The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-16 00:00:00

year 1847. Uti ler these cii cumstanees, he believed he
was justified in repo :sting an assurance which had been
m vie to him on goal authori e—namely, that that agi-
tation was a ftelu,e. In coreirmseion of that sta'emeer,
ho th: 411 t Se .e. 7 to the rspors of the factory inspectors;
arid lie bleed he would not be io!ti that those reports
coun not be rel;ed on because they had been written by
Govermneit uffie.ers. Fir his part. he believed that if
any accusation had ever been merle against those gen-
tlemen, who stood so high fur intelligence and character,
it was not that they hed been too subservient to the
millowners, but, in their zeal to protect the rights of the
operatives, they had sometimes been disposed to forget
the just claims of those by whom the operatives were
employed. lie found Mr. Leonard Homer writing
thus:—
" The plan which you have recently brought forward
for putting an end to that system, if nut utf versally ap
proved, has been received with great satisfaction by a
large majority of all those interested in the question, so
far as I have had an opportunity of judging from per-
sonal inquiries and fr )m the opinions given to mo by
the five sub-inspectors in my district as the result of
their inquiries, The merit of the plan chiefly dwelt
upon is, that by limitation of the factory day to 12 hours,
m six o'clock to six, out of which the hour and a
halt for meals must be given, it will secure a uniformity
in the hours of work in all mills, so for as concerns the
employment of young persons and women. It is an
early stopping in the evening that the workpeople chiefly
value; and if the free evening hours from six to nine be
secured, the great objet sought for by the Ten Hours
Act will be attained; for then the factory-workers will
be in what may be called the normal state of the ope
naives in the generality of trades, and will, like them,
have leisure fir domest:c arrangements, fur improving
themselves by attending evening schools, with opportu-
nities fur healthful and reasonable recreations. The in-
tended general stopping of the mills at two o'clock en
Saturdays has given especial satisfaction; and it will
prove, I doubt not, a great source of comfort and advan-
tage to the workpeople and their families."
Captain Kineard said—
"lt is my belief that the proposed Government measure
will produce generally the most satisfactory settlement
of the question that could have been devised; for, ex-
cepting in the woollen districts, the increase of which, as
I have already shown, will be peculiarly affected by the
proposed measure, and among the owners of other mills
that are worked by relays, and who must naturally be
averse to the change, my own observations, as well as
the information of the sub inspectors, lead me to believe
that the proposed Government measure will be hailed by
the mass with great satisfaction."
Then Mr. Saunders stated—
" The evils which have resulted from the state in
which the law has unhappily been so long left, have
been, it is hoped, sufficient to insure a legislative decision
on the subject during the present session of Parliament;
and I have the satisfaction of stating that the principle
on which the Bill now before Parliament has been
framed, has given great and general satisfaction. There
are partial objections, some of which may, in the pro-
gress of the Bill through Parliament, be removed; but
it is earnestly to be desired nothing may interfere to
delay carrying the msin features of the Bill into effect.
Then these gentlemen united, including Mr. Hewitt,
from whom he had not quoted, added :
" The Bill now before Parliament for defining the dura-
tion of thefactory working day contains valuable provisions
and we anticipate ccnsiderable assistance from it in our
efforts to obtain a uniform observance of the law. The
abridgment of the working day within the ordinary
limits of twelve hours, including the prescribed intervals
for meals, and the curtailment of the afternoon labour of
S aturdays, appear to us a very advantageous arrange-
ment. We hope that this amending Bill is calculated
to allay the excitement which has existed for so long a
period in the manufacturing districts, by removing
many serious impediments to the full sc elmplishmeat
of the objects of the Legislature in limiting the hours
of the labour of young pers2ne and women employed in
factories."
Those were the opinions of the factory inspectors, and
he trusted they would have due weight with their Lord.
ships. Some amendments had been proposed in the
Bill to which her Majesty's Government could not con-
sent ; for iu their opinion it would be unfair in an ar-
rangement of that kind to deprive the millowners
of the very small advantage which was held out to
them in the measure. If their Lordships should
determine on defeating that arrangement he was sorry
to say that it would be impossible for her Majesty's
Government to take any further charge of the Bill. He
could not dery that they would then feel it their duty
to abandon the measure. They all knew what great
attention the Noble Duke opposite had paid to the
promotion of the interests of the agricultural classes,
and he would venture to say that there was no point to
which the Noble Duke had paid more attention, or upon
which he deserved greater credit for his persevering ex-
ertions, than the maintenance of a harmonious feeling
between the different classes engaged in agriculture—
the landowners, the tenant-farmers, and the labourers.
