The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-19 00:00:00

BARLEY.

Mr. WODEHOUSE gave notice of his intention, on
a future day, to move for certain returns respecting the
importation of bailey.
BONDED BUTTER. _

Mr. EWAUT moved for a return of the quantity of
butter destroyed in bond in the different ports of the
-United kingdom during the last four years, with the
dates of the several periods at uhich such destruction
took place, and the quantity destroyed at each period.
- FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT.

Mr. MILES moved for copies of any Orders in
Ccancit issued since the end of last session of Parliament,
with reference to the Foreign Jurisdiction Act ; and
copies of any diplomatic correspondence that may have
taken place with resptct to consular jurisdiction in the
Levant
UNION WORKHOUSES (IRELAND).

Sir R. FERGUSON moved for a return, in provinces,
of the Lumber of children sent out to service from the
union workhouses in Ireland in the years 1842, 1843,
and 1844, distinguishing boys from girls, with the
average ages of eaci', the average wages per half-year,
the number returned to the house in each half-year ;
Ist, on account of sickness ; 2d, on account of miscon-
duct or of quarrel with their master ; and 3d, on com-
pleting their time of se:vice ; also, those remaining out
at the end of each year, and the number of boys at pre-
sent acquiring a knowledge of some trade, distinguishing
-whether shoemakers, tailors, or other trades.
DISTRESSED FRAME-WORK KNITTERS.

- Mr. FERRAND gave notice that he would to-morrow
oak the Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary for the Home
Department whether it was his Intention to lay upon the
table of the House the report of Mr. Moggeridge, the
Commissioner who was sent down to the Midland Conn-
'ties to inquire into the distress among frame-work
'knitters,
EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN IN FACTORIES.
Lord ASHLEY rose to move for leave to bring in a Bill
toregulate the labour of children in the calico print-works
of. Great Britain and, Ireland. The Noble Lord said
the subject he was about to bring under the notice of the
- House he hid so repeatedly had the honour of bringing
forward, that he did not expect the House would de-
rive any material interest from its novelty or the evi-
desve or arguments to be adduced in its favour.
But he did hope that the House would be good enough
to extend to him a patient hearing, because he was about
. t 9 bring forward the case of a large class, which had
. never yet been represented in that House.
He was about
• to speak' in behalf of a very large body, who
were lunch oppressed, .and had ben altogether
forgotten,but whose interests were of great value
to themselves ; and, if taken in connexion with their
contemporary labourers, of great influence on the
empire at large.
I
move in that Howe furn .1840 he had the honour to
Commission to inquire into the
employment of chi dren a in the various departments of
• labour; that Commisso%made a very ample report ; in
the summary Of that report
al they made these statements:
—They stated in a general
the children employed in therevvie"wn oftrtillscoanndd,tmio
ennuo-
f
factures of thseirlci
ca.hlml,,,eerxecliunslitvlei
rleyadcrioitihte children employed
. in factories,
severalat a previous time,
thousands,
that with respect to great masses of°
be might say several hundreds of thousands,hist of
children
of their
Of tender years, there were many
beginning to work at the early age of three anncdets'
many more between five and six, and that, in general,
years.
regular employment began between seven and eight; of
the whole number of children employed in different
trades in manufactures, a large portion were nnder thir-
teen years of age, and in a very large proportion of
these trades female children were employed at an
equally tender age ; tbat in a great number of instances
the employment was continued for fifteen, sixteen, or
even eighteen hours consecutively, and that in almost
every instance the children were worked as lung as the
adults. Schools were wholly beyond the reach of the
children, on account of the early age at which they were
sent to work. This was the summary presented by the

Commissioners, adduced from a large survey of a cdnsie •
derable number of children employed in the various trades
and manufactures of the realm. Of all these cruel and
pernicious employments—pernicious he meant in the
extent to which they were carried—one only was
brought under their consideration ; be had the honour
of proposing to the House the removal of females from
employment in collieries ; but of all the various trades
and manufactures that had been investigated, that was
the only one that had been submitted to the House. In
every other respect all had been left undone ; not one
hour had been struck off their term of labour,
not an hour had ken added to their recreation ; and
they had not had she advantage of a power which had
been brought to bear on the other cases—they had not
had the advantage of public opinion—public opinion had
not been awakened in their behalf. At this he was not
astonished, when he considered the enormous labour it
would require to wade through these ponderous
folios, to arrive at all the information con-
tained in them, and to drag to light all these
records of suffering, ignorance, and shame.—(hear.)
