The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-04 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.---The course of discussion yesterday after-
noon on the Borough Franchise Bill of Mr. Baines
must have satisfied unprejudiced observers that the
House of Commons regards an unqualified reduction
of the franchise as a step in the wrong direction.
Every circumstance was in favour of the reception
of the bill. The general election is at hand, and an
expression of popular sympathy is generally reck-
oned a recommendation to re-election. The parti-
cular proposal brought forward by Mr. Baines had
formed part of an elaborate measure introduced by.
a Liberal Government, and had received the sanc-
tion of some eminent members on the Opposition
benches least given to change. In itself the proposal
would produce so little effect that it is,not easy to
entertain the feelings of those who believe the
Constitution would be endangered by its success.
In the metropolitan and larger borough consti-
tuencies, whose houses below a rental of £lO scarcely
exist, the voters added to the register would be com-
paratively so few that they could exercise no appre-
ciable influence on elections • and in the smaller
boroughs they would belong to the class most inti-
mate with " the Man in the Moon," and ready to
vote for Whig or Tory for a sufficient reason. But
in spite of all these considerations the temper of
the House of Commons was decidedly adverse to
the proposal. It was felt that a reduction of the
franchise to a £6 rental could not stand alone.
The arguments by which Mr. Leatham recommended
it pointed directly to universal suffrage. The pro-
fessional agitators of the day have avowed their
intention of being satisfied with no less, and they
are right in their generation, for the reasoning
of their more prudent friends in the House of
Commons is based on principles which justify
the conclusion. The noisy platform orator who
denounced the member for Bradford as unfit to sit
in the house was only a consistent advocate of de-
mocracy. The mass of members were not prepared
for a consummation which would lodge all power in
the hands of one class, and they yesterday showed
their aversion from a measure which could only be
regarded as the first step to its realisation. That
the mere enfranchisement of numbers must lead to
the preponderance of the lowest and most numerous
class is a consequence evident to all men. The con-
sciousness of this is at once the explanation and jus-
tification of the reluctance which the Legislature
feels in reading the Borough Franchise Bill. This
consideration puts aside altogether, as nothing to
the purpose, the arguments advanced by Mr. Baines.
There can be no doubt that the education and con-
dition of the unenfranchised classes have greatly
improved since the era of the Reform Bill. Thanks
to the wise measures which have been passed by the
Reformed Parliament the education of the work-
man is cared for, his earnings are greater and are
spent to the best advantage. It would probably be
impossible to get up now such a petition as Mr.
Lowe tells us was presented by Mr. Duncombe from
the non-electors of Finsbury. But the preponderance
of any one class is an evil, and if the workmen of this
generation be better than those of the past their best
friends cannot call them perfect. They are certainly
not superior to their countrymen in Australia, and
there is too much reason to fear that their notions
of political economy and of Government would be
found to be those which are popular at the Anti-
podes. Reactionary measures of trade and of

legislation would recommend themselves to their
support. After much vain dallying with the ques-
tion members in all parts of the house are awake to
these dangers. Mr. Leatham and Mr. B. Osborn
were loud yesterday in their denunciation of the
conduct of the Government on the Reform question ;
but it is evideiit that the Administration have done
no more than recognise the change of feeling of
the Legislature. To accuse the Treasury Bench of
tergiversation is always easy, and in a measure
successful. The accusation is sure, to be received
with applause by the Opposition, and by the ad-
vanced Liberals who plume themselves on their
superior virtue. In fact, however, the undertaking
of the Government to proceed with a measure must
be limited by what is possible in every case, and all
that can be required of them is to submit to the
proper penalties if they are unable to perform their
compact. The House of Commons has never exacted
any penalty for the failure to carry a Reform Bill,
and its acquiescence in the conduct of the Ministry
is a confession that the majority have arrived at
sounder views on the way to amend our representa-
tive system.. There was very little said yesterday
afternoon on the abstract claims of non-electors
to be admitted to the franchise, and after the ex-
haustive refutation by Mr. Lowe of the theory
that to vote for a member of Parliament is one
of the inherent rights of man we shall probably
hear very little more of such arguments. We may
at once dismiss the notion that as a matter of justice
every one has a right to vote. It is not, however,
necessary to prove the optimism of Mr. Lowe
in contemplating the actual state of our electoral
machinery. A mere £6 franchise is unworthy of
approbation, for it is an advance trifling in itself, but
significant in its promise of progress towards a pure
Democracy. But we cannot suppose that the at-
tempts which have been so often made to effect some
improvement of our representative system were no
more than the desires of failing Administrations.
Mr. Lowe seems to be content, provided the actual
legislation of a country be the best possible under
the circumstances of its existence. It can easily
be shown that this is not sufficient to insure
the freedom of a people. It is probable that the
legislation of France is better now than it has ever
been before, but it is an invincible objection to the
French Constitution that under it new laws ema-
nate from the Emperor, and not from the people.
A free people, freely adopting Protection, is in a bet-
ter condition than a people deprived of political rights
and receiving Free Trade from an autocratic ruler.
