The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-03-19 00:00:00

THE FACTORIES' BILL.

The following peroration to the speech of Lord Ashley,
in the House of Commons, on Friday night, in moving in
committee on the factories' bill that " the night instead of
being computed from eight o'clock in the evening should
he computed from six o'clock," will well repay perusal.
It is as eloquent in language as it is just and true in senti-
ment. " Let me remind the house of the mighty change
which has taken place in public opinion on this question
since the year 1833. (Cheers.) I then could scarcely
number the support of a dozen masters of mills ; I can
now count them by hundreds. (Loud cheers.) Already
a petition has neen presented to the house, signed by no
less than 330 millowners, in favour of a restriction of la-
bour to 10 hours. (Cheers.) I I- ave in my possession
letters from many millowners, in which my proposition
is assented to, hut they for the present hesitate to pro-
claim publicly their adhesion to the proposed alteration in
the hours of labour. I have also the advantage of nun;-

bering among my supporters even some members of the
Anti-Corn Law League. Many honourable gentlemen
connected with'that League are among my most efficient
supporters. No one could hesitate to say, in whatever as-
pect they viewed the subject, that the system must be
abrogated. (Cheers.) The present system destroys the
order of nature and the rights of the labouring man. By
ejecting males from the workshop, and introducing females
as their substitutes, they exposed these poor women to
an almost distressing amount of suffering and toil. It had
the effect, among other evils, of annihilating all the re-
quirements of domestic life, and rendered prudence and
economy utterly impossible. If these poor creatures had
twice the amount of wages they at present received it
would not imp:ove their situation ; they would not be
better off. It was impossible for them to take charge of
their infant children—they had to be entrusted to other
hands. All the woman's domestic duties must be paid
for out of her scanty earnings, and, as a necessary result,
everything was imperfectly performed. In fact, the poor
woman had no time for acquiring a knowledge of her so-
cial and domestic duties in early youth, and everything
went to ruin because of her utter incapacity to perform
those duties which Providence has assigned to her. I
wish hon. members to direct special attention to the de-
tails contained in the second report of the Children's
Employment Committee. In that report the subject of
physical deterioration of the human race is considered
in connection with this subject. I ask the house
will it turn a deaf ear to these appeals? Will you
permit, without making an effort to remedy the great
evil, this physical deterioration of the rising generation to
go on ? Dr. B. Hawkins, an intelligent gentleman, well
known for his statistical inquiries, has pointed out the
highly injurious consequences which result from the
system of factory labour upon the physical growth of the
working people of Manchester. It was the opinion of
competent persons that unless some alteration took place,
those employed in the factories in Lancashire would soon
become a race of pigmies. In those parts of the country
where this system was exhibited in its worst forms, they
imposed upon women burdens during the period of
pregnancy which they would not be obliged to suffer in
in the slaveholding states or among the wild Indians. of
America. We are, by persevering in this system, viola-
ting the order of nature and providence; we are cutting
up the root and branch of domestic life ; we are snapping
asunder the mainstay of social existence. (Cheers.)
There is a time to live, and a time to die; but is there
not a time to live in the discharge of every conjugal and
parental duty ? (Cheers.) But it is all in vain. There
is no influence which can supersede that of parental ex-
ample. (Great cheering.) Who could doubt the benefi-
cial effect: of maternal influence ? Who could refrain
from seeing the evils which followed when that influence
was annihilated? (Cheers.) It mattered not whether
the party was a prince or a peasant. (Cheers.) It
operated alike in the cottage and in the palace. Every
one must agree in the opinion that all that is best—all
that is lasting in the character of man—is acquired at his
mother's knee. (Loud cheers.) If not at his mother's
knee, it will be found to be under the instructions of
some pious woman, who has thrown around the child all
those tender sympathies and influences which so peculi-
arly distinguish and adorn the sex. If you examine the
records of all who have been distinguished for ability and
virtue, you will find, with very few exceptions, that the
early culture of the mind, but above all the first discipline
of the heart was to be traced by the endearing affection of
the mother. (Cheers.) It is your duty to strive your
utmost to obviate this mischief to which I have referred
—to promote the health of those employed—to establish
congugal relations—the decency of families—the rights
of the husband—the peace of society—and to maintain
the laws of God. (Loud cheers.) I cannot believe,
unless I hear it this night, which God forbid, that there
can be found in this house any man who will openly ad-
vocate the imposition of such a burden upon the daugh-
ters of England. The course which I have taken on this
question has been much misrepresented. I have been
charged with a fixed desire to exalt the landed aristocracy
by humiliating and depressing the manufacturing body.
I know that my personal character can be of no impor-
tance whatever ; but it may be of consequence to those
whose cause I am advocating that my motives should not
be impugned, otherwise distrust and suspicion will be ex-
cited—

" For zeal grows cold when judgment is severe."
Such unworthy motives have been attributed to me,—l
utterly deny the imputation. (Cheers.) They who bring
such a charge must either be wicked men or fools for pur-
suing such a course. (Cheers.) Every man in his senses
must admit, that the permanent prosperity of the manu-
facturing body is essential to the commercial greatness of
the British empire. (Cheers.) I will say to the mem-
bers of that body, " Peace be within your walls, and
plenteousness within your palaces." I only ask for a
relaxation of toil—l ask for time to live, and time to die,
and a time for the enjoyment of those comforts which
sweeten life, and for the exercise of those virtues which
adorn it. (Cheers.) And with the fervent prayer to
Almighty God, that it will please him to turn the hearts
of those who hear me to justice and mercy, I fully com-
mit the issue of this question to the justice and humanity
of Parliament. (The noble lord sat down amidst great
cheering from all sides of the house.)