The Sun.
London, England, 1838-01-26 00:00:00

GLASGOW COTTON SPINNERS.

Mr. WAKLEY said that a short time since, yielding
to the wishes of the House, he had withdrawn the petition
he presented from the great Radical Association of Lon-
don, but upon applying to the Chief Clerk at the table
he found he could not get that petition returned, in
order to have the objectionable words exPung4d:—
' (Laughter.) This seemed a most singular course to him,
and he xished to know what the rule of the House upon
the subject was.
The SPEAKER said that the petition having been
i
brought up and read at the table was considered to be n
the possession of the House. Under the circumstances,
however, the Hon. Member might either have the original
tition, or a copy of it.
Mr. WAKLEY said that he should prefer the origin il,
and the House might have the copy if it pleased.—
(Laughter.) He then wished to ask the Noble 'Lord,
the Secretary for the Home Department, who had just
entered the House, when he expected it would be conve-
nient for him (Mr. Wakley) to bring the motion before
the House relative to the Glasgow Cotton Spinners ; or,
in other words, when it was expected the Lord Advocate
would be in London, and in his place in Parliament.
Lord J. RUSSELL said he had been in the House
some minutes looking for tho Hon. Gentleman the
Member for Finsbury, who was out of the House—
(Laughter)—otherwise he should have mentioned the
subject before. With respect to the Lord Advocate's
arrival in London, he (Lord J. Russell) had not received
any letter himself from the Lord Advocate, and therefore
could not give any positive information on that subject,
although he believed liewould come to London immediately.
He had no objection to the Hon. Member for Finsbury
bringing forward his motion any day next week, provided
the Canada Bill was not protracted.

Mr. WAKLEY thought the Canada Bill ought to be
protracted; but he supposed from what the Noble
Lord had just stated, that he should not be able, to
bring on the motion till after the Ist of February, and
he trusted Hon. Gentlemen would not then throw
any obstacle in the way of its being discussed. With re-
spect to the Noble Lord's observation as to his (Mr. Wak-
lays) being absent, he begged to state, that he came into
the House shortly after Four o'clock, and that he
had not been out of it for one moment since. He feared
the evening was somewhat foggy, and that it had had
an influence on the Noble Lord's vision.—(Laughter.)
Sir ROBERT PEEL wished to ask the Government
whether they intended to institute any inquiry into the
Combinations of Workmen ?

Lord JOHN RUSSELL said
.this was a subject that
Pressed very much on his attention ; but 1, could
he not
git e a decided answer to tha question of the Right Hon.
Gentleman at present. The subject was one of very great
importance ; but he thought that the Government ought
not to come to any division upon it until they consulted
the Lord Advocate, and learned from him many parti-
culars of which they could have no certain knowledge
from any other source.
Sir ROBERT PEEL had not asked whether Govern-
ment were about to take any steps to put down Combina-
tions ; he had only asked whether it was the intention of
Government to inquire into the extent of the Combinations.
Lord J. 'RUSSELL had understood the question of
the Right Hon. Baronet to be, whether it was the inten-
tion of the Government to propose an enquiry to be insti-
tuted by the [louse of Commons, and with that under-
standing he had, replied that he could not decide as to the

necessity for such an enquiry until he had consulted the
Lord Advocate. _ _

Mr. WAKLEY said, that in consequence of the new
rules, he did not know whether he could bring forward his
motion in any other shape than as an amendment. He beg-
ged to ask the Noble Lord if there was any objection to his
bringing it forward after the Ist of February. He should
be glad to bring it on on Tuesday, but he understood that
it was to be a holiday. He wished the Noble Lord could
make an arrangement for bringing it on then, instead of
making the day a useless holiday.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL did not exactly know when
the Lord Advocate would be in town, and therefore he
was not able to fix a day. It was important that the
question should be discussed, and he was willing to make
arrangements with the Hon. Member for Finsbury fur
bringing it on upon an early day.
Lord MORPETH presented a petition from a place in
the West Riding of Yorkshire, praying for the Abolition of
the Slave Apprenticeships clause.