§ MR. MUNTZsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If his attention has been called to the different regulations of the Inspectors of Factories, whereby in one town manufactories may work till 8 p.m., and in another only until 6 p.m.; and, if it could not be arranged that the rules should be the same in both districts?
MR. BRUCESir, it is doubtless very desirable, that in the same trades, there should be, as a general rule, uniformity in the hours of labour. But the habits of the workpeople differ in different parts of the country, and absolute uniformity might sometimes be a positive inconvenience. There will in a few days be a Return on the table of the House, showing what modifications of the hours of labour have been allowed in different trades. The subject is a very difficult 1852 one, and is having my anxious attention, with the aid of the Inspectors of Factories.