The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-12 00:00:00

subject of much controversy, and which had excited
warm feelings throughout England and Wales. He
alluded to the bastardy law.—(Hear, hear.) Great
dissatisfaction had been experienced with the operation
of that part of the law as it stood at present in Wales
and in the North of England. In the Bill of 1834,
as it passed that House, the power of making an or-
der for relief in cases of bastardy, was absolutely put
an end to. It was supposed that such a principle
would operate as a restraint upon the female,
and be conducive to chastity, and greatly diminish
the number of illegitimate children. Much discus-
sion took place in the other House of Parliament on
the effect of this principle, and a power was given to
the magistrates in petty sessions to make an order
upon the oath of the female. But then a necessity
was imposed for testimony corroborative of the oath
of the mother herself. So the law stood till the
year 1839, when it was thought unfair that'
the whole burden of proof should be thrown
upon the female, and the public feeling entirely
coincided with that provision introduced in the Act
of 1839. He proposed essentially to modify the
provisions of 1834, and of restoring to magistrates
assembled in special sessions the power of making an
order. He would now allow to magistrates assembled
in petty session and in quarter session the
power of making orders in cases of bastardy, where
corroborative evidence could be given; this was a very
great change. It was introduced in analogy to the
law of Scotland, and he was sure it would relieve
the law from a great deal of odium which
now attached to it. This was one of the most
important alterations in the law, for there was a very
urgent cry for the necessity of some change in this
respect. From information which he had received, he
knew that the pressure of the law as it stood
at present was severely, felt in South Wales. He pro-
posed to place the mother of a bastard in the position
of a destitute female. He proposed that, as be-
tween the mother and the putative father
there should be a short summary process before two
magistrates, by which upon application made within
a certain time after the birth of the child, they could
make an order for some maintlnance as against
the father. He proposed that application should he
made within forty days of the birth, and he pro-
posed that thirteen should be the age up to
which they should be supported, as that was the
line drawn in the Factory Bill between children and
young persons, and he proposed that the order against
the father of the bastard child should be not only
against the goods of the father, but against his person
—(Hear, hear).—as was the case before the Act of
1834.

Mr. HAWES asked how was the bastardy to be
proved ?
Sir J. GRAHAM said by the oath of the mother,
corroborative evidence being given. This, as he said be-
fore, was the most important provision of the Bill, and
he hoped it would be satisfactory to the public feeling
He now came to another important part of the sub-
ject. He was sorry to say that in large towns a
great hardship was experienced in consequence of
there being no place of refuge for destitute per-
sons. They were at present obliged to shelter
themselves under walls and porticos, where they
were exposed to the extremes ©f want and hard-
ship, which was hardly consistent with the
safety of their lives.—(Hear, hear.) It would be
necessary, therefore, to introduce some provision to
remedy this.—(Hear, hear.) The House would
remember that, on a former occasion, he had
proposed that children brought up in workhouses
should have a distinct school in the metropolitan dis-
tricts, and in large towns. In the present Bill he
proposed that there should be distinct asylums, which
should be open one night in every week for
the reception of destitute persons. These
asylums were to be maintained at the
common cost of the districts. The destitute per
sons were to receive food night and morning, th
only condition being that they should work fo
four hours. He was sorry that he had no
momoraiida about him, or he would have en-
tered more fully into the provisions of the
Bill. This, however, was a brief outline of the mea-
sure, which would be discussed out of doors, which
would enable the House, at a future period of the
session, to mature the measure. At present he con-
fined himself to moving for leave to bring in a Bill to
amend the Poor-law.

Captain PECHELL said that in common with the
Right Hon. Baronet he was deprived of the use of
any documents on the subject in consequence of the
unexpected proceeding with the question this even-
ing. The Right Hon. Baronet's notice of not inter-
fering with the incorporations under Gilbert's Act,
drew from him the expression of thanks to the
Right Hon. Baronet. The Right. Hon. Gentleman
did not mean, he supposed, to abolish the Gilbert
unions, if the Select Committee should not make any
suggestion to that effect. He only regretted that
the Right Hon. Gentleman had not, two sessions
back, agreed to the appointment of such a Com-
mittee. With respect to the clause in the former
Bill, relative to plurality of voting, he hoped the
Right Hon. Baronet would abolish that system
altogether. He hoped they had now turned over a
new leaf, and as the Right Honourable Baronet had
announced many concessions, he trusted when the time
had arrived for showing how relief had been admi-
nistered under the Gilbert's Unions Act, he would
find the guardians had done their duty, notwith-
standing the great prejudices and difficulties they had
had to encounter.

