The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-18 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROX THE r.VENING PAYJRS OF YESTERDAY.
(.;LOBE.—The titets brought to light by the pub-
lication of the First Report of the Commission, ap-
pointed by her Majesty to inquire into the con-
dition of the Children employed in the Mines
and Factories of the United Kingdom, have made
•
a powerful impression on the public feeling.
The information furnished by. the Commissioners
letates exclusively to the mining districts, and
spreads over 1,800 folio pages. A mass of appalling
details, illustrated and confirmed by facts, verified by
indubitable testimony, produce the heart-sickening
consciousness that during a period, varying from
twelve to eighteen hours, in the twenty-tour, num-
bers of very young children, and youth of both sexes,
and of females arrived at womanhood, and either
mothers, or about to become such, are employed
in the coal, tin. iron-stone, and copper mines.
The form and condition of the mines—the un-
healthy nature of the employment—the physical ex-
ertion it demands, and the unnatural postures which,
from the narrowness of the apertures in which the la-
bour is carried on, the poor creatures are compelled
to remain for hours together; together with the sad
moral results which follow the intermixture of
the sexes under circumstances which prevent any-
thing like effectual superintendence and control—
these facts, clearly told 'and fully verified, com-
bine to present a combination of extreme and exten-
sive physical suffering, associated with social and
moral degradation, such :Li DO COMIDISSIOII issued by
the. Craws on any former occasion has been the means
of developing to the Legislature and the country.
The evidence collected by the _Commissioners ap-
pointed to conduct the ihquiry in the different districts,
e:,zahlishes a strong case for legislative interference.
The early age at which children are taken by their
parents to this severe, dangerous, and unhealthful 'la-
hour—the brutalizing influence of their almost entire
separation from all intercourse with the other portions
of the community—the cruel treatment to which they
are frequently subjected—the almost total neglect of
religious and moral instruction in which they are
reared—resulting in habits of confirmed vice and
awful. demoralization—these are the points of the
cas,_t which claim immediate remedial legislative pro-

yiAtals.
COLT RIER.—Sir Robert Peel is, it must be eon-
fesA,(l, the most fortunate of Ministers, for he has
succeeded, during his brief possession of official
power, not only in satisfying the expectations of
friends, but in extorting the approbation of opponents.
e do not now refer to the eulogies or commenda-
tions bestowed upon his mode of meeting the finan-
cial difficulties of the country by such. sturdy Radi-
cals as Messrs. Roebuck, Currie, and Mitchell;
nor to the praise awarded, though in a grudging
and depreciatory spirit, by 'Whig financiers to
fibs proposed tariff amendments—but, strange though
it may appear, as coming from such a quarter, to an
aek now ledgmen t of the "practical good" resulting from
his measures wrung from the leading organ of the
Opposition. The sense of the benefits accruing to
the country front his measures must indeed be strong,
when we find this attestation to their worth in the
col umns °four Whig- Radial contemporary ( f the Chro-
nicle. We need only place our contemporary's leader ot
yesterday side by side with time lugubrious and mourn-
ful lucubrations in which the writer was wont
to indulge, immediately preceding and subsequent to
the present Ministry's accession to power, to show the
danger of political prophesying ; for while the one
calididly admits the acemililishnie»t of great practical
good, and the presence of important and desirable re-
sults, as the fruits of Sir Robert Peers government,
the others predicted the most direful and disastrous
consequences to the interests of all classes from such
an event. We have seen Sir Robert Peel boldly grapple
whh the Corn-law question, subdue its obstinacy, and
yet not, as had been so confidently foretold, alienate
any section of friends or supporters. Even they who
constantly vilified him, as being afraid to meddle with
that subject, lest he should provoke the hostility of
tin, resentment of the agricultural interest—even they
are now terced to admit the great superiority of the
pr,sent over the late Corn-law ; and this beneficial
improvement the country of course owes solely to
Sir Robert Peel's Government.
STAND A RD.—We yesterday showed from ex-.
perienee that the New Poor-law has totally failed of
all its professed objects. It may be Well to recapi-
tulate these objects and the several proofs of failure.
They were—First—To diminish the number of pau-
pers. By Sir James Graham's confession the num-
ber of paupers has increased to more than one mil-
lion—to more than one-fifteenth of the popula-
tion. Secondly—To improve the condition of the
labouring poor. Now, the factory reports and the
Mining reports demonstrate that the labouring poor
have been reduced, and by the direct agency of the •
ew Poor-law, to a condition of degradation and mi-
sery such as no humane man would willingly place
beasts in—a condition of degradation, misery, and
danger to health and life, such as, less than a cen-
tury ago, our ancestors treated as a capital offence
in those who caused it. Thirdly—To improve
morals of the labouring classes, Sir James
G wham has admitted , that the bastardy clauses
of the law, the very -clauses that were, in the
opinion of Lord Brougham . and others, to be the
clii?f instruments of moral reformation, have had an
c31:3,.!t precisely opposite-a depraving effect of fatal
aid extensive influence. It is only necessary again to
gitance over the factory and mining Reports—and a
modest eye will but glance over theth—to see how
the Poor-law, which forces young persons into fac-
tcries and mines, must affect morals. The prison returns
of the last five years and the demand for a rural police
tell very plainly how little the New Poor-law has
contributed to improve what, as distinguished from
the special impurities ol'factories and mines, we may
call general morals. Lastly—The New Poor-law
was to restore the characteristic attachment of the
humblest of the people •to the laws and institutions of
time country. • That a ldw which would make the
people' happier and more moral would have this effect,
cannot he doubted ; but as the New Poor-law has
not made the people happier or more moral, we must
lOok for some positive evidence of restored loyalty—
for this, we lament- to say, we look in vain. Such,
then, has been the experience of the law which it is
proposed to continue, perhaps to perpetuate.

