The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-14 00:00:00

birV Vattion

SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Clock.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS
FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
STANDARD.—The Factory Bill was last night read
s third time and passed in the House of Commons; Lord
Ashley's amendment (limiting the hours of labour iu
factories of young persons to ten) having been
rejected, after a long debate, by a majority of 297 to
159. The greatness of the majority, by which the
House has, within a few days, rescinded its solemn de-
cision, three times repeated, will come by surprise
upon the public. We confess that though we anti-
cipated a decision against Lord Ashley's proposition, we
were not prepared for such an adverse majority ai 138.;
and now we can account for it only by two causes :
—First, the distinct and unequivocal declaration
of the Ministers that they would resign office if
defeated ; secondly, the occurrence in the debate
of menaces against the corn-laws, introduced into
the debate by Lord John Russell and some others of the
new converts to the principle of limiting the hours of
labour. These two considerations co-operating—the
fear of losing a Ministry that had proved the faithful
protector of agriculture, on one side—the fear of that Mi-
nistry being succeeded by another, the lender of which
at the very moment threatened to repeat the desperate and
ruinous attempt made in 1841, would naturally alarm
the agricultural Members of the House. As reeards
the first of these two considerations, there can be no
doubt that if Ministers appreciate, as we believe they
do, the magnitude of the change that Lord Ashley's
proposition would ultimately produce, and fear the
effect of that change, they were right to give it
a determined , opposition, and, if unsuccessful in
that opposition, to release themselves from the
responsibilities of office. For an Administration to
prosecute the routine of Government without the power
to govern—to submit to defeat after defeat, as was
the practice of Lord Melbourne's Cabinet, or to merely
evade defeats by abandoning to the majority its
own conscientious judgment, is of the worst pos-
sible example. And, indeed, the present Minis-
ters had precluded' themselves, and we hope all
future gevernments, from pursuing this unworthy
Course, brthe memorable resolution which closed the first
session of 1841. They who think with us, that the
Cabinet is in error respecting the short time ques-
tion, must nevertheless approve, on constitutional
grounds, of the course which they have taken re-.
specting its decision. But though the Ministers
themselves are perfectly clear in the matter, We are
not quite sure that the fears of many who supported
them last night were not unreasonable. Our own
belief is, that though Sir R. Peel should resign office
on the Ist of June, he would be no less Prime
Minister on the Ist of August. A Whig Admi-
nistration, is what, while a remembrance of the
ten years from 1831 to 1841 shall remain, the
country will never bear ; and there is, even
among the Conservative party, no man in whose
genius, wisdom, prudence, temper—in a word, in whose
consummate statesmanship the country has so much con-
fitlence as it has, most justly, in the qualifications of Sir
Robert Peel. The gentlemen who sacrificed their own
opinions, upon an important and deeply interesting ques-
tion rather than deprive the country of the services of
such a Minister, acted no doubt conscientiously, and
paid to Sir Robert certainly the highest compliment
that could be paid to a public man ; but ought they
not to have given the people credit for the same feeling;
ought they not to have remembered, that though the
great majority of the nation differ from the Right Hon.
Baronet upon this one question, that same majority
gratefully appreciates his value as a Minister, and after
defeating him, even with the effect of render-
ing his resignation necessary, would restore him
to office as zealousle, and with even a more
cordial affection, than 'they placed him there in 1841?
The second consideration—the apprehension excited by
the Anti-Corn-law menaces of the new converts—
ought to have been of even less weight than the fear of
disturbing the Ministry. Without wishing to detract
from the value of any recruit to what we believe to be
a good cause, we must still remember that the converts
in question are party men. They may not, and we trust
not, come over to us with party motives, but they cannot
help bringing with them their party incumbrances. One
of these is hostility to the corn-laws; and as it is too much
for even the most unscrupulous of politicians to get rid of
two distinct sets of political principles at one and the same
time, they must try to reconcile their old enmity to
the protection of agricultural, with their new ze-1
for the protection of manufacturing labour. Betwetn
the corn-laws and the limitation of the hours of labour
there is, however, no natural connexion except this—the
competition of foreigners, of which we have heard
so much, as necessarily enforcing long hours
of labour, would be infinitely increased by a
repeal of the corn-laws. All that the foreigner in-
habiting a less encumbered, a less taxed country, with
a population long familiarised to starvation, and an
abundance of water power, cheaper than steam as 21 is
to 12, and working much nearer than we to the great
Continental markets—all that the fOreigner wants in
competing with us is capital and a few years
of a free trade in corn would hand over to him the
capital of this country. " Were it not (said the
late Mr. Rothschild) for occasional bad harvests,
all the money of the world must flow to and settle in
England ;" and we have little doubt that the recent active
competition which has excited so much apprehension
might, with little difficulty, be traced to the effect
of the successive bad harvests from 1838. The
inquiry, though an important one, tcarcely falls in
with our immediate subject, and therefore we dis-
mise it for the present. We can, on the whole, find
no valid reason fur the votes of the majority of those
who opposed Lord Ashley last night, though a e are very
far from imputing improper motives to any considerable
number of them. And now to come to the most, im-
portant question. The fate of the short time propo-
sition having been decided fur a session, how are
the friends of that proposition to act ? to pre-
pare a strong force and a strong case against the
next session, when, or at least in the succeeding
session at farthest, they must carry their point, if they
only act with prudence. The principle of limitation has
been established, and it was strongly, though somewhat
inconsistently, urged by some of Lord Ashley's most
distinguished opponents, that every such principle must
in the nature of things be progressive. How, then,
is its progress to be aided and accelerated ?
by angry agitation and violent speeches, and, as was
not obscurely hinted, by " strikes ? Oh, no; none of
these things ever forwarded any but a bad cause
and have never been employed in a good one
without retarding or injuring it. The way in
which the strength of the factory labourers is
to be augmented, is by the preservation of
that noble character which they have achieved
for themselves. It is in rooted repose that the
forest oak acquires its magnificent dimensions ; it
is in repose from 'violent agitation that large
bodies of men acquire a great and noble character. Next,
information adapted to the new phase of the question
must be diligently sought for and accurately prepared.
Enough is known of the suffering of the factory la-
bourers by direct testimony—more than enough for
those who are by experience acquainted with the cor-
ruption of human nature, and know that all responsible
power which men can profitably abuse, will be abused
by those who possess it.
GLOBE.—A. motion stands on the order-book of the
House of Commons for this evening, the discussion of
which will open the eyes of the public to the enormities
perpetrated by Lord Lyndhurst's Chancery Reform Act,
for the passing of which the session of 1842 will be dis-
tinguished in the history of Parliamentary credulity, indif-
ference, and idleness. When Tory Lord Chancellors endea-
vour to lull suspicion asleep by extraordinary professions of
regard for the public interests, then is the time for
legislators to be more than commonly on their guard
against deception. The motion we allude to, which will
he brought forward by Mr. Watson, Q.C., is for " A
Select Committee to inquire into the orders- for
compensation made by the Lord Chancellor to the
persons filling the offices of Clerk of the Enrol-
ments, Comptrollers of the Hanaper, Riding Clerk, Six
Clerks, Sworn Clerks, Waiting Clerks, Agent or Re-
eerd Keeper in the Court of Chancery, under the Act
5 and 6 Vic. c. 103, and to inquire into the nature,
duties, and emoluments of thoie offices before the pass-
ing of that Act, and their right to compensation (and
if any, to what amount), during their life, and for seven
years after the death of such- person ; and to inquire
into the taxation of suitors in courts of law and equity,
and the application of moneys raised thereby, and the
propriety of continuing the same." The Chancery Officer,
Abolition Aet .was framed by, or under the immediate in-
structions of, LardLyndhurst, and was introduced to the
House ()freers by the Noble and Learned Lord with a com-
placency of demeanour, and a blandness of tone, which
tended to allay suspicion that any mischief to the public
interests could lurk under so fair a form. The legal pro-
fession concurred in denouncing the Six Clerks'• office
as the principal cause of the reproach which the
public agreed to vast upon the Chancery Court ; the
very name of which was synonymous in the public ear
with interminable, delay and ruinous expense in litiga-
tion. Until Lord Lyndhurst undertook the Herculean
task, that Au can stoble reposed in security. The
dread of interferingg " vested interests," and the
horror of touchingtleittl.' time-honoured institutions of the
country, were alternation] pleaded as an excuse for
not abolishing the monstirtirevances which oppressed,
harassed, and frequently
Lord oyl thend
uhraspt less
undertook suitors
in the Chancellor's Court,
and—it was boasted—completed, th‘P)..:cealriodu,ous labour !
It 'AIM not until the Lord Chancellor's celebrated
Lthe.e
Abe e
orders were issued in December
last, thatrs
at which the benefits of the Chancery
Edon Act had been purchased Lecatne
Whether the framers of the Act had any idea that.
the compensation which it gave would amount to a
sum approximating to that which it is now ascertained
must be paid under its provisions, we do not undertake
to pronounce. Certain, however, is it, that a sum
considerably more than a million sterling is awarded
as compensation to the holders of the offices abolished
by the Act. If the Lord Chancellor knew that such
woad be the effect of his first experiment in law reform,
he ought to have stated the fact. If his Lordship was
ignorant of that which is now made manifest, it will go
fara to convict him of negligence in the discharge of his
public duties. It will also cause suspicion of the Noble
and Learned Lord's other reforms in the administration
of. justice, which he has engaged to effect.
first grand experiment has entailed a gross amount
of charge on the suitors of the Court, in the shape of
compensation to the holders of useless offices, to the
extent of 1,358,424/. 3s. sid.! This is more than enough for
the present. That the Bill was pressed through Par
mentwith inordinateur,apidity, will be seen by a reference
'i
to the proceedings
ornament. The Bill was introduced
she last month of th
e session of 1842. It was brought
into the Lords on the 11th of July, 1842 ; and passed

