Northern Star (1837-1852), 12th March 1842, Edition 1 of 5, Page 6, Untitled Article

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  HOUSE OF LORDS—Friday , Maech 4 . Lord Clareudon requested information from Lord Aberdeen respecting the preparatisna -which -were now TnpUny on the French frontier of Spain for a projected insarrecfion in that country . Both soldiers and civilians , who were fcnown to hare been concerned in the late revolt , and who made no secret of their present object , had traversed France from every quartet : war-» Iike stores were openly being accumulated on the frontier ; and yet the French Government , with most ample means at its disposal , bad made no effort to prevent , or « ven to impede , those proceedings . The end proposed to be obtained by this intended insurrection was neither
  
  the restoration of the Qaesn Regent , who had voluntarily resigned her power , nor of Don Carlos , whose cause wai admitted to be hopeless ; it was merely to bring back anarchy and disoraer . Snch an attempt was opposed to the feelings of the ¦ whole people ; it wonld be vigorously resisted by Espartero , under whose Government Spain had made rapid progress in civilisation and prosperity , and he had no doubt it wonld entirely fail . It required , however , to be vigilantly watched , and he therefore wished to know if instructions had been sent to our ambassadors upon the subject , and if in case of an insurrection , sh ' . ps would be despatched to the parts cf Spain to afford protection to her Majesty ' s subjects ?
  
  Lord Aberdeen expressed his conviction that on no subject were men of all parties so firmly screed as in the wish to reader Spain really prosperous and independent The plot which was at present in progress had doce much to insure its own failure . Its ramifications were intimately known to the Spanish Government , which was prepared to resist it -with every prospect of success , while from France , in answer to his communications , he received assurances that the preparations which were in progress upon the frontier were "without bo- sanction , and that every means had been , and should be , employed to intercept persons against "whom there were
  
  grounds for suspicion . He must be cost nt to receive these assurances ; but although the character of the Minister from whom they proceeded entitled th 6 m to the utmost respect , th « re should be no want of vigilance , -and no exertions should be treating to aid the Regent in -maintaining his position , if it should be endangered . He did not believe thst any alliance existed between the partisans cf Bon Carlos and the ex-Regent Christiana ; and he considered the plot to be less formidable than ¦ was represented . Still , however , British interests should be adiqnately protected , and tv * ry assistance afforded to an old ally in whose welfare this country felt so much concern .
  
  Lord BB-OVGhaH called the attention cf their Lord--Ships to the very Inadequate petsions which had been assigned to the daughters of the late . Sir Robert Kennedy , vrho had been for many years at the head of tbe Commissariat Depatment The Daks of Wxi-IIXGIOX , after paying a high bibnte to the merits of the deceased , promised his ini 7 mediate attention to the case of the daughters , that -somy provision might be made for them more "Worthy of their father ' s services . Lord MosTEAGLE then rose , pursuant to notice , to lay before the House his motion respecting tbe late fraud in the issue of Exchequer-bills . Its object had no reference to that of the measure "which had been introduced in the other House . Jf \ was simply tbat the -question should bs decided whether the fronds bad-been in cny degree caused or facilitated by the act or neglect of any public-cfficer responsible to Parliament . In tbe
  
  management of tbe t-fnea of Controller-General there had- not been for upwards of a century any change or any relaxation in the previously existing iuI ^ s . -It had always been the custom to place much confidence in the holders of the principle offices , in the choice and appointment of whom tbe utmost caution was exercised ; and in the cas 9 of the author of the late frauds , every circoiErtince of long-tried probity and high respectability of family and character appeared to have combined to lull suspicion . The U » ble Lord then related the facts which had led to the discovery of forgeries , and defended the conduct of Government during tho examination of Exchequer Bills in 'withholding from the parties the forged Bills that they produced . The appointment of the commission , which had already made its report , would have superseded the necessity-of his motion "were it not for five points upon which they stated that the foncer practice had been departed from , or former precautions relaxed . These -were : —
  
  1 st , " " The abandonment of a second counterfoil which had been deposited in the Bank of England . " 26 . " The neglect of comparing the Bills with their count erf oils at thePiymaster ' s-omce , at the exchanging , paying off , or funding of the Biils . ' 3 d . " The distribution of the counterfoils without the authority of a Treasury warrant . " - 4 th . " The signing of Bills of the same issue by more than one person , and the omission of a notifitat ' on ifl the Gazette , -where any otber person other tfcaa the priacipil was authorised to sign . " - 5 th . " The occasional signature of Bills without the presence cf a dark , or of the signiag-book , elsewhere than in the offi . ee . "
  
  "Upon each , of thsss instances of deviation from the established praatiea the Noble Lor £ shoitly spoke in exculpation , and after visdicating the motives by ¦ which lie had been actuated , moved that a committee of irqairy be appointed , tha ^ it might be ascertained if any neglect on his part had ofrVred facility to fraud . Lord Brougham considered that the course "which had been adopted by the Government woold be more satisfactory than Ihe appointment of a committee such as Lord Monieagla recommendec . With respect to the points to "which tke former commission had
  
  directed attention , hs expressed his assent to the explanation which had been tfforded , except in the oiae cf signing bills in other places than the proper office . Sir John Newport had isdeed dons so upon one or tsro occasions , but the biils so aigned were deficient bills , while LordMoi ^ eagie had sigs&d Supply bills . He defended at considerable length the practice of the office Tmrip * Sir John Newport's tnptrintendence ; and aft « r going very fully tnrcugh all the details of tke sutj'sct . eondnded by declaring that the vindication both of Lord Monteagle and his predecessor waB in every particular complete .
  
  The Duke of Wellington approved of the course Lord Monteagle had taken in bringing a question which had excited so much attention under discussion , although bo blame had aver been laid to his chirgs by any authority . It was absolutely necessary that thtre shonld bs an inquiry which wonld protect the present holders of the bills , and support the credit of tbe public seen-Titles ; but he trusted that no obstacle "would be thrown in the way of the Investigation which bad been entered upon by the other Hous =, by establishing another inquiry "which would still be liable to objection . He pressed Lard Monteagle . therefore , to withdraw his motion , piomising that the clauses ha might wish inserted in the Bill now before the other House shiu-. d receive attention . To this course Lord Mosteasle assented , and his motion being "withdrawn , thtir Lordships adjourned . Monday , March 7 .
  
  ThB business consisted in an explanation from the Earl of Aberdeen , as to the circumstances connected with the conversation which he had held with the French Ambassador , on the subject of the occupation of Algiers ; and a defence , by the Earl of Micto , of his administration of the laval affairs of the couniry , from ths animadversions of Sir Charles Napier in the House of Common * , on Friday aigkt- This was held to be irregularly brought , under discussion ; and the House shortly afterwards adjourned .
  
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  HOUSE OF COMMONS . —Friday Uaech 4 . The Speakes took the chair at five minutes before four o ' clock-Lord Mahon bronght in tbe Copyright Bill , which was read a first time , and ordered to be read a second time on Wednesday , the 16 th . inst . On the motion of Sir C Napier , a return -was ordered of the number of vessels arriving from America , at tbe Port of Liverpool , laden with corn , during the years 1840 and 1841 . and stating the number of days each ship occapied in the voyage .
  
