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    3Sra£maI parltanrntt.

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    HOUSE OF LORDS—Fbidat , Feb . 24 . The Sari ot Minto moved for returns respecting the present state of the navy . He required explanations as to -why there had been less ship-building last year torn had "been contemplated , and-why a reduced vote -was to be t »> pn for the present year ? He inquired also the reasons of othei recnotions ? The Pate , of Weli / tngtos doubted the propriety of furnishing ihe information asked for . The Earl of IL&ddixgtos wisaed the Esrl of Minto io postpone Ids questions , and si ? e notice for another evening , "when he weald be bc * xsr prepared-Tee Earl sf Misto then « atered into-various details lespecting the pr « s > --i xrocdition of -our dockyards , < 5 cc ., and moved for t > - * . us relating to them .

    The Eirl * i vi-s » JJis € ro ; i explained , that the reason Vhy there "Wi-. less sbip-buflaing 1 ^> s ^ ar than bad been co ^ teapiBsed , -was , that ii -was deemed mere -economical to keep vessels already baQt is good repair than to build new ones . It had been fcund impracticable in "Woolwich Jteckyard to b « ad fee number of steamers req ^ red , and the reduced estimates foe the present year had beea adopted "with great reluctance , tut it -was felt that owing to the Btste ni the Seances , scone Tecortaoas « hoald be adopted . He concluded with giving information in reply 4 © 'the Earl of Minto . Lord Ashbcetok expressed his legretthat the inlorniataon had been given .

    The Bake of W 3 LLISGT 0 S -ffltd he -had given his opinion of the imprpprifcty of f uniting the information , iut his ¦ advice W 83 negleeted , and the two Xoble Lords , in defeoce of their respective - ^ TimmeDta , had published to the -wbole -world information which shoe-Id never tsave been communicated , and ¦ which might pr ^ nre jnlBcMevous to the country . Alter somefcriher &ebate , ~ xn "which lords'Minto and Haddington vindicated themselves , and the Dnke of "Wellington wsmsrked that ie had alwayB disconzaged snch motions , the Eiri of Minto -withdrew Mb motion , ym 3 the House ad journed .

    MOXDAT , FSBBCABT 27 . Xord C ± H ? bell moved for and obtained copies of Xord ZHenborough ' s proclamations , sad gave notice , on the part of the 3 J . arqaIs of Clanricarde , of a motion on the subject , on the 9 tH cf March . Lord SAoSTSAGiS , st the request cf the -Dakeof Wellington postponed fais motion on the Corn LawB , on txcerant-ol the indisposition of the-I . ixl of Ripon . . A-ty * forwarding some bills the House acjourned .

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    HOUSE OF COMMOKS—Thcbsdat , Feb . $ 23 . fin a -part of oar lasl week ' s impression we gaTe a -rery condensed and imperfect account of the proceedings in the House of Commons on the subject of Mr . "Walter's motion on the New Poor La-ff . On account of its great importance we give ihis week a more extended report , particularly of the speeches of Mr . Walter and . Mr F-errandJ 2 > £ IXCIPL ^ -OF THE KSW POOB LAW . Sir . "Waxier than rose , snel -commenced his speech tj observing that he could have -wished that it had iaUen to Ihe lot of some abler o ? more eminent member to here brought forward the . present subject , for if thu abilities of him "who "brought it forward were to be -35-eighed or measured by the vast consequences invdved , ie feared that he should be fooad greatiy deficient . If , indeed , he might have had his isisb indulged , he should fcave desired her Majesty ' s ministers themselves to have taien a more htunane and constitutional view of the -question , for sincerely did he -wish them to ptiane such measures as would secure thera the love of the people —be meant of the people taken in the ttu «« ; and there Vaa no one method by which tfcey conld so essentially

    save endeared themselves to the vast body of the ¦ esnntry at large as by demolishing , -what he was sorry to say had been partially , and at second hacd , their ¦ work , namely—the New Poor -Law . He was too old to court mnch popularity himself , and readily - would ie- transfer whatever he migbt have attained to those ^ rhose general-coarse of polic he thought most calculated to appease the dissatisfaction and restore the prosperity of the csnntry . Be "vronld asfc ibsai this question brkfly—had there been any satisfaction , any goo& temper , any adherence of tie humbler elates to their employer * since this most unfeeling law had been aDTButed ? Had there been any&njg in fact in tho « onfitrj bnt brooding discontent , e * er ready to break ont into open violence , or to avenge itself by secret mischief ?

    He said none . Hera they were in -the ninth year cince the first movement against the old Poor Law of the cocntry originating with one of the greatest « jveleigns—a female , too—that the lasd ever inew : the Tgry object of whose j » ble policy it was to sustain ihe great masses of the people against hereditary oppression and aristocratic pride—porcere tftfyectia , ti debcL lore sttpczbosj and wbe , by trusting hertelf and her throne to the rapport of her people—sot to family influences o ? herds of retainers—stt the whole world at defiance . That principle of her ' a the new law did not reform , did not restore , did not rtkiviijorate—but reversed . It protected , ex aff = cted t * protect , . the great landed interests first , and next the s ^ mnfacturing interests , by the oppression , by the vtrr obstruction of

    those upon wh « m thoBe tlevzled interests rested ; and bj that attempt to fiestroy the very basis of sJl human society , he ceuld tell thtm that those mere elevawd interests must ultimately r ink . JETery oiicr foundation boi that of the people was a sandy one . The "winds of diasff ^ etion woxild blow—the tempest of popular firry would begin to rage—and down would come their structure to the ground . He nad called this 2 iew Poor law an invention , aud such literally it " was . ' It was the nsual tffurt of legislatisn , when , through ' the lapse of time , old laws began to fail of theii appli-: acion , to improve and adapt them anew—to cut . eff excrescEnces , and to invigorate the impaired parts—to restore , to reform , but not to convulse or destroy —( hsar , hear . ) But what had

    been the course pursued in this most ominous affair ? A new inTentkm , new to history as to the people , was j struck cut . Principles and details , men and machinery , s were alike displaced . That class of men who acted as ; parochial officers of their parishes , and as jurors in their courts of law , were cast aside . A term of but modern ' invention was adopted , or rather filched from a more \ respectable Institution—that of " guardianr ** . And ' <« gnardians" —what were " guardians '" -under this new ; act ? Mt Sheridan had defined the office of a similar protector , appointed , as he said , to exert over ihe unhappy Peruvians such guardianship as the eagle afioreed the lamb , covering while it devoured its prey " —ihesr . hear . ) Such , he had ever said , was the character of this sew poor law , and he had since become possessed of s document which justified him in asserting that such was the actual ol-jcct of those who brought it forward—tbear , hear . ) He would now read to the Honse a passage from that report : — " That at any time