Now, he entreated the Noble Duke to adopt a similar prin-
ciple in dealing with the present subject, and to weigh very
seriously the consequences which would occur if they
were to abandon that Bill, and to give up the only oppor-
tunity they could hope to have of getting the great majority
of the millowners cheerfully to co-operate with them in
carrying out the regulations of the Factory Act. He be-
lieved that by rejecting the measure they would add
enormously to the agitation at present being carried on,
tend that they would create a source of interminable dis-
p rates between the millowners and the factory operatives.
H a believed that they would be opening in this country
th ose perplexing questions the rights of capital and the
rig lets of labour, and would be doing more than they
could do by any other measure to array the labourer
and the capitalist in opposition to each other. The in-
terests of those two classes might be fairly considered as
identical, and any measure which could place them in a
hostile attitude towards each other would inflict on both
of them incalculable injury.—(Hear.)
Tins Earl of II ARRO WBY said he did not mean to
enter ilpon that occasion into any of those general
questions of political economy which were involved in
the subject, The only point they had then to
consider was, to what extent their interference with
the hours of labour in factories should go ? Be believed
that the parties interested in that measure were
most anxious that it should not be altogether defeated,
however mach they might wish for certain alterations in
its details. lie had risen for the purpose of proposing
that in the esnumeration of parties who should not be
employed at any hour but between six in the morning
and six in then evening children should be included. He
could not con ceive why that proposal should not be
adopted, as the protection of children was the main
object of their legislation upon that subject. Under the
Bill as it stood
'young persons and females could not be
employed at an surlier hour than six in the morning or
at a later hour then six in the evening; and the result
of their passing thct measure in that shape would be to
give a stimulus to master manufacturers to make use of
the labour of chi.'dren before and after the hours
fixed for the labous• of females and young persons.
Now, under such an arrangement, children might
be detained for two oc three hours after their mothers
or young relatives could have left the mills ; and
in that case those, children might have to tra-
vel home alone thi otigh dark and dreary nights.
The children would in that way be reduced to a worse
position than any in w hich they had heretofore been
placed. He hoped th at their Lordships would adopt
the amendment which he proposed, and by that means
prevent the harsher cla as of millowners from employ-
ingtoesne
children at hours when their kinder and more
considerable competitors. could never wish to compel
circumstances
bheefobre theegged
words " young person," tile words " no child " shall be
inserted.
Earl
0 work.
move
hcircluinme
RANVILLE Beifd he felt compelled to oppose
the amendment of the N.3ble Eerl, because the object
of that measure was meeely to remedy an error in a
former Act of Parliament, and he did not think that in
endeavouring to accomiAisli that object they ought to
attempt to deal with au. entirely different portion of the
question. In his opinion it would be a great hard-
ship to millowners to prevent them from employing
children except at the hours stated by the Noble Lord,
for the result of that arrangement would be practically
to impose a complete limitation in the use of adult
labour.

Court of Chancery.
Turnpike Thia is (Ireland)
Police and Improvement (Seo±l.-nd)
Swansea Mtineipal Corporation.
Rea ling Cattle Maiket.
Bolt )n Improvement.
Pee li, and illyrdeen Rail vay Junction.
Cam ridge Regu!a!ion,lnaprovement, kets, and Fairs.
East and West India llJeks and Birmingham Junction
Railway.
South Yorkshire, Doncaster, and Goole Railway Amend-
ment, &c.
York and North Midland Railway.
Montrose Harbour.
South Wales Railway (Capital).
Dublin and Drogheda Railway.
Snaith and Cowick Union of the Townships, &c.
Croydon and Reigate Turnpike Road.
Stourbridge Union Rates.
Swansea Dock Company.
Victoria London Dock.
Pontypridi Gaslight and Coke Company.