ELECTION COMMITTEES.
coMi. (COUNTY).

The Committee met this day at eleven o'clock, Mr.
Hatter in the Chair.
• The ltev. S. G. .Parker. a clergyman of the Esta-
blished Church, was the first witness called, and stated
that he was an elector for the county of Cork. He lived
in the county Tipperary, at a distance of about sixty
miles from Cork. He went to Cork to vote for Messrs.
tesder and Lougtield. After voting he left the Ceur;
house by the tirst entrance, and vent through High.
str eel. Ile had not proceeded far when the
erowd said, " There lie is, there he is."
was then struck on the head with a stick which cm
him verb• much. -He staggered. but did not fall. He
received a second blow, and found himself bruised in
various places. Did not know a single person in Cork.
Did not know the face of his own agent, who did busi-
ness for him in Cork ; he (the agent) did not knov,
wit near.

Cross-examined by Mr. AUSTEN—Arrived in Cork 011
Tuesday before four o'clock. Went immediately to the
poll ; he was accompanied by a, person from the Con-
aervative Committee. lie re,gistered as a 501. freeholder.
S. policeman seized one of die persons who struck him,
;.,Ald when he (Mr. Parker) had given his evidence before
A:derma Gibbins, who is a Justice of the Peace, the
nitoi was committed; he:was prosecuted; witness did not
prosecute him. When the person was committed, ht
....4,.ut to the hotel. He went with Captain Barry, the
High Sheriff; he desired witness not to appear as if In'
were under his protection ; he (witness) left
Cork next morning. He got up about eight o'clock.
and travelled to Limerick. which is a distance of 50
Irish miles ; slept at Limerick, and next morning went
home, a distance of 16 miles.
Re-examined by Mr. SMITH.—IIe did not decline the
protection that was offered to him at the Committee-
room ; the soldiers and police did not form a protection
for persons going front the Committee-room to the
Court House. On the following day he went home;
lie WaS anxious to go there, as his family
might hear that he .was badly treated. He saw
the High Sheriff at the Cour-house. He accompanied
witness to. his hotel. It was distant from the Court •
h fuse about a quarter of a mile. Did not know whether
a e polling was over at that time.
Daniel :Murphy was next called, and examined by
14r. Sergeant WRANGHAM—Lives near Milleore, in the
county Cork. Is a voter. Went with Mr. O'Sullivan
,n
to Bantry on board a vessel. Landed at Bantry. There
were a number of people
before them on the
shore.dov
Stones were thrown at them. They came
upon them like grass.—(Laughter.) There were
mere people there than he could account of; there is the
sign of it. (The witness here exhibited his head which
was cir/. by a stone.) Every inch of him was beaten
from tlie stones ; lie has still the signs of it. His hat wa,
cut, and his head also. He received a blow on the arm,
which prevented him from using it for some time. The
:-..0p1e he was with were scattered. Witness was cut oil
trom his friends. He was obliged to take refuge in a
friend's house. Were it not for that he would be a gone
man. Tie went next morning to have his head dressed.
It his friend's house he was put in a room that
l, ad, no window ; that was lest they should pull him
out through, the window. He did nut proceed to Cork :
II,: could n,,a.. A. woman named Shea was in the house :
;the was afraid to go out to get him a drink of water.
'''lie' was 411-aid of the people outside. Were it not for
the violence that was used. he would have gone to vote
at. Cork. tan tenant teLord Bantry.
Cron:.-examined by Air. AttsTEN--ale came ashore,
and had liked to suffer from it. 'There were about
a dozen :persons in the boat, or more. When he
..,:as coming out of the boat the stones were
thrown. He was about 20 perches off when he was
struck. He was running away when he was struck.
hen's house, where' he took re'uge tzar ien the street.
The stmes followed him, and ;ono;
bim.----(Laughter.) Mrs. Shea came out,
and
,t,:hvertothik
came the others fled. ' She said, "Damn your.senls 'e-
t his Murphy ?!' Cannot say if she frightened thoeum'bi;
Ivithak gentie, ,perch.--(ldauater.) ile supposes th 6.-.
;,,dte )4102444; She shotild knoW them. He went to blii.
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