  Mr . Pjsbbasd gave nohce , that when tfie Hon . Member for Salford ( Mr . Brothertoal brought forward his motion for an "Address for a return of the names or firms of all occupiers of cotton , woollen , flax , and Bilk T"iH « or factories , who pay the "wages of their ¦ wor kpeople in goods instead of raoney , or who directly or indirectly , by their partners , servants , or relations , supply goods or provisions on the truck system ; and also the names of the places -where snch mills are situated ; " it was his intention to move , after the words " silk mills or factories , " that the following words be introduced , " print-works , esal-works , and iron-works , " and th . it there be added to the proposed motion , " and also the names or firms of all occupiers < t print-works , eoal-works , and iron-works , who compel their workmen to reside in cottages belonging to their employer ? . "
  
  Lord J . Russell said , he had received letters staling that with respect to the scale of towns from which the averages -were to be ***•»" , it was considered they had not been properly selected . Some towns had been included in the scale when very little corn was sold , and other towns where large quantities were sold , had tees altogether left oat of tbe scale . Sir R Peel : I win move for leave to bring up the report , and then I will answer the Noble Lord . The Report on the Com Law Importation Act having been brought up and read ,
  
  SirR . Pesl said , the bill -which had been proposed was in strict conformity witti the resolution * which had been agreed to , and the explanation which he gave in moving for a committee on the subject ; be -wished to state that he had received letters from inspectors ; stating hardships on them , and asking for compensation . The arrangement he proposed with respect to the inspectors , he proposei to keep in office all efficient offices , placing them under the control of . the board of excise , and in all the new towns to have the average * taken by the excise officer * . He . trusted the whole
  
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  duty would be taken under the superintendence of the excise , soasia cause little or no additional expence . He proposed that the bill should , as soon as it received the sanction of the legislature , come into imuitdiate operation ; and he should not . therefore , postpone tbat operation until the settlement of the question of averages . He always , in proposing an extended area for the averages , sought to have additional opportunities for taking them , and additional precautions against conspiracy to raise the averages . In the revision of the lists of towns he had acted on this principle ; there were near 150 towns from which the averages were collected , in that number there were a certain proportion of manufacturing , agricultural , and commercial towns ; and in his plan he had followed the same ratio in the new
  
  towns selected . But the whole would be open te the revision of the House , according te the information it should receive . " Mr . Cobde « begged tbe attention of the boase for & few moments to a matter relating personally to himself He alluded to the observations made & few evenings ago by an Hon . Member of that House , who stated that whilst he ( Mr . Cobden ) was calling for a repeal of the Corn Laws , he was working his mill night and day , and , moreover , that by this crutl means he had amassed a large fortune . At the time that statement was made he declined tresspassing on tbe attention of tbe House , in order that by not doing so then he might be better prepared to do so at a subs-quent period . With that view he had written to the country for the fullest and
  
  most precise information upon the subject of the Hon . Member ' s charge , to which he would solicit the attention of the House . He wonld first of all mention that ths concern with whieh he was connected employed about six hundred persons , and he found , from the information which bad been supplied him , that during the last eighteen years there had been employed during night twenty men , and that during an interval of eighteen months , ten men had been casually employed at night finishing np some work . Now , by the charge of cruelty he believed it was intended to convey the impression that those who worked at night worked also by day ; but that was not the case . They were fresh hands ; they were persons who hBd notoing else to do , and who "would have been altogether idle if they had
  
  not been so employed in the establisbmant with which he was connected —( Hear , hear . ) The letter he received on the subject stated , "I only wish we could employ five hundred extra hands at sight ; for we could have five thousand if we required them , and very glad those five thousand persons would be to get work to do by night , for they never were so badly off as they are at present "— ( hear , hear . ) As the difference between cotton spinning and cetton printing did not appear to be well understood , he wished to observe that cotton printing was something like paper printing—it bad its seasons ; and to prevent persons engaged in that branch cf trade from occasionally employing half a d * z « n extra hands by night , would bs like interdicting tbe proprietor of a mag 8 zzne from employing printers by night
  
  towards the end of the month aad just previous to its publication —( hear . ) The Hon . Member who brought forward the charge also spoke of those manufacturers who belonged to the Anti-Corn Law League , as being in tbe habit of paying thtir workmen ' s wages by truck systt ^ n . Now , as that was a breach , or at least an evasion , of the law , it became a matter of serious charge , and as he ( Mr . Cobden ) was proud of belonging to the Anti-Corn Law League , and hoped he might long be so— ( a laugh ) , —he felt himself bound to show the House how far tbe Hoc . Member ' s statement was correct by reading another passage from the letter which he held in his hand . It said— "Of course you are aware that onr wages are paid ^ rerj Saturday , as is -well known , at eight o ' clock in the morning , so tUat
  
  the woikmen can lay out tbeir mon « y to tbe best advantage , and wherever they please "—( cheers . ) Nothing could be more futile than for a person like him ( Mr . Cobden ) to dise : aim the truck system if he really sanctioned or practised it , because the shopkeepers , who were exceedingly jealous of anything of that kind , were also exceedingly acute in discovering who were thepaitles who paid money and who did not ; and in answer to the charge against himself , he bugged to say that he paid 420 , 000 in wages during the last ten years ; that during that time he had never , directly or indirectly , been connected with a shop , or with any other than his own establishment , and that every farthing of the sum he had mentioned had been paid in cash—( cheers ) . That was notorious to « very one in the
  
  neighbourhood of the establishment to which he belonged ; and when the Hon . Member opposite mode his charge so broadly and without excepting him ( Mr . Cobden ) , ho was aware—because he had betu informed by an Hoe . Gentleman who sat near him , and who was opposed in politics to him ( Mr . Cobden ) ; the Hoc . Member was at the time aware that the charge wasut : f * unded —( cheers ) He ( Mr . Cobden ) called upon tbe Hon . Member for Wigan to say whether what he now stated was not literally correct and true . What ha said a week ago he now repeated , tbat he considered this a very undignified occupation for them to be engaged in , and he hoped he would not in futnre be expected to come forward-to repudiate and rebut charges of this kind from the same quarter—( chews ) . If any Hon . Gentleman sbbuld
  
  condescend to take the slightest interest in his personal character , he referred him at once to bis neighbours and his working people , hoping that he would ait upon the principle of " do unto others as you would wish others to do unto yon , " and , before he relied upon testimony from any other quarter , inquire after his ( Mr . Cobden's ) character in his own neighbourhood , where he was best known—( bear , bear ) . la conclusion , he would state , that an Hon . Gentleman in that House had been intrusted with declarations from a large body of individuals in Lancashire against the charges which had been made against those respectable gentlemen who were members cf the anti-Com Law League , and requesting him to lay before the House a distinct denial of those cbarses .
  