    after the passing of this act , the Board of Control shall have power , by an order , with aueh exception as shall he thought necessary , to disallow the continuance of relief to the indigent , the aged , and the impotent , in any other mode than in a workhouse , regulated in such Banner as by the aforesaid Board of Control * ha 1 i J « determined . The power of the Commissioners would be to reduce allowances , but not to enlarge them . Alter this has been accomplished , orders may be sent forth directing that after such a day all out-dcor relief should be given partly in kind ; after another period it should be wholly in kind ; that af tei such another period it should be gradually diminished in quantity , until that mode of relief waa extinguished—{ hear , hear . ) Frem the first the reliei ahonld fee altered in qnality—[ hear , hear , )—« oarse Jarown bread being substituted for fine white ; and concurrently with these measures as to the oirt-door poor , ft gradual reduction should be made in the diet of the

    in-door poor , and strict regulations enforced" —( hear , iear . j These were the words of the earliest report placed in the hands of the late ministers , and whieh the Bight Hon . Gentleman had termed " confidential , " the anthors being afraid , as he ( Mr . Walter ) verily l > elieved them to be , of sending it forth to general cognizance with their names attached . That confidential communication was followed by areport which wa 3 laid before the Honse , in which there was this passage : * ' As one barrier to the increase of expenditure in the detailed management , the commissioners should be empowered to fix a maximum of the consumption per head within the workhouse , leaving to tie local oScers ihe liberty of reducing it below the Tn ^ -pTnTirn ^ jf t ^ gy could safely do bo '—( hear , hear . ) "Do it safely ;" Jfow , that he thonght horrible enough ; but yet not so offensively glaring as the confidential communication itaelf . From that dark and mysterious source spranc the first

    sjoyed report of the central board of poor-law commissioners ; not of that existing body sometimes called ihe triumvirate , but of the eight commissioners — --trie Bishops of London and Chester , Mr . Sturges -Bourne , Mr . Senior , and four other persons of less note ^ f ^ Sr ?* /" * Previously set to work to concoct toS ^ i * ' mana « em ^ t ** the poor . In SJS ^^ ride 8 *» *** ones which he 3 « £ SSSHS their cue . Jn these abominable tuggestioM director % S 3 £ ttzri& "EpS ! tt £ 2 ttxzss ~ bz £ SSSSa ^ ^^ aegroaee , in thea fiat iddnappine and subs « m ^>

    f" »¦»• West Indies in tbe fioatiDg ^~ bonKa of a » slave-traders—ihear , hear ) . Great stress TO Mi <* * e fabrication of thi ^ toal cfmm apon tte anerted fact that it comprised men of i £ parties , who - * &s perfectly anprejudiced-fhear , hear ) . He eonld have wished that they had had some natural prejudices arinng from humane considerations but he JielieTed that there -was not & member of thsf commission whose mind -sns not made up , before a single ¦ wit * &eu Was examined , lo recommend or Introduce some thing of a most severe sad oppressive character . Hr Bowen , of Bridgf water , 2 » ad pronounced this law a bill ' of indictoeoi against all t £ e poor of the country . xae ~ eonuDiaionea aid , is theii 8 xfi report , " the duty of

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    supporting parents and children in old i 5 B a ^ infirmity is so strongly enforced by our natural f . celinga , that it is often well performed even among sa' / ages , and almost always so in a nation deserving the name of civilized . We believe that England is the on ) j European conntry in which it is neglected "—( hear , h a ^ j . m , "If the deficiencies of parental and alia , affection are to be supplied by the parish , and the natural motdvea to the exercise of those virtues are the j to be withdrawn , it may be proper to endeavour to replace them , however imperfectly , by artificial stimu janta , and to make fines , distress-warrantB , or imprisr nment act as substitutes for gratitude or love . " W tile the lower classes of people were thus libelled , d , d no recollection occur to those who libelled them of a great example once

    afforded by both Houses jf Parliament , who thought it necessary to stiacalate the natural affections here spoken of , sot by puns a jd penalties , but by the large allowance ef £ 10 ,-000 a- year for the trouble of viBiting an tmicted father once a week ?—( hear , hear . ) Now , let tbe House contrast ibis character cf the people so blackly drawn by tee a immissioners with other descriptions of the same peop io , and upon that subject be had particular pleascre in ' moting a passage from a letter of the Sail of . Ripon to one of our colonial governors : — " Shenameof pauper" ( said \ bat Noble Lord ) by no deans implies , &b seems to have been supposed , a mtn unable or nnwUBng to work—one whose iufirmity or "whose idtenesa -wcnld disqualify Yiim from becoming ea useful sattler . On the contrary , the . whole of the

    ¦ married labourers in many of the parishes cf the South of England may be correctly described as paupers , inasmuch ^ as the want of employment has depressed wages to < i rate at which it is impossible for » man , however industrious , to maintain a family , without receiving parochial relief . * * It has been found that the idle i » nd worthless paupers have freqaently been rendered so by the hopelessutss of their situation ; and when enabled to find constant employment , at fair ¦ wages , a great change has almost invariably taken place in their conduct "—ibear , hear ) . Let the House contrast h . too , with the picture drawn , not so long Bince by tbe Member for Shtffield from his own experience of the English poor . That Honourable Member had told that House , that" one-third of the working men in that

    town and neighbourhood were out of employ . A gr » at proportion of the remainder were employed only three days in the week , and iu consequence the greatest distress prevailed . Those at work subscribed something from their wretched pittance to relieve the distress and keep off the parish others who had no work at all "—( hear , hear ) . Could the Honourable Member , if he had lansacked every storehouse of eloquence , have found w * rds better calculated to damage Uie New Poor Law in the estimation of every man of common humanity th&n the plain sentence which be ( Mr . Walter ) had just read to them ? Men steeped in poverty and misery to the very lips were jet so impressed with the horrors of imprisonment in the workhouse , that rather than their starving brethren should undergo them , they made

    their little pittance less , by subscribing to keep them off the parish . But it was not for this purpose that he adduced this passage . He wished now to ask , had these men earned the character which tbe commissioners had attempted to affix upon them ? Did they deserve to be lrgislated against in tbe nranntT the present bill legislated against them ? And s ' . ill more ought they to be subjected to that ever-increasing scale of cruelty prescribed aad laid down by the private report of the tight commissioners—that private report from ¦ wiuch the present bill , with its triumvirate at Somerset-bouse , originated—( hear , hear , hear > ? How the principle of successive reports was carried out be had plenty of instances to lay before the House . T-ike this , for txample , from Cirencester : the late member

    for that borough said , in bis place in that House , tbat " he was chairman of a board of guardians . Both in his own district , and in others wivh which he was acquainted , the measure had acquired an immense popularity . He thought the country was under the greatest obligation to tfaobe who had brought it forward . The bill worked well in tbe district with which he was connected . He hoped there would be no vital alteration of a measure which had worked to the entire satisfaction of the vast majority of the people . As to diet , the complaint was tbat the inmates of tbe workhouse lived too well . " ( Hear , bear . ) He i . Mr . Walter ) held in his hand the dietary of the Cirencester Union , prescribed by the Poor-Law Cemmissionew , in which there was not one ounce of fresh animal food from

