The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-02-28 00:00:00

SUICIDE.

To the numerous lamentable accidents that have
been occasioned by intoxication, r.nd a propensity to
drinking, the present unfortunate instance of self-
destruCtion may he added:—CHARLOTTE BLAIR, a
young woman, only eighteen rears old, was ob•zrved
by the neighbours about Porter-street, Leicester-
fields, (where she resided) to be on Friday night last
extremely unhappy and dejeCted in her mind. At
a late hour she appeared.at the street-door of the
house in which she lived, apparently in liquor. She
addressed several of her acquaintances, and in a pe-
culiar manner bid them good-b'ye, declaring it was
the last time she should see them. On meeting a
person that lives in the lower part of the house, she
said she had just taken half an our,ce of laudanum,
which she bought fOr the purpose of putting an end
to her existence. No notice, however, was taken
of the expression, as the unfortunate girl appeared
to be intoxicated. She then went into the room
where her mother was, and asked to shake hands
with her, observieg that she had taken poison, and
would be dead by the next morning. Her mother
supposed front her appearance, that she had been
chinking and did not know what she said, therefore
placed no confidence in such an assertion, but ad-
vised her to go to sleep, and not to give her any un-
easiness tie fabricating so dreadful a story. It, how-
ever, appeared to be too true. She retired to rest,
and on the morning following was found dead in
her bed. The:. motives that aCtuated the deceased
dus to put a period to her life, at present is not et-
a :ily known. The general' belief, however, is, that
her predominant passiou for drinking had produced
a variety a raisfortuneE, which had so forcibly af-
idled her feelin,,s, that her intelleCts became de-
rlnge.l, in whi, shuation she had unhappily de-
prived herself of life.

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RtPORf OF Tat SOC,Ert
volt ottztaiva
715 CONDITION OF ME POO&

We have obtained a Copy of the Report of a
Selea Committee of the Society on a very interest-
ing suhjea, which engaged the attention of Parlia-
ment hot winter,—lne Situsriou or APPHLN-
TICLS IN KOTTON MILLS. We think our readers
will be highly gratified by its perusal.

REPORT OF A SELECT COMMITTEE UPON SOME 011.
SERVATIONS ON THE LATE ACT RESPECTING
COTTON MILLS, AND ON THE ACCOUNT OF MR.

HEM'S VISIT TO A COTTON MILL AT EVRLEY,

TV THE COUNTY OF YORK.
The -Select Committee is sensible of the great
increase of wealth, and the large portion of na-
tional revenue which is derived from Cotton
Mills. A body.of men so respectable as those ma-
nufacturers, who, at the same time that they have
made princely fortunes for themselves, have added
fresh sources to the strength and prosperity of their
country, must always be entitled to respect and at-
tention ' • and any objet ions that come from them
will be fully intitled to consideration and discussion.
In the observations, the Committee has first to
notice the remark, that " no grievance has been
alleged to exist, as a cause for what is termed the
interference of the Legislature."—Whether con-
clusive proof has ever been offered of the existence
of such grievance, may be the subjelt of question ;
but it can never be d.:nbted that allegations have
been made, not only of grievances existing in many
of our Cotton Mills, but also of the health and mo-
rals, the present and future hopes, of thousands of
children being annually sacrificed in them. These
allegations have been repeated by individuals visit-
ing, and by families residing, in their neighbour-
hoods ; and they have been frequently noticed by
the magistrates. From other documents, offering
at least a ground of inquiry on the part of the magi-
strates, the resolutions • of the justices in the neigh-
bourhood of Manchester, and of those in the West
Riding of York, where the above-mentioned Mill is
situate -1., have been selected, and are subjoined to
this Report.
In the observations t it is stated to he necessary,
that about one-sixth part of the apprentices in Cot-
ton Mills should work by night ; for, " free labour-
ers cannc be obtained to perform the night-work,
but upon very disadvantageous terms to the mann-
fiEturers ; who, for the sake of securing one spin-
ner, would, in many cases, he obliged to engage
the whcle family, consisting of five or six persons,
without being at all benefited by the labour of the
rest."—There seems to be no inconvenience, to the
public at least, that the manufaCturer should find
it his interest to employ the other members of
a poor family for the sake of. one good workman;
but it is evidently cruel and unjust, that the poor
orphan, or the deserted child, should be compelled
to do that night-work which the tree labourer can-
not, on any praelicable or moderate terms, be in-
duced to undertake.

