The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-25 00:00:00

Secretary of -State for the home Department had stated that crime
saws greatly reduced in this country. He (Mr. Ferrand) would tell
him that that was not the fact. [At this point of the lion. Gentle-
Maus address Sir James Gri tam was engaged in earnest conversa-
tion with an Hon. Member.] Perhaps when he (Mr. Ferranti) told
the Right Hon. Baronet that the protectioeists were 462 a-head in
South Nottinghamshire, he weld.' attend to him.— (Loud pro-
tectionist cheers.) When the Right Hon. Gentleman said that crime
had not increased, he wouN call tale attention to the address of Mr.
Justice Coleridge to a jury in the north, in Nov., 1844. That Learned
Judge said that a steady increase o:' crime had taken place throughout
the acutitry, and in their own county the Increase was not so much
in crimes of a petty nature as those of a more serious character.
Within the last eight years the number of prisoners had nearly
doabied in that county. That county was the manufacturing county
of York. At the present moment the number of prisoners in Wake-
field gaol were greater than it had ever been known
before. When he was in the north of England he was thrown
lueo contact with large bodies of the working classes.
and they instructed him to bring their case before the House, fur
they sail that the battle was the battle of labour against capital,
and they told him, that far from the extension of trade in this coun-
ty lacing of the slightest benefit to them, It had been their bitterest
curse, and they prsduced to him statements of the greatest import;
aura to prove that such was the fact. Hie Hon. Friend, the Mem-
ber for East Cornwall, hadlately published, at Iris own expense, a
i
histoty of the working population In the manufacturing districts n
the north of England for the last sixty years. This was written by
a working may, but who had shown ability far above his order. [The
• 1144. Gentleman then read several extracts front the work in swee-
tens, from which it appeared, that while trade had largely ex-
tended, the wages of the labourer had been decreased in proportion.]
He would now quote a statement made by Mr. Muggridge, the Com-
miseloner appointed to inquire into the state of the manufacturing
distriiee in Vie midland counties. In examining a weaver at Roch-
dale, he asks, " What had you for weaving this piece of cloth in
1123 ?" The weaver replied, " 2/. ;)s." Mr. Muggridge then asked
hint what he received for it now, and he replied " 19s ," aid added,
" that trade hal more than doubled since 1e29." In examining a
Bolton weaver, Mr. Muggridge asked the following questions -e
" Would you be as well offcorn if the laws were repealed, as you
were in a given year?" " No. If you gave me. all my food for
nothing I should net he so well off, becauSe, since that per od, the
reduction which has taken place in my wages ;tiliounts to more than
the price of all the fbod I cat, and the clothes I wear." Now,
that was the statement of a Bolton weaver ; and he had other in-
stances which he could quota, of a still more startling character, It
would suface, however, for hint to pledge his word to the House that
ever singe machinery had been introduced into this country for the
puspose of manufacturing goods, the wages of the working, people had
beets gradually falling. lie had been charged by the Hon. Member
for Stroud as being the opponent cf every 'description of machineey.
Now, he positively debied that charge— he was in favour of machinery
solo's-, as it was subservient to manual labour ; but when it destroyed
manaal Lessem, he :saki, in the language of the late Sir Roert Peel,
that nsachinery because a curse rather than la benefit to theb country.
Was auy lion. Member opposite prepared to say that the price of
food did not regulate wages? Was Ike ilon. and Learned Member
for Belton prepared to say that it did not?
Dr. BOWRING—I ans.
Mr. FERRAND continued Wel, then, if the Hon. and Learned
Member would refer to his speech which he made on the 26th
January, 1535, he would find a statement to the effect that
the foreigner was enabled to compete with the Bri-
tish manufacturer through the eheapliess of food abroad,
rending it unnecessary to give his woremen the same wages as were
paid in England. The Hon. and Learned Member fir Cork, Mr.
Ricardo, the Hon. and Learned Member for Birmingham, and Mr.
Rathbone Greg, all cgreed in this opinion. Now, something had
been said about the country gentlemen of the South of England pro-
posing to the manufacturers to take off their hands the surplus popu-
lation of their districts. Ile was glad to see the Hon. Member for
Wolverhampton in his place, and he called upon him, if he dared, to
refute this statement.
Mr.' VILLIERS—No ; I will not indeed.