    year ' s end to year ' s end—( hear , hear . )—but only five ounces of salt btcon for the Sunday of each weekihear , hear , )—and that dietary , be it observed , tbe guardians could not go beyond , though they were to be indulged with the odious power of reducing it , " if they cotld safely do so . " ( Hear , bear . ) He could add many tales of similar cruelty on the part of boardB of gnardiaTg . Most persons know tbe difficulty of dealing Bith bodies of men . A body corporate , An fact , had no souL The individuals might have their separate feelings , feat the whole body had none such . ( Hear , hear . ) A « aan might be personally humane and charitable , but , when acting with others , this Christian feeling evaporated and vanished . He would mention one ciae , which occurred not very long ago in hia

    own immediate neighbourhood . He was not a frequenter of boards of guardians , having no great respect for tbe institution itse . f . ( Hear , btar , hear . ) H « ( Mr . Wtiter ) was , however , particularly requested to attecd a meetiug , for the purpose of endeavouring to obtain eut-door ltJief tor an unhappy and afflicted object , with a wife ai ^ sl five children , who had i > efen ord- red into the work ! © use , but a ! tur a night ' s trial of his abbde there , went ^> ut next morning . He ( Mr . Walter ) bad been desired to- urge this man ' s title to out-door relief before the board . The alleged ground of their refusal waa , that bis wifb hi ^ practised some imposition upon a benevolent laoy , and therefore the husband and whole family were' to be punished . "With some difficulty the hutbmd w \ a admitted to the

    beard's presence , and he ( Mr . Walter ) then ascertained , by the acknowledgment of both the med : e » l officers , that he laboured under an incurable pulmonary complaint He produced a good charac : er from a bighly respectable master . On questioning hii u , a doubt arose in hia ( Mr . Walter * *) mind whether the nun ' s wh ' e had really been guilty of the alleged impro , gritty , and , to afford time for inquiry , a week ' s cut-door . \ Ilowanee was accorded to him , and the bo ^ rd was to JB&et in \ be week following . He tMr . Walter ) receh' « d a jcost complete and satisfactory answer from the lady whom the woman ¦ s as supposed to have defraude 4 , assuring him that no such circumstances had taken pi us ; and , fortified with this denial , be went to the ni "Xt board meeting , in full confidence that the guardian *> t tbe

    parish who had brought forward the false charge would at least aid his efforts to relieve this family fr " >» the dreaded infliction of the workhouse . That gu . vdian was , if possible , more callous than the rest The & * t order must be maintained , because they had mao ' e it . Into the workheuse were the family again sent ; thot'gb ultimately , after same weeks' delay , out-door relief w . \ a afforded . It was in vain to urge to these guardians tba t even if the poor man had been guilty of the offence of ' having an indiscreet wife , he was not to blame , and tbat if he went into the workhouse , there he would certainly die ; if they had no consideration tor the poor man hims-lf , why should the inmates of the workhouse have their f eelingB harrowed up by the transportation of a dying man into the midst of them —( hear , hear )? But

    all bis representations had been in vain ; the cry was , that having once given their order , it should not be rescinded . He lived only a few months afterwards , and died in bis own habitation , tbe guardian himself beini ; called to his account first—( hear , hear . ) Was it to be borne tbat against such treatment as that tbe poor man should have no court of appeal , save only that of the triumvirate of Somerset House , in which the harshest principles of the whole system were represented and concentrated \ It were endless to repeat all the caseswell-authentieated cases , too—of unnatural severity inflicted by the operation of that law —( hear , hear ) He did not know a single crime that had not been multiplied through that operation , or a single suffering which humanity was heir to that had not been

    aggravated and mnltip . ied also through that law—ihear . Farther than that assertion , which he could substantiate by the most irrefragable evidence , he would not at present trouble the House , but pass to another practical difficulty , which , let them enact the law as unanimonsly as they pleased , they would never be able to overcome . How long would they get guardians to perform such labonrions duties , and at a distance from their own homes of perhaps fifteen or twenty miles ? Indeed , at that moment , he knew a parish in which the parishioners were obliged to club a sum of money to pay the guardian they depute enly five miles distant The office was there held to fee anything but honourable or respectable . Lords ansl country gentlemen might endeavomr to give

    it edai at its beginning , but that z- > al had much cooled , as well it might , and these offices were left to be performed by those who could ill brook to throw away their time for nothing . He had alluded , when this most unfortunate bill was passed , to tbe manner in which they "would be overwhelmed by rtports , amendment acts , acts explanatory , with every trash of that description . Why , no human powers of either body or mind could comprehend or carry all that had been written and printed , at the expence of this deluded country , in support of that measnre , by its prime agents—( hear , hear ) . They were erecting a Nelson monument of vast altitude . They might also erect a Poor Law monument of equal height , though of more corruptible materials , of the reports of those CemmiEsioners . They sought to destroy their enemies , not as Oliver Cromwell said , with paper bullets , bat with paper bulwarks and artificial mountains . At the time that he first attacked that monstrous law , he estimated

    that the paper defences would soon reach np to their table . At present they ¦ would orertop the chair . He had already got upon the English Poor Law upwards of 20 , 000 pages ; and it -was ia vain to make an estimate of the Irish , since the first appendix to a report itself -weighed 9 | lbs . Considering tfaebr bulk , no two porters could carry them , the English Poor Law papers weighing npwarda of twelve atone . The expense of printing them would support the poor of many parishes for he knew not bow many year * . But ttere was one high aattioiity against him , to which be should not have ventured to allude , had it not been frequently cited against him , and that authority he hoped that he should treat -with proper respect When B . 8 heard the greatest her © of his age say , ¦•• I know something of Governors-General , and-I know something of war and its 4 ificult ? ea also , " th # man who should not bow to Bach authority - would be raah and indiscreet to the utmost extent of indiscretion and rashness j tut be must

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    humbly contend that his Grace had not had that experience of the internal affaics of thii country which other men of humbler general talents might and must hate bad ; and that great man waa not , therefore , such overpowering authority upon these subjects as upon those on which his capacious mind had been , he might almost say , exclusively employed . But there wa 9 one fatality always attending the errors of great men , if such tbey were—that they carried an overwhelming weight with them , which the mistakes of others were not liable to . Would , indeed , tbat their opinions were aiways enunciated with proportionate caution , and never , as he contended in the present case , before the Bubject could have been fully examined and considered . They were informed in tbe Divine reeords of their

    religion , that " wheu a great man Bpeaketh every man holdethhis tongue , and a look , what he sayeth , tbey extol it to the clouds ; but , if the poor man speak , tbey say , what fellow is thiB ? " But if he ( Mr . Walter ) had met with opposition en the one hand , ho had likewise met with enceuragement on the other , and that from the most honourable and excellent class of men—the clergy of the established church—a c ! aaa , also , the individuals of which , he would venture to assert , W 9 re , generally speaking , quite as competent to deliver their opinions on the subject before the House as the immortal Du ^ e waa upon that of war ; for they lived with

    the poor , in the midst of them , much more evea than he had been in tbe midst of his soldiers ; they knew tbeir wants , moral and physical , and from that class of men he had alBo received the most useful information , as well as tbe niOBt strenuous and undaunted support , though means were insidiously taken at first to prevent their interference by inserting the names of two prelates in tbe original central commission —( hear , hear ) . Hf wouid not / however , trouble the House with many of their statements , but , be must bo allowed to read one from a gentleman inferior to nona in his sacred order in piety and intelligence , and who was well known to many Members of that House : —

    11 Knowing that you are about again to bring before the House of Commons the workhouse system as administered under the present Poor Law , I thiuk it may not be without some use , if I state to you the result of my own observation ef that system , not in all nor many of its bearings , but simply in its moral action upon those who come under it . To myself tbia is a painful though voluntary task ; for It shows me the error of my own anticipations , and reminds me of the fault of once defending as tight what 1 now regret as wrong and pernicious .

