331.137094 P692 RNS 4) Phen lan for the Retief TRADING AND WORKING CLASSES WHEN OUT OF EMPLOYMENT. SHOWING HOW THE WASTE LANDS IN GREAT BRITAIN AND: IRELAND COULD BE CULTIVATED: WHAT USE GOVERNMENT COULD MAKE OF OUR COLONIAL POSSESSIONS; AND PROVING THAT NO ABLE-BODIED ENGLISH SUBJECT NEED EVER FEEL THE PINCH OF ' HUNGER WHEN HE IS WIL- LING TO WORK. BY M. M. GeV AND LET ‘LIVES LONDON: Kent & Co., Parzrnoster Row. Bata: 8. W. Sms, Georcz Srrunt; anp ALL BooxsuLuers. 1879. sd . PRINTED BY > # & © aa E.R. BLAGKETT, 10, STALL STREET, BAT! wea ¥ Ce Ul 1 ' fod . \ = ’ ‘ sf fh, ' > , ’ hes 4 _ % f ¥ : ' b & Xx ‘ ; . * . i ; * > . k, - : * * t Pea, 1 Raley x a a. - . ‘ shar a = i 4 - i . - ‘ - 4 ' pe 4 Me e —-- ‘ Bt bs ™ i, 2 ra ro w ~ i. “| 53/,/5/07F 6 GF a A o> Sey a hers nee MARGINAL NOTES. The dangerous tendency of the present way of working machinery we Object of the Plan We me 5 . What it would effect What Government must become before the Plan could have any practical existence The result of Government’s past and present policy How Government has allowed compensation for the loss of “property in some cases, but not in others The equivalent which Government ought to give to workmen, whose means of subsistence have been taken from them by improvements in machinery ie < The Colonial possessions of Great Britain What amount of population Great Britain and her Colonies are said to be able to support . The numbers of acres of the waste lands i in Great Britain ‘and Ireland, and a calculation of the number of persons they could support if cultivated. An outline of the proposed scheme for remedyi ing the present distress of the country se : How the waste lands are cultivated in Holland The employment given to the destitute in the cultivation of the waste lands has done away with beggary in Holland . A description of waste lands in Holland before cultivation What is done with the people when they arrive on the waste lands How they are paid : A description of what is done to bring these waste lands into cultivation A description of the arrangements, and how the superintendents are paid A continued description of the arrangements, and how labour is paid.. How the female part of the community are employed and paid > A traveller’s account of the condition of the Dutch Home Colonies, in 1826 A passage from the Quar terly in favour of the system, and showing what good would be effected where required by its adoption What the for egoing quotations prove oe os Propositions The Dutch Home Colonies having proved a suecess, the rules and regulations which have brought this about ought to be caret studied and adopted How the writer proposes the Colonies abroad should iS peopled _ in accordanee with his plan How to extend tle beneficial effects of this scheme oa depressed labour in towns es ie A description of the note system connected with this plan Reasons given for the oS aaigae of this peculiar note system and duties of officials as a ve The outlay and the returns How the adoption of the plan by Government would benefit the labouring classes when out of employment a How needlewomen are depressed, and the consequence .. ay The song of the cheap customer... How this plan, if adopted and carried out by Government, ‘would raise the wages paid to needlewomen, and pe arin benefit them .. How the plan would bring this about How the scheme could be made to raise the wages of ne depressed trades ae ee oe Recapitulation and conclusion rie ce by: PAGE. On He x : ”~ . 4 > j 4 i ¥ 4 F ie é ik , ‘ vi t i a Aer. 2 te ae v yy oy } \ f a ¢ s uy, Fail Octane Hi eg f ir 4 Ae Ne ‘ Fah AEs, jaa > Pet a AY a} 4 - 4- er : ¥ oe ¥ A V Lie , * | ee i of. a ia Pe x r i ae . ‘ re Tap eet ee TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF BEACONSFIELD, K.G. First Lorp or THE TREASURY. My Lorp,—In an old forgotten box containing a number of old letters and papers written between thirty and forty years ago, I found the manuscript of a “ Letter,” written to the late Sir Robert Peel, then prime minister, and, by the date, just before he retired from that office. This manuscript, besides containing a quantity of valuable information on prac- tical matters of that period, elaborates a plan or scheme which I hereby take the liberty of bringing before your lordship’s notice, as it appears to me to be just the ‘‘something”’ that is so much wanted in these threatening times, to act as a sort of national safety valve, to carry off the discontent that is being engendered and pent up in the bosoms of the trading and working classes, owing to their want of employment and the bad prospect before them.* The manufacturing classes, both masters and men, begin to see that Hngland is no longer, and is never again likely to be, the workshop of the world; and the traders are also beginning to perceive that owing to the new phase in distribution, brought about by the Civil Servant’s Co-operative Stores, and the other large co-operative stores that are now starting up in every large town and city in the kingdom, their occu- pation as retail vendors of goods is gradually but surely slipping away from them; they feel a presentiment that they, * The Liberté, after summing up the telegram concerning the “ Terrible military disaster,” of the @lst of January, adds the following paragraph, which shows what our French neighbours think of our present state of things :—‘If we take these disasters in connection with the difficulties England is encountering in Afghanistan, if we reflect that at home Great Britain has to contend with gigantic strikes, such as that at Liverpool, where ten thousand men are out of work, we cannot help pitying our neighbours, and confessing that England is just now passing through a crisis, which, in apite of the apparent quietude of the country, is one of the most arduous in her history.” a The danger- ous ten- dency of the present way of working machinery. 4 who have hitherto been considered and looked upon as the backbone of the country, will in a few years be among those who are at present feeling the pangs of hunger and despair. When this time arrives, my Lord, should it ever come, you must be aware that the intelligence of this class would make them the most dangerous of the dangerous classes, and that they would never rest until a complete change was brought about in-the present constitution of things. Whether this would be desirable in an old country like England is proble- matical. Social improvements are, however, unquestionably desirable—in fact are really necessary, and it is with social matters that this manuscript deals. Trusting your Lordship may think it worth perusing, and may find in it some sugges- tion that may be turned to public account, I proceed at once to lay it before you. Passing certain preliminary remarks to Sir Robert Peel, I shall commence quoting the manuscript from the following paragraph :— The present flush of prosperity brought about by your genius and fortuitous circumstances, I believe no one imagines can be long lived. I shall therefore proceed at once to state what appears to me to be the principal cause of the distress of the working classes, and what I think would prove a remedy. — I belong, Sir Robert, to that increasing class of thinkers who point to machinery as the great cause of the present distressed condition of a large portion of the labouring population. Before the introduction of machinery there was not such extreme wealth in England, nor such extreme poverty. It is the natural tendency of machinery, under the present state of working it, to increase these extremes, to favour capital and to depreciate the value of labour; and it must be apparent to all who give the subject a serious thought, who know that labour is the poor man’s only commodity, that unless some- thing is done to avert the evil, a day will come when, to use the words of your late father, Sir Robert Peel, “that which ought to be Hngland’s greatest blessing, will become her greatest curse.” Itis the business of the wise and good to look into the future and prevent the time ever arriving when it is prognos- ticated that the effects of machinery will be seen in ‘the rich and the poor confronting each other unnaturally, the rich looking upon the poor as their rightful beasts of burden, and the poor glaring upon the rich like gaunt hungry wolves, awaiting the moment when they shall spring at them, and devour them.’ 