  Mr . C . YiLLlEKS rose before tho Hon . Member for Ksaresborongh , because he was the person to whom the dbClarationB referred to by tbe Hon . Member fur Stockport had been confided . The House would remember the circumstances under which certain charges had been made by the Hon . Membor for Knaresborough against the manufattarers . The Hon . Member , in opposing his ( Mr . Yilliers ' s ) motion , said that his arguments against it "wer = founded upon certain charges which he brought against the manufacturers , and those eharges he qualified by saying tbat he did not apply them to the manufacturers of England generally , but to those manufacturers who had contributed to the Anti- Corn Law League . The nature of these charges having become matterof notoriety , and he ( Mr . Villiers ) having stated
  
  in his remarks to the House that they were of so serious a character , and had been received in so striking a manner— ich * ers )—as evidently to show that they were generally crsdited by Hon . Gentlemen at the opposite side of the Hcsue—those manufacturers against whom they were made bad deemed it right to take them into tbdii consideration , for the purpose of seeing how far the Hon . Member for Knaresborongh might have been justified in making them . He ( Mr . Villiers ) would , therefore , trouola the House , in the first instance ,, with aa extract from the speech of the Hon . Member . He said—* ' When detailing the other night the misery , the oppression , the plunder , -and robbery committed on the po * r by tbe Anti-Corn L 3 W Leagne manufacturers , I brought under Ae notice of the House the evils of the truck system . I have since received some further information upon tbat subject But before I read to the Hcme a statement which will make it stand
  
  aghast—¦ which will frewi its blood with horror , I wish particular ] v to re-assertj in the presence of the House , that I do not charge the "wh le of tbe manufacturers of England with being parties to this nefarious system . I positively declare that I charge only the anti-Corn Law League manufacturers . I have been told by many manufacturers in my owi neighbourhood—as honourable men as ever lived , and of whose society I am proud—1 nave been toli by them , time after time , that they cannot compete with the anti-Corn Law ^ League man ufacturers , because it "was their practice to pay their men in money , and not in goods . It is a notorious fact , that master manufacturers clear twenty-five per cant by the goo-Js they sell to their workmen , and ten per cent , by t : ; e cottages in which ¦ fchey are compelled to reside . There , then , is ths glorious system of fr ^ e trade , under vrhich the asli-Corn Law League manufacturers stand up in the House of Commons and exclaim , ' Before ua tbe Ian Jed interest shall fall . '" He had then taken the
  
  liberty of sayinf that the charge could not rest there , and those -who made it , and those who by their vociferous cheering sanctioned it—( cheerej—were bound to see that such a charge was proved—( lond cheers . ) The charge had , of course , fallen under the notice of the persons implicated , and they had drawn up the following statement , which he would rtad to the house : — " We , the uadersigned manufacturers , beins subscribers to the anti-Corn Law League , having heard , with surprise , the statements made in the Honse of Commons by Mr . Ferrand , the member for Knaresborough , do hereby repudiate them in the most distinct and unequivocal manner , and do declare them to be utterly
  
  destitute of truth . We distinctly state that we keep no truck-shops , and that we do not pay our workmen otherwise than in the current coin of the realm "—( loud cheers from the Opposition . ) This declaration was signed by seventy-two manufacturers who were members of the anti-Corn Law League—( cries of "Name , name . ") He had no objection to read the names . The Hon . Member read the names of the subscribers to the declaration , and then said that he was quite ready to give a copy of the document he had just read to the Hon . Member for Knartsborough , and be thought the House would agree with him that that Hon . Member was bound to give some explanation of his statement —( cheers . )
  
  M-. Ferband said , that in the first place he wonld apply himself to the complaints of the Hon . Member for Stoekperl He bad sot charged that Hon . Member with cruelty to his workmen— { loud cries of " Oh I oh ! " ) No notice had been given to him of the course intended to ba pursued that evening —(" Oh ! " and cheers )—and the present conversation had come upon him quite by surprise ; bnt as far as be could recollect what he had said with regard to tbe Hon . Member , it was this , that , whilst he came down , night after night , to that House complaining of the sufferings of tbe people , he was keeping bis owa workmen employed in working his mill * night and day —( cheers . ) That was , to the best of bis recollection , the statement he had made . He had not made use of the words " abominable cruelty , " net had he referred to any particular cases of ill-treatment on the part of the Hon . Member towards his workmen —( hear . ) The Hon . Mwnber had said he had charged him with being a part ; to the
  
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  truck sysem . He had never done any Buch thing . If , it had been his intention to prefer any such charge against him , he should have told him of the charge plainly and witbont equivocation—( cheers . ) But it was not his intention to charge him with participating in that system . On the contrary , an Hon . Gentleman on tbat ( the Ministerial ) side of the House had told him previously that the Hon . Member for Stockport was not guilty of tbat charge , and thai he paid all his men with money—( bear . ) He hoped that statement would convince the Hon . Member that he had misunderstood him —( loud cries of "Oh ! oh ! " from the Opposition benches . ) Now with regard to the statements of the Hon . Member for Wolverhampton , be begged leave again most positively to assert , a » d he
  
  was ready to prove his statement by the evidences of credible witnesses before a committee or at the bar of that House , that Members of the Anti Corn Law Leazue did pay their people in goods—i cries of "All , all ? " ) He bad never said they all paid their workpeople in that manner—( cries of " Oh ! oh I" and ironical chews . ) He had never used the word fl all" at all —( laughter , and repeated cries of " Oh ! oh ! " ) He again asserted what be had said , and he was prepared to prove every tittle of it by tbe evidence on oath ol magistrates , olergymen , gentlemen of high standing ; manufacturers , tradesmen , and workpeople , who , since he had made bis statements , had given him information on the subject in their own names , and who were prepared to prove tbe truth of every representation he had made—( loud cheers . )
  
  Mr . Villiers—I beg most distinctly and unequivocally to say , that tbe Hon . Member did charge all the manufacturing Members of the anti-Com Lsw Ltague which being parties to this syiiteni —( cries of "Order , " " chair , ' and loud ctu-sre . ) I can remind t ! se Honse of a circumstance—( Renewed cries of " Ord » r . " ) The Chancellor of the Exchequer—Sir , I rise to order— ( hear , hear . ) I put it to you , Sir , if when an Hoa . Member distinctly and positively repudiates the use of a certain expression any other Hon . Member is justified in persisting in attributing that expression to him . In the present case the Hon . Member denies that he attributed to all the manufacturers a participation in the truck system-Mr . Villiebs—Oh ! I do not say that he did —( cries of Order "" chair ")
  
  TheCiUKCELLOB op THE Exchequer ( not noticing the interruption)—and I am sure the House will be satisfied with tbat Hon . Gentleman's statements , and that you , Sir , will interfere to prevent this sort of recriminatory conversation . Mr Villiers again rose amid loud cries of " order , ?' " order , " but gave way to ' Mr . Laeoucherk , , wbo said that ho had certainly not understood the Hon . Member for Kuarcsbdrough to charge the truck system upon all the manufacturers o ( England , but he did understand him to attribute it to the great bulk of the manufacturers—those of them , namely , who had joined the anti-Corn L * w League—( cries of " order , " and cheers . )
  
  Mr . Villiers said , he would take the liberty : to remind the Huuae of a circumstance connected with tho debate at the close of which the Hon . Member had made his charge . Tbe Houso would reiaember , that in the course of his ( Mr . VUUers ' s ) reply , he bad said that the charges brought against the British manufacturers would net be allowed to rest there . Tbe Hoa . Member for Knaresborough immediately made a motion signifying dissent , and an Hoa Friend near him reminded him that tie charge was limited to those manufacturers who bad joined the League . He ( Mr . Villiers ) tben
  
  said— " I understand the Hon . Member limits bis charge to the manufacturing numbers of the anti-Cora Law Leaguo '— ( bear , hear ) Those were tbe werds he ated , aad he had a distinct recollection tbat the Hon . Member ( Mr . FerranU ) touched his bat and said "Decidedly "—( vociferous cheering from the Opposition . ) He ( Mr . Villiersj did not , therefore , attribute to him that he bad brought the charge against all the manufacturers of England , but he did say , that he included every manufacturer who contributed to the anti-Com Law League—( renewed cheers . )
  
