Mr. Villiers on Monday carried his Union Chargeability Bill by
a majority of 266 to 93, and the squires therefore gave up direct opposition. On Thursday, however, on the Bill going into Committee, Mr. Henley proposed a string of amendments to abolish the laws authorizing removal. He perhaps meant to secure a great advantage to the poor, but the effect of the amend- ment would have been to throw out the Bill. Towns like London and Liverpool could not, without a severe vagrant law, bear the weight of the multitudes who would come tramping in for the chance of work and the certainty of food, and the Peers would have thrown out the Bill. The squires therefore voted for the proposal, but were defeated by 184 to 110, whereupon Mr. Villiers accepted a counter-amendment by Mr. Kekewich reducing the residence necessary to settlement from three years to one. The House concurred without a division, and the labourer therefore can seek work where he pleases, risking his aid from the Union only for one year, an immense addition to his freedom. If the Peers pass the Bill, this will be the best piece of work done this Session.
