| By Author | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Title | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Language |
|
Download this book: [ ASCII | HTML | PDF ] Look for this book on Amazon Tweet |
Title: Women in the Printing Trades - A Sociological Study.
Author: Various
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Women in the Printing Trades - A Sociological Study." ***
produced from scanned images of public domain material
[Transcriber's note: Underscores have been used to indicate _italic_
fonts. Original spelling variants have not been standardized. In the
tables, _s._ or s. was used for Shillings; and _d._ or d. for Pence. "It
should also be noted that slight errors of a few farthings in the
additions have crept into the totals of some of the columns, but as they
do not affect the accuracy of the wage figures the Appendix has been
copied exactly as it was published." (Appendix VI.)]
WOMEN IN THE PRINTING TRADES:
A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY.
EDITED BY
J. RAMSAY MACDONALD,
WITH A PREFACE BY PROFESSOR F. Y. EDGEWORTH.
INVESTIGATORS:
MRS. J. L. HAMMOND, MRS. H. OAKESHOTT, MISS A. BLACK, MISS A. HARRISON,
MISS IRWIN, and Others.
LONDON: P. S. KING & SON,
ORCHARD HOUSE, WESTMINSTER.
1904.
PREFACE.
My only qualification for writing this preface is the circumstance that,
as a representative of the Royal Economic Society, I attended the
meetings of the Committee appointed to direct and conduct the
investigations of which the results are summarised in the following
pages. From what I saw and heard at those meetings I received the
impression that the evidence here recorded was collected with great
diligence and sifted with great care. It seems to constitute a solid
contribution to a department of political economy which has perhaps not
received as much attention as it deserves.
Among the aspects of women's work on which some new light has been
thrown, is the question why women in return for the same or a not very
different amount of work should often receive very much less wages. It
is a question which not only in its bearing on social life is of the
highest practical importance, but also from a more abstract point of
view is of considerable theoretical interest, so far as it seems to
present the paradox of _entrepreneurs_ paying at very different rates
for factors of production which are not so different in efficiency.
The question as stated has some resemblance to the well-known demand for
an explanation which Charles II. preferred to the Royal Society: there
occurs the preliminary question whether the circumstance to be explained
exists. The alleged disproportion between the remuneration of men and
women is indeed sometimes only apparent, or at least appears to be
greater than it is really. Often, however, it is real and great where it
is not apparent.
On the one hand, in many cases in which at first sight women seem to be
doing the same work as men for less pay, it is found on careful inquiry,
that they are not doing the same work. "The same work nominally is not
always the same work actually," as the Editor reminds us (Chapter IV.
par. 1). "Men feeders, for instance, carry formes and do little things
about the machine which women do not do." In this and other ways men
afford to the employer a greater "net advantageousness," as Mr. Sidney
Webb puts it in his valuable study on the "Alleged Differences in the
Wages paid to Men and to Women for similar Work" (_Economic Journal_,
Vol. I. pp. 635 _et seq._). The examples of this phenomenon adduced by
Mr. Webb, and in the evidence before the Royal Commission on Labour, are
supplemented by these records. To instance one of the less obvious ways
in which a difference in net advantageousness makes itself felt,
employers say: "It does not pay to train women: they would leave us
before we got the same return for our trouble as we get from men." At
the same time it is to be noticed in many of these cases that though the
work of women is less efficient, it is not so inferior as their pay. For
instance, a Manchester employer "estimated that a woman was two-thirds
as valuable in a printer's and stationer's warehouse as a man, and she
was paid 15_s._ or 20_s._ to his 33_s._," (p. 47, note).
In other cases the difference between the remuneration of men and women
for similar work is not obvious because they work in different branches
of industry. For example, only five instances of women being employed as
lithographic artists are on record (Chapter IV. par. 1). Other branches
of the printing trade are as exclusively women's work. Such data afford
no direct and exact comparison between the remuneration of the two
classes in relation to the work done by them respectively. As Mr. Webb
concludes, the inferiority of women's wages cannot be gathered "from a
comparison of the rates for identical work, for few such cases exist,
but rather from a comparison of the standards of remuneration in men's
and women's occupations respectively." "Looked at in this light," he
continues, "it seems probable that women's work is usually less highly
paid than work of equivalent difficulty and productivity done by men."
As Mrs. Fawcett points out in an important supplement to Mr. Webb's
article (_Economic Journal_, Vol. II. p. 174), women are crowded into
classes of industry which are less remunerative than those open to men.
Recognising the fact of different remuneration for the same amount of
work, we have next to consider the causes. It is evident that the sort
of explanation offered by Adam Smith for difference of wages in
different employments will not avail much in the case with which we are
dealing. The lower remuneration of women is not brought about by way of
compensation for the greater "agreeableness" or other pleasurable
incident or perquisite of their tasks. Possibly we might refer to this
head, as well as to others, the circumstance that women having in
prospect the hopes of domestic life are likely to take less interest in
their trade than men do who cast in their lot for life, if this
difference in future prospects is attended with a difference in the
effort of attention given to work in the present. But doubtless the
explanation is to be found chiefly not in compensation produced by the
levelling action of competition, but in the absence of competition
between men and women--in the existence of monopoly whether natural or
artificial, to use Mill's distinction (_Political Economy_, Vol. II.
Chapter XIV.), together with custom and what Mill calls "the unintended
effect of general social regulations."
A natural monopoly is constituted by the superior strength of man, the
occasional exercise of which, as just noticed, entitles him to some
superiority of pay for work which at first sight may appear almost
identical with that of women. The experience recorded in the following
pages does not afford any expectation that this kind of superiority
tends to vanish. "There is an almost unanimous chorus of opinion that
women's work as compositors is so inferior to men's that it does not
pay in the long run" (Chapter IV.). Speaking of the physiological
differences between men and women in relation to their work, the Editor
concludes that "when all false emphasis and exaggeration have been
removed a considerable residuum of difference must remain."
Custom and the somewhat capricious sense of decorum counts for more than
might have been expected in restricting women to certain industries, and
accordingly, on the principle emphasised by Mrs. Fawcett, depressing
their wages. "I know my place, and I'm not going to take men's work from
them," said a female operative to an employer who wanted her to varnish
books (Chapter IV.). "Why, that is men's work, and we shouldn't think of
doing it," was the answer given by forewomen and others to the question
why they did not turn their hands to simple and easy processes which
were being done by men (Chapter V.).
Among artificial monopolies must be placed that which is constituted by
legislation. The Factory Laws, of which a lucid summary is given
(Chapter VI. § 1), impose certain conditions on the work of women which,
it may be supposed and has been asserted, place them at a sensible
disadvantage in their competition with men, who are free from those
restrictions. But the evidence now collected goes to prove that the
disadvantage occasioned to women in their competition with men by the
Factory Acts is not appreciable; thus confirming the conclusions
obtained by the Committee which the British Association appointed to
consider this very question (Report, 1903). The evidence of the large
majority of employers in the printing trade is in favour of the Acts;
the evidence of employees is almost unanimous. Of a hundred and three
employers "not half-a-dozen remembered dismissing women in consequence
of the new enactment" (Chapter VI. § 2). Of a hundred and three
employers, who expressed an opinion, twenty-six stated that in their
opinion legislation had not affected women's labour at all, sixty
considered it to have been beneficial, and seventeen looked on all
legislation as grandmotherly and ridiculous (p. 82). The opinion of the
employers is much influenced by the experience that "after overtime the
next day's work suffers." The still stronger feeling of the workers in
favour of the Factory Acts is partly based on the same fact: "Long
hours," said one, "don't do any good, for they mean that you work less
next day: if you work all night, then you are so tired that you have to
take a day off; you have gained nothing" (p. 86). Upon the whole the
moderate conclusion appears to be that "except in a few small houses the
employment of women as compositors has not been affected by the Factory
Acts" (p. 75). What little evidence there is to the contrary is
exhibited by the Editor with creditable candour (p. 80). It is admitted
that a "slight residuum of night work" may have been transferred to male
hands.
Trades unionism forms another species of "artificial monopoly," the
organisation of men in the printing trades being much stronger than that
of women. The difference is partly accounted for by the fact, already
noticed in other connections, that woman having an eye to marriage is
not equally wedded to her trade. Some frankly admit that "marriage is
sure to come along, and then they will work in factories and workshops
no longer" (p. 42). Whatever the cause, it appears from the Editor's
historical retrospect that women's unions have not flourished in the
trades under consideration. All attempts to organise women in the
printing trade proper, as distinguished from the bookbinding industry,
have failed. Even the Society of Women Employed in Bookbinding, though
organised by Mrs. Emma Paterson, seems to have had only a moderate
success. Thus the men unionists have had their way in arranging that
their standard wage should not be lowered by the influx of cheap labour
offered by women.
Some unions indeed admit women on equal terms with men, with less
advantage to the former than might have been expected. A regulation of
this sort adopted by the London Society of Compositors is followed by
the result that "it is practically impossible for any woman to join the
society" (p. 28). At Perth a few years ago, when women began to be
employed on general bookwork and setting up newspaper copy, the men's
union decided that the women must either be paid the same rates as the
men or be got rid of altogether (p. 46). One general result of such
_primâ facie_ equalitarian regulations is probably to promote that
crowding of women into less remunerative occupations which was above
noticed as a cardinal fact of the situation. It is for this reason
apparently that Mrs. Fawcett does not welcome the principle that
"women's wages should be the same as men's for the same work." "To
encourage women under all circumstances to claim the same wages as men
for the same work would be to exclude from work altogether all those
women who were industrially less efficient than men" (see the article by
Mrs. Fawcett referred to in the _Economic Journal_, Vol. III. p. 366,
and compare her article in that Journal, Vol. II. p. 174, already
cited).
Of course it may be argued that, in view of the circumstance that women
workers are often subsidised by men and of other incidents of family
life, to permit the unrestricted competition of men with women would
tend to lower the remuneration and degrade the character of labour as a
whole. Without expressing an opinion on this matter, seeking to explain
rather than to justify the cardinal fact that the industrial competition
between men and women is very imperfect, one may suggest that it is
favoured by another element of monopoly. The employer in a large
business has some of the powers proper to monopoly. As Professor
Marshall says (in a somewhat different connection) "a man who employs a
thousand others is in himself an absolutely rigid combination to the
extent of one thousand units in the labour market." This consideration
may render it easier to understand how it is possible for certain
employers to give effect to the dispositions which are attributed to
them in the following passages: "Conservative notions about women's
sphere, and chivalrous prejudices about protecting them, influence
certain employers in determining what work they _ought_ to do" (p. 52).
"A rigid sense of propriety based on a certain amount of good reason,
seems to determine many employers to separate male from female
departments" (p. 53).
A notice of this subject would be inadequate without reference to the
relation between the use of machinery and the competition of women
against men. In some cases the cheapness of women's work averts the
introduction of machinery. "One investigator whilst being taken over
certain large printing works was shown women folding one of the
illustrated weekly papers. Folding machines were standing idle in the
department, and she was told that these were used by the men when
folding had to be done at times when the Factory Law prohibited women's
labour" (p. 98). A well-known bookbinder said: "If women would take a
fair price for work done it would not be necessary to employ machinery."
In the Warrington newspaper offices the cheapness of women's labour
makes it unnecessary to introduce linotypes (pp. 46 and 98). On the
other hand, in the case of bookbinding, the employment of machinery
makes it possible for the less skilled and lower-paid women to do work
formerly done by men (p. 48). But the relations are not in general so
simple. Rather, as the Editor remarks, "what really happens is an
all-round shifting of the distribution of labour-power and skill, and a
rearrangement of the subdivision of labour" (p. 48). The cheerful
assumption proper to abstract economics, that labour displaced by the
introduction of machinery can turn to some other employment, is seldom,
it is to be feared, so perfectly realised as in the case of the
bookbinders below mentioned (p. 48, note): "There was much gloom among
the men when the rounding and backing machine came in, but though
profitable work was taken away from the 'rounders' and 'backers' they
had more 'lining up' and other work to do in consequence, so nobody was
turned off."
So far I have adverted to only one of the problems which are elucidated
by this investigation. A sense of proportion might require that I should
dwell on other topics of great interest such as home work and the work
of married women, the technique of the industries connected with
printing which the Editor has described minutely, and the statistics
relating to women's wages, in the treatment of which a master hand, that
of Mr. A. L. Bowley, may be recognised. But I must not go on like the
chairman who with a lengthy opening address detains an audience eager to
hear the principal speaker. I will only in conclusion express the hope
that the Committee which has obtained such useful results may be enabled
to prosecute further investigations with like diligence.
F. Y. EDGEWORTH.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION xv
I.
I. THE TRADES DESCRIBED 1
II. WOMEN IN THE TRADES 17
III. WOMEN'S WORK AND ORGANISATION 24
IV. MEN AND WOMEN AS WORKERS 44
V. INDUSTRIAL TRAINING 55
VI. LEGISLATION 69
VII. WOMEN AND MACHINERY 94
VIII. HOME WORK 99
IX. MARRIED AND UNMARRIED 102
X. WAGES 113
II.--APPENDICES.
I. POINTS UPON WHICH ENQUIRIES WERE MADE 139
II. DESCRIPTIONS OF CERTAIN TYPICAL FIRMS 141
III. GENERAL GLASGOW REPORT 170
IV. WOMEN IN THE PRINTING TRADES IN BIRMINGHAM 179
V. TABLES OF INDIVIDUAL EARNINGS FOR CONSECUTIVE WEEKS
THROUGH LENGTHENED PERIODS 184
VI. MR. DUNNING'S STATEMENT OF WAGES, 1849 199
VII. TABLE SHOWING NUMBER OF MALES AND FEMALES ENGAGED
IN THESE TRADES AT VARIOUS AGES IN 1901 203
INDEX 205
INTRODUCTION.
The investigation upon which this book is based was undertaken by the
Women's Industrial Council; the Royal Statistical Society, the Royal
Economic Society, and the Hutchinson Trustees consenting to be
represented on the Committee responsible for the work. Upon this
Committee, the Women's Industrial Council was represented by Miss A.
Black, Miss C. Black, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Stephen N. Fox, and Mr. J.
Ramsay Macdonald; the Royal Statistical Society by Mr. J. A. Baines; the
Royal Economic Society by Professor F. Y. Edgeworth, and the Hutchinson
Trustees by Mr. A. L. Bowley. Mrs. Hogg also represented the Women's
Industrial Council up to her death in 1900.
The Committee takes this opportunity of thanking the Hutchinson Trustees
for their liberal financial assistance, and of expressing its
appreciation of the services so carefully and enthusiastically performed
by the investigators, especially those of Mrs. Hammond, who is mainly
responsible for the work done in London; of Mrs. Oakeshott, who assisted
Mrs. Hammond; of Mrs. Muirhead, who supplied information about
Birmingham; of Miss Harrison, who investigated Bristol and the
South-West, and Leeds and district; and of Miss Irwin and Mr. Jones, who
were in charge of the Scottish enquiries. To the many employers, Trade
Union secretaries, and others who were so willing to give assistance to
the investigators, the Committee also desires to express its gratitude.
Whoever has had experience in collecting and sifting such evidence as is
dealt with in this investigation knows how difficult it is to arrive at
proper values and just conclusions. And women's trades seem to offer
special difficulties of this kind. There are no Trade Union conditions,
no general trade rules, no uniformity in apprenticeships, so far as the
woman worker is concerned, and the variations in conditions are most
striking, even between neighbouring employers drawing their supply of
labour from practically the same district, though perhaps not from the
same social strata. That difference in strata is in some cases a
predominating factor in women's employment, and it everywhere confuses
economic and industrial considerations. When to this irregularity of
conditions is added a reticence as to "one's personal affairs," due
partly to women's lack of the sense that their position is of public
interest, and also partly to an unwillingness shown by many employers to
disclose the facts of cheap labour, it can readily be seen that the
Committee had to exercise the greatest care in its work.
When the investigation was begun there was an idea that it should be the
commencement of an enquiry into women's labour in every trade of any
importance, but whether that will be carried on or not will now depend
on the reception of this volume and on what further financial assistance
is forthcoming. The group of trades selected for first treatment shows
neither an overwhelming preponderance of women nor a very marked
increase in the employment of women. But it illustrates in a specially
normal way the main problems of women's labour under ordinary modern
conditions. Upon one important point this group does not throw much
light. The employment of Women in the Printing Trades does not show to
any satisfactory extent the family influence of married and unmarried
women wage earners. What information the Committee was able to gather is
dealt with in its proper place, but careful enquiries will have to be
made in the highly-organised factory industries before that wealth of
fact can be obtained from which conclusions can be drawn, with details
properly filled in, regarding the influence of women's earnings upon
family incomes.
