The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-25 00:00:00

ago, at which a resolution was passed condemning the I
Present poor-law, and art amendment proposed by Mr.
Fergus O'Connor, to the effect that, in the opinion of the
Working people, they would receive no redress either in
or out of Parliament unless the charter became the law
of the land, which was equivalent to universal
suffrage. There was a large number of persons, moving
in a higher walk of lite, present, but. nevertheless, eight
of ten of those pre,;ent, held up their hands in favor: o'
the amendment. What caused all this dissatisfacticia ?
Twenty years ago they Laird nothing about the charter,
but as the Reform Bill. for which the Whigs taught the
People to cry, " the Bill and nothing but the Bill," de-
Prived the people of their franchise, they thought it
would be well to give them some compensation, and they
proposed the New Poor-law Bill ; but if the same feel.
leg of dissatisfaction continued, the Government would
find it a far from easy matter to preserve the peace of
the country. Year after year he had explained the
grievance to the House, but still them and their peti-
tions had been treated with silent contempt ; and the
same treatment which was pursued in the Andover
Union, also prevailed in other unions throughout the
Country. Why, it was only the other day that he was
shown over a poor- house, which was stated to be a
Model—as a place in which the people were well fed
and well treated—but he found that the rules
Of the Poor-law Commissioners were disre-
garded when the directors found the poor suffering
from them, and that they had been complained of for
u▪
oing so ; and it appeared that a gentleman was sent
down by the Poor law Commissioners, who walked round
the house but never entered it. No sportsman in Great
tritain or Ireland would allow his dogs to be treated in
the same way as the poor were treated under this law.
Medical men, for instance, were paid fourpence for
attending a case. He asked the Hon. Member for
Finsbury (Mr. Wakley) if a medical man could properly
Perform his duties for a fee of fourpence or sixpence ?
medical man in his part of the country had
told him that he could save a man's life with
ease by giving him proper medicines, but that
if he bad done so it would have cost him the
Whole of his salary. Did they. think that the poor
'Would not brood over such cases—in their club-rooms, at
their meetings, and in their shops ? He wished to have
some pledge from the Government that the children of
the poor would not be treated in the same way as at
present, as it was now the practice to send children to
the manufacturers, whenever they applied for them—a
Manufacturer was, for instance, in the habit of saying,
" Send me the number you have, their ages, sex, health,
and I will send a person to look at them ;" and he
h.weuld, ne doubt, send an overlooker, who " took stock."
They were, no doubt, taken to be " absorbed," for
that was the term in the factories—children
who had been reared in the open fields,
,and villages were taken from the union workhouses, to
oe destroyed in the manufacturing districts. But the
Government, in the face of the opposition of the people,
were prepared to carry the Bill by a large majority. He
wished to know how the Noble Lord, and the other
Members of the Government could meet the people at
the ensuing election, if they passed this Bill without
modifying any of the provisions of the old law. After
laying that the Ten Hours' Bill had been carried by the
agitation
of the people, and that he had abstained
from taking a part in an extensive agitation, which
was proposed for the Whitsuntide holidays, on the
ground that it would not be respectful to the
Government, some of whom supported a Ten
ttours' Bill, he proceeded to say that he
believed no man, with the exception of the Hon. Gentle-
'nsn the Member for Finsbury, possessed more of the
Confidence of the people than he did, and yet, notwith-
atanding all he had urged against the poor-law, no alte-
!Mien was to be made in it, and the only notice taken of
„ilia statements by the Noble Lord at the head of the
Government was, that the statements which he had
brought forward were unfounded. He repeated this ob
servation of the Noble Lord to the 2,000 or 3,000 who
comprised the meeting at the Crown and Anchor, and on
l
• calling upon them to say whether the statement was
true or false, they all held up their hands in the affirma-
tive. That House. however, did not represent
Fite people ; the Reform Bill deprived them of
,410 franchise, and when the present freemen expired,
instead of sending one hundred and twenty Members to
that House they would not send one ; and when they
bowed and scraped to them upon the hustings, they
would recollect that, at the close of the session a ques-
, tiOn of the most vital importance to an immense mass of
lhe people was brought before them, and that they re-
used redress the grievances of which they had com-
? Cued during the last 20 years—that the poor had still
'•° walk forty miles to obtain relief; as the unions were
!till of an outrageous size ; that the pay to medical men
,or attending them when ill was at a rate which a man
Would not pay for the treatment of his dogs ; that the
aged and infirm were still driven into the workhouse when
_tuey sought relief ; and that their furniture was stolen
i
man's
them, for he held that the compulsory sale of a poor
furniture before he could receive relief from his
'llion was nothing more than a theft, and that men were
separated from their wives, and children from their
Parents. How could they meet the electors and non-
electors? But did they think that a Parliament elected
s,_'3ll the universal suffrage principle would pass such a
measure as the one they were now discussing? The
Barden of the song of the Poor-law Commissioners to
the Hon.
was " We have saved your money ;" but
the Hon. Member for Finsbury had shown that the very
Zulverse had taken place. They saved it by starving
Tls poor to death, a fact which was recorded in the ver-
ets of coroner's inquests, and if the verdicts of juries
Were to be set at nought, they had better be given up,
and the expense avoided, but they had proved that the
Nor had been murdered by this law.
