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lief to a very numerous and useful class of the community. The act of Elizabeth empowered justices of the peace to fix the maximum of labour. This bill went only to empower them to fix the minimum. However, the House might decide with respect to his bill, he trusted at least that the act of Elizabeth would be repealed.

Mr. For said, that the bill was undoubtedly a bill of great delicacy and importance, and with respect to which, he admitted that, to a considerable extent, there might exist a rational difference of opinion. The act of Elizabeth, as his hon. friend had truly stated, empowered the justices to fix the highest price of labour, but it gave them no power to fix the lowest. It secured the master from a risk which could but seldom occur, of being charged exorbitantly for the quantity of service; but it did not authorize the magistrate to protect the poor from the injustice of a griping and avaricious employer, who might be disposed to take advantage of their necessities, and undervalue the rate of their service. If the price of labour was adequate to the support of the poor in ordinary times, though not equal to the accidental high price of provisions at the present moment, it might be contended, that there was less necessity for any new legislative regulation. But, taking the average price of labour for some years past, including that period during which the scarcity had operated, no man could deny that the price of labour was greatly disproportionate to the rate of provisions. That the general price of la bour should be adequate to the support of the general mass of the community was indisputably a right principle. They all knew that a very extensive tax was exacted from the country, under the denomination of poor-rates, and that such a tax must be continued. It was understood, that to this fund none could apply, but those few to whom, from particular circumstances, their labour might not be sufficiently productive to secure an adequate support. But he feared that the reverse was the case; that the exception was with respect to the few who derived sufficient means of subsistence from their labour, and that the great mass of the labouring part of the community were under the necessity of applying to this fund for relief. If the House, as was proposed, were to form an association, in

order to pledge themselves to use only a particular sort of bread, with a view to diminish the pressure of the scarcity, ought they not at the same time to form an association, in order to raise the price of labour to a rate proportionate to the price of the articles of subsistence? With this view, he called upon the House to consider the principle of the bill and its provisions. He would call upon them also to attend to the subject, in a constitutional view, though he could not hope, from the complexion of recent transactions, that this was a view of the subject, which would have great weight. It was not fitting in a free country that the great body of the people should depend on the charity of the rich. In the election of members of Parliament, all those were strictly excluded from exercising any franchise, with a very few exceptions, who had at any time received relief frou the parish. Was it becoming in a country like this, that the general mass of the labouring part of the community, excepting those who derived relief from the bounty and generosity of individuals, should be excluded from the exercise of their most important privilege as freemen? He admitted many of the rich to be humane and charitable; but he could not allow that those who were the most useful and industrious members of society should depend upon a fund so precarious and degrading, as the occasional supplies derived from their bounty. If the price of provisions had for two years been such as to put every poor man under the necessity of applying for the aid of parochial charity, and if that circumstance constituted a positive disqualification with respect to the exercise of a constitutional right, what, he asked, was the state of a country which first compelled every poor man to dependence, and then reduced him to servitude? If they were to go into associations, pledging themselves to use a particular sort of bread, with a view to alleviate the scarcity, it was surely of more importance that they should associate in order to redress the more material grievance, and strike at the fundamental source of the evil. With this view he should be glad to see an association in order to put the price of labour upon a footing adequate to the rate of provisions. If the regulations of the present bill should not be adopted, he should be happy that any other legislative enactments should be brought forward

in order to afford relief and protection to | had increased in the proportion of the poor.

The bill was ordered to be read a second time on the 3rd of February, and to be printed.

February 12, 1796. The order of the day being read for the second reading of the bill,

