The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-08-08 00:00:00

tritE STO'

many more, four thousand guests assembled at •
spot three miles from Bradford, on the invitation
of Mr. Salt, te inspect a new manufactory,
presenting some features which, at that time at least,
were far from common. The first thing to be noticed
by st?•,ugers was the site of the mill, on one of the
most beautiful spots of the beautiful valley of the
Aire, and next the extent of the estate, wide enough
not onty for all the purposes of industry, but also to
include the town which the workmen and their
families were sufficiently numerous to people. Words-
worth had deprecated in indignant verse the en-
croachment of manufactories and railways upon the
scenery which he loved so well; but even he might
have found much at Saltaire to reconcile him to the
erection of a factory there, could he have seen
the scene as a whole. The place was, indeed, as much
an experiment in social as in manufacturing economy.
The mill as described in the Da 11 y News of that date
was a massive stone structure of six stories in the I
boldest style of Italian architecture, having its windows
tilled with immense squares of cast plate glees. The
Boors, of various heights, occupied for trade purposea,
extended over eleven and a half acres; the weaving shed
contained 1,200 looms—the shafting by which they
were set in motion was two miles in length, and
the alpaca and mixed fabrics which could be
turned out every day would have extended over
eighteen miles. In an address presented to Sir
Titus Salt by the workpeople of Saltaire in 1836
their great workshop is styled a " Palace of Industry."
Saltaire, however, was much more than this. The
scheme of its owner, which has ever since been in
course of development, included everything which a
liberal employer, who was at the same time the owner
of the land, could provide for his tenants and work-
people. Saltaire now covers twenty acres. It is, be-
sides a manufactory, a town of 850 houses, with
wide streets, spacious squares, schools, churches
and chapels, recreation grounds, and a covered
market. The architect employed was instructed
that the air must not be contaminated with smoke nor
the water by sewage or other impurities. This was
, something new. When the workpeople of Saltaire
presented their employer with a marble bust eighteen
years ago they were not wanting in acknowledgments
of his kindness. They referred to all the arrange-
ments he had made for their physical health and
comfort and moral welfare. They did not forget
' either to place on record the fact that whatever
had been suffered elsewhere in seasons of commercial
depression no one of them had ever lost wages by
curtailment of the hours of work, and they added,
" These, Sir, are circumstances upon which you may
look back with "pride and satisfaction, and which we
remember with feelings of gratitude. The benevolent
efforts which have at all times been made to render
your workpeople happy and contented have given rise
to feelings of affection which will be Luting as our lives,
and have laid upon us a debt of gratitude which we
, cannot repay." Nothing more honourable to Sir Titus
Salt than this testimony remains to be expressed to-
, day. Nor is anything more wanted. After a trial of
one-and-twenty years the experiment at Saltaire has
I succeeded, and that is the fact which Bradford ac-
knowledges to-day.
The art of living uaefuhy in society, of conferring
benefits on one's neighbours while practising the duties
of ones own proper position, and of doing this without
effort or strain, and without the affectation of heroic
virtue, has made some progress amongst our rich men
I since Sir Titus Silt struck into the path which he has
trodden with signal success; and certainly there is a
wide field for its exercise. Every theory and every
system of social relations is in these days on its
trial. The mischiefs of the paternal system have
scarcely even yet come to an end, as great rural
proprietors have recently reminded their country.
men. Yet it is long since they led to a reaction,
according to which—owing to a too partial appre-
hension of indubitable truths—contract has often
seemed to be the only bond between man and man.
The consequences of this view we see in the social
war which first makes our industries unprofitable
and then interrupts them. That no claim can be
maintained beyond the limits of a bargain is a
doctrine necessary to the independence of our
working people and the security of the capitalist.
But when the bargain has been fulfilled on both
sides there is scope for a noble ambition on the
part of the leader of the industrious host akin to
that which a general takes in the welfare and
good appearance of his soldiers. The so-called
paternal system, with its rights and claims of patron.
age, was a false one, and can never be restored; but
Sir Titus Salt has shown that an employer may confer
the greatest social benefits on his workpeople and
I attach them to his interests without making any
demand of them inconsistent with their complete hide.
pendence, and may do this in harmony with the severe
requirements of modern competive trade. It is worth
the while of society to give prominence to such ex-
perience, and to do honour to those who have demon-
strated the fact.