Report to the Local Government Board on proposed changes in hours and ages of employment in textile factories / by J.H. Bridges and T. Holmes.

  • John Henry Bridges
Date:
1873
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report to the Local Government Board on proposed changes in hours and ages of employment in textile factories / by J.H. Bridges and T. Holmes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    We visited some of the Todmorden weaving sheds with the view of ascertaining whether any important change had taken place since the publication of Dr. Buchanan’s report. We found in the first shed that we entered full confirmation of his state¬ ments. The au was cloudy with dust, which fell on a polished surface sufficiently in six or seven minutes for very distinct marks to he made. The dustiness of the air of the weaving shed was far more marked in Todmorden than in the weaving sheds of Burnley, Blackburn, and other districts. The Burnley cloth is, to a great extent, intended for calico printing. There is, therefore, no object in adding artificial weight to the cloth. In Blackburn, much of the cloth is as heavily sized as in Todmorden. An employer there made no difficulty in confessing to us that “ prices now-a-days were run so low that if it were not for the sizing and the China clay mixed with it, he should make no profit at all.” This gentleman informed us, that in his sizing mixture, China clay and flour were used in equal proportions. Another manufacturer, who bought his warps ready sized in Todmorden, informed us, that in a piece of cloth weighing four pounds and a half the warp (unsized) would weigh two pounds two ounces ; the weft one pound four ounces; and the size one pound two ounces. A third stated, that in a piece of his cloth weighing 19 lbs., there would be from 5 to 6 lbs. of size. This gentleman groaned (though he worked) under the system. “ There wants a level making,” he said. In the Blackburn weaving sheds, where the dust, though considerable, is less abundant, the use of steam jets is very common, and was much complained of by the workpeople. We did not, however, in any case find “the clothes of the operative [as alleged in the workmen’s statement] saturated with moisture.” We visited one weaving shed of moderate size where forty jets of steam were turned on. The atmosphere approached, hut did not reach saturation, showing on a fine frosty day 60° with the dry, and 57° with the wet bulb; the shafting and machinery were dulled and rusted with the moisture; hut neither the heat nor the steam were for a moment com¬ parable to that found in the wet spinning room of a flax mill, or to the densely clouded rooms of dye works. We must observe, that the largest and best mills are free from the reproach of exces¬ sive sizing. In them the atmosphere is free from dust or from moisture. And in few of the weaving sheds, either small or great, did we find any high temperature. The ventilation and the arrangements of privies and waterclosets were often extremely defective. The nature of the work and the number of looms attended by each person necessarily gives to each a plentiful allowance of floor space. The sheds are lighted from the top, and are said, we think with reason, to he often oppressively hot in summer. In our own experience, the atmosphere was not usually unpleasant except during the close of the winter’s day when the gas was lighted. The appearance of the workpeople in the weaving sheds was healthier and more vigorous than in the card room and spinning rooms. In the latter, especially in Manchester and the towns in its immediate proximity, many of the women have a pale worn look, and the features of the women generally in this part of the district are remarkably uncomely. Then’ appearance seemed to us to improve in the northern parts of the county, in which, and especially in the weaving sheds, we remarked a considerable number of strong healthy women with plenty of colour. We could not avoid noticing at the same time the advanced pregnancy of several of them. It would appear, from statements made to us which we had reason to think accurate, that it is very much easier to bring pressure to hear upon the energies of female opera¬ tives than of male. It is well known that with many workmen, especially if they he members of Trade Unions, the consciousness that then’ fellow workmen are present and are watching their work, tends rather to moderate than to intensify their zeal. Animated by the common object of selling their labour dear, they are apt to think an exceptionally zealous workman a traitor to the cause of labour. With women the reverse would seem to he the case. Less able to fix their eye upon a distant object, less apt to enrol themselves in a well drilled organization for which sacrifices are to he made, the ultimate compensation for which themselves and those immediately connected with them may never or not for a long time touch, they are far more keenly sensitive to the motives of approbation and vanity, and also to those of immediate tangible reward. It would seem to be as easy to goad women as it would be difficult to goad men, into doing the greatest amount of piecework in a given time. The admiration of their companions, and the approbation of the overlooker, appear to be at least as powerful inducements as the increase of their wages. A woman who can mind four looms without an assistant has attained a certain position, and is an object of attention. “ Hoo’s a four-loomer, hoo’s like to be wed,” will be commonly remarked of such a one.