The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-23 00:00:00

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,tbe
by the superior economy, energy, and manageineetcoloir
people of this country. All that had been de° to 0
tently with a gradual and steady amelioration, s
of the
the present Bill offered, in the conditioa
rebored
younger branches of the community. He
„rill'',
that, the worst enemies to the country g e 4r•
and above all to those operative classes which wil'ough
serving of their best regards, were those nh°,
mistaken zeal, would allow themselves -to coo,
any impulse of humanity, without having careful? be•
sidered its oonsequences.—(Cheers.) Ile figt 'rode. ,
lievad that they were doing all that they eou'",,,hioli,
prive the operative classes of this country of that lutect
more than charity or legislative protection, eoaelat of
their real good—he meant the commercial prose
that conntry.—(Cheers.) • 1
Mr. BROTHERTON said that this ntles.,-°it eel
agitated the country for twenty-eight yettKonu, ,:taiolf
high time that it should be set at rest. He `e'oort'
concurred with the Noble Lord the Member for
10i,•
shire as to the limit of ten hours. He might' hetea
oa
taken in his view, which perhaps was
'the subject, but still he thought that humanitiO°
and sound policy, supported his view, and °!1 the
grounds he justified the vote which he had gl'erenee
other evening, and which he was prepar ° 4
on the present occasion. And he thought thereubjeci.
departure from principle in legislating upon this °ors Of
He was of a different opinien from the- Ill`re -woe
Factories, and others well acquainted with the inatteraery
of opinion that human labour in connection with machoter
warn not free labour. Besides, they had already eit
-eontracojity,
fered. Before there was any legislative interfere.nfici.teea
was customary for factories to work fourteen er „Teta
hours a day; and Lord Kenyon, in the year 1819, 'shire
in the House of Lords that the factories of Lanawbea
• workedfourteen hours and a half, a day. Tllllsr est-
there was no legislation there excessive labour-wedrOf
vied on. It-was said, too, that if trade was Pero
free and unrestricted in factories, there would:01"1g36,
mend for legislation. Why, in the years 1835 t so
arid 1837, when trade was rather brisk, there C eo•
less than 3,000 convictions for infractions of the :.;‘,O/
tories Act,-,anclaheeptialties paid amounted to
Even now, aettire d.nnt moment, they found fen it
and married women working fourteen hours a
tt
was said that it was wrong to lay any restrictions
tiro,
labour. He reminded Hon. Gentlemen that a. reeled
tion was laid on labour in one case, at letiat. by the aoa
'highest authority, " Six days shalt thoulabour, an co
(the seventh thou shalt rest." That was a law dire)
opposed to the political economist.—(llear, bee-itemti
they carried out their principle to its highest bouts if they found that fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen 'pa.
per clay did not enable them to compete with foreigar
titans, thej must then work on the seventh dIY• )050.
hours a day he thought was sufficient for rattn „
'iv-tioncl
or' child, and with that length of time' it would
that the business of factories was quite the!
He was sure that if all worked a. moderate t}.. He
Ile
would have nothing to. fear from cornpeOtir,:aissY
might, perhaps, have somewhat differeat•vieniw,ssioin
on this subject. He might, perhaps, make abll.oter"
"which wield be hold' of bythOse who went fle el'
minable labour. •13itt he did not care for that. they
mitted that if they decreased the luinit of labour. nie
must increase the cost of manufactures. But, %he,; as
qUestion was who was to bear this ? He had wen).
calculation with regard to a particular rain ee edoe'
amount which would be lost in consequence of the r
tion of the hours of labour. Therefore, sahnitting •5, it
there would be a reduction in the amount of wegetlist
was necessary for gentlemen to see in what welaislis
would operate. . They purchased foreign 'flanortel,,
which were manufactured in this country and eiv (/'
in competition with foreign manufactures. 7
course the difference between the price ° ob.
