity, he mold see no reason is by the great bulk of the mouied interest, and the whole of. the trading •community, should not hear' is portion of the weight. It would be nothing more than just to tale a part of the burden front the Landholder, and let it be supported by the country at large. The taxes on the monied interest were about 4s. in the pound, while the demand on the Landed Proprietor for Poor's Ilate,was, oil the average Ss. He would however take it at Ss. which, with 4s. fur ordinary taxes, made s. 'there were besides other charges amounting to 45. more. So that the Loaded Proprietor received but 9s. out of his pond. while the individual, whose property was funded, got ids. In the same way. if they took 12c. as the wages of the labourer, they would find that lama& rept, and fuel, took up the whole, except about ria. per week, which was all he had to furnish himself with clothes, and various necessary articles. The consequence was, that potatoes formed a great part hi s subsistence. Ile considued, in onapoint of view, the growth of potatoes as a great blessing to any coun try in case of famine.—but he looked upem it as a de cided evil, when the potatue formed the principal article of a nation's food. 1 t tended to the increase of popula tion (as was seen in a neighbouring country) in a de gree that could not be supported by any capital, how. evergreat.To the disgrace of the agricultural part of the community, the agricultural labourer is not fairly dealt by, except in the northern parts of this kingdom. The (Tacky of the system adopted towards them is equal to its folly. The mite of wages is regulated with reference to the young unmarried man; he was made the stand. and than which nothing could be more unfair—the rate of wag.es is calculated on the most parsimonious scale as to the eons which will weekly support a single man— while tat the married man au allowance of 2s. to the wife and Is. 61. to each of the children is made from the Parish Purse ; thus given a bounty on impro vident marriages, and preventing the possibility of a single num making any provision thr the married state. Although be deprecated the abuse which had grown nut of parliamentary tlueussions, he agreed in the principal laid down on a thriller occasion by the Noble Lord, that it was better a man should be opening a trench, if it were immediately after to be filled up again sooner than that lie should be supported in idleness. But tLis principle had been pushed to an unwise extent ie the country, and its operation had keen productive of injurious yen sequences. The fanner aware of the im pressiea made by this sentiment, turas off a large por e tion of the workmen he usually employed for the ex. press purpose of receiving them hack with a bounty front the parish. Thus have the middling classes become burdened with a new tax to exonerate the farmer from a large portion of wages he ought to have paid. Justice ayes not done to the great body of agri cultural labourers, unless they were efficiently protected. The manufacturing classes also deserved protection, though the House had not always dealt Ineiently with them. If, when laws were made to punish combitta tion amongst the men, their provisions had also been directed against combinations amongst the masters, he would have agreed in the justice of the enactment. The agricultural labourer was not in the same situation. Dispersed abroad, it was not in power to combine—and his necessities were so great, that he could not go on for one moment without attending to his work. His master, however, might do o ithout him, for a great part of the year, without injury. This was not the ca:c with the manufacturer, who was in a much better situation. He conceived it w rid be wise if the wages of the agricultural labourer' 4th reference to small districts, were regulated at t atty Sessions. It could not be done for very extensive districts, as, where the space was large, the rate of wages must necessarily vary. The Nlagistrate would be better able to decide what Wm ought to be given to a labourer, than to ad judge the rate of wages which a manufacturer ought to receive, since there were many considerations con nected with a particular trade, of which it was pro. liable he would not he aware. Py a more liberal ap portionment of wages, of from 4s. to .ss. per week, he conceived the existing. Poor Laws might be reduced 2,000,0001 annually. There were parts of the Bill brought in by tire Hon Gentleman which he thought were extremely beneficial ; for instance, that part which related to the removal of persons who had procured settlements where they had no right to them, nor had any legal settlements in the kingdom. There were also provisions that would probably prevent the mismanage ment observable in the administration of the Poor Laws. But that any t;teat, any decided benefit would be derived from it, he confessed he did not believe. The greatest relief to the country w mld be found ;tv making some change in the law of settlement by which large sums now lavished in litigation might be saved. This was the large-t it. m, he conceived, that could be saved by any regulation, that fell short of removing the grand sources of the evil. The Nitta to he saved by other means was not likely to be more titan 503,0001. cr one sixteenth of 8,000.0001. a hich the poor's rate annually require. Great are the complaints from all ports of' the kingdom, and most grievous is it to thew who are rI:A. 1 struggling under the weight sif the poor's