The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-16 00:00:00

the wives and daughters of England a burden of
insufferable toil.—(Hear, hear.) He knew that dis-
claimers
were but little regarded when uttered by per-
sons who were listened to with suspicion. He had been
charged with acting from the single and fixed purpose
of exalting the landed aristrocracy by depressing
the manufacturing interests. He knew that his
personal character was but of little importance, but it
was necessary to clear himself of the charge, for
the sake of the influence it might have on others. Dis-
trust of his motives might injure the cause he advo-
cated, for
" Zeal grows cold, when Judgment grows severe."
These unworthy motives had been attributed to him—
most bitterly and angrily attributed to him. But he
utterly denied the imputation. He would ask them if
they could think him wicked enough to act from them—
whether they could think him fool enough to pursue
such a course ? Could any one in his senses
do otherwise than believe that the permanent
prosperity of the manufacturing body in all its
aspects, physical, moral, and commercial, was
not essential, not only to the welfare, -but to the very
existence of the British empire. They did not envy the
great manufacturers the increase of their political in-
fluence, their immense traffic, their stupendous wealth.
" May peace be within your walls, and plenteousness
within your palaces." "We ask you," concluded the
Noble Lord, " but for a slight relaxation from grinding
toil for a time to live and a time to die a
time for the enjoyment of some of the com-
forts that sweeten life—time to perform some of
the duties that adorn it.—(Loud cheers.) Therefore it
is, that, with a fervent prayer to Almighty God, that he
will be pleased to turn the hearts of all who hear me to
justice and mercy, I noiv finally commit the issue of this
question to the judgment and humanity of Parliament."
—(The Noble Lord sat down amid loud cheering from
both sides of the Houses. For some time before he
concluded he seemed to labour under great exhaustion,
aid in some passages was very indistinctly heard.)
Sir J. GRAHAM said he never rose to discharge any
duty in that House which he felt to be more painful or
more difficult. It was rendered difficult by the eloquence
of the Noble Lord, particularly by the sentiment of the
passage which marked his conclusion. The Noble Lord
had asked whether any man could be found in that
House who would resist the proposal he had made ; and
he had, by his appeal to their sense of justice and mercy,
intimated, at least indirectly, that resistance to his mo-
tion was inconsistent both with justice and with mercy.
He, for one, on the other hand, on the part of himself
and of the Government, was bound to offer to the pro-
position of the Noble Lord his decided opposition. In
doing so, it would be necessary to trespass for a short
time on the attention of the House ; he would not at-
tempt to follow the Noble Lord through all the details
he had addressed to the House. If he had thought
it necessary to do so, he did not possess that detailed
information which would enable him to do so.
His Noble Friend said the time was now come when
they should lay the axe to the root of the tree. Before
doing so, he would entreat the Committee to consider
what that tree was.—(Hear, hear.) If, as he suspected,
it was the tree of the commercial greatness of the coun-
try, he was satisfied, though some of its fruits might be
bitter, yet, that on the whole, it was productive of that
greatness, wealth, and prosperity which made those
small islands remarkable in the history of the civilised
world, which, on the whole, diffused happiness amongst
their great community, and which rendered the
nation one of the atnost civilised, if not the
most civilised, nation of the world.—(Loud cheers.)
His Noble Friend begged of them not to turn a deaf ear
to the cry of distress among the working population.
He (SirJ. Graham) believed that the subject under con-
sideration was one of the gravest ever debated in Parlia-
ment—(Hear, hear)—because it involved the physical
and moral condition of a large portion of the working-
classes, whose grievances were entitled to be redressed,
if they could be redressed—(Hear, hear)—and if they
could not redress them, they were, at all events, entitled
to their most serious consideration.—(Hear, hear.) He
was on this account the more anxious that the question
should be fully, and dispassionately, and impartially dis-
cussed.—(Hear, hear.) He wished to steer clear of
all angry topics.—(Hear, hear.) He had said that
the physical and moral wellsbeing of the working popu-
lation of the country was involved in the question ; but,
on the other hand, justice compelled him to say that
the question of the commercial and manufacturing in-
dustry of the country was also involved.—(Hear, hear.)
After listening to the statement of facts made by his
Noble Friend, lie thought that the conclusion he had
arrived at would be to propose the abolition of female
and infantine labour altogether. But the question
turned out to be—not whether females should be
employed at all, but whether they should be em-
ployed for ten or twelve hours. At present
children were not worked longer than eight hours a day.
The proposition of his Noble Friend was, that the time
should be reduced to six or six and a half hours. His
Noble Friend had said truly that this was a question of
detail, and not of principle. He therefore, thought it
unnecessary to enter upon the principle. When the facts
detailed by the Noble Lord had become known, and
were brought before the House, an inquiry had been
made in 1833, and it led to the correction of the abuses; ,
and regulations were made, imposing checks on the
employment both of children and females. In the
commencement of his speech the Noble Lord
talked with something like despondency of his
former labours, and at the conclusion of his speech
he alluded to imputations, most unworthy imputations,
upon the motives which actuated him. He (Sir James
Graham) believed the motives of his Noble Friend were
pure and benevolent in the highest sense.—(Cheers.)
