The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-18 00:00:00

;,o Le the -more cautiuus iii the steps they to k
I with regard to the intermeddling policy. It must not
be supposed that he was the advocate of the mill-
owner. On the contrary, he was speaking for
those whom the millowner employed—namely, the
labourers ; and on their behalf, ai,d their behalf
alone, be warned their Lordships of the direful
consequences that must inevitably follow the adoption
of this measure. There was, however, no ground to
justify their Lordships adopting it. True, they had in-
terfered to a moderate extent already, but then that in-
terference was to get rid of a crying evil. Here, hew-
ever, there was no such cause to justify the interference.
There were no charges of cruelty brought against the
millowner—there was no overworking of the labourer.
He was satisfied with his present situation, but the pro-
moters of this Bill knew better than he did himself, and
told their Lordships that he was not only overworked
but excessively and cruelly overworked. Their former
interference was in defence of children to prevent their
being unduly employed at night, but the present Bill
was not to protect the labourer but to destroy one-sixth
part of the total manufactures of the country. That
was the real object of the Bill, or at all
events it was the direct tendency of the measure, and
he put it to their Lordships whether they were prepared
to strike such a blow at a branch of the trade of the
country, which exported upwards of 70,000,000/. per
annum, and employed upwards of a million of people.
Surely such a step must considerably reduce the wages
of the labourer, and yet it was said that the Bill was
for his protection. For his protection, indeed ! Why,
be had been told upon the best authority, that if the
steam-engine of a mill were stopped for repairs, but fur
a few hours, it had a considerable effect upon the wages
of the labourer. The labourers in manufactories would
feel every reduction that might be made in the hours of
labour, and by the present Bill the wages would undergo
a very material diminution. More than one-sixth also
was taken from the master's profits, and if the profits of
the masters went away, the wages of the man must
follow. He had no doubt but if this Bill were persisted
in they should have ere long to retrace their steps. The
argument of his Noble Friend who had just sat down—
that manufacturers were at present compelled to work
only six, seven, and ten hours per day—was no argue
ment at all in favour of the Bill. The present distress
in the manufacturing districts was very great, but that
surely was no reason why they should endeavour to per-
petuate it, which would be the effect if the present
measure became law. "To belay" things, as the sailor
termed it, and make no effort to change them for the
better, was not the way to secure the prosperity of the
manufacturing interest ; and he apprehended if
they placed restriction on the hours of labour
they would be only confirming the existence of the
present state of things. He would ask their Lordships
would the Americans, the Dutch, or the Swedes, follow
their example? No, they would not; but the conse-
quence would be that not only those nations but the
French and other continental nations would be stimu-
lated to increased exertion, and would eventually suc-
ceed in driving them from their own markets, and anni-
hilate the manufacturing and commercial superiority of
this country.—(Hear, hear.) With regard to the moral
effect of this measure he would observe that poverty and
distress was as fatal to the mental and moral as it was
to the physical condition of the people. Now, by taking
cff one-sixth part of the profits of the manufacturers,
there could be no other result than a dimi-
nution of the bodily comforts and circumstances
of the working classes. (Hear, hear.) The
consequence of this would be poverty. And no more
effectual means could be desired to secure the moral
degradation of the people. He certainly did think
there would be much more good sense in an eight
hours' Bill, than one for ten hours. The principle was
the same, and the probability was greater of effecting
the object they had before them. The man who had
worked ten hours was so fatigued as to be unable to
attend to what was intended to enlighten his mind.
—(Hear.) He (Lord Brougham) had had experience
of that for twenty-five years, during which he had en-
deavoured t') educate the labouring classes, and had been
successfully defeated by sleep.—(Laughter.) But the
most remarkable thing was that all the good was to be
obtained at the sacrifice of one-sixth of the working
man's week's wages. Mr. Arkwright, a gentleman who
possessed four mills in the North Riding of Yorkshire,
having heard that his men were agitating short time,
made a proposal of short time to his workmen. The
first and largest mill decided for the long time ; the
second, by a large majority, chose the long time ; and
the third and fourth decided for the short time. He put
one at least of the mills on short time, according to their
own election, but they had not been long under the new
arrangement till they discovered that there was a dimi-
nution of their wages. This was a new fact, and they
re-considered their choice. But there was another au-
thority against this Bill. The House of Commons had
sent up the Bill backed by a majority. In theory it was
to be reckoned the same House of Commons. Well, in
March, 1844, the Twelve Hours Bill was rejected by
a majority of three ; shortly after they rejected
a Ten Hours' Bill by a majority of 7—not the same ma-
jority ; and they would neither have the Ten Hours nor
the Twelve Hours' Bill, and the Eleven Hours even had
not yet been heard of.—(Laughter.) The 3d of May
came, and the Ten Hours' Bill was again rejected by a
good workable majority of 137. But the year 1846 came,
and with a split in the House. The Corn Bill had been
passed, and the land-men-and the wool-men were pitted
one against another. A measure affecting corn had been
carried, and the other party were now determined to turn
against the mills. A short period of three years got a
majority of 108 for the second reading ; such was the
unaccountable change. And was this the time when the
House of Commons should come to such a conclu

sion ; a time when everything was threatening,
and food riots were occurring in the country ?