But it ni;glit be said that he perhaps vas
chargeable with that neglect, and that it was his duty
to have brought the matter under the consideration of
the House. Undoubtedly it W4B more his duty than
any other man's, but his excuse was that he had
not had the opportunity, and most undoubtedly
he had not had very great encouragement. He
was now, however, prepared to take up the subject, and
he did hope that, in consideration of the urgency of the
case and also of the moderation of his proposals, the
House would be induced to give him some part,
it' not the whole, of that which he w as asking
in behalf of these young persons. He hoped
it would be borne in mind throughout the whole
of this discussion that he limited his demand en-
tirely to those children under the age of thirteen—
which were children by the definition of the Factory
Act. The vast proportion of these were females, and con-
sequently demanded more especial protection from
that House. Ile did not think that in the exclusion of
those of more advanced ages justice and humanity would
be satisfied; but the demand he now made was made in
accordence with what he could obtain, and not in
accordance with that which he considered was
required. The trade which he would especially
cull the attention of the House to was that of
the calico printing, with all its subsidiary processes
of bleaching and dying, which trade was carried
on, according to the report of the Commissioners,
to the greatest extent in the cotton districts of Lanca-
shire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire. There were a few
printing establishments in the neighbourhood of London
and Dublin. He would just state to the House, on the
authority of the Commissioners, what were the ages at
which children begin their employment. The Commis-
sioners stated that in Lancashire and Cheshire instances
occurred of children beginnine, as early as between four
and five years of age, several between five and six, many
between six and seven, still more between seven and
eight, and the great majority between eight and nine. In
the east of Scotland children commenced work at the same
early ege. A parochial minister, of the name of Dempster,
stated that they commenced work as early as five years
of age, and consequently from being taken from school
so early they knew nothing beyond the alphabet. There
were exceptions to this rule in the print works of Kent.
In the works of Mr. Sweeting there were only two chil-
dren of five years of age, and in those of Mr. Apple-
garth there were only six under thirteen years of age.
In Ireland the system presented a remarkable contrast
to the state of things in England ; showing, as it did, a
most remarkable care for children of tender years.
Out of 803 persons employed only 109 were under 13 years
of age. The Commissioners stated that a very large
proportion of the children and young persons were girls
In Lincolnshire upwards of one third of those above 13
years of age were females. Now, he would just
show, as far as it could be ascertained, the whole
number of those employed. From the returns obtained
in the present week from Lancashire, Cheshire, and
Derbyshire, it appeared that the number of children
under 13 years of age was 5,346. It must be borne in
mind that these returns gave only the number of chil-
dren actually employed at the time. It often happened
that the works were standing, and he believed it would ap-
pear that the total number for which provision was made in
the factories was not less than 8,492. In the West of
Scotland the number was estimated at 5,000 ; but the
Commissioners said that this was exceedingly under the
mark, and the total number mentioned in his return
amounted in fact to 13,492. From all the inquiries
which he could make on the subject, he was
convinced that the total number of children employed
in these several branches of industry, was not less than
25,000. He would Row state to the House, what must
have a very important influence on the moral character
of those employed, the state of the places in which this
work was carried on. The Commissioners said that no-
thing could be worse than the state of these places.
