The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-18 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 1863.

Ministers, feasted at the Mansion-house, wisely
say as little as possible. Their harangus after
the Lord Mayor's banquet are, for the most part,
composed of the merest platitudes of conventional
courtesy. The least said, each of them manifestly
thinks this to himself on rising, the soonest
mended. And hence, recognising all this—as, who
can fail to recognise it ?—for any light that could
possibly be reflected by Minister's speeches upon
any one of the great political problems now
requiring solution tither in the old world
or in the new, one might as lief listen atten-
tively to the whimsical cries raised during the
last two or three days in the Sheldonian Theatre
by the Oxford Undergraduates. Once and once
only—in the Prime Minister's speec'a last evening
—was there protruded from the usually inscrutable
Official Bag one velvet paw of the Cat so seldom let
out of it, a velvet paw that, though revealed but
for an instant and then drawn in again,
seemed from that one momentary glimpse of
it to be bristling out with talons ! " I
trust," said Lord PALMERSTON just towards the
close of his little say-nothing speech on the part of
the great do-nothing Government, "I trust," said
his lordship, " that whatever questions may be
pending—and I do not dtsgutse from you that
Mere are questions of great importance pending—
yet I trust that negotiations, conducted on
the principles of justice and of right, may
lead those questions to an honourable solution."
That they " may" lead to that solution, observe!
Such being the doubtfully expressed aspiration of
the Prince Minister of England—evidently in
reference to the negotiations, may we not
say it at once, in regard to the Polish
difficulty ! Lord PALMERSTON'S words im-
plying, if they can be supposed to imply any-
thing, that the negotiations referred to thus may
not, on the other hand, lead to some satisfactory
and entirely pacific solution. Sothat, in other words
there, plainly enough, is at this moment "on the
carda," as the popular idiom has it, the old, dreadful,
interminable, perpetually recurring alternative, the
alternative running through all history, ancient and
modern, of—Peace or War. To this complexion,
we are perpetually coming, in the annals
of Governments. But how often has the
alternative itself been drifted into—let alone,the
ultimate choice made in that alternative, according
to the happy phrase invented at the time of the
Crimean war by the Earl of CLARENDON. People
are beginning to have certain qualms of doubt as
to whether it may not be thus with our
Government at the present juncture, not
alone in regard to Poland, but in reference also
to another far away region of the earth in a totally
opposite direction. A firm bold hand at the helm
often might secure U 9 from that dreadful drifting,
more effectually than all those minute observations,
than all those microscopic scrutinies of the chart—
more effectually, more securely, than all the most
wonderful dexterity in the world applied to the
science of political navigation.

At the recent meeting of the general committee
for
the relief of distress in Lancashire a very in-
teresting discussion was held on the prospects of
the manufacturing interest, The usual monthly
report was highly
in satisfactory, seeing that it re-
cordeda considerable increase
sons erapiwieti pn
mthe number of per
there was an increase
of 13,451 persons •sv orklu
,
g full time, while the num-
bers in receipt of relieffrom local committees was
diminished by 68.389.
Them:a were
children employed
ere at that date
.
87,938 men, boys,
women,
under the local committees
either
e:pwoa of the
Work or in the
educational classes, the monthly
iture
local committees being £74,900, and
the
estimated
loss of wages £149,914 per week. Mr,
mmis-
sioner FARNALL stated in his report that there was
a deer` ase in the number of recipients of parish
relief in 27 unions in the manufacturing cl.si.ricts
though an increase in a few others. Altogethe;
there is a net decrease of 105,031 since the 6th of
December last. But, on the 6th inst. there were
still 166,952 persons in receipt of parish relief, the
average percentage of pauperism in the population
being B'4, whereas in the corresponding week of
1863 it was 2.4. These facts show clearly enough
the severity of the distress still existing, and should
be borne in mind by those sanguine persons, who
too hastily conclude the danger and difficulty to be
over. The prospects of the coming winter give
matter for anxious thoughtto those most immediately
concerned in the endeavour to mitigate the dis-
tress. It is satisfactory to know that means are at

