1015 Anglo-Portuguese Legion. {COMMONS} Anglo-Portuguese Legion. 1016 sioners will not be paid.] The hon. Member hoped that the commission would be unpaid. It certainly would. He was sure that such Members of both Houses, as he suggested, might be invited to assist upon that commission, would find sufficient in their love of the fine arts, to induce them to do so. He thought it would also be desirable to include in the commission some persons not in either House of Parliament, but well known for their admiration and encouragement of the fine arts, which, indeed, he was sure would be a sufficient stimulus to every member of the commission, to apply himself sedulously to the discharge of the duties connected with the inquiry. Mr. Hawes said, that he had asked if the commission were to be a paid one, thinking, perhaps, that a number of professional gentlemen would be appointed, whom it would be reasonable to ANGLO-PORTUGUESE LEGION.] Vis. count Sandon rose to move for certain papers relating to the Anglo-Spanish Commission, and the Anglo-Portuguese Commission, which he said would fully prove to the House, that while the claims of the Anglo-Spanish Legion had been settled in one year, the Anglo-Portuguese Commission, which had already been sitting for one year, presented no prospect of its termination for two years longer, and that the instalments which might then be agreed on, would not be all paid off before the expiration of two years more. The Anglo-Portuguese claimants were now enduring great hardships, and if their claims were to remain so long unsatisfied, they would derive but little benefit from the settlement of them. The noble Lord concluded by moving for the following papers : "Date when the Legion was disbanded; copy of the mixed British and Spanish Commission, relating to the claims of the British Auxiliary Legion in the service of Spain; copy of rules for the guidance of the commissioners; the date when the commission commenced the reception of claims; the number of claims sent in and adjudicated upon, and the respective dates of such adjudications; the mode in which such claims were agreed to be paid, and have been paid and satisfied; the number of com missioners, secretaries, and clerks engaged in such commission; the amount of the expenses of such commission, specifying the commis and clerks; return of the expenses, if any, sioners' salaries, and those of the secretaries which were allowed, and to whom, in respect of the prosecution of such claims, and how paid; was any and what deduction made from the claimants for the purpose of paying agents, or any other expenses? "Date of the disbanding of the respective naval and military forces; the date of the mixed British and Portuguese Commission, appointed to examine and decide upon the claims of British subjects who served in the army and navy during the war of restoration in Portugal; copy of the rules for the guidance of the commissioners; the date of the installation in office of the commissioners; the date of the decision of the Belgian Minister on the question of contracts; the date of the commencement of the reception of claims; the number of days, and of hours per day, during which each commissioner respectively has been engaged in the labours of the commission; whether any accounts have been examined by one commissioner in the absence of the other; the number of claims received, and the number, if any, investigated and adjudicated upon, and of claimants to whom notice of such adjudication has been given; the number of secretaries, clerks or others, employed under the commissioners, the dates of their several appointments, with their respective salaries; the salaries of the commissioners, and from what source paid, together with an account of all other expenses incidental to the commission." Sir R. Peel said, that he thought the motion had very much the appearance of having been suggested by a claimant who felt disappointed at the delay. To some of the returns he had no objection; but he certainly could not consent to those which implied any reflection upon the commissioners. What he should suggest to his noble Friend was, to withdraw the motion for the present, that he might have an opportunity of considering, with his noble Friend, to what extent he should limit it. If his noble Friend would withdraw the motion until the next day, he would then be prepared to give him all the information he could fairly require. Viscount Palmerston begged to observe, that the delay had arisen from the difficulty which the British and Portuguese Governments found in coming to an arrangement about some of the details. Lord Ranelagh expressed a hope that the British Government would take steps to procure the restoration of Don Carlos to liberty. He had never taken up arms {SEPT. 30} against the French; and there was a time Viscount Sandon had no objection to DISTRESS AT BOLTON.] Dr. Bowring observed, that if as had been declared by the Speaker, it was one of the Privileges of the House, that nothing stated by any of its Members should be called in question either within or without its walls, it became a peremptory duty to make no rash or unsupported averments-and if betrayed into any error to take the earliest opportunity to correct or to explain it. He had, some time since, stated an incident of very great distress, which had so much excited the sympathies of the right hon. Baronet, the head of her Majesty's Government, that he had been induced to establish local inquiries, with a view to the investigation of the melancholy facts to which he had called the attention of the House. And he was ready to acknowledge, that it was peculiarly incumbent on him not to come forward with an exaggerated statement; though to say the truth, such was the distress of the people, that it stood in no need of exaggeration, in order to awaken the deepest interest. His connection with Bolton was a very peculiar one. He went there without local knowledge or influence, and though his being sent to that House as the representative of Bolton was in itself an abundant and striking evidence of the distress that prevailed amongst the inhabitants, still he owned, that the circumstances under which he had been elected, did, in themselves, impose upon him the obligation to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the condition of the people, and to state to Parliament such facts as he could rely on. He could have wished, indeed, that his hon. Colleague had been present to confirm his assertion as to the extent of distress existing in Bolton. But he repeated, the statements he had made were substantially true. at Bolton. 