It is not sufficient that the laws which are promul-
gated should be good; it is necessary that the best
ability and intelligence of the country should be
brought into action in devising them. Every power
in the community capable of being usefully employed
should form part of the electoral machine. It will
scarcely be contended that this is strictly the case at
present. There are many persons, some living in
lodgings in Parliamentary boroughs, others living
in towns not represented in Parliament, and want-
ing the county qualification, who might fitly be ad-
mitted to the franchise. How to strengthen the na-
tion by the introduction of such persons into the
electoral system is a question which if not so urgent
as to press for instant solution is worthy of the at-
tention of all who aspire to be statesmen. The
" fancy franchises" which have been included in
two Reform Bills are with much reason advocated
by Lord Elcho as means of enfranchising all who
prove themselves worthy of the privilege. The men
who are excluded have hitherto borne their exclu-
sion with patience, because they have seen no
plan brought forward for conferring on them the
franchise which does not render the boon worse
than worthless; through the numbers unfit for the
privilege who are proposed to be associated with
them. But, however the question of admitting such
claimants may be settled, it is cleaKthat it cannot be
satifactorily done by the bill of Mr. Baines. The
elaboration of representative Government is the
greatest achievement of the English nation, but it
is not sufficiently recognised that its success has
been dependent on the anomalies which are thegreat
stumbling-blocks of theoretical reformers. The
strange parcelling out of seats, in many cases the
result of mere accident, has secured the represen-
tation of every class and of every interest, and the
mixed character of our constituencies has been re-
flected in the character of the House of Commons.
Other nations which have adopted representative
institutions at a bound have failed to introduce
the contrivances of compensation which we have the
good fortune to possess, and their deliberative assem-
blies have been almost exclusively filled by the domi-
nant majority of the nation. To adopt Mr. Baines's
bill would be deliberately to threw aside the balance
of power actually existing among us, and the House
of Commons did well in hesitating before taking
such an irretrievable step.
HERALD.-A somewhat refined calculation tells
us that the condition of the-journeymen bakers has
improved " twenty-five per cent." during the last
five years. We believe this estimate relates more
immediately to the metropolis, where as many as
14,000 of these operatives are said to be found.
We wish the same report could be made of certain
other classes. We very much doubt whether any-
thing like this could be averred of the poor over-
worked dressmaking girls, including those who toil
at the behest of fashion in the region of aristocratic
modistes. Another session is passing away—Parlia-
ment itself is about to dissolve—and yet nothing
appears to be attempted for the benefit of a class
which has received even more pity than the jour-
neymen bakers, and on whose behalf innumerable
appeals have been made by journalists, orators, and
preachers. It is now the third session since Mary
Ann Walkley died. We have had harangues in
Parliament and a blue-book from the Children's
Employment Commission, and the question stands
just where it did—except that Lord Shaftesbury
appears at the head of a dressmaking company,
formed on the limited liability principle. We have
legislated for the tramp lodging-houses, and for the
chimney-sweeps ; we have put the bakehouses under
inspection ; we have forbidden a journeyman baker
-to sleep near an oven, and have prohibited the em-
ployment of youths under 16 years of age in bake-
houses between the hours of nine at night and six in
the morning. But milliners' apprentices may still
be stowed away in little cribs which in summer
time are as hot and stifling as any bakehouse.
Girls may still be worked all night long, and on
the average of 18 hours out of the 24 through the
season. The bakehouse is to be vigilantly in-
spected, but not so the dressmakers' work-room,
where young women, with the hectic flush of
incipient consumption gathering on their cheeks,
are sewing and stitching side by side, with their
work upon their knees, and with barely room to
move their arms. The beggar, the baker, and the
sweep, are better cared for by the law than the de-
licate creature who rarely breathes the sweet air of
heaven ; who, in many instances, is a virtual priso-
ner as well as a practical slave. Ruined health, in-
jured eyesight, occasional insanity, early death—
these calamities still affect the occupants of the
milliners' and dressmakers' work-room, and society
seems to have willed that it shall continue so. The
next time the tragedy of Mary Ann Walkley is re-
peated, if the world is allowed to know anything of
it, we may as well refrain from expressing any par-
ticular concern, or, if compunction of some sort is
inevitable, we may as well not pretend that we are
going to make matters better for the future. Turn-
ing, therefore, from the unremedied evils which
afflict the unfortunate dressmaker, let us contem-
plate the philanthropy of the law as it affects the
bakehouse. There can be no doubt that the public,
as well as the journeyman baker, are interested in
this question. It was very horrifying to know that
the man of dough had to work at almost all hours
of the four-and-twenty, that he was wont to sleep
in a hot place, or to steal a nap on the boards, that
he breathed sulphur and inhaled flour-dust, never
went to church or chapel, knew nothing beyond his
trade, and commonly died at 40. But, in addition
to these items of human misery, it was exceedingly
