The Cotton Factory Times. — 1907-04-05 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

BOUNTY FOR OVERLOOKERB.  MEETING IN PROTEST.  The driving system, so regards the weaving industry, is not peculiar to Lancashire; nor to this country. The evil has cropped up in New Bedford, Idaseachnsetts, and is creating something like a sensation in the ranks of the operatives. Al • largely-attended meeting held a fortnight ago in the city named it formed the topic of discussion, and it would appear that the principle is to be fought tooth and nail. One of the speakers describes the system complained of as consisting in the loom fixer of a certain section trying to get all the cloth out of the weavers that wee possible. At the end of the month the loom fixer in charge of the section in the weave room that had produced the most cloth received a prize or a bounty of money which was said to amount to four dollars. It was claimed that for this four dollars the whole of the weave rooms were driven at killing pace. Another speaker said in was nothing more than a system of nicking spies out of the loom fixers, and be knew that where the system had ben practised in England some of the young girls who worked in the mill had been driven 30 hard that many cases ef suicide had followed.  President Holland, of the Weavers' Union, said repeated complaints had been made to the etecative committee of his union that more looms were constantly being added to the already largo number, and brides this the help were bong driven past all endor• ance. "I have had women come to me and tell me that they could not sleep nights, from worrying over their work in the mill," said Mr. Holland, and under these circumstances it was time to see if something could be done to rectify matters. . . . . .  Secretary Matthew Hart, of the Weavers' Union, observed that representations had been made by members of the union that the pay of the operatives, and especially the weavers, had been continually cut down in one way or another, until the promised Ti per cent increase in wages bad been wiped out and 5 per cent along with that. "At first," he said, "the wages were increased, but now the weaver claims be is worse off in all 'the mills than before the increase. The weaver is given more looms than he can ran to advantage, and in consequence makes lees pay." The bounty system has practically made a spy of the fixer, for to get the work net of the help he often used threats to the weaver that he would complain to the 'mooed hand, and that complaint would go further, if the weaver does not harry with his or her work. This worried the weaver, and to save trouble, and possibly the job, the weaver worked harder than was good for health or peace of mind, and at the end of the month the fixer who had driven the help the, hardest got the paltry four dollars. Mr. John Bintcliffe said he understood the bounty system had been in force at the Dartmouth mill for come time, and he urged the weavers to !mite in taking some action to suppress the " curse " before it spread to other mills in the city. A good way would be for all weavers to join the union. Recently the Weavers' Union had decided not to go into the United Textile Workers, but to put all their energy into building up the Federation of Weavers, which would ultimately be found, or a branch of it would, in every city and hamlet in the country where there were weavers. When the weavers were so thoroughly organised as to know 110 fear of failure, it wee the intention to ask the manufacturers for the standard list, which would do away with all the troubles that the, weavers now bad to frequently undergo. No definite nation was taken by the meeting, but event' joined the union, and the question is lobe heard f again.