work to provide regular and remunerative employ-
ment for the men, and consequently support for
their families, since for every able man in full work
we naay allow that two or three persons are taken
off the parish. Mr. VILLIEP.S' Bill appears as yet to
have met the difficulty very satisfactorily, Sir J.
KAY SHUTTLEWORTH observing at the late meeting
that, although the action of the Central Executive
Committee, with respect to public works, had been
quite independent of the Government, it was highly
satisfactory to find the bill presented to Parliament
was, both in principle and outline, in strict accord.
ance with their views. He stated that the com-
mittee had held frequent conferences with the
members of the cotton districts, and he was happy
to say there was no material difference of opinion
either on the main question of the bill or on the de-
tails. The hon. baronet further said, that there
appeared in London a very imperfect knowledge of
the state of things in Lancashire. It was supposed,
he said, that the cotton districts had to a large ex-
tent surmounted their difficulties. It was not
generally supposed that the next winter would be
as formidable as the last. He also said, " those pas-
sages of the reports of this committee which antici-
pated that the resources of the working classes would
be exhausted, that the means derived formerly from
private charity would no longer be available, and
that we should have nearly the same number
of cotton operatives dependent on the relief fund
or some other assistance than the ordinary sources
of labour—those views were not generally enter-
tained in society or in the House of Commons.',
Mr. Commissioner FARNALL brought a terrible array
of figures to confirm this statement. It had been
calculated that the number of men who could be
employed on the million and a half to be borrowed
by the parishes would be 30,000 at the outside.
Allowing this to provide for 100,000 persons, there
would still remain 300,000 to feed and clothe—the
probability being that there would be 400,000 to
provide for this winter. This alarming estimate is
250,000 above the average pauperism in the cotton
districts, aad is certainly enough to startle people
out of their fancied security. In the face of such
statements the proposed million and a half appeared
to the meeting to be a very small sum, and it was
proposed that, before the prorogation of Parliament,
additional facilities should be provided to enable
the Boards of Guardians to borrow such further
sums on similar terms as may be necessary. Mr.
FARNALL and some other gentlemen objected
to this proposal, on the ground that Mr. VILLIERS'
bill has not yet passed, and might possibly en-
counter strong opposition, and that it would be
better to let the Government pass one measure
through the House before they introduced
another of the same kind. This may possibly be
a correct view of the case ; and at any rate is
is satisfactory that the Government and the
Guardians have agreed upon so rational and bene-
ficial a mode of relief. The want of the proposed
public works of drainage, road-making, and other
necessary undertakings, has been felt in many of
the towns of Lancashire in the days when cotton
was too plentiful and trade too flourishing to spare
any hands from the mills. It is well, too, that we
should know the true state of the case and realise
the extent of the danger. Forewarned is forearmed,
and however earnestly we may hope and pray that
the cruel and profitless war, which ,has caused all
this distress, may come to a speedy close, yet we
cannot allow a large portion of our people to depend
on no other hope. Let us then make every prepa-
ration for a winter as trying as the last, trusting:at
the same time that it may be the last season that
our Lancashire mills will depend for their supply
on uncertain and limited sources. Sir S. SIIUTTLL-
WORTH expressed the views we have always main-
tained when he said that although the committee
took a graver view of the coming winter, tfasy had
also a more confident expectation than any other
part of the country of the ultimate triumph of the
cotton trade over all obstacles. This, we trust, will
be the case—the present distress having taught a
lesson which will not easily be forgotten.

