The Sun.
London, England, 1818-04-11 00:00:00

COTTON MA NUFA CTO R I ES.

" Sir ROBERT PEEL rose to present a Petition from the
Cotton .Spinners and others of the town of Stockport, of the
same nature with, the last,. which he thought particularly
deserving of the attention of the House, as among the Peti-
tioners were Master Cotton Spittners themselves. One of
them was Mr.. Eltwhistle, a Gentleman with whom lie had
been long acquainted. The Petition was signed too by eight
medical Gentleinen, whose opinion was strongly in favour of
the Bill whicb he had introthiced.

The Petition was then brought up and read.
Sir JAMES GRAHAM rose to caution the House against
allowing much weight to this .'Petition, which he knew was
principally signed by'discarded and worthless workmen. Hi.s-
.opinicrn against the Bill and in favour of free labour. re-
..raained unchanged. Were it not for the. principle of free
labour he would never have had the honour of being where
he now was.
Mr. CURWEK spoke against the Bill, and against the.po-
-licy of Parliament interfering to restrict the freedom of la-
bour.• *He thonght, certainly, that the hours of labour in
Cotton Maanfactories were unreasonably extended; but if
a Bill-was introduced to limit the hours of labour to Tleverr,
the next thing would bean application to reduce them tii ten.
. Sir It. PEEL said, the Petitioners were persons of great re-
spectability—many of them Clergymen, and all of them en-
titled to. the attention of the House. •

Mr. BUITERWORTH said, that many persons in the
North.of England' had a'ssured him, that if the hours of labour
in' Cotton Factories were not restricted, the'next generation
of the persons employed in them would be a most degenerate
race.. .

Mr.' K. FINLAY maintained that the evil complined of
was inherent in-the manufacturing system, and was not pe-
culiar to Cotton Manufactories. Therefore, if the evil was

. .
general, any remedy which .tnight be thought proper should
be also general. But the Hon. Baronet (Sir lt. Peel) who
had introduced the Bill now before the House, on this sub-
ject, proceeded on principles perfectly erroneous; for there
were other principles tit which the Legislature ought to allow
dne weight as well as those of hiunanity.
,• Mr. C. WYNNE said it was no ol4jection to the measure
ficirc under the consideration of Parlianrent, that it would not
,:ketnove a),l the evils of excessive lhtour. It was sufficient
that it Wastalculated to put an end tn. t he' practice of t';•ork-
ing beyond their strength children and Persons incapable of
prOtecting themselves.
71'he Petition was then ordered to lie on the table.
Mr. LITTLETON presented a Petition front the High She-
riff and Grand Jury of the County of Stafford, praying that
the law authorizing what was commonly caned " 610.'0-mo-
ney," or a 'reward to Ee pnid to persons who apprehended of-
fenders, 'bight he `repealed. He thought it necessary to say,
that his own opinion was not in favour of an unqoalified re-
Teal of the Act in question, fOr he thought the interest of
the public would be best consulted by authorizing, under
certain restrictions, rewards for the apprehension of of-
fenders.—The Petition was read, and ordered to lie on the
table.

Mr. Alder Man WOOD presented a Petition from the Free
Waterine❑ of the different Stairs, praying that the Bill to
authorize the building of the iron bridge at Rotherhithe
may not pass into a law.—Read, ant! ordered Co lie on the
table.

Nit.. Alderman WOOD presented seven PetitibiiS, from
Newcastle under-Line, and other places, praying for Re-
form.—Read, and ordered to lie oti the table..
Mr. PEEL presented a Petition from the It iyal College of
Stirgeons in Irela►id, against the Bill now before the House
for Regulating the Profession of Surgery.—Read, and order-
ed to lie on the table, cud to lie printed.
Mr. EGER'I'ON presented a Petition from the Cotten Ma-
nnfacturers of the County of Chester, in laronr of the Bill
for restricting the Hour? of Labour in Cotton Manufacto-
ries.—Read, and ordered to lie on the table, and to be
printed.
14r. BARCLAY presented Petitions from the Parishes of
St. Botelph's and SI- SaViOur's, Southwarh,and Christchurch,
in Surrey, against the Poor Laws' Bill, its its present shape—
Read, and ordered to lie on the table.
The Committee on the Steam Boat Regulat!tin Bill was
postponed till Monday.
The second reAing of the Purchase 'of Game Bill was
postponed to this day sennight ; and the second reading of
the Copyright Bill was postponed till the same day.
The further consideration of the Report of the Cotton
Manufactories' Regulation Bill was postponed to this day
•e'nuight.
POOR LAWS.

-Mr. S. BOURNE moved the re-commitment of the Poor
Laws' Amendment Bill, fur the purpose of making some
amendments and alterations in it, .which might be now
agreed to pro forira, and discussed on the Report.
The liouse then resolved itself into the Committee, in
which some amendments and alterations were agreed to.
The Report was then received, and ordered to be taken into
consideration on Monday, when it was agreedthat the amend-
ments should be discussed.

The Order of the Day for the further consideration of the
Report of the Parish Vestry Bill having been read, it was
agreed that it should be recommitted for the same purpose as
the Poor Laws' Amendment Bill.

The, Bill was then recommitted, and several alterations and
amendments proposed and agreed to pro Toting:
The Report was then received, and was ordered to be
taken lot° further consideration on Monday, when the.
amendments and alterations are to be discussed.