York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway Arrangements, &c.
Norwich Water Works.
Eastern Union Railway.
London City Improvements.
North Staffordshire Railway (Extension of Time).
South Yorkshire, Doncaster, and Goole Railway Amend-
ment, &c.
South Staffordshire Railway.
Kent Waterworks.
Southampton Waterworks.
Waterford and Kilkenny Railway.
Great Northern Railway Deviatlora, &c.
Herons} ko and Eamont• bridge Turnpike Road.
Ulverstone. Millthorpe, and Lancaster Turnpike Road.
Tyne Navigation.
Tewkesbury and Severn-bridge Road and Amendment.
Monmouthshire Turnpike Roads.
Reading Union Waterworks.
Cardiff Waterworks.
Elinburgh Slaughterhouses Removal.
Garstang and Ileiring Syke Turnpike Rcal.
Prussian Ministers' Residence.
Brigstocke's (or Player's) Estate.
Cathrow's (or Briand's) Estate.
Fleetwood's Estate; and
Cautley's Divorce.
The Lords Commissioners were the Marquis of
Lansdowne, the Earl of Minto, and Lord Eddisbury.
Their Lordships then adjoured during pleasure.
Their Lordships resumed shortly after Five o'clock.
The LORD CHANCELLOR (Baron Truro) took his seat I
on the Woolsack.

VESTRIES AND VESTRY CLERKS BILL.
Lord BROUGHAM moved the second reading of this
Bill.—Agreed to.

PETITIONS.
Lord STANLEY presented petitions in favour of re-
stricting labour in factories to ten hours.
The Earl of EGLINrON presented petitions to the
same effect.
The Earl of FEVERSHAM presented petitions to
tho same effect.

Lord ICINNAIRD supported the amendment, which
ho thought in no way inconsistent with the general
objects of the Bill.
Lord STANLEY said he wished to state the reasons
why he could not support that amendment. He con-
curred in the observations of the Noble Earl opposite
(Earl Granville), that the object of that Bill was to re-
assert a principle which, had been defeated by a technical
error in the Bilks of 1844 and 1847; and it was on that
account that he should refuse his assent to the proposal
then under their Lordships' consideration, while he was
prepared to support the amendment of which his Noble
Friend the Noble Duke near him (the Duke of Rich-
mond) had given notice. There was a broad distinction
between the case of young persons and women and the
case or chit( lren. He should first, however, observe
that his Nob le Friend on the cross-benches (the Earl of
liarrowby) and the Noble Lord who had just spoken
seemed to have confounded two things'entirely distinct
—namely, the system of relays and the system of shifts.
The great ,objection to the system of shifts was, that
under its ope.ration, young persons and women, al-
though not %,orked moretlotafn
the benefitstenhours
intended
for would be practi'callY deprived
for them by the Acts of 1844 and 1847, inasmuch as
millsthe neitherm during
several hours,
they would bewhi
productivekeehpteewnladitbineg to
aboutthe
of profit nor of am usement. But in the case of children
no such evil coula Arise, because children could not be
worked more tha it six hours and a half each day, and
those children wh o had been worked before dinner could
not be worked after dinner, while those children who
were to be worked a.fter dinner could not be worked
before it. His Noble Friend seemed to think that the
relay system was an abase. But he (Lord Stanley) had
never heard it talked of as an abuse; on the contrary,
the relay system bad kieen contemplated in the Acts of
1844 and 1847; nay more, it had been provided for in
the case of children , because unless it was adopted the
whole work of the mills should be stopped at the expi-
ration, not of ter i hours, but of six hours and a half.
For one set of children ono half of the day was set
aside; and for 'the other set of children the remaining
half of the, day was set aside. The only reason which
his Noble Friend bad advanced in favour of his proposal
was that oh ildren might be compelled to go to the facto-
ries or to le: we their, alone, without their adult relatives.
Bat that cire waste me would surely afford but a very
weak argur cent f',o introducing a very heavy additional
restriction )n t. ,se power of employing labour in factories.
He did not wie h to impose such a restriction, which had
never been cor itemplated in the Acts of 1844 and 1847;
and, he reFis ted, that he should, therefore, give his
vote against th at amendment.
