Wheeling times and advertiser. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849, 1845-05-02
THE FACToRYsYsTEM OF THE I'M

TED STATES.-The testimony elected by
the British Parliament, of the operation of the
Factory system of Great Britain, has caused
many citizens of the United States to consider
the manufacturing establishments of this
country to be little superior to prisons, where
the poor are compelled To work at a small
compensation and under many privations. for
the benefit of the rich. Those, however. who
are acquainted with the regulations of these
establishments, AMI the pay received BY the
operatives, know that nothing resembling op-
preston is practised.
At the last session of the Massachusetts, leg
%islature, a committee was appointed to ex-
anime into the factory system-the hours of
labor each day-the treatment of operatives
and their compensation. That committee re-
ported the result of their labors on the 18th of
March. Various persons were examined, and
from their testimony it appears. the girls who
labor IN the factories can make excellent wa
ges. We quote the following statement:
Miss Elizabeth Bowe, has worked i'm Low
ell l6 months, all the time i'm the Lawrence
Corporation; came from Maine; she is a wea-
yer; works by the piece: runs four looms. .sMy
health" she says, '.has been very good indeed
since | worked there, averaged three dollars a
week since l have been there besides nv board;
have heard very little about the hours of labor
being too long" She consented to have her
name put on the petition because Miss Phil
lipps asked her to. She would prefer to work
only ten hours. Between 80 and so work i'm
the room with her. Her room is better venti-
lated and more healthy than most others. Girls
who wish to attend lectures can 90 out before
the bell rings; my overseer lets them go: also
Saturdays they go out before the bell rings.
1t was her wish to attend four looms. She has
a sister who has worked in the mill seven
years. Her health is very good. Don't know
that she has ever been out on account of sick
ness. The general health of the operatives is
good. Have never spoken to my employers
about the work being too hard or the hours too
long. Don't know any one who has been has
tened to a premature grave by factory labor. !
never attended any of the lectures i'm Lowell
OH the ten hour system"
Three dollars a week besides board, are pref
ty good wages for a female, and we are not
surprised that so many young females seek
such profitable employment. In a few years
they can acquire a handsome capital to com
mence other business if they desire, or to aid
in bo~usekeepipge when married Il $4,000.
more creditable for girls TO be thus EMPLOYED
than for them to spend their time i'm idlcness
and folly, as is the case with too many
We make the subjoined extract from the
report, and recommend it to the serious per.
usal of those who indulge fears lest the factory
system of the United States should prove a
source of corruption and oppression:
sit is hardly possible to draw a comparison
between the operatives in Great Britain and
those in Lowell. The one is manufacturinp
population, in the strict sense of the word the
other is not. There, the whole family 90 in.
to the mills as soon as they have sufficient
bodily strength to earn a penny. They never
come out until they die. Very little attention
is paid to their moral or physical culture, ant
as has been proved by facts ascertained b,
commissioners appointed by Parliament, few
can read or write, and unless they have attend
ed Sabbath Schools, few obtain any knowledg,
OF the Bible or of the Christian religion.
lu Lowell but very few Tin some mills none
at ALI enter into the factories under the age o
fifteen. None under the age can be admitted
unless they bring a certificate from the schoo
teacher, that he or she has attended school al
least three months during the precedin.
twelve. Nine tenths of the factory population
in Lowell come from the country. they ar,
farmers daughters. Many of them come owe,
a hundred miles to enter the mills. Their edu.
cation has been attended to i'm the district
schools, which are dotted like diamonds Owe
every square mile of New England. Their
moral and religious characters have been form.
ed by pious parents, under the p%aternal roof
Their bodies have been developed and theil
constitutions made strong BY the pure air
wholesome food, and youthful exercise.
After an absence of a few years, having lai,
by a few hundred dollars, they depart for thei
homes, get married, settle down in life, anC
become the heads of the families. Such, w,
believe, i'll truth, to be a correct statement o
the Lowell operatives, and Of the hours ofla
Dor.