HC Deb 15 March 1842 vol 61 cc653-8
Mr. Ferrand

rose, in pursuance of a notice which he had given. He begged to say a few words relative to a declaration which an hon. Member, whom he did not then see in his place, had lately alluded to in that House. The declaration had been stated by that hon. Member to emanate from Manchester, and to be signed by seventy-two manufacturers residing there, who were subscribers to the Anti-Corn-law League, who in that document denied that they had employed the truck system in the payment of the wages of their workpeople, or that they paid them through any other medium than the current coin of the realm. Now he begged distinctly to state, that the hon. Member had been most fully deceived in the representations which had been made with reference to this declaration. Instead of those seventy-two signatures being the signatures of seventy-two manufacturers residing at Manchester, they were the signatures not only not of persons residing at Manchester, but of persons who were many of them not manufacturers at all. The first name on the list was the name of a man who had been proved to have paid his workpeople in milk, and who had also been convicted of gross tyranny towards his workpeople. In that list, too, were the names of five foreigners. Now, what right had those foreigners to come over here and subscribe to a fund which was raised for the purpose of stirring up excitement, setting class against class, and giving support to a party which already was endeavouring to overawe the Government? These persons ought to be aware, that by coming over here and carrying on their business, they were depriving the British merchants of their market; and because our merchants did not wish to dispute the right of these foreigners to pursue their avocations here, therefore they ought to remember the forbearance which was shown, and abstain from proceedings like those with which he charged them. He was quite sure that, if natives of this country went abroad and interfered as these foreigners had done, they would speedily come under the operation of the laws of the countries where they resided, and be obliged to leave. He protested, in the name of the workpeople of the North of England, in the name of justice and decency, against these proceedings. The House, he was sure, would visit with condign punishment persons proved to be guilty of the offences of which he complained, and as he was a living man he would use every effort to see such well-merited punishment inflicted. He begged to read a circular, which was dated "Manchester, March 5, 1842," and was signed "J. Higgins, secretary." The person who signed this letter was the secretary of the branch of the National Anti-Corn-law League established at Manchester, and the circular was forwarded to the members of the League. The letter was as follows:— Dear Sir,—It has been suggested that a declaration by the workmen on each establishment would tend to complete the exposure of Mr. Ferrand's charges; and as a discussion is likely to take place during the early part of the week, it might be well to direct the foremen of works to obtain declarations signed by a few of the men, on behalf of the whole, and to forward them to us at the earliest opportunity "Now where are those declarations?" exclaimed the hon. Member. "Have they appeared?—they have not; and what is the reason?—because the working men have at last shown a proper spirit. They have found that there has been a kind feeling expressed towards them in this House—they have, many of them, written to me, telling me so—they have rebelled against the attempt to make them sign what they knew to be false. This I can prove before any committee that may be appointed. They have had too much respect for themselves, and the position they hold, even as poor working men; they would not sign the declarations, which have not, therefore, been presented. And if they had been presented, I should have been ready for you. You cannot move an inch without my being ready to meet you; and in a way, perhaps, you may not be aware of. 1 have received another letter: listen as I read it, and say if there ever was—in a country professing itself the land of liberty—such a system of fraud and tyranny towards the poor as that which I am exposing. This is from a oor working man:— A statement was put into my hands (which I enclose) from one who holds a station in a cotton-mill, which enables him to know that men are compelled to sign declarations known to be false. Your exposures, Sir, have driven the grinding Anti-Corn-law Leaguers frantic, as they know every charge you have brought against them to be true. Your exhibitions of their fraud and tyranny have delighted working men of all politics, for they know how well founded they are; and they have gone far to abolish the infamous truck system, which is so notorious that the only wonder is, how Members can be hardy enough to deny it. I have a further letter to read, still further exposing this accursed system, which prevails to a frightful extent, and has been carried on by men holding a situation in society which ought to have made them ashamed of such disgraceful proceedings. And I take this opportunity of repeating, that it is my determination fearlessly, in spite of all opposition, to do my utmost to ferret out the whole of this cruel, abominable tyranny, which is practised upon the working classes. I care not by whom—I care not to what party the guilty may belong—I have but one course, a fair and open one, to pursue; that is, to search out with determined resolution, as an independent Member—to search out and expose this system; and when the day comes, after Easter, when I shall move for the committee of inquiry, backed by the enormous mass of evidence which I am daily receiving; and when before that committee there shall come out all the robberies, and plunders, and oppressions which have been and are perpetrated on the manufacturing workmen, the complaints of these unfortunate men will find a response, not only within these walls, but throughout the country. Sir, a magistrate of Lancashire writes to me thus:— A friend begs to state a few facts. A great many convictions have taken place in this district within a very short period for a use of the truck system. At one village, where flannels are made, such is the extent to which it is carried, that a man has been known to go to a barber with a piece of candle instead of a penny, not having even that small coin in his It is hoped, that in order to a complete exposure of these practices, a committee of inquiry may be appointed. I have, Sir, another letter from Chorley, where the hon. Member for Stockport's works are situated, and where he must have known, when the other night he so loudly denied the charges made, that the manufacturers were robbing their men most infamously. The writer says,— The magistrates have convicted some of the chief manufacturers here in penalties to the amount of 25l. for robbing their workpeople by paying them in goods instead of money. The other night, the hon. Member for Stockport said, he had inquired whether in his mills or "printing works" the truck system prevailed, and that he had found it did not, whereas the fact was, that the hon. Member himself kept cows, and forced his people to buy milk from him. Sir, after the statements I have made, I am sure every one will see the propriety of facilitating the inquiry by furnishing the returns for which I beg to move— Copy of all the convictions in the counties of York and Lancaster by magistrates in petty sessions assembled, of persons who have been guilty of illegally paying the wages of their work-people in goods, instead of the current coin of the realm, since the 1st of January, 1835, contrary to the provisions of the Act 1st and 2nd William 4, c. 37.

Motion agreed to.

Adjourned.