The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-26 00:00:00

nor would he be ashamed of the title.—(Cheers.)
But he would ask that House what it was that gave
birth to Jack Cade ? Was it not that the people
were writhing under oppressions which they were
not able to bear, and, when smarting under
these oppressions, they determined to take the law in
their own hands?—(Cheers.) And that would be the
case on the present subject, unless they took care
how they legislated upon it.—(Hear.) And if for this
they were to be told that they were rebels like
Jack Cade, they would be only adding insult to in-
justice.—(Hear, hear.) As the Right Hon. Gentle-
man had said that he would postpone the question
till Friday he would not detain the House further,
and he would only repeat that he trusted, as
this question had been solemnly decided upon three
different occasions, that upon that decision Hon.
Members would stand and would vote with him.
Of this he could assure the House that he would
never depart from the course which he had adopted
upon this subject. In that course he would be sup-
ported, as he had hitherto been, by that House.
Lord HO WICK thought that the House could not
with fairness and propriety decide upon the question
at that time. But what was the course the Govern-
ment was now proposing to adopt? They were told
by the Government that they would not listen to
any compromise. They would neither adopt a Ten
nor Eleven Hours' Bill, notwithstanding their
own inspectors had told them that twelve
hours' labour was more than ought to be borne.
The evidence of the highest medical authorities went
to the same effect, and yet the Government told them
they would allow no reduction. What did the Go-
vernment intend to do ? They had been de-
feated on this clause, and how did they pro-
pose to take the decision ? Why, they took
the extraordinary course of saying to the House
if you choose to regulate labour to a greater extent
than we approve of, then you shall not regulate
at all.—(Cheers.) That was what the Government
presumed to say to the House.—(Loud cheers.)
At the present moment, let it be recollected, there
was no check at all on the labour of women. The
inspectors appointed by the Government had
reported that a check was absolutely necessary—
that women who were not, in fact, their own masters,
required and should have the same protection as
children. Well, the Government said they would
regulate this labour by confining it within the
limit of twelve hours—the House said they
would confine it to ten hours ; and then the
Government said to these females, and to the
House, you shall have no limitation nor re-
gulation at all.—(Cheers.) He now suggested to his
Noble Friend (Lord Ashley) that the course he
should take on Friday night should be to resist the
discharge of the order. If he allowed the Bill which
had now made such progress to be withdrawn, what
would be the effect ? The Government would intro-
duce a new Bill still more objectionable in shape than
the one now before the House—the Noble
Lord (Ashley) would have to re-propose his
clause, and if it were carried again, the
Government would drop the Bill.—(Hear, hear.)
If the Noble Lord (Ashley) meant to persevere, let
him persevere on Friday next ; if he had diffi-
culties to encounter, rather let him meet them
in the first instance than in the last. Let
them rather go on with the Bill as it was than
allow a new Bill to be introduced with all the disad-
vantages which the original proposers were anxious
to avoid.—(Hear, hear.) He put this for his Noble
Friend's consideration, and, at all events, when the
motion was made to discharge the order for further
considering the Bill, he, if he stood alone, would say
" No" to it.—(Hear, hear.) Before he sat down he
wished to correct a misstatement of the argument put
by himself and his Hon. and. Learned Friend, made by
the Right Hon. Gentleman. The Right Hon. Gentle-
man, obviously alluding to what he (Lord H.) said,
made him say that intense competition was at the
bottom of the evil. That was not the argument
he had used. What he had said was, that if intense
competition was the source of the evil, they could
only get at it by widening the field of industry.
He had said that intense competition gave a
power to one or two individuals to adopt a system of
carrying on great branches of industry to which the
great majority of persons engaged in them were,
in their wishes, strongly opposed.—(Hear, hear.)
He asked those who had listened to the able speech
of the Hon. Member for Liskeard (Mr. C. Buller),
whether his arguments had not been perverted by the
Right Hon. Gentlemen. His Hon. and Learned
Friend had stated, and he (Lord Howick) believed
had stated truly, that they had acted too long
upon the principle of leaving these mat-
ters to themselves.—(Hear, hear.) He entirely
concurred with his Hon. and Learned Friend,
and he thought the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite
was of the same opinion, for the question between
them and the Government was a matter of detail—the
number of the hours. The Right Hon. Baronet
had said lust now that he could not conceive how it
was conducive to human interest to limit hunsan in-
dustry.—(Hear, hear.) Why, did not the Right Hon.
