THE NEWSPAPER. 



1 1* 



214. 



=======^-7^[a^d upon suchan important 



**•?! thinks the annexion constitutional, but, 



*lL rrUn? c r ^stances, unjust towards Mexico, 

 r tb present : cir d . tQ & th 



^ rI,I HTaoesnotbe e i^ V e g that Texas could be m- 

 Mesiea. He aoe * territory to a European power, or 

 *** * CC A «nv idea of such an acquisition. A 

 £"£& tdTeefheM in the Tablrnacle, New 

 £5 rf thofe who disapproved of the step, and resolu- 

 lark 'lI«rUdeclarin2 that opinion were passed amid 

 SJStio^TL part/ who came there to inter- 

 SSZrtinft-. In consequence of these proceedings, 

 ?iT i!InMini«ter has suspended his functions with 

 ^ F^Uve and a correspondence has taken place 

 ^rSecre'ary of State and our Minister, Mr. 

 fKSJr respecting the alleged interference by Eng- 

 Sffi slavery in Texas. Any purpose of such 

 SrfeSnce has been explicitly disclaimed on behalf of 

 w. totwnment by Lord Aberdeen ; but Mr. Calhoun, 

 fnh^epTy? undertakes to prove inferential* that tins 

 jLdrfmer cannot be true, and expresses his opinion m 

 2™ which even the New York papers condemn as dis- 

 courteous, and unworthy of diplomacy. It is, however, 

 believed that the motives for which the treaty has been 

 •Urted are so self-interested, that the Senate will at 

 once reject it, and thus avoid all danger of future hosti- 

 lities. The course which Mr. Calhoun has taken relative 

 to the Oregon Boundary has arrested the negotiation 

 vpon that question with Mr. Pakenham, and it is said 

 that it cannot be resumed again until Mr. Pakenham 

 shall have obtained further instructions from his Govern- 

 ment.— The Quebec papers state that a disease resembling 

 the leprosy of the 17th century has made its appearance 

 among the French Canadians, and that the Chamber 

 of Representatives were about to take it into con- 

 sideration. 



-' ■ 



•parliament. 



HOUSE OF LORDS. 

 Friday.— After the Duke of Richmond's motion for returns re- 

 specting the Wool Trade had been agreed to, Lord Cloncurry 

 »oved for the appointment of a select committee to inquire into 

 public works which ought to be undertaken in Ireland, and 

 ,w the territorial condition of that country could be improved 

 by means of railroads and a proper system of drainage. There 

 wre, ke said, three millions of acres in Ireland wholly unpro- 

 ductive for want of proper drainage, and the fisheries were greatly 

 neglected.— The Duke of Wellington said that the object of the 

 n and inquiry being to obtain money, to an amount of be- 

 tween five and ten millions, he was not prepared to give his 

 aaaction to any proposition that would raise the expectation of 

 such grant towards public works and improvements of the 

 in Ireland. He begged their lordships to wait until the report 

 of the commission under Lord Devon's superintendence made its 

 appearance, and which report would include a portion, at least, of 

 the matter under consideration. —The Marquess of Clanricaroe 

 expressed his surprise at learning that Lord Devon's commission 

 ii a ">'"' in G t0 do with the promotion of public works in Ireland. 