Mr. FERRAND continued—No; he was convinced the Hon. Mem-
ber would not, for. he had always conducted the corn-law debate in a
moderate and honourable tone, and had oily made one
• charge against the agricultural body, which he should show
shortly that the that. Member had failed to prove.
lie would assert it, without fear of contradiction, that the agricultu-
ral population of the south of England were criginally taken into
Lincolnshire by the League manufacturers—(Hear, hear)—that the
proposition was never made to the agricultural Member a, or to the
employers of those labourers—that they, in fact, never heard of it
until the thing was carried into effect.—(llear, hear.) The autho-
rity which he had for saying this, was the letter of a Quaker, which,
before he had done with him, he would prove to be a trafficker its
human blood. That letter was-addressed to Mr. Chadwick, the Se-
cretary to the Pcor-law Commissioners. That Quaker recommended
that the agricultural labourers of the south of England should be sent
Into Lancashire for the purpose of being employed in the cotton
manufacture, wh:re there was good remuneration for labour ; and
yet at that very moment a Committee of that House was sitting, at
which it was Clearly proved that he was in the practice of giving
no more than 2!s, d. per day to hie hand-loom weavers. That Quaker
was Mr. Henry Ashworth, of Bolton, who, In consequence of the
great support which he gave to the Leaguers, was called the head of
the Anti-Corn-law League. Now was it not disgraceful that any man
could be found who would be guilty of such conduct? (hear. hear.)
But there was Mr. Robert Hyde Greg, another Anti-Corn-law
League manufacturer, it gentleman who subscribed his thousands to
the League, to whom he would refer. Mr. Greg wrote a letter on
the 17th of September, 1844, only three months after the
date of Mr. Henry Astiworth's letter, and his letter was
a kind of refresher to Mr. Chadwick. Mr. Greg said ia
his totter, that he had fur some time thought of addressing Mr.
Uhadwiek on the same subject as his friend Henry Ashworth had
written upon a short time before. It was, he said, a inert important
question, and one which deserved immediate attention. lie then
went on to recommend that all poor men amid women, of every age,
and even children and orphans, should be transmitted from the south
of England to Lancashire and Yorkshire. lie said that they would
be moat acceptable to manufacturers who were, short of labourers, or
those that were starting new concerns, because the variety of
the UM mthieturers' wante were great.—(Hear.) That proposal came
from Mr. Greg, the Anti Corn-law League manufacturer, and the
proposals in his letter were adopted. He (Mr. Farmed) held in his
halal a r. gut:sr invoice wide!' wits sent of a family that hid bees
packed off into Lancashire, after they had been kidnapped in the
nericutiural emetics to :;epply the waists of the manufacturers. He
alga hell in his hand an extract from an article which had
appeared in the Nanci,ester Guardian with regard to sending the
egricultural population of the south of England into the manufactur-
ing districts. The editor of that paper expressed hie earnest hope
that another draft might be made from the same, source, for the
purpose of giving comfort to the agricultural labourers. Two years
ago the Hon. Menther hail moved for certain returns which should
prove to this House and to the country that the population
bad been worked to death in the manufacturing districts.
Partiatnent then called upon the Poor law Commissioners to
account for the tens of thousands of the 'nimbi tan:s of
the agricultural districts who had been induced to go lute
Yorkshire and Lancashire—S,Coo was the whole number for which
they could account, and he was in a position to prove that the re-
m:Under were worked to death. Before, however, he did that, Y e
would read to *e House some extraordinary documents connected
with the Poor law Commissioners, which had come to his hands; and
now the country would begin to know what has been going on al
Somerset House between these Poor-law Commissioners and these
Laanufacturere connected with the League. Within these last tei
Slays he had received a letter, of which the following was a copy :
" Ludlow Parish, West Wycombe, Bucks.
" Sir,—l beg to inclose you an account male out against Ludlow
parish, fcr the charge of four persons belonging to the same, wi
were tampted to migrate at the instance of Mr. Ashworth. 'flu
parish of Lualo.v, in 1839, refused to pay any more money to Mna
Avis, as they considered that 4e. 6d. per week, paid by the passe
OA not go tober, hilt for wages. She was, therefore, diseliarged
try it on with file purists, and ultimately went !seek in -
lend lebours. The perish subsequently sertied the
ender the threat of leg al proceedinge.-1 remain, S r, your obedit

