The Express.
London, England, 1850-06-27 00:00:00

MORNINGS AT THE MILLS.

$o V

I have net yet does WWI the Chariton Mills.
What I told you, Mr. Editor, is my last litter. about
the &aversive imperious, here so eseersaftilly
tried, Mealy the baptising. The be-iare, so far as
it hes yir gees, is is every way ONOMitif• It IS
trieiletid to the most orderly sad dessreas way ; as
ecstasies. ao mistakes no misnedsratandings occur.
The bleats are es apparent to Rader se workmen.
The amesiative spirit—the oonvistioa that very see-
fel sad profitable reforms may be offsetive by 00-cps-
ratios is a festoonsl spirit.-is thendlose epreadiag.
In a leper bees Mr. David Morris, just Stille to
bend, be says : These views of miss with regard
to esoperatioa, lit (essoon as times mend a
little to pat sae is better spines), to wry sat is the
parehmee of Sothis( and most of the things whisk
Mee to be paid for eat of the valise's wages. Of
course I shall have nothing like the trick system in-
troduced; the operatives themselves will work oat
all the detail, of the plea—and for *Me owe &dna- ,
tap exclosively. The law prevents me doing more
this suggest the lemons of a owe advas.ed social
Wows to my work
than .peeple, and assist them to arty
them late egret better they could by their un-
aided 11911 ML. One circumstance ia coasmies with
this little eseperative experimeat deserves to be es-
pokily reecided : all flues inflicted is the mill, aid
all forfeited wages, are tarried, instead of to the
pockets of the employer; to the panel fonds of the
moiety. The income so swain; is not very large;
but you will sadly 11011061`0, Mr. Editor, that the
infliction of a fine is a very sore matter, sad sae
giving rise to very angry feeliep oa an
ode, if not on both, whim/aver it sears.
The ties is imposed for spoiled week, for insub-
ordination, for being late in the awning or at meal
limes, aid so forth. They are, I believe, imposed
rather as aids to discipline than exacted as vales for
the damage does by inattention; bat the usual
custom being to carry them to the mather's ewe ac-
count in the ledger, flew is some little temptation to
miserly mill-owners %inflict them toe the sake of the
profits, and there is a still greater espied= au the
wt of the mill hands that this is the ease than the
facts would probably justify. TIMM asters' enough
under the aim:nastiness, sad ranch ill-blood Sweated
by it betwesa those who ought to have *very interest
in 00•118110. Mr. David Motriis plan entirely avoids
this caw of content*. The floes lapsing to the
general operative fund, each person in the factory
gets a small share of all such panellise ; as the
tasters do not pocket the money, no one can access
them of Wearies when a fine is imposed upon him,
nor norm any vindictive feeling aesiest these ea that
sweat. You will see how this difficult matter of fines
is managed in some other mills as I proceed with my
narrative.