In other respects these trades have yielded most interesting
information. They illustrate the industrial mind and capacity of women
in the different aspects of training, rates of pay, competition with
men, influence of machinery, effect of legislation, and so on. These
subjects are dealt with under separate chapters, and though it has been
the chief aim of the Committee to present well-sifted and reliable
facts, it has stated some conclusions which are most obvious, and which
appear to be necessary, if bare figures and dry industrial data are to
carry any sociological enlightenment. The volume is therefore offered
not as a mere description of industrial organisation, but as a study in
sociology which indicates a path ahead as well as points out where we
stand at the moment.
Miss Clementina Black is responsible for the description of the Trades,
Mr. A. L. Bowley for the Chapter on Wages, and Mr. Stephen Fox for the
legal and historical part of that on Legislation. For the rest, the
Editor is responsible.
CHAPTER I.
_THE TRADES DESCRIBED._
The trades covered by this enquiry include a great number of processes,
some brief account of which is necessary if the succeeding chapters are
to be comprehensible. It will, perhaps, be the easiest way to follow the
stages by which paper is converted into books and to return afterwards
to such accessory matters as envelope making, relief stamping,
lithography, etc.
_Paper-making._--Paper-making is carried on mainly in the counties of
Kent, Lancashire, Buckingham, Yorkshire, Fife, Lanark, Aberdeen and
Midlothian, but mills are found scattered over the country where water
is favourable to the manufacture.[1] In London, there is one mill only,
and not more than thirteen women are employed in it. Of these the
majority are occupied in sorting esparto grass, and throwing it by means
of pitchforks into machines where the abundant dust is shaken out, and
from which the grass is carried on moving bands to the vats where it is
boiled into pulp. A few older married women are engaged in cutting rags,
removing buttons, etc.; but at the present day paper is but rarely made
from rags, and the rags so used are generally sorted and cut by
machinery. This is an instance in which machinery has undoubtedly
superseded the work of women; but, perhaps, few persons will regret
that an occupation so uninviting as the cutting up of old rags should be
undertaken rather by a machine than by a human being. With the later
processes in the manufacture of paper--the boiling, mixing, bleaching,
and refining--women have nothing to do; but a few women are employed in
"counting" the sheets of paper before they leave the mill.
[Footnote 1: _The Directory of Paper-makers_ for 1903 gives the
following number of paper mills as being situated in the following
counties:--Bucks, 16; Devon, 10; Durham, 9; Kent, 30; Lancashire, 44;
Yorkshire, 27; Edinburgh, 17; Lanark, 9; Stirling, 8; Fife, 7; Aberdeen,
5; Dublin, 6.]
The work of the women, who are time-workers at from 8_s._ to 10_s._ a
week, requires no training. The working day begins at 6 a.m., an earlier
hour than that of any other factory or shop dealt with in this enquiry.
The machinery is kept in constant action, double shifts of men being
employed, and when it becomes necessary to feed the machines with grass
at night men do the work performed in the day by women.
_Letter-press Printing._--The primary business of the "compositor" is to
"set-up type," _i.e._, to arrange the separate movable types in required
order for printing successive lines of words. These lines are then
arranged in frames called _chases_, each of which containing the types
is known as a _forme_; the _formes_ are "locked up," that is, made firm
by wooden or metal wedges called _quoins_, and are then carried to the
press for a proof impression. The printed page passes on in the shape of
proof to the "corrector," and from him to the author, and is then
returned in order that corresponding alterations may be made in the
placing of the type. Finally, when the whole corrected impression has
been printed off, comes the "distributing"--the removal of the types
from their places and re-sorting into the proper divisions in the
"case." Were books the only form of printed matter, this description
would cover the whole business of the compositor, but there are also
handbills and newspapers--to say nothing of lithographic printing, which
will be dealt with farther on. The printing of handbills, etc., and the
printing of newspapers, require, each in its own way, a high degree of
skill and experience, to which women, the vast majority of whom leave
the trade comparatively young, seldom attain.
In the provinces, however, a few women are engaged upon the printing of
weekly or bi-weekly newspapers; and in London, one establishment has
been visited in which women regularly do "jobbing" or "display
work"--terms which cover the printing of advertisements, posters,
handbills, etc.--while at least two other firms employ each one girl
upon such work. "None of the other workers," it is reported, "seem to
care to learn."
The difference between skilful and unskilful work in this department is
far greater than an uninitiated person might suppose; and the
attractiveness of a poster, advertisement or invitation card depends
very largely upon the way in which the type is spaced.
In all printing houses employing women compositors, setting up,
correcting, and distributing are done by women; in the Women's Printing
Society women regularly "impose," that is, divide up the long galleys of
type into pages and place the pages so that they may follow in proper
order when the sheet is folded, and in another firm a woman was found
who could impose; but as a general rule the "imposing" is the work of
the man or men employed to lock-up and carry about the heavy formes. No
instance has been found in which this latter work, which in some cases
is extremely heavy, is done by women.
_Bookbinding._--This trade covers at least two main divisions, and one
of these is minutely subdivided into a great variety of processes. The
first process is, in all cases, that of folding. All printed matter
occupying more than a single page has to be so folded as to bring the
pages into consecutive order, and this process is essentially the same
whether the printed sheet be that of a book, a pamphlet, a magazine, or
a newspaper. From the trade point of view, however, there is a
distinction between the folding of matter intended to be bound up in a
real book cover (book-folding) and matter which is not to be bound
(printers' folding). As a general rule--liable, however, to many
exceptions--book-folding is performed in a binder's shop and printers'
folding in a printing house, whence the names. But many printers now
have a regular binding department, and periodical or pamphlet work is on
the other hand often folded in the workshop of the publisher's binder.
The line of demarcation is therefore no very distinct one. Prospectus
work is _par excellence_ printers' folding, and so are such weekly
papers as are still folded by hand.
Book-folding is done by women, of whom in theory nearly all, and in
practice many, are regularly employed. The process is practically
identical in both cases. Printers' folding is carried on in large firms
chiefly by a regular staff; but in times of pressure "job hands" or
"grass hands" are called in; and in smaller workplaces job hands do the
whole of the work. Great sheets of matter, fresh from the press, are
distributed in thousands to the workers to be folded either by hand or
by machine. In the latter case, the woman merely feeds the machine,
taking care to lay the sheet in exactly the right place. In the former,
she becomes practically a machine herself, so monotonous is the
occupation. The sheet is folded once, twice, three, or even four times,
as the case may be, on a fixed plan, and sometimes has to be cut with a
long knife as well as folded. The various sheets of a book having been
folded, the process of _gathering_ follows. Each folder has received a
fixed number (probably a thousand) copies of the same sheet, and when
she has finished folding the gatherer places the sheets in piles of each
"signature," _e.g._ the index letter which one observes on the first
page of each sheet in a book, in regular order on a long table. She then
walks up and down the side of this table collecting one copy of each
sheet and so forming a complete book. The collection thus made passes
from the gatherer to the _collator_, who runs over it, noting by means
of the printer's "signature" that all the sheets are in order, and
placing her mark on the book, thereby becoming responsible for its
accuracy. In the case of illustrated books the process of _placing_
comes at this stage. The plates to be inserted are "fanned out"--_i.e._,
laid out in fan shape--each receives a narrow strip of paste at the back
and is placed next, and stuck to, its proper page. This placing is
sometimes done by the collator, sometimes by a separate hand. The whole
process of collating is often omitted in the case of pamphlets and small
work, and the sheets then pass straight from the folder to the stitcher
or sewer. Of _sewing_ or _stitching_ there are many varieties. The
threads of hand-sewn books generally pass through three bands of tape
kept taut by being attached at one end to the table at which the worker
sits and at the other to a horizontal bar above. Sometimes the book will
have been prepared by the sawing of grooves in the back to receive the
sewing. This sawing is done by men. Stitching machines vary greatly. The
simplest kind merely inserts the unpleasant "staple-binder" of wire that
is so large a factor in the rapid decomposition of cheap books. In these
machines, one variety of which uses thread and knots it, the pamphlet or
other work in hand is placed at a particular place in a kind of trough;
the operator presses a treadle and the wire is mechanically passed
through and pressed flat. Other machines of a more complicated sort will
sew with thread upon tapes. In this case one girl is required to
superintend and a younger assistant to cut apart the books which are
delivered by the machine fixed at intervals upon a long continuous tape.
Such machines are worked by power and set going by the pressure of a
treadle. Pamphlets or newspapers having neither "cover" nor "wrapper"
are now finished--unless, indeed, _inserts_ or _insets_ are to be placed
between the pages. These are those unattached advertisements which fall
out upon the reader's knee on a first opening, and thereby certainly
succeed in catching his attention, though not perhaps his approval.
Magazines or paper-covered books are sometimes "wrappered" by women, a
simple process consisting of glueing the back of each book and clapping
on the cover. Bound books have end-papers added to them by women, who
also paste down the projecting tapes to the fly-pages. At this stage the
book passes into the hands of men to be touched no more by women, except
perhaps in a few subsidiary processes. But since much debate has taken
place over the allotment to men and women of other parts of the work, it
becomes necessary to give a cursory glance at the further stages of a
book's progress.
On leaving the women's hands the book--now no longer a collection of
loose sheets but an entity--is placed in a machine to be "nipped," that
is, to have the back pressed; then the edges are cut smooth in a
"guillotine"; the back is glued upon muslin and rounded, and a groove is
made, by hand or machine, at each side of the back, so that the cover
may lie flat; this is called "backing," the covering boards and cloth
are cut out and pasted together; the design and lettering are stamped
upon them in the "blocking-room"; the books are "pasted down," that is,
are fixed into their covers by means of pasting down the end leaves, and
are "built up" in a large press. If the designs and lettering of the
cover are to be gilded, the gold-leaf is laid on by hand according to
the stamped-out pattern, which is then restamped, and any gold-leaf not
firmly adhering is rubbed off with an old stocking. The stocking is
burned in a crucible, and the precious remainder of the gold collected
again. "Gold laying-on" is done by women; and the workers engaged in
this task do nothing else. Much dexterity is needed, the gold-leaf
being apt to break or blow away at the slightest breath. One
investigator describes as "seeming almost marvellous" the skill with
which this difficult material is laid in exactly the right place by
means of a knife. Women also "open-up," _i.e._, look through the books
ready to be sent out to see that there are no flaws. Such is the
life-history of the ordinary book as it comes from the publisher, but
"publishers' binding" is not the only section of the binding trade, and
is indeed regarded by the workers as "decidedly inferior" to
"leather-work," which is emphatically distinguished as "bookbinding."
Leather-binding is employed mainly for rebinding. It forms, as may be
supposed, a comparatively small part of the whole trade, and is
practically confined to three large firms in the West End, a few small
places, and separate rooms in some general binding establishments. The
chief difference of method lies in the better fixing together of back
and cover, the "bound" book being laced into the cover, and in the
presence of a "head-band," at top and bottom of the back. Books to be
re-bound are picked to pieces by women and cleaned from glue, etc.,
re-folded, if necessary, collated, and after being rolled flat (by a
man) are sewn at a hand press. Repairs to torn pages or plates and the
removal of stains are also done by women. This last process demands
great care and skill, "foxed" pages requiring to be dipped into a
preparation of acid which destroys not only the objectionable stain but
also the body of the paper, so that the leaf has to be newly sized and
strengthened, and naturally needs very tender handling throughout this
whole course of treatment. The best head-bands, too, are made by women
by hand, but the head-bands of cheaper books--when they exist at
all--are machine-made. Head-band makers form a special and extremely
small class of workers.
A third branch of the trade is "vellum-binding," a name which covers the
binding of all ledgers, account books, and bank books, whether bound in
vellum or no. The workers engaged in this branch form a separate group,
are rarely found on the premises of regular bookbinders, and work
chiefly in a separate department in printing houses. The employments of
women in vellum-binding are much the same as in publishers' binding;
they fold and sew much in the usual manner, the only marked difference
arising in the case of large day-books, etc., which are elaborately
hand-sewn in frames, each section of the book having a separate guard of
linen.
It is difficult to draw lines of demarcation between the various workers
whose occupations have now been described. In large workplaces a worker
will probably be kept at one minute process; the folder will do nothing
but fold, the sewer will only sew, the collator only collate, and the
inserter only insert. Some forewomen, however, think it better to give
the women a change of employment. Gold layers-on and openers-up are
always entirely apart from folders and sewers, but collators begin with
folding and sewing, and in small houses sometimes combine one or both
these processes with collating.
The divisions of work between men and women are not made upon any
discernible principle of fitness, and except in the case of folding and
sewing, which have belonged to women from time immemorial, the various
processes began in the hands of men and have been gradually taken up by
women. This gradual encroachment has been generally resented and often
resisted by the men, and in May, 1893, an elaborate agreement was drawn
up by the Bookbinding Trade Section of the London Chamber of Commerce
representing the masters, and the secretaries of the men's unions
representing the men working in the trade. The women workers were not
represented or consulted. The agreement is as follows:--
LONDON SOCIETIES OF JOURNEYMEN BOOKBINDERS.
_London Consolidated Society; Bookbinders' and Machine Rulers'
Consolidated Union, London Branch; Society of Day-working
Bookbinders._
That this meeting of representatives of the Bookbinding Section of
the London Chamber of Commerce, with representatives of the
Journeymen Bookbinders' Trade Societies, deeming it desirable that
a definition of bookbinding should be agreed upon for the
delimitation of work to be paid for at recognised rates, hereby
agrees that the following divisions or sub-divisions of labour be
for the future recognised as the work of bookbinders or
apprentices, taking the book from the time of leaving the women
after sewing, except wrappering, which is unaffected by this
agreement:--
Forwarding, and the following sub-divisions of bookbinding:
Nipping, knocking down, or pressing.
Cutting books or magazines.
Colouring edges of books (where done indoors).
Cutting leather, except corners, and backs for flush work from
sheep and roan.
Cutting cloth.
Cutting hollows and linings.
Cutting boards.
Bevelling boards.
Case making.
Pasting down and building up.
Flush work throughout.
Finishing throughout.
Assistant finishing throughout.
Blocking throughout.
Circuit and box work. (Bible trade.)
PROVIDED:--That the representatives of the journeymen agree that
they will not make it a grievance if female or unskilled labour is
placed upon:--
The rolling, pressing before sewing, sawing up, or papering of
outboard work.
The laying on, washing up, or cleaning off of cloth work.
The varnishing of cloth or Bible work.
The paper mounts and pictures on cloth cases.
Taking work out of the press after pasting down, and opening up.
The carrying of loads of work about the workshop.
Further, that the representatives of the journeymen will not
object to the introduction of unskilled labour upon cloth cutting,
if the recognised rate of wages of 32_s._ per 48 hours be paid
after a probationary period of twelve months, in which the novice
may learn the work.
Owing to the difficulties of drafting a clause affecting the
laying on in such a manner as to lay down a line of demarcation
between cloth and leather work, it is hereby agreed to leave the
subject of laying on _in statu quo_, upon the understanding that
it shall not be the policy of the Trade Societies to interfere,
except in the case of innovations upon existing custom.[2]
This agreement not to be construed to the prejudice of the
existing holders of situations.
Adopted by the Bookbinding Trade Section of the London Chamber of
Commerce at its annual meeting on 7th May, 1893.
JOHN DIPROSE, _Chairman_.
Ratified by the executives of the hereunder-mentioned Societies on
May 30th, 1893, and signed on their behalf.
HENRY R. KING, _Secretary, London Consolidated Society_.
WILLIAM BOCKETT, _Secretary, Day Working Bookbinders' Society_.
THOMAS E. POWELL, _Secretary, Bookbinders and Machine Rulers'
Consolidated Union_ (_London Branch_).
[Footnote 2: This clause has been interpreted by the award given in
March, 1903, by Mr. C. J. Stewart, the arbitrator appointed by the Board
of Trade to settle a dispute in the trade regarding wages, hours,
apprentices and piece work. The 6th clause in that award is as
follows:--"That the right or practice existing with regard to female
labour employed on wrappering and for laying on gold in case work, cloth
or leather, or other material, in certain workshops in the trade, shall
be made to apply to all workshops in the trade, it being agreed by the
employers that no man exclusively employed in gold laying-on shall lose
his employment by reason of the employment of women on such work."]