the House of Commons in eight days, nearly sub silentio.
It received the Royal Assent on the.loth of August fol-
lowing—the Bar being on Circuit and the London attor-
neys generally wholly:uninformed of the measure. In
the Commons it moved two stages after midnight. Han-
sard's Debates record not one line of discussion in Par-
liament on the Bill. There is yet some hope for the
country from the inquiry which Mr. Watson seeks to
obtain by his motion.

It is rumoured that the vacancy at the Board of
Admiralty, occasioned by the appointment of Rear-
Admiral Sir George Seymour to the naval command
in the Pacific, will be filled by Rear-Admiral Bowles,
now commanding on the coast of Ireland. It is also
rumoured that the Rear-Admiral will be a candidate
for the borough of Launceston, in the room of Sir
Henry Hardinge, the new Governor-General of India.

THE LONDON GAZETTE.
(THIS EVENING.)

WHITEHALL, MAY 13, 1844.

The Queen has been pleased to direct letters patent to be
passed under the Great Seal, granting the dignity of a Knight
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland unto
James Annesley, Esq., of the Madras Medical Establishment.
CROWN-OFFICE, MAY 13, ]844.
MEMBER RETURNED TO SERVE IN THIS PRESENT PARLIA..

MEET.
• BOROUGH or AsnicooN.—Frederic Thesiger, of Bryan-
ston-square, in the parish of St. Marylebone, in the County of
Middlesex, Esq., her Majesty's Solicitor-General, in the room
of Thomas Duffield, Esq., who has accepted the Chiltern
Hundreds.