5 The prevention les in a proper—or at least in a better state of distribution. Let a something be done which will pre- vent the poor from becoming destitute and desperate, and the rich from absorbing all the wealth, and the present institutions of society will in all likelihood remain unaltered for an indefinite period of time. The following plan I believe would do this. Its great object is to save the poorer classes from the dangerous tendency of machinery, and from their being compelled to depend so entirely upon wages, and the fluctuations of trade. It would enable those who are desirous to leave trade for agriculture to do so; it would be found serviceable to those whose trades are fluctuating, and who depend upon fashions and seasons for the exercise of their means of support. Whilst it would do this it would also enrich the property of the country, open new markets to our merchants, and strengthen and popularise the government. It would strengthen the government-by increasing its amount of patronage ; and popu- larize it by enabling it to provide for the employment of the people; and also would enable it to do away with unpopular patronage, as it could transfer ex-officials to new and popular offices. It would require no alteration in existing institutions, and is different to any scheme now propounded to benefit. the working classes. It would be no leveller, but a builder-up; no subtraction, but an addition. ° It is urged by writers on political economy, that a govern- ment should be no creator of capital, that it should not be a merchant nor a manufacturer, an agriculturist nor a land- owner; and that its proper functions are limited to giving protection to persons and property, and freedom to industry. The Plan I am about to submit, however, requires that govern- ment should become a creator of capital; that, if not a mer- chant, it should, at least, be a manufacturer, an agriculturist, and a land owner, in order that it may be able to protect the poor man’s person and property, and give freedom to his industry. Unless a government could consent to become all this, the following Plan could have no existence. Government has hitherto contented itself by keeping to its ascribed functions of giving almost unlimited freedom to in- dustry, and protection to property, especially the property of a capitalist. Labour, the poor man’s only property, it has left to the poor man’s own protection. And how have the working Object of the proposed plan, and what it would effect. What Government must be- come before this plan could bave any practical existence. The result of Govern- ment’s past and present policy. How Gov- ernment has allowedcom- pensation for the loss of property in some cases, but not in others 6 classes benefited by this policy? Alas! their wretchedness as a body proclaims the answer. Capital has brought forward a monster rival whose iron limbs are superseding their human muscles almost in every trade, snatching entirely from the- unfortunate workmen their accustomed means of subsistence, or depreciating the value of those means to a most serious extent. In vain have they struggled by legal and illegal means to pro- tect their property, they are no match for their rival, backed as itis by power and capital, and they sink before it in hopeless destitution. When government, swayed by a noble principle, exercised its power in striking off the fetters from the slave, it gave his master a direct compensation for the loss of his property: when, for the public benefit, it compels the owner of a private mansion to part with the same to a railway company, it compels that company to give a direct compensation to the owner of that mansion. All this is honest andas it should be: but the handloom weaver whose property has, for the public benefit, been depreciated from 30/- per week, which was the sum weavers could earn in 1795, down to 5/6 and 7/- per week in 1844; or the calico printer, in whose trade the cylinder and other improvements connected therewith, enable the capitalist to print as much calico now with one man and a boy as for- merly with the single block system employed 100 men and 100 boys, whilst at the same time, there is a considerable reduction in the wages of the man and boy he does employ; . , or the sawyer, whose labour property by the introduction of the circular saw has been depreciated to more than half its former value ; or the comb maker, whose trade is completely revolutionised by this same saw, so that men who used to get before its introduction 40/-, and in some instances, 60/- per week, are now compelled to accept for the same time and labour about 14/- or 15/-; or the rope makers, nail makers, and many other trades which government, for the public benefit, allows machinery to advance upon, to the ruin, or. partial ruin of the workmen engaged in them, what direct compensation have any of them received for the loss of their property ? An indirect compensation is certainly given, for these parties are enabled, along with the rest of the public, to buy goods cheaper now than they could when they received higher wages; but when we take into consideration the value 7 of the property of which the labourer has been deprived, and the value of the compensation given to him in return for his loss, with the small likelihood from his reduced means of his ever being able to take advantage of this compensation, when these things are taken into consideration, can we say that government has acted towards those whose labour is their property, in the same spirit that it acted towards the slave owner, or as it compels railway companies to act towards owners of mansions ? But, it may be asked, how could government give a direct compensation in such cases as these: what could be given to workmen as an equivalent for their loss? An equivalent, I believe, government cannot give, but I think it is possible for it to give that which the superseded sons of labour have been deprived of, and through want of which they are suffering so severely, that is employment, employment which might not be so lucrative nor so agreeable as that which they may have been accustomed to, but still different to that which is at present provided for them when they become destitute; employment which would not be given as a charity, which breaks the spirit of an honest Englishman to receive, but employment which it will be no disgrace to accept, and which may be resorted to and given up according to the workman’s interest or pleasure. This is all the compensation which I believe government can give, all that workmen could wish it to give ; and this, for the sake of justice, humanity, and sound policy, ought no longer to be withheld. For the government to give employment to the people, according to the Plan which I respectfully submit, it must possess two grand requisites, Jand and capital. With regard: to lard, our vast colonial possessions in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, New Brunswick, West Indies, and the Mauritius, Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, Hong-Kong, and other colonies, show how superabundant are our resources in this requisite. In some of these colonies land is so plentiful that we are told by the annual report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Committee, lately published by the House of Commons, that in the Cape of Good Hope, “the most profuse system of giving away the crown lands has been going on, upwards of 31,000,000 of acres having been disposed of for less than £46,000, in addition to quit rents amounting to £14,000 a year.” The equiva- lent which Government ought togive workmen whosemeans of subsis- tence have been taken from them by improve- ments in machinery, The Colenial possessions of Great Britain. What amount of population Great Brit- ain and her Colonies is said to be able to sup- port. Waste lands in England, Ireland and ales. Capital. . An outline of the pro- posed scheme for remedying the present distress of the country: 8 In a letter on Emigration which lately appeared in a weekly periodical, the following calculation is made: ‘* Great Britain and Ireland comprise an area of 72,119,961, acres, and a population of 26,840,000. The two Canadas, and the ad- joining province of New Brunswick, comprise an area of 210,700,000 acres, and a population of about 1,200,000; that is, there is room in these three colonies, if