The Sun.
London, England, 1838-03-22 00:00:00

.
ignoresq of bearing of the real question isi-te—these
tintstions being, first, as to What tiolt;r piiblitaliouSes
should open and 'rlos'e the working days of the
week, and tliSs F.V.!istat at what hour they should k)e. seen
elite'veath day of rest, ,`;ts far as Ole 4.rtt iliir,sstion is
concerned, every user.-®d r'd'otiler ought to be grateful to
Sir P. Leorils arti "Sir Williaais, as well as fro other
(tr. their able ad's-matey. With regard to the,
secentl, would2d?'S 4s';', lition.:of the Middl'esek nagis-
trates is eetallitroding tiered: To re.ritin Public-houses
from being open
.until one c'Zlocs on Sunday need be no
matter of le*ia'ative consideration, it being in the pews,: of
every 'Licensed Victualler to close hi bans, on any d,y,
and at any hour of meliteni. lie rn:y think fit. Farther, it
requires oat even the small sense whichverrtales the body
skf Middlesex Magistrates to perceive that if their resolu=
riots were carried into effect great damage would not only
accrue to publicans in rations districts, but groat ineon-
verlence to the pohlic at. la-;re. Who is there amongst
the smoke-dried citizens of London that does not., during
the fine months of the year, employ their hard-earned
savings to enjoy the country and its healthful breeze on
Suirty—their Only day of rest.? and yet upon this day the
MiJdlesex Magistrates, in their infinite sanctity, consent to
the passing of a law whiela would prevent them from receiving
any rsfresliteent in asy public-house or tavern during
their excursion. Is this fair either toasards the town or the
country Licensed Victualler ? Is it fair towards the public,
for whose benefit and use public-houses were instituted ?
Is there to be one law for the poor, and another for the
rich ? Are Mr. Basher Beaumont and those who voted
with him to have the opportunity of drinking themselves
blind drank, out of their own cellars ; while they would
prevent the poor man from slaking his thirst with a pint of
beer on the road-side ? This is the simple question. Sir
J. Williams and Sir Peter Laurie spoke facts to the meet-
ing most worthy of its attention, but to which it does not
appear to have paid any thing like proper attention. In-
deed, everything, with the exception of what these gentle-
men uttered, ought to he consigned to the fire department
of the County Fire-office, of which Mr. Barber Beaumont
is a Director, and, we believe, Chairman.—Morn. Advertiser.
The burden of Lord Brougham's song of triumph on
Tuesday night, was, that Earl Stanhope had adduced no
" proof" of the individual hardships, which he ascribed to
the working of the new Poor-law system ! " The charges
against the Commissioners," shouted the loquacious Mal-
thusian. "have all fallen to the ground. They will not
brook examination. The new Poor-law system is, in fact,
the most beautiful and the most benevolent of systems!"
That charges of specific cruelty might, without much diffi-
culty, be established against sundry of the administrators
•of the new Poor-law, we entertain not the slightest doubt :
—hut to the establishment of such charges, we should at
all times, be disposed to attach the slightest possible
importance. The best system may be cruelly adminis-
tered ;—and if our deep detestation of the new Poor-law
had no other source than the occasional cruelty of its admi-
nistrators, we should have no objection forthwith, to take our
place amongst its eulogists--even though in doing so, we
might descend to the level of the Globe itself. A stronger
proof of disinterestedness, it would, we think, be difficult to
offer. Our charge is against the system—not against its
regular, or irregular administrators. We denounce the
system, because it is " cruel" in its nature, and brutalising
in its influences ! It is a system, which has for its object,
to confiscate the habitual enjoyments of the labouring poor,
in order to extend and to continue the enjoyments of certain
['classes above them—classes, which have always opposed
!themselves to the influences of our established institutions—
classes which have, openly or secretly, been engaged in
.making war for twenty years past upon the privileges
[of the Church, the Crown, and the aristocracy—
,as well as upon the comforts of the labouring poor!
The new Poor-law system is a cruel system—because
it seeks avowedly to trace to the habits of the labouring
poor, the derangement which has long been perceptible in
some of our most important social relations ! Now, any
attempt to restore what political economists, in their wis-
dom, may be pleased to deem a healthier state, by forcible
changes effected at the expense of the labouring poor, must,
in the nature of things, involve a frightful measure of
cruelty and injustice. If the relations_ of society be dis-
turbed, let these relations be restored by equal sacrifices
on the part of every class ! If a new Poor-Liw be neces-
sary, to adjust the relative enjoyments of labours in em-
ployment, and labourers out of employment—a law for
regulating the policy of the classes which supply em-
ployment, and for adjusting the enjoyments of idle coni
sumers among the rich—ought to have been submitted'
to the Legislature at the same time! If necessaries or
luxuries arc to be retrenched, let all classes in the commul
nity suffer in equal proportions ; or rather, let the rich and they
idle take upon themselves the required sacrifices, and let thetil
labouring poor remain undisturbed in the enjoyment or
their few habitual comforts! At all events, let us not.
hear of a plan for bringing the labouring poor to "al
coarser kind of food"—whilst all other classes are left/
free from the necessity of submitting to corresponding
sacrifices! The authors of the new Poor-law have fury
ni-hed aley to their system, in the recorded opinion that/
"the unemployed labourer must be rendered less comfort-
able than the worst-paid,independent labourer." The unem-
ployed labourer is, in short, under the New Poor-law, to
be rendered as uncomfortable as possible, without any pre-
vious inquiry, whether his being unemployed is attributable
to any fault of his own--and without any corresponding in-
quiry, whether " the worst-paid independent labourer" (by
a reference to whose comforts, the unemployed labourer's
comforts are to be regulated) receives an honest pricefor his
labour ! The system which disregards these two inquiries,
and enforces the principle which we have stated above,
is a cruel and a brutal system ; and can never cease to be
brutal and cruel in its operations, even although its ad-
ministration should be committed to the most humane
members of society ! The new Poor-law, in short, does
not require its innate cruelty to he heightened by any
cruelty of disposition on the part of its administrators I
The system executes itself, and brings all its inevitable.
tendencies into operation, without the necessity of aid
from hard-hearted Commissioners, or Overseers! We
call the new Poor-law cruel, as we style the factory
system cruel, and as we designate the free trade
system in all its branches, cruel ! These systems
render tens of thousands of the labouring poor miser-
able—yet if the systems are to escape the charge of
cruelty, until the misery in question can he distinctly
traced to the acts of individuals engaged in their adminis-
tration—why the factory system itself may perhaps pretend
to he founded on principles as benevolent as those which
Lord Brougham claims for the basis of the New Poor-
law, Lord Brougham?, the Duke of Richmond, and other
Noble speakers on Earl Stanhope's motion claimed for
their darling system, the merit of " working well" in the
south ! It is not unimportant, however, to bear in mind,
that in order to secure for the New Poor-law every pos-
sible facility for " working well," hundreds of families from
the agricultural districts in the south were forcibly removed
to the manufacturing, districts, and sold to the factory
owners ! No partial trial of the Act, in short, will ever
fully bring out its atrocious character;: and we trust that
England may never be doomed to witness its complete
establishment!—Morning Herald.