    * ' Leaving , however , such perBonal considerations , let me brit-fly state to you the conviction to which I have come on the subject , and the reasons which have brought me to it My conviction is , that whatever may be the maladies under which our social system is suffering in the labouring part of it , the present workhouse practice is not their remedy ; it ia rather m . dcr the promise of present relief , an aggravation of the disease . " 1 have seen the working of the system trader , in many respects , favourable circumstances . I have marked its effects with all the clearness I could by personal observation in union houses , especially in one with which I have been nearly connected , and by personal inquiry amocg those who have been inmatea of

    tho 3 e houses ; and the result of both observation and inquiry has been the same . It is a demoralizing system , tending to connect povtrty with licentiousness , and to generate pauperism and crime . I only state to you what I know to be literally true , when I say that in union bouses sppposed to be administered & 8 well as the system will permit , tbe work of demoralization has been going on in every ward except those of sickness and old age . Among the poor unhappy children , among the adults of either sex , among the able bodied , this propagation of evil has gone on . To particularise and classify its forms would ba a revolting task . It would comprehend the recital of some of the most disgusting practices of licentiousness and many acts of crime .

    Persons well known to me have avowed , that many as were the temptations to sin without those walls , those within were far more mischievous and dangerous . The danger arises from the constant infusion of fresh and varied incentives to vice , by those evil communications which , in the world at large , are kept in check and weakened in power by many causes . The day of entering those walls takes , even from the man of fair character , much of the honourable sense of shame which be had before ; and the bad man enters them to disdain , and ridicule , and hate all moral influence—to teach mischief , to make tbe tongue and ear and mind familiar with those aina in the practice of which he has attained to the greatest proficiency .

    " It would require Borne experience , or eoi . slclerable imagination , to comprehend the extent of tbiB mischief . It is a never-ceasing agent of evil , leaving its infection behind , when its actual presence Ib goue . A ward comparatively clear of it to-day may to-morrow , with a fresh incentive , break out into every abomination that can pollute the tongue , or corrupt tbe heart . " Now , to omit , for tho present , all other objections to this system—to Bay nothing about its trenching bard upon the feelings of humanity , or the laws of God— I would only ask two questions in regard to it Can the Legislature be justified in ii . flictlng on the poor a moral evil that , apart from auch legislation , boa no necessary connection with poverty ? We know that in the correction of crime this is done through necessity ; but

    that it Is crime , not poverty , tbat is to be dealt with . The prison will always be a Bchool of moral evil , as well as a place of punishment ; but there the inmate has brought the evil upt , n himself—ho has forfeited the protertion of tbe laws of the country , and this is a part of the recompence of evil which he has reaped . But what has a poor fainiiy done—poor only because they are numerous . ai > d their wages insufficient ?—what have they done that after having striven In vain to support themselves , and then come to claim the protection which the criminal has forfeited , they should be . in one respect , treated in tbe same manner with him?—tbat they should be placed where , whatever moral Benae they have must be blunted and destroyed , and where their children will hear the lessons , if not witness the practice of profligacy ?

    " Another question I would ask . Is this tbe way to extirpate pauperism from the country ? If it be , we mn » t unlearn every maxim which connects prosperity , either on a large or narrow scale , with moral character . " But it is not Whatever were the calculations or intentions of the framers of this measure in other respects , tbey . appear to me to have overlooked its moral effects altogether . Certain it ia , tbat its practical effect is to undermine the moral character and wellbeing of the poor . Its action is all downwards . It has ao tendency to raise the moral condition of tbe labouring classes ; it has a direct tendency to degrade and deprave It ; and , if this be true , It stands marked with tbe worst stigma that can be placed upon any lawthat of demoralising those upon whom it acts . " I am , dear Sir , Wita sincere •¦ sincere

    " ' . respect , wr . n respect , " A Country clergyman . R "ToJohn Walter , Esq . M . P . " Bat there was another argument with wLich he waa j - )! i * d , in favour of this most painful important measure . i . \ e was told that gentlemen were pledged to it . Upon tb at point he could give a decided negative ; no gentlema c , he am med , was pledged to it . Gentlemen mis M . unhappily , at the first origin of this system of mist bw * . not seeing what its consequences might be , fcave beeu pledged to the introduction of it ; butdifl any Lias , at Ihe time of its introduction , daringly pledge himself to carry it through , however it might affect tL >* people—however odiona it might provehowever , in fact , it might subvert tbe whole order of society ? All that , he said , bad been and was being

    produced . Was any man pledged then , or could he now plead that be was pledged , to persevere lu the infliction of web . evils on the country ? To whom was he to whom could be be so bound ? Te his countryto the poor—i « his conscience ? Or to his party—his friends his poh « ical leaders ? Nay , more unworthy still , did he mean that , having given his vote once for this monstrous evil , he was bound in consistency—bonnd In care for hia own refutation , to persevere in the fatal course he had begun ? Whatever waa the case he bade that man pause . He bade Pim retrace his steps . Let him not apeak of pledges given , or supposed to have been given , when he waa totally una We to look into futurity . If any man had unhappily srf involved himself , ho ( Mr . Walter ) owned hiB difficult v , but did not doubt as to

    what was his duty . Facts t v he facts of the last cine yeara—had cancelled bis obligation . His vote was not hia own but his country ' s ; an ^ his only honourable retreat was in owning his miatai ^ > and amending it He conjured , therefore , the Consei * vatives of the House to step forward to the conservation . *> ' England . Great apprehensiens had been expressed in that House and elsewhere of a certain league , to the p * actices of whose leaders be was as much opposed as any iian . But let gentlemen ask themselves how this le-. MJue . now so menacing , first sprang up . He would tell t . ^ e m : it Was suggested by a preceding league again&t the p « or of this country , whose diet was to be reduced in quantity and corrupted in quality . What a burst of indignation would have been excited in that House , as w ^ 1 as

    throughout the country , if any resolution against the negro population , of a character similar to this agaii'st our fellow-subjects here at home , should have beeO produced—that those blacks were first to have their daily food debased , and after that diminished—( hear , hear )! Gentlemen had been benevolent enough abroad ; let them look around them at home . If , as they had been told , they had elevated the condition of the negro slave to such a state of prosperity that he could now drive his gig and drink bia Champagne , surely he was not asking too much when he called upon them to elevate the condition of the free white labourer and artisan of England , whom this law crashed to the earth—at least to afford him

    such subsistence as would preserve him from ' sinking under a gradual prostration of strength . If they could not give him his cottage and piece of land which the negroes had obtained , at least let them not insist on his selling everything that hia hovel possesses in order to qualify him for being a tenant io their vast ; gaolsths onion workhouses . If they coold not give him Champagne , they could give him the cheap , the wholesome , the nutritious , the national BJfifcrage of our land —beer . It was not , perhaps , too late yet to retrace their steps . He felt strongly convinced also , that not only that , b * t all the other great subjects of contention , which kept tbe ; country ia & ferment , might bo composed and beneficially arranged , if gentlemen would in good earnest toro theiz thoughts to those subjects

