The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-14 00:00:00

The Factory Inspeclors' Reports.

The reports to the Home Secretary of Mr. A.
Redgrave, for the half-year ending 31st Oct., 1864,
and of Mr. R. Baker, for the nine months ending
January 31st, 1865, have been published. The fol-
lowing are extracts of those portions that concern
Manchester.

Mr. Redgrave says :—The passing of the Factory
Act Extension Act, 1864, and of the Bleaching and
Dyeing Works Act Extension Act, 1864, has en-
larged very considerably the nature ot the duties to
be performed by the inspectors and sub-inspectors
of factories. The acts of last session embrace a di-
versity of occupations, namely, the manufacture of
earthenware, lucifer matches, percussion caps and
cartridges, the employments of paper staining and
fustian cutting, and the processes of finishing, hook-
ing, lapping, or making up and packing. The prin-
cipal paper-staining establishments in my district are
Over-Darwen, near Manchester, at Manchester, and
at Leeds: In those factories a large number of chil-
dren are employed, and steam power is used in con-
nection with machinery. The chief objection to the
factory regulations is the necessity for the stoppage
of all machinery during meal-times, and I am glad
that paper staining establishments have been exempted
from this regulation for eighteen months after the
passing of the act, as afigid application of the fac-
tory law in this respect would have caused consider-
able difficulty to the paper-stainer. Many of them
have expressed to me great anxiety as to the future,
but I have endeavoured to impress upon them the
necessity of looking into the matter in time, for un-
doubtedly the cessatlon of work during meal times
is one of the most important provisions of the Fac-
tory Acts, and one which is greatly valued by the
operatives. The difficulty could, of course, be sur-
mounted by the employment of male adults, i.e, above
eighteen years of age, during the meal hours
whenever required ; but men are not so easily
managed as boys, and they requi.re a higher rate of
wages. Mr. Potter, of the firm of Potter and Co.,
Over-Darwen, prepared, in 1860, a bill to place
some restrictions upon labour in paper-staining
works, and proposed to adopt most of the factory
regulations, as modified in the Bleaching Works
Act ; and I was much interested to find, when I
visited Over-Darwen, that the half-time system had
been in operation in a portion of the works for a
considerable time. Mr. Potter having full control
over the boys employed in connection with the
printing by cylinders, applied to them as strictly as
as if they had been under the Factory Act the half-
time system, by which each child under 13 years of
age attended school daily for three hours. This
system is now in operation throughout the factory.
There are only two places in ray district in which
there are any considerable number of fustian cutters,
viz., Manchester, and in the neighbourhood of Roy-
ton, near Oldham. At Manchester the fustian cut-
ters are generally adults, and they are chiefly located
in the older parts of the city, about Deansgate, An-
coats, and some in Salford. The shops in which
they work are for the most part the top rooms of
houses, arranged very much in the same manner as
the shops of the Spitalfields weavers, with casements
the whole width of the house, so as to give light to
the cutting tables, which are ranged by the side of
the windows. Fustian cutting was originally the
occupation of men. The length of the table is about
three yards ; the cutter stands at one end, advances
his foot about a yard, and reaches the end of the
table with the point of his knife ; he then has to
step back about a yard to resume his original
position. The muscular exercise is even con-
siderable for a man ; and it must be observed
that when the cutter stands still to rest
his pay ceases until he resumes his work.
If the remuneration is ample he can afford
to rest ; if it is not he must slave to obtain his liv-
ing. The fustian cutters in Manchester are in a
most depressed condition, which has been greatly
aggravated by the cotton famine. For some years
they obtained a fair price for their labour, but some
of the master cutters, about 30 years since, intro-
duced the system of infant labour, and the men's
wages reduced to those of the child. If the labour
had been one suited for children, it would only have
been a natural consequence that children should be
employed instead of adults ; but the lapin of fus-
tian cutting is much too severe a tax upon a child,
that it ought not to be permitted, and I think that
the prohibition of the labour to any child under 11
years of .age a most beneficial and humane enact-
ment. But, reverting to the condition of the Man-
chester fustian cutters, I cannot show better how
the introduction of infant labour has affected them
than by quoting the prices paid for cutting within
the last 30 years. Mr. Coles, the sub-inspector for
part of Manchester, and for Salford, has kindly
furnished me with the statement which I annex ;
and it is important to remember that the appliances
of this occupation are the same at both the periods
named ; the amount of labour is the same ; no im-
provement in machinery has saved the cutter a pro-
cess, or relieved him of a step backwards or forwards.
He finds his own knife, he purchases his own light,
and his pay is liable to reduction for holes and damage :
—1825: Half-ell velveteens, from Lid to 3d per
yard ; two-eighth velveteens, from 3d to 4id per
yard ; three-quarters velveteens, from 3id to sid
per yard ; tabby velvets, from nd to 3id per yard.
1864: Half-ell velveteens, from id to ld per yard;
two-eighth velveteens, from 2d to lid per yard ;
three-quarter velveteens, from lid to 2d per yard ;
tabby velvets, from /d to lid per yard. I can
bear testimony to the abject condition of the fus-
tian cutters of Manchester ; and I heard, without
surprise, the great satisfaction expressed by the ope-
rative cutters that they were placed under the regu-
lations of the Factory Acts, and their repeated ex-
pression of anxiety that the employment of females
and of children after the statutory hours should be
strictly prevented, for they hail the application of
the Factory Act as the forerunner of an improve-
ment in their condition, in throwing back in the
hands of the adult some of the labour heretofore
almost monopolised by the child. The labour of
children has only been resorted to occasionally in
Manchester. The master cutters there are not owners
of factories, but generally cutters themselves, owning
or hiring tables, and it is seldom that one master
cutter owns more than six tables. It is in the country
districts that the children have been collected in fac-
tories, and where the real hardships of the employ-
ment have been experienced. Long hours and hard
labour are the characteristics of fustian cutting. It
is not, as in a spinning or weaving factory, the
watching of a broken thread, and the tying up of a
broken end, which constitutes the occupation—these
unquestionably re pairing constant attention, and
a certain amount of manual dexterity—but down-
right hard work. The following is the nature of the
work to be done. The cutting is an oblong frame,
about Bft. long and 3ft. wide, the piece of goods to
be cut is upon rollers at each end of the table, and
is stretched taut. The cutter, who has a rapier-like
knife with a very sharp point, takes his place at the
right-hand end of the table, inserts his knife in the
outermost pile at the farther side of the piece of
goods, and drives the knife along the series of piles
to the end of the table. To enable him to reach to
the end of the table, he has to step out with his left
foot about a yard, and follow his right arm with his
body ; and in the case of a child, the body has been
been brought so far down upon the left leg that a con-
siderable jerk is necessary to enable the child to
recover its position upon its right leg, at the right
hand end of the table, to be ready to insert the knife
into the next series of piles. The occupation only
bes broken wice ; either when the knife requires
to e e
bde h
which is done by the overlooker,
or again when the length of fustain has been cut,
and has to be rolled up so as to stretch another
length of uncut pile. Each piece of velvet contains
900 races of pile in width, and the knife has conse-
quently to make 900 cuts from end to end of the
frame, on each length of the fustian ; and as nine
lengths are considered a day's work, it follows that
the knife is passed daily over a space of about 10 miles,
and the child has to make 8,100 passes of the knife;
or, reckoning that the child worked ten hours and
a half per day, and allowing half an hour for inter-