The manufaCturer's loss, by the cessation of
night-work, appears to the Committee to be very
much over-rated. It is stated in the observations,
that only about one-sixth of the apprentices, in the mill
at Barley, worked by night —The use of free labour
continues, as in a free country it ought ever to he,
inrestrained. Bes Mes this, the restriction as to ap-
prentices does not go to a moiety of the twenty-four
hours, but leaves fifteen hours a-day for work.
Agaia, in large raills,.like that at Burley, two yeais
are allowed by the ad (to the 125th of Jane, 1604)
to prepare for the cessation of night-work. So thet
either the hiring of a few free labourers, or the ad-
dition, in the course of- those two years, of a little
more building (equal to an eighth-part of their ex-
isting work-roiaLs) will enable them to continue
their present amount of work.
Your Committee observes that, in the observa-
tions, an objection is made, in very strong terms, to
the guarded and limited power, which by the ad is
given to Magistrates to visit Cotton Mills, and to
make a report of their state and condition. It is
said, that if this power is once exercised, " all sub-
ordination will be at an end : let the visitors con-
dud themselves with what discretion they may, the
mills and factories will become a scene either of
idleness and disorder, or of open rebellion." This
assertion conies very unexpectedly froni a gentle-
man, who has very lately invited a voluntary and
gratuitous visit to, and report upon, his own fac-.
tory ; and the reasons given in the observations why
such visits will " be attended with the worst of
consequences," do not afford immediate pleasure on
the perusal. It is stated, that " a considerable de-
gree of authority must be exerted, and very strict
discipline must be kept up, to ensure the continu-
ance of good order, and respect and obedience to
the master." What these words may mean in other
countries we cannot say ; but, in England, they
would be applicable to none but criminils ; cer-
tainly not to orphans and deserted children, the ge-
neral description of those who are sent to Cotton
Mills. With regard to the children of beggars and
chimney-sweepers (the only two classes of appren-
tices enumerated in the observations) the first have,
unfortunately, and by a radical defect in our police,
a much more lucrative trade ; and of chimney,
sweepers, those in good business are in the receipt
of many hundred pounds a-year, and can advance
their offspring more profitably in life ; and even
the poorer chimney-sweepers can always employ
their children, to more advantage, in their own
business.