  The Speaker said , be must remind tbe Hon . Member tbat , after the positive denial of Hie Hon . Gentleman , it was highly ir egular , and contrary to the rules of the House , to question bis assertions—( bear , bear . ) , Mr . Villiers was perfectly ready to say that he hod entirely misapprehended and misunderstood the Hon . Member , if ho had intended to limit his reference to a few of the great manufacturing body . Sir B . Hall would take the opportunity of referring to the motion concerning the truck system , of which the Hon . Member for Salford hod given notice , and with regard to which the Hon . Mt-mber for Knaresborounfc bad stated that be should move an amendment He wished to know whether , provided the Hause acceded
  
  to this motion ( which be feared it could not , for ho did not know how the rtturns could be procured ) in that case either of the Hon . Members v . aa prepared to take any farther steps in connection with tbe subject—( bear , hear . ) He was the more impelled to make this inquiry because it was quit- ) -wittiin his own knowledge that the system did exist to a very great extent in the tr ^» districts with which be was connected—( hear , hear)—and because he felt that it would be quite impossible to leave the question waere it stood at present—( hear , hear . ) He did not know that anything the House could do weald entirely put an end to these sort of transactions , but if there was any effective way of stopping it it would be by making public all the particulars of ao nefarious a system —( cheers . )
  
  Mr . Brother-ion said , he bad no doubt it would be quite practicable to get ail the returns which he had given notice that be should move for . His ides had been that the inspectors . of factories could themselves furnish all the necessary information . With regard to tbe particulars wanted by the Hon . Member for Knaresborough , he vras not so sure that they could be obtained . The inspectors did not visit print and iron works , and consequently could not be supposed to be able to giVe any information as to tke extent of the truck system in those works —( hear . ) His ( Mr . Brotfeftrton's ) principal object had been , not to show tbe vrient of the system , but to prove that it was not entertained by the proprietors of silk and cotton mills —( hear . ) With regard to thoBe mills , as he said before , be could get tbe information be wanted , but he feared that the effect ef the amendment of the Hon . Member opposite would be , to throw impediments in tbe way of the return . If tbe information he required was absolutely necessary , perhaps he would not object to move for it in a separate
  
  motion . . . : Lord John Russell expressed his persuasion that no Urge class of men , either manufiuitnrers or agriculturists , were jubtly cbargtable with t * e offences alleged against the Anti-Corn Law League , or with intentioiially sacrificing the public interests to their own . He added that it was tbe intention , on his own side of the House , to tike a debate and a division upon the second reading of the Cora Duty Bill ; upon which SirR . Peel said , he was much pressed , from many quarters , to make a statement of the intentions entertained by Governmont respecting the finance and commerce of the country ; and be was anxious , from considerations of public convenience , to niako that statement on Friday next But ho felt it necessary first to obtain the votes which were to decide the amanut of the naval and military force to be maintained by the country in the ensuing year . He ultimately fixed Wednesday ntxt for tke second reading of tbe Corn l >« ty
  
  Bill . Sir A . L . Hay , at Lord John Russell ' s request , then postponed his motion respecting the . Scotch Church , in order that the estimates might not be delayed . After a motion by Mr . O Connell for papers , which were ordered , and a short conversation respecting the relations of France , Spain , aad Unhand , the House resolved itself into eomnutUe of supply . In this committee Mr . Sidney Herbert ^ as Secretary of the Admiralty , moved the Navy E » fcinialta . He atated it to be the intention of Government that the existing number of seanieu should he retained , but that , in order to avoid the disadvantage of sending ships to sea with less than their complement , the number of ships should be diminished ; He explained the details of the estimates , and proposed a vote for 43 . 000 seamen , including 10 , 000 marines .
  
  Sir C . Napier absented to the opinion that a smaller number of ships well manned was more effective than a larger number manned incompletely . Ho adverted to the great age of our admirals , and the impracticability of finding among thtni men strong enough for active commands . In such a state at things , the latu naval promotion ought to have buen more comprehensive , and to harehornoa neater proportion to tbe brevet in the army . He wished the Government V > pension off a considerable cumber of old captains , to make some commanders captains , and in all future promotions to give a certain proportion to seniority . He proceeded to recommend also some additional advantages t > t the subordinate classes of the service . He . finally amused tbe House with acme criticisms upon the sterns of several ships lately constructed , particularly one named the Queen . ' . -.
  
  Capfcun Rot'S entered at length into the merits and defects of modern Ehip-luilding . He complained of the insufficiency tf the pay of naval officers , observing , that the pay of a French captain is one-third more than that of an English one ; and that the pay of an American captain actually doubles that of an English officer of the same rank . He touched upon the late case of Mr . Elton , of whose conduct he took a very unfavourable view . He complained of the appointment of ao aged an officer as Sir Edward Owen to command the Mediterranean fleet , great as were the abilities and honours of that distinguished admiral , and recommended that a system should be adopted by which younger officers should be brought forward , suggesting promoting by purchase . It wss not wise to keep strong and healthy men upon the shelf , and draw out old aad infirm ones into » description of service requiring vigour and activity .
  
  SirG Cockburn stated tte mitigating circumstances which bad induced the remission of a part of Mr . Elton's sentence . He vindicated tbe appointment of Sir E . Owen , whom he described to be in full possession of his powers . It was not every young officer who could command a fleet , though many of them thought they could ; and tbe weight which greater experience and reputation carried , was a compensation for some diminution in bodily activity . He pointed out the great aervices rendered by many officers far advanced in years . ; He thought tbat a certain intermixture of promotion by purchase , aa suggested by Captain Boua , would have its advantages , ia bringing forward a pro-
  
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  portion of younger officerfl , and providing a comfortable retirement for old ones . Captain Berkeley regretted the slowness of naval promotion . Ho congratulated the country on the course now taken . by the Admiralty in duly manning the ship ? . The naval service , however , must always sustain a disadvantage in comparison with the military , while the First Lord of the Admiralty should be a civilian , and the Commander-ih-Chiefa soldier . ;; % Lord INGESTRIE urged the necwwlty of keeping tip a constant stream of promotion , and entered into some discussions upon naval architecture . Sit George Cock burn gave some explanations upon the last topic . . - ¦¦ . "" ¦¦ : .- ^ - ¦ ' S-- ¦ ¦¦ ¦ - ' . . ' ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦> . '¦; .
  
  Xord StanIet , in reference to a question which in the course of the debate bad been asked about the intentions of Government respecting a renewal of the expedition to the Niger , declared that no -white Bailors would be employed in tbat service , but that perhaps a vessel navigated by negroes , with whose constitution the climate bad " noTer been found to disagree , might make occasional ascents of that river with advantage to the objects originally contemplated . Mr . C . Wood congratulated Mr . S ; Herbert on the ability and perspicuity with which he bad opened the estimates ; Mo bad himself no fault to find with them . Indeed , they mainly coincided with those of last year . But he did not Well understand why the Admiralty were now abandoning the old principle , that in time of peace the complement of a ship need not be kept up to the point at . which it is required to be maintained In time of war . He proceeded t « discuss , at great length , a variety of details , and was briefly followed by . ¦ - .: ¦ ..:: ¦ ; ,. ;¦ ¦ •¦;¦•; V . - ' : :--, ; : .. ; . ; ^ - / : ¦ : ; ,.. ' ; : ¦¦ : ,
  
  Sir G . CqcKBURN , who sMed that tbe circumstances of the world in general , and the preparations of some foreign states , bad made it indispensable to inerease tbo peace compliment of our bhips . Sir K . JKOLis recurred to the subject of the Niger expedition . He deeply regretted the loss of the fortytwo men wko had perished in it , but thought tbe House ought not to be too sensitive in condemning a step taken for purposes of pure benevolence . Captain Berkeley said , that on his return from the Mediterranean , in August , 1840 , be had apprised the Admiralty of the defective maiming of our ships , and that it was hot till January , 1841 , that the Whig Administration sent out seamen to supply the deficiency .. ¦ ' . ¦ '•' . ' : ; . ''' . ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦¦ . ¦ ' - - ' : ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ : - ¦ .
  