A letter to the Times of yesterday suggests
reflections of a very painful nature. It is headed
"Death in the Workroom," and relates the sad de-
tails of an untimely end. The writer is a dress-
maker in a large West-end house of business. She
works in a crowded room with twenty-eight others.
The other morning one of her companions was found
dead in her bed, and it was the general opinion of
the house that "long hours and close confinement"
had a great deal to do with her end. Then follows
a list of the duties required of these unhappy beings.
They are called at half-past six in the morning,
and work till eleven at night, but often much longer.
" On the Friday before the last Drawingroom they
worked all night, and did not leave off until nine
o'clock on the Saturday morning." What a vision
does this statement conjure up ! " Look on this pic-
ture and on that" may well exclaim some who know
both sides of the question. In one place there are
beautiful objects in all directions, youth and loveli-
ness set off by every advent Ige and attraction that
can charm and adorn, rich robes of every hue and
texture that fashion can devise or fancy frame.
" Within 'tis brilliant all and light,
A fairy throng of figures bright,
As when the setting sun has given
• Ten thousand hues to summer even."
Yet surely if the occupants of this gorgeous and
glittering scene could behold the converse
view, the skeleton at the Egyptian feasts
would be nothing in comparison. If they
could see the weary forms drooping with
langour, and wasted with watching and bending
over their brilliant attire, would they not be shocked
and startled. " It is not linen you're wearing out,
but human creatures' lives," says the author of the
" Song of the Shirt," and surely one like to him is
wanted to celebrate the •wrongs and advocate the
cause of these oppressed and toil,-worn dressmakers'
assistants. The description of the place where they
sleep is another harrowing detail. " The room is
divided into little cells, each just large enough to
contain two beds, there are two sleeping in each
bed, there is no ventilation. When I first came from
the country I could scarcely breathe in them; the
doctor who came said they were not fit for dogs to
sleep in." It is surely time that some stringent moa-
sures were adopted to repress within due limits the
toil exacted from these hapless creatures, who are
burn to labour, but who seem to demand protection
from their richer and happier fellow-creatures
that labour may Lot grind them down with its
iron bondage and encompass them with ruthless
fetters. "A fair day's
at
e. ehl el aknown
r taudnage,
ybeuutenge never
females.does it eemfaaupl pt lliieede
many quarters. In the first place, parents and
guardians should be more careful how they
girls;,
heevhe ree
heads
sa no
apprentice these
it a stipulation that the they
ought
sfrgeerssett sasb from
ltihos
eh
limitsm make
r
that should bo assiehelte
weary toil. Then again
should not be suffered to infringe with, impunellitt;
the claims of consideration, until the law of the
land compels them, as in the case of the factories,
to keep within a margin, nothing lasting will ever
be accomplished in this sad affair. I. is too late to
bring back light to the faded eye, colour to the
pallid cheek, and health to th; shattered frame of
yice of this many a Wretched drudge in tho

Moloch ; tut for the sake of the unnum-
bered individuals destined to follow the same
weary road, let something speedily be effected.
It is of no use for philanthropic persons to
go abroad to free the negro, succour the
distressed, and befriend the persecuted—they are
at home at their own doors if they wiii but look for
them. Few sufferings are greater in their way
than those of these " nameless martyrs," and the
voice of justice calls aloud for redress from this
cruel grievance. It has been urged in excuse for
the mistress not employing more hands to assist
in times of pressure, that the employers do
not pay regularly, and therefore she has not
funds of sufficient amount to meet the emer-
gency. But if it was once an esta-
blished fact that it was incumbent on the
proprietors of business establishments to keep to re-
gular hours, the whole arrangement would be very
different. Minor difficulties vanish where a broad
principle is laid down definitively, and if it is once
known that these over hours and enforced suffer-
ings are against the law, very different will be the
result. It is surely worth the effort, and no one has
a right to denounce a scheme that has not been
tested. It is true that its adoption will offend many
pet prejudices, and be inconvenient to several
cherished fancies ; but right and wrong are sepa-
rated by broad boundaries, and it is too solemn a
subject and too sacred a cause to be despised and
lightly treated. A death such as that recorded
above is a crying evil, it is a scandal to our boasted
civilisation, and a disgrace to our enlightened gene-
ration. If some energetic and influential members
of society will take up this question, it will be of
inestimable advantage to thousands who now toil
in the gloom of a night that sees no morning, and
the dreariness of a winter to which spring is un-
known. There can be no higher incentive to exer-
tion than to know that the objects sought to be bene-
fited are precluded from ever helping themselves.
They are living in dependence, and must die rather
than rebel. It behoves those who are independent
to advocate the claims of these oppressed outcasts.
If the task is difficult, they have a worthy end in
view to animate their efforts and to fire their zeal.
If it takes long to succeed, when they gain their
object what relief and respite will be afforded to
those who had hardly dared to hope before. The
workers in this cause will have a long list of
happy results—they will have relieved the op-
pressed from a bondage that bids fair to rival that
imposed by Egyptian taskmasters—they will have
prevented their fellow-creatures from incurring a
heavy responsibility in unjust demands, and the
blessings of those that were ready to perish will be
the witnesses that will attest that their labour has
not been in vain, nor their efforts thrown away.