A. A. Brooke

Centres of Textile Industry: Lancashire and Yorkshire—Changes in general conditions—Reforms not final—Extent of Combination: Mixed Unions—Equal wages paid to weavers in the cotton trade—Contrast between Lancashire and Yorkshire—Lower scale for women in Yorkshire—Fines—Supervision: Immorality—System of Fines: Deductions from wages—Sanitation: Defective arrangements—High temperature in cotton mills—Dangerous machinery—Labour of Married Women: Child labour—Reforms needed—Other Textile Trades: Crape—Silk—Ribbons—Carpets—Hosiery—Lace—Linen—Unhealthy Conditions—Wages.

Centres of Textile Industry.—By far the largest demand for women’s labour, next to household service, comes from the textile industry; and it is in Lancashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire, where the cotton and woollen trades are carried on, that women’s labour under the Factory system can best be studied. There are several departments of the textile trades, such as the silk industry, crape manufacturing, and carpet making, in which women are also largely employed; but it is in the great cotton mills of Rochdale, Oldham, Burnley, and Blackburn, the woollen mills of Huddersfield and Dewsbury, and the worsted mills of Bradford, that the great majority of women are to be found.

Changes in General Conditions.—The grievances of the women and children employed in the mills in the cotton trade were the subject of general discussion fifty years ago, and it was the exposure of the terrible conditions under which they worked, the excessive hours, the insanitary conditions, and their complete helplessness, that forced the hand of the various governments of the day, and enabled Lord Ashley to introduce his factory legislation. Since that time the country has heard but little of the lot of the mill operatives, but from time to time it appears that all is not as it should be. For instance, evidence was laid before the Labour Commission which shewed that the currently-accepted picture of the prosperity and comfort of the mill operatives was much too highly coloured. The representatives both of the women and of the men brought forward a mass of evidence shewing that the grievances to which the workpeople were exposed were of the most real and vital kind. The wages in certain districts and departments might be good, but the over-driving, the speeding up of machinery, the high temperature maintained in the mills, the utterly inadequate provision made for the health of the workpeople, and the prevalence of fines, all pointed to the conclusion that the factory legislation contemplated by Lord Ashley and his successors, and followed up from time to time almost to the present moment, presented no finality. The conditions of labour have, it is true, been transformed since those early days when we read of the operatives’ deputation to Lord Palmerston. In order to demonstrate that working a mule was not an easy matter the operatives induced the Prime Minister to push a chair up and down the room in imitation of a spinner’s motions. The hours of labour have been shortened, but the intensity of labour has increased at an even higher rate. The strain upon the muscle and bodily strength may be less, but the nervous wear and tear, the mental strain, the storm and stress of the mill, have been also steadily increasing. The history of the troubles of the Lancashire and Yorkshire operative is not then a closed chapter; for that matter no department of industry in these days is or can be. Changes and improvements in manufacturing processes and machinery are so constant and sweeping that the worker is ever face to face with new problems, many of which, indeed, are directly due to the rising standard of his own life.

Extent of Combination.—Whilst Lancashire and Yorkshire afford the most instructive field for studying the influence of factory legislation upon labour, the information that may be gleaned there respecting combination as an element in the economic and social life of women is no less instructive. Side by side with one another you find two great kindred industries—the woollen and the cotton—and the level of one, so far as women are concerned, is far below that of the other. No explanation based on competition, either in commercial or labour markets, can account for this difference. The explanation must be sought, not in the ability of the individual or the working of the market, but in the extent and direction of the combination which exists among the operatives. It is certain that the operatives of Lancashire and Cheshire have shewn themselves far more alive to the benefits of combination than those of Yorkshire. The worker in the cotton mill, whether male or female, is a Trade Unionist almost as a matter of course, and though, as in the best organized of trades, a certain number still remain outside the pale of the union, those who are inside are sufficiently strong, both in numbers and in practical effectiveness, to formulate the labour policy of the trade. There is a wide difference between formulating a policy and carrying it out in practice, but the organizations of the spinners, weavers, and cardroom-workers have been successful in making the two very nearly synonymous. Their leaders have been fully alive to the absurdity of attempting to carry through an heroic policy in the absence of effective co-operation on the part of the majority. To ignore the women workers would have been fatal in an industry which numbers them by tens of thousands. Accordingly the policy of the Unionists has been to bring men and women together into the same organization; to treat their labour as one and the same; and to provide equal rules for the remuneration and protection of all. The most notable result has been that women weavers in the cotton trade are paid precisely the same wages as the men; though indeed the fact is scarcely second in importance that the co-operation of the women workers in every branch of the cotton industry is absolutely secured for every trade movement.

