child should be employed till it had attained the age of nine years; and that no person under the age of eighteen years should be suffered to remain in the factories more than twelve hours in one day; and that on Saturdays they should work only nine hours. This act was repealed in 1833 by an act containing the following provisions, and comprehending all the statutory regulations at present applicable to the factories of the United Kingdom.

"1. That after the 1st of January, 1834, no person under eighteen years of age shall be allowed to work in the night—that is, between half past eight P.M. and half past five A.M., in any cotton or other factory in which steam or water, or any other mechanical power, is or shall be used to propel the power of the machinery, excepting in lace factories.

66

"2. That no person under eighteen shall be employed more than twelve hours in one day, nor more than sixty-nine hours in one week.

"3. That there shall be allowed in the course of every day not less than one and a half hours for meals to any person restricted to the performance of twelve hours' work.

"4. That after the 1st of January, 1834, no child, except in silk-mills, shall be employed who shall not be nine years old.

"5. That after the 1st of March, 1834, no child, except in silk-mills, shall be employed in any factory more than forty-eight hours in one week, nor more than nine hours in any one day, who shall not

STATUTORY REGULATIONS.

203

be eleven years old; nor after the 1st of March, 1835, who shall not be twelve years old; nor after the 1st of March, 1836, who shall not be thirteen years old; and that these hours of work shall not be exceeded, even if the child has worked during the day in more factories than one.

"6. That children whose hours of work are restricted to nine hours a day, shall be entitled to two holydays and eight half-holydays in every year.

"7. That children whose hours of work are restricted to nine hours a day, are not to be employed without obtaining a certificate from a physician or surgeon, certifying that they are of the ordinary strength and appearance of children of the age before mentioned, which certificate is to be countersigned by some inspector or justice.

"8. That it shall be lawful for his majesty to appoint, during pleasure, four persons to be inspectors of factories, with extensive powers as magistrates to examine the children employed in the factories, and to inquire respecting their condition, employment, and education; and that one of the secretaries of state shall have power, on the application of an inspector, to appoint superintendents to superintend the execution of the act.

"9. That those inspectors are to make all rules necessary for the execution of the act, and to enforce the attendance at school for at least two hours daily out of six days in the week, of children employed in the factories; from whose weekly wages

a deduction not exceeding one penny in every shilling, for schooling, shall be made.

"10. That no child shall be employed who shall not, on Monday of every week, give to the factorymaster a certificate of his or her attendance at school for the previous week.

"11. That the interior walls of every mill shall be whitewashed every year.

"12. That a copy or abstract of this act shall be hung up in a conspicuous part of the mill.

"13. That the inspectors shall regularly once a year report their proceedings to one of the secretaries of state.

"The act also contains regulations extending the hours of work where time shall be lost by the want of or an excess of water in mills situated upon a stream of water, &c., &c.

"Now this, you will say, is a humane and just bill: it must remove the worst evils. But this is not the case; and I can show that as great, if not greater, evils now exist. It is impossible for this law to be observed; for many families would starve to death, unless they worked more hours a day than it permits. Many operatives could not maintain themselves under its operation. Parliament might just as well have voted that all the colliers in the mines should dig their coal on the surface of the ground.

"It has been of great service, I doubt not, to the apprenticed children; but of little service to others. For Parliament may pass as many humane regulations

NEVER SO MUCH DISTRESS IN ENGLAND. 205

as they please, to protect the operatives: they will all be in vain, so long as these same men groan under the weight of the corn-laws and the vast burden of taxation.

"I think there are fewer instances of brutal violence and abuse, and that there is not as much nightwork done. Some of these regulations have been carried into effect; and perhaps a general advantage has been derived from the act. But, should I give an opinion, I should say that there never was a time when disease, suffering, ignorance, and crime were so rife among the English operatives as at present.

"The manufactures have been greatly improved, and immense fortunes have been made; but it has all been at the expense of the operative. Never was there a time when the philanthropist and the Christian had so much cause to mourn over the condition of the working classes as now."

I am aware, sir, there are many persons seemingly well informed on this subject, who differ widely from the opinions here expressed; though I fear the judgments of such are not a little swayed by interest. But I cannot doubt that the statements of this gentleman were made with candour, and may be relied on as very near the truth. "No people," says the old proverb," are better than their laws." The stranger, in reading this factory bill, would suppose that it throws a broad shield of protection over the labouring poor; but in England the prevailing influences are stronger than the laws.

VOL. I.-S

[Since my return I have conversed with a large number of persons in this country who are familiar with the manufacturing system, and the condition of the operatives of England, and they have all concurred, in the main, in the opinions contained in this letter. Some of them have thought the picture in some respects, perhaps, overdrawn; but I am bound, in justice to myself, to say that a much greater number, and among them the most intelligent, have assured me that they did not consider one feature of it exaggerated.

I have recently had several conversations with a superintendent of one of the largest cotton factories in the State of New-York, who returned in the spring of 1840 from Great Britain, where he had spent several months in collecting information in regard to the English manufactories, for the benefit of the company which employed him. He is a native of Scotland, and perfectly familiar with the practical operation of the system on both sides of the Atlantic. He gave me his opinion upon every point I

have dwelt on in this letter.

"Wherever I went, in the manufacturing districts," said he, "I saw extreme poverty, ignorance, and suffering. I did not find a factory in England where the operatives seemed to be comfortable; no one where there was not much that was painful to witness. As a general thing, the overlookers are stern and tyrannical, and the operatives expect few favours: the poor are very degraded in England, or they would not bear such treatment.