  Captain Pec hell quoted the debates of the French Chamber to contradict Sir J . Graham , who bod told his constituents , at Dorcb « ter , tbat the French Government , from its confidence in Sir Hi Peel ' s Miniktry , waa reducing its naval force . No such . reduction appeared to have been made . Ho would not cencur in any factious ppositien to the present Board of Admiralty .. / :- . " . ' . "' . - . " ... . ' ¦; ¦ '¦;¦ ' ¦¦¦ . ¦ " " ¦' : ¦ . ; ' : . - . . " ' . "¦ •' . ' ¦ . ¦ ' ' I ;" . Mr . Williams made some observations upon Postoffice packets , and ¦ ' .. ' ; . ' Dr . BOWRiNG on the mode of keeping the public . accounts . ' . . ' ¦ ¦ '¦¦ . ' . ' ¦' . ' . ¦ . ¦\ - . - . i : . ; ' .. ¦¦ Mr . Baring gave : some explanations respecting the steam conveyance now employed for tbe Government mails . / ¦ •¦ : ¦• ' . . ; ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ; . ' -V : ¦ ' ¦ .. .: ¦ ¦ ' ; ¦ . , ; .. - . -- ¦ ¦ ,. " Tbe seamen were then voted . On the vote for the Board of Admiralty , ;
  
  Sir C . Napier objected to have the navy ruled by a civilian . It was true that a Naval Lord might be apt to prei * r the officers who bad served under himself ; but even a civilian would always be guided in such matters by some naval nun The real reason why a civilian was thus preferred ; - to a naval man was , that naval men seldom possessed the station and influence which the First Minister wanted in the members of bis . ' . ' . Cabinet ; The lat « First Lord bad assumed a power which did not properly belong to him
  
  individually , but to the Whole Board , Similar ehcroachmtnts had been made by former civilians in the same situation . He proposed a scheme of his own for a Board which should regulate naval matters . Under the recent Administration the dock-yards and tbe stores had been suffered by the Board of . Admiralty to fall into unwarrantable decay . Sir James Graham bad done great good in abolishing the Navy Board and the Victualling Board ; h ? should have gone a little further , ' and abolished the Admiralty Board also . .. ' .. " . . "¦• • '¦ ¦¦'¦ - "' . . " ¦ '' ,. ' : ¦" .. ¦ ' ' " . - . ' :. '¦ . ' -.
  
  Captain Carnegie contended for a naval First Lord . He cit ^ d several recent insiances ' of civil and diplomatic ability evinced by Admirals on their stations . He hoped , at all events , thut if the First Lord must needs be a civilian , the subordinata patronage of the Admiralty would be bestowed upon naval niep . If a civilian were necessary , he must admit that there could have been no better selection than cf Lord Hoddington . y Lord Howick . thought that while no bar existed to exclude a naval man , there was no objection to the system . He bad been Secretary at War with a military Commander-in-Chief , and the working of that arrangemeut was one which he sh « uld be very sorry to see applied to the navy . If tbe First Lord should be disposed to tratusgrtiss his province , the , check would be that the naval lords would tender their resignation .
  
  Sir H . HaRdinoe protested against the notion of superseding the Cotuinander-iii-Chief by a civilfaa . Captain Berkley vindicated his own conduct in pub ishing the : pamphlet written by him at the time when he resigned his sent in the Admiralty . He contended that the First Lord ought to be a naval officer . Mr . C . . Wood- jiibntroverted some of the faota stated by Sir C . Napier ; and CapUin Berkely explained . Sir K . Peel said he Should be very sorry that there were any wxclasion of cava nun ; but neither would heconfite the office to naval men only . Never bad the achievements of the navy been more brilliant thannuder civilians , i Whenever reductions should be required , civilians would be much fitter to execute them than
  
  naval men . The First Lord was always assisted by naval ( fficers : at this moment , for example , the influence uf so eminent a coadjutor aa SirG . Ceckbarn must make itself powerfully felt . It was a conaiderable advantage to have a man at the head of the navy who was free from all professional partialities and prejudices . - ¦ .-. ¦ . •' ¦ ¦ .- . ¦ ¦¦'¦ '"¦ ¦ . ' . ¦ ¦" ¦ ' '¦ ¦'¦¦ ; - . ' Sir C . Napier returned to the charge , ' and read a letter written many years since by himself to Lord Melville . He ridiculed Lord HowickV . proposal of Wanuferriiig the offios of ComwianUer-in-chief to a civilian . A civilian was First Lord when the order was given to our Captains not to engage the American frigates , which order be himself , as soon as he received it , j-ut into the quarter-gallery . The stir made by the Duke of Clarence as Lord High Admiral did a world of good to the service . He moved a reduction of £ 1 , 500 in the vote , which was cegatived without a division . The House then adjourned .
  
  Honda !/ , March 7 . On the motion that the Speaker should leave the chair fbr tea pnrppse of their going into a committee of « upply , Sir . R . Peel stated , in anawer to a question from Mr . C . Wood , that be dJd not propose to renew the committee on . ' . the currency . . The subject was <* e which , he said , could be fitly considered only by the Executive Governmont ; but , pressed us he was with other business , he could giVo no assurance that Government would produce any measure relating to it in the course of the present session .
  
  THE CHARGES AGAINST THE MANUFACTURERS . Mr . FERRAND said , that having on Friday night been charged with having made assertions which were not facts , and with haying used expressions that he had not used , he trusted that when it was considered that Ue stood there as the advocate of the cause of the working classes of the north of Euglaod—( lond ironical laughter)—he should iibt be considered to be deviating from the strict rules of tlie house , if he occupied a short space of its tiiHo in adverting to the char ^ us brouglit against him . Sinca Friday evening , he had hatl an opportunity of looking at what he hail said , and h » found tbat he bad never used the word " all " , at all , and that he never charged the Hon .
  