Lord WHA RNCLIFFE, who was almost inaudible
in the gallery , was understood to support the motion of
the Noble E; 41•1 (tiarrowbY), lie contended that the

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JULY l6, 1850.

present Bill would he imperfect in its operation without
such a clause as that proposer]. Without it children
might kept two hours and a half at work iu factories
after theft. par eats hal gohe h )me. 110 thought the cl il-
d, en would gla fly consent te that limitation, and to the
find er Wen/ .nt of the question as proposed by the Bi'l.
The Duke of RICIIeIOND wished to know, if such a
propoeie ion as that of the Noble Earl was cf so much ins-
tphoart
oacricgoinaa-idßsoll
?teuenh desired, c
Ivasinfawvohuy i r
of
had
fthenport been
inci in
of
his Noble Friend's amendment, but he did not wish to
hamper the Bill with additional difficulties.
The Earl of HARROWBY briefly replied. He re-
ferred to sn important meeting of delegates from Lanca-
shire, Yorkshire, and other places, who had resolved to
petition the House of Lords in favour of the proposition
contained in the amendment. He contended that the
manufacturers would adopt the relay system now in-
stead of the shift system. lie announced his intention of
dividing the Committee on his amendment.
The Bishop of OXFORD said there was one view of
the case which he wished to present to the Noble Lord
(Lord Stanley), which he seemed to have overlooked.
It was said that the whole of the important principle of
legislation by which they were to be gelded was a desire
to keep faith with the working-classes. The Noble Lord's
objection to that amendment was that it would infringe the
compact entered into with the working classes. Now he
(the Bishop of Oxford) thought it was all the other way.
Technically speaking that was a new boon which they
were about to bestow; but, taking many things into
consideration, it was not so; for that Act created new
evils for children, and philosophical statesmanship re-
quired that when an evil was inflicted upon any par-
ticular class an attempt should be made to produce a
counterbalancing good. They were now creating a new
condition with the various terms of their own agree-
ment. The highest principle—that of keeping faith with
the operatives—required that they should introduce a
counterbalancing change.- When they seemed to be
keeping their compact they were violating it in the most
important particular. When they were creating a new
evil they ought to preserve their compact by introducing
into it the means of counteracting its effects.
The Committee then divided, when there appeared—
Contents
Non contents ... 58
Majority ... ... —33
On our return to the gallery,
The Duke of RICHMOND was moving the amend-
ment of which he had given notice. He had heard with
some considerable astonishment that it was the intention
of the Government to give up the Bill if he carried his
amendment. But he could relieve his Noble Friends
from all difficulty on that subject,, for he would
take charge of the Bill himself —(Hear, hear)—in their
Lordships House, and he would get his Noble Friend
Lord J. Manners, to do the same by it in the House of
Commons.—(Hear, hear.) He would tell their Lord-
ships not to be alarmed lest the Bill might be lost for
want of some person to take charge of it.—(Llear, hear.)
He could assure their Lordships that he was
actuated by no party or political motives in bring-
ing forward the amendment of which he had
given notice. But he could not but feel that a great
portion of their subjects, the operatives employed in
factories, came before them to ask, not any favour of
their Lordships, but to maintain inviolable the provisions
of the Act of 1847.—(Hear.) He asked their Lordships
to make no change; he did not ask them to sanction
any interference in the hours of labour, excepting as
they were intended to be regulated by statute. He
asked them to advocate no principle; but he called upon
them to do in their public capacity that which in their
private capacities they would not for a single instant
hesitate to perform.—(Hear.) He asked them not to
break faith with a large prtion of their fellow-country-
men—(Heer, hear) —the.factory operatives, who, after
a struggle of between 20 and 30 years, obtained a Ten
Hours Act, which they considered the great charter of
their liberties. The operatives told them that the Act
of Parliament they had intended to give had certain pro-
visions; and it was not until after a certain decision had
been come to in the Court of Exchequer that a
flaw had been discovered in the Act of 1844,
of which a few manufacturers sought to take
advantage. That very censurable system—the shift
system—had been then introduced. He would ask the
Noble Lords opposite, if the decision of the Court had
been in favour of the operatives, would any one
venture to propose the repeal of that law for the
diminution of labour which they had given the opera-
tives?—(Hear.) He would ask them, as upright, ho-
nourable, honest men, could they take advantage of their
own !aches?—(Hear.) It was said that a certain com-
promise was to be entered into with the millowners.
