The principles of physiology applied to the preservation of health, and to the improvement of physical and mental education / by Andrew Combe.

Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The principles of physiology applied to the preservation of health, and to the improvement of physical and mental education / by Andrew Combe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    even eight hours' labour in a close at- mosphere was not too much for unde- veloped childreii, and was not incom- patible with that efficient moral and general training in the domestic circle, which is indisjiensable to the develop- ment of our best feelings, and conse- quently to the formation of peaceful, moral, and intelligent citizens. It is true that there were great difficulties in the way of the contemplated re- striction, and that in the case of adult labour the principle of direct legisla- tive interference is at once unsound and dangerous. But the question as- sumes a different aspect when it relates to the regulation of labour at an age when those, whose safety and welfare are directly at stake, are incapable of judging for themselves, and are under the absolute control of their parents, who, however influenced by affection, are in general too unenlightened, and too much interested in the immediate profit, to be impartial in their deci- sion. Had natural affection alone proved to be a sufficient protection against the abuse of infant-labour in factories, no application to Parliament on the subject could ever have been required, because in tliat case no con- siderable abuse could have taken place. But dire experience has demonstrated that, under the present system of pres- sure and competition for employment, mere parental feeling is not an ade- quate safeguard, and that there was an absolute necessity for the measures which have been adopted for the pro- tection of the young. Since the preceding remarks were first published, their accuracy has been confirmed by many men of experi- ence, and among others by Mr Leonard Horner, who tells us* that all the ominous predictions of ruin and misery made by many of the manufacturers, when contending against any legisla- tive interference for the purpose of limiting the working hours of the children, have been entirely falsified, and that most of tliem are now satis- fied that the law has been beneficial • On the Employment of Children in Factories and other Works. Longman and Co. 1840. even to themselves. Indeed so satis- factory in its results was the practical working of the law, that in 1847 it was deemed right to extend the legis- lative interference, and accordingly the Ten Hours' Bill was introduced into Parliament. By this it was en- acted that the labour of all young persons between 13 and 18 years of age employed in cotton-factories, and of all women so employed, should be limited to 10 hours a-day. The mini- mum age of 13, at which a child might work in the cotton-factories, was in the case of silk-factories reduced to 11, on 'account of the cleaner and healthier nature of the employment. No interference was attempted with adult male labour, the object of the legislature being to protect those only, who, from their position as wives and children, were subject to the will of others. But the Act had been but a short time in operation when some of the mill-owners, who were opposed to its provisions, found means to thwart the intentions of the legislature by working their mills on what is called the relay-system, by which the women and children, though not actually working more than ten hours, were detained in the mill, and prevented from nuvking a proper use of the time which was intended for relaxation and instruction. To remove the doubts which impeded the working of the Act, recourse was had to fresli legislation, and a new bill was introduced in the session 1849-50, when, owing to the powerful opposition of the mill-owners, the limited period of ten hours was extended to ten and a half. The time during which the Ten Hours' Act ] was in operation, was too short to test j the effects of the limitation of the work- j ing hours on the cajjital and comnier- I cial enterprise of the country ; but < there was already evidence to shew I that it exerted a beneficial influence 1 on the operatives, by a large majority | of whom it was hailed as a great boon, i though a reduction of wages had pretty generally followed. Mr Saunders, the Inspector of the London and Leeds District, describes the effects of the working of the Act of 1833 to have
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