_ •

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Magistrate eiintinne isrecisely we same as before
the passing of the Ad. It is the spirit of our poor
laws, that all poor apprentices should be, peculiarly
and immediately, under the view, controul, and
protect. on of the Magistrate; and if he should be
induced to allow personal or private motives to in-
fluence his magisterial conduCt, the Court of King's
Bench is ever ready to remind him of his duty."
That Cotton Mills should become, what in the
observations they are stated to be at present, a de-
sirable seminary for children, is the objet and in-
tent of the Aft. But your Committee apprehends
that will never be the case, while they are sent in
numbers from workhouses in the -metropolis, to
places distaht and unknown, secluded from the eye
of the Magistrate, and with no ear to which they
may address their complaints; but depending for
protection and preservation, either on the attention
of their own parochial overseers, who have re-
moved them far from their observations, or on the
kindness and parental affection of those who have
received them for the purpose of making a con-
siderable advantage of their labour, with very little
out-going.
In adverting to Mr. Hey's Account, the members
of the Seled Committee feel a real satisladion, in
expressing their misc.& for his personal and profes-
sional character. •The purposes of the Ad, they
think, could not be better answered in any other
way, than if Mr. Hey, and such men as he, would,
in a magisterial capacity, accept the office of visi-
tors of the Cotton and Woollen Mills. But as to
the view which he took of the mill at Burley, on
the 30th of April, 1802, it appears to have been
merely the visit of a friend of a manufacturer : it
vas made at an hour when the mill and the children
were prepared for his reception; and by a person
who had no power of controul, no means of redress.
If we could suppose that it had been made to some
other mill, where a system of cruelty and ill-treat-
ment might have prevailed, what inducement would
the children have had to make known the•ill-usage
they had received ? What could they have expeded
from it but punishment and increased severity ?
By Mr. Hey's Account we are informed, that the
night-working apprentices " work from seven in the
evening to six m the morning. Their dinner is
brought them at midnight ; but the mill isnot stop-
ped, to allow them any period of perfed rest for
eating their dinner. They take it whenever the
work is going on so favourably, as not to prevent
them from eating. After leaving the mill at six (in
the morning), they take what is to them a supper,
and are employed till ten in the morning, either in
learning, which is pursued in the winter season, or,
in summer, in sportive exercises. They then go to
bed, and rise at six, or half past six in the evening;
and, after their breakfast, go to the mill at seven."
—The Account afterwards states, that, " the night-
workers are not changed, but do this work for tour'
or five years successively."
Such is Mr. Hey's account. —Now, if we were to
read in the history of some part of Asia, or Africa,
an account of children who, from seven to twelve
years, or from eight to thirteen years of age, were
doomed to unceasing labour every night without
the glad and natural return of day—without a few
minutes of respite fur their meals—and (in the win-
ter half-year at least) without even anhalf-hour for
that relaxation which is the comfort of mature age,
and the essential possession of the young—should we
not shudder at the perusal ? Should we give very
willing credit to any detail that was subjoined, of
the health and happiness of these children ? And, if
(to pursue the consideration) the
for
of
that country should have prepared, the progres-
sive emancipation of these children, at the end of
two years, what language should we hold as to
those, who would unite to prevent their receiving
the benefit of so just and politic a law ?
If ni"ht employment is not the died of coercion,
why, the Committee would ask, are not other chil-
dren employed in it by turns ? Why cannot the
free labourers be bribed to take their share of it ?
With all the curiosity and fickleness, which perpe-
tually induces children to seek for change and no-
velty, even to their prejudice, Mr. Hey informs us,
that no boy who worked by day would prefer the
night-work : and in the observations, we are told,
that no terms, which the manufadurer can afford
to give, would induce the free labourer to work by
night. What then are we to suppose of other chil-
dren preferring it ?—What, of their informing us
that their health is improved by it, or that they
have more time and leisure for their education, and
to pursue their studies, while they work by night ?
The exclusion of the Magistrate from the irtspec-
don of Cotton Mills—the labour of children for
many hours, without any cessation on account of
food, or of instruction, or of relaxation—and the
continued praCtice of night-work by the same chil-
dren for years, without change or vicissitudes of
hours, are circumstances which the Committee flat-
ters itself do not occur in many Cotton Mills. It
has not been alleged that grievances .do exist in
all Cotton Mills. fhe Committee has a pleasure in
stating, that many * are now worked, in confor-
mity to the principles of the late Al of Parliament.
Respite is allowed in them for meals, for relaxation,
for instruction ; and an entire cessation of labour
takes place during the night. From the pradical
experience fi of those Mills, the regulations of the
late Mt were framed.