The Northern Counties Weavers’ Association numbers 71,180 members, and of these 43,000 are women and 28,180 men; whilst the Card and Blowing-room Operatives’ Organization with its 35,000 members has 14,000 men and 21,000 women enrolled. There are no women in the Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners, but by the federal arrangement I have referred to, on large questions of trade policy, and even of state policy, where the interests of the cotton trade are touched, men and women spinners, cardroom-workers, and weavers, every component part of the labour of the cotton trade, may be counted upon to “go solid.” Although the men are in a minority in these unions they have not as yet seen their way to giving any considerable share of the control to the women, and the managing bodies consist almost exclusively of men. The fact that women have made no move for representation would serve to show that their interests have been well guarded by the various executive bodies. Nor does there appear to be any jealousy or friction between the men and women in the Cotton Trade. Mr. Mullen, Secretary of the Cardroom-workers’ Organization, giving evidence before the Labour Commission, spoke emphatically on this point, and what he said is equally true of other departments where men and women are employed together. It seems obvious indeed that where absolutely equal conditions are claimed, and can be maintained, for both sexes, the causes of ill-feeling and disagreement are removed, inasmuch as the fatal element of competition between men and women is no longer at work.

Contrast between Yorkshire and Lancashire.—At any rate we have not the extraordinary anomaly which the woollen trade shews, of work precisely similar in kind, and almost equal in quantity, being blacklisted, as it were, because it is done by women. I have before me a document entitled “Huddersfield Woollen Manufacturers’ and Spinners’ Association—Amended Weaving Scale,” in which the piece-work prices for men and women respectively are given. The men have a table upon one side, and upon an opposite side it is indicated under the heading “Women. 15 per cent. to be deducted from men’s scale for woollens and cotton warps reversibles. 20 per cent. to be deducted from men’s scale for white-vested worsted mixture, or solid coloured worsteds and woollen shawls. 25 per cent. to be deducted from men’s scale for single white worsteds. 30 per cent. to be deducted from men’s scale for serges and cotton warps. 15 per cent. to be deducted from men’s scale for coloured worsteds.” The above applies to looms running fifty picks per minute; for looms running seventy to eighty picks per minute 50 per cent. less than men’s scale is to be paid for wages, while in other cases proportionate deductions are prescribed. For looms running 110 to 120 picks per minute the rate is briefly and compendiously set out as one-third of men’s scale, which is equivalent to a penalty of two-thirds of the wage. The women, it may be noted, are as skilful and as rapid workers as the men, only less productive to the extent of about 2½ per cent., a difference which is accounted for by the inability of the women to readjust their looms when out of order. The disparity which is put upon them has therefore no proportionate foundation in fact. It is a purely artificial degradation of wages, a system at once of fining the workers for being women, and of putting women’s work and claims for an adequate standard of living at a discount. To thoroughly appreciate what the Unions of the cotton trade have done it is well to bear in mind this manner of dealing with women’s labour, which is habitual in every trade where men and women are jointly employed. Instances might be multiplied in the woollen trade. Thus in a large Halifax carpet mill the women’s wages average 13s. 9d. per week, and the men’s £1 1s. 8d. for the same work. And in the wool-combing trade of Bradford the average weekly earnings of the women are 12s. against the men’s 18s.

Nor is it only in the matter of wages that the Trade Unions have been able to do so much for the women operatives of Lancashire. There is abundant evidence to shew that public opinion has been brought to bear by them upon the administration of the Factory Acts, and that a standard of factory administration has been brought about through their agency that could not possibly have been attained without it. Then again in the matter of fines, with which I deal more fully later on, the Unions have made themselves felt. Whilst fining is still far too prevalent in the cotton factories it is less prevalent and arbitrary than in the woollen and worsted trades.