 He said the time had come when it was absolutely necessary that 

 tte Imperial Legislature should do something for Ireland.— The 

 IatI of Devon thought that his commission was better calculated 

 •owvestigate the questions of public works and drainage than a 

 committee of the House. He considered that such was the state 

 ortbe poor of Ireland, that assistance on the part of the Imperial 

 Lejttlature must, m some way or other, be given. The commis 

 IE! ♦ 1 0t , hesitate t0 consider seriously, and report their 

 TT ? S ?r! he best mode in which that assistance should be 

 Sw7v° Clovcurry withdrew his motion at the suggestion 



« Lord iNORMANBY, 



Bm°f^;7 L r rd Bbouobam moved the second reading of his 

 criminal Sw °ir «" ,g a " d di S estin S the statute and common 

 SSJal f th « country, and for reducing it to one com- 

 jroaiouscode founded on the report of the criminal law commis- 

 aSSpHmoc lordsnip at great length described the enormous and 

 andof xeZnl S"?' ? f fules ' of dicta « of Visions, of comments, 

 Stami & °?rim- hlC i h - at ? resent forra the ^""tains, currents, and 

 5?SU ■ he r SilCff ruden 5 e - fi "ing 150,000 close-printed 

 «r ceffihradinJ ♦? d ,* he Possibility of even lawyers knowing 

 *«• the unlealnL discordant and heterogeneous pile, much 

 Pointed outh^h SU ^ Ject wh0 WM b ound to obey them ; lie 

 ioiete, ye? unl W 11 *' and cruelt y of man y laws, though ob- 

 Neniitv tn rti.2 V and instanced some which defied their 



jSed ma ny g^uThSv' they Were K ** ed ° r not - Having 

 the general niannf au . tnontles » ancient and modern, in favour of 



moved the sprrni a d, f ested code of criminal law, Lord Brougham 

 concurred i in the S adin / of his Bfll.-The Lord Chancellor 

 **opo*td to Rive it S ° as tne statute !aw was concerned, and 

 over to next ; a second reading, and then to leave it to stand 

 report on the auhi*.°?' V 11 ? 11 tne commissioners should make their 

 —Lord Den ma « j !> J ne Procedure and trial of criminal cases. 

 Bln > a large nortirtn ? I 1 that » Ponding the consideration of this 

 * iwu, d be a! on™ e offensiv e and unjust criminal statutes 



». . -— „ moved for a return of the 



Majesty's ship Queen had been at sea, and the 

 received at the Admiralty respecting the 



°i Korm u-Kvk — , " iU was reau a nrst time. Tne JUar- 

 J* °^n disiuiRsld b ' ou B ht forward the case of Mr. Gray, who 

 J r «^*nd for havinV «iV°- m the office of stipendiary magistrate in 



* d » a "d for havin ed » in an improper manner, a seditious 

 Tae noble marnnil g conceaIed that fact from the Government. 

 y »y«em, and en* °T- P ained of the revival in Ireland of the 

 f« moved fo r the ? lnt0 vari °us cases to establish his charge. 



J* the dismissal nf c ?™E ondence that had taken place in reference 

 t^anhad be™ V- ■ Gra >'-— Lord Wharncliffk said this gen- 

 ^^ntained that Jk l ssed on the re P° rt of Mr - Brewster, and 

 01 *** part of l Ji h . en il? rd Dc Grey found so much indiscretion 

 <*nfidenee of th P p* UTy magistrate of police as to forfeit the 

 J**tificd in dUmic ■ er » n . Inent ' he wa » perfectly authorised and 



' ion ^ascarS Sin lu him * After some further discussion the 



2* 10 " of da « wIt The t E f rl of Mixto 

 * ecou nt8 whSh S , Majesty's p»-*- "- - 



***«! Qiiiu. f recei 



{5? e w Uh h er S °Hi hat • s J lip ,' and lhe experiments which had "been 

 2r n ^ ed to a n»Ir. S ^- tlve Queen was a three deck ship, and 

 IS* to answer Z£ 'mproved class, and if, on trial, sh 

 2??- J t vas 'thlr 5 Sh ' l>s were intended to be built aft tl »*> 

 3?^ ^ pronerK- 1« ♦°?»? Tnportant that t} »c qualities of this ship 

 ^^•teased either « •'* ln order that il n -^ ht be seen whether 

 21 th * MediterralL, S °/ defects - IIe waa told that this ship 

 rJ&uVht be am? t? " s °- uadr °n were not as usefullv employed . 



