The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-30 00:00:00

THE POOR LAW.

Mr. BRIGHT presented a petition from a clergyman
in the neighbourhood complaining that the Guardians
of the Poor had not properly treated a poor woman,
one of his parishioners, and praying that the House
would allow him to substantiate his allegations at the
bar of the House.

PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.
Mr. ROCHE wished to put a question to the Hon.
Me,nber for Montrose with respect to his motion relative
to Parliamentary reform. There was a great difference
of opinion as to the intention of the Hon. Member in the
making that motio❑ in Ireland. One party thought the
Hon. Member and those with whom he was associated
were entitled to the name of real Reformers, while
others thought that the course they intended to
adopt was not calculated for the good of Ire-
land, but for that of England only. He wished
therefore to know from the Hon. Member for Montrose
whether he did or not intend to include in his notice
Ireland.

Mr. HUME said that he meant, as well as those who
acted with him, to do justice to the whole of the
United Kingdom.—(Hear, hear.)
IRISH REGISTRATION.
Mr. BATEMAN asked the Noble Lord at the bead
of the Government, pursuant to the notice he had
given, whether the Government intended to go into
Committee on the Irish Registration Bill before Whit-
suntide?

Lord J. RUSSELL said the Government did no,
intend to do so.

COPYHOLDS.
Sir G. GREY, in answer to a question from
Mr. AGLIONBY, said that the Lord Chancellor would
shortly lay on the table of the House of Lords a Bill
with respect to Copyholds.
• STAMFORD BOROUGH.
The report was brought up of the General Committee
of Elections, nominating the following Members to try
the merits of the Stamford election :—Sir T. F. Lewis
(chairman), Mr. W. P. Wood, Mr. J. Stuart Wortley,
Lord H. Vane, Sir J. W. Hogg, Mr. Ellice, Sir J.
Pakingtoa, Mr. Horsman, and Mr. Henley.
SENTENCE ON MR. MITCHEL.

Mr. T. B. ROCIIE—Sir, seeing the Right Hon
Baronet the Secretary for the Home Department in his
place, r wish to ask him a question. The House is
aware that Mr. Mitchel has been tried, convicted, and
sentenced. He has since been treated in a way that
would not have been justified even in the case of the
' commonest convict.—(Hear, hear, hoar.) He has
been hurried away from his friends and from
his family.— (Cries of " Order, order.") Well
then, to be brief, my question is simply this, whether it
is the intention of her Majesty's Government to carry
out in its fullest vigour this cruelly disproportionate and
unjust sentence?
Sir GEORGE GREY—I will say nothing about the
epithets with 'which the Hon. Gentleman accompanies
this question. If I understand him rightly, what he
means is this, whether the sentence passed upon
Mr. Mitchell will be carried into execution. If
that be so, I have to inform the Honourable Gentleman
that instructions had already been given for carrying that
sentence into effect.—(Opposition cheers.)
THE " MORNING POST"—BREACH OF
PRIVILEGE.
Mr. GRATTAN said he claimed the right to speak
at this period of their proceedings upon a question of
privileges relating to a report which appeared in a paper
called the Morning Post, of what was alleged to have
fallen from him last night.
An Hos. MEXBER—Nobody cares for the Morning
Post.—(Laughter.)
Mr. GRATTAN said, be that as it might, he must
take notice of it now, because what appeared in that
paper did not fall from him, but was a pure fabrica-
tion.—(Hear and laughter.) It was a mischievous
paper, although it was perfectly harmless.—(Hear, hear,
and laughter.) But this was another instance of not
reporting, but wilfully misrepresenting Irish Members;
and he begged to take that opportunity of
telling the House, that from what ho had
seen in that House and elsewhere, both of Government
and newspaper reports such as these upon this mis e-
rably-cireulated paper—(Hear, hear, and laughter)—
he, was quite convinced that they make a point of
always misrepresenting what falls from the lips of an
Irish Member.—(Order, order.)
The SPEAKER asked if the Hon. Gentleman in-
tended to conclude with a motion ?
Mr. GRATTAN said he certainly did. He intended
to move that the editor of this raper be brought to the
bar of the House.—(Loud laughter.)
The SPEAKER said the Hon. Member in a matter of
privilege had a perfect right to make such a notion,
but the usual course was to hand the paper in which
the misrepresentation appeared marked, and then handed
to the clerk to be read from the table before the motion
was made.
Mr. GRATTAN said he knew the rules of the House
very well—(Hear, and laughter)--and he begged to
give notice that he would adopt that course to-morrow.
METROPOLITAN BAKERS.
Lord ROBERT GROSVENOR rose pursuant to
notice to move that a Select Committee take into consi-
deration the petitions of the Master and Journeymen
Bakers, House on the 3d day of April last.
He said, in order to maintain his argument, ho would
lay down a proposition which had been generally as-
sented to, but had been almost as generally overlooked
through the selfishness with which human nature was
inflicted. That proposition was, that men of all nations
were members of one great family, and that when one
member suffered any other member, either directly
or indirectly, suffered likewise. If that was true, how
much more stronger ought the truth to appear when
the sufferings to which he alluded were confined to one
particalar class of persons. Those who aro engaged in
the baking trade had not to endure sufferings which
were only of a temporary or accidental character, but
sufferings which were of a normal and continuous kind,
and which they could not get rid of without the inter-
vention of the House. Journeymen bakers were occupied
from 18 to 20 hours a day in a description of labour
which was injurious to health, and which precluded
them from obtaining that mental and moral improve-
ment, or that domestic recreation, which the hard-
worl:ed labourer ought to be allowed to enjoy after the
hours of business. They worked in a heated and un-
thwholesome atmosphere, which not only destroyed
e health of the journeymen but rendered them
1 old in constitution before they arrived at
the prime of life. And it was upon those
grounds that th 3 petitioners prayed that the House
might be pleased to pass some measure to remove some
of the grievances which so heavily weighed upon them.
The Noble Lord then read a number of docu-
ments descriptive of the condition of the
journeyman bakers and of the great necessity
that existed for the Legislature to adopt remedial
measures. He showed by reference to the evidence
of surgeons and others that the members of no
trade in the metropolis were so overworked, and
that in such vitiated atmospheres that they be-
came prematurely old and seldom lived long.
the bakers of the metropolis had confidence in the House
to do them j•zstice, and that the principles of Christianity
would have great weight in inducing them to do so. He
felt convinced that the House would grant him the
Committee he asked. He was not an utopian dreamer
of the Louis Blanc school—(A laugh)—but he
was sure that the House would never prevent inquiry
into a subject of such importance if the slightest neces-
sity for it was only shewn. The Noble Lord concluded
with making the motion of which he, had given notice.
Sir W. LACY EVANS seconded the motion, and WAS
[LEFT SPEAKING].