The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-16 00:00:00

THE FACTORIES BILL.

Sir R (From the Times.)
fthe --acto(ther ft Peel is for the present the undispu
ted arbitrator
y 41 question. Of Lord Ashley's merits and demerits
needless to speak. His part in the business is a matter
hstory, and a matter of history it will probably
.remain.
Fori thefuture, he will find himself most at dome in those
.lases and assemblies where religious and charitable feelings
may be safe/5, awakened without the peril Of an immediate,
vital, and painful test. He is not made for the House of
trunl ons, nor the House of Commons for him. It scarcely
11its
acknowledged only to reject. A Legislature which trifles
the gravest questions of humanity-, which gathers round
1,017, teacher one day, and runs away fr m him the next, calls
he application of a sterner hand, and, in due. time will
--auly receive it. But is Sir Robert s position, on the
other han ne to be proud of ? He has gained the day ;
but so 11 d'
ao y an unprincipled man, and many a trickster.
Itohe Premier ins-neither.of these,
hy.et,, after all, we see nothing
n.,ea,,v3' or to admire in his ac ement, or in that.whole
7,,„"an---that whole series of positions—of which this is only
41Icirnen. His strength consists in the weakness. of others.
the
knows his ground, he distinguishes with a practised eye
`ue salient points of the various difficulties which immediately
turrixind him and, above all—a rare gift in statesmen I
LaPPreciates the virtues and capacities of those
"a 8 to deal with, As far as virtues are con-
cerned, he does not fall into the error of an exaggerated
stiniate. He knows what stuff millowners and land-
?weners are made of. This is his great secret of state He
ws that every party has its price. He has also the
;culty of appealing with decent solemnity to respectable sel-
vsliness- He is eloquent on gain acid loss. Private corrup-
lan is but a vulgar expedient. It disappoints the many anal
raakes the few insatiable. So a kind of public and wholesale
Pamcorruption is the grander plan of our times. There are two
ta at this moment in actual possession of England's des-
tittl,',les,—the landowners and the millowners,—rival capi-
bothL't'• The Reform Bill, contrary to the anticipations of
_ friend and foe, has sent to Parliament the representa-
tlves of wealth rather than of men. Mere proxies of corn
and cotton crowd the house. Sir Robert Peel's position is to
tay off these interests against one another. He is the /Eolus
soat kee
couth, p,s in mutual check the squally north and the steamy
-out first it is necessary to propitiate them at the
of inferior, or less efficacious parties. If there is any
• Irt on which the Duke of Richmond and Mr. Bright are
re' to discover a community of interest, or any measure
urofiY table to one and not injurious to the other, that will be
_. re to suit Sir Robert's purpose. Such is the Premier's posi-
tion in the present instance, and such his policy. He is beset
by certain inconvenient demands from a particular class of
b_sl_ll.l% An actual case of suffering, backed by a little stray
olence, and possibly by some other less assignable syins-
t.athies or antipathies, finds its way into Parliament anddi -
tLret's the equilibrium. If it is relieved, then confessedly
that[ re arises a degree of peril to the capital connected. with
with labour. That capital must be -supported, if possible
Ntri:nout
ric. "'linage to the rival capital. Sir Robert does the
gent
to admiration. He takes a general view of the
ienTi"• " This is a case," 'he' says, "Of labour insur-
lilt— against capital. All you capitalists have ,a common
Ls' t7sest in protecting the free development of caital which
at,oe. source of employment. Restrictions on labour are re-
ions on capital, and consequently on the universal divi-
ild of ch and oor. One labour to
B.llf)th
artm-er, ri
without end." Every nowconcession andto then be spicesleads the
1.0„ mein with an allusion to the fact that manufacture is
a 1,," very close indeed in the market of nations, that we have
once been obl ged to surrender every natural advantage
ueeL".
sessed by our manufacturer, that he suffers peculiar
as thin " von,
labour9 a race and carries weight," and, therefore,
acheat present we cannot clog him by restrictinthe
, in his employ.'
