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    HOUSE OF LORDS . —Fbjdat , J * Uhch 4 . lord Clabe > 'DON requested informatioii from Lord Aberdeen respecting the preparations which "were now making on the French frontier c ! Spain for a projected insurrection in that country . Both Bo \ diexs and civiliana , -who wore known " to have been concerned In the late revolt , and who made no secret of their present object , had traversed France from every quarter : warlike stores were openiy being accumulated on the frontier : and yet the French Government , with most ample means at its disposal , had made no effort to prevent , or even to impede , those proceedings . The end proposed to t * obtained by this inteaded insurrection was neither

    the restoration of the Queen Regent , who had voluntarily resigned her pywer , nor of Don Carlos , whose cause was admitted to t > e hopeless ; it was merely to bring back anarchy and disorder . Such an attempt was oppfrSMl to thefeeHDgs of the whole people ; it would be vigorously resisted by Espartero , nnoer whose Government Spain had made rapid progress in civilisation and prosperity , and he had no doubt it would entirely fail . Itrsq . ired , however , to be vigilantly watched , and he therefore -wished to know if instructions had been sent to onr ambassadors npon the subject , and if in case cf an insurrection , ships "would be despatched to the parts cf Spain to afford protection to her Majesty ' s subjects ? '

    Lord Abekdees xpressed hi « conviction that on , no gubit-ct were men cf sis parties so firmly agreed as in . the wiih to render Spain really prosperous and independent Thf plot which -spas at present in progress had done 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 jsuceess , yibilt from France , in answer to his communications , he received assurances that the preparations -which were in prorresa npon the ] frontier were withi / nt he ? - sanction , and tiat every means had been , and should be , employ- - - ¦; to intercept persons against whom there were

    groun-is for suspicion . He must be content to receive tht > e assurances ; bnt althongh the . character of the Miti ^ . et from whom they proceeded entitled them to the -czmoat respect , there should be no want of vigilance , and bo exertions should be wa ; ting to aid the Regent in maintaining his position , if it should be endangered . He did rot believe that any alliance existed betwee ' n the parT « an 8 of Doe Carlos and the ex-Regent Ghristiana ; lad he considered the plot to be le * s formidable than was lepresented . Still , however , British " interests aho ' -M be adequately protected , and ev .-ry assistance afforded to an old ally in whose welfare this country felt es much concern .

    Xt-rd BsorGBAM called the attention « f their Lordahipt to the very inactquate pensions which had been assJ < i < ed to the daughters of the iate Sir Robert Kennedy , who had been for many years at the head of the Cojar-iissaiiat Depatment Tli ^ Duke of WeiXisgton , after paying a high tril > a : e to the merits ol the deceased , promised his imme ^ i ^ te attention to the case of the daughters , that soine prcyisioii might be made for them more worthy of their ralhfii ' s Bervices . Ir-rd iloSTEAGLE then rose , pursuant to notice , to lay before the House his motion respecting the late frac- 'l in the issue of Exchequer-bills . Its object ha . 1 no rr-arecce to that of the measure which had been introduced in the other House . It was simply that the qut-tion should be decided whether the frauds had been in any degree caused or facilitated by the ' act or neglect of £ Ji ^ THiblic-cfficeT icSTvonsible -to Parliament . In the

    management of tho c-fice of Controller- General there had not been for upwards of a century any change or any relaxation in the previously existing rules . It had always been the custom to place much confidence in the holders of the principle offices , in the choice and Appointment of whom the -utmost caution was exercised ; anc in the case of the author of the late frauds ,- every eircais-tince of long-tried probity and high respecta-Klitv of family and character appeared to have combined to hill suspicion . The N * bie Lord then related the facts "which had led to the discovery of forgeries ,-and clef' -Med the conduct of Government during the examinati . u of Exchequer Bills in withholding from the parties z-.- . a forged Billa that they produced . The appointment of the commission , which fcad already made its report , would have superseded the necessity of his mtfc-a were it not for five points upjn which they sta- ^ i that the former practice had been departed from , or f-raja precautions relaxed . These were : —

    lc * .. " Tea abandonment of a second counterfoil ¦ whu-h had been deposited in the Bank of England . " 2 -. ' The neglect of comparing the Bills with their couiiurfolls at thePaymaster's-office , at the exchanging , paying off , or funding of the Bills . " 3-i . - Tae distribution of the eountrifoils without tie authority of a Treasury warrant . " -ii- " The signing of Biils of the rame * issue by more than -ne person , tmd the omission of a notification in the Gazette , where any other parson other tLan the priaciu&l was authorised to sign . " 5 th . " The occasional signature of Bills withont the prest - ce cf a clerk , or of the signing-book , elsewhere than la the office . "

    Upon each of these instances of deviation from the estaH ; shed practice the Noble Lord shortly spoke in exeoiwtion , and after vindicating the motives by whkt he had been actuated , moved that a committee of iiqiiry be appointed , that it might be ascertained if asy neglect on his part had offered facility to fraud . Lord Brougham considered that the course which had been adopted by the Government would be more sitisf-ictcry than the appexntmert of a committee soch as Xcrd Mnateagle recommended . _ With respect to tl » d poiiits to which tfee farmer commission had

    direcud attention he expressed his assent to the explanation which bid been afforded , ezcvpt in the case f sluing bills in other places than the proper office . Sir Ji ^ hn Xewport had indeed done so npon one or two occasions , but the bills so signed were deficient bills , while Lord Montea ^ le had sigBcd Supply bills . He defended at considerable length the practice of the office ¦ under Sir John INe-wport ' s tuperintendence ; and after going very ' ully through all the details cf tfee subject , concluded by declaring that the vindication both of Jjora Montaagle and Ms predecessor was in every pariiml £ J asmolete .

    Tfce Daie of "Wellisgtos approved of the course Lord -lonteagle bad taken in bringing a question which bad excited so roach attention under discussion , although no blime had 9 ver been laid to liis charge by " any authority . It was absolutely necessary that there ahould be an inquiry which would protect the present holders of tta r > ills : and snpport the credit of the public securities ; but he trusted that no obstacle would be thrown in the way of the investigation -which had been entered upon by the other House , by establishing another inquiry which would Etili be liable to objectisn . He pres ^ d Lord Monteagle , therefore , to withdraw his mofcn , piomising tha \ the clauses he might wish inserted in the Biil now before the other House should receive attention . To this course Lord Mosteagl-e assj-nted , and his motion being withdrawn , their Lordships ad-Jomxi&d- ilonday , March 7 .