Closely connected with vellum-binding are the processes of
machine-ruling, numbering, paging and perforating.
_Machine-ruling_ is the process by which lines are ruled for ledgers,
invoices, etc. The machine employed resembles a hand-loom in appearance,
and is in effect a framework in which pens are fixed at the required
distances. Ink is conveyed into these from a pad of thick flannel above,
and the page to be ruled lies on a broad band below. The re-inking of
the flannel is in some cases effected by means of a reservoir and tap
supplying a regulated flow, in others the ink is laid on from bowls of
red or blue colour by means of a brush. Machines worked by a handle
still survive in a few places, but as a general rule the machine is
driven by power and the operator merely superintends, correcting the
machine if it goes wrong, setting the pens and regulating the supply of
ink. The newest machines require the services of neither "feeders" nor
"wetters," and the simple old picturesque accessories, the cords, the
wooden frame, the bowls of colour, are disappearing. Women are employed
in some houses to feed the machines, which is purely mechanical work;
our investigators found four establishments in London in which women can
rise to the higher position of "minder," and one other in which they are
allowed to damp the flannel and partially "mind."
_Numbering_ is the process by which consecutive figures are stamped upon
cheques, bills, receipts, tickets, or other loose sheets. A machine
worked by hand is employed, the number types changing automatically. The
attention of the worker is required on three points only: the paper must
be placed so as to bring the number into the right position; the machine
must not be allowed to skip numbers at a jump--as it is inclined to do;
and whenever an additional figure becomes necessary, a certain change
must be made. The handle of the machine works up and down, and the
process is different from that of stamping, to be described later. There
are no power machines for numbering.
Numbering is said to try the eyes, and the working of a machine handle
is considered bad for girls who have any weakness of the chest.
_Paging_ is the process by which numbers are printed upon the pages of a
bound volume. As in numbering, a change has to be made at each "100";
and there is need of further care to avoid missing pages. Where these
are thin or interleaved with tissue paper omissions are very easily
made.
_Perforating_ is done by machines generally worked by power, but
sometimes by treadle, with one foot; and this treadle work was described
by a woman constantly employed at it as excessively hard work.
_Lithography._--The work of women and girls in lithography seems to be
confined to the feeding of machines. In London the introduction of
female labour is comparatively recent, dating from about six or seven
years ago, but in the provinces women have been employed for more than
thirty years. Employers are, for some reason or another, not very ready
to give information about this branch of work; but some of the
investigators engaged in this enquiry have succeeded in seeing the
process. A girl stands on a high platform putting sheets into the proper
place in the machine until she has completed the job. A long interval
may follow in which she may sew, knit or read. The noise of the machine
is incessant, and the work hard, monotonous and mechanical, but if done
under proper conditions not necessarily unhealthy. Many working-places
in London, however, where space is so valuable, are partly underground,
dark and ill-ventilated, and in these the ceaseless whirring noise and
the smell of the ink grow unendurably trying. Workers in such places are
rough and of low social standing. Most men working in the general
stationery trades, and some employers who do not employ women, condemn
the doing of this work by women, and since the women have superseded not
men but boys, the views of the workmen are not those of trade rivals.
Girls are said to be in various ways better workers than
boys--cleaner-handed, more careful and accurate, less disposed to meddle
with the machinery, and therefore less liable to accidents; above all,
quieter, more docile, and less apt to strike. The men employed in
lithography look favourably on the employment of girls, because no girl
attempts to rise into the higher grades and "pick up" the trade without
apprenticeship. Girls do not, and boys as feeders do, "constitute a
danger to the Society." Moreover, a trade that offers only so uncertain
a chance of rising is generally disapproved for a boy.
The objection to the employment for girls is that they work among
men--an objection which may be a very grave one indeed, or a
comparatively slight one, according to the character of the foreman and
the management of the workshop. It may be noted that respectable
working-class parents almost always consider this objection serious.
A few women are reported to be employed as lithographic artists, but no
one has been seen in the course of this enquiry.
Minor stationery trades are envelope-making, black bordering, plain and
relief stamping.
_Envelope-making_ has several subdivisions. The paper is first cut to
shape in machines worked by men, then passed to women to be "cemented,"
_i.e._, to be gummed upon the flaps, folded or "creased," and stuck
together. Finally the envelopes are packed by women.
Cementing and folding are reckoned distinct trades. One cementer
explained to an investigator, however, that she described herself as a
folder, "for people are so ignorant that if you say you are a cementer
they think you have something to do with the pavement." Cementing may be
done by hand or by machine, and the workers are not interchangeable. The
hand-worker spreads out the envelopes in the shape of a fan, and passes
her brush over all the flaps at once. The machine-cementer puts 500 or
1,000 envelopes into a small machine, which grips them and drips gum
upon their flaps. The worker extricates the envelopes one by one, and
spreads them out to dry. A more complex machine is being introduced
which performs the various processes for itself, requiring one girl to
feed and one to take-off.
The flaps being dry, the envelopes are taken in bundles to the
_folders_, who first "crease" them--that is, fold in the sides--then
"gum" them with a brush at the required points, and fasten them. This
process can also be performed by a machine, and the operator in that
case merely feeds the machine with the cemented paper, and the envelope
is delivered made.
The envelopes are then handed on to the "packers," who count them and
make them up into packets, and the packets into parcels.
Except the original cutting, still done by men, all these processes have
always been executed by women.
The trade of _black bordering_ is carried on by women who seldom or
never perform any other process. Black bordering is usually done by
hand. The worker spreads out a number of sheets, cards or envelopes, in
such a manner as to expose only a certain width of border, and over this
exposed portion she passes a brush. Of course, only two edges of each
sheet, etc., can be laid ready at one time, and each object has to be
"laid out" a second time after drying. "It is marvellous to see the
speed and dexterity with which the women do the 'laying-out.' They
gather up a large number of sheets, lay them on the board and fan them
out with a piece of wood used for the purpose, showing the most
astounding accuracy of eye in leaving just the right width exposed.
Sometimes the 'laying out' is done by a machine, and only the blacking
by hand." This trade--a steady one on the whole--has, unlike nearly all
the other stationery trades, been more prosperous owing to the South
African war--a grim little example of the way in which large public
events eddy away into undreamed of backwaters! Men now never do black
bordering, but are reported to have done so once. Machinery is now being
more widely introduced.
_Plain, Relief and Cameo Stamping._--Under these heads are included all
the various processes by which crests, monograms, addresses, etc., are
embossed upon notepaper, cards, programmes, or private Christmas cards.
The trade has increased enormously of late years, and a new process has
been introduced which renders it possible to employ the printing press.
This, however, is only worth while when the order to be executed is a
very large one; and most stamping is done by hand machines, a die being
fixed into the machine and impressed by tightly screwing down. The
machine is worked (like an ordinary copying press) by a horizontal bar,
having a ball at each end, and swung from right to left. The lighter
machines can be worked by one hand; the heavier require two, and are
found fatiguing. Some are so heavy that they can only be worked by men.
Practice is necessary in order to get the stamp in exactly the right
place, and, in relief or cameo work, in order to mix the colours, which
are rubbed on the die, to precisely the right thickness.
Plain stamping--the easiest process--is that in which letters, a coat of
arms, or a trade mark, are raised but not coloured; in relief stamping
the raised surface is coloured; and in cameo stamping (of which the
registered letter envelope is an example) a white device stands out from
a coloured background.
When two or more colours are employed considerable care, skill, and
patience are needed. This work, in two or more colours, is called
_illuminating_; in one branch of it--the highest--gold and silver are
employed on a coloured surface, and here women are not employed.
_Show-card Mounting._--Card mounting is a distinct trade, and is almost
entirely in female hands. Almanacs, advertisements, and texts for
hanging up, all belong to the province of the card mounter, whose main
business is to unite the picture and cardboard that arrive separately in
her workshop. The board is first cut either by a man at a cutting
machine--or "guillotine"--or occasionally by a girl at a rotary machine
adjustable to different gauges; then "lined," by having paper pasted
over the back and edges. Inferior work is not lined. Finally, the
picture or print is pasted on the card, the backs of three or four
pictures being pasted at once, and each in succession being applied to
its own card. Some means of hanging up is still needed, and various
methods are in use. Sometimes eyelets are inserted into a punched hole
by means of a small machine which a girl works by hand. Sometimes the
edge is bound with a strip of tin, having loops attached to it; in this
case the tin strips are cut by men, and applied by hand machines, again
worked by girls. Sometimes, as in the case of maps, charts, and large
diagrams, a wooden rod is fixed at the top, this fixing being done by
girls.
The trade is not, it will readily be perceived, one that demands great
skill, practice or intelligence, and the majority of the workers are
very young. Still, a certain degree of experience is necessary, since
the application of either too much or too little paste results in a
"blister," and blistered work is spoiled. One investigator was shown a
lot of 500 cards, the estimated value of which was 6_d._ each, no less
than 385 of which had thus been spoiled and rendered quite useless. The
workers stand at their work and report that it exhausts them. It used,
till about twenty-eight years ago, to be done by men; but the trade was
at that time a much smaller one. Night work, when considered necessary,
is still done by men.
A little laying-on of gold is done in connection with card mounting. The
process has been described already under bookbinding.
The Christmas card industry (which may be considered as a variety of
show-card mounting) serves to exemplify one of the anomalies of the
Factory Act. These cards may be sorted, packed, etc., to any hours of
the night, because mere packing is not regarded as manufacture; but if a
"bow of ribbon" is to be affixed to each card, the process becomes
"preparation for sale," and the regulations of the Act apply.[3]
[Footnote 3: Cf. pp. 76,77.]
_Typefounding._--Typefounding is a small, ancient and conservative trade
into which women have only crept during the last few years. In London
there are only about eight typefoundries proper, and in these labour is
elaborately subdivided, every workman performing but one process.
Recently, however, some large printing houses have begun to cast their
own type, and in these the few men employed perform all the processes,
or, to use their own term, "do the work through," thus, curiously
enough, reverting to an earlier stage in the development of the trade.
Women are employed in the large foundries, where they perform certain
subsidiary parts of the work. Each type when it comes from the machine
wherein it has been cast has a little superfluous bit of thin metal,
known as a "break" on its end or "foot." These bits are broken off by
girls, the "foot" of the type being pressed against a table and the
"break" snapped off. No great skill is required, but quickness only
comes with practice. The type is also "set-up"--_i.e._, put in rows in a
long stick or "galley"--by girls; here, again, nothing is needed beyond
a certain manual dexterity. Sometimes another stage, "rubbing,"
intervenes between the "breaking" and the "setting-up." Rubbing is
merely the smoothing off on a flat grindstone of any roughness that may
be left by the machine round the "face" end of the type. In one case, in
London, one or two women were once employed in rubbing, but none appear
to be so engaged at present, and the newer appliances have made rubbing
unnecessary. "Dressing," the final process through which the type
passes, is said to be in some places performed by women; but no such
instances have been found in London in the course of this investigation.
The dresser receives the lines or sticks of type, polishes the sides,
measures their length and breadth with a delicate spanner, "nicks" the
foot of each type, and finally "picks over" the type--that is, scans the
row of "faces" through a magnifying glass, and rejects any on which the
letters are not absolutely truly placed.
One large London firm, employing many girls, has a different process.
The types are cast in long lines and have to be divided, no breaking or
setting-up being required. As one of the workers said, "This is not a
trade; just any one can do it!"
Girls began to do "breaking" and "setting-up" in London about thirteen
years ago. There were then but thirteen so employed. During the last few
years their numbers have increased, and it is estimated that those now
employed number from 100 to 150. One firm is known to employ fifty and
another forty. They have superseded boys, and were mainly introduced
because boys were difficult to get. The chances of rising being small
for boys, they were disinclined to enter the trade. The chances for
girls are _nil_, but this consideration does not weigh much with girls
belonging to the class that supplies workers to typefounding. The female
workers are all young, and at present no married women seem to be
employed, a fact which may perhaps be due to the comparatively recent
entrance of women into the trade.
The occupation has a special feature of unhealthiness--the danger of
lead-poisoning; and the Factory Act, recognising this, prohibits women,
young persons or children, from taking a meal upon the premises where
typefounding is carried on. As in other lead industries, much depends on
the care and cleanliness of the worker. To eat with hands lead-blackened
by some hours of "breaking-off" is to run considerable risk of
lead-poisoning. It is suggested that girls, being more fastidious than
boys upon such points, may possibly suffer less frequently from the
dangers involved in the industry of typefounding.
CHAPTER II.
_WOMEN IN THE TRADES._
[Sidenote: Census figures.]
Before 1841 the census occupation tables do not state the numbers
employed in the detailed trades, and even in that year we find either
that no separate return was made for some of the industries with which
this volume deals, or that no women were employed at all. Presumably,
therefore, previous statistics would not have shown that women were
employed in these industries to any appreciable extent.
The following tables show the employment of women in England and Wales
and Scotland in the Printing and Kindred Trades according to the census
returns from 1841 to 1901. The figures must be used with caution, as
they include employers as well as employed (an error, however, which is
immaterial in the case of women workers). Subsidiary helpers are also
classified with those actually entitled to be regarded as members of the
trade, and the tables do not discriminate sufficiently between the
various subdivisions of occupations. These last two errors considerably
affect the figures relating to women. In the bookbinding section, for
instance,[4] the figures are altogether misleading, since by far the
greater number of women included as bookbinders are really paper and
book-folders, and are no more entitled to the name bookbinder than a
bricklayer's labourer is to that of bricklayer.
[Footnote 4: Since 1881 in the Scottish returns.]
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Males. Females.
_Census 1841. (Employers and Employed included.)_
Booksellers, bookbinders, etc. 8,873 2,035
Printers 15,582 161
Lithographers, etc. 667 12
Paper manufacture 4,375 1,287
Paper rulers 113 16
Paper stainers 1,243 92
Type founders 629 6
Vellum binders 131 3
_Census 1851._ (_Employers and Employed included._)
Bookbinders 5,501 } 3,926
Printers, etc 23,568 }
Lithographers (Great Britain) 1,984 6
Paper manufacture 6,123 4,686
Paper stainers 2,001 Not enumerated.
_Census 1861._ (_Employers and Employed included._)
Bookbinders 6,556 5,364
Printers 30,171 419
Lithographers, etc. 3,588 --
Paper manufacture 7,746 5,611
Machine rulers 564 54
Envelope makers 179 860
Paper stainers 1,556 399
Type founders 863 11
_Census 1871._ (_Employers and Employed included._)
Bookbinders 7,917 7,557
Printers 44,073 741
Lithographers, etc 3,785 Not enumerated.
Paper manufacture 10,142 6,630
Envelope makers Not enumerated. 1,477
Paper stainers 1,311 448
_Census 1881._ (_Employers and Employed included._)
Bookbinders 9,505 10,592
Printers 59,088 2,202
Lithographers, etc 6,009 147
Paper manufacture 10,352 8,277
Envelope makers 175 1,933
Paper stainers 1,822 445
Type cutters and founders 1,137 32
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| _Census | Employ- | Employ- | Working | Others | TOTAL. |
| 1891._ | ers. | ed. | on | not | |
| | | | Own | Speci- | |
| | | | Account. | fied. | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Book- | M. 615 | 10,038 | 355 | 479 | 11,487 |
| binders | F. 72 | 13,401 | 74 | 702 | 14,249 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Printers | M. 3,979 | 73,288 | 1,052 | 3,640 | 81,959 |
| | F. 158 | 4,133 | 32 | 204 | 4,527 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Litho- | M. 499 | 7,486 | 359 | 292 | 8,636 |
| graphers, | F. 9 | 309 | 7 | 24 | 349 |
| etc. | | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Paper | M. 396 | 11,081 | 97 | 440 | 12,014 |
| manu- | F. 12 | 7,598 | 29 | 390 | 8,029 |
| facture | | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Envelope | M. 9 | 260 | 6 | 14 | 289 |
| makers | F. 2 | 2,339 | 13 | 104 | 2,458 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Paper | M. 135 | 1,861 | 60 | 78 | 2,134 |
| stainers | F. 10 | 370 | 7 | 16 | 403 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Type | M. 35 | 1,204 | 23 | 52 | 1,314 |
| cutters | F. 1 | 49 | 0 | 5 | 55 |
| and | | | | | |
| founders | | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| _Census | Employ- | Employ- | Working | Others | TOTAL. |
| 1901._ | ers. | ed. | on | not | |
| | | | Own | Speci- | |
| | | | Account. | fied. | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Book- | M. 554 | 11,609 | 388 | 113 | 12,664 |
| binders | F. 46 | 18,933 | 82 | 162 | 19,223 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Printers | M. 4,805 | 89,306 | 1,603 | 774 | 96,488 |
| | F. 117 | 9,463 | 48 | 65 | 9,693 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Litho- | M. 496 | 9,648 | 445 | 93 | 10,682 |
| graphers, | F. 7 | 1,015 | 14 | 7 | 1,043 |
| etc. | | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Paper | M. 337 | 14,920 | 47 | 55 | 15,359 |
| manu- | F. 11 | 8,815 | 7 | 18 | 8,851 |
| facture | | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Envelope | M. 14 | 352 | 1 | 3 | 370 |
| makers | F. 6 | 3,113 | 1 | 23 | 3,143 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Paper | M. 45 | 1,928 | 34 | 25 | 2,032 |
| stainers | F. 2 | 280 | 1 | 4 | 287 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Type | M. 35 | 1,223 | 15 | 14 | 1,287 |
| cutters | F. 0 | 181 | 0 | 2 | 183 |
| and | | | | | |
| founders | | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Sta- | M. 352 | 3,910 | 91 | 28 | 4,381 |
| tionary | F. 24 | 4,615 | 12 | 47 | 4,698 |
| manu- | | | | | |
| facture | | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
SCOTLAND.
