Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1844-06-04
From the Boston Laborer.
LABOR IN ENGLAND.

ganized, dIsassociated labor will lead, let
him look at England. Here he will he
hold the natural tendencies of the corrup,
heart carried out in fearful acts of inlus-
tlce, oppression and tyranny, such as ilu-
mainly can but shudder to look upon He
will see drarice, graspiag at all within lis
reach, disregarding alike The health, hawi.
ness, and tyc Of us r;ctim, intent alone
upon increasing its own gains, and extend
ing its own power Of control. He will sec
labor stripped of all that can make i, dcsr-
able, the laborer reduced 10 the mere con-
dltion OF slave, whhom the po,cer Of re-
dress, or the hope Of better prospect.
| he late discussion Of the FACTORY
| Bull" which was intended TO remedy some
Of these evils by limiting The term Of labor
per day, has brought out soma of the most
fearful and aggravating facts, we'll calcu-
lated to arouse the feelings Of every lover
OF his race, and inci,e him to immediate
and Jealous effort for reform The orig
nal bill contemplated the reduction Of The
term for labor, Cor all individuals uadrr
Gig itcen gears Of age. to t,rcire hours per
day. to which Lord Ashley moved an
am 'ndment restricting the term. for child
rem, to ten hours. The debate occasioned
by the amendment disclosed the facts Of
which we have spoken. By these it APP
pears that while the extensive introduction
OF machinery has thrown millions out Of
employ, or rather rendered useless the la
Dor OF millions who would otherwise be
employed, it has fearfuliy increased Tie
amount Of labor to be performed by those
who are employed, and at the same time
has diminished their scagcs; that i, is con-
SANITY destroying physical and mental ca
paclty' encouraging vice, subver,ing ma
ture, and brutalizing Humanity.
The Introduction, and so extensive use
OF machinery, according to various wri-
1 ters, has virtually thrown out of employ
from three 10 four hundred millions Of
worklngmcn. But this is not all. 1t has
nearly thrown ercry adult male out Of en-
Ifoy. Young persons, females can per.
form labor with a machine equally well
with adult males, and procuring their la
Dor Tor less wages they choose it, and t. Us
'hrow Inc hcavies, burdens upon those who
are least able to endure it, According 10
statlstlcts collected in 1853, the number OF
INDIVIDUALS engaged in The five departments
oi co!ton' WOODEN, wors,ed, fax ard silk
spinning, mndcr the age Of eighteen, was
i92,oo7 nearly one half the whole num-
per engaged In those departments, Siace
1000 there has been fearful increase in
tue amount OF female labor employed. A
manufacturer himself states, that he en-
Ploys females exclusively at his power
looms, and that he "prefers married fe-
males, especially those who have fami-
lies at home dependent on them for sup
port, because they are attentive and docile,
more SO than unmarried females, and are
compelled to use their utmost crertion to
procure the neccsSarics of life"
An Inspector of one Of the mills states
that she had known many instances Of fe-
males, many Of whom had not completed
their eighteenth year, who had been obi
ged 10 work from six O'Clock in the morn
ing till ten at night, with only an hour and
half allowed them for their meals" The
amount of labor to be performed Dy these
females is being Constantly increased -
Lord Ashley stated that calculations made
for him by an experienced mathematician,
showed that the distance travelled by
young female, who tended a pair Of mules
spinning the cotton numbered 49," was
now more than three times what it was in
| 1915. Then it was miles per day; in
1882, it was % miles; in 1899, the lowest
amount of distance was not less than Is
miles-tke highest 81 miles" This be-
ing disputed, Mr.. Fieldcn, the member
from Oldham, stated that he had measured
the distance in his own mill, and found il
in no instance to be less than ttcenty miles,
Such excessive toll, together with Gun
slant confinement, impuriiy Of the atmos
phere, want Of food and sleep, necessarily
produces premature decay and loss of life
Out Of loco individuals employed in for
ty mills at Manchester and Stockport, in
1899, only g were found above the age
Of forty-five years Swelling Of! the feet,
excessive pain in all the limbs, is the por-
ton of almos. every operative. The wan;
of sleep gives rise TO numberess accidents,
such as the loss Of the hand or arm and
almost invariably ''occur at late hour III
the evening, when the operatives are over
come with fatigue and Sleep" Repeatedly
have the government commissioners ami
medical men declared the evils Of this ex-
cessive and protracted toll, but with little
avail.
But the evils are not confined to those
employed in the factories. A state of the |
most revolving wre.chedness exists among
the scamstresses and dress-makers Of Lon |
don. Domestic servants are miserable |
when compared with slaves. The farm
laborers ''seldom know" in the languag.
of one Of them, "what il is to pc, enough |
10 eat.' Mr.. Hunt, a farm laborer, states |
tha, "many families only obtain half the
amount that their maintenance in the work
house would cost" The Scotch agricul- |
tural aborer are said to s'live like princes
but their principal food is s'brose,r made |
out of oatmeal and boiling water. The |
real cause Of the disturbances IN Wales
was The AFFECT poverty Of the people. who
live on potatoes and buttermilk, oai meal
and water, and lodge in mud hu's of sin
gle room. The larger part Of the inmates
Of the Loudon Fever Hospital, and the va
grants brought up al the Police Courts, axe
destitute farm lahofers.