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    rather than employ their whole time in struggles for political ascendancy . If it were said that such an object wss desirable , but that it was impossible to attain it , he would at onee reply that he acknowledged no Buch impossibility with respect to objects that were rational . He recollected a happy maxim of Mr . Burke upon the subject : — " know , * ' said he , " it ia common for men to say , that such and snch things are perfectly right , very desirable—but tbat , unfortunately , they are not practicable . Oh no , sir , no . These things which are not practicable are not desirable . There is nothing iu the world really beneficial that does not lie within the reach of an informed understanding and a welldirected pursuit There is nothing that Gad has judged good for us that he has not given us tbe means to accomplish , both in the natural and moral world "—( cheers ) . He ( Mr . Walter ) would not longer detain the House than by moving the resolutions . The folfowing are the resolutions moved by the Honourable Member : —

    " 1 . That in a document entitled , ' Measures Eubmitted by the Poor-Law Commissioners to his Majesty ' s Ministers , ' appear the following passages : — " ' That at any time after the passing of this act the Board of Control shall have power , by an order , with such exception as shall be thought necessary , to disallow the continuance of relief to the indigent , tbe aged , and the impotent , lift any other mode than in a workhouse , regulated in each a manner as by the aforesaid Board of Control shall be determined . ' " ' The power of the Commissioners would be to reduce allowances , but not to enlarge . '

    " * After this has been accomplished , orders may be sent forth directing that after such a day all out-door relief Should be given partly in kiud ; after another period it Bhould be wholly in kind ; that after such another period It should be gradually diminished in quantity , until tbat mode of relief was extinguished . From tbe first tbe relief should be altered in quality , coarse brown bread being substituted for fine white j and , concurrently with these measures as to the out-door poor , a gradual reduction should be made in the diet of the in-door poor , and strict regulations enforced . ' " 2 . That these recommendations , applicable alike to every class of the poor , and enjoining an indiscriminate reduction of their physical comfoits to the lowest endurable point , aie shown by the subsequent orderB and practice of the Poor Law Commissioners , to form the real though uuavowed basis of the present system of Poor Law relief .

    • ' 3 That the suffering already caused by their partial enforcement , and the amount of out-door relief in spitw of them still administered , show their provisions to have been at one cruel and impracticable . " 4 . That the attempted substitution of punishment for legal relief has more and more tended to Imitate and dishearten tbe poor , to chock industry , to increase crime , and to encourage various kinds of tyranny , without even the proposed compensation of reducing the expenses of the rate-payeis . " 6 Tbat this houae think it , therefore , expedient to demand such a reconstruction of tbe existing system as shall make it conformable to Christianity , sound polioy , and the anaient constitution of the realm . " Mr . Ferrand seconded the motion . The question having been put from ths Chair ,

    Mr * Walter again rose . Hon . Members had asked him where ho got certain information from to nhioh he had alluded . He had received it from a person who requested that his name might not be personally given . Sir J . Graham was in hopes , when the Hon . Member rose for tho second time , that ho was about to supply a most important omission . In his speech ho had made an omission that was Bomewhat startling ; he had read extracts from a document which he had declared to be confidential , and when he rose a second time he ( Sir James Graham ) was in hopes he was going to show how he became possessed of it , but nothing was less satisfactory than his explanation . Upon a former ocoasion the Hon . Gentleman had asked him if ho recollected

    these documents , and upon that occasion be said he did not , but since then ho had some indistinct recollection that some such document existed , and he thought he could inform the Houso how that wa 9 the case . In 13-32 , Lord Grey ' s Government appointed a Commission to inquire into the condition of the labouring poor , with a view to amend the law , and the Hon . Member had mentioned to the House the names of some of the most eminent individuals forming that commission—tho Bishops of London and Chester , Mr . Sturges Bourne and others , whose names were a sufficient guarantee to the Houso of the beneficent charaoter of the Commission— ( hear , hear . ) The Hon . Member had said that a particular document was of a corfidential nature—that it emanated from the Commission , and was submitted to Lord Grey ' s Cabinet .

    Mr . Walter observed that he had not said so , but the Right Hon . Bart . had . Sir J . Graham beliovbd it was in the recollection of the Houae whon he asserted that the Hon . Member had said he * was in possession of a confidential communication —( hear , hear ) . Now he ( Sir James Graham ) could tell tho House the preoise circumstances under which that document came into the Hon . Member's possession —( hear , hear ) . He had understood the Hon . Gentleman to say that it was a confidential communication ; but whether he said bo or not it was certain that it was confidential . This Commission having prosecuted their inquiry , made their report , which was laid before them and the public after that report was printed , in order to bring the

    subject in a more tangible form under the consideration of Lord Grey ' s Government , certain heads or referenda were prepared from the report . Tho Hon . Gentleman said that this document was never signed ; it was truo , it was not denied by the Commissioners . He believed that those heads were prepared by tbe professional gentlemen employed by the Commissioners in drawing up their report . He believed those heads were not known to the Commissioners , but were drawn up by the professional gentlemen merely for , the consideration of the Government . Ho ( Sir J . G . ) was told that of this document not more than twenty copies were printed . Th . 6 Hon . Gentleman was very unfortunate in not having been present in the House during the last session , when the Poor Law , iu all its bearings , was largely discussed . ( " No , " from Capt . Peohell ) . Why he thought every thing except tho Gilbert

    Unions was settled to the satisfaction of ihe Gallant Captain . The Hon . Gentleman appeared to imagine that the House was pledged to the Poor law . He ( Sir James Graham ) did not rest at all on any opinions which had been announced by the Hon . Gentlemen on either side of that House , he was willing to rest the measure upon their practical knowledge and experience of the bad and good in the working of the system—( hear , hear ) . The law was based on the policy of" feeding the hungry , and clothing the naked ; " its tendency was to elevate the character of the labouring population ; the proportion of those relieved out of doors , as compared with thoso relieved within the workhouse , was as six to one ; the law was , therefore , not opposed to Christianity or bound policy ; and he would meet the first resolution by the previous question , and the others with a direct negative .

    Mr . Waklev censured Sir James Graham for atlributing improper motives to Mr . Walter . It now turned out that there was such a document , notwithstanding the faint recollection of Sir James Graham when the subject was first mentioned . Mr . Boktiiwick declared his opposition to the Poor Law , and supported tho res < lutious . Mr Aglionuy had supported the New Poor Law when it was passed , and belioved that its operations had been generally beneficial : but some of its provisions were harsh , and had been harshly worked out , and therefore he would support the resolutions , as a means of declaring his opinion that the law should be amended and improved . After a fow explanatory observations from Mr . Cripp 8 ,

    Colonel Sibthori'e declared his opinion that the old system of Poor Law had been excellent , that it had only been mismanaged in a few instances , and that u would be better to return to it . Mr . Stuart Wortley had never pledged himself to his constituents to vote for the repeal of the Poor Law . Ho was opposed to many of its provisions , and wished it to be improved , but he could not support tho resolutions . Geneial Johnson ' s great objection to the Poor Law was , that it put the people out of the pale of the constitution , and placed them under three individuals at Somerset House .