raw material and the amount which theLytett
tamed for the manufacture when it was e.st" pits;
was the amount received for labour, interest of °with
and profit. In order, therefore, to compete t$ i 0
foreigners, they continued making ireproveineehoest
machinery. They had reduced the hours • d frost
from seventy-seven per week to seventy-tr/P,,,ted,.-W"
seventy-two to sixty-nine, without, he bau°,4ol tee
juring their commerce. In 1816 they expo beljered
millions of pounds of cotton twist; in 1843
they exported 113 millions...e.(Hear, hear.) pu'll"
regard to the wages of those employed in cott;,,t, the
there had been very little difference indeed. .I,ost tb°
• last fifteen years the money wages had been e-id in.
tame. He had procured returns of the wages,P,shat the
number of factories in 1832, and he Ruth;
average rate of wages for men, women, grid
working in mills was from 9s. 6d. to 12s. per beember 0'
had also got returns in reference to S 1111,„1 the
factories in the year 1844, and he found tires
average rate of wages was nearly the stune4t,4ob
little more than in 1832. There was no trade ▪ dtet
wages were so regular as in factories, and "onsew",
because -in factories great numbers were Lc„„..
together. As in the army and in the navy', se
could not be altering wages every day. Whether earn
e'
were brisk or slack, the wages continued Abell!) theca
Persons who were employed separately---toke'_„. fe':
stance, the case of the hand-loom weevers oleo
obliged to compete with each other. This The
-lowered wages ; for-the manufacturers would OP .$ 114
times are bad, and if you cannot take less w,eoglereadf
cannot give you work.' In factories, as he haa.„ to th!
said, there was very little fluctuation with regar",
igreP
wages of persons employed in factories. Now t',„,08 t
end of this legislation was, he conceived, to PrA°"-, Is;
young ; and this could not be done unless they bad
which embraced all ages. 'The reason will. '7lii./r,
&rent Acts which had been passed had for'
efficiency was that they had- Only, °f
children, and for persons of 16 or 18 years 101 er
whereas the great object was to legislate for all Thsi
21—that there should be one uniform time for at'' vice i
Was the great object which he had always bawd Moab
and he believed that. legislation of this kinbbeliel-
benefit both masters analAperadyes. He did 11,01'01.01
that the wages of the operative would be reeol:oo,,'
this measure.—(Hear.) If they were, therafaieto•-;'
day in the week on which the operatives worked
bread tax ; and if they found thet-they could Ft.t
„9" •
pete with foreigners without taking off that 7;4,4*
even the tax upsni_ cotton, they must ha, tre,.,,P
make the necessary sacrifice.--(Hear,
thought that great philanthropy had been in,lta .;
by Hon. Gentlemen opposite in coming forwol,, !rho'
vocate this humane measure ; and he thought t"„". O.;
nation would feel that it was their duty to P!°(-0 taw
• ther,- if necessary, by removing all those restrictiotgesti,
burdens which pressed upon the manufacturing ins itte
He believed that by passing this Bill they lou 050., s;
satisfaction to the operative classes, and set this ropror
completely at rest, and make the people gelle".l.'sa ;
perous, contented, and happy. With these Tie -
• %
ahould-certainly vote for the Bill.—(Cheers.)
nti°°
• Lord 3'., MANNERS said it had been his int` neve
give a silent vote on this Bill ; but after the clef Pr
which had been thrown out by the •Hon. igen3-
Manchester; he could not adhere to intention' which
Hon. Member had asked him if in the short teuede,,
he had made in company with his. Hon. Frie'„' any b 1
'Members for Canterbury and Sandwich, he stivrie"'ve
which would bear out the harrowing picture afto
the Noble Lord, the Member for Dorsetsl;ire• ' .1100'
great pleasure in telling him that he did not.--tooese
hear,' from the Opposition benches.) -1f hst 'hie; • I
would permit him too fve. a general detail 01,_`' won'y •'12,;
saw in visiting theae7iteat establishments, t'ell tool ," •
state that their general charaeteristics were 2 S roe!'
of well-built cottages of two stories each, with t-6'ffertir
on-each story, with large windows, with plentf of seAr
.ture, with capacious back-yards, and with on itterhilli°Vf
ply of coal and water—all at a rent of three spilt?