    The business consisted la an explanation from the Eari of Aberdeen , as to the circumstances connected with the conversation which he had held with the FreBca Ambassador , on the subject of the occupation of Algiers ; and a defence , by the Earl of MiBto , of bis administration of the naval affairs t-f the country , frsm the animadversionB of Sir Cnarles Napier in the Honse of Commons , on Friday night . Tills -wzs held to be irregularly brought under discussion ; and the House shortly afeerwards adjourn &d .

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    HOUSE OF COililONS . —Fhidat , Masch 4 . The Speakeb . took the chair at five minutes before four o ' clock . X-tfd M ah ON brought in the Copyright Bill , which was read a first time , and ordered to be read a second tirac on Wednesday , the 16 th inst On the motion of Sir C . Ts ' apiex , a return ' was ordered of the number of vessels arriving from America , at the Port of iiverpnol , laisn -with com , dnr&g-the years 1840 and IS 41 , and stating the numbar of days each stup occupied in the voyage .

    ilr . Ferra-ND gave notics , that when the Hon . Member for Saiford ; Mr . Brothertoa ) croui-ht forward hi 3 motion for an "Address for a return of the names or UrmB of all occupiers of cotton , wooliea , flax , and silk mills or factories , who pay the wages of their workpeople in gooua instead of money , or who directly or indirectly , by thfir partners , servants , or relations , supply goois or provisions on the track system ; and also the name 3 of the places where such mills are situitsd ;* " it was his intention to move ,- after the words " silk mills or factories , " that the following words beintroduced , " print-works , csal-works , and iron-works . " &nd that tiers be added to the propessd-motion , and also the names or firms of all occupiers cf print-works , coal-works , and iron-works , who compel their workmen to reside in cottages belonging to their employers . "

    lord J . BtssELL said , he had received letters stating that with respect to the scale of towns from which the averages were to be taken , it was considered taey had not been properly selected . Some towns had been included in the scale where v&ry little com was sold , and other towns where large quantities were sold , had bsen altogethfer left out of the scale . Sir B . Tkel : I will move for leave to bring up the report , ana then I wDl answer the Noble Lord . The Report on the Com Law Importation Act having been brought np and read .

    SirB . Pebl sMd , th . e bill which had been proposed vas in strict conformity with the resolutions which had been agreed to , and the explanation which he-gave in moving f » a committee on the subject ; he wished to state that he had received letters from inspectors , stating hardships on them , and asking f or compensation . The arrangement ha proposed with respect to the inspectors , he proposed to keep in effbe all efficient effieera . placing them under the wntrol of tha board of excise , and in all the new towns to have the-averages taxea by the exciss efficers . He trusted tie whole

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    duty 'would be taken under tie superintendence of the excise , bo as te cause little or no additional expence He proposed that the bill should , as soon as It received the sanction of the legislature , come into immediate operation ; and he should net , therefore , postpone that operation trntil the Battlement 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 csrt&in proportion of manufacturing , agricultural , and commercial towns ; and in his plan he had followed the same ratio in the new

    townB selected . Bat the whole would be open te the revision of the House , according te the information it should receive . Mr . Cobdem begged the attention of the house for a few moments to a matter relating personally to himself . He alluded to the observations made a few evenings ago by an Hon . Member of that House , who btated that whilst he ( Mr . Cobden ) was calling for a repeal of the Corn Laws , be was working his mill night and day , and , moreover , that by this cruel means he bad amassed a large fortune . At the time that statement was made he declined tresspassing on the attention of the Honse , in order that by not doing bo then he might be better prepared to do so at a subsequent period . With that view he had written to the country for the fullest and

    most precise information upon the subject of tho Hon . Member ' s charge , to which he would solicit the attention of the House . He would first of all mention that the concern with whieh he was connected employed about six hundred persons , and he fonnd , from the information whick bad been supplied him , that during the last eighteen years there had been employed duri . g night twenty men , and that during an interval of eighteen months , ten men had been casually employed at night finishing up 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 f .-esh hands ; they were persons who had notning else to do , and who would have been altogether idle if they bad

    not been so employed in the establisbmsnt 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 night ; 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 had its seasons ; and U * prevent persons engaged in that branch of trade from occasionally employing half a dczen extra hands by night , would be like interdicting the proprietor of a magazine from employing printers by night

    towards the end of the month aud just previeus to its publication— ( hear . ) The Hon . Member who brought forward the charge also spoke of those manufacturers who belonged to the Anti-Com Law League , as being in the habit of paying their workmen ' s wages by truck system- Now , as that was a breach , or at least an evasion , of tbo 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 the Hon . Member ' s statement was correct by reading another passage from the letter which ha held in his hand . It said— " Of course yon are aware that our wages are paid every Saturday , as is well known , at eight o ' clock in the morning , so that

    the workmen can lay out their money to the best advantage , and wherever they please "—( cheers . ) Nothing could be more futile than for a person like him ( Mr . Cobden ) to disclaim 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 the parties who paid money and who did not ; and in answer to the charge against himseJf , he begged to say that he paid £ 20 , 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 every ocein the

    neighbourhood of the establishment to which he belonged ; and when the Hon . Member opposite made his charge so broadly and withont excepting him ( Mr . Cobden ) , he was aware—because he had been informed by an Hor . Gentleman who sat near him , and who was opposed in politics to him ( Mr . Cobden ); the Hod . Member was at the time aware that the charge was unfounded —( cheers ) He ( Mr . Cobden ) called upon the Hon . Member for Wigan to say whether what he now stated was not literally correct and true . What he said a week ago he now repeated , that he considered this a very undignified occupation for them to be engaged in , and be hoped he would not in future be expected to ccme forward to repudiate and rebut cbargis of this kind from the same quarter—( cheers ) . If any Hon . 0 entl 6 H » an should

    condescend to take the sligbtest . inter 6 st in his personal character , he referred him at once to his neighbours and his working people , hoping that he would art upon the principle of " do unto others as you would wish others to do unto you , " and , before he relied npon testimony from any other quarter , inquire after his ( Mr . Cobden ' s ) character in his own neighbourhood , where he was best known-r ( hear , hear ) . 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 bad been made agaoist those respectable gentlemen who were members of the anti-Com Law League , and requesting him to lay before the House a distinct denial of those charges .

