Star.
London, England, 1818-02-19 00:00:00

CLIMBING BOYS.

A Petition was presented from certain inhabitants
of Gloucester, praying . for the abolition of the pre-
sent practice of sweeping chimnies by means of
climbing boys. It was read, and ordered to lie on
the table.

Lord MILTON presented a similar Petition from
certain inhabitants of the City of York. His Lord-
ship observed, that it was not his intention to offer
any remarks on the nature of the Bill on the subject
of Climbing Boys, which had been brought in by
his Honourable Friend (Mr. Bennet). Ile thought it
was one which did that Honourable Gentleman much
credit, and he wished it success ; but he could not
I avoid expressing his opinion, that his Honourable
Friend was proceeding too hastily. There were, it
was known, many chimneys which could only be
swept by climbing boys, and which would be ren-
dered useless if the present Bill was passed. Under
these considerations, he thought it would be better,
for the House to adopt a middle course, and without
Imaking such a general enactment at once, to give
particular encouragement to those persons who swept
chimneys by means of machinery. If this were done,l
and a heavy tax laid upon the employment of climb-
ing boys, he thought it would, in the course of time, I
have the effect of abolishing the practice altogether.,
Mr. BENNET said, that the number of Petitions
which had been presented to the House was a proof
that the present practice was very generally admit-
ted to be an evil which ought to be got rid of as
soon as possible. It was with that view he had brought
in his Bill, and now an objection was started, that
there was a number of chimneys too small to be
swept in any other manner than by the use of climb-
ing boys. It was true there were a great many chim-
neys of that description, but to whom did they be-
long ? They belonged to those who could well af-
ford to alter them if they pleased. But it was in that
very description of chimneys the greatest danger to
the lives of the climbing boys existed. There were
not less than five children lost their lives by such
means, in the course of the last year. Nor was this
to be wondered at, when it was known, that in some
houses recently built, the chimneys were only seven
inches square, and that the children employed to
sweep them could not be more than four or five years
old. Yet with such things admitted, was it to be
said that the House was proceeding in a hurry? In
a hurry to do what? To save the lives of those poor
little creatures who were constantly exposed to death,
and that too of the most terrible nature— ( Hear )
But it could not be said that he wished to proceed in
a hurry if he proposed to make 'the Bill operative in
1819, in order that time might be given to all the
parties who were likely to be affected by it, to make
those alterations which the new mode of sweeping
chimneys would require. He could not agree in
what had fallen from the Noble Lord (Milton), it
would have the effect of sacrificing the children of
the poor in order to preserve the chimneys of the
rich, a thing so monstrous in itself that he was cer-
tain no man would let it dwell in his thoughts for a
single moment.
Lord MILTON, in explanation, said, that he did
not by any•means object to the Bill per 4e, but he
objected to it as in some measure calculated to frus-
trate the puTose for which it was framed.
Mr. LITMETON was sure that every body who
knew his Noble Friend would give him credit for the
greatest humanity. He differed from him, however,
totally on this subject. and thought that every means
should be adopted to make the Bill so effective, that
in no case henceforth should it bessible to employ
a single child in this dreadful emplopoyment.
The Petition was then ordered to lie on the table.