a week, which, he believed, was generally stolteisione,
the wages. He saw, besides, most minute suPei,, of t,'
„-
every part of these establishments on the P3,.‘,.`"ryhOui,
manufacturer. Every shop was licensed by hinl;
was dependent upon him for the exercise of u's.„00011• rf
and for his very existence.—(Hear.) He entirtitcoty
red with the Noble Lord (Stanley) as to the diTh' t
arriving at anything like sound conclusions e'be°olll,l
sanitary condition of the manufacturing elassesti,b nl",if
he was convinced that an appearance of be'L'; 09 t,
exist notwithstanding its absence.—(Hear, hear'isoll
cheeks and blooming lips might be produced 01 00 heel,
over excitement as by genuine health. He hael,,,,coar I
tation in sayingthat the appearance of the Y„on''.l,ealt!L
in the manufacturing districts was generag bed
So much for the appearance of the people. 'efleerigii,f
that the wages of men, women, and children.:'oooo
9s. or 10s. a week. Thirty shillings was the j.ll,isr
the inhabitants of a cottage, which would eol,rti'nee." •1-
vide the conveniences and eomforts of e:l`so,er-°- 1,1
(Hear, hear.) He had thus endeavoured to 013 beitef' -
general challenge of the Hon. Member for Monertieelsi;
and he would now proceed to notice a more Peirlie, se
:One. The Hon. Member asked him if it was -th ti"
had been rep.orted, that they had had some tailt l''.lhe re-
agricultural immigrants, and he wished to ka 37/0""tierl)
suit of that conversation? Now he (Lardl the f°,i
fund, in a brief note which he took et the tiina, that,,s'"o
lowing allusion :—" One cottage we entered felon 7,0
. a woman from Hampshire, with ten childreu lieselc,:;s •
came. When asked if she would like to e She
shook her head, laughed, and said ' NO' ultiatr,
cooking dinner for her children, when the/ 0,1;10-0, he
out ,of the mill ; it was beef and potatoes.' -;;Lshebacoppoldot
from the Opposition benches.) Now lie
to be enabled to pay his tribute of praisa•t° t hose flif,j
of those great and wealthy manufacturers w hesr"o-
tories he bad visited.—(Cries of " be 4,14
But he must now remark that ''''ssa" ainst""
thus stated did not, in his opinion, militate e gais
proposal'of the Noble Lord.--(Hear, hear.) les
posal was to limit the period of labour for t,ere,:;s thstl;
young people to ten hours. 'His statenten!_„„cileti •;
owing to the mothers of families being a°.l-700a end
work twelve hours, that deplorable disorganlze'which ';,
reverse of the order of nature had taken P. ,
had described with such painful
lieved the statements of the Noble Lord- -_t° • ~„1
tially correct.---Olear, 11,04,) What he 51, Tom:
seen
Bolton, contrasted with
'V., be
had
the contrast Dv shor• t
.shovved him howle4t:VPt- be at e $
the spectacles exhibited in two places situate particularity
substoo
distance from each other. It was said we'd,
would be reduced if this Bill were',....P°"ds:,,,a
that the opinion of the three or four hum
~ fayou, 0
facturers who had signed the petition in .;''s boansi,
He believed that the Committee could wi.P.,aqisiriett
humanely, accede to the proposition of his 24 °Wort. gf
and it should have his hearty and cordial 117 dot 0
would advise the House to consider what p
their decision upon this question would bale'
country. The hour might be atbut
the House would—not only in practice',
_e„resel
theory and name—cease to be the wall
_
tires of the people of England. -TA iseth°, •
entreat the House to reflect upon what baPPefi.,- tb°
ths
last three years... Had they Jfarned 11941itf and
rho Nort gad thea
manufacturing" insurrections
agrarian insurrection in 'Wales
learned nothing' fro rk tki,,igilagrutions
and Suffolk, and other par`fs of the country,
end counter-cheers.) If the House ccolatVA"

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