Males. Females.
_Census 1841. (Employers and Employed included.)_
Booksellers, etc. 2,164 283
Printers 2,446 21
Lithographers, etc. 234 1
Paper manufacture 732 738
Paper rulers 61 8
Paper stainers 31 1
Type founders 292 --
_Census 1851._ (_Employers and Employed included._)
Bookbinders 1,09 } 710
Printers, etc. 3,526 }
Paper manufacture 1,265 2,159
Paper stainers 49 Not enumerated.
_Census 1861._ (_Employers and Employed included._)
Bookbinders 1,174 100
Printers 4,400 70
Lithographers, etc. 1,101 2
Engravers 651 6
Bookfolders 2 1,094
Machine rulers 171 18
Paper manufacture 1,648 2,773
Envelope makers 5 309
Paper stainers 77 --
Type founders 434 --
_Census 1871._ (_Employers and Employed included._)
Bookbinders 1,293 174
Printers 5,476 113
Lithographers, etc. 1,125 36
Print and map colourers 192 57
Bookfolders -- 1,646
Paper manufacture 2,770 3,504
Envelope makers 7 412
Paper rulers 214 100
Paper stainers 110 50
Type founders 496 --
_Census 1881._ (_Employers and Employed included._)
Bookbinders 1,433 2,587(a)
Printers 6,936 839
Lithographers, etc. 1,269 153
Map and print colourers and sellers 50 41
Paper rulers 188 115
Paper manufacture 3,363 4,612
Envelope makers 32 580
Paper stainers 34 97
Type cutters and founders 471 71
(a) Bookfolders are included here.
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| _Census | Employ- | Employ- | Working | Not | TOTAL. |
| 1891._ | ers. | ed. | on | Speci- | |
| | | | Own | fied. | |
| | | | Account. | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Book- |M. 68 | 1,413 | 13 | 22 | 1,516 |
| binders |F. 3 | 2,865 | 3 | 18 | 2,889 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Printers |M. 322 | 8,367 | 69 | 84 | 8,842 |
| |F. 5 | 1,417 | 1 | 7 | 1,430 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Litho |M. 109 | 1,516 | 22 | 10 | 1,657 |
| graphers, |F. -- | 397 | 1 | 2 | 400 |
| etc. | | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Paper |M. 10 | 315 | 1 | 13 | 339 |
| rulers |F. 1 | 192 | -- | 4 | 197 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Paper |M. 107 | 4,332 | 21 | 51 | 4,511 |
| manu- |F. 3 | 4,546 | 4 | 66 | 4,619 |
| facture | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Envelope |M. 3 | 33 | 2 | -- | 38 |
| makers |F. -- | 698 | 1 | -- | 699 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Paper |M. 6 | 113 | 1 | -- | 120 |
| stainers |F. -- | 28 | -- | -- | 28 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Type |M. 9 | 496 | 3 | 4 | 512 |
| cutters |F. -- | 75 | -- | -- | 75 |
| and | | | | | |
| founders | | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| _Census | Employ- | Employ- | Working | Not | TOTAL. |
| 1901._ | ers. | ed. | on | Speci- | |
| | | | Own | fied. | |
| | | | Account. | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Book | M. 67 | 1,422 | 16 | -- | 1,505 |
| binders | F. 4 | 3,522 | 4 | -- | 3,530 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Printers | M. 378 | 9,643 | 54 | 2 | 10,077 |
| | F. 7 | 2,852 | 1 | -- | 2,860 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Litho | M. 87 | 1,640 | 25 | -- | 1,752 |
| graphers, | F. 2 | 728 | 1 | -- | 731 |
| etc. | | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Paper | M. 103 | 4,860 | 6 | 1 | 5,000 |
| manu- | F. 2 | 4,653 | -- | -- | 4,655 |
| facture | | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Envelope | M. 4 | 53 | -- | -- | 57 |
| makers | F. 1 | 895 | -- | -- | 896 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Paper | M. 1 | 120 | 1 | -- | 122 |
| stainers | F. -- | 52 | 1 | -- | 53 |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Type | M. 6 | 419 | 5 | -- | 430 |
| cutters | F. -- | 53 | -- | -- | 53 |
| and | | | | | |
| founders | | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
| Sta- | M. 22 | 95 | 1 | -- | 118 |
| tionery | F. 1 | 492 | 3 | -- | 496 |
| manu- | | | | | |
| facture | | | | | |
+-----------+----------+---------+----------+--------+--------+
[Sidenote: Chief Factory Inspector's figures.]
In 1896 the Home Office began to publish as an appendix to the Chief
Factory Inspector's Report a series of figures of occupation which were
exceedingly valuable for purposes of comparison, and in time would have
been the best existing statistical index of industrial movements.
Unfortunately these figures have not been published since 1899; but for
the years that they were issued, those relating to the printing trades
were as follows:--
FACTORY INSPECTOR'S REPORTS.
_Paper, Printing, Stationery, Etc. (Includes all the industries
under this section.)_
Total Total Male Female
Male. Female. over 18. over 18.
1895 Factories 159,987 63,626 123,895 42,904
Workshops 3,355 4,692 2,224 3,073
------- ------ ------- ------
Total 163,342 68,318 126,119 45,977
1896 Factories 169,500 68,769 131,166 45,632
Workshops 4,508 5,919 3,152 3,898
------- ------ ------- ------
Total 174,008 74,688 134,318 49,530
1897 Factories 171,151 69,898 134,221 45,479
Workshops 4,458 6,305 3,192 4,192
------- ------ ------- ------
Total 175,609 76,203 137,413 49,671
1898-99(a) 173,964 72,833 137,504 46,681
SOME DETAILS OF ABOVE.
Total Total Male Female
Male. Female. over 18. over 18.
_Paper-making._
1895 Factories 21,263 11,008 18,271 8,935
1896 " 22,091 11,744 18,777 9,403
1897 " 22,174 11,309 19,086 9,138
1898-99(a) " 22,340 11,506 19,158 9,197
_Bookbinding._
1895 Factories 11,791 16,098 9,304 10,802
1896 " 13,300 17,159 10,580 11,498
1897 " 14,661 20,877 11,705 13,985
1898-99(a) " 14,893 22,555 12,046 14,653
_Letter-press Printing._
1895 Factories 104,162 19,974 80,232 12,699
1896 " 104,860 20,634 80,719 12,732
1897 " 100,629 14,473 79,124 8,725
1898-99(a) " 102,800 13,348 81,598 8,283
_Lithography, Engraving and Photography._
1895 Factories 12,789 4,516 9,024 2,735
Workshops 2,226 1,425 1,494 943
1896 Factories 14,854 5,252 10,572 3,076
Workshops 3,116 2,146 2,224 1,437
1897 Factories 17,960 6,278 12,867 3,451
Workshops 2,794 2,115 2,076 1,477
1898-99(a) Factories 17,737 6,457 12,727 3,522
_Machine Ruling._
1895 Factories 664 482 408 170
Workshops 233 134 97 45
1896 Factories 981 599 594 197
Workshops 269 168 135 59
1897 Factories 1,764 1,414 1,115 538
Workshops 322 166 163 57
1898-99(a) Factories 2,062 1,571 1,328 534
_Paper Staining, Colouring and Enamelling._
1895 Factories 4,254 983 2,916 540
Workshops 102 28 74 16
1896 Factories 4,468 1,065 3,114 577
Workshops 138 70 111 42
1897 Factories 4,795 1,368 3,395 784
Workshops 40 66 33 38
1898-99(a) Factories 4,874 1,320 3,529 746
_Envelope Making._
1897 Factories 1,203 4,156 8 96 2,865
Workshops 37 292 25 191
1898-99(a) Factories 1,405 4,996 1,030 3,313
(a) Factories only.
These figures must not be compared with the census returns as they
relate only to those establishments making reports to the Factory
Inspectors under the Factory and Workshop Law.
CHAPTER III.
_WOMEN'S WORK AND ORGANISATION._
[Sidenote: Women as Compositors. Historical.]
The subdivision of labour which has broken up the original printing
"profession" into a score or so of different trades, each minutely
subdivided in turn, has been the chief cause of the employment of women
in this industry in modern times, although it appears that nuns were
engaged as compositors at the Ripoli Monastery Press in Florence towards
the end of the fifteenth century,[5] within half a century of the
introduction of printing. Only very exceptional women could obtain a
footing in a profession which embraced typefounding, ink-making,
press-carpentry, composing, folding, and bookbinding. The United States,
where, in so many respects, women have stepped in advance of European
conditions, boasts of Jenny Hirsch, who carried on a printer's business
in Boston about 1690, and during the next two centuries women printers
were common in the thirteen States. It was a woman, Mary Catherine
Goddard, who printed the first issue of the "Declaration of
Independence." The years of the French Revolution also seem to be marked
by the number of women engaged in the printing trade, whether owing to
the general emancipating impulses of the time or to the increased demand
for compositors, is not quite clear. The amiable and eccentric Thomas
Beddoes, moved by the interest he took in social affairs, and inspired
by the emancipatory movement of his time, had been struck with the
opening which the printing trades seemed to offer to women, and gave his
"Alexander's Expedition"[6] to a woman of his village, Madely, to set
up. "I know not," he wrote in the Advertisement to the book, "if women
be commonly engaged in printing, but their nimble and delicate fingers
seem extremely well adapted to the office of compositor, and it will be
readily granted that employment for females is amongst the greatest
_desiderata_ of society." In England, however, the labour of women
outside their homes continued to be extremely limited, and the printing
trades were confined to men. During the eighteenth century women seem to
have been employed in folding and sewing book and news sheets, but they
did not come into the trade in any considerable numbers until the
nineteenth century was half spent. This was very largely owing to the
heavy nature of the work and the long apprenticeship necessary to master
the varied details of the craft. The Provincial Typographical Society's
first constitution, issued in 1849, shows that at so recent a date the
typographical apprentice had to learn "printing and bookbinding" or
"printing and stationery."[7] The printing press used in 1800 was
practically the same as that used by Gutenberg in 1450.
[Footnote 5: _Printers' Register_, August 6th, 1878, quoting _Journal
für Buchdruckerkunst_.]
[Footnote 6: Published in 1792.]
[Footnote 7: Typographical Association: "Fifty Years' Record," p. 4.]
The enormous advance in the printing trades owing to the abolition of
the stamp duties and the paper tax, together with the spread of
education and improvement in the facilities for publishing, with their
resulting large demand for printed matter, speedily revolutionised these
trades and led to the introduction of the great machines. Pressmen
became differentiated from compositors, "minders" from layers-on or
takers-off, jobbers from book-hands, folders from makers-up; whilst
bookbinding finally became a separate trade altogether. Some of these
separate processes, needing but little skill and requiring no
apprenticeship, involving no heavy labour and no responsibility, offered
openings for women.
[Sidenote: Conflict between men and women.]
One of the earliest references to women made by the Typographical
Association occurs in 1860, when the Executive of the Union mentioned
them in its half-yearly report. Printing houses were then closed to
Union members on account of the employment of women. The Typographical
Society's _Monthly Circular_ for August, 1865, for instance, states that
a Bacup newspaper office was closed to members of the Typographical
Union, owing to the employment of female labour. The exact form of
employment is not given. Again, in the report for June, 1866, the
Executive of the Union refers to having trouble with an employer who
tried to employ female labour, but who had failed "to get suitable
applicants of the gentle sex." In 1886 it was agreed that women should
be admitted to both the Typographical Association and the London Society
of Compositors on the same terms as men, but only one woman has availed
herself of this resolution.[8]
[Footnote 8: She joined the London Society of Compositors on August
30th, 1892, but she has now ceased to be a member.]
[Sidenote: Printing Trades and the Women's Movement.]
At this point, the movement for the emancipation of women contributes an
interesting chapter to the history of these trades.
The printing trades were regarded by a few of the leading spirits in the
agitation for "Women's Rights" as being well adapted to women's skill
and _physique_, and in 1860 Miss Emily Faithfull not only started the
Victoria Press, in which women alone were to be employed, but directed
the attention of women generally to the openings afforded them by this
group of trades. "The compositor trades," the _Englishwoman's Journal_
(June, 1860) said, "should be in the hands of women only." Miss
Faithfull's experiments produced some considerable flutter amongst men.
At first, the men looked down upon them with the contempt of traditional
superiority; women compositors were "to die off like birds in winter"
(_cf._ _Printers' Journal_, August 5th, 1867, where a correspondent
stated that "the day is far distant when such labour can hope to
supersede our own"); but some trepidation was speedily caused when it
was found that women's shops were undercutting men's, and an alarmist
article in the _Printers' Register_ of February 6th, 1869, states that
"the exertions of the advocates of female labour in the printing
business have resulted in the establishment of a printing office where
printing can be done on lower terms than those usually charged." That
year Miss Faithfull was engaged in her libel action against Mr. Grant
for calling her an atheist, and the _Publishers' Circular_ furiously
attacked her work. By-and-by, however, the controversy died down. Miss
Faithfull's several attempts[9] to establish permanently a printing
establishment bore fruit in the still existing Women's Printing Society,
started in 1874.
[Footnote 9: 1860, 1869, 1873; in 1869 another Women's Printing Office
was started as a means of finding employment for educated ladies:
_Printers' Register_, January 6th, 1869.]
As an industrial factor, however, the "Women's Movement" has been
altogether secondary, and women have been induced to enter the trades
under review mainly because the subdivision of labour and the
application of mechanical power had created simple processes; because
they were willing to accept low wages; and because, unlike the men, who
were members of Unions, they made no efforts to interfere in the
management of the works.
[Sidenote: The London experience.]
Partly owing to the nature of the work done and partly to the power of
the London Society of Compositors, no systematic attempt seems to have
been made generally to introduce women compositors into London houses
since 1878, and it is of some significance to note that most of the
London firms which employed women compositors between 1873 and 1878--the
period when the attempt was most actively made--have since disappeared,
owing to bad equipment and the inferior character of their trade.
But the opposition to women lingered on after the attempts to introduce
them more generally had ceased. In 1879 the London Society of
Compositors decided that none of their members should finish work set up
by women, and the firm of Messrs. Smyth and Yerworth was struck by the
men's Union.[10]
[Footnote 10: It is interesting to note that in these days also the
women only set up the type and the men "made it up."]
Commenting on this trouble, the _Standard_, in a leading article
(October 8th, 1879) cynically remarked: "What women ask is not to be
allowed to compete with men, which the more sensible among them know to
be impossible, but to be allowed the chance of a small livelihood by
doing the work of men a little cheaper than men care to do it. This is
underselling of course, but it is difficult to see why, when all is said
and done, men should object to be undersold by their own wives and
daughters."
