The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-31 00:00:00

SUNDAY LABOUR IN THE POST-OFFICE.

Lard ASHLEY then rose to bring forward his mo-
tion for the abolition of Sunday labour in the Post-
offic,e If the motion bad no other claim to the
consideration of the House than the deep and extensive
interest that had been manifested in it by the whole con-
stituency of the country, it would deserve most respect-
ful attention.—(Hear, hear.) No other subject had
caused a more lively sensation in the public mind than
this, nor was the interest confined to one class or
profession. It was not confined to any one sta•
tion, order, or rank of society, but the feeling pre-
vailed from the highest to the lowest.—(Hear, hear.)
That feeling was not confined to any religious sect, nor
to any class. But this question must be urged on
higher grounds—on the grounds of justice to the parties
concerned, and of its importance to the whole country.
He hoped this discussion would be conducted in a sober
spirit.. He f.r his part would say that he would utter
nothing which should in the least degree excite anger or
promote division. On the contrary, he must begin by
thanking the Government and the Post-office authorities
for what they had already done in this matter. They had
already conferred a great benefit on the country, and he
hoped they would accomplish their own good work, and
perfectly establish their own reputation. He should just
like to state to the House the extent to which the
public had expressed their feelings on this vital sub-
ject. The report of the petitions presented respecting
it was not complete up to the present day. The total
number24utfh m petitions,ay,as however,3,B2o
andpresented
the rt
oe
tl aa o
number
g to it up
f
ssNi,
egornwea tmsuiragennsy,
signed
tPbPty"l notdshe: 113 e ttiot i ot
chairman.nhs o s
e (frompeTt
ht cieourntels;
were, wde
raaesl ,c5ab4ee9.;3i5d33e582,
several hundred petitions yet to be presented, and he
had, therefore, a right to conclude that the signatures
appended to the petitions on this subject would actually
amount to no less than 700,000, and that the number
of petitioners in favour of this motion did nut fall
short of one million and a half of persons. The petition
from the town of Liverpool in favour of this motion was
signed by 14,000; and 200 bankers and merchants in
that town formed themselves into an association for pro-
moting the object of that motion. The petition from
Manchester was signed by 31,000 persons. among whom
were a great many of the largest firms and the greatest
capitalists in that city. The petition from Aberdeen was
signed by 16,702; from Paisley, 6,563; from Edinburgh,
24,298; and from Glasgow, 21,750. The Town Council
of Glasgow consisted of 50 persons, 41 of whom had
signed the petition. In 1839, when the subject of the
penny postage came under discussion in that House, the
Government yielded to a body of petitioners amounting
only to 266,511, and that discussion affected a revenue
to the amount of 1,000,0001. This present re-
quest had been backed by full 700,000 peti-
tioners, who asked for no exemption from taxa-
tion, who asked for nothing for themselves, but simply
tthheaitrafebloloown.
en:eats); übree s .
extended
The
Londont a o
mceemr toari
ina nwaams bs
iegro
oodf
by about 5,000 persons, among whom were many bankers
and merchants. The Government now said they ha f done
enough, and he (Lord Ashley) said they could do a
great deal more; they wished to stand still, but he
maintained that they could and ought to go forward. The
demand which he (Lord Ashley) made, and to which he
now wished to call the attention of the House was simply
this—he simply required that every town and city of
the United Kingdom should be put on the same footing,
with respect to postal matters, as the metropolis. He
simply required that the metropolis should be the model
for every emvwiegrohyuti tab()
aw
tnroelafdenrd thatcti
oty
whattihnet the e
they kingdom o
don
wasth matter.
impracti-
cable ; he
o f the
labour sal
denied that it was so, and, as a proof of that,
would be a great boon tion
adduced onevidence that had been
ect., which showed that the total
be carried into effect with the
suspension
thethe Post-office on Sunday
upoc portionthe
second ee
bleettterre-csaute. rsitanhdadmhiegehht
stated that there was no objeoctfiotnhon the part of the Post-
pr a rpart—the
resolutionthe which he
rtohpeo se. first
hoffiadcetotop
transmis-
sion of mails on the Sabbsth—
taking a range of 250 miles from the metro
tstates that,
olio, the
stoppage of mails on the Sabbath would")
inconvenience. This range would includecauaelemonso
every one of the English towns with the
t
exception of Carlisle. Scotland and Ireland
certainly would suffer by that limitation, but it must
be remembered that both countries had petitioned very
extensively for the carrying of the whole measure. But
in order to meet the wishes of all, though he
and those whom be represented retained their own
opinion on the subject, he should be disposed
to modify the resolution
so far as merely to
engage the House to aidress her Majesty to
put an end to the collection of letterstheSunday,
and
and to pray her to issue an inquiry as to how far it
might be possible to suspend the transmis-
sion of mails on the Sabbath. He would
not enter into any theological argument; but this he
one
would say, that every man
acknowledging
Divine
or both Testaments, acknowledged the
institu-
tion of the Sabbath. Another ground for his appealing
to the House was the justice of the claim.
could Hot see upon what plea but that of necessity his
claim could be denied—if it were necessary, then they
must open the londix ()Mee Da well Ai the pro-