Zbe Vrobintes.
Continuing their tour of agitation for a Ten-hours Bill, in Yorkshire and Lancashire, Mr. Oastler and Mr. Ferrand have daily held nume- rous meetings, at Bingley, Keighley, Holmfirth, Preston, Bolton, and Manchester. At several of these meetings the local speakers were mostly operatives; clergymen took a prominent part in the proceedings at Holmfirth, Bolton, and Manchester ; at Bolton, several manufacture.s were present ; and Mr. John Walter was among Mr. Oastler's compa- nions at Manchester. At each place, Mr. Oastler uniformly put the question to the meeting, whether they were in favour of a Ten-hours Bill, even with the risk of reduced wages ; and he was answered by cries in the affirmative. The arguments advanced and resolutions adopted were much alike at all the places ; but some remarks and anec- dotes present points for extract. They knew that they were slaves, though living in a land professing liberty. He would say to them, "Be free ! "—give the word, and it was done. Assert their freedom like free-born Englishmen, with erect fronts, declaring legally and constitutionally, before the face of Christian England and the world, that though they had been slaves they must henceforth be free; that they had been taught to consider the Bible as the rule of life, and that it denounced the curse of God on the oppressors of the poor ; that their rulers were there taught and com- manded to protect the poor, and that the Sovereign herself was specially bound to watch over their interests; and if a few unprincipled, hard-hearted task- masters, as disgraceful in their cruelty as was Pharoah to the children of Israel, should attempt to earwig the Ministers of the Crown, a spirit was abroad in England which would make them quail.—Mr. Ferrand, at Keighley. [Mr. Oastler afterwards followed up a similar insinuation against a portion of the millowners, that they "poison the minds of the Ministry," and thus prevent the will of the Queen from being accomplished.] If that measure did not speedily pass into law, no power on earth could ever be able to induce the factory-operatives to take the trouble of meeting together in that way, for the sole purpose of communicating their will upon that mea- sure to the Government. He knew the result of its denial would be, that another measure, very much objected to in higher quarters, would be- come the universal object of agitation with the working classes, and that no Government would be able to resist it. He did not speak this hesitatingly ; he knew it well to be the fact. • • * * He wished Sir Robert Peel could have accompanied him on this tour. Then, he felt confident, no consideration on earth would induce him to do as, he regretted to say. he heard from authority that he had done, by resolving to make his Twelve-hours Bill a Cabinet question, and if he was defeated he would retire from office. Now, he was as certain as that he was in Preston, that no Minister would be able to retain office long that refused to pass the Ten-hours Bill. There might be some difficulty in appointing a suc- cessor, but that was no business of his. Some Conservative friends had often of late said to him, "Well, but if you get rid of Sir Robert Peel, who must be tested on this question, what will you do for another leader?" He said, "Never mind. 1 do not care for Conservative, Whig, Radical, or Chartist. I am bent on having this reasonable, this Parliamentary-recognized prin- ciple established; and if we find out no Conservative leader, I know that we can get a Whig leader—Lord John Russell. I know that, and then Lord John Russell will take it up as a party question on the other side. Lord John Russell will pass it, and I will thank him right heartily." "Well, but," mid his Conservative friends, " what next will you have ? " "Oh, I have made up my mind—I have laid my plan : as soon as Lord John Russell has passed the Ten-hours Bill, we will ask him to repeal the New Poor-law. We will aak him very civilly, but very determinedly, and, I believe, very unani- mously; and if he should refuse to repeal the New Poor-law, and make that a party question, we will see if we cannot get Sir Robert back again, and squeeze it out of him." (Loud cheers and laughter.) They might think it was a laughable question ; but it was not so. (Cheers.) * " Were they, or were they not, then, anxious to have the Ten-hours Bill? (Loud cheers, and cries of" We are !") He would have no trickery in the matter. He wanted Sir Robert Peel to know the fact as it really was. Even if their wages should be reduced by it, did they wish to have it ? (Loud cheers, and cries of " We do, we do r)—Mr. Oastler, at Preston. "Sir Robert Peel, as he walked out of the House of Commons after the majority on the Ten-hours factory question, said to a friend of his, 'It was the elloistian feeling of the House that has defeated us.' The Christian feeling of /be Moose defeat a constitutional Minister I—the Christian feeling of the House defeat a Church-and-Queen Tory I—the Christian feeling of the Housedrieem Minister into infidelity! The moment he heard that, he knew that God had forsaken that 11finistry."—Mr. Oastler at Bolton.
A meeting of delegates from the factory districts of Lancashire was held at the Red Lion Inn, at Manchester, on Sunday, "for the purpose of considering certain statements made in the House of Commons during the recent debate on the Factory Bill." Delegates were present from Manchester, Ashton, Bedford, Blackburn, Bolton, Bury, Chorley, Chowbent, Heywood, Hindley, Horwich, Lees, Leigh, Oldham, Pres. ton, Stockport, Wigan. The delegates made reports, generally to the effect that the mills are at work at least twelve hours a day, and in. some places thirteen or thirteen and a half; that the size of the wheels has greatly increased ; that the proportion of women to men is greatly increasing ; and that the people are in favour of a Ten-hours BilL Similar reports were sent by letter from Glasgow and other parts of Scotland. Resolutions were passed in favour of a Ten-hours Bill; thanking Lord Ashley and his supporters ; approving of Lord Ashley's conduct in allowing Ministers to withdraw the former Factory Bill of this session ; thanking editors of newspapers that favour the agitation ; expressing regret that the delegates were obliged to meet on Sunday ; with one resolution which we copy in full-
" That it having come to the knowledge of the delegates who constitute this meeting, that the master manufacturers are adopting_ the most foul means to ascertain the opinions of operatives in every town in Lancashire. In manyin- stances, it appears, their course is thus—they call together such of their hen& as the overlookers may select, and put them leading questions, such as—' How old are you ? How much wages do you get ? Are you in favour of the Tea-- hours Bill ? and would you prefer it with 10s, a week to twelve hours with 12s.' That to these questions, it came to our knowledge that the operatives in most instances answer—, We are willing to take ten hours, regardless of its effects upon wages '; whilst in other cases it has been made known to us that our fellow-workmen have been compelled to answer more in accordance with the wishes of their masters than their own sentiments; and that the delegate' pledge themselves to expose every each case: as comes to their knowledge, as well as the names of the masters who practise it."
Richard Elliot was reexamined before the County Magistrates at Oxford, on Monday, and committed for trial on a charge of robbing the Defiance Oxford coach of 1,500 sovereigns.
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