It was undoubtedly true that there were many proprie-
tors who paid as much attention to drainage, ventilation,
and warmth, as circumstances would admit. But, on the
other hand, there were many other places which were in
a most detestable condition. The atmosphere of the
dashing rooms was stated to be so filthy that the
children's eyes were extremely irritated, and even
affected into inflammation by the particles of
filth and dust with which it was impregnated.
The stoves were occasionally red hot, and the tempera
ture of the apartments generally from eighty-five to
a hundred degrees. He found children, between eleven
and twelve years of age, working fourteen hours a day,
in a temperature of a hundred and ten degrees of
heat. Sometimes, too, wet garments were dryed
in these rooms, and the air was, consequently, more
noxious. The Noble Lord then quot,d the opinion of
Mr. Davis, a surgeon, that at particular seasons such
labour was unfit for females. The continuity of the
labour was the principal objection. If the periods of toil
were diminished, much good would be effected. (The
Noble Lord was here quite inaudible in the gallery.)
The nominal hours of working, as stated in the rules of
the establishment, are fair enough, but they are by no
means the actual hours of employment ; as it was not
at all uncommon for children of from five to six y ears
old to work from fourteen to sixteen hours a day.
Now, in Cheshire and Derbyshire, and other pieces, the
time for adults was not allowed to exceed twelve hours
a day ; but in those places, too, those were only
nominal hours, for there were scarcely any
regulations at all, inasmuch as that the people
worked by the piece, and were, therefore al-
' lowed to work as many hours a day as they
pleased. He (Lord Ashley) was aware that
in bringing evidence of this kind before the House, he
would be trespassing to a great extent upon the patience
of the House ; but, as there could be no doubting its
authenticity, he would rather support his case by such
evidence as this, which did not admit of dispute, than
call upon the House to rely ur on any statement of his
own. He would now read the evidence of one of the work-
men. The Noble Lord then read the statement, which
was to the effect that the workman, whose account he
was reading, "had often gone to work at nine o'clock
nn Wednesday night, and did not leave off tia Satur-
day night ; and that a boy did the same. This
would scarcely be believed, but nevertheless it
was true, that he never left the shop from
Wednesday to Saturday night ; that he was him-
self completely knocked up at the end of that time, and
the boy was almost insensible ; while there were se-
veral others who came on the Monday, and did not
leave until the following Monday." The next
statement he would read; was :that of a
man named Henry Richardson, who stated that he
worked all day and all night. In the West of Scotland
the nominal working hours were from six in the morning
till six in the evening, yet in the report of the Sub-
Commissioner it was stated that instead of
regular hours he had found young girls
working as much as eighteen hours a day.
These long hours were not necessary. That they could
be dispensed with was proved by what had occurred in
such large firms, as Greg's, Watson's, and Jackson's.
These houses had not been able to carry on even the re-
duced hours of labour fur three months together. When he
called for reduced hours of labour for young people,
especially in these works, it was chiefly for those periods
of the year when (as we understood) they were
least able to endure those protracted hours. Of all the
f. atures of this employment, that which he was now
about to describe was the most abhorrent—that was, the
practice of night weir k. According to the reports of the
inspectors the practice was carried on ; and in some
districts it was so general and constant that it might be
called part of the system, and where it was not car-
ried on the establishment might be considered an
exception to the rule. Relays of children took place
at different times—sometimes from six to six, sometimes
from twelve to twelve, and at others from four in the
morning to four in the evening. Now, lie would show
the House what was the opinion of the children them-
selvee. [The Noble Lord then read extracts from
the evidence, but in a rapid and indistinct
manner very difficult to follow. They were
to the following eff,'ct] :—Eliza Hales, eight
years of age, had worked all night, four nights of the
week, before she was six years old. William —,
nearly nine years of age, a tierman, had frequeney
worked all night. He had worked all day and night.
John Candy, nine years old, had come to the works
at six o'clock on Friday morning, and had worked all
day and night, until six o'clock on Saturday morning.