    Mr . C- Villiexs rose before the Hon . Member for Kcaresborongh , because he was the person to whom the declarations referred to by the Hon . Member for Siockport had been confided . The House w . uld remember the circumstances under which certain charges had been made by the Hon . Membor for Knaresborough against the manufacturers . The Hon . Member , in opposing his ( Mr . Yillierb's ) motion , said that hi * arguments against it were founded upon certain charges which he brought against the manufacturers , and those charges he qualified by saying that he did not apply them to the manufacturers of England generally , but to those manufacturers who had coDtribnted to the Anti-Corn Law Laagoe . Tha nature of these charges having become matter of 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—( cheers )—as evidently to show that they were generally credited by Hon . Gentlemen at the opposite side of the House—those manufacturers against whom they were made had deemed it right tor take them into their consid-. ratisn , for the purpose of seeing how far the Hon . Member for Knarestwrough might have been justified in making them . He ( Mr . Villiers ) would , therefore , trouole the House , in the first instance , with an extract from the speech of the Hon . Member . He said— •< When detailing the other night the misery , the oporession , the plunder , and robbery committed on the posr by the Anti-Corn Law League manufacturers , I brought under tte notice of the House the evils of the

    truck system . I have since -received some further information upon that subject Bat before I read to the Hou ^ se a statement -which -arill mate it stand aghast- — which , wiil freEza its blood with-horror , I wish particularly tore-assert , in the presence of the House , that I do not charge thewh le of the manufacturers of England with being parties to this nefarious system . I posi iively declare that I charge only the anti-Com Law Irtiague manufacturers . I have been told by many manufacturers in my own neighbourhood—as honourable men as ever lived , and of whose society I am proud—I have Lten told by them , time after time , that they cannot compete with the anti-Corn i-aw League manufacturers , because it was their practice to pay their men in money , and not in goods . It is a notorious fact , that

    master manufacturers dear tweuty-fue per cent , by the goods they sell to their workmen , and ten per cent , by the cottages in which they are compelled tu reside . There , then , is the glorious system of fr « e trade , under which the anti-Corn Law League manufacturers stand up in the House of Commons and exclaim , ' Before us the landed interest shall fall . '" He had then taken the liberty of sayinp that the charge could not rest there , aad taose who made it , and those who by tlieir vociferous cheering sanctioned it—( cheers )—were bound to see that such s charge was proved—( loud cheers . ) The charge iiad , of coarse , fallen under the notice of the persona implicated , and they had drawn up the following statement , which he would read to the house : —

    " We , the undersigned manufacturers , feting subscribers to the anti-Corn Law League , having heard , with surprise , the statements made in the . House 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 bad no objection to read the names . The Hon . Member read the names of the

    sub-Ecribtrs to the declaration , and then said that be was quite ready to give a copy of the document he had just read to the Hon . Member for Snarasborough , and he thought the House would agree with him that that Hon . Member was bound to give some explanation of his statement—( cheers . ) M-. FsiiBAHD Biid , that in the first place he would apply himself to the complaints of the Hon . Member for Stockpert . He had not charged that Hon . Member with cruelty to bis workmen —( loud cries of " Oh ! oh ! " ) No notice had been given to him of the course intended to 1 » pursued that evening —( "Oh ! " and

    cheers)—and the present conversation bad come upon him quite by surprise ; but as far as he could recollect what he had said with regard to the Hon . Member , it was this , that , whilst he came down , night after night , to that House complaining of the sufferings of the people , he was keeping bis own workmen employed in worfcag his mills night and day —( cheers . ) That was , to the best of his recollection , the statement he had made . He had not made use of the words " abominable cruelty , " ner bad he referred to any particular cases of ill-treatment on the part of the Hon . Member towards hia workmen —( hear . ) The Hon . Member had said he had charged him with being a party to the

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    track Jysem . He had never done any such thing . If it had been his intention to prefer any such charge against him , be should have teld him of the charge plainly and without equivocation—( cheers . ) But it was not his intention to charge him with participat ing in that system . On the contrary , an Hon . Gentleman on that ( the Ministerial ) side of the House had told him previously that the Hon . Member for Stockport was not guilty of that charge , and that he paid all his men with money—( bear . ) He hoped that statement would convince the Hon . Member that he had misunderstood him—( lond cries of "Oh ! ohV from the Opposition benches . ) Now with regard to the statements of tho Hon . Member for WolVerhaiupton , he begged leave again most positively to assert , and 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 League did pay their people In goods—icries of "All , all ?") He had never said they all paid their workpeople in that manner —( cries of " Oh ! oh I" and ironical cheers . ) He had never used the word " all" at all —( laughter , and repeated cries of "Oh ! oh ! " ) He again asserted what he had said , aid he was prepared to prove every tittle of it by the evidence on oath of magistrates , clergymen , gentlemen of high standing , manufacturers , tradesmen , and workpeople , who , Bince he had made his statements , had given him information on the subject in their own names , and who were prepared to prove the truth of every representation he had made—( loud cheers . )

    Mr . Villiers—I beg most distinctly and unequivocally to say . that the Hon . Member did charge all the manufacturing Members of the anti-Corn Law League which being parties to this system —( cries of " Order , " " chair , " and loud cheer ? . ) I can remind the Honse of a circumstance—( Renewed cries of " Order . " ) The CHANCELLOR OP THE EXCHEQUER- —Sir , I rise to order—( hear , bear . ) I put it to you , Sir , if when an Hon . Member distinctly and positively repudiatas 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" )

    The Chancellor op the Exchequer ( not noticing the interruption)—acd I am sure the House will be satisfied with that Hon . Gentleman ' s statements , and that you , Sir , will interfere to prevent this sort of recriminatory conversation . Mr Villieus again rose amid loud cries of " order , " " order , " but gave way to Mr . Labotjciiere , who said that he had certainly not understood the Hon . Member for Knareaborough to charge the truck system upon all the manufacturers of 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 Law League—( cries of " order , " and cheers . )

    Mr . Villieks said , he would take the liberty to remind the House of a circumstance connected with the debate at the close of which tba Hon . Member bad made his charge . The Housa would remember , that in the ^ u rse of his ( Mr . Villlurs ' s ) reply , he had tmid that the charges brought against tha British manufacturers would not ba allowed to rest there . The Hud . Member for Knaresborough immediately made a motion signifying dissent , and an Hon . Friend near him reminded him -that t ^ e charge was limited to those manufacturers who had joiued the League . He ( Mr . Villiers ) * hen

    said— " I understand the Hon . Member limits his charge t j the manufacturing members of the anti-Coru Law League" —( hear , hear . ) Those were the words he used , and he had a dintinct recollection tbat the Hon . Member ( Mr . FerranO ) touched his hat and said " Decidedly "—( vociferous checringfrom the Opposition . ) Ha ( Mr . Villiers ) did not , therefore , attribute to him that he had brought the eharge against all the manufacturers of England , but he did say , tbat he included every manufacturer who contributed to the anti-Corn Law League—( renewed cheers . )