peopled only in the present proportion of the United Kingdom, for nearly eighty millions of souls more than they now support. These colonies alone would absorb our present annual excess of population— 200,000—for four hundred years.” Besides our colonies there are the waste lands at home which could be turned to immediate account. In every county in England there are waste lands numbering acres from 255 in Northampton to 148,282 in Westmoreland, in all, 1,197,476. In Wales the acreage is from 416 in Merioneth, to 115,106 in Brecknock, in all, 328,972. In Ireland from 123 acres in Carlow, to 15,350 in Galway, in all, 156,466. The waste lands in Scotland are not stated, but in England, Wales, and Ireland, the commons and waste lands amount to 1,683,114 acres. All this shows that Land as a requisite, at home and in our colonies, is superabundant. As to the second requisite, Capital, if government sanctions a fund for the carrying out of the Plan proposed, money to any amount would be forthcoming by offering a fair percentage for its loan. It could be repaid by the proceeds of the sale of lands in our colonies, after having been brought into a state of cultivation, and by the annual savings that would be effected in the poor rates. I shall now, sir, proceed to give a general idea of my scheme, and then go into details. The following is a brief outline, subject, of course, to amendments: 1. That government create an institution for the purpose of employing all the superfluous labour that desires employment throughout the country. 2. That this labour be employed principally on the waste lands of Great Britain and Ireland, and in our colonies. 3. That the labour consist principally in cultivating the soil, in building, in manufacturing agricultural imple- ments, in making household goods and wearing apparel. 4, That this institution have a bank and a paper cur- rency of its own. 9 5. Thatasa general rule all labour employed by it be paid with its own notes. 6. That depdts or stores be opened in all cities and towns throughout the three kingdoms, at which depots or stores the institution notes be exchanged for provisions and goods. 7. That these notes be legal tender only at the institu- tion’s establishments on the waste lands, or the institution’s establishments in the colonies, or at the institution’s depots in cities and towns. 8. That a limited time be fixed for the circulation of each note, and that these notes be cancelled as soon as they have been exchanged for goods at the institution’s establish- ments. 9, That the institution supply its stores with agricul- tural implements, artizan’s tools, furniture, wearing apparel, and food, by the labour, as much as possible, of those who apply for employment. 10. That should goods accumulate in the stores at any time beyond the demand, they be sold to the general public by auction, and the proceeds sent to the institution’s fund. 11. That whenever practicable, all labour employed by the institution, with the exception of officials, be paid by the piece. 12. That the means for carrying on all the institution’s operations, until, like the postal scheme, it becomes self- _ supporting, be provided by government. 13. That it be named The National Industrial Home and Foreign Colonization Institution. 14. That it be managed by a President and Board of Directors, who shall have the appointments of Commissioners Bankers, Governors, &c. 15. That the President be a Minister of the Crown. I have here, sir, attempted to give a brief outline of the scheme. To make it clearly understood, however, it will be necessary for me to go more into particulars. First then, with regard to the proposed works on the waste lands. A private individual like myself, accustomed more to theory than to practice, can hardly be expected to point out the most practical method of bringing the waste lands into cultivation. Outline of the proposed plan. An account of how the waste lands are culti- vated in Holland. The employ- ment given to the desti- tute in the cultivation of the waste lands has done away with beg- gary in that country. A descrip- tion of the waste lands before culti- vation, 10 Should the idea be considered practical, when the time arrives, if it ever does, of turning it into account, practical advice on this and other heads, could be easily had from practical minds. All I undertake to do is to propose certain arrangements which I believe should and could be made on the waste lands, in conjunction with similar arrangements in other places, all which arrangements form my system or scheme for giving employment to the unemployed. As I desire, sir, to base my scheme upon actual data, I shall, at the risk of repeating to you matter with which you are already acquainted, make a few extracts from works which enlarge upon the great practical fact which is to be witnessed in Holland where the waste lands are being brought into cultivation. Much valuable information concerning this subject is to be had in a work entitled “ An Account of a Visit to the Dutch Home Colonies of Frederick’s Oord, Willem’s Oord, and Veenhausen, in the autumn of 1838, with notices of their present state and future prospects, by a member of the Agricultural Employment Institution.” This author shows that the attempt, begun in 1818 by the ‘‘ Society called the Beneficence,” which is aided by the government of Holland, and which has for its object the supporting and em- ploying of the pauper families in the fertilization and cultivation of the poor soils of that country, has been eminently successful. He tells us that in 1833, fifteen years after the experiment had been begun, “ Beggary and mendicity seem to have disap- peared,” that “in a journey of nearly 500 miles, the writer noticed only three little boys asking for charity, one at Rotterdam and two at Delph, although previously to the establishment of the Home Colonies he was assured that the country swarmed with beggars, produced by previous reyo- lutions or alterations of the government, and years of mercantile depression, to such a degree that they had become an absolute nuisance, anda fearful annoyance to the rest of the community.” The society, which in so short a time produced such results, began its operations upon “a tract of poor sandy heath and bog land.” ‘ Indeed,” says a writer in the Quarterly Review, “the enlightened founder of these institutions: appears de- signedly to have avoided the selection of a district which presented any peculiar facilities for his experiment. He placed his colonists on a barren heath situated at a distance from all the great towns and populous districts of the country, and he 11 has proved that, spite of every local disadvantage, any number of human beings applying their muscular powers to the culti- vation of the soil, may secure to themselves every article of subsistence.” “The mass of these colonists,” observes the same writer, “‘ consists of artizans and mechanics, thrown out of employment by the fluctuations and mutations of commerce; they are principally the besotted and brutalized inhabitants of large towns; and on their first arrival are found generally covered with filth and rags. As soon as they reach their destination, their livery of woe and want is exchanged for a comfortable and durable suit of habiliments, and a regular supply of daily food is measured out. But the pickaxe and spade are at the same moment put into their hands, and they are instantly set to work in order to reproduce the food which they consume, and pay for the garments with which they have been furnished. It is indeed surprising, as well as pleasing, to observe how soon the offscourings of towns and manufactories can, by proper regulations, be converted into laborious and persevering delvers of the ground. Assured of subsistence, and stimulated by a regular demand for their labour, they set about and pro- secute their rural avocations with the greatest goodwill and alacrity.” Every kind of labour in these colonies is paid by the piece. This arrangement has the effect of dispensing with a deal of superintendence, and makes the colonists “ industrious, clever, and alert.” “But,” observes the writer, “the cardinal hinge on which the success of these establishments depends, is the indefatigable industry employed in increasing the stock of manure.’ Hach family is compelled to provide a certain number of tons of a compost, the effects of which prove it to be of a very enriching quality. When the colonists have destroyed the peat, and mixed the sand of one stratum, the clay of another, and this compost together, they form a perfectly new soil,—so that these once uncultivated heaths, which, in their natural state in 1817, were considered the most barren, not only in the Netherlands, but probably in all Europe, are now valuable and productive, and even in 1829, were able to support thirty thousand persons. The spade and the hoe are the only im- plements used. The arrangement of superintendence is very What is done with the people when they arrive on the waste lands. How they are paid. A descrip- tion of what is done to bring the waste lands into cultiva tion, A descrip- tion of the arrange- ~ ments and how the superinten- dents are paid. A continued description of the ar- rangements and how . labour is paid. 12 simple and effective. An establishment is placed under the superintendence: of a superior director ; over 100 families: pre- sides a sub-director. These are again divided into 25 families, over whom a quarter-master is appointed. The quarter is also sub-divided into two sections, at the head of which is placed a section master—a practical cultivator, whose province it is, both by example and instruction, to direct those under his command in the proper: performance of any work which they may be required to execute. The inferior officers are paid on the system of piece-work, for each of the quarter-masters receives fourpence a week, besides his regular emoluments, for every family under his care and instruction, provided he attends to them in such a manner that their land is properly cultivated, their stock in a state of improvement, and that they live pru- dently, not getting behind hand, but paying to the society the required portion of the expense of their establishments. “Jn 1826 the number of beggars settled at Ommerchans, pursuant to an order from government that ‘all paupers in the public workhouses, who had no bodily infirmity, and were capable of undergoing the fatigue of working in the fields, should be sent to the colonies; and that the contract price for their maintenance should be paid by those communities where the paupers had obtained their last domicile,’ amounted to thirteen hundred, consisting of about equal portions of men and women. Their lodging rooms form a quadrangular building of great extent; at a short distance from the entrance there is a guard-house, where a company of soldiers do duty; but beyond the mere act of mounting guard, their services have never been-required. Hach colonist receives on entry a supply of every necessary article of clothing. They are divided into classes, and employed according to their age and strength, either in domestic or field labour ; a certain sum is fixed which a member of each class must earn every day, and for which he receives one plentiful meal from the kitchen of the establish- ment; all beyond this must be paid for by extra labour; each individual is left to his own discretion as to the quantity of ° extra work he may choose to execute, and, if of an industrious turn, he can with ease earn two or three times the minimum amount fixed by the regulation. Any surplus which the colonist may have earned beyond the expense of his subsistence is divided into three parts; one of these is immediately paid to 13 him to be disposed of at his pleasure, another is kept in reserve for him until he leaves the colony, and the last third is trans- ferred to the society to meet various incidental expenses, par- ticularly the support of those, who, without any fault of their own, have been prevented from earning their maintenance. “The total expense to place a family in a farm in English money was as follows: Sone. Building each house 41 1 Furniture and ea 8 Clothing 12 1 ‘Two Cows, or one Cow and ten Sheep rv Cultivation and Seed, Ist year 33 Advances in Provisions .. AE 4 Advances in other kinds .. 4 Flax and Wool to be spun 16 8 Seven acres uncultivated land 1 CORR RMOCOMAS 3 6 0 0 6 3 3 3 6 £141 13 4 The estimate is between £22 and £23 for each individual, and they are expected to repay it to the society in rent and labour, besides maintaining themselves, in about sixteen years. The following are the sums of produce and expenditure for each family for one year : Total Produce Ae £47 16 0 Expenses, including rent, about 12/- an acre.. 39 11 8 Surplus each year, £8 3 4 The desire of gain, and the approbation of the superin- tendents are, in general, found to be sufficient encouragement both to industry and good conduct. The female part of the community are generally employed either in the necessary domestic affairs of their households, or in spinning and weaving; the wool and flax used in these operations are at the beginning purchased by the society, and given out by weight to the female colonists, but as each colony advances, its raw materials are obtained from their own sheep and flax fields. The children, also, except during the hours which they spend at school, are employed in such occupations as suit their age and strength; both they and their mothers, like the men, being paid according to the exact quantity of the work which they have performed. ““¢ On the first arrival of a family in the colony,’ observes the writer on the subject first quoted, ‘the men and women are taught (if not previously conversant with it) the colonial ‘method of spade agriculture. The women and girls who How the female part of the com- munity are employed and paid, A traveller’s account of the condi- tion of the DutchHome Colonies in 1826. A passage ' from the Quarterli in. favor of the system, and _ showing what good would be effected when re- quired by its adoption. 14 who require instruction, are also taught knitting, spinning, and the lighter labours of the garden and dairy ; and before the family can obtain possession of a cottage, it is a rule, that the females, if ignorant, should be instructed in cookery and household work, in a cleanly and economical manner. The superintendent informed the writer that a very short time sufficed for the attainment of these qualifications, by teaching one thing at a time under particular superintendence,” A traveller who visited these colonies in 1826 thus speaks of their condition : ‘The crops were luxuriant, the people healthful, and the houses comfortable. Several of the colonists had acquired considerable property. Many gardens were planted with cur- rant bushes, pear and apple trees, and tastefully ornamented with flowers. Additional live stock, belonging to the colonists themselves, was pointed out, and around not a few of the houses lay webs of linen bleaching which had been woven, on their own account, by persons. who only four years before were among the outcasts of society. The families found at dinner had quite the appearance of wealthy peasants, and from the quantity and the quality of the food before them, they might have been considered as not inferior to the smaller tenantry of the country.” T shall conclude this hasty sketch of the Dutch Home Colonies with quoting the following passage from the Quar- terly, “There seems to be no doubt, that under the extended influence of these institutions, idleness, and consequently want, will disappear from the Low Countries ; the population which can find no employment in the towns, will gradually migrate into country districts, until at length, every acre of land capable of being rendered fertile by human industry, shall have been brought under tillage. The removal of this surplus and un- occupied population has proved also, in the highest degree, beneficial to those who still continue to pursue mechanic and manufacturing industry ; freed from the rivalry and competi- tion which formerly injured them, they now obtain constant employment, and earn good wages. It is not the least impor- tant of the results arising from these establishments, that the produce gained by the colonists from the barren wastes exceeds in value the amount of wages which, with equal labour, they earned in the most flourishing period of manufacturing pros- 15 perity. Hence it is manifest that, wherever this system shall be adopted, the wages of manufacturing labour cannot fall below the amount of what the workman could secure to him- self by bestowing his industry on the cultivation of the soil. The reward of industry comes to be measured by the bounty of nature, and is no longer curtailed or annihilated by the opera- tion of injudicious or perverse institutions of human fabric.” Sir, among other things the above quotations show— Ist, That well directed labour, with modern discoveries, can bring wastes into cultivation which have been condemned as unproductive for centuries. 