vals of the fustian cutting, sharpening the knife,
and adjusting the lengths of fustian upon the table,
it would cut 13 races per minute, thrusting the body
forwards and backwards the same number of times.
The hardship of this kind of labour is more striking
when it appears that the actual work of the adult
fustian cutters is less than that of the children. The
men usually cut velveteens, which contain only 750
races, and they are only expected to cut the same
number of lengths as the children—viz.,. nine ; and
thus they will make only 6,780 passes of the knife,
or rather more than eight miles per day. Fustian
cutters have had to contend with another difficulty.
The goods are prepared with lime and other materials
which are let loose in the process of cutting, and the
rooms are frequently filled with clouds of the finest
dust, which is perforce inhaled by the operatives.
There may be delay before this can be remedied, as
the dust is heavy and does not readily rise, and the
operatives have the greatest objection to a draught
of air on a level with them, but the master
fustian cutters have promised that their shops
shall be ventilated as well as possible. It is usual
for the inspectors to send to the occupier of every
mill, upon its first starting, a copy of the abstract of
the Factory Act, and of the notice of meal hours,
both of which documents are to be hung up in his
mill, leaving him to provide himself with the other
documents required. Latterly I have been in the
habit of forwarding at the same time a copy of the
" Hints upon the Administration of the Factory
Acts," which I have had drawn up expressly to en-
able a mill occupier to obtain a knowledge of the
general regulations, and of the manner in whieh he
should proceed. In the present instance I had copies
of the registers and certificate books put together in
one book, and a copy sent with the other documents
to the proprietor of every establishment under either
of the new acts. I found that very exaggerated no-
tions prevailed of what the factory regulations were,
and in many instances the " Hints" had shown how
simply the chief enactments could be carried out, and
had enabled the principals to give effect at once to
the new act. The necessity of limiting the hours of
labour of children and females has been freely ac-
knowledged on all sides. The advantages which
masters, as well as operatives, will eventually enjoy
from the regularity of work and meals, which will
be indispensable under the factory system, are fully
appreciated ; and although it is natural that some of
the regulations should appear unnecessary, and that
others, suitable for cotton factories, might appearnot
adapted for an earthenware work or a lucifer match
factory, I have found most of those objections re-
moved upon explanation, and I have met through-
out with the utmost cordiality, and strongly ex-
pressed intentions to carry out the various provisions
of the law fully and frankly.
Mr. Baker writes :—The consumption of cotton in
Great Britain has been larger in 1864 than it was
in 1863 by 229,281 bales, or about 16 per cent. ;
but the prices of the raw material are still very high,
and without much probability of their being lower ;
and, no doubt, these prices are telling very much on
the smaller capitalists, many of whom have, for a
long period, been hoping against hope, and wishing
every day that the war would end. Thus, Mr.
Sub-Inspector May, in writing to me about his sub-
division, on the 11th of November last, says
"There have been 35 failures in and about Burnley
during the last two or three months." It has been
indisputably asserted that whilst in 1860, which was
the most prosperous year the cotton trade ever knew,
not less than 40 millions of pounds sterling were dis-
tributed among the industrial classes of Lancashire
engaged in the cotton trade or the houses depen-
dent on it, during the last three years, taking every
favourable circumstance into consideration, upon
the average scarcely twenty-five millions have been
realised. The question, therefore, at the present
moment to be considered is—and it is one of a most
momentous character—how is this deficiency to be
borne if it should be continuous, and by what
means is the country to sustain and meet it? lam
informed that the silk trade, during the whole of
last year, has been a very difficult and unprofitable
one, particularly to the throwers, and further fail-
ures amongst them have taken place. The princi-
pal cause of this badness of trade has been the
scarcity, and the consequent very high price, of raw
silk. The dearness of money had also, no doubt, a