.The speech is descriptive of the Pre-
caseier s
Ppition, and f nothing else. It does not meet the
lo in debate, and hardly deserves to be called an argumenti
J" it, l'rom the first -to the last sentence not only ist there
Rliollone a sl
s mind
3 lable on that case, but the tenor shows that it is
f°,rgOtten, and something. else is present in the Pre-
the
Nra • The real question proposed by Lord Ashley
s not and labour should be protected, but whether
the
female and the youthful labourer should be protected as _
le
not • and youthful capitalist are. Protection was asked
lyeakuterbehalf of labour against capital, but in behalf of the
casc , sex and age against the stronger. It was a speci
gave The slightest recollection of the point at issue would
arith excluded as wholly irrelevant the pretty . dilemma
tence which the Premier adorned his opening sen-
cosi;, Re charges some of his opponents with in-
the
j,- "I°Y, because, while they are against restricting it ahortation of corn, they propose to restrict labour. But
neees,. quite compatible to desire an open supply of th
the i•s\aries of life and also legal protection for those whom
agaiti4slT has ever held to require it ? But even as arguing
r.L.the legislative protection of labour in general, Sir
a tis almost studiously flimsy and negligent. He states
rq.'-ertain loss likely to arise to the manufacturer from the
rnacrsed.restriction on time. The particular documsnt he
thate(Bl hls text for this purpose is one obviously of a kind
time :es not apply, as it dates at a period (1842) when
duct,,' eras shortened,' with an express wish to diminish prod
to )4 in the same ratio. Again, the loss to the master an
oPerative, as he states it, is within the compass of
are fiscal c°mOensation. Further on, the foreign hours of labour
notirluoted from a publication of 1837, with the bare an-
and lc..ntent that there may have been subsequent changes,
for,i "thout any allusion to the hoped-for probability of
of
(iegtrs following our good example. The Premier's mode
trateas"ng with the moral argument of Lord Ashley illus:
did hiss much the peculiar temper of his argument as it
- cannot utter forgetfulness of the question at issue. He
testa' eny that the nation is morally bound to protect
are 8 c cdlasses naturally weak, where it can, and where they
passnulnerous that it cannot help observing them. We
assail a few other conspicuous flimsinesses. But why
tut,anta,osPeech with newspaper criticism which was never
A• It told' r newspapers ? It was aimed at. a
eight .
e'n• the Conservative mind. Eighty-g of Lord
of co:: supporters took the hint and withdrew. Most had,
It wa`,,4rBe, already taken a hint—perhaps the whole body.
after ',Painful, of course, to announce desertion immediately
ration"rcl Ashley's first triumph, and the consequent decla
that tiu' Ministers ; so, possibly some day it _
will come out
AclandeY drew up a round robbin, and the redoubted
1414,4 \Yas the spokesman of the eighty-eight, as being their
Acon:heal chief. Unhappy pre-eminenee Were we Mr.
"rselv' we should take some early opportunity of burying_
"eestres
, in the midst of the alphabet, even at. the loss of
vlthiela
yhaelleassiolecgia,,t,ions. Fifteen of these eighty-eight " went
and voted against Lord Ashley. Think
was' all avalanche of rats ! Talk of faggot peers !—that
coars.eas4 work. Sir Robert pitches about faggots of turn-
we mi,„1,,,e is an honest man ; we know of no man to whon.i
any p ""l• commit our purse with greater confidence; but if
„pon
oarliamentary gentlemen wish their honour free from
keeping Waste, we advise them to reserve it in their own
R-at least, not to commit it to their Premier.
We l (From the Herald.)
acconlr,c os.et with that melancholy kind of satisfaction which
tion, frames the departure of a painful topic, the consider,a-
final a„(4,, tile present session, of the Ten Hour clause. The
illiupstconclusive argument, brought forward by the Prime
Dectedr himself, had its full effect, and a majority, unex-
at the large, testified the alarm felt by the House of commons
nin4t bare idea of a dissolution of the present Government. We
aired casto4rye to lament the issue, partly because we feel as-
tice this decision the question is not settled. Jus-
wiii
re- not been done and until it is done, a festering sore hour
amain in the minds of the aggrieved classes. The long
istagniv,tect, too, will render over-production, gluts, and
as the "on, almost inevitable; and when these evils occur,
elapsed Ire very likely to do before many months will have
avoid rem aow will it be possible for the poor operatives to
feet tb..enthering the late discussions, or to overlook the
tit •:,..,_in"d,:4lnoderate work at all times is far preferable to
henver-
e.e;wentor seventeen months, and half starvation for next
minor, but not an inconsiderable cause of pain to
lly, has been the necessity of opposing with
anT"tness wfiat we have regarded as, on the whole, a wise
loerhtslitye-,Aaddmeri(ntsisutrsation. A glance, however, even
t the sti;":
_ln a discussion in which tsl(:ernLcvonsolation in this matter.
ight, our support would be rather out
UnAtessrs. Roebuck, Ward, Bright Govern
of ment
Philips, and Gaily
total does 't 0., la seem that the Morning Herald •shoul:el‘bsleotrhfeoeunanaidd-
, utu
COr„e of parties,
__ft side which obtains the suffrages of Sir Robert Inglis,
, mixture
Wortley, Mr. M'Geachy, and Lord Pollington.
indeed, has been a strange one, but
othsz
:2411..1.L1dd
act,.,"7.4 could doubt as to which was the Conservative side.
r4Lerurrvafitim Robert,... Peel's final argument, too-thirds of the
Ye members would have preferred the Ten Hour
Government ell's sentiment was that of a multitude of
feelin are with Lord Ashley ; but as the
Ahorn.„ make tea
vital question, my vote will be with