six or seven; and that of clothing, no less than fourteen or fifteen fold in the same period. The poor-rates, too, had increased since the beginning of this century from 600,000l., at which they were then estimated, to upwards of three millions. Nor was this prodigious increase in the poor-rates to be ascribed to the Mr. Whitbread said, that ample time advance of population; for it was doubtful had been given for members to consider whether any such increase had taken maturely its object and regulations, and place. At the present period the conto collect from their constituents such trary seemed to be the case. By the information as they might require. For pressure of the times, marriage was dishis own part, every inquiry he had insti- couraged; and among the laborious tuted, convinced him of the necessity of classes of the community, the birth of a remedying the grievances of the indus- child, instead of being hailed as a blesstrious poor by some legislative provisions. ing, was considered as a curse. For this Whether those which he had suggested serious evil a remedy was required, and were the most proper to be adopted, was to this was the bill directed. It was his a question for the decision of the House? wish to rescue the labouring poor from a Having bestowed considerable pains in state of slavish dependence; to enable drawing up the bill, he might have left it the husbandman, who dedicated his days for their consideration upon its merits to incessant toil, to feed, to clothe, and alone, did not the novelty of the measure to lodge his family with some degree of demand a few words in explanation. He comfort; to exempt the youth of this felt as much as any man how greatly it country from the necessity of entering was to be desired that there should be no into the army or the navy, and from legislative interference in matters of this flocking to great towns for subsistence; nature, and that the price of labour, like and to put it in the power of him who every other commodity, should be left to ploughed and sowed and threshed the find its own level. From reasonings corn, to taste of the fruits of his industry, upon the subject, the result was, that it by giving him a right to a part of always would find its level. But the de- the produce of his labour. Such were ductions of reason were confuted by ex- the grounds upon which the bill in quesperience; for he appealed to the sense of tion was built. To those who dreaded the House, whether the situation of the every thing that wore the aspect of innolabouring poor in this country was such vation, and reprobated every measure as any feeling or liberal mind would wish? that was new, he would say, that here He did not mean that the wages of the was no departure from established prelabourer were inadequate for his subsist- cedents, no introduction of unknown ence and comfort in times of temporary principles. The statute of the 5th of scarcity, and unusual hardship; but even Elizabeth, was enacted expressly for the at the period preceding such distress, the purpose of regulating the price of labour. evil had prevailed. In most parts of the This statute was acted upon for forty country, the labourer had long been strug-years, when it was afterwards amended gling with increasing misery, till the pressure had become almost too grievous to be endured, while the patience of the sufferers under their accumulated distresses had been conspicuous and exem-trary, he was of opinion, that they plary. And did not such distress, supported with so much fortitude, merit relief from the legislature? Were it necessary to refer to any authority, he could quote the writings of Dr. Price, in which he showed that in the course of two centuries, the price of labour had not increased more than three or at most four-fold; whereas the price of meat

by a subsequent one in the reign of James 1st, bearing a similar title. He would not be understood as commending the principle of these statutes: on the con

operated as a clog to industry, by permitting justices to fix the maximum of labour. But so late as the 8th of his majesty, justices were empowered to regulate the wages of taylors, and even now the lord mayor and council of London control those of the silk-weavers. To those who were afraid of entrusting justices with power, he should only say,

that he left the power where he found it. At present they were possessed of the power to oppress the labourer; and this bill only invested them with the additional power to redress his grievances. By fixing the minimum of the wages of labour, a comfortable subsistence was secured to industry, and at the same time greater exertions were prompted by the hope of greater reward. To some, perhaps, the time of bringing this subject forward might appear exceptionable. There were those who would say, if the labourers were not distressed, why agitate a question for which no necessity calls, and awaken desires which are not felt? Others would maintain, that it was unseasonable to direct the public attention to such a subject, while the pressure of distress might excite discontents, or raise improper expectations. To these he could only answer, that he was not one who could see wise and salutary measures sacrificed to the pretended inconvenience of the times: and that he was of opinion that what was proper to be done could scarcely be done out of season. He then moved, "That the bill be now read a second time."