2nd, That where wastes are plentiful in a country, the government of that country may, without any ultimate loss to the public treasury, but rather a great ultimate gain, make them the means of employing the superfluous labour of the country. With these facts before us as guides, I venture on the fol- lowing propositions : Ist, That large tracts of cultivatable land now lying waste in different parts of the country be bought up by government to commence operations upon. 2nd, That a colony or township be begun on every 3000 or 4000 acres, or less where so much land cannot be purchased in one locality. 3rd, That in each colony or township, buildings be erected for public workshops for light and heavy trades, also a store or warehouse, a director’s house and offices, and a large quad- rangular building, as at Ommerchans, consisting of dormitories, dining hall, kitchen, &c. 8rd, That all labour applying for employment in these colonies be paid by the piece, and with industrial notes; but all labour employed by government (public officers and others) be paid with the regular coin of the country. 5th, That there be a director for each township with a body of handicraft and agricultural superintendents on a similar scale and paid in coin, and in a similar manner to those in the Dutch colonies. 6th, That where there are more than one township in a county or locality, a principal director be appointed who shall have the engaging and superintending of other directors, and be held responsible for their conduct and abilities. What the above quotations prove. Propositions The Dutch Home Colo- nies having proved a success, the rules and regulations which have brought this about ought to be care- fully studied and adopted 16 7th, That when the site of a township has been surveyed, and the principal buildings erected, when the workshops are furnished with tools and implements for labour, when the store is stocked with raw materials, provisions, é&c., and the agricul- tural and trades superintendents are engaged, the note system (afterwards to be explained) be commenced, and employment be given (as far as can be given in one township) to all who apply for it. Sth, That artizans and mechanics be employed in their res- pective occupations if there should be a demand for their particular kinds of labour, in which case they be paid the regular wages given in towns; but if there be no demand they be employed on the land like agricultural labourers, at the usual remunerative price given for that kind of labour. 9th, That, as in the Dutch colonies, a regulation amount of labour be fixed for ‘‘a plentiful meal from the kitchen ’’—all labour done after this be divided, as in those colonies, into three parts, “one of these to be paid immediately to the labourer to be disposed of at his pleasure: another to be kept for him until he leaves the colony: the last to be transferred to a fund to meet various incidental expenses, particularly the support of those, who, without any fault of their own, have been prevented from earning their maintenance.” 10th, That as soon as cottages can be built, and small farms put into a condition to be occupied, they be tenanted upon similar conditions to the cottages in the Dutch Home Colonies, the rents to be paid to the government. As the Dutch Home Colonies have become a successful ex- periment, it appears advisable that they should be made a model for a similar experiment in this country, and that, as nearly as the proposed scheme would admit of, their rules and arrangements should be adopted. And so that every particular concerning them should be known, a properly qualified person or persons should be commissioned by government to go and obtain the necessary information on the spot, and, if possible, induce one or more of the directors of the Society of the Bene- ficence, to come over to this country and undertake the super- intendence of practical operations on our waste lands. I shall presently speak of Town Hstablishments and show how this scheme could be put in practice in accordance with the proposed National Industrial Plan. 17 Before going into details about the note system and other matters, I shall proceed to show how, in accordance with this Plan, I should propose the colonies abroad should be peopled. Ist, The President and Board should send and select a large tract of country in some of the British possessions on which to begin operations. 2nd, They should then send over an able body of pioneers, surveyors, architects, builders, carpenters, labourers, &c., under the direction and superintendence of the future governor, to erect similar buildings to those proposed to be erected on the home colonies on the waste lands, with the addition, as speedily as the nature of the land would admit, of superior dwelling houses and cottages, leaving a piece of land attached to each for a farm of from nine to one hundred or more acres. 8rd, Along with the first body of emigrants sent out there _ should be superintendents of different’ trades: also all sorts of necessary raw materials for the workshops, and manufactured goods for the store. As soon as the governor could get the several departments into proper working order, gold payments for labour (except for officials) should be stopped, and the note system commenced. Workmen who had gone out with the How the writer pro- poses the Colonies should be peopled in accordance * with his plan. governor, and who were desirous of returning to England, _ should be allowed a free passage back. This. prospect would induce good workmen to accompany such a pioneering party to a new colony. Ath, Included in every body of emigrants sent out by govern- ment should be a certain number of artizans and common labourers who should be allowed a free passage to the colony, on condition that they first entered into an agreement that they would pay to government a certain quantity of labour as an equivalent for their free passage and the benefits they would receive when they landed, and that they should continue entirely in the government employment for twelve months from the time they landed. In the course of the twelve months the equivalent should be deducted by instalments from their weekly earnings. This would ensure the governor a sufficient quantity of labour at all times to carry forward his operations. If there should be, at certain seasons of the year, an extra demand for labour in the colony, he might let out these free passage emigrants—if there were a surplus of them—at so much per day, paying half of the earnings to the labourer. wire ks, Free passage volunteer emigrants should be selected by the English Waste Land Directors from, among those whom they had reason to believe were honest and industrious. dth, Five, ten, or twenty thousand acres should constitute a township, and a director should be appointed by the governor. 6th, If forest land, after the wood was cleared, farm houses, and cottages should be built, and acres apportioned, according to the size of the houses or cottages. This would. give work to various kinds of labour and increase the value of the land. 7th, Governors should have the letting and selling of these buildings and farms to whoever came forward to buy or rent them, taking gold or industrial notes as payment.- The pro- ceeds going of course to government. : 8th, As early as possible similar buildings to those on the waste lands at home should be erected, and for similar pur- poses. 