Mr. T. DUNCOMBE said that, having twice
moved the House to inquire into the operation of the
Gilbert Unions Act previous to any amendments
being made in the Poor-law Act, it was with great
satisfaction he heard the Right Hon. Baronet say it
was his intention to propose the appointment of such
a Committee as he (Mr. T. Duncombe) had
moved for two or three years ago ; all they asked
was to be allowed to prove that their system
was more satisfactory to the rate-payers, and mote
humane to the poor than the system pursued under
the new poor-law. If upon such an inquiry they
could be satisfied that the new poor-law system was
superior to theirs, they were ready, as they had for-
merly stated, to abandon their own system and adopt the
other ; but if, on the other hand, they should prove thitt
their system was more satisfactory to the ratepayers,
and more humane to the poor, he hoped they would
not then, for an instant, think of interfering with
their present state, or with the present law. He was
quite certain that nothing would render the part of
the country governed under Gilberes Act satisfied
with the new poor-law, so much as the sort of
relaxation proposed by the Right Hon. Baronet.
Ile thought the alteration in the bastardy clauses
were very valuable. But he was sorry to hear the
Right Hon. Baronet say that insurrection had been
necessary to draw the attention of the Government to
this subject.—(Signs of dissent from Sir J. Graham.)
He had understood the Right Hon. Baronet to say,
that the recent occurrences in 'Wales had induced
him to reconsider the subject.—(Hear, hear.)
He thought the alterations proposed with regard to
the relief of the destitute poor would be of great
advantage, and would be well received.—(Cheers.)
lie hoped, however, that the four hours' labour would
not be rigidly exacted from those destitute persons,
as many of them were aged, infirm, decrepid, and sick.
He would not, however, now discuss the question.
The modifications, as far as they had been stated,
would prove acceptable to the public ; but he wished
to see an end put to the system of plurality of votes,
and to that of voting by proxy.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. EVELYN DENISON thanked the Right
Hon. Gentlemen for the alterations he proposed to
introduce into the present system, which he thought
would meet the approval of his constituents, and
make the law work much better. He wished to be
informed more particularly as to the provisions of the
clause providing for the education of the children in
union workhouses.

Sir WALTER JAMES thanked the Right Hon;
Gentleman for the alteration he had made. He (Sir
W. James) objected, however, to the principle of the
poor-law, as tending to undermine the foundation of
human society, by depriving the poor man of his
home. He wished to know if it was intended to inter-
fere with the local acts.

Mr. FERRAND regretted that he was absent
from the House during the time the Right Hon.
Baronet was making his statement. He was glad to
hear his Hon. Friend say that the people of the West
Riding would be satisfied with the alteration pro-
posed; but he feared that they would not go far
enough. He would postpone putting the question to
the Right Hon. Baronet, of which he had given
notice, until Monday.
Mr. S. DAVIS said a few words, which were in-
audible in the gallery.
Mr. C. BERKELEY wished to know, with re-
spect to the bastardy clause, whether, if a mother re-
fused to affiliate a bastard child, the parish had any
authority to compel her to do so ?
Mr. S. CRAWFORD hoped that some alteration
would be proposed with regard to settlements in Irish
unions. Oases had occurred in which persons had
been removed to Ireland from parts of the country in
which they had resided for many years. This was
very.oppressive.
Sir JAMES GRAHAM would answer the !Ines-
tions which had been put to him as succinctly
as he could. With regard to local acts, he
was
sorry to say that he did not in-
tend to propose any alteration in the existing
law—(Rear, hear)—inasmuch as the present law had
been confirmed by the decision of competent judicial
tribunals. The Hon. and Gallant Gentleman seemed
to imagine that when the Report of the Committee
should be made, the Government would be precluded
from opposing, the adoption of any of its recommenda-
tions. He wished that the Committee should befairly
formed, and that the inquiry should be fully entered into.
He felt a confident anticipation as to what would be
the recommendations of the Committee ; but he would
not pledge the Government to adopt, on its own
responsibility, any recommendation of the Com-