He had been obliged to take snuff to keep himself. awake.
William Archer said he knew men who worked three
clays and three nights without going home. The same
state of things existed in Scotland, but in Ireland. which
appeared here also to the highest advantage, there was in
general no night work. Since the improvement in ma-
chinery, however, there was a decrease in the labour of the
children. Their physical condition was improved since that
improvement had taken place, but with regard to the
moral state, the evidence was most lamentable. Their
education was almost totally neglected, and the parents
thought it better to get two-pence more for their labour
than to let them go to school. They were quite ignorant
of moral restraint, and gave themselves up to pilfering,
drunkenness and crime. Mr. Evans gave testimony
to the effect, that the number of scholars in his
school bad decreased one-half since 1832 ; and it
should bo recollected that this took place, notwith-
standing the increase in the population from 1832
to 1842, at which time Mr. Evans gave his evidence. It
was not surprising, after this, that the Central Commis •
sioners should say in their report that the time which the
females were at work prevented them from learning
needle-work and those careful habits of order, without
which they could not economise their husbands' earn-
ings, or bestow upon their homes any degree of comfort,
and that general want of qualification of wives in women
ofthpatrec,l.aasasimws stated by clergymen and medical men,
and employers,
causes
nfT witnesses,crimehoseatuodbiemmonoeraoliftythaemognrgeastt
the working ell asttm.
not
to
ois
continue
the words of the
Commissioners
nttreuee?vil. What was
that state of things
the remedy he proposed fur
propose the total abolition of night-work for allfeNvould
of whatever age, and all of both sexes under thirteen.
(near, bear.) He was entirely of opinion that no loss

would accrue from this arrangement to the employers; '
and if that were so, was it not the highest and most
sacred duty to apply a remedy to a state of things
fraught with so much immorality and crime ?
Night-work was proved to be most injurious to
the eyes, and was most lamentable in that respect.
The Commissioners had not stated any countervailing
advantages to the employers from their night-work.
There was more work spoiled by night than there was
by day. One of the largest manufacturers in the world,
Mr. R. Hargrave, of Ackworth, had shown that a
great deal of work had been spoiled by night-work.
The average loss of spoiled work upon the machine was
10 per cent , while the average loss in quantity upon
spoiled work, from night-work, was 50 per cent. The re-
sult was that the loss upon spoiled work was to an im-
mense extent— to such an extent, in fact, that night-work
was equally injurious to the employer and the employed.
—(Hear, hear.) He had received two letters from two
of the most respectable overlookers in Lancashire—Mr.
John Graham and Mr. Davis, and those gentlemen
had given him permission to make those letters public.
Mr. Graham said he had recommended his em-
ployers to give up night-work as far as women,
young persons, and children were concerned, on the
score of economy. And Mr. Davis said that Mr.
Thompson had been induced to give up night-work,
partly on the score of humanity and partly on the score
of economy. On the score of humanity with
a view of securing to the women and children
a proper night's rest, and on the score of economy, be-
cause the loss upon the spoiled work more than coun-
terbalanced the gain upon the extra night-work.
He was bound to say, however, that those gentlemen,
Messrs. Davis and Graham, did not recommend the short-
ening of the hours of labour in certain cases, but. never-
theless, they fully admitted that the evils, in many in-
stances, were too manifest. He should propose that, after
October, 1846, no child, under thirteen years of age, should
be allowed to work more than eight hours a day in a
week of six days, or twelve hours a day in three alter-
nate days. He should propose making provision by
his Act for the education of children. Two hours
a day would be allowed for educational purposes to
children who worked eight hours a day for six days in
the week ; and three hours to be permitted the children
who worked on three alternate days in the week.