9th, All the agricultural implements and workmen’s tools used in the establishments, or goods sold in the stores, should, as far as possible, be the produce or manufacture of the insti- tution’s workmen on the spot, or of its work people on the waste _ lands of England. I presume, sir, I have now said enough to enable you to form some idea of the manner in which the proposed scheme would people the colonies at home and abroad. Hverything would be done systematically, orderly, and upon the principle of centralization. It is, however, necessary that the whole scheme should be fairly laid before you to enable you to fully comprehend the foregoing particulars. I hasten therefore to do so in as brief a manner as the nature of the subject will admit. I trust the following details will not be found tedious. Many of them might perhaps be dispensed with, but it is my wish to be minute in order that I may show how easily, as it appears to me, the scheme might be worked, and how simple it is in its construction. I have proposed in the outline that the institution supply its stores at home and abroad with agricultural implements, artizan’s tools, articles of common furniture, wearing apparel, and food, through the medium, as much as possible, of the ‘labour of those who apply for employment; still there are many of these things, such as shirts and underclothing, which © 19 for want of hands could not be manufactured on the waste lands, for it is hardly to be expected that seamstresses and others of that class would care to leave their homes in towns to go to the waste lands. To supply this deficiency and extend the beneficial effects of this scheme to such classes, I should propose— Ist, That the government depdts or stores mentioned in the outline be, in certain towns as may be required, enlarged so as to comprise workshops for light trades, provision Tate a bazaar, a warehouse, rooms for offices, and Ca governor's apartments. 2nd, That the business of these eee e be conducted by a governor, a deputy governor, a cashier, clerks, superin- tendents of trades, sellers, &c. 8rd, That the trades employed in these establishments be principally light skilled common trades, such as tailors, shoe- makers, needlewomen, &c. _ _ 4th, That all work people whomay apply for work and be employed in these establishments be paid with the industrial notes at so much per job. 5th, That these notes be considered legal tender for twelve months from the date of payment in any of the institution’s establishments throughout the country, or any of these estab- lishments in the colonies abroad. | 6th, That no coin be taken at any of the town establishments nor at the establishments on the waste lands, excepting for In the colonies abroad coin would be taken for land, rent. labour, and rent, but never if possible for provisions nor manufactured goods. certain extent any competition with merchants and traders. 7th, That these notes be bound in covers, each book con- taining, say, one thousand notes. 8th, That there be only three values of notes, namely ; three penny notes, sixpenny notes, and shilling notes. 9th, That the notes be printed with some striking device, which should be changed at the beginning of every year, so that the notes of each year should present a decidedly different appearance to the notes of a previous year. 10th, That the notes be worded something after this manner, according to their values— This arrangement would prevent to a How to extend the beneficial effects to this scheme to depressed labour in towns. A descrip- tion of the note system counected with this Plan. 20 No. 15000 ONE SHILLING NOTE No. 15000. Issued from the National Industrial Home and Foreign Colonization Institution's Establishment (Salsbury), on this (first) day of (November), 1846. The bearer of this Note is entitled to the value of ONE SHILLING, at any of the above Institution’s Establishments in Great Britain and Ireland, or in the above Institution’s Colonial Establishments abroad for TWELVE MONTHS from this date, after which this Note wll be valueless. (Nov. 1st, 1846), value ceases (Nov. 1st, 1847). Signed Charles Knight, G.N.LH.F.C.I., C.B. James Colmer, G.N.ILH.F.C.L., 8.P. These initials stand for Governor of the National Industrial Home and pean Colonization Institution. C.B. for Central Bank. S.P. for Salisbury ain. 11th, That all notes sent from the Central Bank to the different establishments be numbered and bear the signature of the Governor of the Bank: and when issued from any of the establishments each petty governor or director supply to each note he issues the date, his signature, and the name and initial of the town or home colony from whence the note is being issued. So also with those issued from the institution’s colo- nies abroad. + 12th, That when the owner of a note takes it to be exchanged for goods to any of the institution’s stores, or to stores in towns sanctioned by the institution to take these notes as legal tender, he or she must take out the full value of the nofe so that no change will be required. Afterwards the note will be given to to the cashier, who, after taking particulars, will cancel it. 13th, That the sellers keep a strict account of the number of notes and their values, that they daily place in the hands of the cashier. 14th, That the cashier keep a strict account of the number of notes, with the particulars, that he receives from each seller. 15th, That the Deputy Governor take stock at least once a week to see what remains in the store of the old stock, and what is in hand of the stock added that week, so that when he compares the seller’s and cashier’s books he may know exactly how the business goes on in each department. 16th, That all orders for notes from the Governor of the Home and Colonial Establishments be sent to the London Central Bank. _ | 17th, That Directors in the home and foreign colonies be supplied with note books by their respective governors, to whom they must daily forward the notes and their values, that they may have that day issued, also the cancelled notes 21 that they may have that day received, with the particulars as to numbers and values: which particulars with the cancelled notes, the governors must forward to London, where the notes will be sorted by properly initiated clerks in some simple method, to show how many of each value have been issued from each establishment on a given day, and also how many have been returned cancelled. T trust, sir, | have been able to make you comprehend this note system. I have two reasons for proposing this peculiar system ; the first is, the many inconveniences attached to the holding of such notes, such as the being obliged to go to only, Say, one place in a town to get them exchanged for goods ; the being obliged to exchange them within a given time, and other inconveniences, will serve to prevent all those who can get work elsewhere from applying for work at the establish- ments. ‘This will prevent labour from becoming too indepen- dent of capital, whilst at the same time, if it does not mind putting up with the inconveniences, it need never allow itself to be oppressed by capital. My second reason is to ensure the custom of all the applicants who may be employed through the scheme, so that their produce may be disposed of without bring- ing it into the market to depreciate the value of that of the in- dependent workman. On analyzing this scheme it will be found that I have never lost sight of the two essential points which writers on political economy insist that those who would provide employment for the unemployed should keep constantly in view, namely, not to augment the number of the pauper or dependent class of labourers; and not to resort to any expe- dient which may lessen the amount of work already in existence for the employed and independent class of workpeople.”’ A great many pages of the mannscript are here taken up explaining the duties of ‘‘ Commissioners, Governors, Superin- tendents, Bankers, Cashiers, Clerks,’ and other matters of detail, but I fear they would prove tedious, I therefore pass on to where the writer again addresses Sir Robert Peel, as follows:— “Tam not prepared, Sir Robert, to say what outlay would be required to put such a plan into operation. Neither could I take upon me to assert that the profits, which would be derived principally from rents at home, and the sale of lands and buildings in the colonies, would for some years cover the outlay... Here, from your great practical knowledge, you are, Reasons given for the necessity of this peculiar note system The outlay and returns, How the adoption. of the plan by povernment would bene- fit the labouring classes when out of em- ployment. : : 1846 ow needle- women are depressed, and the consequence ‘I allude to the suffering seamstresses. 