"_Capital and Labour_," as quoted by the _Victoria Magazine_,[11] put
the case for the women thus: "This work is much more remunerative, and
far less toilsome and irritating than the occupation of the average
nursery governess, and we anticipate that, with proper arrangements,
there will be a large addition to the number of women compositors. The
reasons assigned against their employment in this capacity seem to be
the outcome of pedantry, prejudice, and jealousy; and no trade rules can
be permitted to interpose obstacles to the attainment of such a
desirable object as furnishing occupation to a number of females who are
qualified by deftness of hand and mental capacity to earn in it an
honourable livelihood. What would one of the men, who chose to leave
Messrs. Smyth and Yerworth at the behest of the Union, say, if having a
daughter of his own to assist him in his occupations, she were to be
compelled to sit idle while he was made to employ a male assistant at
high wages? Yet these men, though intelligent, capable, and industrious,
deliberately throw themselves out of work, and become for the time
paupers of their Union, because it will not permit them to assist in
perfecting any processes which have been begun by women. This is the way
in which men run their heads against a brick wall."
[Footnote 11: November, 1879.]
In December, 1882, the _Printers' Register_ published the following
notice: "In a West End office, objection having been made to the
introduction of female labour, and an undue number of turnovers, a
strike appeared imminent, but the Committee of the Society succeeded in
settling the dispute to the satisfaction of both sides."
The question does not appear to have troubled the London Society again,
but in 1886, a Conference of the Typographical Societies of the United
Kingdom and Continent, held in London (October 21st-23rd), resolved:
"That while strongly of opinion that women are not physically capable of
performing the duties of a compositor, this Conference recommends their
admission to membership of the various Typographical Unions, upon the
same conditions as journeymen, provided always the females are paid
strictly in accordance with scale."
This resolution was subsequently adopted by the London Society of
Compositors as noted above, and is at present in force, with the result
that it is practically impossible for any woman to join the Society.[12]
[Footnote 12: A curious point in connection with the work being sent out
of London is that except in the case of Edinburgh the greater cheapness
of the work outside London is not due so much to cheaper labour as to
lower rent, etc. Several firms out in the country in England where there
is no question of a Union preventing them, have tried to introduce
women, but with very little success. This is put down as lack of
intelligence in the women. No doubt a girl who has had only a village
elementary education is not the best material out of which to make a
good compositor, and the wages offered are not high enough to tempt town
bred girls to undergo the tedium of country life.]
[Sidenote: Provincial experience.]
The Scottish compositors are organised in the Scottish Typographical
Association, which has no women members. Women, particularly in
Edinburgh and Perth, and to a smaller extent in Aberdeen, have been
employed to defeat the ends of the Society.[13]
[Footnote 13: See p. 45.]
The few attempts made to organise women in the printing trades have
failed. Women have been introduced into these trades at times of trouble
with the men's Unions, and are consequently not likely to form
organisations of their own. Their work has been so precarious and so
largely confined to the mechanical and lower grades of labour,[14] that
they have had no incentive to aspire to high standards of wages or other
industrial conditions. The women employed in the actual printing
processes do not seem to have regarded their work as their permanent
means of livelihood to the same extent as folders, for instance, have
done, and have been less interested, consequently, in improving their
trade conditions; and, finally, the men's Societies, for various
reasons, some well-founded and some groundless, have regarded women
printers as a form of cheap labour--"undercutters"--and have looked upon
them as dangerous intruders.
[Footnote 14: _Cf._ pp. 64-68.]
When, however, we turn to the organisation of women in the trades
dealing with printed matter, especially folding and bookbinding, we find
much greater collective activity and closer co-operation both amongst
themselves and with the men. Their Trade Union record is still but
scanty, nevertheless, the frequent and persistent efforts of women to
act jointly, without establishing a permanent organisation, form one of
the characteristic features of the trade. This apparently is almost
entirely due to the fact that women's labour in bookbinding, _e.g._, in
folding, was accepted by the men, and that in all workshop matters women
were the fellow-workers and not the rivals of the men. This distinction
between printing and bookbinding is most marked and requires to be
emphasised.
[Sidenote: Organisation amongst bookbinders.]
The bookbinders' organisation sprang up in 1779-80, as most
organisations then did, from friendly meetings in certain houses of
call. It was at first known as "The Friends." In 1786, the working day
was from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., with certain breaks for meals, giving,
perhaps, an actual working time of twelve and a half hours per day. But
in March of that year, a Conference of the sections decided to ask for a
reduction of an hour per day, and their petition was followed by the
discharge of workmen.[15] The employers then went further, and in May,
1786, indicted twenty-four of the ringleaders for conspiracy. In a
manifesto to the public, the men complained that their wages were only
from 15_s._ to 18_s._ per week, rising in a few cases to a guinea, and
proceeded to charge the employers with having "with vindictive rage
forced into the sweet retreats of domestic felicity" wives who were
employed in the trade. This action on the part of the employers was not
prompted, however, by an objection to women, for, according to the
testimony of Mr. W. M. Hall,[16] one of the men indicted, an attempt was
made to supply the book market as a temporary makeshift during the
dispute with the imperfect work of women. He says, "I cannot remember
the exact time of striking the women. This I remember, it was on account
of them and the apprentices doing books in boards, by the booksellers
consenting to take them so for a time, I was appointed to strike Black
Jock's[17] women. I went at one o'clock to see Maria, his forewoman, who
used to dine in the shop, she being single. I told her she must inform
the other women of the injury they were doing us by continuing at work.
If they were willing to serve our interest and leave their work, they
should receive their wages for doing nothing. If we gained our cause,
they should be sure of employ, and the advantage of the hour also.
Coming downstairs, I met Mr. McKinley.
"'Well, Mr. Hall, are you coming to work again directly?'
"'Sir, if you will grant the hour----'
"'Come in here,' he says, going into his dining-room, and setting down a
large square bottle of Hollands to give me a glass, taking one himself
and pouring out another. Pat, pat, pat! came our ladies downstairs.
'What is all this about?' I was glad to make my escape. The six or seven
women were all subpoenaed against me on the trial."
[Footnote 15: In the Report of the Committee on Trades' Societies
published in 1860 by the National Association for the Promotion of
Social Science, Mr. Dunning tells the history of the London Consolidated
Society of Bookbinders. pp. 93-104.]
[Footnote 16: _The Finishers' Friendly Circular_, May, 1846, No. 4.]
[Footnote 17: An employer named John McKinley.]
The narrative of this famous struggle--one of the most important in the
history of Trade Unionism, involving persecution, imprisonment, and
death--contains no further records of the part played by women in it,
but Mr. Hall's reminiscence indicates how they behaved. The men were
successful, and in 1794, the working day was again reduced, so that it
lasted from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Presumably the women shared in these
advantages, and also in that of an afternoon tea half-hour, which was
theirs exclusively until 1806, when the men, during a period of active
trade and overtime, demanded the same privilege. James Watson, in his
"Recollections,"[18] hints that the kind indulgence of the women to the
men, permitted in some shops, made the afternoon tea half-hour a general
demand. "Their kind friends, the ladies, while preparing for their own
comfort, neglected not those of their less fortunate companions, but
contrived by making their tea to accommodate them as much as possible,
and the men, if not immediately under the eye of their employer, would
seat themselves on the end of their presses for ten minutes or so and
thus partake of it." A strike to secure the half-hour was unsuccessful,
but the men gradually won their point. Mr. Watson tells how, after the
strike, it happened that he was being engaged by one of the opposing
masters. The master, "being pressed upon the point, damned the
half-hour, but said I might come in and do as I liked. I accordingly
accepted the situation, and at tea-time, when I prepared to sit down, I
expected to be supported by the men of the shop who were well aware of
my intention, but not one of them would move. I was thus placed in an
awkward position, and could only turn to my good friends, the ladies, to
countenance my proceedings, who kindly invited me to their tea table."
In about a month, Mr. Watson informs us, every man in the place was
following his example.[19]
[Footnote 18: _British Bookmaker_, June, 1892.]
[Footnote 19: The friendly conduct of "the ladies" was long remembered
in the trade, and was celebrated as late as 1847 in a song:--
"What we enjoy we dearly bought,
And nobly they the battle fought,
Who--though the ladies' aid they sought,
Would--right or wrong--have tea.
_Chorus_
"Then let us all our voices raise,
And loudly chant to-night in praise
Of those who gained in byegone days,
The time we have for tea."]
[Sidenote: The Bible Society controversy.]
The struggle which the bookbinders fought with most pertinacity
was, however, that which they waged against the Religious
Societies--particularly the British and Foreign Bible Society--when
attempting to cheapen the production of religious literature by means
which, the bookbinders contended, involved unreasonably low rates of
pay. In this struggle women played a prominent part.
It broke out as early as 1825 when the Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge reduced its prices and the master bookbinders working for it
reduced wages. The strike which followed collapsed for want of funds. In
1833 the contest was resumed with the British and Foreign Bible Society.
That year the five houses then employed by the Society reduced wages,
and it appears that when the dispute was about to be settled by both
sides accepting a compromise, a representative of the Bible Society
instructed the masters to hold out. The men appealed to the Society, but
were told that it could not intervene. No definite settlement was ever
arrived at.
The first petition which the men addressed to the Society in 1833 made
special reference to the condition of the women workers. "Your
memorialists beg leave to state," they wrote, "that there are a number
of females (about 200) employed in binding the books of your Society,
the whole of whose wages have been reduced in consequence of the late
alteration in the prices of these books. Their wages were before very
low. Your memorialists respectfully submit that the making it more
difficult, and in some cases impossible, for females to earn an honest
subsistence, by their labour, is in the same proportion to give potency
to the seducers of female virtue." Reply and counter-reply were made,
and the Society was heartily attacked by the Union with texts from
Scripture and reflections on applied Christianity. In the defence which
the Society issued in 1834, it is stated that its binders informed it
that "competent and industrious men in our employ earn on an average
6_d._ an hour or 30_s._ weekly when in constant work; and women in the
same description from 8_s._ to 10_s._ and upwards."
Mr. Dunning, the Union Secretary, replied that he could prove that the
scale given was an "entire falsehood," and published a second "Address
to the Religious Public," in which the wages paid by the principal firm
were given, the average for thirteen men working out at a small fraction
over a guinea per week, and of twenty-four women at 5_s._ 11_d._ per
week. In 1843 the dispute was allowed to end, when the five firms
promised to pay the women on timework at rates between 7_s._ 6_d._ and
15_s._ per week, and to work them only ten hours per day.
In 1845 the Society decided to give all its binding to one firm, the
proprietress of which was Miss Watkins, and four years later the most
famous dispute of the series broke out. The "controversy," as it is
called in the bookbinders' records, opened by an appeal addressed to the
Society on August 17th, 1849, by the journeymen bookbinders of London
and Westminster, in which it was alleged that Miss Watkins had returned
to piecework, and that the wages she was paying to women averaged only
5_s._ 6_d._ to 6_s._ per week for a longer day than ten hours. Learners
were taken on and were discharged so soon as they were entitled to
increases in wages, and a rule was said to be in operation by which, so
soon as a woman worker was qualified to be paid more than 7_s._ a week,
she was discharged. "Exorbitant" fines were also imposed. "Females,"
remarks the appeal, "often have not the power to plead their own cause
in such matters, and being helpless in many respects where their wages
are concerned, they are trodden down until a state of things such as
described in the 'Song of the Shirt' appals the mind with the enormity
of their injuries, their suffering, and their moral condition." The
appeal contained the following table, showing the difference in wages
paid to women working for the Bible Society and those working for the
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
Bible Society for Promoting
Society. Christian Knowledge.
_s._ _d._ _s._ _d._
5 0 Pearl Bibles, per 100 vols. 7 6
5 1½ Ruby " " 7 0
6 10½ Large Pica Bibles, " 8 4
6 8 Small " " " 8 4
One of the grievances specially mentioned in this appeal was that women
were not allowed hot water, except between 4 and 4.30 p.m., and were
then charged 1_d._ per week for it.
Immediately (August 22nd, 1849) after the issue of the "Appeal" the
women employed by Miss Watkins were asked to sign a statement that they
were perfectly satisfied with their pay and conditions. Several signed,
not knowing the purport of the paper; others refused. On the advice of
the men's Union a counter-statement was drawn up and signed, and sent in
to the Bible Society, and on finding that the forewoman who had taken
their part, together with the active promoters of the counter-petition,
were to be discharged, the women left work, and demanded:--
1. That prices should be raised to the standard paid by the Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge.
2. That fines should be abolished.
3. That they should have access to cold water as well as hot for tea.
4. That after the learners then employed had completed their
apprenticeship, not more than twenty learners should be employed at one
time.
About a hundred women had come out, and the men's Union organised a
relief fund.[20]
[Footnote 20: It may not be amiss to copy a few sentences from Mr.
Dunning's obituary notice in the _Bookbinder's Trade Circular_, January
21st, 1862, of the women's leader, Mary E. Zugg, an early and humble
worker in women's organisations. "Nothing could exceed the temper,
moderation and firmness she displayed. Possessing great energy, strong
sense and great acuteness of perception, detecting at a glance pretence
from reality, she was not what was termed a strong-minded woman,
commanding great respect and but little affection, for her goodness of
heart and great regard for the feelings and welfare of others endeared
her to all." She died at the age of thirty-three of consumption on
November 13th, 1861, and is buried in Bow Cemetery.]
Miss Watkins replied, denying every charge made by Mr. Dunning, and
giving 10_s._ as the earnings for a week of sixty hours. The Union
replied by asking that a deputation should be allowed to inspect the
wages books of the firm. It claimed to be in possession of the rates of
wages paid to ninety-seven folders and sewers for three weeks in August,
and gave the average as 6_s._ 2½_d._ for a sixty-hours' week, and in
other respects it supported its original charges.
The _Times_ of January 25th, 1850, contains in its advertisement columns
the report of a Committee of the Southwark Auxiliary of the Bible
Society, which examined Miss Watkins' books, and it supported her
statements. The women earned from 9_s._ to 14_s._ per week. But Mr.
Dunning was not silenced, and on March 25th he issued a long pamphlet,
the last of the "controversy" for the time. In it, it is stated that the
committee of investigation had been deceived so as to mistake wages paid
for ten days as though they were paid for a week, and a table of wages
for three weeks in September and October, for the week ending July 28th,
1849, and for the four weeks preceding the strike, was printed.[21] The
wage average of the periods was from 5_s._ 9½_d._ to 6_s._ 4½_d._ per
week of sixty hours.
[Footnote 21: See p. 184.]
The agitation failed. The women either found work elsewhere, or went
back under the conditions against which they had struck. Mr. Dunning
could only say that the dispute had arrested a downward tendency in
prices and wages.
The dispute cost the men's Union £146. This was spent mostly in printing
and postage, but it included grants amounting to £22 given to the
separate Women's Committee, which had collected an additional fund of
£650 to aid the strikers.
The finishers had strongly opposed the support which the Union had given
to the women, and their section, to the number of 150, was finally
expelled from the Union.
But whilst this unusual harmony existed between the men's Union and the
women workers, no serious attempt had been made to organise the women
permanently, either as members of the men's Society, or in one of their
own. In 1833, in an address to the London journeymen bookbinders, a Mr.
Benjamin Teasdale, of Manchester, advised the formation of a women's
Society, but nothing appears to have been done. In 1855 they were
allowed to borrow books from the men's library on the payment of 6_d._ a
quarter. It is impossible to ascertain how far the agreement between
men and masters for a nine hours' day in 1872 really affected women, as
a considerable proportion of them had been working only for nine hours
before the agreement was made.
[Sidenote: The Society of Women employed in Bookbinding.]
Not till 1874 was there a determined and successful attempt made to
organise women bookbinders into a Union. On September 12th of that year
"the first Society formed for women," the Society of Women employed in
Bookbinding, was formed by Mrs. Emma Paterson, the pioneer of women's
Trade Unions in England,[22] and in the following year Mrs. Paterson was
sent as its delegate to the Trade Union Congress meeting in Glasgow.
This was the first time that a woman had appeared at these parliaments
of Trade Unionism, which had been held annually since 1868. From the
commencement the relations between the men's and the women's Societies
were most cordial, and at the first annual meeting of the latter Mrs.
Paterson read a letter she had received "some years ago" from Mr.
Dunning, in which he advised "the formation of Trades' Societies for
women." The cordial greetings extended to the new Society by its brother
organisation did not meet it everywhere. A congratulatory resolution was
moved at the London Trades' Council, and though it received the support
of the veteran George Odger, it was met with considerable opposition.
Women's labour was cheap labour, and many of the delegates to the
Trades' Council could not get beyond that fact.