Now, he did not know whether it was ne-
cessary that he should meet beforehand the
arguments likely to be adduced against his Bill. He
might be told that the parents were sufficiently ca-
pable of providing for the welfare of their children,
and, therefore, no legislative enactment was neces-
sary to force them to do so. The inquiries
he had made on this part of the subject
led to a different conclusion ; and although they had
ample means to afford their children education, they
preferred the pence they earned to providing for their
future welfare. He might be told that poverty was the
cause of this—that poverty was the great reason
that induced them to send their children to work.
But if they attended to the evidence of the Commission-
ers, particularly that of Mr. J. Symons, they would find
that this was not so much the case. He felt that he had
wearied the House,and he had but little more to say on the
evidence of the state of these unfortunate creatures. He
had great fears that the repetition of individual cases,
and the frequent reiteration of subjects of the same
class, must become exceedingly tedious to the House. i
But it might Le that he suffered almost as much as he
inflicted. The extent of the research and corre-
spondence, and the mass of labour, cheered
by little or no prospects of success, sufficiently proved
that his endeavours had not been warmly responded to.
It was necessary that an attempt should be made, and
better to do so even though failure should ensue. On
what ground opposition would be made to this motion
he knew not. He had guarded with the ut-
most caution against speaking injuriously of the cha-
racter and conduct of individuals. He had en-
deavoured to expose a pernicious system without hurting
the feelings of any man. In all the debates on the sub-
ject it had been conceded that protection should be ex-
tended to very young childrex. Their inexperience,
their helplessness, the deep interest the Legislature was
supposed to have in their moral and physical welfare,
had been urged as reasons why protection ought to have
be: n extended to persons of such tender years.
' It had been at first stated that such children might be
safely left to the affectionate solicitude of parents and
masters, but the Legislature thought and enacted other-
wise. The measure of 1832, though an imperfect mea-
sure, had been productive of relief to thousands. Per-
petual attempts had been made to drive them from their
purpose, but no taunts would drive him from. his purpose.
He had been told that there had been far worse evils
than those he had brought under the notice of the House.
In the first introduction of the Factories Bill, when he
had invaded the collieries, he had been referred to the
printing-house, and thence they wished to drive him to
the corn-laws. Let it be so ; but he would ask the ad-
vocates of abolition of the corn-laws, what more that
abolition would do than perpetuate the present state of
commercial prosperity. They had cheap provisions and
abundant employment; and yet in these favourable cir-
cumstances what was the actual condition of the chil-
dren ? The repeal of the corn-laws would leave those
children as it found them. Whatever good it might do
to other classes, it would do no good to them. But here
he would most solemnly declare, that if he believed the
repearof the corn-laws would place these many thousands
in a condition of comfort, and keep them so, he solemnly
declared that, in spite of every difficulty, he would vote
at once for the entire abolition of the corn-laws. He
had been asked where he would stop. In reply, he had
no hesitation in saying, Nowhere, so long as any portion
of this great evil remained to be abated. He confessed
that his desire and ambition was to give the labouring
children of this empire the opportunity of education.
He would continue to labour in this work while he had
the slightest hope of success. Would any man deny
that this was a subject well worthy of the deliberation of
that House ? Let the House look at the increasing
facilities which had taken place for mischief. What was
called the march of intellect had facilitated the means of
mischief. He would only just refer to those valuable
tables which had been prepared at the Home-office on this
subject. In 1843, 13 persons were hung for murder.
There were three females who had murdered their hus-
bands, two males who had murdered their wives, one
person who had murdered a child, and one who had
murdered her father. In a summary of this state of
things, published in a magazine in 1844, and written by
Mr. Symonds, a barrister, it was stated that murder and
rape had increased 38 per cent. on the average of the
last four years, rapes 57 per cent., other horrid offences
53 per cent., arson, which exhibited malice in its
worst shape, 28 per cent. The newspapers con-
stantly detailed crimes which iu novelty and
atrociousness exceeded the imagination of mataltied.