22 better able to form an opinion than I am. But, sir, even should you consider it would be an expensive remedy, and for some years perhaps a losing one, still I trust you will weigh against this the great advantages which would accrue to the public in general, and the working classes in particular, — its being put into operation. Would you ask, Sir Robert, what advantage this plan would be to those employed’in mining, quarrying, building, agriculture, and the fisheries: I answer, when those employed in the four first occupations are in distress, it is principally because the supply of labour is greater than the demand ; bad seasons and their own improvidence bring distress upon fisher- men. All these bodies, however, are accustomed to hard labour, and could all find ample employment as day or piece labourers on the waste lands, if they had no desire to emigrate, until there was a more profitable demand for them in their own occupations. Look at the multitudes of Irish peasantry who spread themselves over England and Scotland at harvest time. The money they take back with them to Ireland when the harvest is over helps to keep them for months. So would it be with those employed for a season on the waste lands. The notes they would send home to their families, or that they would carry home in their pockets, though of course not many, — would still enable them to keep the ‘ che from the door,’ until they could better themselves. One class of persons who are at present acdieee much public interest and sympathy might be permanently benefited. According to the évidence collected by R. D. Grainger, Hsq., in the millinery and dressmaking business, there are in the cities of London and Westminster 1500 dressmakers who carry on business for their own profits, and these 1500 employ 15,000 females at their places of business, besides journeywomen who labour at their own homes, aided by their assistants. “The better order of dressmakers, subject, “labour sometimes from fifteen to sixteen hours a day for which their pay is not more than two shillings; and on this slender pittance these girls must manage to subsist, in a city. where food, clothing, and lodging are more expensive than in any other city in the world. And but few of them com- paratively are paid even so much as this small pittance. The ” says a writer on this 23 majority do not make more than one shilling a day ; and those who confine themselves to such inferior kind of work as shirt making, stay making, shoe binding, &c., cannot earn more on an average than sixpence a day, and for this they: work from fifteen to eighteen hours! Are we to wonder that the girls engaged in this miserably remunerated employment, so often start aside from it and embrace the temptations which wealth and passion are so ready to hold out to them? Alas! our streets are strewed with their piteous wrecks !”’ In the report of the society for the prevention and suppres- sion of juvenile prostitution for 1856-37, it is stated that not less than 80,000 prostitutes exist in London; that “8000 die every year,” and that ‘“‘ the number is on the increase.” ‘Not only insufficient remuneration, but want of employment is a great source of this most melancholy evil, as the following graphic sketch from Symon’s “Arts and Artizans,” clearly demonstrates. Mr. Symons accompanies the captain of the police one night in an excursion through the wynds of Glasgow in search of a housebreaker. After describing the loathsome abodes in that locality, he tells that “the number of young girls who carry on the trade of prostitution is exceedingly great; almost every lodging house and a number of the single rooms are open or devoted to this abominable traffic of prosti- tution.” ‘In one of these places,” he says, “a girl, whose red cheeks announced her freshness in the vortex, attracted the practical eye of the superintendent. ‘Who are you, lassie?’ he enquired, and the girl turned her head away and tried to hide her face, while her female companions looked on with the brazenfacedness which 4 month’s practice in profligacy aptly teaches. Her story was soon elicited: she was fresh from the Highlands. Glasgow was a mine of wealth; she came to seek - service and high wages: she obtained a miserable place, was turned out for some trivial fault, was thrown on the town, was starving, and was there. And there she must remain, like tens of thousands before her and tens of thousands to come, till her brief career of vice, drunkenness, disease, and starva- tion, exhaust their rapid rotation, and end in death. “A dozen sometimes in a day, of these poor things,” said Captain Miller, ‘‘ come to me to beg for honest employment, but what ean I do? the factories are all overstocked, the benevolent institutions would not contain one hundredth part of them; 24 besides, they have no characters, and if they had, there is no employment.” Yes, want of employment, and insufficient wages when employed, are the great sources of prostitution. Mr. Symons says, “the number of women who perish by prostitu- tion in this country exceeds that of any other country in the whole world, by at least three to one in proportion to the population.” Want of employment and insufficient remuneration are caused, first, by the comparatively few outlets there are for female labour; second, by the great competition among them- selves to obtain at any sacrifice the work that is to be had ; and third, by the advantage which their employers and the public take of their helpless condition. The great body of the public, without any moral sense of right or wrong, and hugging themselves in their cold-hearted economical policy, have approved of and acted on the senti- ments of the following “ Song of the Cheap Customer.” “¢ Hurrah for cheap clothing ! I want not to know How the work or material was got; If the article’s good, and the figure is low, For the wherefore I care not a jot. ‘¢ Hurrah for the Saxony coat superfine, Which I buy for about two pounds ten! If Theft furnished the cloth, ’tis no business of mine; If starvation the stitching—what then? ‘¢ And hurrah for the shirt, for whose purchase I pay From a couple of shillings to three, Wrought by famishing Need at sixpence a day; What on earth can that matter to me? “¢ That to clothe me the skin-flint and swindler combine, Is a fact 1 don’t ponder about ; And that thousands in hunger and wretchedness pine, I regard their employer’s look out. <¢ To procure all my goods at the lowest of shops, * Is the course that I mean to pursue ; Then hurrah for low tailors and sellers of slops ! Be they Heathen, or Christian, or Jew!”’ This, sir, is the spirit that has actuated, is actuating, and “will continue to actuate the great majority of the public, and some other means than a vain attempt to infuse a more just and generous spirit must be tried if we would snatch our unfortunate countrywomen from destitution and infamy. Individual benevolent exertions and associations for the aid and benefit of a particular class of the poor, are un- doubtedly excellent and productive of much good, but it is 25 government alone which can apply the remedy that will effectively and permanently relieve the labouring’ classes. Small associated bodies, however good their intentions, have not the means of being beneficial to the extent that is required. Would that I could convince you, Sir Robert, and the other benevolent spirits of the age, who are striving in different chan- nels to ameliorate the condition of the poor that no effectual good ‘can be done until government comes forward with its almost omnt- potent influence, and makes the cause its own. Could my inexpe- rienced pen induce it to adopt the comprehensive scheme which these pages put forward, it might at all times give employment not only to one or two distressed branches of labour, but to the members of all when their particular callings failed them. This scheme could also be made one which would enable government to raise and sustain any depressed business which avarice and competition had struck to the earth. For example, I will take the class I have just been commenting upon, namely, milliners and dressmakers, and will show how it could be made to remedy the three evils of which they complain—long hours, insufficient renwneration, and want of employment. Supposing the scheme adopted, and government had establishments on the waste lands of England, Ireland, and Scotland, also in all our large towns and cities, and in some of our different colo- nial possessions—Canada, New Zealand, and other places— all going on in the systematic manner I have laid down, and which might all be effected in a few years. Supposing there - were a million of individuals in its employ receiving for their labour the kind of notes I have planned for the scheme, the Board would only have to direct its President to proclaim to the different governors of bazaars in the large cities that government wanted six million shirts put in hand immediately, which would be six shirts per person, and that a certain sum in notes would be paid for each shirt, also that each individual maker should be limited to making only a certain number of shirts per week. Suppose that the government price in notes for shirtmaking were to be fixed at a one shilling note for common shirts, and notes to the amount of two and sixpence for superior shirts ; and suppose also that the maker of common ‘shirts was limited to making only ten shirts a week, and the maker of superior shirts to four. This would allow each indi- vidual shirtmaker to earn to the value of ten shillings per week. How this Plan, if adopted and carried out by govern- ment, would raise the wages paid to needle- women and permanent- ly benefit them, How to bring about the remedy. 