parliament, though he was afraid that its provisions were such as it would be impolitic, upon the whole, to adopt; and such as, if adopted, would be found to be inadequate to the purposes proposed. The authority of Dr. Price, had been adduced to show the great advance that had taken place on every article of subsistence, compared with the slow increase of the wages of labour. But the statement of Dr. Price was erroneous, as he compared the earnings of the labourer at the period when the comparison is instituted, with the price of provisions, and the earnings of the labourer at the present day, with the price of the same articles, without adverting to the change of circumstances, and to the difference of provisions. Corn, which was then almost the only food of the labourer was now supplied by cheaper substitutions and it was unfair to conclude that the wages of labour were so far from keeping pace with the price of provisions, because they could no longer purchase the same quantity of an article for which the labourer had no longer the same demand. The simple question now to be considered was, whether the remedy Mr. Pitt said, that in the interval which for the evil, which was admitted in a certain had taken place since the first reading of extent to exist, was to be obtained by the bill, he had paid considerable atten- giving to the justices the power to regution to the subject, and endeavoured to late the price of labour, and by endeavourcollect information from the best sources ing to establish by authority, what would to which he had access. The evil was be much better accomplished by the un-certainly of such a nature as to render it assisted operation of principles ?-It was of importance to find out a proper remedy, unnecessary to argue the general expe but the nature of the remedy involved dis- diency of any legislative interference, as cussions of such a delicate and intricate the principles had been perfectly recognature, that none should be adopted with-nized by the hon. gentleman himself. out being maturely weighed. The pre- The moss celebrated writers upon politi→ sent situation of the labouring poor in this cal economy, and the experience of those country, was certainly not such as could states where arts had flourished the most, be wished, upon any principle, either of bore ample testimony of their truth. They humanity, or policy. That class had of had only to inquire, therefore, whether late been exposed to hardships which the present case was strong enough for they all concurred in lamenting, and were the exception, and whether the means equally actuated by a desire to remove. proposed were suited to the object inHe would not argue how far the compa- tended? The hon. gentleman imagined rison of the state of the labourer, relieved that he had on his side of the question as it had been by a display of beneficence, the support of experience in this country, never surpassed at any period, with the and appealed to certain laws upon the state of this class of the community in statute-book, in confirmation of his proformer times, was just, though he was position. He did not find himself called convinced that the representations were upon to defend the principle of these éxaggerated. At any rate, the compari- statutes, but they were certainly introsons were not accurate, because they did duced for purposes widely different from not embrace a comprehensive view of the the object of the present bill. They were relative situations. He gave the hon. enacted to guard the industry of the' gentleman ample credit for his good in-country from being checked by a general tentions in bringing the present bill into combination among labourers; and the [VOL. XXXII.] [2 Z]

bill now under consideration, was intro- | plan, defective remedies produced noduced solely for the purpose of remedy- thing but confusion and disorder. The ing the inconveniences which labourers laws of settlements prevented the worksustain from the disproportion existing man from going to that market where he between the price of labour, and the price could dispose of his industry to the greatof living. He had the satisfaction to est advantage, and the capitalist, from hear the hon. gentleman acknowledge, employing the person who was qualified that if the price of labour could be made to procure him the best returns for his to find its own level, it would be much advances. These laws had at once inmore desirable than to assess it by arbi- creased the burthens of the poor, and trary statute, which in the execution was taken from the collective resources of the liable to abuse on the one hand, and in- state to supply wants which their operaefficacy on the other. If the remedy suc- tion had occasioned, and to alleviate a ceeded according to the most sanguine poverty which they tended to perpetuate. expectations, it only established what Such were the institutions which miswould have been better effected by prin- guided benevolence had introduced, and, ciple; and if it failed, on the one hand with such warnings to deter, it would be it might produce the severest oppression, wise to distrust a similar mode of conduct, and on the other encourage the most and to endeavour to discover remedies profligate idleness and extravagance. of a different nature. The country had Was it not better for the House, then, to not yet experienced the full benefit of consider the operation of general princi- the laws that had already been passed, to ples, and rely upon the effects of their correct the errors which he had explained. unconfined exercise? Was it not wiser to From the attention he had bestowed upon reflect what remedy might be adopted, the subject, and from the inquiries he at once more general in its principles, and had been able to make of others, he was more comprehensive in its object, less ex- disposed to think we had not gone yet ceptionable in its example, and less dan- far enough, and to entertain an opinion gerous in its application? They should look that many advantages might be derived, to the instances where interference had and much of the evil now complained of shackled industry, and where the best in- removed, by an extension of those refortentions have often produced the most mations in the poor-laws which had been pernicious effects. It was indeed the begun. The encouragement of friendly most absurd bigotry, in asserting the ge- societies would contribute to alleviate neral principle, to exclude the exception; that immense charge with which the pubbut trade, industry, and barter would al- lic was loaded in the support of the poor, ways find their own level, and be impeded and provide by savings of industry for the by regulations which violated their na- comfort of distress. Now the parish tural operation, and deranged their pro- officer could not remove the workman, per effect. This being granted, he ap- merely because he apprehended he might pealed to the judgment of the House, be burthensome, but it was necessary whether it was better to refer the matter he should be actually chargeable. entirely to the discretion of a magistrate, from the pressure of a temporary distress, or to endeavour to find out the causes of might the industrious mechanic be transthe evil, and by removing the causes, to ported from the place where his exertions apply a remedy more justifiable in its could be useful to himself and his family, principle, more easy in the execution, to a quarter where he would become a more effectual in its operations, in fine, burthen without the capacity of being more consonant to every maxim of sound even able to provide for himself. To reand rational policy. The evil, in his opi-medy such a great striking grievance, the nion, originated in a great measure, in laws of settlement ought to undergo a ra the abuses which had crept into the poor-dical amendment. He conceived, that to laws of this country, and the complicated mode of executing them. The poor-laws of this country, however wise in their original institution, had contributed to fetter the circulation of labour, and to substitute a system of abuses, in room of the evils which they humanely meant to redress, and by engrafting upon a defective