1018 sorrow told to him, that harrowed up his very heart. Hearing them, it became his them borne out by evidence, to represent duty to inquire into them, and if he found them in Parliament-to plead the cause of the suffering poor in the presence of the privileged and the opulent, One gentlebrought forward several cases of extreme man, who had been a guardian of the poor, distress. that gentleman and of Mr. Edmund AshHe asked for the assistance of worth, to inquire into the condition of the people. religious body to which he belongs, has Mr. Ashworth, as well as the been honoured with the disparaging notice of the hon. Member for Knaresborough. He spoke almost sneeringly of a sect that professed benevolence; but in his (Dr. Bowring's) judgment, it would be difficult to find a community who professed so little, and who practised so much of genuine Christian beneficence-and Mr. Ashworth, in particular, was one of those men who fame"-one whose history might be re"do good by stealth, and blush to find it corded in daily acts, by which sorrow is solaced, and happiness augmented. (Dr. Bowring) visited the cellars of the poor. He would read to the House one of these reHe made many memorandums; he cords which he then wrote down, as it would be found to throw some light upon the condition of the poor, and he had not selected it, but it chanced to be the very first on which he had laid his hand, when turning over his papers. It was that of a poor man, aged 40 years, his wife 36. They had had ten children, seven of whom were dead. The weeks without work. He had 2s. 6d per dians of Bolton, he must say, had, in an uncourteous and uncalled for manner, ventured to impeach his personal veracity, and to represent him as unworthy of belief. He would tell the House how he had proceeded, and leave it to judge whether he had acted unbecomingly. At a public meeting held in Bolton he heard tales of for he had not the privilege of wealth, and I want of food." Mr. Naisby had sent with he could say, without shame, that having his correspondence two letters. The first known many vicissitudes, and been discip- was from the Secretary of the Benevolent lined by many afflictions, they had taught Society, which existed in that town, for him, at least, to listen willingly, and to inquiring into and relieving distress. This feel deeply for the afflictions of others. But letter was dated September 17, 1841, and having been thus compelled to abandon his was as follows:personal investigation he had requested Mr. Naisby to give him a statement as to the facts, which had elicited the sympa thies of the right hon. Baronet. Under his direction an assistant Poor-law commissioner had been sent to Bolton in order to examine into the facts which he had reported to the House, and he had to thank the right hon. Baronet the Secretary of the Home Department, who had kindly and courteously communicated to him the report that had been made on this subject by the gentleman who had been sent. That report proved that what Mr. Naisby believed to be the case, that a coroner's inquest had been held, and which represented that the man had been found dead at his loom, was undoubtedly erroneous. But the House would forgive him if he read a quotation from the letter that Mr. Naisby sent to him, as it would fully excuse that gentleman from making an intentional misrepresentation. He said that, not being a guardian at the time, he was not called upon till the man was dead. The widow stated to the assistant Poor-law Commissioner that no application had been made to the Poor-law guardians; but then he (Dr. Bowring), it would be recollected, had brought no accusation against the Poor-law guardians. He had not stated that they had refused relief. He thought now he could show the House that the substantive fact of a man perishing from want, and being found dead on his loom, was borne out by irrefragable evidence. A jury had been called together, but owing to some circumstances, they did not record any verdict, and the only erroneous impression which he would have conveyed to the House was, that the verdict of the jury had been recorded. Why it was not recorded it was not for him to say. He understood the reason alleged was, that no blame attached to any party. But that a jury saw the body could not be deniedfor one of the jury called upon Mr. Naisby, the day after the inquest, and stated that they had returned a verdict of "died from want of food." A reporter of the Conservative paper stated to the board of guardians that he was one of the jury, and they had returned a verdict of "died from "Allow me to lay before you a few facts Howell-croft, in this township, who died from respecting the case of William Pearce, late of want of the necessaries of life. Being a visi tor as well as one of the committee of the Benevolent Society, established in this township, for the purpose of relieving sickness and destitution, I was called upon to visit the case When I found the cellar, of William Pearce. he was dead, laid out