Was this a measure to enforce in the present state of
things, when in our country, the other day, special
constables s ei 1
food
riots; were sworn in, in consequenceof the
and
food, when the people were craving for employment
food, was this the time, upon speculation, upon
shadows, and upon fantasy, to pass a measure which
would curtail the four great and staple manufactures of
England? Nothing could injure or curtail manufactures,
or in the slightest way injure them, that did not, of ne-
cessity injure man. The wool trade was one of the four
that was to be struck at by this Bill. 240,000 tons were
grown, and they were about to cut off one-sixth part of
the labour upon it; and would not that, of necessity, cut
down a part of the labour. He had heard the speeches
of the Noble mover and seconder of this measure, and
they were characterised by an absence of all personal
reflection, and therefore his observations did not apply
to them, but to less wise men elsewhere. A
measure to be worthy of the sanction and
adoption of the Legislature, and to be
useful must combine beneficence with benevolence.
The execution of good was as essential as the will to do
it, in order effectually to benefit those for whom it was
designed. There were, he admitted, thousands of poor,
bard-worked, half-famished men engaged in the manu-
factories, and they all wished to remedy their sufferings,
but their reason should be convinced of the efficacy of
the measure they adopted before they passed it. They
should nut pass it because their feelings of compassion
were roused without seeing clearly that that which was
offered to them as a remedy would really have the effect
intended. He had himself seen the toils of these unfor-
tunate men engaged in agriculture. He had seen them
returning to their homes worn out by sixteen or seven-
teen hours of labour, with garments drenched with per-
spiration. without even the comfort of a change of
clothes, or the comfort—to them a luxury—of fuel. He
had seen these, and was not the condition of the hardest
worked factory labourer to be envied by such men as
these ? Their physical existence was affected, and a
man employed as a farm labourer was at the age of 45
as infirm as a man of 70 in the upper classes of life; and
if they spoke of unhealthy employment, why did they not
turn their attention to other occupations far more delete-
rious and destructive than that of factory labour. There
were the workers in steel and brass, who lived in an atmos-
phere filled with the filings of the metals upon which
they worked, and who died at early ages from diseases
engendered by it. Why did they not pass such a mea-
sure with regard to them? Why, it would be to them
as it was to the factory labourers, an act of the grossest
and most cruel injustice ; and yet the workers in brass,
from the time of Tubal Cain downwards, were destroys d
by their occupations. It was upon all these grounds,
and with many apologies for having so long detained
them, that he asked them to refuse their assent to the
Bill, and moved that it be read that day six months.
The Bishop of LONDON said that he felt that he
laboured under a great disadvantage in following the
Noble Lord who had just spoken ; but he felt bound to
express to their Lordships his entire concurrence in the
measure which they had then under discussion, and
which had been so ably attacked by the Noble Lord who
had just sat down. lie gave his assent to the measure
without the smallest feeling of doubt upon his mind
that the grounds upon which it was proposed were
unsafe or unsound.--(Hear, hear.) He was ready
to admit as a general principle, that they should not in-
terfere with the free competition for labour ; but there
were circumstances which might warrant such an inter-
ference, and render it necessary. He thought that it
was the duty of a Government to protect the interests
of any large class of the community when it was likely
to suffer, and to remove, as far as it could, any evils
which pressed upon them unnecessarily. It was with
regard to the large body of children employed on fac-
tory labour, that he thought this measure most parti
cularly deserving of their Lordships' attention. The
physical condition, and the moral condition of the
children were objects to which their attention ought to be
directed in whatever oecupatical they were engaged.
The Noble Lord had painted to them in glowing colours
the miseries suffered by the agricultural labourer, but
he (the Bishop of London) thought that the picture Has
overdrawn. The agricultural labourer could breathe
the pure air, and see the clear light of Heaven, and he
could ut any time suspend his toil—even though it were
only for a few minutes—so as to prevent that exhaustion
of strength and spirits which continuous labour would
necessarily entail. The factory labourer, on
the contrary, was shut up in a close factory,
and could not rest fur a moment. The ma-
chinery was kept continuously in motion, for a given
number of hours, and a given amount of work was to
be done. This had its natural effect upon the labourer ;
and was marked by the exhausted spirit, the debilitated
frame, and the early death. It was a fact, notorious to
all in the manufacturing districts, the labour caused a
fearfully increased number of deaths. The average du-
ration of human life, in the manufacturing districts,
was one-half shorter among the factory labourers than
amongst the other operative classes. This was not the
only evil which arose; for, with the children employed,
not only physical weakness, but a want of mental cul-
tivation was the consequence. Before they reached the
age of thirteen, they might, perhaps, be sent to an
evening school ; but after thirteen a double amount of
labour was thrown upon them, and their physical
powers being too much exhausted during the day, to
admit of their attending an evening school, they lust all
that they had learned. It might be argued that this in-
terference would—pro Canto—injure either the working