    Sir Robsut Peel denied that tho principle of the amended Poor Law was opposed to the acts of 34 th and 43 rd Elizabeth , or that it was more harsh in its provisions . This he illustrated by citing some of the provisions of these Acts , especially the power given by tho 43 rd of Elizabeth over the children of suoh parents as were unable to maintain them . Tho workhouse teat , in lieu of th « labour test , was enacted by the 9 th George I . ; and , therefore , it was neither a novel nor an unconstitutional principle . No great measure was ever passed without having suggestions being submitted for the consideration of the Go-Vv <) rnaient ; and it would lead to much practical inoon-VeLuence if such confidential communications , whother they had been adopted , or , as in the present inhad been and

    stance , they rejected , were produced publicly made use of . He adduced the amounts paid for tto relief of the poor , as showing that there was more v ^ pended on them than on the poor of any other count * y » flnd » fter expressing his surprise at the course \ ^ hich Mr . Aglionby had avowed he would adopt , i V > mmented somewhat humorously on the arguments v hich had been used by Mr . Walter . He concluded by . warning the House against tampering with the Poor M ™> Lord John Man ^ ebjb would support the resolutions , as expressive o . " his wish to have tho support of the pool placed on Christian and constitutional principles . . Mr . Mimz attributed thfe > aversion of the people to the poor law , as one caut'e of the late

    insurrec-Sir Walter James objected to t ' . He motion of Mr . Walter . But the question of the Poor Law would never be settled without a well-regulated sjptem of out-door relief .

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    Mr . Ferrand said , that on rising to address the House upon a question on which he had long taken a deep interest , he begged in the first place to offer his aincore thanks to the" Hon . Membsr for Nottingham for having brought to light -what he ( Mr . Ferrand ) considered to be the foulest conspiracy ever entered into in the dark against th » rights , liberties , and privileges of the poor . It was how twelve years ago since he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had first taken patt In public affairs , and on this question he had often received advice from the public speeches of the Hon . Member , which had cheered him "on in the coarse he had pursued in opposing , by every constitutional means in his power , this law , and little did he then think that he should have the honour and the privilege of sitting beside his Hon . Friend

    when he gave , as he had that night given , the death blow to the New Poor Law . He ( Mr . Ferrand ) deeply regretted the speech ] which the Bight Hon . Baronet at the head of the Government had made that evening . He did not think that the Right Hon . Baronet had acted fairly to the ! Hou . and Learned Member . for Cockertnouth . The | Right Hon . Baronet saw a rising spirit of Independence flowing into the Hoa . and Learned Member's breast—he saw that tho Hon . and Learned Member wai actuated by no party spirit , and the Right Hon . Baronet was afraid lest the indepen dence the Hon . and Learned Member had shown should become contagious on both aides of the House , and that if the feelings which actuated the Hon . and Learned Member to stand np in the independent

    manner he had done should be acted upon on both sides , the Government would be in a minority on the preBent occasion , —( hear , hear . ) But what had been the remarks of tbe Right Hon . Baronet the Secretary for tbe Home Department towards the Hon . Member for NottiDghani ? The Right Hon . Baronet said this was a private document , oply intended for the eyes of the late G'jvermenS , of which he had been a member . He ( Mr . Fevrand ) wished the ! Right Hon . Baronet had remained on that side of the House ; if so , Conservative principles would have Stood much higher in the eyes of the people than they did at present—( hear , bear , and a laugh ) . The Right Hon . Baronet had taunted hia his Hon . Friend the Member for Nottingham with a breach of confidence . He ( Mr . Ferrand ) contended tbat his Hon . Friend had only discharged a public duty . He had found out aud dragged to light a document which ,

    without any breach , of confidence on his part , he found placed Amongst his * papers—he east his eyes upon it , andaaid to himself , j" Nuwl will bring before the eyes of the people of England this monstrous system of oppression . " And how had the Right Hon . Btronet himself acttd the other night , wben be ( Mr . Ferrand ) mbved for a return of two letters which emanated from certain manufacturers when the New Poor Law was under consideration , and on which they entered into an express and declared { agreement with Mr . Chadwick , the secretary to the Poor Law Commissioners , that if . they only fiaraed the Ne . W Poor Law in such a manner as to throw a larga portion of the working classes of the south into the north—that if they were able " to absorb" the surplus population of the south into the manufacturing districts of the North of England , it would enable them , tho manufacturers , to reduce the price of liihnnr in the north of Ratrlnni , and to put a stop to

    the outbreaks for raising wnges ? Mr . Wallace—iWho said that ? Mr . FERRAND .- # Tbe letters of Mr . Aahworth and Mr . Ore * ; they were in the first report of the Poor Law Commissioners . The words he had often quoted before , and no one man had ever denied tbe truth of the quotation . Now , at that very time a committee of the House was sitting tio inquire into the then condition of the hand-loom weavers , and it wjb proved before that committee that the hand-loom weavers were then struggling for existence upon ten farthings a-day . But what had the Right Hon . i Baronet said with respect to these two letters 1 Wbyj he said they were private communications—that the first letter of Mr . Ashworth was on the file of the Poor Law Commissioners , but that the

    letter of Mr . Greg could not be found . They were , he added , private communications , which were never intended to see daylight , but that he had no objection to produco Mr . Ashworth ' s letter and lay it on the table of the Housed Now , what was the difference between the conduct of the R : ght Hon . Baronet in placing that letter , jwhich he said was of a private nature , and never intended to see daylight , on the table of the House , and in that of his Hon . Friend the member for Nottingham ; , who , finding a paper which had been submitted to the Government , brought it before the House ? This was said by the Right Hon . Baronet to be a breach of confidence—he ( Mr . Ferrand ) maintained thfcie w ; ia no breach of confidence except on the part of the Right Hon . Baronet himself . The Right

