The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-13 00:00:00

WRONGS TirillCH CRY FOR REDRESS,

SOMETHING WHICH CONCERNS LEGISLATORS.
Now that Mr. Crook's bill for placing the opera-
tive bleachers, dyers, &c., under the Factory Act
is again before the house, it may not be amiss to
reproduce the following article, which appeared
in the Court Circular, and was copied into the
columns of various influential journals about twelve-
months ago—upon the burking of a similar effort
to ameliorate the condition of these cruelly treated
women and children. We see that Mr. Turner and
other manufacturers have pledged themselves to
oppose to their utmost the second reading of Mr.
Crook's bill. We do not envy these upholders of
selfish tyranny their cold blooded undertaking :
In the name of religion, charity, and common
sense, we should like to inquire what her Ma-
jesty's Government, what Select Parliamentary
Committees, and what members of Parliament gene-
rally, consider a sufficient cause for interference be-
tween employers and employed.
In 1855 was published one of the most frightful
reports touching the condition of women and chil-
dren engaged in Bleaching Works, Dyeing Works,
&c., that ever shocked the feelings of indignant
readers • and in 1857, a Select Committee of the
House of Commons was appointed to inquire fur-
ther into the matter. Witnesses examined before
this Committee not only fully substantiated the
terrible truths of the Commissioners' Report, but
brought to light other truths of even more horrible
character. We aro not given to sentimentality, nor
do we lay claim to an acuteness of feeling unpos-
sessed by the generality; nevertheless wo find our-
selves stirred to the very depth of our being, while
wading through these most cruel details. The blood
seems to boil, and the heart sickens ; and we stop
and ask ourselves, Can these things be in Christian
England ? But here they are, put down in black
and white; and so thoroughly attested that we are
compelled to receive them as facts.
Here we read of women and little girls being
forced to work, as a regular thing, 18 and 20 hours
out of the 24, " in a heat exceeding by some 20 or
30 degrees, the general temperature of an Indian
summer." We read of this protracted term of la-
bour being not unfrequently lengthened out to 28
or 29 consecutive hours ; of the workers coming
out of the drying-stoves sick and scarce able to
stand, " dripping wet with perspiration, and their
clothes wet through with it ; ' of their being forced,
all in this dripping state, to pass their hour or two
of rest, huddled together in some store-room,
amonst unfinished goods, so that the victims "may
be roused to their work as soon as they are wanted ;"
of young girls " being carried out of the stoves in
a fainting state to be laid on cool stones till capable
of going to work again." And these we learn are
common occurrences—common to hundreds and
thousands of workers.
Yet all this is nothing—heart-harrowing as it
is, it is nothing to the still more frightful facts.
We really seem to have got among demons when
we read of little children, girls as well as boys,
"being kept at work (with an hour and a half's
occasional rest) for two, three, and even four days
and nights together, while men are hallooing at'
and frightening'. them lest they 'sleep standing'
at their toil," yet here it is all writ down, in plain
and simple language, of England's manufac-
turers. The following is from the evidence of
an operative of good character, and who has
had nineteen years' experience of bleaching and
dyeing works. We borrow from Mr. Hopley's
pamphlet* :
r. Butt—Do you mean to say that you have
known persons to work uninterruptedly for three
days and three nights ?--Yesresting a little at
the works; they have not been allowed to go home,
but have rested at the works, lying on the tables
for a little while, or anywhere where they could
get a place to lie down.
How long did they rest P—Perhaps an hour or an
hour and a half ; it might be longer sometimes.
Did they go on all night without leaving the
works ?—Yes.
Mr. Turner—Were there children of eight years
of age employed in this way P—l will not say that
there were children of eight years of age, but there
were children and young persons.
[Other witnesses speak confidently of large num-
bers of children eight years old and even younger
being employed in bleach-works, and working the
same number of hours as the adults (Reports Nos.
1,074, 1,075, 1,076, 2,784, 2,824, 2,923, 2,926, &c.) ;
nine and ten, however, seem the more
usual ages
for commencing.]
Mr. Butt—Did you ever know them to go on for
four days ?--Yes; I have known them to go on for
four days without going home.
Mr. Wise—Do you mean to say that for four days
and four nights the women remained with their
clothesoon,r orau
d twoonl ?—Yes that
;on the tables and benches
for an hour
that was the only rest
they had.
And the only rest the children had ?—They all
" work the same hours ; a set must work together.''
—p. 33.
The horrible condition of the children engaged in
such protracted toil is almost too painful to con-
template—their fingers " cut with the cloth, and
festering," " the salvage sawing against the gather-
ing, running sores," which are only bound up when
it is found that "the blood stains the pieces ."
" Whose finger is bleeding,' is not an uncommon
expression as the blood stains the pieces ; they
then have to have their fingers tied up."—p. 28.
Their feet, through long standing, are as bad as
their hands :
" The skin comes off and they are very sore" (No.
274)," I have often sore feet ; they bleed some-
times, and my ankle bone has been growing out"
(No. 277).—" The skin is off very often, and the
soles of my feet are blood-raw" (No. 279).—" My
feet are often blood-raw ; they are blood-raw, and
they pain me" (No. 281).—" My feet blister at the
bottom, and are very sore. Mother puts some stuff to

* " Wrongs which cry for Redress :" a Letter to the
Men and Women of the United Kingdom. Price Gd.
Ijoulatou ein.4 Wright, Paternoster-row.