Sir JOHN CAN.I lIOBHOUSE—By the order of the
k4Mlinissioners?
Mr. FERRAND—By the order of the Commissioners.
:)te would give a case. He attended a coroner's inquest
In his neighbourhood upon a woman who was starved to
death. He was present when the jury returned from
stated
the body, and in reply to the coroner, they
:..ated that the deceased was a mere "bag of bones.
The child of the dead mother could hardly give her
evidence from the state of distress in which she
bbd been plunged. She said she had gone to
2 relieving-officer, and that he had refused to
who
her and her mother any assistance. The man
a° was present admitted that this was so, and in the
moatl, insulting manner he put his hand into the pocket of
s sporting jacket, and producing a paper said, " This is
re'
vy authority." It stated that he should not pass out of
lig: boundary of his parish ; and this poor woman did not
%lac more than twelve yards on the other
The
of the brook which terminated its boundary.
e verdict was that the woman was starved to death,
and' he said that she was murdered. She had committed
°frence, and yet because she lived a few yards from
foodoundary line, she was allowed to die from want of
this crying
How long was this to continue ? How long was
~;s crying evil to continue ? If he used violent lan-
; age, the treatment of which the poor had complained
peas.. also violent ; and he, for one, would never be a
them
to the oppression of the poor, and then expect
recto to be loyal. Had not the poor cause to pray for a
Asolution whilst this treatment was inflicted upon them?
‘,,°3' change must be for the better for them. This
be suffered
the state of England, and ho trusted that it would
suffered no longer. Year by year it was growing
redressed
and he warned them to take care, for unless they
them ressed their grievances then they would have to redress
,e after going through the horrors of a revolution.
q would, therefore, second the amendment proposed.
Mr. ROEBUCK said that one would suppose that
they were discussing the new poor-law, whereas they
Were only discussing that portion of it which required
a Certain number of gentlemen to form a commission
for the administration of those laws. By the present
system three gentlemen were appointed to carry the
Act into effect, and by this measure it was proposed to
tabstitute ono acting commissioner, and certain nominal
commissioners, and the acting commissioner was to
,re a seat, if he could get it, in that House. The. onl)f,
Change they were discussing was as to the formation of
the Board of Commissioners, and he asked what course
in',„iseussion had been pursued by the Hon. Memberh
r
-oinsbury, and the Hon. Member for Knaresboroug
digs Honourable Member for Finsbury had dragged into
Cushion the principle of the whole law,and had entered
into the details and operation of that law which in its
integral, state was not before the llouse. With regard
t
1,; the charge which had been brought against the coin-
„'ssioners, he did not think that there was any cause of
lit"ronlaint against them for adhering too strictly to the
tW,eitself but for vacillation and for yielding too much
th the pressure from without, and to the observations of
CO° press. Charges had been brought against those
ttultnlnissioners in that House when they had no oppor-
httitY of defending themselves ; and the most violent
setts and strongest vituperation had been put into
tteration against them. Under the new system these
beal.ges would no longer be made, for the answer would
World,
on the instant. Those who read the accusation
in the same paper, read the defence, and
th• °°Yrnous slander would no longer be sent to
41 press to be published, as the most instant
11 E
immediate refutation would be given. He did
4'4
complain of these charges, for, standing as he did
imilfil the midst of that circle, governing, as it did, by its
evune, the whole world—the slightest accusation,
beenthe utterance of the greatest slander upon this sub-
' became became so important, that they could not, and dared
beerefuse to listen to it. He would ask whether it was
tee
%,t:fling in a Member of that assembly—a Member of
bee ornmons of England—to assert that the people had
sea murdered under this law, and to bring forward
• es which were not substantiated, which went forth to
'n world and increased the cry which was already
°i
V A charge had been made against a gentleman
affon,
gto a generous profession—a surgeon—of an
atin'co which approached nearly to murder, and certainly
mounted to manslaughter. In the name of the Corn
England, he demanded the name of the person
a uad so conducted himself? By the law of England,
✓ person was required to give "the relief that was
Ittuxed bll those who sought relief under its pro-
sonlng• If" the statement had been made that a per-
*h. had not administered that relief to a dying person
tee Hon
the law compelled him to administer, why did not
Cues
Gentleman, who was himself a magistrate, at
hrkteae cognizance of so gross a breach of the law.
statement equally strong had been made
L the
s Hon. Member for Knaresborough. The dr-
it7stances were flagrant, and the order of
Is. Poor-law Commissioners was stated to
iv?n ' been brought forward in justification.
th . if she had gone to the wrong overseer, considering
t hunger did not kill except by slow process, there
/tag ti
the „toe for her to have gone to the right officer. But
ohs Gentleman charged with murder the high
ugh rs of the Crown a crime which was only less than
,treitSoD. He would be amazed if shame, that feel-
ors °'.ala ingenuous bosom, did not rise at the assertion
such a .
calumny. He would take one of the cases
mentioned by the Hon. Gentleman. Ile told the House
that
2WOman near her accoucheinent had engaged a
lodging,delive a surgeon, and a nurse, but she was
eh red
while alone. Why, the very description
Wed her to be no pauper. But the Honourable