He would not dwell on the subject, but there were two
cases so gross that the records of sin in. England pre-
sented few instances of similar wickedness. One mother
had poisoned four of her children in succession, merely
for the sake of the burial fees ; another had held her
daughter over the fire till it was burned to death. If
they would not, as a nation, undertake the task of re-
moving such crimes, let them not, by the continuance of
the present system, render it impossible to re-
move them. Means had been taken of late years,
schools were multiplied, and qualified persons, both
within and without the Established Church. were
ready to devote their energies to this work. But the
entire absorption of the children, by almost unceaQing
toil in so many departments of industry, had defeated all
their efforts. Time was when men maintained that
utter ignorance and exclusive labour were the best gua-
rantees for the tranquillity of a people—a most aweful delu-
sion. The people in the ale -houses listened to composi-
tions in prose and vere, written with great force and power,
and embellished with all the attractions of modern art,
compositions so seductively written that in them they found
vice and violence dignified into heroism. The guilt was
the guilt of the Legislature, who encouraged that guilt by
conniving at it. The Legislature could not disguise from
themselves that they were standing on a very rotten
foundation. They might augment their revenue, they
might increase their navy, and extend their commerce.
These were all very good things, but they were very
little in themselves, and affordedl but a very weak
foundation, whilst they neglected the moral and physical
welfare of the great mass of the people.—(Hear, hear.)
All might appear very well and prosperous; but the-
hour of difficulty would discover that the Government
of this country had done nothing to secure external
liberty or internal peace.—(Hear.) But sti.l they were
left without hope, nor, perhaps, bad they anything to
fear but from indifference and neglect.—(Hear.) He
trusted still in Providence.—(Hear, hear.) There were
great and increasing means of good.—(Hear, hear.)
The vast progress of human ingenuity and power, as de-
veleped in the increase:and improvement of steam-boats,
railways, and machinery of every kind, might be con-
verted into instruments of mighty benefit. Let the State
direct its efforts to these ends, and the Almighty would
prosper their endeavours, and its children would rise and
bless it.—(The Noble Lord sat down amidst cheers.)
Sir J. GRAHAM said that although he had the mis-
fortune often to differ from the Noble Lord in the views
of the questions which he brought before the House, yet
he recognised the purity of motive—(Hear)--the single-
ness of purpose, and the honesty of means with which
the Noble Lord endeavoured to attain the great
objects which he had at heart, and also the
touching eloquence with which he enforced his views.
The Noble Lord regretted that he should be obliged to
bring this subject under the consideration of the House,
but he was sure that there was no Hon. Member in
that House but gave the Noble Lord credit for the
purity of motive which influenced him in this matter.
The Noble Lord had introduced many other topics to
the notice of the House, which were well worthy of
their attention. He (Sir James Graham) was happy
to observe that the Noble Lord did not overlook, in
addition to the moral condition to which reference had
been made in such choice language, the physical con-
dition of the working classes of this country. And,
without undervaluing in any degree the moral tuition
necessary to the bettering of their condition, he ceuld
not, at the same time, concede that the physical training
n should
abe
character.
a that
Lordleassve nrep, glol crhgtteehedeN.
nosubuTmlbehjbeeLecrot
ro d%fehtrh were
edobservationso made by
t
tc Noble
pi
l;
utas
mfi naaf
so
trmeniest
ndt a the
facturers took a paternal interest in the condition of
their workers. They tried to insure their health and
comfort, and he stated that, in consequence,
the condition of the children was materially
improved—greatly improved as compared with that of
children employed in other branches of our manufac-
tures.—He (Sir J. Graham) thought that, if they were
to go on regulating for the labour of children in fac-
tories, they could not have a measure more moderate and
better in principle than that propounded by the Noble Lord.
It now became his duty to call the attention of the
House to the step which his Noble Friend asked him to
take. There were several marked and strong distinc-
tions between the labour with respect to which his
Noble Friend asked him to interfere, and factory la-
bour. In the first place, it could not be d.nied that
those particular processes of manufactures— namely,