t for ozricl:.
,ccount (71.

54r,"'lat,
wouid nor: call the attention of the Ilouse to the sufferings
ttlyene poor peolle, anti he thought he could net better effect hio pr
pa,,,e than by callin; their attention to the following extraornlina]
document :

" Mrs, rS. 11. and E. Ashworth, Dn. to Dr. Barry :—Mary Ann
Avis, child burnt and died, 1!. ; Mary Ann Avis, small-pox, 1!. ss. ;
Geo -ge Allen and family, typhus fever, P. Its. ed. ; George Gilbert
an 1 family, sticttness, 11. ; George Gilbert and faintly, small-,13x,
hi. 15s. ; to ca.sh paid in *l4 of wages, at 45. 64. per week, 47!. 13s. 4d.
Total, 59/. 31. SAtled the sixth day of the third month by the Poor-
law Commissioner, Assistant rarker."
Itnis the House would see that these Poor-law Commissioners
paid tbr the single item of wages to Messrs. Ashworth the sum of
47/. 131. 44. Now, this was part of the exposure—it was not A—
lm lead ether documents. No. p5B of the Commissioners papers proved
the payment of 6/. 15s. 44. to Mary Gregg on the same account. On
Vehruary 7 he received another (locum-at, proving the payment
of a further van; of IV. 85. 24. to Mary Avis. After this payment, it
seems.the, with her family, was sent home by an order ofICMOVai, hut
In what state will be seen by the felowing invoice sent with her to
the pa:-1,11 of Laidlaw : —Maria, age: 10 years ; Emma, aged 5 years ;
Mega 1111A7c, one year. lie had another letter which he would Ctcu
-read. In which Messrs. Ashworth acknowledged the receipt from the
Poor-law Commissioners of the stun of 22!. Cs 6d., paid by them to
Widow Avis; and they also considered that it was an unworthy re-
turn, nut that thy should look to the West Wycombe Union for the
payment of the Pail sum of Is. Cd. per week, which had been paid by
theta to Wily.v Avis. The lion. Member for Manchester, who
stated at a public meeting iu that town that they could buy up the
,vhole of the land in Engiantl, declared that the working population
5.,!.vin..? to death, tuct livim7, if living it could be