•
• The following Report (28th January, 1803) of several
Cotton Mills where regulations, similar to those of the Act,
were introduced some time before the passing of the late Act,
will give much pleasure to the reader.—" As the new regula-
' " tions were adopted long before the time prescribed by the
------ - " Bill, their effects are now fully ascertained. The clergyman
It is with some surprise that the Committee no- .' who visits and instructs then), reports that he never knew so
tices an observation, that the interference of the " much appearance of good health, and so little sickness in the
Ma strate, however discreetly exercised, will pro-
"same number of children of any class. The foremen who
gi
" superintend these Mills, and have an interest in the quantity
duce insubordination in the apprentice. The daily
" of work done, though they submitted to the restrictions at
experience of the country is exaEtly the reverse. " first with reluctance, declare with great satisfaction, that the
The subordination of the apprentice cannot be pre- " abridgement of labour is fully compensated by the continued
served, without the interference of the Magistrate. " good health of the children."
There is no novelty in that interference ; and, with t That the grievance of the late Act respecting Cotton
Muds, is " most in apprehension:" and that the fears of thc
respect to discipline and cantrout, the powers of the Mill-owners are, that the regulations may hereafter be Impracti-
cably extended, will appear by the followin., notice, recently
• See resolutions of the Manchester Michaelmas Quarter circulated for a meeting at Leeds, on Tuesday last.—" It is
Sessions in 1784, "to refuse their allowance to indentures of .‘ thought necessary toapprise you, that, during the last Sessions
parish apprentices, whereby they shall be bound to work in "of Parliament, an Act passed, which subjects you to be visit-
" the night, or more than ten hours in the day." They have 64 el by Magistrates and others, for the purpose of inquiring
been reprinted by the Society, as an Appendix to this Report. "of your work-people concerning your treatment of them;
t These Resolutions are signed by thirty-nine of the most " with intent to lay their representations before the Quarter
respectable Magistrates, not only in Yorkshire, hut in the king- " Sessions. This Act contains many restrictions, which are
dour; and are dated 22d May, 1800. One of the resolutions " deemed extremely injurious to all descriptions of manufac-
is, " that they will not, on any account, allow of the appren- " turers, employing the above number of workmen ; and inn-
" tieing 0: poor children to the masters or owners of Cotton " poses divers pants and penalties, which you may be liable to,
" Mills or other works of the kind, where such poor children " upon a misrepresentation to the Magistracy, from the peo-
" shall be ,diliged to work in the night time, or for an unreason- " ple you employ. At the instance of several Proprie-
" able uutuber of hours iu the day time." Reprinted as " tors of Mills and Factories, in the West Riding of the
above. . " County of York, a Meeting is to be held on Tuesday next,
j Meg Observations, anti Mt 11e 's Aocountrhave also been i", the eighth day
.of February, at the Co rinuiuee-Riniin of the
printed by the Society. y.. Mixed Cloth-Hall, in Leeds, at 12 o'clock at novo, to consider

ITpon the whole; the Selec=t Committee submits to
the Society, that, however well regulated and Well
concluded the mill at Burley may be, there appears
nothing, even in that instance, to impeach the pro-
priety and e:Tediency of the late At respeding
Cotton Mills. And it is conceived, even if that
mill did not especially and peculiarly call for the
general provisions of the Aft, a mere insulated case
would afford no reason against a general law, to
extend those provisions to other cases, -where it is so
much wanted. They conclude by expressing their
opinion, that the placing of Cotton and Woollen
Mills more immediately under tlip inspedion and
controul of the Magistrate, the preventing of ap-
prentices from being worked by night, and the pro-
viding for their health and cleanliness, and for their
moral and religious instruftion,—as has been done
by the late Ad,—is essential, not only to the con-
dition and moral charader of apprentices and of
others employed in these Mills, but to the welfare
of the community at large.

" how far it may be advlseable for us to unite with the maim-
" facturiug interest of Manchester, Glasgow, Nottingham,
" Preston, Et:ter, Carlisle, Kidd-nminster, and divers other
." places, where Committee; arc already funned to petition Par-
" lament fur a repeal or modification of an Act so injurious
" to the general commerce of this country.—A meeting of this
" sort becomes h;ghly necessary, as it evidently appears front
" the debates in Patliament on this subject, previous to its
" passing iato a law, That if the restrictions enforced be ta-
" citly complied with, more severe ones are intendAl to ha
poserl."-14th Feb. 1803.

BIRTH.
Thursday, the Lady of Capt. Charles Rowley, of a sun, at
Great 131,11:ng, Sudo k.
On Wedridirlav last, in Manehesteriquare, the Lady of
the Rev. Samuel Ryan, of a daughter.