very prejudicial effect upon it. Of linen, Mr.
Baker reports :—lt is a curious circumstance that
not long ago, with respect to one class of goods, all
the efforts of certain cotton manufacturers were
directed to get up cotton so closely to resemble linen
that the purchaser's eye should be deceived by it ; or
else, by showing its capability to receive so fine a ma-
nipulation, its apparent value should be enhanced.
At the present time the same efforts are being made
to give to linen all the external qualifications of the
finest calico, so that it may force its way into the
market as a substitute, to a certain extent, for it.
" Travelling lately," writes Mr. Darkin in October
last, " with Mr. —, of —, he stated to me some
facts which you may like to hear. He had just re-
turned from Manchester, where a large exporter told
him that he was so disgusted with the complaints
from all quarters of the rotten calico made from
Surat cotton, that he was determined, if possible, to
substitute linen for it. He was paying more than
6d. per yard for the calico, but would pay more for
linen. Mr. showed him specimens of linen,
creamed in yarn before being woven into cloth, and
he was so pleased with the colour and strength, that
he at once gave an order for 2,000 pieces for export,
at 7d. per yard. He further told me that he might
have had orders for 100,000 pieces if he could have
executed them, so pleased was the Manchester man
with them. A clever girl, minding two looms, has
turned out 550 yards of " this linen in a week." But
when the extension of the line trade fails, is in the
fact that the whole force of the linen manufacturer
has been for some time expended on production,
whilst he has overlooked the necessity of combining
with that the science of distribution. The profit
demanded upon calico bears no proportion to that
which the public pays upon linen goods to the re-
tail vendor above the wholesale price. Thus linen
remains still the luxury which it has been ever since
it was superseded by cotton, whilst cotton remains
what is termed " the leading article." But with
the price of linen as it now stands, with the facility
of transport by railway or steamboat, with the
competition which is springing up in other countries
where they see no disadvantage in growing flax,
but are actually increasing their machinery because
of the cheapness of labour and the valuable
nature of their water power, the time appears tome
not far distant when our manufacturers will have to
recast the scheme by which their linens remain un-
sold, and thereby afford to the public the opportu-
nity of purchasing linens at such prices as will leave
ample profit to the producers, and at the same time
vastly increase its consumption in the most rational
way. Our working classes are at present almost
debarred the use of linen by its enormous retail
price ; but by and by this anomaly will cease to
exist, and linen will take its place by the side of
cotton, without entering into injurious competition
with it. Mr. Baker also reports in similar terms to
Mr. Redgrave upon the fustian cutters in and about
Warrington, Lymm in Cheshire, Cadishead, Irlam,
Hollings Green, and in the more southerly parts of
Cheshire. The total number of such works, he says,
in my district is 173, and the number of persons
employed about 420 males and 1,060 females, of
which latter 200 are children.

THE SCOTCH IRON TRADE.—The Glasgow Evening
Citizen says :—" On Monday, a general meeting of
the ironworkers in Glasgow and neighbourhood was held
in Whyte's Temperance Hotel, Mr. 'John Collins in the
chair, at which the following proposition was unanimously
adopted The workmen respectfully request, through
the committee, to be permitted to proceed with their work
at the rate of wages hitherto paid to them, and failing this,
they most respectfully urge that, in order to settle the
differences which have arisen as to wages, the masters
should agree to arbitration, the men pledging themselves to
submit to whatever decision may be pronounced by the ar-
bitrators.' We understand that the men are now locked out
in the following works:—Town Head, Govan Bar, Mother-
well, Gartness, Monkland, Mossend, Rochsollock, Coats,
Phoenix, Clifton, Drumpeller, and Merryston. No lock-out
has been adopted in the following works :—Blochairn,
North British, Woodneuck, and Barrhead. We understand
that the masters of Muirkirk Ironworks have so far agreed
to the wishes Of the men as to be willing to submit the
questions in dispute to arbitration. Meanwhile, they will
keep their works open, pay the men to account, and adopt
the rate of pay which may be proposed by the arbitrators.''