The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-18 00:00:00

the public good that it should not pass; and yet, be.
cause he opposed it upon conviction, he was to be called a
cold-blooded political economist.—(Hear, hear.) It was
time he had investigated the science of political economy as
applied to the laws of trade, and as that investigation
had induced him to come to a very different
conclusion to that of Honourable Gentlemen opposite, it was
hardly fair that vituperation of the vilest character shoul%!
be heaped upon his head.—(Hear, hear.) lie should, how..
ever, hardly have addressed himself to this question had it
not been for the address of the Noble Lord the Member
for Newark, who wound up his speech with half a dozen
perorations, and concluded the last of them with this
observations—" And yet the working people of this country
understand that gentl,2men on this side of the House (mean
ing of course his own) also are attached to that party o.
historic recollection, are in favour of a Ten Hours' Bill, ant
were not opposing themselves to the rights of the people."--
(Hear, hear.) Historic recollection of party indeed! Ht.
thought, if he were to look back into the page of history, he
should find that this party had been engage.
in one continued effort to repress the energies of the people. •
but he was not called upon on that occasion to enter into
the lists with the Noble Lord upon that subject, but wer
tee called upon he could do so.—(Hear, hear.) That, how-
ever, was not the question he wished to embark in ; but, with-
out,any feeling of party, he wanted to address himself to the
great question which was now occupying the attention of the
House.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman who last ad-
dressed them had held out a threat to the House by which
he proposed to influence their judgment through their feel-
ings, and he wished to know whether that mode of deal-
ing with the question was worthy of the representative of
the people—was it rational ?—( Hear, hear.) Tne Hon.
Member for Knaresborough said it was not fair to ask the
labourer this question, " Are you willing to take ten hours'
wages fur ten hours' work ?" But, in his opinion, it was
more honourable putting it that way, than holding out to
the operative that he would receive twelve hours' wages for
the ten hours' work if this Bill were passed. Now, could they
by any legislative enactment secure for the labouring man 12
hours' wages for ten hours' work ? If they could do that,
why could they not receive twelve hours' wages for six hours'
work? Nay, he would go further, and say, why could they
not receive twelve hours' wages for no work at all ?—(Hear,
and laughter.) The Honourable Member for Weymouth
had indulged in some remarks against over-pro-
duction, and argued that it would raise the price
of a shirt a farthing, or a coat a penny. He appre-
hended that was not the way in which they ought to meet
the question, nor was trade calculated upon that principle.
How was it calculated? Why, a man having a certain
capital to exhaust, employed a certain number of labourers
in the production of certain articles, which he afterwards
threw into the home and foreign markets to compete with
others, and if he was undersold of course his speculation
failed. That was the principle which regulated trade, but
if by legislative enactments they attempted to cripple trade
they might depend upon it America would not follow
their example, and much of their trade would be lost to thew
for ever. But what was the state of the country when
this measure was brought forward? Why they were about to
maintain three millions of people just at the very moment
it was proposen to them to tie up the right hand of the British
people. He had heard it said that their success in their con-
dicta with Napoleon was owing to British valour. There was,
fvs. irn
plement they used in the conflict, and
that was the British leaeseve supplied by the man axe: uring
sinews of the country. rney nal now an enemy far
greater than Napoleon, who was a far more potent
instrument than Napoleon. They had a famine stalk-
ing over the land. Ireland was starving, and England
was approaching starvation state, and yet at this
moment, for party purposes, the question was raised.
The Irish people were promised mutton every day, the En-
glish were promised twelve hours' wages for ten hours' work.