26 Now, as common shirts are at present made at the rate of three a day, and superior ones at the rate of one a day, or a day and a quarter, it will be seen that the makers could perform their tasks easily without being necessitated to work late hours. Here then two evils would be remedied, namely, late howrs and insufficient remuneration. Suppose that 15,000 females were engaged to execute this order—5000 to make the superior shirts and 10,000 to make the common shirts—this would give constant employment to them both for fifty weeks. When shirtmaking establishments in towns found that their needlewomen had taken advantage of the government order, and had gone to work for its establishments, they would see that they must offer as high as government to get their workers back again, and thus would the remedy be effected, thus would government be in the sublime position of being able to say to Competition, “so far shalt thou go, but no further.” Shirtmaking is the simplest part of the business of needlework. Any dressmaker or milliner could make a shirt, but every shirtmaker could not make a dress or a bonnet. By raising the wages and pre- venting the over-toiling of shirtmakers, therefore, you raise the wages and improve the condition of dressmakers, milliners, shoebinders, and the whole body of the badly paid female population, for it would be their own fault if they continued to toil late and early for a low remuneration, or become im- moral in the slack time of their business, when they could always earn ten shillings, or value to that amount, per week at shirtmaking. Government would be years before it got its order executed, for shirtmakers, like other labourers, would prefer the contractor’s gold to the government’s labour notes, but its object would be gained when it saw the evils which at present result from long hours, insufficient remuneration, and want of employment, so effectually obviated. I have said six millions of shirts to show how many shirts . the institution could have made before it became overstocked with this article supposing not one of them was sold in the- interim, and. also to show the time that with the proposed limitation it would take to have such a number made; but the same good could be effected were the President only to give the order that for the future shirtmakers would be paid so much for the making of superior, and so much for the making: of inferior shirts, and that no individual shirtmaker would be: allowed to make more than a certain number per week. 27 What might thus be effected for depressed needlewomen could be also effected for any other depressed occupation. Take by way of illustration tailors and agricultural labourers. Tt is stated that in London policemen’s trousers are made for jiwepence per pair. Supposing a man or woman made three pairs of such trousers per day, at the end of a week he or she would have earned only seven and sizpence. Were government to consider this an insufficient remuneration, and that exactly double this sum would not be too much for such labour, it would only have to order that tenpence in notes per pair be in future paid at the establishments for the making of such trousers, and that no individual tailor or tailoress be allowed to make more than three pairs ina day. This would ensure at all times to the most depressed member of that trade notes to the amount of fifteen shillings per week. Again, in agricultural districts, especially in some parts of England, the average sum paid to labourers for their week’s toil seems to be about seven or eight shillings, with certain perquisites. Were government to decide that no industrious man should have less than, say, twelve shillings per week in this country, it need only order that the prices for agricultural piece work in home and foreign colonies shall be on such a liberal scale that any able bodied industrious man might easily earn this sum or value to that amount in a week. As constant employment, either at home or abroad, would be provided for all who applied, farmers would be compelled to raise the wages of their labourers to keep them from the waste lands, or from emigration to the institution’s colonies; and thus would govern- ment be able to act the part of a great benefactor to a most useful and wretchedly depressed class. While government would thus be the first to raise the wages of depressed labourers, men and women, it should be the last to raise the prices of its commodities. When all other sellers of shirts and trousers had raised the prices of their articles, then should government follow their example. It should make up its mind to sustain a loss until that time arrived, which would be almost as soon as those parties became aware of the order issued by government. In conclusion, Sir Robert, let me direct your attention to the immense saving in the poor rates, which the carrying out of this scheme would, after a few years, be the means of 1$46. How the scheme could be made to raise the wages of other depressed trades. Recapitula- tion and. conclusion. 28 effecting ; also to the markets at home and abroad it would be the means of creating for British manufacture; also to the millions upon millions of acres of land at home and in our colonies that are now little better than wastes, which it would be the means of bringing into cultivation and rendering valuable; also to the inducements it would hold out to every British subject to become industrious, and the opportunity it would give to the industrious to become comfortable; also to the preventive it would be to crime, by placing the impoverished and broken-down in character in better circumstances, and thereby saving to the country a great portion of the immense sum which is now annually expended in its prosecution. Con- sider also the truly paternal character it would give to govern- ment, which, while it provided for the wants of the people, would be enabled to bring them more under its influence, and greatly increase its power and popularity. Think also on the many beneficial measures for the advancement of our commerce which might then be safely advocated and carried into opera- tion without fear of the result of so much superseded labour being thrown into the market by foreign competition. And, lastly, Sir Robert, reflect on the millions of the working and trading classes which, in the course of time, this scheme would provide with employment: and. the thousands upon thousands of the middle and educated classes who are now starving in the professions, who could then be profitably employed as Governors, Directors, Commissioners, Bankers, Clergymen, . Surgeons, Schoolmasters, Clerks, Sellers, &c., &¢.’’ So much for the gist of the manuscript. Should your Lord- ship have favoured it with a perusal, I trust you have come to the conclusion that there is nothing impracticable in the scheme, and that it would be to the immediate and ultimate interest of the country to adoptit. May God grant that this may be your conclusion, and that you may determine, before it is too late, to see it carried out. With profound respect, I have the honour to remain Your Lordship’s most obedient humble servant, na 3 0112 11442146