[Footnote 22: Mrs. Paterson was born in London on April 5th, 1848, and
was the daughter of H. Smith, headmaster of St. George's, Hanover
Square, parish school. In 1867 she became assistant secretary to the
Club and Institute Union, and in 1872 secretary to the Women's Suffrage
Association. Next year she married Thomas Paterson, a cabinet-maker and
wood carver. With him she visited America where she saw the Female
Umbrella Makers' Union at work. On her return to London in 1874 she
formed the Women's Protective and Provident League, the membership of
which was mainly middle class, though its object was to promote Trade
Unionism amongst women. She died December 1st, 1886, and was buried in
the Paddington Cemetery. See art. _Dictionary of National Biography_.]
It is unnecessary to detail the somewhat uneventful career of the Union.
Mrs. Paterson, at the end of eighteen months, was succeeded by Miss
Eleanor Whyte, who still occupies the position of secretary.[23] The
membership began at 66 and reached 275--of whom only 200 were financial
members--at the end of the first year. From that time till now the
membership has been exceedingly variable, and no full and reliable
records seem to exist. But from the disconnected information which is at
our disposal, it would appear that the two most successful years of the
Society were 1876 (when 63 new members were enrolled), and 1890 (when 67
were enrolled). In 1870 the membership was given at 210; in 1884 at 200;
in 1891 at 240; in 1901 at 270; the period of depression from 1883 to
1889 seems to have tried the Society very severely.
[Footnote 23: December, 1903.]
The objects of this Society are stated to be: "To maintain and protect
the rights and privileges of the trade and to grant relief to such
members as may be out of work, or afflicted with illness." The
subscription is 2_d._ per week, and an entrance fee of 1_s._ is imposed.
It can hardly be expected that a Society whose membership has probably
never exceeded 270, could have much fighting force. But agitation has
never been the policy of the Society. It has refused to join with the
men in making demands upon the employers; its representatives at Trade
Union Congresses and elsewhere have steadily resisted legal restrictions
upon labour; it has not shown itself anxious to seize what the men
regarded as opportunities to make itself felt.[24]
[Footnote 24: In 1891 the women's Society refused to support the men's
in agitating for an eight-hours' day. In 1875 Mrs. Paterson said at the
Trade Union Congress that "the more they pressed for additional
legislation the greater obstacles they threw in the way of working
women. She should rather say let them suffer a little longer the evils
of overwork and long hours." The Union's representatives, however, have
always pressed for women factory inspectors, and on this matter Mrs.
Paterson was for a good many years a voice crying in the wilderness.]
Perhaps the Union has been too willing to make requests to good
employers for better conditions, and too timorous in helping to level up
the general conditions of the trade. Employers have not been hostile.
Mr. B. Collins, the publisher, for instance, presided over the annual
meeting for 1891, and Mr. Longmans and other publishers have done the
same in other years. "I know an employer," says a writer in the _British
Bookmaker_ of September, 1891, "who will give £100 to see a good women's
Union established. Why? Because if it could be done, its effect upon
other employers would remove the gross inequalities of prices that at
present exist to his detriment." But this Union has never reached that
point of strength when it could bring pressure to bear on the trade for
the mutual advantage of the good employer and the woman worker.
As a consequence, the good relations between the men and the women in
the trade have not always been maintained, and there was considerable
ill-feeling between the two sections during the eight hours' agitation
from 1891 to 1894.[25]
[Footnote 25: It should be noted, however, that the sentiment amongst
the women as a whole was friendly during the eight hours' agitation,
although the Society was taking no part in it officially. A writer in
the _British Bookmaker_ for December, 1891, tells how all the women in
the lacing department of Messrs. Waterlow's (Hill Street) struck on a
certain job, and how "at another place as I stood with the pickets
outside, about five o'clock one cold afternoon, I saw something
descending from an upper storey and found it was a quart of hot tea for
the benumbed men on duty below, lowered out by a string from the women's
shop."]
At the present moment this Society is regarded by both men and women
mainly as a benefit club. In this respect it has been most successful
and has paid with excellent regularity.
[Sidenote: The Book-folders' Union.]
An attempt was made in 1892 to start another Union for women engaged in
folding in printing houses. The sponsor of the new Society was the
Printers' and Stationers' Warehousemen's and Cutters' Union. It is a
significant fact, and one which throws a great deal of light upon the
very little which one section of workers knows even of those working at
their elbow, that the organisers of the new Union were quite unaware of
the existence of the Women Bookbinders' Society. The new Society, which
called itself the Book-folders' Union, was started during the flood of
Trade Union sentiment which followed the London Dock Strike in 1889, and
its membership grew rapidly. Within five months of its formation it is
said to have numbered 500,[26] and later on the figure of 700 was
quoted. A popular employer, Mrs. Bond, had been elected secretary, and
an assistant was appointed at a wage of 18_s._ per week. This new Union
was determined to be as active as the older one had been inactive. It
demanded a minimum wage of 15_s._, time-and-a-quarter pay for overtime,
and "no apprentices." It also demanded exemption from the nightwork
prohibition clauses of the Factory and Workshop Acts. But the Union was
doomed to an early and ignominious end. During the absence of the
secretary the finances became hopelessly involved, and a deficit in cash
decided the members to close the whole matter.[27]
[Footnote 26: _Women's Trade Union Journal_, January 15th, 1893.]
[Footnote 27: The fact that all definite recollection of this Union is
passing away, and that for the above information we have had to rely
upon the memory of two ladies who were indirectly interested in it,
throws some light upon the carelessness in industrial matters of the
woman worker. No minutes nor other documents can be found. "The person
who had them, married," and that was taken to have settled the matter.]
The Society would not even formally amalgamate with the older Society,
partly owing to differences in method, and partly to its disgust with
its failure and disgrace.
[Sidenote: National Book-folders and Kindred Trades Union.]
One more attempt to found a fighting women's Union was made in 1894 by
the Printing and Kindred Trades Federation. All women employed in the
Printing and Kindred Trades were to be eligible for membership. The
attempt arose out of two disputes. In one, the women employed by a
certain firm had successfully struck for an increase of wages and
against certain conditions of labour; in the second, women had come out
to show their sympathy with some locked-out men.[28] In recognition of
the women's "courage and loyalty" the men promoted the Union. In a month
or two its membership stood at 100, and by March 1896, 350 members had
joined. The membership at the end of 1902 was 150, mostly book-folders,
and the following points are prominent in the Union's demands:--
1. To obtain and maintain the recognised minimum scale of pay for
every member;
2. To reduce hours of labour;
3. To regulate the relations between employers and employed.
[Footnote 28: It is interesting to note that whilst the cheapness of
women's work as compositors in Edinburgh seems to have attracted a
certain class of work from London, the men's success in keeping up wages
in the London bookbinding trade does not seem to have driven bookbinding
into the provinces. There are one or two bookbinding firms in the
provinces and in Scotland which employ girls, but mainly upon diary and
account book work, the book trade being practically untouched. _Cf._
f.n., 28-29.]
It had no sick benefits, but paid £5 at death, and offered strike pay on
condition that the strike was sanctioned by the committee. The reserve
fund in 1902 was under £100.
In 1903 the Society approached the Printers' and Stationers'
Warehousemen praying to be recognised as a branch of that Union. A
ballot of the men was taken, when 700 voted that the request be granted
and 334 that it be not. The Women's Society has therefore ceased to
exist as a separate organisation.
[Sidenote: The Manchester Society.]
A Manchester Society,[29] "The Manchester and Salford Society of Women
Employed in the Bookbinding and Printing Trades" has gained some
definite success in increasing wages during its six years of existence.
In its third Annual Report, 1899, it is stated that in May, 1898, the
Society began an attempt to increase wages to a 10_s._ minimum after a
three or four years' apprenticeship, that as a consequence the wages of
forty girls were raised in September from 9_s._ to 10_s._, and that
subsequently thirty others received the shilling advance. In its next
Report, 1899-1900, it states, without giving the number of girls
affected, that "they now all receive 11_s._ and 12_s._ per week, where,
prior to joining the Union, they earned 9_s._ and 10_s._ per week." Next
year the membership was 165, and the last issued Report, 1902, whilst
stating that "a slight increase of membership" had taken place during
the year, gives no figures. "Losses through marriage and other
circumstances," the 1901 Report says, "have been great," and the Society
is kept going mainly by the devotion of one or two persons.[30]
[Footnote 29: The existing Society is the second attempt to organise the
women in these trades in Manchester.]
[Footnote 30: The last balance sheet gives at a glance the position of
this Society, and indicates its activities:--
BALANCE SHEET FOR THE YEAR ENDING APRIL 30th, 1902.--
_Income._ £ _s._ _d._
To balance from April
30th, 1901 114 0 4½
" contributions 72 3 3
" Bank interest 2 9 11
----------------
£188 13 6½
================
_Expenditure._ £ _s._ _d._
By sick pay 29 10 0
" out-of-work pay 17 1 8
" printing 2 15 9
" postages 0 8 6
" secretary's salary 5 12 6
" collector's commission 1 9 9
" grant to Women's
Trades Council 2 0 0
" grant to treasurer 0 5 0
" auditing accounts 0 4 0
" deputation expenses 0 2 0
---- -- ----
59 9 2
" cash in Bank on
April 30th, 1902 125 2 5
" cash in hands of
secretary 4 1 11½
----------------
£188 13 6½]
================
Attempts have been made to organise women elsewhere as, for instance, in
Edinburgh, where a Union of women compositors existed for a year; also
in Birmingham, where ten years ago a Union was formed specially to
include the machine-rulers who had been introduced about ten years
previously. But the movements have failed.
Such is the record of the organisation of women in the trades with which
we are dealing. It is almost exclusively confined to London and
Manchester, and in London, out of 19,000 women connected with
bookbinding, most of whom are book and paper-folders, certainly not more
than 500 are organised. In 1901, in the seven Men's Unions covering
these trades there were 41,907 members, whilst the total membership of
the Women's Unions was well under 1,000.
[Sidenote: Maintaining standards without organisation.]
Our enquiries have discovered, however, the existence of a kind of loose
organisation of majority-rule and custom in some firms. Standards of
prices and conditions are thus kept up. It must not be forgotten that
where men and women work together all concessions won by the men's
Unions are shared by women, as for instance, when the Typographical
Association of Scotland secured a fifty hours' week for Aberdeen
compositors. This is an interesting feature of feminine methods. In one
house we came across two collating-rooms, one of which was staffed by
older hands, who stood upon their dignity and would not accept inferior
work or tolerate reductions in wages. The other room was conducted after
the methods of the ordinary employer of cheap women's labour; the
workpeople were careless and casual and the room had no traditions and
no industrial "public opinion." This force of opinion, which assumes
almost the nature of caste, is most strongly developed amongst job
hands. These women manage to keep up a comparatively high standard of
pay, and we have discovered the most unusual circumstance that in one or
two instances the wages of job women have been cut down to the Union
rates. We have been told on most trustworthy authority that the
unwritten laws of these job hands are sometimes enforced upon
recalcitrant work-women by "a hiding."
[Sidenote: Organisation in the miscellaneous trades.]
As regards organisation in the more miscellaneous trades included in our
investigation, little has to be said. A few card mounters once joined
the Women's Printing and Kindred Trades Union after a strike, but soon
fell away, and a Union started in 1890, of which little information can
now be obtained, included some envelope makers: but by 1893 it, too,
seems to have died.
No attempt has been made to organise women engaged in the preparation of
materials for printing either in London or the provinces.
[Sidenote: The attitude of employers.]
The attitude of employers and employed to Trade Unions at the present
moment is most varied. Naturally, a good many employers are in no mood
to encourage Unions, because they do not know what might happen if the
women's organisations became as strong as the men's. But, on the other
hand, a considerable number of employers working under fair conditions
and doing a trade of good quality, would welcome combination. It would
help them against their cutting competitors, and they do not object to
meet the reasonable demands of their women. In thirty-four cases
employers were not aware of the existence of a Union at all. Fourteen
forewomen knew about a Union, eleven denied its existence.[31] In no
instance in London was a non-Union woman bookbinder discovered who knew
of the existence of both the Unions, though the majority of the women
knew of the existence of one or the other.
[Footnote 31: It is important to note in connection with this point that
the power of a forewoman over women is generally more unquestioned than
that of a foreman over men.]
[Sidenote: The women's attitude.]
We were anxious to find out why they did not join. Some spoke with scorn
of the older Union because it was only a benefit Society; others said,
"No use in joining; you get nothing out of it;" others thought it
dangerous; others suspected all Unions; others frankly admitted that
marriage was sure to come along, and then they would work in factories
and workshops no longer. An eloquent commentary upon this sentiment is
to be found in the figures extracted from the Factory Inspector's Annual
Reports and printed in Chapter II. When one works out from these tables
the proportion between the males of over 18 years of age and the total
number of males employed in the various trades and compares it with
that of the females, it will be found that a comparatively excessive
percentage of the latter are under 18 years of age. The same point is
brought out with more emphasis and detail in Appendix VII. The women do
not, in fact, feel it necessary to organise themselves, and a manager of
a Co-operative Printing Works, where membership of a Union is compulsory
upon women, informed us that they grumble when they are made to join and
surrender their membership as soon as they can. The notes of some of the
conversations reported are valuable indications of the mind of the woman
wage-earner in this respect.
We can only say in conclusion that, in the first place, women do not
take that strenuous interest in their labour conditions which is
essential to successful organisation. In the second place, it appears
that, except at occasional times of dispute, their work is so well
marked off from that of men, that the men's Unions in these trades are
coming more and more to the conclusion that it does not pay them to
organise the women. In the third place, we have been surprised to find
that the great majority of employers and of their women employées assume
that wages are fixed and that any effort to alter them by organisation
will be doomed to failure.[32] Our investigators have been given
instance after instance of both increase and reduction in wages, but the
general tenor of conversation is a pessimist and listless view that
whatever _is_, is fixed.
[Footnote 32: _Cf._ p. 90.]
CHAPTER IV.
_MEN AND WOMEN AS WORKERS._
[Sidenote: Do women displace men?]
One of the most important questions relating to women as workers is the
exact relationship between their work and that of men, _i.e._, how far
they are rivals in competition and how far they are helpers in
co-operation. In some of these trades, such as that of the lithographic
artists, this question has never arisen, because women have rarely
entered the trade. Only five instances of women working as lithographic
artists are known to the head of St. Bride's Institute. But that men and
women have been rivals from time to time is placed beyond doubt,
although it must always be remembered that the same work nominally is
not always the same work actually.[33]
[Footnote 33: Men feeders, for instance, carry formes and do little
things about the machine which women do not do. In one instance it was
reported that a firm with a London and a country house, employed women
in the latter to do binding done by men in the former. On enquiry it was
found that the heavy work was done in London and the light work in the
country. An interesting case in point is reported by a Scottish
investigator. "Stated that in another workshop a man had been displaced
at a paper-ruling machine and two girls taken on instead. I took special
note of this case when visiting the workshop in question later. There
were two girls employed at the machine, but they appeared to be working
along with the manager of that department, who was supervising it." But
there is work, such as the minding of platen machines which men do in
London but which women do in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.]
Gold laying for cloth binding has, within the last quarter of a century,
become the work of women who have taken the place of old "finishers" in
some bookbinding firms,[34] and at Dunstable women are reported as
doing binding throughout. Women are employed as compositors much more
frequently in the provinces than in London. In Edinburgh and Aberdeen,
for instance, women are reported as being engaged in every process,
except making-up and the heavy work of carrying type, in which men alone
are employed. Type-setting and distribution of type are often done by
women in Scotland. In some of the Edinburgh printing establishments
women do practically the same work as men. The extensive employment of
women during the compositors' strike in Edinburgh in 1872 to secure a
fifty-one hours' working week[35] was the result of the determination of
the employers to defeat the Typographical Association, and at least one
firm in London tried the same policy during the bookbinders' strike for
an eight-hours' day in 1902 though apparently with no success. The
enthusiasts for the introduction of women into the printing trades had
for some time been trying to get a hold upon Edinburgh printing offices,
but had failed until the strike of 1872. An enterprising employer then
trained some girls from the Merchant Company's Schools--a better class
of girls whom we find described sometimes as "stickit teachers"--to
compose. The results were satisfactory, and the example was speedily
followed. The strike failed and the displacement of men continued.