But that was not doing justice to the operatives. He
would ask, had there been anything in their conduct
since the passing of the Act of 1847 which would dis-
entitle them to the justice which they now sought ?
They had received the boon with gratitude, had thanked
her Majesty and both Rous•3 of Parliament, and showed
themselves worthy of it. He would not put that ques-
tion as ono of expediency, he would put it on the
ground of keeping faith with a great body of these men,
humble indeed in station, but honest and loyal, and most
worthy the boon they hadgiven. He would not, then, tres-
pass on their Lordships by reading any extracts from the
reports of inspectors or others, but all the information
which they had showed that the system had worked
well—that the social and moral condition of the opera-
tive and his wife and children was much improved.
Instead of going to the beer-houses, as they used for-
merly after their long day's labour in the factory, they
now were found working in their little gardens. The
medical gentlemen told them that the health of the ope-
ratives was much improved. When every thing was
going on in a most satisfactory manner, he would ask
where was the cause of any change? The operatives
told them that they were much happier than before; that
their wives were much more cheerful, and their chldren
much better brought up. In moving that amendment,
the effect of which was to limit the hours of labour in
factories to ten hours per diem, to lessen the number of
hours per week by two hours, and carry out really the
Bill of 1847, he was by no means desirous of attacking
the manufacturers of this country. He thought in a
pecuniary point of view they would not be losers.
They would find that the waste work would be very
much diminished. In the great towns of this country
an attempt was made to abuse them through the means
of reckless demagogues. They ought to show the
great Owns of this country, the inhabitants of the
manufacturing districts, and the public at large,
that they were ready to hold the scales of justice
with a steady hand for the humblest as well as the most
opulent—the most lowly as well as the highest in the
land.—(Hear.) Knowing that there were several Noble
Lords more conversant with the subject, and who no
doubt wished to address their Lordships, he should say
no more on the present occasion.
The qeestioa having bean put,
The t Noblehe
Bill
benefitsaLs
oo
it
td s
tht
boaeoddA 1
cwa it
oduo
fgl
dr
dBa4et
p7s
trt
irbveues
ts t ot nee
Earl GRANVILLE thought the case had not been
statedassertionat efvais of r y.
operatives thatrrth he
could not agree to that assertion. He opposed the
amendment.
The Bishop of RIPON said he had formerly been a
fellow-labourer of Lord Ashley in favour of a Ten
Hours Bill, and that Noble Lord must pardon him if
he continued still in favour of such a measure.—(Hear,
hear.) It ought to be a great encouragement to all
those who supported the former Bill that the prognos-
tications which had been uttered as to the evil conse-
quences which would follow its passing had been falsi-
fied, while the benefits of it had exceeded the moat
sanguine expectations of its supporters.—(ilear, hear.)
In almost every parish in his diocese meetings of opera-
lives had been held in favour of the Ten Hours Bill, at
which not one voice had been raised against it.—(Hear,
hear.) The Right. Rev. Prelate here referred to a re-
port of Mr. Horner to show the beneficial effects,
physical as well as moral, of the Ten Hours Bill. He
could of his own knowledge speak of the effect it had had
in educational matters, for in the parish of Leeds 100
night schools had been opened for the factory children.
—(Hear, hear.) He denied there was any necessity for
a compromise on this question, and maintained that the
object cf the Ten Hours Act was to protect the opera-
tive against the relay system.—(Hear, hear.) If the
present Bill passed it would very much shake the faith
of the operatives in the honour and integrity of the
Legislature.—(Hear. hear.)
Lord WODEHOUSE thought their Lordships would
act very unwisely if they refused to pass this Bill, and
for that reason he should vote against the amendment.
Lord FEVERSHAM assured the Noble Lord who
had just spoken that if he went to the manufacturing dis-
tricts of Yorkshire and Lancashire he would find the
feelings of the operatives to be very much against this
measure, and in favour of a Ten Hours Bill. There
could be no doubt of the feelings of the operatives on
the subject. Tho Ten Hours Committee of Leeds peti•
tioned that the addition of two hours and a half per
awedekwtooultdhecrehaotuersthoef labour would
lee grossly unjust,
n
discontent.