Gentleman opposite propose to limit industry? In
many of the factories they were at the present moment
working fifteen hours per day.
Mr. FE RR AND—Eighteen hours.
Lord HOWICK would not state more than fifteen
hours; but did not the Right Hon. Gentleman pro-
pose to limit that time ? He thought that the
House ought to resist the motion to discharge the
order of the day.
Mr. BROTHERTON had heard with very great
regret the announcement of the Right Hon. Baronet.
Had he announced that it was the intention
of the Government to consent to eleven hours,
he believed it would have met with general
concurrence.—(Hear, hear.) He did not yield to
her Majesty's Government in anxiety to promote the
commercial prosperity of the country.—(Hear,
hear.) It was formerly customary for mills
turned by water to work day and night ; but
that custom had ruined the trade. Before factory
legislation was commenced, the average time of
working was seventy-seven hours; it was now sixty-
nine, yet no injury had been suffered. He did think
that if her Majesty's Government had come forward
with a good grace, and bowed to the decision of the
House ; or if they had said " the House has de-
clared that it will neither have ten hours
nor twelve hours, we therefore propose eleven
hours as a medium," such conduct would have
met with general satisfaction. He hoped they would
even yet re-consider their decision.—(Hear.)
Captain ROUS congratulated the House on the
prospect of getting rid of this Bill. He had risen
three times in vain during the first night's debate,
for the purpose of condemning the policy which in-
terfered with self-government. In the first division
he did not vote, but on the last night it appeared to
him that a sort of party spirit governed the votes,
and therefore he came to the conclusion that he should
vote for the Twelve Hours' Bill, as it appeared to him
to be the lesser evil.—(Hear, hear.) In the first
place he would observe, that whoever drew up this
Bill, must be totally ignorant of the feelings
both of the manufacturers and the workmen.—
(Great laughter and cheers.) He had heard
Hon. and Right Hon. Gentlemen speak of the ex-
cesses of Jack Cade and of Wat Tyler, who killed
a man for taking improper liberties with his daugh-
ter.—(A laugh.) But he (Captain Rous) believed
that this Bill would be as great a grievance as those
which caused the insurrections of Cade and Tyler.
He looked upon the master manufacturers as
being the most valuable men in the coun-
try. No men in the country deserved better ;
they did not spend their capital abroad in unprofita-
ble luxuries, but they employed it in endeavouring to
promote industry at home, and giving employment to
hundreds of thousands of the people. Nothing could
be more mischievous than the interference of Govern-
ment with private individuals.—(Hear, hear.) Now,
if the House of Commons was to tell him to give
eight half holidays in the week to his servants, he
would tell the House that he would see the House of
Commons —(Hear, hear, and great laughter)—
he would see them somewhere else first.—(Cheers,
and great laughter.) The master manufacturers had
also their feelings, and this meddling and interference
with private affairs was attended with the greatest
evils in all parts of the world. Look to
those places where the Governments inter-
fered with trade and private affairs, and
what were the consequences? In Sweden and
Prusia the Government interfered with families even
to the sending of the children to schools ; and, ac-
cording to Mr. Laing, there was three times the
amount of crime in Sweden that there was in this
country. Government had quite enough to do to
look after their own proper business; there was not
one Government whose affairs were managed with
proper economy. Were any private establishment to
show such a contempt for economy, they would be
bankrupt in three months.—(Hear, hear.) The same
causes must produce the same effects; if they pursued
the same course as Sweden and Prussia, the same re-
sults would be produced. The diffusion of education
among the people of the lowest condition only ren-
dered them unfit for their station. The Right Hon.
Baronet the Home Secretary had stated that the
Noble Lord (Ashley) had refused a high seat on the
Treasury bench. He could only say that if men of
such tender and sensitive feelings were to carry on
the Government, this smiling country would, before
three years were over, become a desert.—(Oh, oh,
and laughter.) Such constant interference must be
mischievous. If they went to ten hours, they would
go to eight, and where should they stop The Noble
Lord would make a most excellent Archbishop of
Canterbury, but he would make a very bad statesman.
He believed that the poor men, generally speaking, in
this country were well looked after; he believed that
in that respect there was no country like England ;
and nothing was more likely to make them miserable
than Hon. Members and Noble Lords getting up on
each side of the House, and making the statements
they had done.—(Liear, hear.) He believed there