    Tue Speaker said , he must remind the Hon . Member that , after the positive denial of the Hon . Gentleman , it was highly ir egular , and contrary to the rules of the House , to question his assertions—( hear , hear . ) Mr . Villiehs was perfectly ready to say that he had entirely inisapprehtndsd and misunderstood the Hon . Member , if ho had intended to limit his reference to a few . of the gre-t manufacturing body . Sir B . Hall would taka the opportunity of referring to the motion concerning the truck system , of which the Hon . Mtmbtr for Sruford had given notice , and with regard to which the Hon . Member for Knaresbprouf h had stated that he should mo \ e an amendment He wished to know whether , provided the House acceded

    to this motion ( which he feared it could not , for he did not know Liuw the returns could be procured ) in that case either of the Hun . Members was prepared to take any farther steps in connection with the subject— ( Lear , hvar . ) He was the more impelled to make this inquiry because it was quit-3 within his own knowledge that the system did exist to a very great extent in the Iron districts with which he was connected' —( hear , hear)—and because he felt tbat it wouM be quite impossible to lbivre the question where it stood at present—( bear , hear . ) He did not know that anything the House could do would entirely put an end to these sort of transactions , but if ttiare was any effective way of stopping it it would be by making public all the particulars of so nefarious a system— ( cheers . )

    Mr . BaoTHEEio . vsaid , he had no doubt it would bo quite practicable to gr . t all the returns which he had given notice that ho should move tor . His idea had been that the icspectoi-s of factories could themselves furnish all the neces . sary information . With regard to ibe particulars wanted by thuHon . Member for Knareeborouxh , be was nut bu sure that they could be obtained . The inspectors Uiu not visit print and iron works , and consequently could not be supposed to be able to give any iuforniation aa to tke extern of the truck system iu ihose works—( hear . ) His ( Mr . BrotUerton ' s ) principal obj « ct had been , not to show the extent of the system , but to prove that it was not entertained by tho proprietors of silk and cotton 01 iiIs —( boar . ) With regard t j thosfc milLa , as he said before , he could get the information he wanted , but be feaxbd that the effect of the aniendment of the Hou . Mc-mber opposite would be , to thruw impediments iu the way of the return . If the information he required was absolutely necessary , perhaps be would not object to move for it in a separate

    . . Lord John Russell expressed his persuasion that no large class of men , either uianuf » cturera or agriculturists , were justly chargeable with the offences ivlle ^ ed against the Anti-Corn LawL ^ tgue , or frith intentionally sacrificing the public interests to their own . He added that it was the intention , on bis own side of the House , to take a debate ami a division upoa the second reading of the Cora Duty Bill : upon which Sir R . Feel said , he was much pressed , from many quarters , to make a statement of the iutencious entertained by Government respecting the finance and commerce of the country ; and he was vnxious , from considerations of public convenience , to make that state-Hibnt on Friday next . But he felt it necessary first to obtain the votes which wore to decide the amonnt of the naval and military force to be maintained by the country in the ensuing year . He ultimately fixed Wednesday next for tke second reading of the Corn I > utjr

    Bill . Sir A . Ik Hay , at Lord John IiusBell' 8 roqubst , then postponed his motion respecting the Scotch Church , in order that the estimates might not be delayed . After a motion by Mr . O'Cojjnell for papers , which were ordered , and a short conversation respecting the relations of France , Spain , and Kngland , the House resolved itself into eommittae of supply . In this committee Mr . Sidkey Hehbert , as Secretary of the Admiralty , moved the Navy Estimatta . He stated it to be the intention of Government that the ( xisting number of seamen should be 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 estimate- - ) , and proposed a vote for 43 . 000 seamen , including 10 , 000 marines .

    Sir C . Napier assented to the opinion that a smaller number uf ships well manned was more effective than a larger number manned incompletely . Ha adverted t > - the great age of our admirals , and the impracticability 01 finding among i hvm uiea strong enough for active commands . In such a state af things , tho iate naval promotion oualit to have been more compreUensive , and to ha ^ e borne a nearer proportion to the brevet in the army . He wished the Government to pension off a considerable number of old captains , to make some commanders captains , and in all future promoti r > s 3 to give a certain proportion to seniority . He proceeded to recommend also some additional advantages f ; r the subordinate classes of the service . He finally amused the House with some criticisms upon the sterns of several ships lately constructed , particularly one named tho Queen .

    Captiin Roua entereJ at length into the merits and defects of modern thip-buililing . He complained of the insufficiency of the pay of naval officers , observing , that tbe pay of a French captain is one-third more than tbat 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 so 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 was not wise to keep strong and healthy men upon the shelf , and draw out old and infirm ones into a description of service requiring vigour and activity .

    Sir & ¦ Cockburn stated the mitigating circumstances which had induced the remission of a part of Mr . Elton ' s sentence . Ha vindicated the 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 soma diminution in bodily activity . He pointed out the great hervices rendered by many officers far advanced in years . He thought tbat a certain intermixture of promotion by purchaso , as suggested by Captain Roua , would have its adTant&ses , a bringing forwud a Pic-

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    portion of younger officers , and providing a comfortable retirement for old ones . " ¦ Captain BEBKELEy regretted the slowness of naval promotion . He 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 civilianj and the Coiamander . in . cQjefagO ^ ei | , . Lord Ingestrie urged the necessity of keeping up a coBstant stream of promotion , and entered into some discussions upon naval architecture . Sir George CockBURN gave aome explanations upon the last topic , '¦ ..- . •; ' . ¦ : : : ; in fe

    Lord Stanley ^ rere to a question which in the course of the debate had been asked about the intentions of Government respecting a renewal of the expedition to the Niger , declared tjiat no white sailors would be employed in that service , but that perhaps a vessel navigated by negroes , with whose constitution the climate had never 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 had opened the estimates . He had himself no fault to find with them . Indeed , they mainly coincided with those of last year . But he did hot well understand why ^ the Admiralty were now abandoning tho old priHciple , that ia 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 britfly followed by ' I " -: ' ¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦ S : ¦ :. ; . ¦ ¦ ¦; ¦ ¦¦ - ; c- ,: -y ' 4 . ¦¦ ¦ - - ' .

