The Sun.
London, England, 1819-05-14 00:00:00

RIBBON AND SILK WEAVERS.

'Mr. P. l',lopite pre'sented a petition from the
.I\i Ivor and Corporation of.,Coventry, stating -the
(freddlul distresses under which the Ribbon and Silk
Weav,.rs of that city atol its neighbourhood were
suffering—distresses so great,' that if not speedily
relieved, they must one and all perish—and pray,
ing/ that the House would . take their case into
its most serious consideration.—Ordered to be

printed.
Mr. P. Mooxe then rose, pursuant to his no-
tice, to move for leave to brjug in. a Bill for the
Relief. of Ribbon and Silk Weavers, founded on
the Report of the Committee of last Session. In
the city of Coventry, the greater part of the lru
pulatiou were redoced to the utmost distress ;
thousands of families being thrown for. support
on the pdors' rates, it) consequence of the iastrfa
ficiency of the wages give's to the weavers, and
nOt. OrViirg to any waist Of employment, as the
ribbon trade was in a very flourishinr stste, ' and.
immense fortunes had been made by some of she
msstir manufacturers. What was desired was,
that the legislative regulations by which the price
of labour in the silk-manufaerure,abhve 40 years
ago, was regulated. in Spitalfislds and Dublin,
Should -be extended so the Rihhon Weaveli of
Coventry. In support of the necessity of some
PailiaMentary Interposition on this subject, the
800. Gentleman referred so the Report of the
Commit-tee of list Session, in which the eirctimS
stances of the'case were very hilly detailed. The;
.I.‘l a trites of Coventry had stated, that not-
withstanding the severe pressure, there had been
do tumult or disorder ; 'but that the people bad
borne their sufferings with patient resignation,
tinder the humble but constant expectation that
asonsethhig who'd be 'done by the Legislature in
their behalf. Last year, when the necessity for
interference was not so -clearly established, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer had expressed' him.-
self doubtlnl whether it might not be advisable.
As present. therefore, when that' necessity 'was
evidently imperious, he (Mr. 1': Moore) thought
be had a claim on the Right Hon. Gentletnan's
support. Unless something was speedily done',
the whole population of Coventry most perish in
one common ruin. The Committee on the Poor
Laws lisd stated in their Report, that pstienCe,
endurance of labour, and frugality, were quali-
ties whiebionder the-present circumstances, the
lower orders of the people wese.pecoliarly cNlieil
upon to exercise; but these (lodides had all seep
exeinplarily exhibited by the silk weavers of Co-
ventry, to no purpose. They were absolute
paupers. , This was a. state out of
.which
ea to bring them.; and lie trusted 'his example
would be ((snowed by such Hon. Mionbers as
Insight unhatspily have constituents simihrly cir-
cumstanced. The silk and,ribbon weavers of Co-
ventry, althongh they laboured in general 1-6
bouts its the day, or 96 hours in the week, were,.
nevertheless, obliged to have recourse to the.
pours' rates, for she means Of supßortiog them-
selves anti their taMilies. All the aid derived
from friendly societies,. voluntary contributions,
had Jong heest exhausted. In 1816, the'
masters were. so struck with the sufferings- ot,
the persons employed by them, that, they eras
teLetl into mutual ogreemer t tri give then)
a fairer pt ice for their labour.; but from that
agreement one by one of the individuals who
were parties to it receded. Now, however, the
same iridividuals joined with the operative
weavers in their prayer for legislative interference,
fia(.sisme measure whiCh could not be eluded,- feel-
ing that it was indispensible to their Com Mon
preservation. Hehad, a paper to that:effect signed
by every firm in Coventry. By the Report'of
last Session, it appeared that the persons em-
ployed in the ribbon and silk trade of Coventry
were divided into five classes, all of thCm working
16 hours in the day ; those of the first class earned
10s. a- Week ; that was, 10s. for 96 hours of
labour, or two hours of what wa; really heavy
labour for two-pence halfpenny. Those Of-the
second class earned five shillings and sixpence a
week. Those of the third three shillings and
ninepence. Those of, the fourth two shillings.—
And those of the fifth one shilling and sixpence; .
or 12 hours labour for three halfpence. O course
such sums were inadequate to the support of the ,

persons receiving them ; and the del cicncy Was
therefote made good out of the boors' rates. All
that was'asked was the addidOn of the fraction,
a farthing a yard on the wages, which would ef-
fectually relieve the operative weavers and their
families from the distress under which they at pre-
sent laboured. If the ribbon track; revived, the
.whole,trade of Coventry wonlitresive with.
that sunk, all would sink. After_enfnrcing.these
remarks at considerable length, the Honourable
Gentleman-concluded by moving for leave o bring
in a Bill for the better;teginlation of
.the Wages
of Persons employed in. the Silk Manufacture of
Great Britain.