Deis was called statesmanship, dealing with the interests of
a great country upon a comprehensive plan" by the large
party opposite—" my party." It was the conduct of the man
who hoisted a flag upon the sea coast in the hope of getting
something from the scramble which might arise from the
shipwreck of some unfortunate vessel that might pass along
the coast. Whether the ship should hoist the green flag of
Ireland, or whether it be the ten hours' flag, it is all the
same to " the great party." He had been asked why he
did not come forward to meet a Noble Lord
(Lord Ashley) upon a former occasion. He was
not afraid to meet any person upon the principles which he
held. He was not 'however a peripatetic, wishing to wander
up and down among the people, propounding his principles
to them. His place was in that House, and in that House
he would always state fairly and openly his opinions. lie
believed that the great body of the operatives of this
country really and seriously believed that wages could be
regulated by Act of Parliament. He differed from that
opinion; he was perfectly confident of the truth of his
opinions, and he wished that those persons were present by
their representatives in that House to give effect to their
principles and wishes. He hoped that he would soon see
the day when his Hon. Friend the Member for Finsbury would
submit a really large and comprehensive measure to the
leader of "the great party," which should give to the
labouring population of the country the constitutional
means of expressing their opinion upon subjects before the
House. The way in which the Noble Lord and " the great
party" dealt with the operatives of the country
was always by a sort of patronising air ; they
patted the people on their heads, and said to them
We will do you all good, only be quiet—just listen to us
—we will be your pastors and masters—we will will guide
you always, and give you whatever you may desire in the
position in which it has pleased God to call vou—but do not,
for Heaven's sake, attempt to be legislators' He (Mr. Roe-
buck) wished them to be legislators, and to have the means
of constitutionally expressing their opinions. He believed
that it would be a great calamity to the country, if at the
present momentous crisis this measure were to be carried.
He deeply sympathised with the Noble Lord at the head of
the Government, and most heartily wished him the utmost
success in his measures; but so sure as he was now the
chief adviser of the Crown, be might be assured
that he would be crippling the energies of the
country, and sullying the lustre and authority of his
great name, if he lent his authority to the passing of this
measure. He hoped he would not deal with the measure in
so trifling and mischievous a manner as he had proposed, by
limiting the period of labour to eleven hours a day. If the
legislation were worth a farthing, it was worth going all the
way. —(Cheers.) If by legislation the Government could
make the people happy,they ought to make them completely
happy, and, for his part, he would rather vote at once with
the Hon. Member for Oldham than for the eleven hours' pro-
' position.—(Cheers.) He hoped there Would be no
trifling of this sort, no half measures, nor any
' halting between these distinct and opposite Opinions.
If the measure of interference was good it ought to be ap-
plied to the agricultural labourers as well as the manufac-
turers; and he would propose in this Bill, if it ever came
into action, that no farmer should employ any child under
13 years of age, and that he should also be compelled to edu-
cate them in the same manner as the manufacturers were.
If any young rhetorician who wishes to employ rather a
strong weapon with a weak hand, and draw up
affecting details with his own diluted phraseology, he
need only say that lee comes to advocate the rights of
woman.—( Hear, hear.) Yes, that was the phrase. Now,
he never heard any alltesion to the agricultural women,
who were constantly employed in the cold and wet
at fourpence a day. It was a very favourite
theme to describe the effeeets of factories upon the
human frame. He (Mr. Roebuck) had no professional
knowledge
subject, but Ise could read, and he had
a
through a great number of factories,
and dhe
goneehealth of the females was in ten thou-
sandraniod u hnuedp
had
d that that
gtohne
times a better condition than that of the women
employed in agriculture, whom he had seen driven to the
field, in the cold and wet, ill fed and ill clothed, and they
were so because their &testers were not able to pay
them higher wages ; but if they interfered with
the amount of work done by the factory operative,
they would necessitate a decrease in his wages; and these
Same misfortunes would then befal them. Now, if he wanted
to show a foreigner the glory of his country, its wee lth, and
its riches, and if he desired to give him a high opinion of the
power of the country, he would take him to those places of
industry in the north of England. It would not be to the
hovel of the agrigultural laboarer in the south, nor to show
him how the poor women had only fourpence per do)-.
