Indiana State University - Sycamore Yearbook (Terre Haute, IN)

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8 THE NORMALADVANCE inventions have been mentioned that changed the method of'manufacturing textile indus- tries, and that transformed the domestic sys- tem into the factory system. Perhaps the greatest question in connection with the Factory Acts is the meaning of the word! factory. This word has gone through many processes of alteration, and is still un- dergoing similar processes. Its Erst meaning was that of a trading establishment, generally in the country, with which were associated in idea the settlements and the surroundings be- longing to it, but later it meant a place of proa duction and not sale. Therefore it was an es- tablishment where things were made on a large scale for profit. Just the precise time when this transformation took place is not known. What is certain is the fact that as early as 1802 the English legislature interpreted the word in the modern sense. Briefly stated the word fac- tory at this time meant. any place devoted to spinning and weaving certain fabrics by power. It had scarcely attained this signilica- tion when it underwent another alteration. This time the modern conception of a factory was formed, which explains it in this way: ttthat it is a place of production, where labor is congregated and divided within an estab- lishment of definite bounds, sometimes with and sometimes without the aid of exterior motive power? Now the question may be asked why the meaning of the word factory is of such Vital importance. The true answer is this, that the various meanings of the word factory led the people to expound the laws in different ways, and have caused great varia- tions in factory legislation. A few words regarding the establishment of the first modern factories are necessary in or- der to fully comprehend the subject under dis- cussion. Factories have not been recent con- trivanees, but they existed as far back as the time of the Egyptians and the Romans; al- though they were not called factories and were not regulated like factories, nevertheless they were real factories. Turning back to our mod- ern factories, let us see how they originated and developed as the result of the industrial revo- lution. After the great inventions were made which brought an enormous change to indus- try, capital became concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy men, who were able to buy or construct the newly invented machinery to be operated by employers. The poor hand-work- ers; therefore, could not compete with the ma- chines, because their method of working was too slow. So they were compelled to leave their own little workshops and labor in the fac- tories. Not only were men employed, but even women and children, because they worked for lower wages than men. Here is the place where the great evils and abuses in the fac- tories originated, which necessitated factory laws. It would require many pages to relate the evils which not only have existed, but in some cases still exist in the English factories. The , first complaints were made in the cotton fae- tories of Lancashire. As the result of these complaints a committee was appointed in 1795 at Manchester to investigate the matter. The report of this committee revealed to the public the horrible and shocking condition of the fac- tories. Disease, especially the contagion of fever, which was rapidly propagated when once infected, appeared not only in the cotton factories, but even in the families whose mem- bers worked in these places. Factories were not properly ventilated. Want of fresh air and active exercise, essential for the youth to in Vigorate the system, injured the constitutions 0f the employees. The long hours of pro- tracted labor debilitated the workers, particw larly the children. Child labor also served to make parents lazy, because they depended for subsistence upon their offspring. Another evil of the employment of Children was that they were debarred from educational, moral, and religious instructions. These were not the worst abuses of the factory system. The method for obtaining juvenile workers for the mills was perhaps the gravest and saddest one. Most of the early factories were water mills, situated in remote places, where running

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THE NORMALADVANCE '7 The Factory Acts FLORA SAUPERT One of the most difficult problems which the English Parliament has had to solve with- in the last century is the problem of factory legislation. Perhaps no greater evils exist in England than those which are found in the factories, workshops, mills, mines, collieries, etc. The working class of people7 especially the women and children, were in a deplorable condition before any laws concerning their welfare were enacted. Inhuinan treatment by the superintendents, long hours of labor, star- vation, diseases, and unsanitary conditions in the factories existed at that time. These sad and wretched conditions of the majority of the people aroused the sympathy of some of the great political leaders, statesmen, and philan- thropists. Some Of these men while in Parlia- ment made long speeches in behalf of the fac- tory hands and attempted to secure the passage of such measures that would better their con- dition. This was a very difficult task to per- form, because most of the representatives in Parliament were not chosen by the working people, but by the wealthy landlords, who took no interest in their prosperity. Of course the Reform Bill of 1832 partly removed this griev- y ance, but the agitation of the laboring people continued until some laws were passed to modi- fy their wretched condition. Even after the factory laws were passed it was hard for the inspectors to discover whether the laws were actually carried out, since too many allowances were made in the laws. This was not the only diEiculty that had to be encountered, but- there were many others. Such has been the social state of affairs in England within the last cen- tury, which has constantly occupied the atten- tion of Parliament and has caused great dis- satisfaction in England. Before discussing factory legislation in de- tail it is essential to have some knowledge of the origin of the factory system and the cir- cumstances preceding the establishment of fae- tory legislation. When England acquired colonial possessions, especially when she ob- tained a foothold in India, there was a great demand for English goods. Since the English people could not supply this demand and were anxious to secure all the trade they could pos- sibly obtain, ingenious men began to reflect upon different methods of overcoming this ditliculty. They saw clearly that in order to accomplish anything the domestic system must be abolished and that manufactures must be produced by means of machinery, so that the output of goods would be increased. Hand labor was entirely too slow. Labor-saving ma- chinery was the thing needed at this time. Everything was done to encourage inventions. Even societies in England offered rewards to any person who would invent a method of spinning by means of a machine. Finally a radical change came in 1764, when James Hargreaves, of Sandhill, near Blackburn, in- vented the spinning jenny, which carried six- teen or eighteen spindles manipulated by one workman7 whereas the old spinning wheel only had one spindle. Later Samuel Cromp- ton, of Bolton, invented the spinning mule. This rendered the old type of labor obsolete and inaugurated an entirely new era in this department of manufacture. The next step in the improvement of machinery, chiefly for weaving, was the invention of the power loom by Rev. Mr. Cartwright, a clergyman of the Church of England, which had important con- sequences for textile manufactures. Along with these lameliorations in the process of man- ufacturing was the invention of the steam en- gine by James Watt in 1784, which furnished an adequate power for propelling the newly in- vented machinery. Thus the most important