Supervision.—But perhaps the question which touches women most closely is the nature of the supervision to which they are subjected. Unhappily this has sometimes been of the lowest kind. Not only have bullying expedients been used for the purpose of “driving” the workpeople—for instance, by exposing the names of those who had fallen below the standard of the labour driver in the shed—but immoral conduct has had to be submitted to. However, the Unions have taken a firm attitude in this latter respect, and indeed two strikes have recently taken place, one at Oldham and one at Nelson, with the result that in each case the obnoxious overlooker was removed. In the Nelson case the evidence was submitted to arbitrators, clergymen of the neighbourhood, who, in giving their judgment, placed it on record that the offences of which the man had been judged guilty “are not uncommon among men who have the oversight of the female operatives in other mills, and as ministers of religion we most earnestly appeal to the employers of labour practically to recognise their duty in this matter, and seriously consider how essential it is to the happiness and well-being of those under their charge, as well as to their credit, to make the moral conduct of their workpeople the subject of nearer concern and of greater importance.” It is satisfactory to note that this award has created an improvement in the behaviour of overlookers generally, and has attracted the attention of employers.

Fines.—The system of fines is deeply felt and bitterly resented. The fines may be divided generally into two classes; namely, disciplinary, and those inflicted on account of damage done to the work. Under the first head are included fines for late attendance in starting work, and in returning to the mill after meal hours; being found in the wrong shed or room; laughing, sitting down, etc. Fines for late attendance range as a rule from 1d. for the first five minutes lost up to 3d. and 6d. according to the time lost; other disciplinary fines from 6d. to 2s. 6d. The deductions made for damages of various kinds are even a more serious matter. After the work leaves the loom it is examined and passed, and if any flaw is found in it the weaver is liable to have the piece returned with the intimation that she must buy it, or submit to a heavy deduction. In many cases the fines imposed amount to the wages earned upon the piece. The injustices incident to such a system—if system it can be called where no rule obtains—are many. In the first place it gives an immense power into the hands of the overlooker or cloth looker who examines the work, and this power is often abused. Then again it enables the employers to shift from themselves to the workpeople the loss sustained by the use of bad material. The system of piece-work itself accomplishes this, as the worse the material the longer and more troublesome the job, and the less the wages. But in addition to this the worker’s own time has to be lost in “mending,” and wages are deducted for mistakes which no amount of watchfulness or skill could avert. Frequently too the operatives are not even shewn the piece on account of which the fine is imposed. The “Particulars Clause,” which was inserted in the Factory Act of 1891, had mainly its origin in what amounted to a fraudulent system of deductions. The system is somewhat too technical for explanation here, but it consists in giving weavers and other textile piece workers a false basis on which to calculate the amount of work done, so that the wages paid to them fall short of what they are entitled to receive. It is now compulsory upon employers to furnish to certain classes of operatives particulars of piece-work—another instance in which Trade Unionism has suggested legislation, for the clause is entirely due to the influence of the Textile Unions.

Among other forms of deduction are charges made for the use of hot water, the oiling of looms, the renewal and repair of brushes and oil cans, and the cleaning out of lavatories. I have known mills in which the system of fines has been purely nominal; but unfortunately these constitute a minority, the rule being that the workpeople have to ensure the employer out of their own wages against all risks and damage in the process of production, whether due to defects in material, machinery, or workmanship.

Sanitation.—Although the Factory Acts have been in operation for several years, the lamentable conditions to which reference has been made in passing can scarcely be said to have been seriously grappled with. It is necessary to distinguish between the conditions which attach to the work-place, and those which are due to the nature of the work itself. I have therefore considered them apart from one another. There is abundant evidence to shew that throughout the textile trades operatives are exposed in a very grave degree to evils arising from defective sanitary arrangements. In the majority of mills the sanitary arrangements are most unsatisfactory, both from the point of view of health and decency. Evidence collected on this head by the Labour Commission leaves no doubt whatever upon the matter. Whether it is due to negligence, or ignorance, or both, the fact remains that, tried by the lowest standard, the sanitary arrangements are grossly defective. This part of the subject cannot be left without remarking upon the altogether lower level of public health administration existing inside the factory than that which is maintained outside. We must deal with remedies later on, but the lack of symmetry and co-ordination in our public health system stands out so glaringly in this particular as to call for some notice here. Dealing with ventilation, it is equally evident that the mills have been designed entirely without reference to the workers. The consequence is, that where ventilation exists it is often of the most haphazard description. Everything is subordinated to the purposes of manufacture, and however vigilant and efficient a factory inspector may be, it is often impossible to arrange in existing buildings for the proper renewal of air.