rates, that., large at sum should% expended in supporting the off. spring of erhae. Bastardy has alarmin increased wit!, in a short period, but a few years ado it was estemated at I to 28. I fear it will now be timnd as I to 14, mat the number of illegitimate children anon:Illy le,ra amounts to little if any thing short of 6100, creating. a charge of about half a million. The Laws have ken so relaxed that it is becoate in a great measure a crime, without a punishment. Some cheek seems indisputably necessary as well for morals as for releiving the country from so grievous a burden. The Committee, which hat sat two years, the whole of whose proceedings were then before the House, had done nothing that did not fall far short of the great object he had in view_ and, unless Government intended to let the evil go oft increasing, from day to day, they would devise some means of lowerir g that weight of taxation, which press. ed the people down, and was the primary muse of the present distre-s. I am aware of the state of the coun try—l know and lament that its resources are inade quate to its c:penditure that in doing justice and bein • faithfid to its engagements, it cannot relinquish a shill: ins of its revenue—l do not ask it—Yet the o n ly h olm the e country has is, that Ministers would diminish the taxation which bore so heavy on particular bodies, and that they would place it somewhere else. A System of taxation which hears on the first necessaries of life, is in every point of ;kw impolitic. Lateen. is rarely !m id beyond what is barely sufficient for the 'imbue. nance of a working man and his family; taxing there. fore the necessaries of life, presupposes a surplus beyond what his indispensable necessity require s . If no such surplus exist, which is the cue in few instances, it must operate a rise in the price of labour, or force the individual into a state of pauperism. The cost of labour in Great Britain, compared with w h at it i s an the Continent, places the manufacturer in a state of eminent jeopardy. I pretend not to calculate how long superior capital and skill may successfully combat these advantages, but certain I am, they ought not to exist, if they can be removed Every considera tion of humanity and policy demand of Government, revisions of the present ruinous system of taxation—a large portion of what is paid in the shape of Poor Rates, is in truth no other than a contribution for exonerating the labouring classes. This could not be done by a Committee. They could not hear the information, neither could they digest those measures, which, while the revenue was protec ted, and prevented front falling short, would, by their operation, relieve the great body of the people, awl en able the Legieatute to make an effectual alteration in the system. From the LONDON GAZETTE, Tuesday, Fcb. BANKRUPTCY ENLARGED. J. Owlet, late of Charlotte street, Fitzroy Square, jeweller, fro:n Feb. IS to April 3. BANKRUPTS. E. ltelwrtson, Manchester, cotton spinner. Att. Mr Ellis, Chancey lane. J. Burroughs, of Great Hermitage Sttezt, spirit me:chant. Att. Mr. l'earson,St. Ilden's Place, Btshopegate Strec•. E. Mathew, of College 11111, merchant. Atte. Dawc and Co. Ang Court, Throgroorton Street. W. Brown, St. John Street, chessemongcr. Ate. Dade and CO. Palsgraro Place, Temple Bar. W. Burn, Exeter, tailor. Au. Mr. Brutton, Broad Street, Lon- don. J. Mather, Manchester, joiner. Atte. Adlington and Co. Iledfind Row. - H. Wilkinson. Liverpool, merchant. Atte. Taylor end Co. Kin('s Bench Walk, Temple. W. Lloyd, Shrewsbury, tailor. Att. Mr. Griffiths, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane. M. and G. Naylct. I)arlington. Durham, leather drcasent. Att. Mr. Dixon. Grate Inn Square. R. rotta, Holborn Hill, haberdasher. AU. Mr. Iloalgson, Dyer's Court, Aldeimanbury. It. Bacon Aldcwate Sweat, miller. Ate. Mr. Gray, Tyson Place, Kingsland R oa d . . _ J. Oli;er and N. G. Ingraham, jun. Pioner'a Hall, Bread Street, ercbants. Att. Mr. ('ranch, Unirn Court, Broad Street. T. Cullimetc, Wick% as, Glouce.ter, nialtsier. Art: Mr. King, Strjeanes Inn. J M i dlam, I I ugersfield. Yorkshire, grocer. Arts. Fisher and Co. II olhom. J. Stannfeld, Arr!wirk, Manchester, merchant AM. Wiggl%worth. and Co. Gime« Inn J. Lon gden, * Peak Forest, Derbyshire, meal seller. Ans. Lowe' and Co. 'Ample. W. Lewis, Beak Street, Golden Square. woollen draper. A:o. Davies find Son, l.nehhury. ft. Taco r, Witney, Oxford, me.dman. Att. Mr. Gre.ory, Lane. DIVIDENDS. T. Cuthus, Ilarvey'l , ll4tildingi. Strand, printer, March?. .1 Roxburgh, I iv, Tool. taller, March 3. I'. Dyson, Beverley. Yorkshire. mschant, Nlsreb 6. J. and N.WeAthcrly. Ainstkek, Noithuinherland. b ewers. Ni tr.'s F. 11. F. I (emu. Huddersfield. Yorkshire. um! Naar, March 5. J. Boyce jun. York. carpet manufacturer, March Y. W. lemich Clifton. Bristol. victualler, Wirth 2. and .1. Old Jewry. merchants, March 6. T. William Weeddeion, Dover Street, Pteca.liay, up'itt!sler!r. March v. J. Philiipps. of Upper Raton Street, Mel" _ _ nutr:ha it. M arch Yo. E. aad H. Hawn. Crvis Screen. II won G printns, 0 CERTTFICATES, March 2. J. C.l.onden, I .Inrd'a Coffee Hmtse, m t. R. .bone,, a Saint John is Bedwiriine. Wo e•,terehire, mina H. rracke t, Maw° in Ard n, N'arwhitihire. farmer. F. Dree cue and 'd. Lambert. of B:abeot Court, l'hilye I, no, nodulous An cial return • . use of Commons states the amount of Exchtquee Bits t.t tali at 43,65,5, 1001. ot P' st F 173 fi tl fr F n In 41 tl' ni al tl ai FA c; it a; I O ti a 1 a a t 1 1