SS^youn Roft cerftnT tea(l ?*^ at sea ' for thc P ur P ose 

 ^bou^ Thc -omcer S t oIt . arn their dutieS) th vere in Malta 



*?«?• I^ke to si n«J m DDIN , otox objected to the motion. It 



J& ay ^ S^ "sv , u f h , ip ha<l been ou] y ^ 0t out on 



5S 7 « °n her wav^m 8 , he , had been tried against the For- 

 *hJVi! ne -° f -battle shin.? *i af ? rwards against one or two of the 

 S^! he Vernon and ?h™ ? MedftmSin. The last trial was 

 tte^ !r»Peat so Lt? the , two vessels were separated by a 



***** without a Sv lion 1 " 1111 WaS knovn ^ '^'~ 



e was 

 er her 



The motion was 



Friday.— Lord Abingbr took the oaths and signed the Parlia- 

 mentary Roll.— Lord Brougham asked the noble Secretary for 

 Foreign Affairs if he had received information with respect to 

 the annexation of Texas with the United States. This was 

 a question of vast importance, so far as the abolition of 

 slavery was concerned, but he trusted that the deciding por- 

 tion of the Congress, namely, two-thirds of the members, would 

 oppose it. Nothing which had dropped from the noble 

 Lord at the head of the Foreign Department even justified the 

 inference that this country, although deploring the existence of 

 slavery, ever contemplated any interference with the Constitu- 

 tion of America. — The Earl of Aberdeen said the noble and 

 learned Lord could not expect him to give a precise answer to 

 the question he asked. It was a subject quite new, and unex- 

 ampled in the history of Nations, and his noble and learned 

 Friend might depend upon it that it would receive the most 

 serious attention of her Majesty's Government. It was true he 

 believed that the treaty for the annexation of Texas to the 

 United States had been signed; but he agreed in the hope ex- 

 pressed by his noble and learned Friend that the majority of 

 Congress would not agree to the ratification of it. At present 

 he could not speak with confidence on the subject, but when the 

 time came, he should state his opinion to the House, and 

 act consistently with his duty as a Minister of thc Crown. 

 Nothing that he or the Noble Lord opposite had ever said, 

 could justify the suspicion that they intended to interfere with 

 American institutions.— The Marquis of Clanricarde pre- 

 sented a petition against the Irish Poor Law, and said it was 

 perfectly impossible, if they wanted to maintain peace 

 in Ireland, that this law could be continued. In the news- 

 papers of this day were detailed the circumstances of an 

 affray caused by the collection of poor-rates, when the 

 highest amount due was only Is. This measure had been car- 

 ried completely against the will of the greater number of the 

 Irish Members, and therefore must have been ill-suited to the 

 condition of the country.— The Duke of Wellington agreed 

 that this was a subject of great importance. The report of the 

 Commission appointed to inquire into the subject would be 

 laid upon the table in a very short time, when their Lordships 

 would have better information. 



HOUSE OF COMMONS. 

 Friday.— After Lord AsnLEY had proposed the additional 

 clause in the Factory Bill, limiting the labours of young persons 

 to ten hours a day, and which was given in our last Number, 

 Sir J. Graham said that looking to the purity of Lord Ashley's 

 motives, he did not think that a better man could engage in this 

 agitation, which placed the House in the startling position of 

 deliberately entertaining a question which a Minister of the 

 Crown, conscientiously applying his judgment to the subject, 

 believed to be dangerous to the interests of the state. The 

 Government were taunted with departing from principle; it wa> 

 true ; in their anxiety to provide a remedy, they had trenched 

 on principle, and had gone as far as they dared. Lord Ashley 

 talked lightly of a "little reduction," as if that could be "little" 

