The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-06 00:00:00

HOURS BILL.

MAxcuirxrint, THURSDAY.—Last night a meeting of the
Lancashire Central Short Time Committee was held at their
Rooms, No. 3, Oldham-street, in this town. Mr. Paul Har-
graves was in the chair. The meeting was summoned in
consequence of the resignation of Lord Ashley—a circum-
stance which has created great alarm in this district, and in
some degree affected the hopes of success which were enter-
tained of the passing of Bthe ill this session. There were
several members present from Bolton, Oldham, and other
places.
The Cumnsuri opened the proceedings, and explained at
great length the position of the question, in the course of
which he detailed some of the circumstances connected with
Lord Ashley's resignation, and concluded by reading to the
committee the following letter from the Noble Lord to the
committees of the manufacturing districts:—

TO TEE CENTRAL SHORT TIME COMMITTEE FOR LANCA-

SHIRE, YORKSHIRE, AND SCOTLAND.

"Gentlemen,—lt has been my painful duty to resign the
re presentation of the county of Dorset My address, a copy
of which I have transmitted to you, will explain the reasons
th at have led me to this result.

" I deeply regret my retirement from the occupations and
pursuits of public life; but on no account do I so mach regret
it. as that I am thereby compelled to relinquish the care of
that measure, to which you are so ardently and so justly at-
t ached, for the limitation of the hours of labour.
" But you must not despair : there will be found other
r aen to undertake this righteous cause ; and, meanwhile,
your true and excellent friend, Mr. Fielden, has resolved to
wove the Bill to a second reading.
" I exhort you to persevere in the demand you have made ;
and, whatever interval you may accept by way of prelimi-
nary experiment, to abate nothing at last of the limitation
to ten hours ; it is both just and necessary ; and you aik no
more then that which every one openly or secretly assents to.
"In promising you my continued and undiminished efforts,
I may now, I fear, be promising but little of value ; it is,
however, all that I have power to offer, and, by God's bless-
ing, you shall have the best that I can give. I rejoice, sin-
cerely and thankfully rejoice, that my resignation, the last
act of my public life, the last at least so far as I can see, has
been to advance a measure which, if there be justice or hu-
manity remaining, must render the concession of the Ten
hours Bill not only certain but immediate.
" Believe me, gentlemen, your sincere friend and servant,
" London, Feb. 2,1846."
Y said, that since he had '‘receivedjkSHhLisELYoc'd.
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.The SECRETARY
Mr. Mou.nmux address, which
was subsequently moved and seconded, and carried unani-
I mously

s; TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD ASHLEY.
My Lord,—We regret exceedingly that an circum-
stances should have occurred to cause your Lordship to re.
linquish your seat in Parliament, by which we have been de-
prived of your valuable service in promoting the cause of our
children in the House of Commons; but much as we deplore
your less, we should still more deeply lament that, even a de-
sire to serve our cause should induce your Lordship to hold a
seat in the House of Commons, the duties of which you could
not to the fullest extent fulfil in accordance with your own
conscience. We are not insensible to the fact that your
Lordship was not elected to do our work in Parliament, but
to represent the opinions of an agricultural district, who can
know but little of the hardships to which factory workers
are still subject, and therefore hold it right to have their
own views and wants represented ; but with those
matters we have nothing to do. Our course is one in
which parties of all shades of political opinions unite in
supporting, and we are resolved to prosecute it with-
out reference to the passing political questions of the
day. Thee loss of so uncompromising an advocate we feel
most deeply, but that event only stimulates us to redoubled
exertions, and with the help of God we shall continue our
efforts, with a spirit of determination and increased vigour
never before exhibited, in pressing upon the attention of
Parliament the claims of our children, and the necessity of
an immediate adoption of the Ten Hours Bill.
"We rejoice that, under the circumstances, the conduct-
ing of our cause in Parliament has fallen into the hands of
our well-tried friend Mr. Fielden. His known worth, and
the universal estimation in which the Hon. Gentleman is
held in the country and in the House of Commons, give us
great hopes of success.
" We cannot conclude this address without expressing our
thanks and the deep obligations we are under to your Lord-
ship for the very successful efforts you have made on our
behalf, and the great amount of amelioration which hes been
extended to us through the instrumentality of your laudable
exertions to improve our condition ; we also venture to
express a hope that the electors of Dorset will once more
return you to the British Senate, where your labours on be-
half of the poor of your country may be brought to a suc-
cessful issue.

" In the meantime permit us, most respectfully, to solicit
your Lordship to come down amongst us that we may have
the opportunity of personally offering you our thanks, and
thereby show to the world how devoted the working-daises
are to your Lordship, and the sacred cause in which you have
for so many years been engaged.—We are, my Lord, your
devoted servants and well• wishers,
"(Signed on behalf of the Committee)
"JOSEPH MOLLINEUX, Secretary."
In the course of the proceedings, the best thanks of the
Committee were voted to Mr. Fielden, for his uniform sup-
port of the Ten Hours Bill, and the promptitude with which
he had taken charge of that Bill on the resignation of Lord
Ashley. It was also resolved to send an address to the elec-
tors of Dorset, requesting them tore-elect Lord Ashley. After
the transaction of some other business, the Committee ad-
journed at eleven o'clock.

Dispatches were received yesterday, at the Colonial-
office, from the Governor of the Mauritius.