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THE NORMALADVANCE 9 water could be most easily obtained. It was very expensive to bring operatives to these places, since they were generally brought from great distances. Therefore in order to reim- burse for this expenditure, the youths were bound by a system of apprenticeship to serve for a certain number of years. Here is where the system reached its maximum degree of wickedness, when children were sent away nominally to learn a trade, but in reality were placed under the dominance of their master, who enjoyed the freedom of dealing with them as he chose. The master provided shelter, clothing and food for his apprentices. Over- seers were appointed to superintend the mills and to extract as much labor as possible from the employes. The wages depended upon the amount of work done. Children were flogged, fettered, and tortured with the direst cruelty, and almost starved to death while at work since their time for meals was very limited. Some of the conditions were really appalling. Also the consequences that followed this shock- ing and horrifying situation were most la- mentable and disastrous. Children hated their slavery, therefore some of them abseonded. Through long years of hard labor and cruel treatment they became stunted, so that when their apprenticeship expired at the age of thir- teen or fifteen years, they were ignorant and admirably prepared for the world of Vice and misery, which evils existed chiefly in the towns. People were so ignorant and unconscious of their misery that whenever some philanthrop- ists proposed a change to alter their condition of living, they were strongly and systematical- ly opposed to it. Such was the condition of the working people in the latter part of the eighteenth and the first part of the nineteenth century before any laws were enacted. The factory agitation and the controversy between the supporters and opposers of fac- tory legislation continued until finally the first Factory Act was passed in 1802, which prin- cipally applied to apprentices in cotton and woolen mills. It was called the 4The Factory Health and Morals Act? This act provided lirst, that the master or mistress of a factory should observe the law. Secondly, all rooms in a factory were to be properly ventilated and to be lime-washed twice a year. The third section compelled employers to supply their apprentices with clothing; while the fourth limited the number of hours of work to twelve, not to commence before six in the morning nor to extend after nine at night. The fifth sec- tion provided for the instruction of appren- tices during the first four years of bondage in reading, writing, and arithmetic, by some proper person. Sundays they were to be taught the principles of the Christian religion, and were to attend Church at least once a month. The provisions of the act were to be enforced by two Visitors, appointed by ad- jacent justices of the peace, one of whom should be a justice and the other a member of the Church of England or of Scotland. The Vis- itors should have the power to require the em- ployer to call in medical assistance, in case dis- eases prevailed in his establishment. Finally copies of the act were to be affixed in conspicu- ous places. Thus we have some idea of the contents of the first F actory Act. Although it was rather faulty, establishing no limit of age on workers, nor requiring any proof of their fitness for employment, it nevertheless, was very important because it was the first act which attempted to restrain modern factory labor. Another way in which the law was diili- cult was the fact that it did not apply to free labor, but only to apprenticed labor. Abuses were common not only in cotton and woolen factories, but in all the rest of the industries. Also the factory Visitors were not recompensed and they very seldom attended to their duty. Therefore the law proved inoperative in prac- tice, and was gradually superseded by other laws, although it was not formally repealed until 1878. As soon as steam power was introduced, fac- tories were transferred into populous places, where coal could be carried more easily and where an unfailing supply of labor could be obtained. The result of'these changed circum-