that

But

promote the free circulation of labour, to remove the obstacles by which industry is prohibited from availing itself of its resources, would go far to remedy the evils, and diminish the necessity of applying for relief to the poor-rates. In the course of a few years, this freedom, from the vexatious restraint which the laws im

of children, a matter of right and an honour, instead of a ground for opprobrium and contempt. This will make a large family a blessing, and not a curse; and this will draw a proper line of distinction between those who are able to provide for themselves by their labour, and those who, after having enriched their country with a number of children, have a claim upon its assistance for their support. All this, however, he would confess, was not enough, if they did not engraft upon it resolutions to discourage relief where it was not wanted. If such means could be practised as that of supplying the necessities of those who required assistance by giving it in labour or affording employment, which is the principle of the act of Elizabeth, the most important advantages would be gained. They would thus benefit those to whom they afforded relief, not only by the assistance bestowed, but by giving habits of industry and frugality, and in furnishing a temporary bounty, enable them to make permanent, provision for themselves. By giving effect to the operation of friendly societies, individuals would be rescued from becoming a burthen upon the public, and, if necessary, be enabled to subsist upon a fund which their own industry contributed to raise. These great points of granting relief according to the number of children, preventing removals at the caprice of the parish officer, and making them subscribe to friendly societies, would tend, in a very great degree, to remove every complaint to which the present partial remedy could be applied. Experience had already shown how much could be done by the industry of children and the advantages of early employing them in such branches of manufactures as they are capable to execute./ The extension of schools of industry was also an object of material importance. If any one would take the trouble to compute the amount of all the earnings of the children who are already educated in this manner, he would be surprised, when he came to consider the weight which their support by their own labours, took off the country, and the addition which, by the fruits of their toil, and the habits to which they were formed, was made to its internal opulence.

posed, would supersede the object of their institutions. The advantages would be widely diffused, the wealth of the nation would be increased, the poor man rendered not only more comfortable but more virtuous, and the weight of poor-rates, with which the landed interest is loaded, greatly diminished. He should wish, therefore, that an opportunity were given of restoring the original purity of the poor laws, and of removing those corruptions by which they had been obscured. He was convinced, that the evils which they had occasioned did not arise out of their original constitution, but coincided with the opinion of Blackstone, that, in proportion as the wise regulations that were established in the long and glorious reign of queen Elizabeth, have been superseded by subsequent enactments, the utility of the institution has been impaired, and the benevolence of the plan rendered fruitless. While he thus had expressed those sentiments which the discussion naturally prompted, it might not perhaps, be improper, on such an occasion, to lay before the House the ideas floating in his mind, though not digested with sufficient accuracy, nor arranged with a proper degree of clearness. Neither what the hon. gentleman proposed, nor what he himself had suggested, were remedies adequate to the evil it was intended to remove. Supposing, however, the two modes of remedying the evil were on a par in effect, the preference in principle was clearly due to that which was least arbitrary in its nature; but it was not difficult to perceive that the remedy proposed by the hon. gentleman would either be completely ineffectual, or such as far to overreach its mark. As there was a difference in the numbers which compose the families of the labouring poor, it must necessarily require more to support a small family. Now by the regulations proposed, either the man with a small family would have too much wages, or the man with a large family, who had done most service to his country, would have too little. So that were the minimum fixed upon the standard of a large family, it might operate as an encouragement to idleness on one part of the community; and if it were fixed on the standard of a small family, those would not enjoy the benefit of it for whose relief it was intended. What measure then could be found to supply the defect? Let us, said he, make relief in cases where there are a number

The suggestion of these schools was originally drawn from lord Hale and Mr. Locke, and upon such authority he had no difficulty in recommending the plan to the encouragement

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