[Footnote 34: Reporting to their members in May, 1903, the Wages
Committee of the London Society of Journeymen Bookbinders (Third Report)
state regarding the award just given on certain points of dispute
between the Unions and the Employers: "The right of employment of women
in laying-on of gold has also been awarded against us, notwithstanding
that no part of the proceedings evoked more strenuous opposition from
your representatives. The hands of your delegates were weakened by the
fact that the practice already existed: in some cases had crept in, and
in others been extended unawares; yet they strove to preserve the right
of the workman, whilst willing and anxious that the supercession of the
workwoman, where she had been introduced, should be gradual and
considerate.--The argument for the employers is that the employment of
women on the class of gold laying-on indicated, will enable them fairly
to compete in other fields, and will tend to increase men's work instead
of to reduce it. This view, the arbitrator adopted."]
[Footnote 35: So also in Aberdeen. "About a dozen years ago during a
dispute about apprentices, seventeen men and three or five boys went
out, and girls were then taken on."]
[Sidenote: The Perth dispute.]
Something similar happened in Perth, where twenty-five years ago four
girls were taken into the newspaper department of the offices of the
_Perthshire Advertiser_. About seven years ago they were introduced into
a commercial printing office, and a year later the _Perthshire
Constitutional_ began to employ them on general bookwork and setting-up
newspaper copy, the proprietor claiming that he had the same right as
the other offices to have cheap female labour. Thus the practice
threatened to spread throughout the other commercial printing offices,
and the men's Union thought it was time to bestir itself. It decided
that the women must either be paid the same rates as the men or be got
rid of altogether. This ultimatum was sent to the employers. The
_Constitutional_ complied with the demands of the Union and dismissed
its women workers. The _Advertiser_ at first proposed gradually to
replace the girls by men in the commercial department, but to continue
to run the newspaper department by female labour. The proprietor
contended that this would not give him an unfair advantage over the
other firms, as they employed linotype machines. The Union then decided
to strike, and took thirty men out of the _Advertiser_ office. Four
remained in, and some other non-Union men were also engaged. The office
continues to work under this system.
[Sidenote: Value of women's work.]
There has also been trouble in Grimsby (1899), owing to the employment
of women on a bi-weekly newspaper, at Redhill (1898-1900), and at
Reading (1902). Other places where the Typographical Association report
women to be employed are, Louth (Lincolnshire), Aylesbury, Beccles,
Fakenham, Warrington,[36] etc.; whilst in Birmingham the experiment was
tried about 1890, but has been abandoned. They are also employed at
Bungay, but in decreasing numbers, because their proofs require so much
more correcting than the men's that the valuable time thus lost is not
compensated for by the cheapness of their labour. The same is true of
Edinburgh, where their wages have fallen from a rate of 1_s._ 6_d._ to
1_s._ per average page. In Leicester a firm tried to employ women in
distributing type at low rates of pay, but a protest from the local
executive of the Typographical Association led immediately to the
experiment being discontinued. There is an almost unanimous chorus of
opinion that women's work as compositors is so inferior to men's that
it does not pay in the long run. From the days of Miss Faithfull's
experiments, the men have been able to boast that women could not touch
them at the case. In Aberdeen the unwillingness of boys to submit to a
long apprenticeship and the fear of parents that the linotype has
spoiled the typographical trade, are said to be the main reasons
necessitating the employment of women compositors.
[Footnote 36: Women were introduced into Warrington newspaper offices
early in the decade beginning with 1880. They have been found to be
quicker than men in plain setting-up and simple straightforward work.
They do not stay very long--the eldest girl compositor employed, when
our investigator called, being only twenty-five. They are not employed
in locking the formes; nor curiously enough are they employed in the
machine-room to feed the printing presses, though they are so engaged in
Manchester. The women compositors are paid one-third of the men's rate.
Here it was definitely stated that the cheapness of women's labour made
it unnecessary to introduce linotypes.]
[Sidenote: The men's view.]
Men in these trades have never looked upon women competitors with a
friendly eye, the reason being that so many branches are just on the
margin line of those occupations which are so light and easily picked up
that women can supplant men in them altogether.[37] The Typographical
Association for over a quarter of a century has had to carry on a
constant struggle with the employers in order to protect the journeymen
printers against three forms of cheap labour--apprentices, unskilled men
and women.[38] Employers in a small way of business, maintaining
establishments on little capital, where efficiency is not high, employ
women on work done in larger and better equipped establishments
exclusively by men. Here there is rivalry and competition, and women are
preferred mainly because they accept lower wages, and because they are
not members of Unions;[39] and their lack of technical skill is not
found to be a sufficient counterpoise to these advantages. But in these
places an inferior kind of work is done, and if men were employed they
would either have to accept wages below the generally enforced scale, or
the whole character of the work and organisation of the business would
have to be changed.
[Footnote 37: It is interesting to note that an official of the
Lithographic Printers' Society, entitled to explain the attitude of the
Union, stated, "The Lithographic Society distinctly encourages girls;
when boys feed the machines they are apt to pick up too much and want to
become litho-printers before going through the apprenticeship. The
women, not desiring to become litho-printers, are better from the
Society's point of view."]
[Footnote 38: This is the real opposition which the men offer to women.
In Perth and Bungay, for instance, the women put in a bill at the end of
each week, worked out on the men's scale of rates. The cashier then
divides the total by two and pays the women accordingly. In Edinburgh
women's piece rates for composing average about two-thirds those of men.
At Warrington, women do machine-ruling for prices ranging from 15_s._ to
20_s._, whilst men are paid 32_s._ for the same work. A more definite
statement is made by a Manchester employer. He estimated that a woman
was two-thirds as valuable in a printer's and stationer's warehouse as a
man, and she was paid 15_s._ or 20_s._ to his 33_s._ A further example
of this is given in connection with a Scottish firm executing Government
work. "As the Government insists upon the men's Union price being paid,
the work is being done by men, although in the ordinary way it would
have been done by women." "But they would never allow the women," said
our informant of her employers, "to make such big money as that."]
[Footnote 39: This is why the Typographical Association offers a steady
resistance to the employment of women. It does not object to them as
women, but as forms of cheap and unskilled labour.]
[Sidenote: Apparent rivalry.]
In the better equipped houses, where women are employed on work
generally done by men, as in composing, only parts of a compositor's
duty are performed by women, and the heavier or the more technical
duties, such as carrying about the formes or imposing, are done as a
rule by boys or men.[40] So that here the rivalry is but partial, and,
moreover, the employment of women does not always pay. It appears that
in some cases, particularly in bookbinding, the application of
machinery[41] makes it possible for the less skilled and lower paid
women to do work formerly done by men, so that men regard women _plus_
the machine as their competitor. On the other hand machines have
displaced women and have made new openings for men, as in the case of
one of the most recently introduced folding machines which feeds itself.
But the re-organisation of the workshop which follows the introduction
of the machine cannot be regarded merely as a substitution of men's
labour by women's or the opposite, for what really happens is an
all-round shifting of the distribution of labour-power and skill, and a
re-arrangement of the subdivision of labour.[42] Men are transferred
from one kind of work to another, owing mainly to a change in the
volume of production; women are introduced not so much to take men's
places as to fill places created by the re-organisation of work; youths
also find a footing more often at the expense of women than of men. At
certain points the machine simplifies processes and abolishes the need
of paying for skill in the worker; at others it makes skill (sometimes,
perhaps, a new kind of skill) more necessary; at one point it abolishes
the need of paying for strength, at another it makes a new opening for
strength. Thus the displacement which occurs, and the competition set up
are often more apparent than real.
[Footnote 40: As a type of the reports from firms employing women
compositors, the following from Edinburgh firms may be summarised: Seven
girls are employed on each machine (monotype), five on the keyboards and
two correcting proofs. A man is kept for every ten or twelve girls, his
work being to "make up" the girls' work. Another firm employs a man to
attend to every three monotype machines used, for the purpose of keeping
things going. Another says it employs two men compositors and one
labourer for thirty-eight girls.]
[Footnote 41: Machinery has also tended to increase the employment of
women in stamping and embossing.]
[Footnote 42: An official of a Bookbinders' Union states: "In A works
there was much gloom among the men when the rounding and backing machine
came in; profitable work was taken away from the 'rounders' and
'backers,' but they had more 'lining-up' and other work to do in
consequence, so nobody was turned off."]
[Sidenote: A miscellaneous survey.]
In the more miscellaneous trades over which this enquiry ranged a
considerable mass of evidence points to the displacement of men by
women. General statements to this effect are common in the evidence of
both employers and employed. In firm A. it is alleged that women do the
same work in card mounting as used to be done by men, and are paid 2_s._
for work which used to be paid for at 10_s._ Paging and numbering used
to be men's work, but is now almost exclusively done by women. Plain
relief stamping and black bordering have also drifted into the hands of
women, whilst in various directions, such as the making and binding of
cases, wrappering, or feeding printing and particularly lithographic
machines, women are beginning to encroach upon men. These displacements
are very often only local. Manchester has one experience; Edinburgh
another. Leeds was agitated because women were displacing men on a
French ruling machine, whilst elsewhere no similar move was taking
place. But it must be emphasised again that in many of these instances
careful enquiry shows that when men were employed they did something
that the women do not now do,[43] and that the employment of women was
owing to an increased volume of trade, when new machinery or some other
change had made a greater subdivision of labour possible and profitable.
In some cases girls displace boys for no other reason than that boys
cannot be found to do the work; this was the case in Manchester some ten
years ago, when girls took the place of boys in letterpress work.
[Footnote 43: An Edinburgh employer put that in this way: "If women were
paid the same rates as men they would have to pay for their overseers
and assistants."]
[Sidenote: Conclusions.]
Generally, the results of our investigations show the following summary
of the advantages and disadvantages of women's labour to the employer,
and their employment in preference to men depends upon how far in any
given case or under any given circumstances the balance of these
advantages and disadvantages is on the side of the women--or, it must
also be said, how far the employer is bound by conservative use and wont
so as to be protected against any impulse to employ the best
organisation for the efficient conduct of his business.
The advantages of the woman worker are:--
1. That she will accept low wages; she usually works for about half the
men's wages.
2. That she is not a member of a Union, and is, therefore, more amenable
to the will of the employer as the absolute rule of the workshop.
3. That she is a steady[44] worker (much emphasis must not be placed
upon this, as the contrary is also alleged), and nimble at mechanical
processes, such as folding and collecting sheets.
[Footnote 44: "In Mr. W----'s youth, men used to do all the card
mounting. Women were introduced for it about twenty-nine years ago. They
were brought in because the men drank so and kept away." But later on
the same informant said that he had to introduce a varnishing machine
because women "kept away so."]
4. That she will do odd jobs which lead to nothing.[45]
[Footnote 45: Birmingham boys, for instance, would not feed printing
machines, because it "leads to nothing," so girls were employed. _Cf._
Aberdeen, p. 47, etc.]
Her disadvantages are:--
1. That she has less technical skill than a man, and is not so useful
all round.
2. That she has less strength at work and has more broken time owing to
bad health and, especially should she be married, domestic duties, and
that her output is not so great as that of a man.[46]
[Footnote 46: An employer with considerable experience both of men and
women in the printing trade in Scotland, says, "given a certain area of
floor space for men and women, on the former would probably be produced
half more than on the latter."]
3. That she is more liable to leave work just when she is getting most
useful; or, expressing this in a general way, that there are more
changes in a crowd of women workers than in a crowd of men workers.
4. That employers object to mixed departments.[47]
[Footnote 47: 1, 2, and 4, together lead London employers to conclude
that an extension of women's employment is impossible, because it would
mean larger workshops in proportion to the numbers employed, and
consequently ruinous rents.]
One interesting point must be noted in connection with these
conclusions. In London, where women mainly work on the more unskilled
and irregular processes, it is often difficult to see what industrial
influence they are exerting. In Edinburgh or Aberdeen that is not so
much the case. And one thing which is observable in these places is that
the employment of women of itself leads to those minute subdivisions of
labour characteristic of machine industry. "There are more subdivisions
of labour amongst women than amongst men in the printing trade. For
example, one girl will set-up the type, another will "brass-out" (put in
heads and finish it), or two may sometimes be employed in finishing
it."[48]
[Footnote 48: So in bookbinding. A Dundee manager of a general binding
establishment, says: "The subdivision of labour system has certainly
favoured the increased employment of women in the trade."]
Cheap, mechanical and light work consequently tends to be done by women,
whilst the men enjoy almost undisputed possession of the rest. The woman
worker, for instance, competes with the man in binding the cheap light
note-book, whilst she rarely interferes with him in binding heavy
ledgers.[49] On the other hand, in some of the more mechanical
departments, such as examining sheets of paper by touch, she attains a
wonderful dexterity.
[Footnote 49: The following report from Aberdeen gives an interesting
account of the subdivision of labour in a firm which has introduced
women for cloth-case making:
"The department where girls are beginning to encroach on men is in
cloth-case work, that is, making the cases and putting them on. In the
higher reaches of the trade the women do not show themselves to be so
skilful. As yet the men's Unions have not shown much active opposition
to women's work in this branch, provided always that one man is set to
work with every five girls employed on it. The making of a 'case' is
divided into five sections and illustrates the modern development of the
division of labour system.
1st girl glues.
2nd girl lays on boards.
Man cuts corners.
3rd girl turns in ends.
4th girl turns in fore-edge.
5th girl (young) puts it through rolling machine."]
We have also to note how very effectively conservative notions about
women's sphere and chivalrous prejudices about protecting them,
influence certain employers in determining what work they _ought_ to do.
[Sidenote: Technical training.]
We have endeavoured to ascertain how far technical training would
increase the pressure of competition between men and women, but in the
present rudimentary state of such training there are few data to guide
us to any very positive conclusion.
It is difficult, however, to see how in these trades the technical
training of women would threaten men, except perhaps in the artistic
branches. The use of the various mechanical type-setting machines has
already led to some displacement of labour, and though the _technique_
of setting and spacing might be taught to women in trade classes, the
greater regularity of the male worker, and his remaining longer at the
trade must always, in so skilled an industry as this, give him
advantages over his female competitor. Nor would classes for women in
bookbinding injure men bookbinders. For in this as in other trades women
are not handicapped only by a want of skill, and if they attended
classes, presumably they would be taught chiefly the arts and crafts
side of bookbinding, and thus be led into branches of the trade at
present undeveloped.
[Sidenote: "Use and wont."]
Moreover, a curious fact has to be kept in mind. Women workers are so
lethargic that they are largely governed by use and wont. No remark is
more frequent in the investigators' reports, than one to this effect,
"That is men's work. Why? We do not know, but it _is_ men's work, and we
do not think about it." In some instances this use and wont is based on
experience; in others, as in the backwardness of London employers in
putting women to feed lithographic machines, its rational explanation
is not obvious.[50] In this respect the women themselves are very
"loyal." "Once the employer wanted her," writes an investigator, "to
varnish books, and offered her 5_s._ a book: she has a steady hand and
could have done it quite well. It meant following a delicate zig-zag
pattern with a paint brush. She refused indignantly, and said, 'I know
my place and I'm not going to take men's work from them.'" And, again, a
rigid sense of propriety, based on a certain amount of good reason,
seems to determine many employers to separate male from female
departments without further question.[51]
[Footnote 50: Except perhaps, as has been suggested, that the premises
where lithographic work is done are generally so unsuitable for the
employment of women.]
[Footnote 51: A similar division exists in women's work; certain kinds
are done by women of an inferior social grade, _e.g._, machine-feeding,
and these are strictly kept at arm's length by women working in
different departments in the same factory.]
[Sidenote: Girls _v._ Women.]
So much is heard of women as rivals of men that we forget that women
themselves are often preyed upon by still cheaper rivals, and the real
value of technical training for women seems to lie in the fact that such
training might protect them against these. Owing to the unskilled nature
of their work, however, even technical education can afford to them only
an unsatisfactory security against younger and cheaper persons. One of
the investigators, for instance, reports:--
"It is the regular custom in A.'s now to have little girls at 3_s._ and
4_s._ a week doing work which women at 11_s._ and 12_s._ ought to do.
They put a little girl beside a regular hand, and as soon as the little
one masters the work [show-card mounting is being reported upon], they
discharge the big one. When the little one asks for a rise, they give
her 6_d._ or 1_s._ more, and when she wants still more, she goes."
Figures follow showing that just under one-ninth of the women employed
in this department at A.'s are "old hands." Then the report proceeds:
"A. discharged about forty hands on the plea of slackness a little while
ago, and then put up bills for learners." The investigators found that
amongst the employées there was a very widespread opinion that "the
learners always get all the best work," and that one of the regular
features of the trade is, that it employs a large fluctuating number of
learners, whilst a smaller number of skilled hands are kept in tolerably
regular work.[52]
[Footnote 52: This, however, is not a problem special to women's work,
but is one of general industrial conditions, although it is marked with
special distinctness in the case of women.]