    Sir Q . Cockburn , who ttated that the circumstances of the world in general , and the preparations of some foreign states ,, had mada it indispensable to inerease the peace compliment of our ships . Sir R . Inglis recurred to the subject of the Niger expedition . He deeply regretted the loss of the fortytwo men who had perished in it , but thought the House ought not to be too sensitive in condemning a step taken for purposes of pure benevolence . Captain Berkeley Baid , that on his return from the Mediterranean , in August , 1840 , be bad apprized the Admiralty of the defective manning of our ships , arid that it was not till January , 1841 , that the Whiff Administration sent out seamen to supply the deficiency . '•' . ' . : r v -.. ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ¦¦ ;

    Captain Pechell quoted the debates of the French Chamber to contradict Sir J . Graham , who had told his constituents , at Dorchester , that the French Government , from its conSdence in Sir R . Peel ' s Ministry , was reducing its naval force . No each reduction appeared to have been made . Ha would not cencur in any factious opposition-to the present Board of Admiralty ; - ' - . - - ; . ; ' . ¦ ' . ¦ ' ;/ . : • ¦ ' . - ¦ ¦ : ' ;¦' ... ' ; , Mr . Williams made some observations upon Postoffice packets , and pt . BOWRING oh the mode of keeping the public acoounts . ' ' - ' ; .. ; ¦ ' . ' ¦• - ¦ ¦ . ' , ¦ . ¦ Mr . Baring gave some explanations respecting tbe steam conveyance now employed for the Government mails . 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 wa « true that a Naval Lord might be apt to prefer the officers who had served under himself ; but even a civilian Would always be guided in such matters by aoR > e naval man . 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 his Cabinet . The late First Lord bad assumed a powet which ; did not properly belong to him

    Individually , but to the whole Board . Similar encroachments 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 dockyards and the 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 ; he should haya gone a little further , and abolished the Admiralty Board also .

    Captain Carnegie contended for a naval First Lord . He cited several recent instances of civil and diplomatic ability evinced by Adniirals ou their stations . He hoped , at all / events , that if the First Lord must needs be a civilian , the subordinata patronage of the Admiralty would be bestowed upon naval men . If a civilian were necessary , he must admit that there could have been no better selection than ef Lord Haddington . Lord HowiCK theugtt that while no bar existed to exclude a naval man , there was no objection to the system . He had been Secretary at War with a military Comuiander-ln-Cnief , and the working of that arrangeir . ont was one which he aliuuld be very sorry to sae applifed to tho navy . If the Firtt Lord ehould bo disposed to transgress his province , the check would be that the naval lords would tender their resignation . Sir H . HaRdinge protested against the notion of superswiing the Comniander-in-Chief by a civilian .

    Captain Berkley vindicated his own oonduci iu pub ishing the pamphlet written by him at the time when he resigned his seat in the Admiralty . He contended that the First Lord ought to be a naval officer . Mr . C ; Wood controverted some of the facts stated by Sir C . Napier ; and Captain Beukely explained . Sir R . Pkel said he should be very sorry that there wereany exclusion of naV ; J men ; . but neither would he confine the office to naval men only . Never had the achievements of the navy been more brilliant than imder civilians . ISVhenever reductions should be required , civilians would be much filter to execute them than navM men . The First Lord was always assisted by naval officers : at this moment , for example , the influence of so eminent a coadjutor as Sir G . Cackborn ( must make itself ppwerfullyfelt . It wosaconsiderabla advantage to have a man : lt the head of the navy who was free from all professional paitialities and pre > judicta . . ¦ : ' .. . ;

    Sir C . Napier returned to the charge , ! ahd read a letter written many years since by himself to Lord Melville . He ridiculed Lord Howick's proposal of transferring the office of Commander-in-chief to a civilian . A civilian was First Lord when tho order was given to our Captains not to engage the American frigates , which order he himself , as soon as he received it , put into the quarter-gallery . The stir " made by the Puke of Clarence as Lord High Admiral did a .. world of good to the service . He nioyed a reduction of £ 4 , fi 00 in the vote , which was negatived without a division . The House then adjourned .

    ilonday , March ! . On the motion that the Speaker should leave the chair for the purpose ' of their going into a committee of aupply , Sir . R . Peel stated , in answer to a question from > Mr . C . Wood , that he did not propose to renew the committee on the currency . The subject was one which , he said , could be fitly considered only by the Executive Government ; but , pressed as he was with other business , he cyujd give ho assurance that Government would i > roduco any niousure relating to it in the course of the present sossian .

    THE CHARGES AGAINST THE MANUFACTURERS . Mr . FERRAND Baid , 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 he stood there as the advocate of the cause of the working classes of the north of England —( loud ironical laughtery- ^ -he should not be considered to be deviating from the strict rules of the house , if he occupied a short space of its tinur in adverting to the charges brqugbt , against him . Since Friday evening , he had had an opportunity of looking at wliat he had said , and he found that he had never used the word " all" at all , and that he never charged the Hon .

    Member for Stockport with 'abominable cruelty , " butthatwas another lap . susiinynce of the Hon . Mombar , akin to that cbncerniug his mills and print works . The Hon . Member had said , that during the last eighteen years only twenty men had been employed at his works duving night . Be was was sure , the Hon . Member would be glad of the opportunity of txplainirig a point to which Mr Leonard Homer 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 ooloura , and assisted the lueu generally . He said ^—" The euipjoyinent of childien ia , to prepare tha smooth surfaco of colouring matter on which the carved block ia pressed , and to take up the colour that is to be transferred

    to the clo 4 h . There is a circular frame , like the side of a sieve , upon which a fine woollea cloth is stretchorl , and on this the colour is spread . Theee pots stand ' . . by the side , and a child , who assists the mail who prints , transfer ? the colour from the pot to the sieve , spreading it over the cloth with a flat brush to make a smooth suvface . This is called 'tearing , ' and the child who peitforms the operation , whether male or female , is called a * tearboy . ' Every printer has a table and a tearboy . ' When apy printing is going on the tearboy must be there , and they perform their work standing . The temperature of the room should not bo 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" had not also i been working in his factory ? And he asked this , as he said before , that the Hon . Member might have an opportunity of explaining whether he was correct in the representations he had made , or whether Mr . Leonard Homer was correct in his report . The Hon . Member for Wolverhaiupton had read in the House a declaration , signed by seventy-two cotton-spinners , and bad forwarded to him ( Mr . Ferrand ) a copy of that declaration , to which were annexed two extracts from his speech . The Hon . Member vraa about to read the declaration , when : :