    Hon . Batouet had expressly stated , that the letter written by Mr . Aihworth to the Secretary of the Poor Law CommlHsioners was a private communication , and now he ( Mr . Ferrand ) begged to ask the Right Honourable Baronet the First Lord of the Treasury ( who had always shown an earnest anxiety to prevent ; the slightest attempt to conceal public documents ) if there was any necessity to keep back Mr . Greg ' s letter ? It was said not to ba on the file . Why was it jnot en the file ? Lot the Government say at once that it would ba inconvenient to produce it because there were expressions in that letter Which ought not to appear before the public . Such he ( Mr . Fetrand ) understood from the Hon . Member for Oldham to be the case , but at all events it was the duty

    of the Government ito make a strict and searching inquiry as to the reasons and maans used to prevent the production of that litter . Hd now came to the question of the working of tho Now Poor Law in the North of England . Aud what had been its iffjcts there ? It happened that amongst the letters contained in tbs first report of tho Poor JLaw Commissioners there was one from Mr . Ash worth In which he told Mr . Chadwick that it would be desirable that 20 , 000 labourers should be sent from the south down to Stilybridge . Now . the inspector of factories for that district had , within tbe last few days , forwarded his report to Her Majesty ' s Secretary of State for tfao Home Department and in it what did they find there proved to be tbe stata at present of Scalybridg ' e—the district into which Mr . Chadwick ,

    with the consent and at the request of those cottonspinners , and through the agency of Dr . Kiy—who , for the part he bad taken in securing the election of Mr . P . Thompson at Manchester , had been made a Poor Law Commissioner , and who , in a pamphlet , bad described the working population of Manchester and its neighbourhood to be , at that moment , in a state of starvation —had induced tens of thousands of the population of tbe south to go into the manufacturing districts of the north ? Hs ( Mr . Fartand ) wished the manner in which these wretched poor had been kidnapped and sold into a stale of slavery ; and brought to a speedy death , could be exposed ; to the house . But with respect to Stalybridge and its neigb . bourb . oodj he found the following statement made by Mr . Hnrner ,

    the factory inspector , in his last report : — " The population of the three adjoining towns of Ashton , Dukeofleld , and Stale } bridge included , with an area of a mile and a half radius from tbe most central part of tbe district , is considered to be not less than 55 , 000 ; and the proportion of the working population , that is , those below the rank of shopkeepers , bas been estimated at eighty per ? cent , in Ashton , ninety in Staleybridge , and ninety-four in Dakenfield . This dense population has been brought together chiefly by the extension of the manufacture within a very short period . The population of the borough of Ashton and township of Dakenfield together was , in 1821 , 14 318 ; in 1831 , 29 352 ; and in 1841 , 15 , 074 . I am unable to give tbe exact numbers for the whole district , because

    Staleybridge is partly in Lancashire and partly in Cheshire , but the increase there has probably been in a similar ratio . '" Now , he asked the House to listen to what followed : — " How little the moral and religious improvement of the large number of the humDier cla&sQs has been hitherto an object of solicitude , the following facts will ihow : —In the borough of Ashton , with a population of 25 , 000 , there is no national school , no school of the British and Foreign School Society , nor any other public day-school for the children of the working ] classes . The same is tbe case at Staleybridge and Dukeufield , with the slight exception I shall now state . I mentioned in the report above referred to that a national school bad recently been built at Staleybridge ; but , I regret to say , it is not yet

    in operation . " No if this Dr . Kay , who , by the by , held also the situation of secretary to the Education Board , was tbe agent employed by Mr . Chadwick and th € Poor-Law Commissioners to carry down 20 , 000 southern labourers to a placo where there was not an atom of chance of their receiving the slightest education . Now , was not this something serious and alarming—namely , that for the purpose of carrying out the New Poor Law it was necessary to absorb the population of the south into the north ? Where did hen . members thiuk the first outbreaks took place ? Why at Staleybridge , where there was a population whose minds , fmui their sufferings , were easily excited by men of deeper designs , but who had not the courage to show their faces , and who left their victims to appear at the bar of justice ,

    and pass thence to transportation , while they slunk away into the dark . He maintained that the origin of tbe outbreak was the iniquitous , atrocious , bloodthirsty Poor Law . But for j that law the population of the north of England would not have had their market far labour entrenched upon by the introduction of tens of thousands of the masses of the south , —and they would have had some chance of earning a subsistence by a fair price for their labour ; if they had not been robbed of it under the operation of the New Poor Law . He found the other evening that the hon . member for Manchester thought proper to deny some statements he ( Mr . Ferrand ) bad made with respect to the treatment of children employed kf a mill belonging to a cottOD-spinner in Lancashire . { The bon . member said he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had told the House that that there were

    certain Poor Law unions where the overseers handed over the orphans under tbeir care and protection to employers without inquiring into the mode of treatment to which they would be exposed . He ( Mr-Perrand ) had stated the circumstance upon an authority on which he knew he could place reliance—he had learned it from persons of unquestionable veracity ; and , although tbe matter had been denied by the Hon . Member for Manchester , he ( Mr . Farrand ) knew very well that the hour was not far distant when he would receive an awthorily backed eitherj by persons who bad beheld those scenes of cruelty , or who were prepared to prove ev « ry word which he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had uttered . No sooner had the speech of the Hen . Member for Manchester reached that town than the representatives of the working classes , who advocated tho Ten Hours Factory Bill , met sod p&sBad resolutions , 'which as they related

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    to himself he would not now read . Bat he had received a letter from one of the body , Mr . Duherty , which corroborated all he had said . He trusted tho House would allow him to read that letter . Year after year these poor girls were kept in a state of slavery ; but at last human nature could bear it no longer , they burst from the chains of the manufacturer , and ran a « ray to their parents . And what was their punishment ? " He ( Mr . Doherty » saw the room in which these girls were confined : the light was completely excluded ; they were not allowed either fire , light , or bed , and tbeir usual allowance of food was considerably diminished . Tbeir hair was cut off , and their confinement lasted for several days . During the con-_

    finement of Esther Price , several of her fellowapprentices mitigated the rigour of her punishment , by putting In through the crevices of the wainscoting which separated this room from ttie adjoining ' apartment portions of their own rations , as welt as cloaks , &c , to cover her by night . On the" Friday afternoon the matron died , and the remains lay in the next room to that in which the poor girl was confined . When she heard this , she was driven almost frantic with fright Oa the following day , when refreshments were brought her , she rushed out of the room , and told the person having her in charge that she would not , under any circumstances , pass another night in that apartment . The man said , ' Well , Esther , if yon pledge yourself not to be ssen , 1 shall say nothing about it ,

    but you know , if you are seen , it is as much as my place is worth . " These children were placed in tbat man ' s power under the operation of the New Poor Law . It was from the union workbous 83 that this man was supplied with these apprentices , and he would ask the Hight Hon . Baronet ¦ whether , in a civilized country , the people of England would long allow these things to exist , and whether the working classes owed allegiance to the Government , if , on those circumstances being brought to its knowledge , it did not immediately take steps to put a stop to such proceedings ? There was another instance of ill-treatment of tbe poor which be had alluded to the other evening when he had moved for certain returns relative to the operation of the New Poor Lxw . He

    had stated that in tbe month of May , 1842 , there were a number of people sent from the Skipton Union workhouse to a man named Threlfall , amillowner at Halifax , He had asked ths Right Hon . Baronet the Secretary of State for tbe Home department if there was any communication extant between the Poor Law Commissioners and that millownar ? The Right Hon . Baronet had replied that there was no statement or correspondence whatever in the office of the Poor Law Commissioners on this snbject , After that , he ( Mr . Ferrand ) had ask : d him if be would cause an inquiry to be made in the office of Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there was any such communication , as to him , in his high office , the poor must look for protection if their rights and privileges were invaded .