A. petition
from the operatives of Bradford prayed for an efficient
Was not
jTuesnt, Hanodurwsoßuilldl,naontibsetaateceleetphtaatbiteh.e pureesesnint
cßerilelly
hoped
their Lordships would-not deprive the operatives of the
great benefits they had derived from the Act of 1846.
The whole of the evidence went to show that a limitation
to ten hours was necessary for the health and moral im-
provement of the factory classes. A Ten Hours Bill
had been tried in Pennsylvania, and had been found
to conduce to the physical, intellectual, and moral
well-being of the operative. He supported the amend-
ment.

Earl GREY had no intention of addressing their
Lordships, but for the allusion made to him. It was a
mistake to suppose that he had always been a supporter
of the Factories Act. It was not until 1844—and then
with some reluctance—that he had ♦oted for
it. He did so when the Bill was in that
House in 1847. He adhered to the principle con-
tained in that Bill, and he now supported this measure
because he regarded it as a fair settlement of the ques-
tion. The factory Workers were obliged to make conces-
sions, and could not, in case of accident to their machi-
nery, compel the operatives to continue working for a
certain time. Besides, if they adopted the amendment,
they would put an end to legislation during this session,
and thus leave unsettled a question which must bo a
source of great discontent fur the next few months. As
to the inspectors, they all agreed this would be a compro-
mise for the benefit of the working classes.
Lord STANLEY observed that there were two argu-
ments in favour of this Bill—tbe first was, that if the
amendment was adopted the Bill would be abandoned;
the second was, that a concession and a compromise had
been made. Both the Noble Earls bad threatened to
abandon the Bill if this amendment were adopted.
Now, he begged to call their attention to theresolu-_

tion of the committee of the cotton-factory workers of
Lancashire, agreed to on May 4th, 1850, whe❑ they
declared that they preferred the Bill being thrown out
altogether than to hare this measure adopted. He also
referred to resolutions of the same effect, also adopted at
a meeting in Lancashire, and stated that he could cite
half-a-dozen others, where the same opinion was ex-
pressed as to tho Ten gem Bill, that there sheulcl be

i no surrender and no compromise.—(Hear.) But then
it was s old that there had been a compromise. By
• a hom, he a,ked, was that compromise c ntered into?
Whore was the evidence of the manucactur,rs haling
demanded any concussion? It was a concession on the
part of the Government, not made in pablie, but in pri-
va'e. and between unknown parties.—(flew, hear.) The
operatives were almost unanimously against it, and as
to the millowners, he had presentel r. pe•ition a short
time back, signed by 271 millowners, 40 alone of whom
employed 30.000 hands, and so tar were they from pray-
ing for this Bill, that they prayed that the principle of
the Ten Hours Bill might not be departed from.—(hear.)
They had, too, the petitions of medical men, showing
that the health of the operative; had been improved by
the Ten Hours Bill, and that it would be de•eriorated if
interfered with ; and he called the attention of the Right
Rev. Prelate (tbe Bishop of Manchester) to a petition
sgned by 34 clergymen of the town of Manchester, who
declared that no enactment of modern time a had con-
ferred greater advantages upon the operatives as re-
garded their moral and social condition. The petition
of these clergymen was entitled to their respectful atten-
tion, and tended to show that the proposed measure
would not be a satisf ectory settle ment of this great
question.—(Hear, hear.)
The Bishop of MANCHESTER said he was not pre-
pared to take the same course with the Noble Lord who
had just sat down. He admitted that the petition of the
clergy of Manchester was entitled to the greatest atten-
tion; but ho was obligel to say that a large number of
the manufacturers were not indifferent to this
question. He was prepared to say that a large
number of the operatives were anxious that whatever
was done should be done in accordance with the wishes
of their employers, and he thought this measure was
nearer to a fair compromise than any Bill that had been
proposed. He could say that a change most gratifying
had taken place in the manufacturing districts, and this
he admitted was the consequence of the Ten Hours Act.