    The Speaker intimated that it was oat of order to refer to anything that was said out cf the House on the Bubject ef what had takes place -within its walls , and therefore the Hon . Member must not read the statement . ' : . : ¦ '¦ ¦ . . : ' . ,- . ¦¦; . ¦'¦ . . - . ' ¦ ¦ ' • . . '' ::: ¦' : " - \ " ^ . < : Mr . FERRAND ^ in continuationl . —Theae people said that they kept no ttuck-shops , and that they paid all their workpeople in the current coin of the realm . Bat he did ask , did they not hand the bey to their workmen ; did they not mafee them rent their cottages ? Did

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    they know nothing of ' & * «»»* V ** te ? -0 oud laughter ) -nothing of the shoddy t * jde , nothing cf the ^ old rags and thedevll-a dust ? - ^^ ?* ^ S ^^ ^ : setted that they kepi no truck . 3 v ° P . and that they paid in aoother way but in the curteoi ¦ : ¦ . *»* < J * ° » « a ^ ? but he ( Mr . FerrandJ bad nevtr ^ - ^^ f Wlth doing these things-icries of " oh , oh I- ' fr ^ S V %£ aition benches ) . He had never charged th ^ . ^^ P " ing truck-EhopB . What he has said , «* f ^ \ " *?* evaded the law by letting their relatives keep > tockshops , ' and that , although they might pay tbtir meD » 9 the current coin of the realm , yet they stopped a great part of it on its way home . Biit suppose he admitted all that the subscribers to this requisition urged—suppose he allowed that they were the seventy-two just

    men of the League— did the Hon . Membejr mean to say that these were the whole of the subscribers to that asfl 6 ciation ? - ^( h 0 ar , hear ) . Why , he thought that they boasted of having extended their ramifications through eyeiry part of the country ? He thought they said that , this was a national ; League- — ilaughter ) —that it had branches in every : past of England , Ireland , Scotland , and Wales ? How happened it , then , that these men undertoek by a quibble { to deny and repudiate the system of their fellows throughout the nation ? But he turned the page of this deolaration and he found a circular addressed by the agitators at Jlanchester to . their correspondents ; it ran this : ¦—V Manchester Anti-Corn L 3 H- League—You will oblige the . ' . ' - ' council . by affixing ' ¦ ¦ - . 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 seyeBty-two parties subscribing the declaration there- was not t > newhoi did live iff Manchester or soihe other large town where they dated not caTry on the truck system for fear of the shopkeepera— ( a cry of" Hear , liear , " frohi the Opposition . ) It was in secret—it was in dark corners' that . this infamy was perpetrated . It was where there were none to rise up and explain the nefarious system , as he had done—( loud laughter and ironical cheers from the Opposition benches . ) Oh , their interzuptiona would not put him down . He stood there to speak the 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 he addressed that House—( ironical cheering ) , and ho recommended them to follow the advice of tbe Hon . Member for pldbam and leave him alone . The Hon . Member for Oldham had told them that they had better let this matter drop . When the representative for Wolverbainpton bad said that these obarges ehould not reat there , the Hon . Member for Oidhani had said to him , " You had better let the matter rest , for I can undertake to prove all Mr . Ferrand has said—and ten times woree" — ( hear , bear . ) He challenged the Hon . Member for Wolverhanipton , then , to move for his select com ^ mittfle . Let them iostitute an inquiry into those

    charges—let them examine and see who was right Tonight he would undertake to state the charges which he had made against the dishonest part of the lnanufacturers , and if Hon . Members opposite denied the trutk of his allegations , he would drive them to the course of asking for a select committee , of inquiry . The letter he was about to read was from a poor iiimi in a manufacturing town in Lancashire , and he did trust that Hon . Members opposite , if they would not libten to him . would at least listen to » poor man . Members opposite boasted that they were the champions of the poor man , and that they came to the House of 'Commons to ask for a repeal of the Corn Laws for the saka of the poor man . Let them listen for a moment to the words of a

    poor man : — ' " Bolton , March 1 . " My dear Sir , —It is with the greatest pleasure I read your speech of last Thursday . It was one of the sort that has long been wanted ; but / Sir , though it appears to hava struck such a panic amongst the in as they ( the Anti-Cora Law League ) little expected , you did not positively more than hair" do it . I wish some one on . the Conservatiye side of the House would move for a committee of inquiry . I feel confident it would strike such an awe over them as they would not be guilty of such practices . On MomJay evening , tha 21 st ult . j a meeting of the Anti-Corn Law League was helti in the Temperance Hall , when ^— - was called to the chair . Now , Sir , this ia a spinning-master , and

    occupies a large mill in -- —street He lives about a mile put of town in a Splendid mansion oh the —? - — road , near which is a farm which keeps about twe&ty cows . Mind , Sir , he was not worth a suit of clothea whsn ho came to Bolton at the first , but a poor Irish lad , all rags and tatters . This man now , Sir , not oniy corupela his Bpiuuers to have cottages , but also reelevs ( girls 16 years of agol must also pay rent from 2 s . 6 d . to 4 s- 6 d . per week , or they must have no work . They musk also have a quart of milk a day , whether they can drink it or not Dear Sir , the heusea are of the worst description ^ and are relet by the workpeople from a ahilliug to hulfa-crown a week , and very often notlet at all , and then , of course , they lose aU the rent . The master stops it out of their wages , if they have not a penny to take home . Most of the spinuing-masters compel their spinners to have cottages , but none except they of the Anti-Corn-Law League make girls . These gentlemen

    ate always screwing and oppressing . I will tell you of another rascally trick of . He makes a practice of running his mill from Monday until Sftsurday , and because Saturday is a short day , oii which we Tvork only nine hours , he stop 3 at noon , and only pays the hands for five days and a half . I wish you would juat give him a touch in the House of Commons on this point , I think it wpuld stop him , andy&u would coafera blessiiig on hundreds of poor helpless factory people ( helpless , I say , l ^ cause too many of us , owiug to the coupling of wheels , &c . ) " I am yours , &c , "—— —— . Lancashire . "To——Ferrand , Eisq ., London . " This was a poor labouring man , < vho had not got the education that many ether people had . and he therefore trusted the House would excuse the plainness of his language . ¦ Mr . W . Williams . —Name , name .