High Temperature in Cotton Mills.—With regard to temperature and atmosphere the woollen worker is better off than the cotton worker. The practice of sizing the cotton has led to the introduction of excessive heat and steam for the purpose of softening the fabric during the process of weaving. It was to check this that the Cotton Cloth Act was introduced; but, although a certain standard has now been laid down, the operatives are still exposed to very injurious influences. In many of the weaving sheds the temperature stands at 90°, whilst steam jets are to be found within a few inches of the weavers’ heads. Cotton weavers suffer in consequence from diseases of the chest brought about by the sudden change from the hot, humid atmosphere to the outside air. Rheumatism is also general, and cases of fainting are not uncommon among the workers in these mills. But even where there is no artificial production of a bad atmosphere, there always exists the natural deterioration induced by the presence of large numbers of workpeople penned together with a great mass of machinery. The great heat and exhaustion of air, the constant showers of fibrous dust given off by the fabric in course of construction, are elements which call for a strenuous counterblast in the shape of abundant fresh air. In the chapter upon diseases of occupation fuller reference is made to these matters.

Dangerous Machinery.—Much has been done to secure the protection of dangerous machinery, but accidents caused by flying shuttles are still far too frequent, and are sometimes attended by the most distressing results. In eighteen recent shuttle accidents the loss of an eye has ensued. This is a risk which is quite preventable by the adoption of a shuttle-guard. But the matter is left to the option of employers, and guards are not in general use.

Labour of Married Women.—There are other sacrifices demanded of the women who work in the textile trades besides those which can be directly connected with their work. I am aware that many of the workers themselves do not look upon their employment in this light. An abundant demand for labour in which women can participate is generally regarded as a great boon; but against the advantages must be set the drawbacks—the comparative break-up of home life and the habitual neglect of children. The problem is a grave one, and opinions are conflicting, but most people agree that something should be done at any rate to arrest the terrible infant mortality, which is to be found in all the centres which give widespread employment for married women. It is urged that it is impossible to legislate for comfortable homes, and that the direct prohibition of the labour of those whose homes should be their first charge is also impossible, but that yet some improvement is necessary, and can, by more moderate measures, be secured. We certainly cannot afford—the manufacturers themselves cannot afford—to have generation after generation sapped of its strength, and thrown upon life unfitted for its tasks. And much also may be said as to the doubtful economy of the mother’s supplementary wage. It may sometimes be the means of adding to the family income, but cases have come under my notice in which the weekly payments made for looking after the home and children, the extra expenses involved in mending and in washing and in the preparation of food, outweigh the gain in wages. Then again the payments for doctors and medicine are higher in families where the mother works at the mill, and the children are left to themselves, than in those where the children are constantly under a mother’s care. If in addition to this we remember the tendency of women’s labour to pull down the general standard of remuneration, it is apparent that we must not hasten to accept the conclusion that the prohibition of the labour of married women, either partially or entirely, would mean the impoverishment of the family.

Child Labour.—Much attention has been given to the age of admission of children to work in the textile trades. At the Berlin Conference twelve was fixed as a sort of international minimum at which children should be allowed to enter upon factory labour. The age fixed by the British factory legislation of that time was ten for half-timers and fourteen for full-timers, or thirteen if the child had passed the prescribed educational standard. Our representatives, however, with the concurrence of the Government, endorsed the proposal for raising the age to twelve. When however the Factory Act of 1891 was being passed through the House of Commons, the opposition of Lancashire and Yorkshire overcame the good intentions of the Government. Instead of proposing to raise the age to twelve, they refused to alter the then existing law, with the result that they were beaten on Mr. Sydney Buxton’s amendment to raise the age to eleven. And most people—except of course directly interested parents and employers—who are acquainted with the unhealthy surroundings of mill life, are of opinion that eleven is too young an age at which to begin work, even as a half-timer. It is true that the certifying surgeon is empowered by the Factory Act to refuse a certificate to any child who appears to him to be from physical causes unfit for work; but the children are only submitted for examination once, either upon, or immediately after beginning work, so that their fitness for employment must therefore be more or less a matter of speculation. They are not again examined till they have become “young persons,” and a certain number whose employers manage to evade the law are never examined at all.