  Member for Stockport with " "abominable cruelty , " but that waa another lapsus Uwjwb of the Hon . Member , akin to that concerning his mills and print works . The Hon . Member had said , that during the last eighteen years only twenty inen had been employed at his works during night . He waswas sure , the Hon . Member would be glad of the opportunity of explainiug a point to which Mr Leonard Hbruer had referred in one of his reports . Mr . Homer had said that no one could work in any printworks without being assisted by a child , who put on the colour * , And aa 8 isted the men generally . He sftid , — " The employment of children is W prepare the smooth surface of colouring matter on which tho carved block is pressed , arid to take up the colour that is to be transferred
  
  ta the cloth .. There is a ' circular frame , like the side of a sieve , upon which ' -a fine woollen cloth is stretched , and on this the colour is spread . > These pots stand by the side , and a child , who asaiata tbi man who print * , transfers tbe colour from the pot to the sieve , spreading it over the cloth with a flat brush to make a smooth surface . This is called : * tearing , ' and tho child who performs the operation , whether male oi fanale , is called a ; ' tearboy . ' Every printer has a table ohd a * tearboy . When any printing is going on the ' tearboy * must be there , and they perform their work atanding . The temperature of the room should not be less than seventy degrees , and the air should be rather humid . " Now , he would take leave to ask the
  
  Hon . Member whether , during the eighteen years his men had worked between six in the evening and eight o ' clock in the morning , these" tearboys" bad not also been working in his factory ? And . be asked this , as be said before , that the Hon . Member might nave an opportunity of explaining whether he was correct in the representations be h « d made , or whether Mr . Leonard Homer was correct in his report The Hon . Member for Wolverbampton had read in the House a declaratioD , signed by seventy-twecotton-splnners , and had forwarded to him ( Mr . Ferrand ) a copy of that declaration , to which were annexed two extracts from bis speech . The Hon . Member was about to read the declaration , when ; :
  
  The Speaker intimated that it was out of order to refer to anything that was said out vt the House on the subject ef what hadtakea place within its walls , and therefore the Hon . Member must not read the btatement . •; . ; . . . . . . ¦ ¦ '¦¦ . : . ;/; ¦ ¦;! : . ; ' v " . ' :. •¦ '¦ . ' , ' . •¦ . - ; .. ' . ¦ - ; ¦ . ¦ : ;• ' Mr . Ferrand ( in continuation * . —These people said that they kept no tiuek-shopa , and that they paid all their workpeople in the eurrent cein of the reaUh . But he did auk , did they not band tbe key to their workmen ; did they not make them rent their cottages ? Did
  
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  they know nothing of the flour paste ?— ( loud laughter ) —nothing of the shoddy trade , nothing ef the old rags and the devil ' s dust ?—( roars of laughter ) . They asserted that tbey kept no track-shops , and tbat they paid in no other way bat in the current coin of the realm ; but he ( Mr . FerraBd ) had never charged tfiem with doiDg theseiUilngs—(( fries of " oh , bhl" from the opposition benches ) . He hwi never charged them with keep-Ing truck-shops . What he has said was , that they evaded the law by letting tbeir relatives keep truckshops , and that , although they might pay their men in thecurrent coinof the realm , yet they stopped a great part of it on its way home . But suppose he admitted all that the subscribers to this requisitien urged—suppose be allowed that they were the seventy-two just
  
  men of the League— -did the lion . Member mean to say that these were the whole of the subscribers to that asseciation ?—( bear , hear ) . Wby , he thought tbat . they boasted of having extended their ramifications through every part cf the country ? He thought they said that this was a national League—( laughter )—that it had branches in every part of England , Ireland , Scotland , and Wales ? How happened it , then , that these men undertook by a quibble to deny and repudiate the system of tbeir fellows throughout the nation ? But he turned the page of this declaration and he fouud a circular addressed by the agitators at Manchester to their correspondents ; it ran this : — " Manchesttr Anti-Corn Law League . — -You will oblige the council , by aflBxing your name to the declaration and
  
  returning it at the earliest possible moment . " Now , in the declaration as read , there was not the name of one single Yorkshire manufacturer ; of the seventy-two parties subscribing the declaration there was not one who did live in Manchester or some other large town where they dared not carry on the truck system for fear of the shopkeepera—( a cry of" Hear , hear , " from the Opposition . ) It was in secret—it was in dark Corners that this infamy was ; perpetrated . It was where there were pone to rise up and explain the nefarious system as he had done—( loud laughter and ironical cheers from the Opposition benches . ) Oh , their interruptions would not put him down . He stood there to speak tbe truth , and those who rose for ; that purpose ; were not to be silenced by clamour . It was in the
  
  name of the working classes of England that be addressed that House —( ironical cheering ) , and he recommended them to foliow the advice of the Hon . Member for Oldham and leave him alone . The Hon . Member for Oldham had told them tbat they bad bettor let this matter drop . When the representative for Wolverbampton bad said that these eharges should not rest there , the Hon . Member for Oldham had said to him , " You hod better let tbe matter rest , for I can underr take to prove all Mr . Ferraud has said—and ten tiiiies worse "—( hear , hear . ) He challenged the Hon . Member for Wolverhampton ; then , to move for bis Belect committee . Let them institute an inquiry into thoae
  
  charges—let them examine and see who was right Tonight he would undertake to state the charges which he hod made against the disbontst part of the manufacturers , and if Hon . Members opposite denied the truti of bis allegations , he would drive them to the course of asking for a select committee of inquiry . The letter he was about to read wits from a poor man in a manufacturing town in Lancashire , and he did trust that Hon . Members opposite , if they would not listen to him , would at least listen to a poor man . Members opposite boasted that they were the champions of the poor man , and that they came to the House qt Commons to ask for a repeal of the Corn Laws for the sake of the poor man . Let theni listen for a moment to the words of a
  
  poor man : — . . «' Boltdn , March L " My dear Sir , —It is with the greatest pleusiire I read your speech of last Thursday . Jt was one of the sort that has long been wanted ; but , Sir , though it appears to bavxi struck such a panic amongst them as they ( the Anti-Corn Law League ) little expected , you did not positively more than balf do it 1 wish some one on the Conservative side of the House would move for a committee of inqairy . I feel confident it would strike such an awe over them as they would not be guilty of sneb practices . On Monday evening , the 21 st ulfc ., a meeting of the Anti-Corn Law League was held in the Temperance Hall , when —— waa called to the chair . Now , Sir , this is a spinning-master , and
  
  occupies a large mill in — ' street He ayes about a mile out of town in a splendid mansion on the —¦ - —• road , near which is a farm which keeps about twenty cOws . Miud , Sir , he waa not worth a suit of clothes when he came to Baton at the first , but a poor Irish lad , all rags aad tattera This man now , Sir , not only compels ; his spinuers to have cottages , but also reelers ( girls 1 C years of age ) must also pay rent from 2 a . 6 d . to 4 s . 6 M . per week , or they must have no work . They must also have a quart of milk a d 8 y , whether they can drink it or not Dear Sir , the houses are of the worst description , and are relet by the workpeople from a shilling to half-a-crowa a week , and very often not let at all , and then , of course , they lose all the rent The master stops , it ' out'Of . 'Ui 6 it w ^ es ' : ' U : tb ? y .. hayeriot a \' penny . \ to- toke ; home . Meat of the spiriaing-masters compel their spinnen to have cottages , but none except they of the Anti-Cora-Law League make girls . Theae geutloraen are always screwing and oppressing . I will tell you
  
  of another rascally trick of —— , 'C- He makes a practice of running bis mill from Monday until Saturday , and because Saturday is a short day , on which we work only nine hours , ho stops at noon , and only pays the hands for five days and A half . "'" : i wisb ^ ' . . ' yjiii would just give him a touch in the House of Commons on this poiDt , I think it would stop him , and y * u would confer a blessing on hundreds of poor helpless factory people ( helpless , I say , because too many of us , owibg to the coupling of wheels , iScc . ) . ,. '¦¦ : ¦ ' " I am yours , &c , " V > Lancashire . " To—¦— Ferrand , Esq ., London . '' -t-This was a poor labouring man , ^ ho had not got . the education that many ether people had , and be therefore trusted the House Would excuse the plainness of bis language . , . : ' : '¦ : . Mr . W . Williams . —Name , name .
  