As I propose with the ',event letter to bring my
account of the Charlton mills to a close, and as there
is much yet to say, I buten to lay before you Mr.
Monis!' own statement of the view. [with which be
began his course of reform, and the first means which
be adopted in order to carry them into effect. " For
a number of years," he writes, " my brother and I
had viewed with sorrowful feelings the woeful
Mate of ignorance existing in many of the mills
of this extensive district We saw that the
workers evinced a very kw tone of moral feeling ;
that their house, to a very great extent, were ill-
furnished, over-crowded, badly or not at all ventilated ;
and generally without those little comforts so neces-
sary to render the home of the working man his
place of rest and happiness. We fund, is tracing
the Cadets of these evils, that they were mainly owing
to the ignorance and intemperance of the adults—
who, having commenced their labours in the mills
at probably six or seven years of age, had grown up
in habits of ignorance and intemperance, and finding
little comfort or attention at home, had generally
preferred the allurements of the public-house, thus
perpetuating the evils of their position instead of re-
moving them. We saw many other evils resaltieg
from this state of matters, and began to think how we
could do something to remove them." The humane
minds thus drawn to the practicalquetion—what can
we do ? were not long in finding oat the best and
serest way to begin. They saw that one reform at
lout was possible—they might make their men and
women sober. And how much that involves when
fairly measured! Here wu a good starting point.
fleeces. or failure in this attempt would afford the
surest elate to what might next be dote. They began
by setting the example of entire abstinence them-
selves. They then called a meeting of the more in-
telligent of the hands and explained their ideas: the
result was the formation of a committee of fifteen
persons to carry them into practical operation—that
is, to commence a temperance society in the mills
themselves. The committee at once issued the follow-
ing address to their comrades, a copy of it being given
to each person in the works to consider :
Fellow•Warlimen,—ln order to cure a deems you must
seeertala the muse, removal of which is emential to the re-
seem at good health Is taking a view of the miseries and
meal deformity of this county, we cannot help observing
that the ehtef cause is the ass of intoxicating drinks. Although
there Is no doubt that the working claws suffer much from
bad laws, low wages. and other eases, yet we are deeply
OOLViSied teat they have is their own hands the power
of matey, use change which of itself would find suffi-
crest were, and consequently good wages, for every in-
dustrious mae is the kingdom. That change is the ex
radeg of their wages spat useful articles, which they
sew threw away span intoxicating dna". The messy
'peat by the workiag people alone upon these liquere, outset
be lee than feet, milieu annually, sad If we feels& the
valise of the time tog, and all the eons, gnomon of loss of
woos, Ism of health and life, destruction of property, die ,
little less tkaa doable that amount ; sacrificed sanuatly for
this seed 1041'111y destroying poison. Preserve to all the
work'./ men of this land Uwe unclouded reason, the full
pommies of their faculties sad their time, and let them de-
terrains to expend this 80 million' aria the various articles
of 6uthing, bedding, furniture, eau, shoes, beef, bread, fie.,
of which they are now destitute, and it is impossible for a
mind act accustomed to refltet urn this subject, to conceive
the immense increase which would take place in the flamed
for the various arklet of home manufacture independent et
the geed each individual would receive)—such goods, for ix-
erne, se these manufactured in this mill, they being all
for the home trade, or nearly so. To bring about this de-
sirable change, and to aid the great work of moral reform
now going on in our country, and more particularly to im-
prove the rendition of cur fellow workers, 15 of us have
forced cerebral into a committee to do all we can to
stem the mighty torrent of etteraperanee, which is hurrying
thousands of the working classes int the lowest depths of
despair and utter ruin. We therefore call upon you to join
us in this work; remember that reform should commence at
home ; let leash begin by referrals, himself,
" Know ye OW,
rho would be free, themselves must strike the blew."
By the bind permission of our employers we have begun
the tempo/rues resensent in the mills, being fully satisfied
that it will be far better for both employers and employed
that ell the bands shall be I. future perfectly sober, healthy,
and be y, than that they should be drunken, tolerable,
and sad. To enjoy the former and avoid the latter of Mese
ewe imediticas in life we invite you to sign oar pledge, to
Neel yourselves among the reeks of sober men, and you
will Kee begin to reap the advantages of a life of total absti-
nence from all that will produce intoxication. Persons
wishing to sign the pledge may do so during any meal time,
with any member of the committee.
'thus begun, the work of reform went on. A large
room was lent by the employers, in which a meeting
was held once a month, at which the ablest advocates
of temperance in the neighbourhood of Manchester
attended and addressed the hands. In the course of
time two-fifths of all the persons engaged at the
Chortles Mills were pledged teetotallers. That all
these men and women have faithfully kept their
pledges is not to be supposed ; but the great majority
have : and those persons who are delighted wh n
they find one of them backsliding, because they fancy
it is a rebuke to the dreamer—who will in-
troduce his utopian schemes into the dense practical
atmosphere of Manchester know very little of
humeri nature if they think such temporary checks will
discourage the reformer of earnest heart from his own
straightforward path. This conversion of the factory
workers frord the old and wasteful habit of drinking
rendered that co-operation possible which I have
already described.
'lee success which had rewarded these first efforts
induced the owners to try various others. By these
means better provided with food, the next thing was
to provide the workmen and women with somewhat
beVer air. In Manchester it is nut very good at best,
but it the older clam of mills it is nearly always bad.
Th. re were great difficulties in the way of pro-
ducing a change fur the better in this matter, but the
thorough ventilation of the factory WOO the first thing
attempted and achieved. Mr. Morrie erected no less
than 1,800 ventilators in the different room, suiting
them to the various protease& of spinning and weav-
ing, and, as I have told you once before, spending no
lees than 1004 in ventilatiog a single room.
Meanwhile, thoroughly in earnest in the work of
improvement, the idea had oocurrel thetas the houses
of the poor are seldom either roomy or light, a con-
mderable boon would be gained tor the workmen,
who are loaded too far from the new Manchester