—(Hear, hear.) But what was asked fur? Two hours
a week.—(Hear, hear.) Was he to be told that all the
advantages that bad been gained would he lost by the
two additional hours of labour? No, ho did not think
Vie operatives would reject all these advantages if two
hours' additional labour were imposed upon them. He
believed the working classes would accept this measure,
would soon be reconciled to it, and therefore he would
vote for it.
The Earl of GALLOWAY was unwilling to forego
the practical benefit to be obtained by this Bill, but if
he could gain the other two hours for the operatives, he
would willingly support any practical proposition that
could confer it upon them.
The Bishop of OXFORD said they had to consider
whether this Bill was or not a breach of the compact en-
tered into with the operatives in 1847. In his judgment
it was a breach of that compact, and therefore he could
not vote for it. It was a breach of a compact for a small
—a very small advantage, to the millowner.—(llear.)
It was said the factory labourer was better off than the
agricultural labourer, bnt it was not grown-up labourers
they were legislating for now, but for women and chil-
dren.—(lltar.) They had as yet heard nothing to show
that the operatives were parties to this alteration of the
law. The contrary he believed to be the fact. The work-
ing classes should be taught to look to that House as the
ultimate appeal between class and class, where they
would find inflexible integrity.—(Hear.)
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE rose to offer a few
words for the consideration of the Committee before
proceeding to the vote upon the amendment of the Noble
Duke. In the first place he must observe, in reference
to what had fallen from the Right Rev. Prelate who bad
last addressed them, that if the Right Rev. Prelate had
listened to the course of this debate it would have been
impossible for him to have contended that every one
on that and the other side of the House bad let slip
an avowal that he was an enemy of the Ten Hours
Bill. It so happened that the tvo lad speakers on his
side of the House, instead of letting it slip, did more
than let it slip that they were friends of the Ten Hours
Bill.

The Bishop of OXFORD explained that what he had
said was, that the objection was to the princ'ple of legis-
lative interference.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE would accept the
explanation of the Right Rev. Prelate. The two Noble
Peers to whom he had referred stated distinctly that
they were friends to that interference.—(Hear, hear.)
He contended that the advantages of the present mea-
sure was that it united both the enemies and the friends
of the principle. Tnose who wore the enemies of in-
terference rejoiced to see it define d, and not liable to
evasion. He was sure the Right Rsv. Prelate would
agree with him that among the friends of the operatives
Lord Ashley stood conspicuous. That Noble Lord,
who, by his exertions for the last seventeen
years, and his sacrifice of time and con-
nexion, had proved himself their true friend, had,
after exerting his great abilities and great
knowledge of the subject in the preparation of clauses
t be introduced into this very Bill for the purpose of
giving security to the operatives, had openly proclaimed
that he found it impossible to give that security by law.
He found that which all would find who had considered
the subject, that it was one thing to interfere by statute
and another thing to carry it into effect. A mode had
been devised by means of, he would not call it a com-
promise, as that word was objected to, but by means
of a happy understanding which now, for the
first time existed, if not between all, at least
between a very large number of the masters and
operatives, by which the interests of both might he con-
sulted, and reas ms had been assigned, which ho holed
the Right Rev. Prelate had seen—(llear, hear.) The
Right Rev. Prelate asserted that a compact had been
violated. He denied that any such compact had been
mane. He maintained that it was not only the unfet-
, tered right, bu the duty of the Legislature to set right
any misunderstanding which might have occurred in
passing an enactment; and knowing as he did the acute-
ness of the Right Rev. Prelate, and his knowledge
of every branch of the trade of this country, he
certainly had heard his statement with no little
surprise. Half an hour might be very little far the ope-
rative to give up, but it might be everything for the
manufacturer to gain.—(Hear, hear.) Did the Right
Rev. Prelate know that four-fifths of the capital of a
manufacturer was invested, not in wages he paid to the
operatives, but in the machinery which ho employed,
and that if that machinery stood still for half an hour,
or even for a quarter of an hour, he would lose infinitely
more than he would gain for the work of all his opera-
tives in an hour?—(Hear, hear.) The whole question
lay in this—whether the manufacturer who had been
invited to invest his capital on the faith of the existing
law should be compelled, without positive proof of its
necessity, to make such a sacrifice? He contended that
Parliament was perfectly free to legislate on this question.