Other Textile Trades.—The other branches of the textile trades, and the other districts in which those already referred to exist, are, with the exception of the linen trade, comparatively unimportant. Of those in the woollen-cloth trade, or such of it as still survives in the West of England, we find women who work in the factories at Trowbridge and Stroud earning about two-thirds of the wages of the Yorkshire women. There is no effective combination either amongst the men or the women. Wages have been fixed by custom, and they scarcely ever fluctuate. The low-water mark of factory wages is to be found in the Essex crape industry, where the women are in receipt of about 5s. a week.

The silk trade is carried on mostly at Macclesfield and Leek. The wages earned by women vary according to the districts and employers. They are for the most part very low; and as employment in the silk trade is more intermittent than in any other textile industry, the average wages per week for the year are miserably low. In the silk-throwing trade of Macclesfield they amount to about 6s. a week if calculated throughout the year. Women working power looms can command about 12s. a week during the good season. Taking the various departments together, the average wages in Leek are 11s. 6d., Derby 10s., and Congleton 7s. In Coventry, which is the principal centre of ribbon weaving, much of the work is done by outdoor weavers; their looms are driven by an engine which supplies the power to each block of houses. The weaver owns the loom and pays rent for house and power together at the rate of about 10s. per week; home workers are able to command better prices than the factory workers.

In the carpet manufacture, of which Kidderminster is the centre, a large number of women are employed, the wages ranging from 6s. a week for the simplest work to 14s. 6d. for the more difficult. Men are employed in the heaviest work and in the most skilled departments, and they have been able to resist the introduction of women’s labour Fourteen years ago an attempt was made to introduce women at the same wages as those paid in Yorkshire, about 15s. a week, but the men held their ground, and still retain the old standard of 35s.

The hosiery and lace trades, which are carried on in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, give employment to several thousand women. There is no standard rate of wages in Nottingham; the small firms pay lower wages than the large ones, whilst in the adjoining country districts the rates are considerably lower than in Nottingham. A great deal of finishing work is given out by middlemen to people in these districts, and is paid for at a very low rate.

The lace trade is characterised by extreme irregularity of employment. Wages range from 4s. a week for “dressing” lace to 24s. for making it up. A quantity of work which was formerly done inside the factories is now given out, with the result that prices have dropped heavily. As in the hosiery trade, the sanitation and ventilation of the factories vary very greatly. No standard appears to be recognized or enforced, and as is the case in so many other industries, a few employers have spared no trouble or expense to ensure the health and comfort of their workpeople, whilst the majority have done little or nothing.

Belfast may claim to be the centre of the linen trade, which finds habitation as well throughout the north of Ireland, and in the little Scotch towns of Forfar, Brechin, and Dunfermline. But in Scotland the linen industry and the jute industry are largely carried on together, whilst in Belfast the linen trade almost unsupplemented holds the field, and provides work for nearly 30,000 girls and women. The processes of manufacture closely resemble those of the cotton industry, but the wages are much lower, the unhealthy conditions far more marked, the protective agencies supplied by the workers themselves in the shape of trade unions altogether wanting, and a law similar to that which regulates the heat and humidity in the weaving sheds of Lancashire non-existent.[16]

It is extremely difficult to give the actual wages earned, for although the supply of employment is usually regular, much loss of time is occasioned by the exhausting and unhealthy nature of the work, and a considerable lessening of wages is consequent upon the deductions and penalties which are enforced. Thus if a woman loses half a day she is deprived of half her bonus, whilst the loss of a whole day means the disappearance of the bonus altogether. This so-called bonus on regular employment is really a part of the time wages of the workers. In most of the factories and mills it is 1s. 6d., in some 1s. a week. As it is exceptional for a woman to be able to work the whole week through, this bonus rarely finds its way in its integrity into her pocket. In addition to this there are fines and deductions for damaged work, just as there are in the cotton and woollen industries. Taking all this into account, the average wages of the women can scarcely amount to more than 8s. or 9s. a week. Further reference is made to the grossly insanitary condition of the trade and the mills in another chapter. So far no labour movements on the part of the women have ever had the slightest success. The employers have been in the habit of meeting any movements of the kind by the threat of a lock-out, which has been carried into effect more than once.