 which would reduce thc labour of every operative twelve hours in 

 every week, and strike off six weeks in every year from the 

 productive industry of the country. He was glad, however, 

 that the noble Lord, instead of resting exclusively on moral 

 grounds, as at first, had now descended to those commercial 

 considerations which were the most fitting for the treatment of 

 the question. Cheapness was the prime element in successful 

 production; the price in the foreign market must rule the 

 home ; and the necessary consequent increase both in foreign 

 and home manufacturing productive power (statistics of which 

 he adduced), led inevitably to cheaper production and in- 

 creased competition. He did not view with unnecessary 

 alarm foreign competition; but he read a passage from a 

 recent report of Mr. Horner's, in order to show the activity 

 of our foreign rivals. Refusing to enter on the Corn law 

 question, as connected with the present one, he intimated that 

 the onus lay on Lord Ashley to prove that the present arrange- 

 ment of the hours of labour in this country was morally wrong, 

 and could not, therefore, be politically right. The reduction 

 of wages involved in the diminution of the hours of labour 

 would 'be confiscation without compensation— a subtraction of 

 the only capital possessed by the labourer to the extent of one- 

 sixth— which might involve in it wide-spread barbarism and 

 the degradation of society; and those who advocated the ten 

 hours were responsible before God and man for the conse- 

 quences of a measure the true nature of which had not yet been 

 fairly placed before the working classes. Even Mr. Kenworthy, 

 the great authority of Lord Ashley, had admitted that the re- 

 duction to the ten hours would involve a loss of very nearly 

 ten per cent, on the capital employed ; and this, confirmed as it 

 was by accurate calculation, showed the danger to which we 

 might be exposed from foreign competition ; Lord J. Russell, 

 who was now friendly to the limitation, had, In 1839, de- 

 nounced it as inhuman and cruel; and in 1842, alluding to 

 what he termed the " theatrical" interviews of the ten hour 

 agitators with members of the Government, had complimented 

 Sir R. Peel for his wisdom and caution in resisting a proposi- 

 tion would cut to the roots our commercial prosperity. The 

 Noble Lord had changed, but he (Sir J. Graham) had remained 

 firm to his conviction of the impolicy and danger of thc ten 

 hours, and he never gave a vote with more satisfaction than in 

 resisting it.— Lord Howick considered it a dangerous straining 

 of the deliberative powers of the House, for the Government to 

 stake their ministerial existence against a proposition of this 

 kiud. Sir R. Peel had opposed the repeal of the Test and Cor- 

 poration Acts ; yet when decided against him by the House, 

 instead of resigning, he was a member of the Government 

 which carried it. He admitted that the adoption of 

 the ten hours would compel us to give a larger amount of 

 our own industry for the products of other countries; but this 

 would fall, not on the workmen or the manufacturers, but on 

 the community at large. But the ruin of our manufac- 

 tures, from foreign competition, was a visionary fear ; the re- 

 duction of our productive industry should be met by that 

 freedom of exchange which would enable us to trade with other 

 countries on natural principles, while the rapid improvement in 

 our machiuery would enable us to maintain our rivalry with 

 foreign manufacturers. Were they to persist in maintaining a 

 system which overtaxed the powers of women and children, 

 when they could compensate any reduction in our productive 

 industry or in wages by lowering our import duties ? It could 

 not be denied that the working classes were all in favour of the 

 ten hours, and he warned the house against being led by Minis- 

 terial influence to thwart their expectations, by rescinding 

 former votes, and refusing to listen to even the most reason- 

 able compromise.— Mr. Liddell thought that many Members 

 had voted with Lord Ashley without due reflection, and had 

 been unwarily committed to a vote, as he had been, on the ten 

 hours ; but as he could not believe that the Government could 

 have any other motive than care for the public Interest in re- 

 sisting thc limitation to ten hours, he would now give them his 

 support.— Mr. Beknal retorted the allegation that the advo- 

 cates of the ten hours were pandering to the passions of the 

 people. The operatives at Manchester, Bradford, and Halifax 

 had openly responded to the question whether or not they were 

 wi ling to submit to a reduction of wages ; and at this time of 

 day, were they to be told that the intelligent workmen ot thia 

 country could not form sound opinions on what concerned their 

 own interest ? The House was not the proper arena for the 

 discussion of mere questions of political economy ; nor could 

 we deal with masses of men as with chess-men. If *'V[ e| ff n 

 competition were really so frightful, why nut go back- 

 wards to the old state of the law, and permit our factories 

 to be worked any amount of hours whatever r All the evi- 

 dence proved the injurious consequences -of 12 hours 

 labour on the moral and physical weU-being of the opera- 



tives, especially the females and young persons ; and he hoped 

 Lord Ashley would never abandon the question until it was car- 

 ried.— Mr. G. Knigut had studied the subject with great 

 anxiety for thc welfare of the working classes, and having had 

 time to get sober on the subject, he had come to the concl on 

 that the adoption of Lord Ashley's proposition would be ioju* 

 rious to their true interests.— Mr. C. Buli.ee thought that Mr. 