on a pair of looms; the whole of the furniture, an old stool or two, there was no bed, only some little sacking, an old table, and a set of bedsteads, all of them not worth carrying away. I inquired into the cause of his death, and it was my opinion that the man had died for want of food, though he had been sick some time previously. The earnings of the family were only 4s. a week, unless the man's wife got some thing by begging. I reported the case to the committee that night, and after stating the that meeting that he died for want of the particulars, it was the unanimous opinion of necessaries of life, and that is their opinion still, the case having been again brought before them on the 10th instant." This was strong evidence, and another man, who was a neighbour of the sufferers, sent this additional corroboration : "I state this as facts, respecting a man that lived a neighbour to me, of the name_of William Pearce, late of Howell-croft. The first time that I had any acquaintance with shoes that I could give to him; I told him him, he called to see if I had an old pair of that I gave my old clothes to one of my apprentice's parents, who I thought was in great distress; and he said to ine, if they were as bad off as he was, God help them, for he nor his family had not broke their fast since yes. terday. So I questioned him, and I found him in a state of starvation. He invited me in, and I found them in the greatest distress. One pair of bedstocks for him, and wife, and two daughters. No bedding at all. They were obliged to sleep in their clothes. The seats they sat upon were bricks and stones, before I gave to them two old stools. This was about six months before the person died. Ile died on Sunday, on which his wife came to my misses and said that her husband had given over stirring. She thought he was dead. I was sent for, and I found him dead. I went down. He was laid out on a pair of looms, up to the relieving officer and brought him and we found a sheet to lay over him, and when it came back I was obliged to burn it, on account of the hundreds of filth that had crept on it. Their earnings was about 4s, per week, and 1s. 9d. for rent out of that. It was all, with the exception of what his wife got by begging. I have actually seen the man pick potatoes off the midden which had been thrown away on account of being rotten, and I have gone into the cellar in about an hour after and I have found them boiled up together, and they have been seen eating them for dinner. There has been no deceit about it, for I often went in unknown to them. The person actually died from want." This letter was signed "William Coop; Ashburner-street." He considered it would not have been becoming in him if he did not bring forward such statements as these, for the purpose of showing to Parliament the condition of the people. He had stated, on a former occasion, that there were 1,200 houses unoccupied in Bolton. He dared to say, that in Bolton, as in other places, the rage for building had gone beyond the demand. But then, since he had made that statement, there were 1,400 houses unoccupied, while none had been built. Now as the population was increasing, could there be a more incontestable evidence of distress than that two hundred additional houses had been abandoned in so short a period? Of the poor-rates, only two-thirds could be collected, in cousequence of the great distress that pervaded the town and neighbourhood. By a letter which he had received, it seemed that the work people in iron and machinery were only employed half time; that engineers were nearly in the same situation; that masons, bricklayers, and joiners were only one-third employed, and that tailors, shoemakers, and hand-loom weavers were even worse off than that. On Friday, a meeting had been held at Bolton, when it was unanimously resolved, that a memorial should be presented to her Majesty. It stated the existing and increasing sufferings of the people, and entreated of her Majesty not to prorogue Parliament until there had been a thorough and searching inquiry into the causes of the present embarrassment and distress. At that meeting, an appeal had been made, whether the statements he had made were true, and there was a general cry that the state of things was such as he had represented them to be. Three reverend gentlemen attended that meeting, they were all known to him, and he would venture to say of them that they would not deviate a hair's breadth from the strictest veracity. The rev. Mr. Baker, at the meeting, thus spoke : "He could appeal to every class for evidence that the distress was universal. He would make no selection; he could go from the capitalist to the labourers of every classfrom the hand-loom to the power-loom-from the foundryman to the spade-labourer-from the master spinner to the operative. He would make no distinction, for the distress was known to be universal. It pervaded every class; it had made large properties small, and small properties had become extinct. Many had sunk from one class to another, until they had become paupers. The cheerful and goodtempered artizan had become sullen and suspicious; they were driven from the markets, and almost from the streets, to hide their poverty and their wretchedness in some corner, the resort of misery, removed from the public eye. It had driven many, and that his professional duties had enabled him to know, from the house of God. They had parted with, or worn out, the decent clothing in which it was once their pride to appear, and they could not obtain other clothing in its place, for it required all they obtained to maintain existence, any man could not do that without contracting debts, and falling into the paths of guilt and misery. The employers were also suffering; they were filling the Gazette, and many who had not