It was now proposed that it should legislate on an impar-
tial view of the interests of buth parties, and pass an
Act, which, while it relieved the operatives from a law
which had enabled the masters to introduce a system of
shifts and relays, conferred on them an inestimable
boon ; for what greater boon could be given them,
than the provision that they should commence at six
o'clock and end at six o'clock—thus assuring to
them the possession of the whole evening, and which
secured to them half the Saturday, which was mcst
valuable for every purpose of recreation and instruction.
If Noble Lords who opposed the Bill would look to the
report, and see the effect of the law as it now stood,
they would perceive that all its beneficial effects would
be enhanced by the proposed alteration. The beneficial
operation of the law consisted chiefly in affording facili-
ties to tho operatives to pass the evening in receiving
instructions and cultivating their garden allotments It
was upon these grounds that Mr. Horner, who, he sup-
posed, must not be regarded as a man totally ignorant
of the subject, and incapable of forming an opinion, said
on the 17th cf June that the plan recently brought for-
ward, if not universally approved of, had been received
with great satisfaction by a large majority of
,all those
interested in the question. He would say no more than
that he in his conscience believed that this Bill afforded
a better opportunity than had hitherto been presented
of bringing this difficult que.tion, if not entirely to a
lat least to a state in which the parties would he
better able to understand each other. Seventeen
years had passed away, during which every firm of
difficulty had presented itself in the way of reconciling
the conflicting interests of capital and labour.
—(lleer, hear.) He would not say whether, if the
amendment should be carried, the Bill would pass into a
law or not. He believed it would not, for it was not
unconstitutioalel for him to augur that the other House
of Parliament would refuse to adopt the opinionof their
Lordships. It was, however, unnecessary for the pur-
pose of his argument to enter into this speculation, for
whether it passed or not it mattered but little if it did
not succeed in enlisting the sympathies of both parties.
—(Hear, hear.) They might depend upon it, that pro-
hibit as they might, when they came to act upon the
avowed system of interference, if they created in every
place where that interference was to be exercised a pro-
portionate opposition, their enactments would vanish
into air, and they would be unable, by all the clauses
they could invent, to enforce the regulations which they
desired. Such interferences, when they succeeded at all,
could only succeed by meeting with a certain degree of
approbation and concurrence from all parties interested.
Their Lordships then divided, when there appeared—
Per the amendment
Against it
Majority against the amendment —l3
The Bill then passed through Committee
The Bills on the table were forwarded a stage, and
their Lordships adjourned.

COFFEE AND EATING•IIOUSE KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.—The general annual meeting of the subscribers and
friends to the association was held yesterday evening, at the
Freemasons' Tavern, for the general transaction of business;
Thomas: Sherwood in thej chair. After the usual pre-
liminaries the committee's report was read, which stated,
ith much gratification, that the amount of donations and sub-
scriptions received during the past year exceeded the amount
received in either of the two preceding years by about 10/.,
and also that the funded property had been increased by 200/.
The interest upon the sums previously invested, amounting
for the year to about p 3/., had also been added; thus making
the funded property of the assocition, in the hands of the
Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, 2,44,/.,
and. there was a ',balance in hand of 6/. 7s. 4d. During
the past year about twelve new annual subscribers had been
added to the list, but about the same number would be
erased. The committee expressed regret that, considering
the large number of persons connected with:coffeeland eating-
houses so few had enrolled themselves among the suppoi ters
,
of the association. Among the efforts of the committee to
add to the funds of the institution was an excursion to
Southend in July
1849, which produced a profit of 25/. 4s. _d.
The ball and concert at the Eagle Tavern, in January last,
yielded a profit of 431. The annual dinner in May was the
means of adding nearly 100/. to the funds. The financial
statement showed a total amout of receipts of 417/. Cs., d.
The report having been received and adopted, the meeting
proceeded to consider the applicati ,n of a subscriber to be
elected a pensioner, and to elect officers for the ensuing year.
A vote of tkanks to the chairman concluded the proceedings.
Ohs b no fewer than seven persons met their
deaths by drowning in the Thames, between Battersea and
London-bridge 3.