  Mr . Ferrand—I will give it to the Hoil Member , if he pleases , as Boon as I sit down , and if be leaves the House for that purpose I will follow him . But let me tell him the poor workina men have suffered too much for attempting to expose the tyranny of their raoaters , and if a select committee should be granted by the House these poor wretches will never dare to come forward aDd give evidence unless they receive the protection of the Government of the cow , try . " He ( Mr . Ferraud ) knew bis statements on this subject , to be true , and he would tell the House that the working classes tbemselves asserted them to be true , and of that be would convince the House before he sat down . He had given them an instance of tbe tyranny practised in Lancashire ¦; he would now give them another
  
  which occurred in Yorkshire , in his own ^ neighbourhood , and again be said he was prepared to give up his authority to any Hon . Mtmber who required him to dp so : — "A poor weaver , residing in the township > f —— , with a wife and family of small children , has been for some time employed by a wealthy worsted , yarn , and stun * manufacturer , who has practised the abominable system of having a retail shop on his premises , where his workpeople well understood tbat they are . to « xpend their bard-earned pittance in the purchase of Buop goods . ThiB poor mau incurred a' trifling debt , of about 10 s . ¦ ¦ 6 * 1 . ' ; at this said shop , which' he agreed to liquidate by allowing a deduction of Is . weekly from his wages . But , alas ! poor man , though be bad not food for a day's sustenance fur
  
  his family , when he carried in his w . ork on the taking-in day , at the close of tha week ending on the I&th ' . vf February instant * this wealthy millocrat deducted the 19 s . 6 d ., which was the full amount of his wages due , aud sent him away penniless , and refused to give him further employment ; in this state Qf distress he applied to a magistrate , on Menday mornina , tha 21 st instant , for a summons for his Wages , 10 s . 6 il ., which he Obtained ( and I am glad to say , that the clerk gave him credit for his fee ) ; but , what do you think ? The tyrant sbratk , for fear of the exposure , and compromised the atPiir with his injured slave , and thus ended an invsetigation of the case by a magistrate . " These were the anti-Corn Law League men I--Hcheers from the Ministerial , and laughter from the Opposition
  
  benches . )/ He had scores upon scores : of such cases in his possession , which he was prepared to prove before a Seltct Committee—ayei not only that , but he would tell the House that , the working classes of England were rising up in defence of their cauae , and were prepared to prove every word be bad said . What Wonld Hon . Members opposite say when he told them that ; in spite of all the calumnies which might be heaped on his head by interested parties out of doors , the . working classes of Birmingham had assembled in public meeting , and bad unanimously passed a vote of thanks to him for exposing the conduct of their hard-hearted taskmasters ? ( The Hon . Member here read the following notice of the meeting from a newspaper : — " At a meeting of the wo : king classes , convened at the King ' s
  
  Head Inn , Dudley-street , Birmingham , a vote of thanka was unanimously passed to M ' . Ferrand , the patriotic repreaentative if Knareaborough , for his philauthropic defence of the operatives of England ; his fearless exposures of the fraudulent designs of the anti-Cora Law League , and ^ hai oppression and tyranny of Whig-Radical millocrate . ' ) He would tell the House that at that meeting the working men stood forward , and justified everything be bad said within those walls , and declared themselves ready to prove his statements by evidence . Lat it no longer be said that tho weight of the charges he had made lay on bis own bead . Again , he callenged Hon . Members opposite to move for a select committee , and if they would not do it , ho would . ( Cheers , and laughter . ) He must now allude to what was said by the Noble Lord the Member for the city of London
  
  ou a previous evening . That Noble Lord stated that he understood he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had only charged a limited number of manufacturers with the frauds which he had brought under the notice of the House . When the Noble Lord sat down , he ( Mr . Ferrand ) rose and told him he had brought the charge to a great extent against the manufacturers , and tbat b « was also ready to prove it He bad thought It his duty on Saturday last , in deference to the Ugh position which that Noble Lord held , not only in that House , bat also in the estimation of the public out of doors , to send the Noble Lord a sample of the common sort of cloth sold In Lancashire to tbe working classes . He had abo sent a sample to the Prime Minister , for be was deter * mined that his proceedings should not be in the dark , and they should have ocular demonstration of what he had asserted , and what be w » s orepared to prove .
  
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  Was there any Member who would deny vcak tbe cammoh sort of manufactures were daubed ove ^ with floui ^ te f He had a fample of the cloth in his tend , and be asked the Noble Lord the Member for tbe dty cl London , who knew a good deal of the affairs of ihe world , if he ever in his life saw such plunder as that to which the working men were exposed by this means . It was dreadful to contemplate ; it was horrible to behold . Tea , the shirting which was sold to the poor people of Lancashire was completely daubed over with flour paste . ( Great laughter from the Opposition . ) He asked Hen . Members who laughed whether an inquiry ought not to be made into what he said , if it were true , and if it were untrue , whether , snch an opportunity of contradicting it bad ever been offered
  
  to opponents ? If what he assarted were true , did thej by their smiea and derisive cheers hope to put it down ? If the poor were robbed , as be said they were , was it not the duty of the Legislature to protect them ?—( cheers ) . They came and asked the protection of that Home . Did he ask anything unfair ? Did he say anything in their behalf at which the House abonld shrink ? If he did , fairly and with heartfelt gratitude would he give place to any Hon . Member who . would stand up and defend their cause within those walls . He was doing what be could for the poor ; and , therefore , let not the members of tbat House sneer at him . He felt that he was acting conscientiously , ; bis own heart guided him in what be did , and if he erred in the
  
  slightest degree let the blame ; fall upon bis own head , but let not the cause ot the poor suffer . He asked the Noble Lord opposite if be was not convinced , from what he ( Mr . Forrand ) had shown , \ hat it was the duty of the Legislatnra to step in and prevent the robbery committed Upon tbe poor through the frauds which he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had exposed to the Hoose ? He would now read a letter , published on the first of December last , in the Manchester Guardian , a newspaper considered the organ of the anti-Com Law League , which would throw some light on the fraudulent practices to which be bad alluded , and their effects ;— , "The Corn Laws—To the Editor of the Manchester Guardian . ¦ ' , ¦ ' ' '¦ . '¦'¦ . - " - ¦ ¦' : '¦ ' . ¦ ' :. ¦ ''' ;
  
  " Sir , —A power-loom manufacturer working 1 , 000 looms ia now paving more by £ 15 per week , or apwards of £ 750 per annum , for the flour used in his manufactory in the process of dressing , than be did for the same quantity in 1835 . The present duty on corn gives the foreign manufacturer an advantage ef several hundreds a year in such an establishment over the English one iii the single article of sting flour . The Corn Laws , by limiting the demand for goods at home and . abroad , cause ruinous prices ,: heavy stocks , and general stagnation and depression , such as we are now Buffering under . While these exut the manufacturer , in his efforts to save himself , endeavours to reduce the cost of
  
  production , and if be pays more for flour be must pay lets for labour . Thus wages are reduced , and this is one way in which the workpeople suffer from the high price of grain : A complete spinning and weaving establishment consumes as much flour in the process of dressing as the workpeople employed in it eat ; and if flour was at tbe same price now as it was in 1835 , the manufacturer could as Well afford to give bis bauds nearly balf as many loaves as they consume , in addition to their present wages , as he can now afford to pay them the latter . -. ¦ ' ,,. , •/ . ; ; -.: - .,:. ¦; , " am , Sir , yonrs , : '¦ ¦ : ' : :- ' ^ A MANOtfACIURER . " ¦ " Stockport , Nov . 30 , 1841 . " ¦ ! -
  