No, he would bring him to those immense towns which had
sprung up from this mighty intelligence—the enterprise of
England—( Hear, hear)—where thousands of men were fed
them,
from if they chose, demand a certi-
ficatend clothed.
every
man who employed
children in his factory. But, whatever was good
for the factories of the north of England, must be surely of
ao
equal benefit to the agriculturists of the south. He, for his
part, could not draw any line of distinction, and he would
take care to introduce a clause which would extend the benefit.
When this
f education Le
disappointment did come, the first parties who
would come to that House to complain of their legislation
would be the labouring classes themselves.—(Hear.) The
consumer would feel it also, and the nation would
feel it to its heart's core; and when they had to supply
millions with food, they would find the Chancellor of the
Exchequer complaining that the energies of the nation had
been crippled, his finances cut short, and the right arm of
England weakened.—(Hear.)
Mr. P. BORTHWICK considered that the labour of
women and children ought to be restricted, whether employed
in Printing-houee-square or in the fields ; but as
the experiment, with respect to both sexes ought to be
fairly tried, and as he had voted during the whole time he
had sat in Parliament for the measures of Lord, Ashley, he
should support the second reading of the Bill,
Sir R. H. INGLIS said, although the Hon. Member for
Bath :and he occupied seats in the same locality in that
House, be seldom agreed with the principles which he (sir.
Roebuck) enunciated ; but in the speech which he had
delivered there were some observations which he heard with
unfailing pleasures particularly his concluding observation—
that sooner or later the passing of such a measure
its the one before the House was inevitable.—(Hear, hear.)
The result of the experiments which had been made gave
them every encouragement to go forward. The prophecies
against the operation of the present measure were stated four
years ago, when the late Government was in power, and
when its supporters on one occasion were dragged through the
mire in order to rescind the vote which they had given in
favour of the Bill. He said then that, postpone it as
they might, sooner or later the measure must be carried,
and become the law of the land. The other point on which
he agreed with the lion. Member for Bath was, if the mea-
sure was to be agreed to by the ey should take the
Bill as it stood. With the views which he (Sir R. 11.
Inglis) entertained of the ultimate success of the
ten hours' measure, he could not see how the
Government should prolong a vexatious agitation
out of doors for the next few years. He trusted instead
of doing so, her Majesty's Government would reconsider the
question, and consent to the Bill as it stood on the table.—
( Hear, hear.) Should they do so, and the Bill not work so
favourably as expected, then they could come down to the
House in 1849, and recal the step which had been taken.
The Hon. and Learned Member for Bath had ascribed party
motives to the lion. Members whose names were on the back
of the Bill, especially to the Noble Lord the Member for
Newark (Lord John Alanners), but he could not see how he
could make this appear, as on all other questions those Hon.
Members entirely differed. It was reasonable to suppose
that, in introducing the present Bill, they were actuated by
pure and honourable feelings. The experiment of the last
twenty years gave them every encouragement to
go forward, as all the prophecies which had
been made against intervention had proved fallacious.
His great object was not to raise the price of labour, nor
the actual expense attendant upon the manufactuika of
cotton, but to distribute the work more equally. At the pre-
sent moment, as he was informed, the work was distributed
not over the six days of the week, but in many mills over
four days only, and in others for only three days, the
work being the same in quantity. He had letters from Man-
chester, which stated that some mills only worked four days
in the week, some only three days, and some were entirely
stopped. lie wished to call the attention of the House to the
fact, that this moment there were men working 48 hours
per week, and who would, if their hours of labour were re-
duced, work 59 hours. But that work would be distributed
over the whole week, so that they would get six days' wages
for six days' work, and the manufacturers would deriee e
greater amount of work from the system. The number of
hands employed during only four days in Manchester was
2,240; those employed for three days were, 3,039 ; and there
were about 500 employed for one day in the week; whilst
those not employed amounted to 6,415 ; making a total of those
partially stopped from work and those altogether stopped,