He did not believe that any public man laboured more
honestly, more zealously, or with more single-minded-
ness of purpose.—(Hear, hear.) And so far from having
to look back with despondency to his former exertions,
he (Sir James Graham) thought it was owing to them
that alterations of a most important kind had been made
with regard to factory labourers.—(Hear, hear.)
He Iv as a party to the late enactment on the subject of
labour in factories, and he begged his Noble Friend to
consider that, under that enactment, there was a close
inspection of the nature of the labour in factories.
Reports were made on the subject, and, if any abuses
existed, public opinion was brought to bear upon them.
—(Hear, hear.) A most important limitation also
existed, with regard to the hours of labour. No child,
under 9 years of age, could be employed at all ; no
child, between 9 and 13, was allowed to work longer
than 8 hours, and between the ages of 13 and 18, the la-
bour was limited to 15 hours, including 2 hours' relaxation.
These were limitations existing under the present Bill.
His Noble Friend dwelt very much on the improvements
which had taken place in machinery, and the consequent
increase of labour to the persons employed. The House
would allow him just to remark, in passing, what he be-
lieved to be the case, that though the provisions of the
Factory Act were humane in intention and were par
belly in operation, yet he had no doubt their practical
effect had been to stimulate improvements in machinery,
for the purpose of superseding manual labour.—(Hear.)
His Noble Friend had entered with great accuracy of
detail into the working of machinery, and calculated that
the distance travelled by each workman was thirty-seven
miles in twelve hours. He (Sir James Graham) thought
that this was physically impossible. His Noble Friend
had given a description of the mode in which he made
the calculation. But the Hon. Member for Oldham,
who made a calculation of the same kind, came to the
conclusion that only twenty miles was the distance tra-
velled. He was quite satisfied that the restriction of the
hours of labour, imposed by the Factory Bill as it
now stood, had the effect of improving machinery,
The Noble Lord had made an important admission,
which he begged of the House to bear in mind.
He told the House that the working of machinery might
be accelerated by one-third of its velocity. Now, if the
hours were reduced by one-eleventh, or one-sixth, the
consequence would be that the labour would be ren-
dered much more intense upon those who worked in
the factory. His Noble Friend had said that the amount
of female and infantine labour had an injurious effect
upon the people. He (Sir J. Graham) believed that all
severe labour must have a deleterious effect upon the
health of the workers. But he was not disposed to call on
the House to increase the stringency of the regulations
on the subject. He said this in reference to what his
Noble Friend had said of superanuations. As he had
stated, the, consequences of the proposition of his
Noble Friend would be to increase the rapi-
dity of machinery. This would call for in-
creased strength on the part of those employed,
and younger and more active persons would be required
to perform the duties incident to a factory life. The
consequence of this would be a displacement of those
now considered subjects for superannuation, and the
evils which it was their object to cure would only be
augmented.—(Hear, hear.) His Noble Friend then
drew a comparison between manufacturing and agricul-
tural labour, and said that the latter was a much more
pleasing and healthy occupation. He (Sir J. Graham)
believed it was a more pleasing occupation, but he enter-
tained grave doubts as to its being a more healthy one.
—(Hear, hear.) When he took into consideration the
inclemency of the weather to which the agricultural la-
bourer was exposed, his continuing in wet clothes, and
other circumstances, it was doubtful to him whether, on the
whole, the vicissitudes of the weather, to which he was sub-
ject, were not more injurious to hishealth than anything to
which the manufacturing labourers were exposed.—
(Hear, hear.) But he would ask whether there was any
practical advantage in discussing the question?—(Hear,
hear.) They had arrived at a stage of society when,
without commerce and manufactures, this great com-
munity could not be supported.—(llear, hear.) They
must foster commerce and manufactures in this country
—(Hear, hear)—but they must avoid, as far as in their
power, all the evils incident to their existence. His
:Noble Friend said that some of the master manufac-
turers and the labouring classes were anxious for his
proposition, and that thrift and care were uncommon
amongst them. He (fir James Graham) had seen this
very day a deputation of master manufacturers and a
deputation from the labouring classes. One of the gen-
tlemen who composed the deputation of the master ma-
nufacturers wad, he believed, an operative himself at one
time. Now he was one of the greatest millowners in Lan-
cashire or the country, and he obtained his elevation
by a thrift and economy which did the greatest honour
to himself, and likewise reflected honour on his country.
—(llear, hear.) He had by the force of his industry
attained his present position. He also saw a deputation
from the labouring classes, and he was so struck by the
remarkable intelligence of one of the deputies, the man-
ner in which he stated his case, the propriety of his de-
meanour, the dispassionate manner in which he argued
every point made against him, that he (Sir J. Graham)
asked him if he was still an operative ? He said, " No,
Sir ; I was lately an operative, but, by care, I have been
able to have a share in a mill, and I am now a millowner
to a limited extent ; but I am still trusted by my fellow-
labourers, and I here represent them, though not an
operative myself." He must ask his Noble Friend
whether his opinion that thrift and care were unknown
amongst the manufacturers was not shaken by this ? He
would admit that his own feelings, and he knew
that the feelings of every gentleman present were in