 G. Knight was a remarkable instance of the facility with which 

 men forgot recent events; for, in his present sobriety, he had 

 forgotten his three votes in favour of the ten hours. The tone 

 of the opponents of Lord Ashley's proposition was now exceed- 

 ingly low; very little was said about principle, and the question 

 was now only one of degree. The House had, in recent times, 

 repeatedly interfered with adult labour, as in Lord Ashley's 

 Mines and Collieries Bill, the prohibition of the exportation of 

 Hill Coolies, and so forth. There was therefore no question as 

 to priuciple ; and there remained therefore but the degree of 

 caution and expediency which should regulate their interfer- 

 ence. Who could doubt that the factory operatives worked 

 too long? or that* rawedy was required for asocial state of 

 things which precluded thc use of all opportunities of recrea- 

 tion or improvement? The present proposition of Lord Ashley 

 wasforan experimental trial of eleven hours; aud if that worked 

 badly, how easy would it be to retrace their steps ! The work- 

 ing classes, who desired the present change, and who m bear 

 its weight, would be the loudest and the earliest in asking thpro 

 to remove the restriction. They were frightened by those who 

 upheld the Corn-Laws with the fear of foreign competition; 

 and even advocates of universal suffrage implied that the work- 

 ing clashes, on a question affecting their own interests, were 

 incapable of judging for themselves. Danger was alleged from 

 interference ; hut was there no danger in leaving the \ ■ ork- 

 ii'g classes to believe that Parliament would do nothing for 

 them, and that it K-tt them v oat protection and to their own 

 resources?— Mr. Roebuck replied that it was still more dan- 

 gerous to lead the working classes to believe that Parliament 

 could do everything for them, and, above all, that it could settle 

 and regulate their rate of wage*, lord Howick characterised 

 this interference as "bold legislation;" it deserved another 

 name, for it was rash and meddling— "fools rushed in"— he 

 would not go on with the quotation. It had been proved that 

 the manufacturing population were better paid and better 

 lodged than the rest of the labouring community ; 1 from that 

 position they were not to be driven by all the humanity mongers 

 in the world. Mr. C. Bullcr twitted Mr. (.illy Knight with in- 

 consistency— "those w live in glass-houses should not throw 

 stones." Ho did not with to take the opinions of thc working 

 classes at second hand ; he would rather that they had the 

 opportunity of stating their own cisc by the r own representa- 

 tives. Lord Howick, in this question, had derived his know- 

 ledge fram thc New Moral World— he was but a humble pla- 

 giary of Mr. Owen. If there would be no rise in prices, were 

 they prepared to encounter a fall in profit, on the biddin f 

 men whose contempt for political economy was but the cover 

 for their ignorance of it ? The working classes did not contem- 

 plate a reduction in wages, which, when it occurred, would 

 destroy all chance of being able to improve their moral condi- 

 tion. The nostrum of the ten hours was nothing but a mis- 

 chievous quackery. What would they say to him, if he came 

 down with a detail of the actual miseries endured by thc people 

 of Ireland, and made a proposition to deprive the landlords of 

 their property, in order to alleviate ttuir condition ? That he 

 was a madman or a knave. Lord Ashley had grossly exagger- 

 ated the evils of factory employment ; thc adoption of his pro- 

 position would establish a minimum of wages ; and in the dete- 

 riorated condition of a discontented people, they would learn 

 too late how fatal was thc interference which they had been 

 induced to make on insufficient evidence.— Mr. Feeeand had 

 been informed by the working classes, that they had a very 

 indifferent opinion of Mr. Roebuck, and looked upon him as 

 one of their bitterest enemies. As the representative of 

 hundreds of thousands of his humbler fellow-countrymen, 

 he denounced the evils which they endured, and demanded 

 a remedy for them, especially the contraction of their hours 

 of labour. They were loyal and peaceable; but if they 

 wished them to remain so, they must do thern justice.— Mr. 