    Tbat Right Hon Baronet had informed him that there was not any such communication . With the permission of tbe House he would read a statement connected with the transportation of these people from the Skipton Union workhouse to this mill : —• ' Sir , —I thanlt you for the attention you have paid to the snbject of my letter , and for your communication . It was Skipton Union workhouse from which the hands were brought to Threlfall's mill . Toe precise number cannoi now be ascertained , but , as far as 1 can learn , there would be about twenty ; four of those were so lame that they could not walk between Skipton and Addingham , a distance only of six miles , so they were brought in Tbrelfall ' s tax cart ; also one was very much deranged In her mental faculties , These were all females . The

    name of the poor idiot was Hannah Cockshot I regret that I am unable to give you the names of the four cripples . One of them , whose namu is Elizibeth Towneod , was bo lame , that she was unfit for any employment , mnch less to stand twelve hours a-day in a factory . After her day ' s work she was scarcely able to walk to her lodgings . Thus are tke poor creatures conveyed like subjects for dissection , from the union workhouse to the factory to be experimented upon by the manufacturers . These facts are well known to many in Addinghim ; but , if you , Sir , do not think them sufficiently authenticated to warrant an exposure in the Senate House of Britain , I hope you will at least make the world acquainted with those facts which have been proved before you in a court of justice . Aiica

    MorriU is so far convalescent as to be able partially to resume her employment" Now , here he would ask what chance there was for protection for these poor people ? The father of Alice Morrill declined to make ar : y statement , as he was an overlooker in Mr . Threlfali ' s mill . There was another instance of tbe cruelties practised under this New Poor Law , and it discovered the secret ; motives that bad influenced the first proposers of this law—of the Ashworths and theGregs , when tbey wrote their letters and did their utmost to urge forward the law , and to get into their districts the population of tbe south to he&b down the wages of the labourers , of thed own workpeople . The workpeople of Mr . Threlfall were so badly paid , and bo ill-used and over-worked , that they had struck for wages ; and for the purpose of

    enabling him to carry on his mill , he applied to the Skipton workhouse , whence were forwarded to him twenty hands ; and these poor people were obliged to work for the wages he chose to give him . The Hon . Members for Bolton and Manchester had warned' the house against bia statements unless authenticated . They had insinuated , as usual , that it wou'd be desirable tbat the House and the country should not listen to what he ( Mr . Ferrandi Paid , unless it were fully proved before the House . He ( Mr . Ferrand } little thought that on the following morning the report of the Faetorj Inspectors would be placed in his bands . Since then Hon . Members of that House had gone to him , and said , — " Why you understated the conduct of the manufacturers in the North of Enpland . Whan the Secretary

    of State for the Home Department chided you for having used the expression monsters in human shape , ' yoa did not to the extent you were justified express your abhorrence of their conduct" Ha would oak the Secretary of State for the Home Department , whether he felfc it his duty to Inquire whether tbe guardians of the Skipton Union had placed in the power of this manu . facturer twenty hands for bis mill , three or four of whom were cripples unable to walk , and one of them an idiot ? He was about to read an extract from the report of the inspectors of factories for the haUyear ending the 31 st of December , 1842 , It was rather long , but be trusted the House would bear with it—( hear , hear ); and he would a « k the House to rescue the masses of the people from the

    oppression and plunder inflicted upon them , for their burden waa too heavy to be borne . This was the report of Mr . Saunders , and wis dated the 25 « h of January , 1843—the last report , "I was about to prepare my report for the last quarter in the early part of themonth , when I received notice of one of tbe mest gross and oppressive violations of the law , during the week ending the 25 th ultimo , that has occurred to my knowledge since the Factory Act was passed . This indacea me to delay my report , in order te wait th ? result of s careful investigation of the circumstances relating tothat offdnce , and the adjudication of any complaints which might be preferted against the off . nders . The investigation was very efficiently conducted by Mr , Baker , the superintendent '' Ha would here beg leave

    to bear his testimony to the conduct of Mr . Baker , for he ( Mr . Ferrand ) never Baw a man conduct himself with more justice to the parties concerned . " And I regret to say the wilful and deliberate overworking of various young persons , both boys and girls , but chiefly the latter , between the ages of fourteen or eighteen was clearly established . This occurred at a null at Addingham , in Yorkshire , which has only been occupied a few months , in cotton spinning , by the firm of Messrs . S : ed and Co ., of which a Mr . William TbrelfaJl is the managing partner . The mill was at work from six o ' clock « n Thursday morning , the 22 nd ult , until twelve o ' clock the same night , which ( allowing two hours for meal time ) was an employment for sixteen hours of the several persons detained between those

    periods , some of them being under eighteen years ol age . This was , however , comparatively a slight offence to what followed . The mill commenced workiijg again the next morning , Friday , the 23 rd , and the machinery continued running frv > m that time , with only short intervals for meals , during the whole of Friday night , the whole of Saturday , and until three o ' clock on Sunday morning ( Christmas Day ) , a period of forty-fiv 9 hours . ' Now , these twenty paupers were placed in the power or thia " monster in human shape , " and ha ask ^ d the Right Hon . Baronet would he make an inquiry rot * this statement ? Ha ( Sir J . Graham ) must , or p lace himself in tho position to be called on to resign Jus office . " There can be no doubt but that some of tfafi

    bands under eighteen years of age were present during the whole of this excessively long period ; but this point was not proved in the caseB * selected for the prosecution , because it was necessary , in order to obtain more than one penalty , to lay distinct informations fo * the wrong employment of different young persons tot each separate day . It was , however , proved , that girls of fourteen had been kept to work from seven o ' clock on Friday evening , the 23 d , during all the night , the next day , and through Saturday night , until three a-mon Sunday , the 25 tb , —a period of thirty-two hoars ; the . same persons having been worked on tbe previous day ( Thursday ) till twelve at night , and again for pan of the Friday afternoon . Such conduct towards young and tender females , who cannot be deemed free agents , merited , in my opinion , the heaviest penalties which tbe law Imposed for such offences ; and I felt mysell justified in sauctioning Mr . Baker ' s arrangement of his is

    complaints in such a manner as to afford the magtrates an opportunity of awarding a punishment fa some degree commensurate with the offence . The offenders were convicted on seven different informa * tions , six of which the magistrates deemed so serious as to demand severally the full penalty of £ 2 d ; and the other offence was punished by a payment of £ 5 " Now , he would call the attention of the Right Hon . Baronet , the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what was now doing by this millowner . He was trying to a ? oid these penalties ; he was getting np a petition to the Right Hon . Baronet to be relieved from them , and . that petition twd bsen already signed by one magistrate who was a part-owner of tbat mill . Ha ( Mr . Farrand / knew that Mr . Threlfall would apply in vain to tho Right Hon . Baronet He ( Mr . Ferrand ) knew , that so far as money could make this monster pay f « his atrocities , he must pay the whole amount of the ( Continued in 9 ur Seventh page . )

    3sra£Mai Parltanrntt.

    3 Sra £ maI parltanrntt .

    Untitled Article

    f ; THE NORTHERN STAR . ' = . _ ^_

• Citation
  • Northern Star (1837-1852), March 4, 1843, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct924/page/6/