ABSTRACT
First published in The Examiner, XI, 29 March 1818, pp. 193–4. Hunt’s essay on child labour laws and practices draws heavily on the work of Robert Owen, the great social and educational reformer who had published numerous pamphlets on child labour and repeatedly implored Parliament to establish more progressive labour laws for children. Hunt concludes this essay with a brief introduction to one of Owen’s papers on this topic, an 1816 address to the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, about the need for parliamentary action on the improvement of working conditions for children. Owen’s complete letter is printed immediately after Hunt’s introduction. Hunt then continues this topic in the following week’s Political Examiner (5 April 1818, pp. 209–10), which attacks the hardheartedness of English manufacturers who exploit children and warns of the potential ruin of the country through such selfish greed. This Political Examiner also serves as an introduction to another Owen letter, an 1818 address to manufacturers reprinted in full after Hunt’s introduction. Hunt also runs a related series of Political Examiners several weeks later on the subject of children’s education, titled ‘Discipline of Public Schools’ (see The Examiner for 17 May 1818, pp. 305–6; 24 May, 1818, p. 322; 31 May 1818, pp. 337–9; 7 June 1818, pp. 353–4). Hunt returns to Owen’s social theory in the next year, dedicating the Political Examiner for 4 July 1819 to ‘Mr. Owen’s Plan’ (pp. 417–18). For Hunt’s earlier comments on systems of education, see The Examiner, for, 16 May 1813, pp. 305–6 and Vol. 1, pp. 289–92.