disagreeable to read what Mr. Tremenheere had to
say about the filthy state of the places where bread
was made, and the objectionable mode in which the
dough was often prepared. Influenced by such re-
velations, people were disposed to quarrel literally
with their bread and butter, and it was felt that if
society were to eat its bread with satisfaction the
bakehouses must be well looked after. In 1863 came
the Bakehouses Regulation Act, which, if it offered
no defence against the overwork of the men, at least
promised them some increased measure of comfort,
and protected the public against most of the abomi-
nations which have been dragged to light under
the investigations of the Home Office. It
was well for the public that the men were discon-
tented. The agitation set on foot by the journey-
men drew attention to the filthy state of the bake-
houses, and wherever the act is faithfully carried
out, not only does the operative perform his work
under better conditions, but the public have the ad-
vantage of purer bread. Thus, in the application of
the act, a stop was put to the practice which pre-
vailed in one bakehouse of drying dyed hair and
bakingbread alternately in the same oven, a pleasant
freak which was perpetrated in Bermondsey. In a
vast number of cases there were nuisances or defects
of one sort or another to be remedied, even after the
employers had received notice that the " local autho-
rity" intended to inspect the premises according to
the terms of the act. Speaking of an official return
relating to the metropolis, Mr. Tremenheere says—
"lt will be seen from the kind of defects enume-
rated, and which were removed, that they were all of
a nature either to affect the health of the persons
employed or the purity of the bread made in such
places, and in many cases both." Thus, in the Hol-
born district, one bakehouse had its floor "more
than one foot deep in rotten refuse," and another
had a " waterless offensive closet" in its very centre.
In Poplar rabbits were kept in a bakehouse, while

,c 1

in Southwark one such place contained an uncovere(
dust-heap. Some had open cesspools in very dis'
agreeable contiguity to the spot where the bread was
made, many had the ceilings festooned with cobwebs,
and defective ventilation was common. But the last
stepped in, and in the great majority of cases such
evils were remedied, at least for the time. It is some
what remarkable that the journeymen bakers thew'
selves—who were so well acquainted with the origi-
nal abuses—have shown great incredulity or igne'
rance as to the improvements effected under the act;
In the latter part of last year they approached the
Home-office with a complaint that the new measure
was " permitted to remain in abeyance." Among
other statements we find the following—" We, Your
memorialists, are likewise prepared to show that los
Utbt
hundreds of bakehouses in the metropolis Yo
under 18 years of age are still employed by nigh
and that in all parts of London and its environs
sleeping in the bakehouse is still commonly practised;l
and that a vast number of bakehouses are still in
that filthy condition as to be totally unfit places
which to manufacture the staple food of the public'
Apparently the Home Office required some distine
particulars in support of these charges, for in Pecol;
ber we find the secretary of the " Operative Bakers
Vigilance Association" sending in " a short list°,
bakehouses where the act of Parliament is violated.
The memorial and the list were then placed in the 5
hands of Mr. Tremenheere, and on inquiry itts
,
found that in almost every instance the comPlaie
were unfounded. In several cases the contradiction
was most explicit and complete. There seems no
_
reason to doubt that the memorialists believed their,
charges to be true ; and yet, if they had sat deN‘ 0
and invented them, they could scarcely have V, es
wider off the mark. This singular ig 4norance I'3
shown itself in several ways. Thus, on the 24th ed
October last, a deputation from " The Amalgamated
Union of Operative Bakers" waited on Mr. Treciee:
heere, and stated that to the best of their knowledgut
and belief the Bakehouses Regulation Act had no
been put in force anywhere in London excel,
)t
in Islington, and that Islington was the
parish in which any special report on the bake
houses had been made or in which the defects dls;
covered were ordered to be remedied. In alisra
to this Mr. Tremenheere showed them a tabulate
return which he had drawn up four months PI
viously, giving the substance of reports obtain!,
from nearly all the metropolitan districts, settes
forth hundreds of instances in which the net l',"s
been put in operation. Equal unconsciousness
to have been shown by the " Vigilance Committlile
which claims to represent many thousands of he
men " totally unconnected with the Amalgalund
Union." In these instances it can scarcely be sa:,,
that " ignorance is bliss." Mr. Tremenheere thiu;
that the sanitary reports of the medical officers e,
a
b
not made sufficiently public. The fact is, we ,d
lieve, that these unfortunate operatives are crainrg
in the range of their thoughts by the engr, e,esi9to
nature of their toil. They scarcely know ne"
approach a public question, even where they tlio
theniselves concerned, and are likely to fall int° co
most singular errors by the unhappy circumstafefiv
of their social position. These poor fellows are e-the
ing to elevate themselvesc but have scarcelY, $
chance to do it. They are said to be foundiesto
reading-room ; but Heaven knows when they 70$
enter it, except when they are out of work. Awe
class they are much to be commiserated, ailllete
trust the " local authorities" will not abate "t to
vigilance in carrying out the provisions of the ac $ it
which we have thus alluded, and which, so far test
goes, tends to benefit the employed and to Pro
the public.