RoarNs,t4 could asstire the Hon. Gentle-
man and
.thr,llouse, that no person could more
sincerely sympathize with the petitioners in their
distress than 'he did, and it was therefore with
great regret that he felt himself obliged to °tiro-ie
the Bill which the Hon. Member wished to intro-
duce, as one ill caleniated to remove the evil com-
plained of, He undetstood the measure that he
(Mr. Moore) wool() propose, 'vent to extend
to th • Silk'Tracie etterallY tbe.prOvisions of the
SpitAfieldS Bill:: He considered dangeroos to
ittteifere with the Wages of labour, antithe House
-always been very cautious in dutvg, so. In
!Mfg, a Committee had sat on a very anb-
.ject--on'the then state.of the Cotton, Trade.' They
'had very soon made their Report,and as the sen-
ti:nents it contained.iTere pit Jecily cutAotniab!e to
his own, be would now read them to the Hoose.
Th'e RepOrt stated that the ConiMittee were
in-
fOrtned_that some such. a reizolatiOn ai.w.as then
,prayed for, had been tot several years in force in
the' Silk Trade; and.they had 'resolVed thin such
legislative interference Must have a tendency to
a;,:g'ravrite- those evils which it was the object of
the Committee, and most be of the House, to td-
kvi.tti% Stiehl was the view of a subject -prec•sely
similar to the present, that was taken► OV that
Cominitttee, which contained the petsons best
qualified to judge Of the Merits of such a question
that were then in the Honkie. Attioug 'hem he
'might mention Mr. Blackborne, Air. D. Ghhly,
Mr. Baring, Mr.lidriter, Mr. I'. Moore, Mr.
Rose, Air. Huskisson," Mr: Wilberforce, and Mi.
Whitbread. Such a measure, therefore, as it
was now proposed, to introduce, he MOO OtjCet
to, unless it could be proved that' this particular
.trade ought to be excepted from those general
rules which it had been thought wisdom to adopt
for the regulation of their conduct When legislat-
ing on such subjects.
Mr. DAVENPORT was of opiniOn. such a MCASUre
as that recommended by the Hon. Gentleman
would be Most prejudicial to the interests of the
country.

Alr. Ewes-contended, the- peculiar' sitnation
'of tbe Silk Ti-aile'Wji such as to justify the ap-
peal now Made .to ,Parliament. When such a
measure as the Corn4lill had been passed to pro.
tect the landed interest, without censuring that
law, he might say, the wit-originate silk weavers
had a .. :Olt to look for legislative inteatrenee
save them from starvation. It was stated to hint
by the Wf:ayerS, that a tax, aniontiting to hut the
eighth of a penny, levied on the consumer of
every yard of silk wove in Coventry, would re-
nuedy the evil : and he thought it but reasonable
that the snirerers should wish to have this secored
to them by an Act of Pal liaMent. P su. h relief
were not atfoided, and the Bill nett in the 110,ise
for alteriug the poor Laws should pats, which
contained a clause against grain ipa any able bo-
died man parochial relief, he wished to know
what the Foist• labourer was to do ? A: present
he could not exist, if he were not partially sup-
ported out of the
.f'oot's RateS. He had thus fur
spoken merelyas to the price of labour, lie
derstpod the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr.. Robin-
son) hail no objection to the other parts of the
Bill, and he therefore entreated the Hon. Gentle-
man not to object to, this Bill being brought
merely because be disapproi'eci of one part of it.
He begg'd to, call the attention of the Muse to
the system of halC;pay apprentices, which had lae-
cOitie very firevalent in Coventry. Under this plan,
the apprentice received half the value of his la-
bour,—This formerly did very well, till an altera-
tion took place in the t;;ade, when the apprentices
were thinwb on the parisb, and the greatest mi-
sery ensued: The Bill went to provide a remedy
for this, and he therefore hoped the Rig-ht
Gentleman would not oppose itsbeingbrought

Mr. WAL.Acs contemded, that unless it were
clearly prOvecrthat the general principle asted on
in such cases ought to be dispensed with in favour
of the siik-weavers,-a Bill like that propoied to
be introduced, ought not to.be brought in. He
ttrongly objected to all interference with the
price'of labour, but should be glad to see proper
rcegolations arlopred to correct the evils of the
holf.;pay-systern.

Mr. DUGDALE stated, that had ivitnessed
the distresses of the manufacturers in Coventry
and itts, neighbourhood, and he thought the Bill
ora caleittlaled to relieve them. lie did not see
,the policy of- potting one portion of manufactur.
els under certain Legislative regulations, and re-,
fusing them to others ; those who were excluded
ft OM the operation of such regulations demanded
that, it might be extended to them, and he thought
their. request ought to be complied with.
Mr. V. Bit X-coN, thought those principles which
Were acted upon .with 'respect to labour-in its nal
tural.stste, were inapplicable -to the artificial state
of things which now existed in Covimtry. At
present -a ;eery small part. of the t.a,ges of the
work rn:it was paid out of the; pocket of the ma-
nufacturer. The greater portion of what he -re-
ceived cazne.from the 'parish. A skilful work-
man, after labouring- for 16 hours per day, with
machinery. of- his own,.'so that ,he must have some
littls capital also, could- get but 10s..per week..;—.-
Others,cotibLobtain but ss. 611. per week.- . The
rest of what they received came from the parish.
The Vuor's Rates were the cause 'of-this state 'of
things, - But for them it must -lonk since haYe
.ceased to exist ;. for either the men would have
abandoned-their work altogether,, or the mastets
would hate been compelled to raise their wages.
Thelioese, then, was not to proceed as:if the
trade were in a common. state ;. but the question
was,. Whether, the trade having been forced. out
Of its ordinaryostaie by one course of •legijati.oo,
it was to he left there; stir bout any effort being
mlide to remedy the evils thence arising by fur-
ther Legislative ihterfereuce ? cases was au