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11 ~~:'.t

tli:',ic

Les.,;zia nt.-,ituf.,:cturer., li.za prorr-L.:01. to the 1-'_, ,' , . i.-.,-,ftrzT3
to go down to tiao north of England for t',-k, p.• t• i.iL.-fii,!?, roadand higher wages. Ile liebl in his hand two statements, ' ~. e'' I': In
NI- ropy it a document, which was laid on the table of til.ll i louse,
veit!elt would show that the unfOrtimate w;ric.ilturi -: la-
. tiour,..rs were actually kidnaNted and carried down to
Lane tshire, The House :out the country should hear that night
what had heeonit: of them. And then he Heat:eat they would de-
ceive the workaig classes, zitel that they would oppose the measure of
her Majesty's 10 The maituraetarcrs admitted that the
measure woul.t. throw out of cultivation tlic poorer description, of
laAil. Now that house should hear how the matitcaeturers treated
their poor workmen, and the 11011. Members ilipuNite would them-
N,lvi, I, ob igoil to say that tic: ewes Willeil he would athlete to
WIIIIIIStirpiI,,S ttilytiling Or the; kind they had ever heard. lie (Mr.
Ferranti) had tfiVit some pains to collect thr three years the number
of neck tents which tail taken place it manufactories in the NOW],
Will he (Willa nerd to consist of 311, out of which 3, were caused by
the machioery being in motion at the time, Out of those 31t) cases
he Wiiy knew of two in whiolf the manufacturer hail made any rep t-
rafioo, or comdensation to the injured party. Titres hundred
and /erre : torn limb front limb by the Machinery of thosz, free
traders : lie would tliallen,;'e any lion. Member opposite who re.
Prplilied the Anti-Corn-law League to produce any wise in the
rdinizry or an agricultural rrbottrer being injt,ruil without receiving.
compeasation. 'ltheir Heuer:tut preacher, convicted of blasphemy—
their discharged soldier, with his lashes marked upon his back—such
were the persons they sent to inquire into the cooduct of comitry
gentlemen.—(Cheers Irian the protectionists.) They should now hear
front the lips of at it until a 3lember of that House, what
it, I 'jet-mite or tit :agricultural labourers to whom he hail alluded.
Tl,i, lion. Member theft read a statement, In svhieli it was alleged
that in many instattetrs the poor tit:attires were starved while flogged
to thi•ir work, and were e,rten driven by the harsh treatment it Inch
they received, to the committal of suicide.— (Loud cries et' " hear,
hear.") That Was the treatment the poor agricultural labourers
reeeiVell, torn feem their green lanes and shady valleys, to drag out
a miserable existenee in the manufacturing districts. And non', if
those filets were true—and he eliallciied rutty 3lentber to deny it—
was it lea thealuty of the Covernment, as well as of every county
3leniber, to demand that the agricultural labourer should be pro-
tected, and that they should be permitted to exist ow the land on
witieft they hail been horn, rather than be sacrified mail immolated for
the benetit of the cotton lords of the North of England?- (I.7lteers.)
Ile had not exposed the one-fourth of what he in-
tended ; but the day would arrive when he should
do so, ihid he was very nittelt inclined to believe that lie had said
satlietent that night to be remembered for a lens,; time by the Anti-
Corti-Jai! League. Ilutpow lid would exhibit their complete selfish-
ness. The House may remember (haviug frequently heard It moi-
thou:o) the name of a Mr. ticorge Wilson, who was the chain i it
or tic: Anti-t aali-la.w League—who presided at the League nt' 't:
ings—and who was a 17,ets)lible,tfi.,,,littliat society.
all
g•entlenTati
also adopted the motto—
. titr when the Right lion. Ilartznet i tluvs ye,
welt„ tt tor
he
in the Tariff 1842 In w it he ulter.itious which .te proposed
as agboenutiteitEoareduce the duty on foreign starch
from 91!or 10.'. to IL, this
free
was a manufacturer of teat
article, said "Oh, this will never don? reelltrade in corn, if you like,
but no reduction in the duty on 'star (Laughter). He did not
however, rest till he had convened a m
facturers down at Manchester and at thi:erating of
ta° starch mann-
,rimieeetiLlig resolutions were
expressed to send a deputation to the the view of in-
ducing him to alter his proposals so far as
wstiretelltht was concerned.
were exemptecL
Xasters and starch were the only articles
This
a friend of
the reduction then made. He received a letter
his at that time detailing the above circumstances. ' Individual
was also a free trader, but this extraordh
duct on the part of Mr. Wilson and the :t(l.l7,sr:urtn.emebeir's-
of the League with regard to this subject excited h
Hon. (I ntletnan here read the letter in question.) It was somewhat
(rile
extra rdinary that in this new tariff of the Right Hon. Baronet the
wishes of Mr. G. Wilson were equally protected, and the prohibitory
duty, as far as starch was concerned, was not atrected.—(- Hear,
hear," and laughter.) That was the way the Government of the
country truckled to the members of the League—(Laughter.) He
had then in conclusion to allude to a subject which was of a personal
nature. He had suffered not a little from the conduct of an lion.
Member of that House ; and perhaps he should never have alluded to
the matter but that the gentleman had asserted at a public meeting
that he intended repairing to KnareabOrough to deprive him (Mr.
Ferrand) of the representation of that borough, and he called on the
Anti-Corn-law League to assist into in carrying out
his ohjoot. Now as he (Mr. Ferrand) was to be opposed by
the Honourable Gentleman, he alluded to the Member for
Stockport, or his nominees, it would be only fair that they both
ehoald stand upon equal grounds.—(Hear, hear.) Owing to state-
ments that had been made in reference to him (Mr. Ferranti) he
applied for, and obtained, a Commission of Inquiry, at which Lord
Ashley presided. The Hon. Measlier then quoted questions from the
report, the answer to which was that certain individuals, who were
indlowners, kept cows and let them out, and that many workpeople
were compelled to take more tunic than they required ; and that all
the millowners were in the habit of getting It) per cent. out of
their shops. Its then went on to say, that he would not
utter another word upon this question, out he would
. appeal to the gentlemanly feeling of this House urea
the question ; it was let, he admitted, to do se, but he would leave
the question now to the House to decide whether the two lion.
11-ewe-Ts opposite had not made a charge which was totally divested
ifl ti ai" : csittd eof foundation.—(Hear, hear.) He would be
_ ,n,7a t, int et Ini at the hustings, hut it would cost the Hon.
, --.,`,...;.`_"' ~_ ,,1 - tegged to thank the House fur the kind :Wen-
/ i."-..10, w 1I- M. 11, ,• - been heard. He had performed his duty to
/....--..: 11--hkop?
Gttiii it.; '
e-...,:,..... ,-,,, prepared to go before them again, and he
(
-t. - , , ,Frozell. ,"!, ;sa . it be able to do the same.
‘ -.,i -146,.oici.uti 4 -v.,
is 'l',l if his opinion had been taken, the divi-
t ..
t4,have been taken that night, but at the
crefore, he did hopedt' been set apart for
~. ' tili7e.ifitteo',.---. t ion. won°,ll.4,cil: suchi importance should
--, ,xeipurate bt : ..,•
.104 : -- - + • .., -••••••• ... , nil he trtutet
, i ) I that cite taia,titt could be ad-
I a -Meber who
N - -