appeared in that record of falling trade had made quiet compositions, in the hope of being able to keep on a little longer." Another clergyman was reported to have stated "Several heart-rending cases of distress, to which the audience listened with breathless silence. One of them was a case where a deserving family wanted for two days. He defied Sir Robert Peel to deny the statement he was making." He begged to repeat the expression of his gratitude to the Government for having sent down a commissioner to inquire; but then he trusted the inquiry would not be a partial one. He understood that the commissioner who had gone to Bolton had remained there only twenty-four hours. Perhaps it was to make but one particular inquiry. He hoped, however, that it would be more extended, in order that the Government might learn the urgent necessity there was upon them to make inquiry into the cause of, and to provide some remedy for, the sufferings of the people. The right hon. Baronet had made a statement with regard to savings banks, from which he had drawn the deduction, that already there might be considered to be an amelioration in the condition of the working classes. It would, he believed, be found, on examination, that the savings banks would lead to very deceptive results, if it were supposed that artisans were the principal depositors. The In 1837-38 1838-39 335,956 deaths 331,007 350,101 This made a general increase of deaths in the whole country of four per cent. But what was the return for Lancashire, south of Morecamb? There were In 1837-38 22,932 deaths 26,606 31,983 number of artizans, he believed, was com- the whole country, and what was the reparatively few. The principal contributors sult:he imagined, were domestic servants, a class who did not suffer much in periods of distress, but who at those periods can live cheaper, as the articles they consumed were at a lower price. It would too be well for the Premier to consider, that at the period to which he referred, there was a great deal of money circulated at the elections, and perhaps some of that had found its way into the savings banks. It would, he thought, be desirable that the professions of the depositors at savings banks This showed an increase in the deaths of should be generally stated. It was so done 40 per cent. What, then, were the facts at one of the best-conducted savings' banks that these documents presented to them? in the kingdom. By looking to an extract That there had been in the metropolis a from its accounts, which was for 1840, they decrease of deaths--that in England and would see how many of the operative Wales taken together there was an increase classes were contributors. And though of 4 per cent., while in the manufacturing the savings banks in the heart of manu-districts, excluding Manchester and Liverfacturing districts, was not perfectly ana-pool, for which special returns were made, logous, yet the details would serve to there was an increase in the deaths of 40 illustrate the subject generally. There per cent. There could be no doubt that were, in the Devon and Exeter Bank, many of these localities had been visited 29,643 accounts. Of these there were, by pestilential and mortiferous diseases; 6,130 domestic servants, 11,538 connected but was it not evident that those diseases with trade, but of these there were 5,445 were the companions of and the testimonies children. There were 9,252 agriculturists, to the great misery and excessive distress 1,320 belonging to the army and navy, of the people-that this continual increase 1,433 public servants, making in all of mortality was an evidence of still ex29,643, but of these 12,604 were children, tending sufferings. He looked next to while the whole number of artisans classed the return of deaths of children under one under the heads of artificers and handi-year of age, for the year 1839-1840, and craftsmen was but 2,200, making one-thir- he found the general average of 1,000 reteenth of the whole number of depositors. gistered deaths was 151-in the metro The amount deposited was no less than polis 161, in the manufacturing district of 868,0321. of this 194,175l. 17s. 4d. belong-Lancashire 191 in the thousand, and of ing to domestic servants and 86,168/. 3s. 5d. 1,000 births, the general average was 218 to artisans, making about one tenth of the in the metropolis 194, in the manufacwhole money amount. He knew that it turing districts of Lancashire 248. He was very difficult to argue from particulars stated these facts these indisputable facts; to generals, but the fact he stated showed he felt it to be his duty, and for this he had how little reliance could be placed upon been accused of fomenting popular passions, savings banks returns, to prove the pros- and of fanning the flame of public disconperous condition of the operative classes. tent. But the danger to the public peace He would next direct their attention to was not in the statements of existing the last report of the registrar-general. misery-it was in the existence of the It was one that must strike them, as misery. Had he however sought to flatter showing the mortality that existed prejudices and to connect himself with the amongst the manufacturing population. most excited agitation of the working By that return it appeared that the classes, he should have pursued a very number of deaths was, in the metropolitan different course on the subject of the Poor. districtlaws. On that matter he held a strong opinion, but he had come to the conclusion that the Corn-law and the Poor-law could not long exist together. He was willing that her Majesty's Government should take the question of the Poor-law into their hands, as he did not see any para In 1837-38 1838-39 1839-40 53,597 deaths Thus they saw that there was a decrease of 16 per cent. in deaths. Let them take |