    Mr . FERRAND—I will give it to the Hon . Member , If he pleases , as soon as I sit down , and if he leayes the House for that purpose I will follow him . But let me tell him the poof workina men have suffered too much for attempting to expose the tyranny of their masters , and if a select committee ehould be granted by the House these poor wretches will never dare to come forward and give evidence unless they receive the protection of tha ( joverament of the country . He ( Mr . Ferrand ) knew his statements on this subject to be true , and he would tell the House that the working classes themselves asserted theni to be true , and of that he would convince the House before he eat down . He had Riven thorn an ta £ t ; ince of the tyranny pt ; iqli 8 en in Liucaehire ; he would now give ; them another

    which occurred in Yorkshire , in his own ; neighbourhood , and again he said he was prepared to give up hU authority to any Hod . Member who required him to do so : — " A poo ? weaver , residing ia the township * f —— , with a > vife and family of : small chiidfen , baa beeu for some time employed by a wealthy worsted , yarn , and stuff manufacturer , who has practised the abominable system of baving a retail shop on his . premises , where his workpeople well understood that they are to expand their hard-earned pittance iu the purchase of shop goods . This poor man incurred a trifling debt , of about 10 s . CvW at this said shop , which he agreed to liquidate by allotting ft deduction of Is . Weekly from hia wages . ' But , alas ! : poor man , though he had not food fot a day ' s sustenance for

    his . family , when he carried in his work on the taRing-in day , at the close of the we ^ fc ending on the 19 th of February instant , this wealthy imllocrat deducted the 10 s . 6 d ., which was the full . amount of his wages due , and sent him away penniless , and refused to give bim farther eniployment . In this state of distress he applied to a magistrate , on Monday morning , tho-2 J . sc instant , for a summonu for his wages , 10 s . ftd .-, which he obtained- ( and 1 . ' am glad to say , that tho clerk gave him credit for his fee ); but , what do you think ? The tyrant shrank , . for fear of the exposure , and compromised the affair with his injured slave , and thus ended an investigation of the case by a magistrate . " These were the anti-Corn Law League . men !—( cheers from the Ministerial , and laughter from the Opposition

    benches . ) He had scores upon scorps of such cases in his possession , which he was prepared to prove before a Select Committee—aye , not only tJiat , but he would tell the House that the working classes of England wtre rising up iu defence of their caiisej . and were prepated to prove every word he had said . What would Hon . Members opposite say when he told them that , in spite of all the calumnies which might be hertped , on his head by inUrestcd parties out of doors , the working classes of BirniinBbam had assembled in public meeting , and had Unanimously passed a vote of thanks to him for exposing the conduct of their hard-hearted taakinastera ? ( Tue Hon . Member here read the following notice of the meeting from a newspaper : — "At a meeting of the working classes , convened at the Kina ' s

    Head Inn , Dudley-street , Birmingha . ni , a vote of thanks was unanimously passed to M' " . Ferrand , the patriotic representative cf Knare 3 borough , for his philautaropic defence of the operatives of England ; his fearless exposures of the fraudulent designs of the anti-Corn Law League , and the oppression and tyranny of Whig-Radical millocrat ? . ' ) He would tell the House that at that meeting the working hien stood forward , and : justified everything he hud said within those walls , and declared themselves ready to prova his statements by' evidehce / Let it no longer be said that ' . the weight of the charge ' s he had made lay on his own head . Again , he callenged Hon ; Members opppsite to move for a seleet committee , and if they would not do it , he would .: ( Cheers , and laughter . ) He must now allude to what was said by the Noble Lord the Member for the eily of London

    ou a previeus evening . That Noble Lord stated . that he understood he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had only charged a limited number of manufacturers with the frauds which he bad 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 that he was also ready to prove it He had thought , ifc his duty on Saturday last , in deference to the high position which that Noble Lord held , not only in that House , but also in the estimation of the public out of doors , to send tbe Noble Lord a sample of the common sort of cloth sold in Lancashire to the working classes . He had also sent a sample to the Prime Minister , for he was determined thathis proceedings should not i > e in the dark , and they should have ocular demonstration of what he had assarted , and what he was crepaifad to prove .

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    Was there any Member who would deny that the cammon sort of manufactures were daubed over with floui paste ? He had a trample of the cloth 5 n his hand , and he asked the Noble Lord the Member for the city of London , who -knew ' a good deal of the affairs of the . world , if he ever in his life iaw such plunder as that to which the working men were exposed by thia means . It was dreadful to contemplate ; it was horrible to behold . Yes , tha shirting which was sold to the poor peopie of Lancashire was completely daubed over with flour paste . ( Great laughter from the Op ^ position . ) He asked Hen . Members -who laughed v ? fatther an inquiry ought not to be made into what he said , ; it * it were true , and if it were untrue , whether such an oppCrtnC > ty of contradleting It had ever ! been offered

    to opponeater If what he asserted were true , did t ^ ey by .. their smi . ea au" 4 dtrisiye cheers hope to put it down ? If the poor were robbed , as he said thoy were , was ifc not the daty of the ^ Legislature to protect the m ?—( cheers ) . They catne an « J asked the protection of that Hcuse . Did he ask anythin v ? unfair ? Did-he sayanything in their behalf at which . the House should shrink ? If he did , fairly and with beartu ° lt gratitude would he give pl ^ ce to aay Hon . Member wh *> would stand up and defend their cause within those wails . Ho was doing what he conld for the poor ; and , therefore , let not the members of that House sneer at him . He felt that he was acting conscientiously ; his own heart euiclod him in what he did , and if he erred in the

    slightest degree let the blame ; fall upon bis own head , but let not the cause of the poor suffer . He asked the Noble Lord opposite if he was not convinced , from . what he ( Mr . Fiirrand ) had shown , that it was the duty of the Legislature to step in and prevent the robbery committed upon tbe poor through the frauds which he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had exposed to the House ? He would no w read a letter , published on the first of December last ,-in the Manchester Oitdfdian , a hews ^ paper considered the organ of the anti-Corn Law . League ^ which would throw some light on the fraudulent practices to which he had alluded , and their effects : — " The Corn Lawis /—To the Editor of the Manchester Guardian . ; .