  Would Hon . Members opposite now deny that flour paste was used in the making of calico ? When he 8 aid that 100 , 000 qnarters of wheat were consumed in the manufacture of aach articles , under a system most baneful to tbe public , he spoke -within bounds ; He bad thought it hie duty on Thursday last to inform tfie Noble Lord the Member for the City of London that be should find it necessary , in defending himself from the charges brought against him by an Hon . Member opposite , to refer to the correspondence which took place between the Noble Lord and Mr . Baker , superintendent of factories , ordered by tbe Honse of Commons to be printed , June 21 , 1836 , when the Noble Lord was Secretary for the Home Department . He did not blamo the Nobla Lord for not un ^ ersta -dinz the manufacture
  
  of shoddy cloth , for at that time there was scarcely a man living in the south of England who knew anything about it The letter of the superintendant waa as follows : — " My Lord , —In the case of Taylor , Ibbotson , and Co , I took tbe evidence from tbe mouths of the boys themselves They stated to nie they commenced working on Friday morning , the 27 th of May last , at six o ' clock a . m , and that , with the exception of meal hours and one hour at midnight extra , they did not cease working till fonr o ' clock on Saturday evening , having been two days and a night thus engaged . " This would sufficiently show the horrid cruelties inflicted on the poor by their pretended friends ; and he begged the House to recollect that these man , Taylor , Ibbotson , and Co .. were creat anti-Cora law men . This Was
  
  the true character of the members of the Leagne , who felt so much for the sufferings of the poor , and who were so anxious to repeal the Corn Laws for the benefit of the poor man , and not for their own . ( Cheers . ) Another working man wrote to him as follows : — "I am employed in the shoddy trade , in Batley , near Dewsbury . I have not seen your last speech on the Corn la-sv debate , but I hear you made some reference to the use of shoddy ; but that ia not the worst part of the business . In every piece made there is 31 b . and upwards of the best of flour used as stiffening , to deceiye tbe wearer , and eventually ruin the trade-in the parish of Batley there are some hundreds of pecks of the very best flour used in this way in the year . Batley Carr , another village a mile distant from Batley ,
  
  used to have a very good trade in the manufacture of paddings and druggets , but they carried this shoddy and stiflening to such a length that trade is lost , all the village ruined , and but a few masters retired indepeoi . dent . In the stiffening of droggeta and paddings there were were used fi om 5 tb . to 61 b . per piece . " Lat Hpr . Meinbers listen for a few more moments , and he would show them how the trade of tiie country had declined . It was the frauds practised in the manufacture which had ruined the trade of many districts , and iiot the effects of the Corn Laws . He had given tuem testimony to thi 9 out of the mouths of the working inen , and now he weuld read them the account which a manufacturer residing at yVitney , in Oxfordshire ^ gave of those frauds . This person wrete to him : — " Witney ,
  
  February 26 , 1842 . Sir ,--If yon want farther corroboration about the rags , &c , used by some of the nothern manufacturers , and would not mind inquiring of Messrs . LighWopt and Morris , the Government inspectors at Dspif ord Dockyard , they could give yon some very good proofs of it as uaed up in the jackets for our sailors , and technically called ' shoddy . ' It is composed of old coarse woollens , such as blankets torn up after they are comparatively worn out There is no staple left to the wool and ho * ever nicely . gpfciip to please the eje , cloth made of such staff , when it comes to be exposed to the wind and rain , will rot in a very little tlmo . Ask them if the blue flashing , made here lost season ( ia consequunce of the complaints made of the cloth used for tbo sailors' jackets and trousers , ) did not
  
  give every satisfaction , aa it was made ot long English woo ) . It was in consequence of the many complaints on this score that the Navy Board last year substituted the old Witney pattern of cloth : again , after having laid it aside for ten years inconsequence of the Yorkshire people always underselling them through the use of ' shoddy' or devil ' s duBt' I will give you further information , for , although a Whig and a manufacturer , I am an enemy to all trickery , and some of year remarks are bitingly true—Z . " He asked Hon . Members opposite to do him aa much justice as this manufacturer . Jf they were anxious to serve their country and tbe working people , they would not allow politics to stand in the way . He called on the Hon . Member for Salford
  
  to come forward and lend his aid in the prosecution of this inquiry , and he -was most ready to bear witness to the noble , nianly , and generous exertions of that Hon . Member in toe caus « of the factory children . Though , On this question , the Hon . Member and bUneeJf might be at daggers' drawn , still he hoped the day was net far distant when they should join hand ani heart together in the attempt to rescue the poor factory children from the state of degradation to which they were now reduced . He bad trespassed on the time of the House , in order to defend himself from the charges brought against him on Friday last He felt that &a bad ODlydOca bis duty : he co « ld prove every word b »
  
  had said , and , while standing there in defence of the workiDg classes of England , he was foifcfled and strengthened by receiving , with every post , ' scores and scores of lettars ; from those poor working men , as ¦ well as others from every gride and class of soeiety , beggtog him not to be confounded and put down by any opp <> sition in that House , and imploring him to make the truth known . It was with that intention be bad come into the Hcuia ; on that ground he took his stand , and was determined never to be put down . In thenams ^ the working classes of England he challenged Hon . Members opposite , he implored them , to ask for a Selee * Committee .
  
  Mr . C . P . ViLiiERS said he held in bis hand tl » names of thirty other manufacturers who wished to iM thtm to the declaration he had read to the Housed ' Friday night , conveying their Indignant denial of tb * charges made by th « Hoi Member for KoaresboroBjl '' He should think any man might be astonished by bearing the Hon . Member calling on gentlemen on that t $ 9 of the House to ask for a select committee . Tto Hon . Member had made the cbarg « s himself , and it was bi » daty to move for an instant inquiry into them . tf ° * a single Member on that side of the House woald of posa him . Any manufacturer would , be was sura , b 9 glad to second a motion for inquiry , and tbea ttw would be ready to vindicate themselves fi * ffl "e charges brought against them .
  
  Mr , J . Fielden was inaudibleifor setersl KBte ^* at tke commencement of his remarks . He said be W * lleved there wasa great deal of troth in what bid been advanced by the Hon . Member for Knaresboroa ^ - ^ , * f . a committee of the House were granted there would » such a development of tbe proceedings of a gmt < Bsny manufacturers as weuld call for the application « an effectual remedy of some kind or other . ( HeWj bfttfJ It was asserted that the poor were suffering P * f ? r oppression in a variety of ways . Tne quantity of tn * persons nneinployed was increasing , and the © pprew ™ of the poor increased in- the same proportion . ¦ " . , " ? should be very willing to second a motion for a sele ^ committee to examine the accuracy of the Btate « aW » which had been ^ « et fortt * He tboaght it would W ( Continued in our sevmth pace J ' . '• : '
  
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  6 THE NORTHERN STAR , , „ j _ -
Citation
- Northern Star (1837-1852), March 12, 1842, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1152/page/6/

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