Star.
London, England, 1818-04-07 00:00:00

icing the subject ; or as those of die parties them-
'yes, who were said to be actuated by a spirit of
.Jdism, in opposing their employers. If there
were any defect in the evidence already before the
ise, he held a Petition which would supply it,
was exempt from all the charges made against
s others. It was signed by the names of seventeen
hundred and thirty-one of the most respectable inha-
-tnts of Manchester, who feelingly deplored the si-
lion of the persons employed in cotton manufac-
tories, on account of the excessive hours and the tem-
perature in which they were made to work, which
"rodueed the most injurious consequences amongst
em. Among the Petitioners, seven were Magis-
.:es, nine Physicians, 21 Surgeons, and 20 Clergy- ,
m, and 17 of these of the Established Church.—
; of the Physicians had attended the Infirmary
27 years, and three of the Surgeons for 30 years.
House would therefore now be in possession of
opinion of 30 medical men, who thought the
:king hours excessive, and their consequences in-
ious to the individuals employed; and it could
longer be maintained that sufficient evidence had
been produced.
The following is a Copy of the Petition :
" To the Honourable the Commis of the Uxersai KINGDOM
of (limper Bemis and butialm in Parliament assembled.
The bamble Petition of the undersigned Inhabitants of the
Owns and Neighbourhood of Manchester and Salford
• Sitxwcrir, That the Manufactories fur Spinning and preps-
; Cotton in Manchester and .Salford, and their immediate
inky, are very numerous, and the hands therein employed,
:insisting of children as well as adults), form a large proportion
the working classes in this D:strict.
"rThat your Petitioners most feelingly deplore the seerings
those who are thus employed, inasmuch as their daily labour
not only protracted to an unrcatiouable'and destructive extent)
point of time, but is genet ally performed in a temperature,
d under circumstances, connected with the process of manu-
:titre, which tender the pressure of its lengthened duration
more highly prejudicial.
' That the species of labour above mentioned occasions results
tally injurious to many of the individuals who pursue it, and
specially to the delicate frame and strength of Children, who,
it common with the other bands, are obliged to attend the Fac-
tories early in a morning, and continue their toil until late at
'-1t; whence it is evident, that in passing to and from their
•uses, they experience the inclemenctes of weather in a more
a., ordinary degree of severity and danger, owing to the heated
id relaxing state of the Mills where they are so long and so
ly in= r.rd.
'w That from the generality of the practice which is produc-
re of these evils, and the natural competitions of the Trade,
ich evils cannot be removed without the aid of Legislative
tuthority ; and your Petitioners are unable to express the saris.
faction they feel in the existing prospect of Parliamentary relief.
Bat your Petitioners, nevertheless, hope that they may be
Mowed to submit to your Honourable House the sentiments'
pith which the subject so strongly impresses them.
" And earnestly to solicit the enactment of such regulations
may effectually reduce the working hours in Cotton Mills to
:asonable limits, and, in principle, embrace the other humane
revisions of the Bill recently introduced by Sir Roam Pun..
" And your Petitioners will ever pray," &c.
Mr. PHILLIPS thought it rather extraordinary,
that in so populous a place as Manchester, only 1731
'ndividuals should have signed a Petition, which was
(presented as expressing the sentiments of the town.
,s to the opinions of medical then, he knew that a
fference existed. But certificates had been given
Physicians and Surgeons, who spoke from actual
observation and from fact., and not from general
-,pressions, and who considered the persc a. employ-
i in cotton manufactories at Manchester in a situa-
ion far superior to those engaged in other labours,
id more free from complaints.
Sir F. BURDETT thought the asse.tio:i that chil-
(ren of a tender age, called out early in the morn-
hg at all seasons, and kept closely a.: work till ten
'c ock at night, were not injured by s ich treatment,
:as a most monstrous position—(hear, hear, from
the Ministerial side.)—He therefore hoped that the
Honourable Member would persevere, and that the
House weted not delay to adopt a remedy to so cry-
n' an evil.
lord STANLEY, to shew the mode in which
me statements were prepared, begged to refer to
which was published in the Manchester Exchange
Herald of Slst March, folio 103, third column ; and
which, it was understood, has been sent to many
\lembers of Parliament—that in the Sunday School
sick Society of Jersey-street, Manchester, out of 40
persons relieved, 33 worked in factories ; thus con-
veying an impression that the unhealthiness of this
employment, compared with that of others, was as
1.1 to seven, whilst the fact was, that the Society
:onsisted of 270 children, of whom 213 were em-
ployed in factories, 23 in other occupations, and 34
had not begun to work. The numbers relieved were,
of factory children 33 in 213, or one in six 4-10ths ;
and of those in other occupations, seven in '23, or one
in three `2-10ths : and as to the time during which
th use of each class remained chargeable upon the
sick fund, it appeared that the factory children
averaged at the rate of three and a half days each
for the 13 months to which the statement referred,
rnd those employed in other occupations at the rate
if five 3-1111 days each. The 34. children who had
lot begun to work, did not appear to have received
issistaace from the Society's fund.
Mr. PEEL explained, that if the Petition had not
been more numerously signed, it was because the par-
ies wishCd that it should only contain the names of
individuals who had no pers:snal interest whatever in
the question.
The Petition was then ordered to lie on the Table.

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