    •• Sir , —A power-loom manufactorer workiHg 1 , 000 looms is now paying more by £ 15 per week , or upwards of £ 750 per annum , for the flour used in his manufac tory in tho process of dressing , than he did for the same quantity in 1835 . The present duty on corn givee the foreign manufacturer an advantage ef several hundreds a year in such an establishment over the English one in the single article of sizing flour . The Com Laws , by limiting the demand for goods at home and abroad , cause ruinous prices , heavy stocks , and general stag nation and depression , such , as we are now safFering under . While these exist the manufacturer , in hia efforts to fcave himself , endeavours to reduce the cost of

    production , and if he pays more for flour he must pay less for labour . Thus wages are reduced , and thia ia 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 aa the workpeople employed in it eat ; and if Spur was at the same price now as it was in 1835 , the manufacturer could as well afford to give his hands nearly half as many loaves as they consume , in addition to their presbnt wages , as be can now afford to pay them the latter . ¦ ' -. ¦ -. - " I am . Sir , yours , "A Manufactdeer . '' " Stockport NdvV 30 , 1841 . " '

    Would Hon . Members opposite now deny that flour paste was used in the making of calico ? When he said that 100 , 000 quarters of wheat were consumed in the manufacture of such articles , under a system most baneful to the public , he spoke within bounds . He had thought it his duty on Thursday last to inform the Noble Lord the Member for the City of London that he should find it necessary , in defending himself from the charges brought against him by an Hon . Member oppoaite , to reft-r tothe correspondence which took-place between the Noble Lord and Mr . Baker , superictendent of factories , ordered by the House of Commons to be printed > June 21 , 1836 , when the JSToble Lord Was Secretary fpr the Home Departmfinf-. He did not blame tbe Noble Lord for not un « lersta r iding the manufacture

    of shoady 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 was ; as follows : — " My Lord ,--In the case of Taylor , Ibbotson > and Co ., I took t £ e evidence from the mouths of tha bays themselves . They stated to me 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 four o ' clock on Saturday evening ^ having been two daya and a night thus engaged . " This would sufficiently show the horrid cruelties inflicted ba the poor by their pretended friends ; and he begged the House to recollect that these men , Taylor , Ibbotson , and Co ., were great antirCorn Law men ; This was

    the true character of the members of the League , who felt so much for the sufferings of the poor , and who were so aDxious 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 ;—" 1 am employed in the shoddy trade , in Battey , near Dewsbury . I have not seen your last speech on the Cora lav debate , bat 1 hear you mada some reference to the use of shoddy ; but that is not the worst part of the business . In every piece made there is 3 lb . arid upwards of the best of flour used as stiffening , to deceive the wearer ^ and eventually ruin the trade . In the parish of Batley there are some hundreds of pecks of the very best floiir used in this way ia 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 stiffening tp such a length that trade is lost , all the village ruined , and but a few masters retired iudependsnt In the stiffening of druggets and paddings there were were used from 51 b . to 61 b . per piece . '' LstHon * Members listen for a few more moments , and he would show them how the trade of the country had declined . It was the frauds practised in the mahufactura which had ruined the trade of many districts , arid not the eff « cta of the Corn Laws . He had given them testimony to thiseut of the mouths of the working men , and now he weuld read them the account which a manufacturer residing atWitney , in Oxfordshire , gave of thosa frauds . This person wrote to him : — ' ? Witney ,

    February 20 , 1842 . Sir , —If you want further coxroboration about the rags , &c , used ^ ^ byaome ; bf the notheni raanufactnvers , and would not mind inqiiring of Messrs . Ligbtfoot and Morris , toe Government inspectors at Deptford Dockyard , they could give yoa some very good proofs of it as Used up in the jackets for our sailors , and technically called shoddy . ' It is composed of old coarse woollens , such as blankeUi torn up after tiey aw comparatively worn out There is no staple left'to tba wool and however nicely got up to please the eye , cloth made of fluch stuff , when it cornea to be exposed to the wind and raia will rpt in a very little time . Ask them if the blue flushing , made here last season ( in conseqiisnce of the complaints made of the cloth used for the sailors' jackets and trousers , ) did not

    give every satisfaction , as it was made of long English , woo ) . It was V 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 in consequence of the Yorkshire people always underselling them through : the use Of ' Bhoddy' Ol ' devil ' s dust . ' i will give you further information , for , although a Whig and a manufacturer , I am aa enemy to all trickery , and soina of ycur remarks are bitingly true . —Z . " He asked Hon . Members opposite to do him as much justice as this manufacturer . If they were anxious to ssrve their country and the Working people , they would not allow politics to stand in tho way . He called on the Hon . Member for Salford

    to come forward and lend his aid in the prosecution of this inquiryi andha was taost ready to bear witneBB to the noWe , mariiy , and generous exertions of that Hon . Member in the cause of the factory children . Though , on this queation , the Hon . Member and himseif might be at daggers' drawn , still he hoped the . day wasnetfar distant when they should join hand and heart together in the attempt to rescue the poor factory children from the state of degradation to which they were now reduced . He had trespassed on the time of the Home , in order to defend biui 3 elf from the charges brought against him on Friday last . He felt th > t he had only done his duty : he could prove every word ha

    had said , and , while standing there in defence of the working classes of England , ' -. "he- '' was- fortified and atrengthened by receiving , with every i > ost ; scores and scores of letters from those poor working men , as well as others f ™ m . every grade and class of society , begging him not to be confounded and put down by any pppor sition in that House , and iniploring him to make the truth known . It was with that intention he had come into the House ; on that ground be took his stand , and was determined never to bp put down > In the name ef the working classes of England he challenged Hob , Members opposite , be implored them , to ask fora Select Committee . '

    : • Mr . C . P . VittiERS said he held in his hand tho names of thirty other raanufacturers who wished to add them to the declaration be had read to tha House on Friday night , conveying their indignant denial of tha charges made by th 8 Hoa . Member for Koaresboiougt He should think any man might be astonished by hearing the Hon . Member calling on gentlemen on that side of the House to ask for a select committee . The Hon . Member had made the charges himself , and it was hi * duty to move fpr an instant iiiqiiiry into them ; Noi a single Member on that side of the House would opposehini . Any manufacturer would , ke was sure , be glad to second a motion for inquiry , and then the / would be ready to vindicate themselves from ; 'tt * charges brought against them .

    Mr . J . Fiblden was inaudible for several senteiwe * at the commencement of his remarks . He said be ^* lieved there was a great deal of truth in what had jbe » advanced by the Hon . Member for Knareaborougb . ' .- '» a committee of the House were granted there would be such a development of the proceedings of a great VM&I manufacturers as weuld call for the application of a ° effectual remedy of some kind or other . ( Hear , ieaw It was asserted that the poor > Fere suffering grieyons oppression in a variety of ways . The quantity of «» persons unemployed was increasing , and the . oppresswB of the poor increased in tha same proportion . ' . Ha 3 hould be very willing to second a motion foraselsw committee to examine the accuracy of the stateHieJ ™ waich had been Bet forth . He thought it woulii W > ( Continued in our seventh pa £ eJ

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• 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-ncseproduct745/page/6/