•
ordinary case, ifs had been atstitintid; -for in eo-
I/entry the Poor's Rates were, at this time of
comparative prosperity; '1 UU s: in•. the pound ; :and
one-third of the population of the 'city received
the-means Of subsistence from thtii. The Poor's
Rates were the centre of thg Al._ A merc,hant
in London having no coonexion with Coventry—
having nevec.pa4gt._.o tr! thePe!ien!.!. Rates
of that place, could send goods to be manufaCtinc
.ed there by pertotts who were to receive ss. 6d.
-per week for their -labour. The deficiency be-
tween that sum and what .was. necessary for the
support of the workthen•wasrto.he made gob(' by
the parish. • The half-pay system was-most.injii-
rions in its effects,-as it-caused young peo-
ple in Coventry, who were ernployed in the silk
trade, to become paupers, and produced in its re-
snits- one of the most frightful pictures. of debau-.
cherv, vice, and iromorality,,that ever was known.
He considered the greatest benefits to have ari-
sen froM the Spnalfields. Act. He'had a Peti-
6On-in' his possession, which, pet haps, he ought
to have presented that night, which was sigo-
eci' by every mister mai.OlaCtiirer of Spit alfields.
This petition staged that Act to have been
r,,;:eti ,even" years, and to have proved most
he:oficial .to both masters and joutneymen.--
The 'Spitalfiehls•Act authorized a Magistrate to
act arhitriitor between the. masters and the
w
„
journeymen, when
_any dispute arose •betwer'n
them. The effect of this Was to make any agree-
irsent.that they might..couclude biodrog oo both
parties. I's or dity might he seen from One Singh:
fact. In 1816, similar agrerinentS'w(Tre entered
Into bet weer !lie masters and Men in Coventry
tlie masters and men of Spitalfields. In the
founer place the agreement, made was mit ob-
served for a fortnight ; in the latter it had, been
acted on up to the present time. 'Alloy advan-
tages had followed the passing of the law. It had
p6idueed loyalty, peae.e, and good order, where
all before was disaffection, disorder, and riot,—
Thi'l,king as he did that the workmen ought.
to hr p,id by. those for -whom they labohred, and
not out of the Poors' Rares,the would give the
B 11-now proposed to be introducedhis support-. .
. Mr. S. WOliTLat thought it the claimed.
for: the silk weavers were granteilT, other Hades
woul'd have an equal right to call on Parliament
to interleie in their behalf. 'He did not think the
evil grew out of the pours' rates, but out of the
walit of customers who would. buy at such prices
as would enable the mister to -gi.ve those in leis;
einploy an 'adequate remuneration for their 18-1.
boor.

Air. PuiLurs was surprised ,to bear the lion.
Member (Mr. finst•tn) say the petition in favour
of the Soitalfidds Bill which ht- had to present ,
was signed by tattle. Master Weavers in town,
as the' evidence given by Mr. S. Wilson before
the Committer would have warranted hitt) in com-
ing to a very different That Act-Initi
been most inittri9tts in its effects; and 'as ro the
quietness which it was.said to haNe.productd, he
viewed it hot as the quietness of death, .for the
manufacturers had been compelled to go elie-
where. Ile, could see no reasOn,why labour .should
not be lett to find its trice, as well,as:6nycomtno-
ditv in England. It,we.s not by an attempt to re-
inore Ilree0! from one class of per3ons to atm,
ther, that relief conld be afforded, bot by some
measure thal'wooldgo to break down the prest nt
syst6,), Eiiid restore to the +cntkmnn hiS.fortner
gard for clitracter and independence.
i\!r. IW-x-roN, in explanation, said, the petitinn
he had to present was signed by all the 111,1StelS
in ;Spitaifiukis, ihowzb not by all who resided in
other parts of ihe -Metropolis.
Mr. ILGERTON spoke, 6nt was inaudible in the
Gallery.

Mr. LITTLETON 84W no necessity for bringing
in a general inetistireto correct aloc4l' grievance.

`Mr." CnitweN reotnn;ended it to his Linn.
Friend to 'vviihdraw the,. Bill, and bting in nn.
other,.to regulate the lialt•pay system►, and other
matters e,,trheciect with the fracle... ••

Mr. P. Mount briefly replied, and consented
to withdraw the Bill and throw on ,Ministers
tire regptinsibility of relieving .the existing dis-
tress.
The motion %pas then withdrawn.

Sir 1J PARNELL MOVE(' tor Accounts relative.
to Transfers of Stock Of' thejiatiks of England
and Iteland.—The potion was ai;reed to.