 Mu.vtz said, that a strike for wages would have all the ill 

 effects of a Ten Hours Bill, and the working classes were de- 

 termined to strike in order to obtain it. No doubt it was an 

 interference with principle, but was there any " principle" con- 

 nected with their legislation at all ? It was all a mere legisla- 

 tive expediency. The Corn-law, Truck-law, Emigration-law, 

 and the Poor-law, were all based on bad principles, or worse, 

 cold, calculating philosophy. He would like to see the experi- 

 ment of the ten hours tried, and was willing to take his share of 

 the responsibility ; the fears as to our foreign trade were absurd, 

 for it was worth very little.— Mr. M. Philips, connected as he 

 had been with our commerce all his life, was surprised to hear 

 such a statement uttered, though it was in keeping with other 

 extravagant statements uttered in the House. They must not 

 legislate on " chances :" if they lost their foreign trade for 

 six months they would find out their mistake too late. Sin- 

 cerely desirous of the welfare of the working classes, he would 

 avert from them so great a calamity. He mentioned some 

 matters as coming within his own knowledge, to show that 

 some of the ten-hour agitators were not sincere, and that the 

 evils of the factory districts were exaggerated.— Great clamour 

 now prevailed, one set of Members calling for an adjournment 

 of the debate, others insisting on a division. At last the adjourn- 

 ment was agreed to. 



Mondiw.-Mi: Thbsigbe took his seat for Abingdon, and Mr. 

 Scott Murray took the oath as a Roman Cathohc.-On ^the 

 motion of Sir T. Frbmantle. a new writ was ordered for Laun- 

 ceston, in the room of Sir H. Hardinge.-In reply te ; Colonel 

 Wood Sir J Graham stated that a Bill was in course of pre- 

 ^on r fo J un G de5on M the report of the c ,.n im««ioner. >who sat 

 last year in Wales. It was already in an advanced stage, and 

 he honed to introduce it next week. He also hoped that the 

 Bill u P oul5 be ultimately susceptible o****^™^^*™ 

 nrinciuality, but it was in the irst instance to be confined to 

 the seven counties mentioned in the report.-The adjourned 

 debate 2 the Factories Bill M, £>-»!*! JPlH sffKS 



looked unon this question, and the confusion of parties which 

 h id oroduced, as the harbinger of better things for the work- 

 up classes and the result of which would lead them to repose 

 confidence 'in the large body of men who, in that House, de- 

 sired their welfare.— Mr. Ward replied to the imputations and 

 taunts about " theorists," " political economists," " long chim- 

 neys," and so forth, with which the advocates of the ten 

 hours interlarded their speeches. Even such a man as Mr. 

 Muntz talked lightly of the value of our foreign trade; and 

 Mr. Gaily Knight, who belonged to a class, the value of 

 whose landed property •* long chimneys " had doubled, and 

 who had given three votes on the ten hours before he 

 began to reflect on the subject, had at Ust been taught re- 

 flection by the very political economy he affected to despise. It 

 was easy to get up a case, supported by an apparent show or 

 statistical authority ; but as the factory labourer nad been shown 

 to be better rather than worse off than other portions ot tae 

 working communitv, they had no pretence ft ' r l l l nt l f - "'Sto 

 They had been told by Mr. C. Buller that it would w ~J£ ed 

 retrace their steps if necessary. But all ex J >e "^~7 ea __Mr. 

 that a commercial market once lost w aev t f f»S^ Majesty's 

 M'Gkachy said that he had generally supported nc^ ^ cx 



Government, and would do so as Ion* ****. J bnt io tn j s case 

 ponents of the principles which they pro |e JJ* '^ ffone QO wn to 

 it did not appear to him that they were so. we «*" & 