The old hands occasionally object to teach the young ones, but nothing
comes of their opposition to a system by which they are compelled to
train their own executioners.
CHAPTER V.
_INDUSTRIAL TRAINING._
1. THE TRAINING.
[Sidenote: How girls are taught.]
At the present moment such training as is given generally begins in the
workshops so soon as the girl has left school.[53] Girls are, in the
best houses, employed on the recommendation of workers already there.
Much of the work, such as folding, is merely a matter of mechanical
quickness and accuracy, and after a few weeks' practice the girl is as
useful as she is ever likely to have an opportunity to be. A great deal
of the work women do in stationery factories (such as stamping, black
bordering, numbering pages) is of a routine nature, and this work is
generally paid by the piece. For such departments, no premium is asked
as a rule.[54] Sometimes the beginner is paid a small wage--2_s._ 6_d._
or thereabouts--to encourage her at first. Sometimes she works a few
weeks for nothing.[55] Sometimes she has to pay a tuition fee to the
woman under whose charge she is put. Sometimes this woman gives her a
small sum as a gift in respect of the help she renders. Some firms make
the training period fairly long, in order that it may be impossible for
the lower class of girls to accept the conditions of employment.
By-and-by the learner is paid half of what she earns, and finally she is
put on regular piecework, her advancement depending on her nimbleness.
If she is in a large house she is only taught one process, but if quick,
and employed in a smaller house, she may be taught several. In almost
every instance she is put upon piecework as soon as possible after she
begins. In an overwhelming number of cases the beginners are simply
placed beside a regular hand, and pick up their skill by watching the
old hand and then turning and doing it themselves. The girl who "picked
up vellum-sewing and wire-stitching" whilst engaged as a folder, and
she who was transferred from tie-making to stitching and folding, are
types. The phrase "serving her time" survives, but the apprenticeship
which is indicated hardly now exists.
[Footnote 53: "A boy learns nothing after fifteen, a girl after
fourteen," is the way one employer puts it.]
[Footnote 54: Very few premiums are reported upon. In one case it was
said that £10 were asked as a premium in relief stamping, but the
informant admitted that the sum varied; in another well-known stationery
firm a premium of £2 is asked for, but is returned with 5 per cent.
interest at the end of three years. The premiums of £50 or £100 charged
by certain bookbinding teachers are of course quite special.]
[Footnote 55: LEADING LONDON HIGH-CLASS STATIONERY FIRM:--_Paging
Department._--Girls come for a few months for nothing, _i.e._ six
months, no premium. They go on getting quicker.
_Lithographic Department._
Girls come in and pick it up: show one another how to do it.
_Vellum-binding Department._
Girls come for three years and are paid 5_s._ per week.
LEADING EDUCATIONAL SUPPLY FIRM:
_Copybook and similar Work._
"Has several little girls running about on errands for a few shillings a
week, and if any of them seem promising they are helped on. Training
nothing like what it used to be; girls learn only one branch."
LARGE LONDON PRINTING FIRM:--_Vellum-sewing Department._
"Regular apprenticeship still the system here." Three years given as the
period for training and during this time no wages are paid. Girls come
straight from school.
_Folding, etc., Department._
"No regular apprenticeship. Girls come in and pick it up; if quick they
are taught other branches, like numbering, relief stamping, etc."
LONDON STATIONERY FIRM:
_Envelope Folding and Hand-cementing Department._
"Girls are put under an experienced party to whom they pay 10_s._ For
six weeks, they receive nothing. For next six weeks they receive half
earnings, then they are put on piecework."
_Black Bordering._
"A regular hand teaches and gets any benefit of the work during six
months in return for the time she wastes in teaching." This practice is
also adopted in some firms in envelope folding by hand.
LONDON PUBLISHING FIRM:
_Bookbinding Department._
"System of indenture has just been revived because it was found that
otherwise the firm had no hold over the girls, so that the quick ones as
soon as they had learnt went off elsewhere as full earners." Indenture
for two years.
An ex-forewoman in bookbinding, who knew the London trade well, stated
that much less trouble is taken with learners now than formerly. In her
own case she was apprenticed without indentures for two years, and
learned "all the branches right through," old work included.
Another forewoman in work stated she was in training for four years: two
years at bookbinding, one year at vellum work, and one year at
stationery.]
Of the firms about which we have information for bookwork and printers'
folding, seven require a three years' training; twenty, two years;
thirty-three, one and a half years; nineteen, one year; two, fifteen
months; and seven, periods under a year. Eleven firms have no settled
apprenticeship time, advancement depending entirely on the quickness of
the learner. In places where gold laying-on is done the same time is
usually served as for the other branches, _i.e._, from a few weeks to
three years. In the case of vellum work, seven firms require three
years; eight, two years; three, one and a half years; one, one and a
half to two years; two, six months; and eight, no settled time.
In some of these firms, however, a genuine attempt to teach apprentices
is made;[56] and in at least one large and well-known London house the
system of indenture has been revived, owing to the difficulty which was
experienced in retaining girls after they became competent. On the other
hand, several well-known firms have ceased to employ learners because
they are too troublesome, and depend upon women trained elsewhere. But
we have found that in only a very few cases is the beginner, whether an
apprentice or not, thoroughly taught every process of her trade. She is
generally put to one process and kept at it, so that the mechanical
dexterity she may acquire is in no sense genuine trade skill.[57] This
distinction between trade skill and mechanical dexterity in one process
must be kept in mind as a fundamental consideration in every problem
concerning the woman wage-earner.
[Footnote 56: Apprenticeship is still common in vellum-sewing where
skill and intelligence are required, and in places where women are doing
more than supplementary work, _e.g._ Edinburgh, a regular period of
training varying from two to four years is agreed upon. Apprenticeship
seems to be most common in Scotland. In London our investigation into
vellum work, printers' folding, and bookwork only discovered seven
indentured women apprentices, two of these being engaged in vellum work.
Curiously enough in paper-staining firms, although the processes are
practically unskilled, indentures are signed for two years; the girl
receives 4_s._ a week for the first year and a portion of her piece
earnings for the second year. At the end of two years she is a full
wage-earner and is paid by piece rates. What her earnings are it is
difficult to discover; 12_s._ 6_d._ was given as an average, but this is
probably too high. It is reported that she may make 6_d._ in less than
an hour when the colours are mixed and she is finishing a job, whereas
next day she will spend the whole morning before she earns her 6_d._]
[Footnote 57: _E.g._, one of the large stationery firms in London
reports regarding machine ruling: "Girls come in and feed the machinery,
and afterwards rise to wet the flannel. They never mind the machines,
_e.g._, arrange pens and so on." Another interesting note is, "Men
nearly always do illuminating, _e.g._, stamping crests, etc., in more
than one colour, on notepaper, as the process requires more skill than
women possess. If the women did it, the ladies would not like their
notepaper." An employer defended the employment of women on the grounds
of his own experience of one woman who "had been working at a secret
process for years, and there is no fear of the secret being betrayed as
she is without understanding or interest for the machine."]
The question of how much a girl learns during her time is a vital one.
Much depends on the forewoman. As one of the workers put it, "How much
you learn depends on the forelady, and whether she takes a fancy to you;
some girls will have a turn at everything, others only learn sewing or
folding. Dress makes a great difference; the poorer you are, the less
chance you have of getting on."
The obverse of this from the forewoman's point of view is that "girls if
quick are taught all branches, but with some girls it is all you can do
to teach them one." It seems the general opinion amongst all the older
hands that the "training is not what it used to be;" and, certainly, the
few instances we have come across of women who can do bookwork, vellum
work, and also stationery work, are amongst the older hands. The
complaint, however, that the trade was not properly taught, occurs in
the evidence given to the Commission of 1843, when it seemed to be one
of the principal grievances complained of. Masters, it was said by one
worker, often took girls, pretended to teach them, and discharged them
at the end of their time, when they had to go elsewhere to learn. Three
girls gave evidence that they were tricked into serving from three to
eight months for nothing, and came away no wiser. At another shop the
employer expatiated on the thoroughness of the training offered by him;
but seven of his journeywomen, aged nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, and
sixteen, declared indignantly that they had not learnt their business
thoroughly, and would never have gone to him if they had known his
methods. The truth apparently is that in 1843, as to-day, some firms
are better for apprentices than others, and that a generation ago a good
firm doing general work offered better opportunities for training than
good firms conducted under up-to-date conditions can now give.
The following table shows the changes that have been made in the
conditions of apprenticeship by certain leading London firms.
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| TABLE SHOWING CHANGES IN PERIOD, ETC., OF TRAINING |
| IN PARTICULAR FIRMS IN LONDON.[58] |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| | Period | Premium | Wages (per week) |
| | | and | during |
| | | Indentures. | Apprenticeship. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 1. STATIONER'S. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 1867 Commission | 2 years | -- | -- |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 25 years ago | 2 years | No premium | 12 months no pay. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 15 years ago | 1½ | No premium, | 6 months no pay, |
| | years | no | 12 months half |
| | | indentures | pay. |
+-------------------+---------+ +--------------------+
| At present | 1½ | | 6 months 2_s._, 12 |
| time[58] | years | | months half pay. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 2. STATIONER'S. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 20 years ago | 2 years | No premium, | 1 year no pay, 1 |
| | | no | year half pay. |
+-------------------+---------+ indentures +--------------------+
| Till recently | 1 year | | 6 months no pay, |
| | | | 6 months half pay. |
+-------------------+---------+ +--------------------+
| At present time | 15 | | 6 months 2_s._, 9 |
| | months | | months half pay. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 3. PUBLISHER'S. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| Till recently | 2 years | No premium, | 6 months 1_s._, |
| | | no | 6 months 2_s._ |
| | | indentures | 6_d._, |
| | | | 6 months 4_s._, |
| | | | 6 months half pay. |
+-------------------+---------+ +--------------------+
| At present time | 1½ | | 6 months 2_s._ |
| | years | | 6_d._, |
| | | | 6 months 4_s._, 6 |
| | | | months half pay. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 4. BOOKBINDER'S. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 21 years ago | 3 years | No premium, | 6 months 1_s._, 12 |
| | | no | months 3_s._, 18 |
| | | indentures | months 6_s._ |
+-------------------+---------+ +--------------------+
| At present time | 1½ | | 6 months 1_s._, 12 |
| | years | | months 3_s._ |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 5. PRINTER'S. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 25 years ago | 3 years | No premium, | 18 months 2_s._, |
| | | no | 18 months half |
| | | indentures | pay. |
+-------------------+---------+ +--------------------+
| At present time | 1½ | | 1 month no pay, |
| | years | | 5 month 2_s._, |
| | | | 12 months half |
| | | | pay. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 6. STATIONER'S. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 40 years ago | 2 years | No premium, | 12 months half |
| | | no | pay, 12 months |
| | | indentures | three-quarter |
| | | | pay. |
+-------------------+---------+ +--------------------+
| At present time | 1½ | | 12 months half |
| | years | | pay, 6 months |
| | | | three-quarter |
| | | | pay. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 7. PUBLISHER'S. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 30 years ago | 2 years | No premium, | No pay part, |
| | | no | 2_s._ 6_d._ |
| | | indentures | remainder. |
+-------------------+---------+ +--------------------+
| At present time | 2 years | | Half pay. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 8. BOOKBINDER'S. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 20 years ago | 1½ | No | 1 year 1_s._, |
| | years | information | 6 months half pay. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| At present time | 2 years | No premium; | 12 months 3_s._, |
| | | no | 12 months 4_s._ |
| | | indentures | |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 9. PUBLISHER'S. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 22 years ago | 1 year | No premium; | 3 months no pay, |
| | | no | 9 months 1_s._ |
+-------------------+---------+ indentures +--------------------+
| At present time | 2 years | | 6 months 2_s._, |
| | | | 18 months half |
| | | | pay. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 10. PRINTER'S. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 25 years ago | 1 year | No premium; | 1 year |
| | | no | no pay. |
+-------------------+---------+ indentures +--------------------+
| At present time | 1 year | | 6 months 1_s._, |
| | | | 6 months 2_s._ |
| | | | or 3_s._ |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 11. BOOKBINDER'S. |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
| 10 years ago | 1½ | No premium; | 6 months |
| | years | no | no pay, |
| | | indentures | 1 year half pay. |
+-------------------+---------+ +--------------------+
| At present time | 1½ | | 9 months 2_s._ |
| | years | | 6_d._, |
| | | | 9 months 5_s._ |
+-------------------+---------+-------------+--------------------+
[Footnote 58: This information was procured in 1901.]
The important point, however, is not so much the nominal length of
apprenticeship, but the fact that the work which an "apprentice" now
does is less educative than it was, and that wage-earning considerations
now enter at an earlier stage into the apprentice's thoughts.
[Sidenote: The learner as workwoman.]
The low wages paid to learners offer great temptations to employers to
set these extra cheap workgirls upon certain "fat" kinds of work. Some
kinds of work, _e.g._, gathering, have thus come to be regarded as
learners' perquisites, and in one extreme instance a worker made as much
money when a learner on half pay as she did subsequently on whole
pay.[59]
[Footnote 59: These figures from typical houses showing proportions of
learners and journeywomen are interesting:--
Workers. Learners.
A. 75 14
B. 87 19
C. 7 3
D. 8 3
E. 12 11
F. 26 20
These houses are engaged in various kinds of bookbinding and printing.]
In several cases we have been able to trace the exact amount gained by
the employer:--
1. A. in the last sixteen weeks of her half-pay period made £3 18_s._
6_d._, an average of 4_s._ 10¾ _d._ per week. For the next sixteen
weeks, when a full hand, her average was 9_s._ 8_d._
2. B. in twenty-three weeks before she became a full hand made £4 9_s._
10_d._, or an average of 3_s._ 10¾ _d._ per week. During the next
twenty-three weeks her average was 7_s._ 0½_d._, a few pence less than
double.
3. C. in fifty-one weeks made £15 5_s._ 4½_d._, practically 6_s._ per
week; if on full wage, her average would have been 11_s._ 11½_d._
4. D. in thirty-seven weeks made £10 19_s._ 5½_d._, practically 6_s._
per week; if on full wage her average would have been 11_s._ 10½_d._
5. E. in forty-seven weeks made £14 9_s._ 4½_d._, or 6_s._ 2_d._ per
week; if on full pay her average would have been 12_s._ 3¾ _d._
6. F. in forty-three weeks made £12 12_s._ 3_d._, 5_s._ 1½_d._ per week;
if on full pay her earnings would have been 11_s._ 8¾ _d._
It is obvious that when a worker is sufficiently expert to make an
average of 11_s._ or 12_s._ on full pay, it is a great temptation to
save on the bills by giving her as much work as possible at half-price.
The employer looks upon this profit as the return made to him for
teaching the girl, or, to speak more correctly, for allowing her to
pick up the trade in his shop. It really means that a heavy premium is
being paid in instalments. Possibly, when small fixed wages are paid,
the employer's profits are even higher, but in that case the learner has
not that temptation to sacrifice quality to quantity, and to be content
with "slapdash" work which is the inevitable consequence of a piecework
system worked under such conditions, and which is specially injurious to
the young hands.
[Sidenote: Compositors.]
The training given to women compositors varies very much. As is well
known, boys are apprenticed to this trade for seven years at wages which
usually begin at 8_s._ a week, and rise 2_s._ a year. In some cases,
however, a proportion of their piece-rate earning is given in addition.
When Miss Faithfull started the Victoria Press, girls were indentured
for four years, and paid a premium of ten guineas. During the first six
months they received nothing; for the remaining three and a half years
they were given two-third piece rates. By 1869, when Mr. Head was
running the business, this system had been changed. In an article in the
_Printers' Register_ for October 6th, 1869, we read that at the Victoria
Press, apprenticeship, "a relic of the ignorance and shortsightedness of
our forefathers, which is maintained in our own day chiefly by the
prejudices of Trades Unions, is entirely abolished. Girls begin to earn
at once," with the consequence that the work is much better. The Women's
Printing Society started with an apprenticeship of three or four years,
the wages rising from 2_s._ 6_d._ to 10_s._
At the present time the training varies in different houses, from one
where the girls are regularly indentured for four years, pay a premium
of £5, and receive 4_s._ for the first year and 5_s._, 6_s._, 7_s._ a
week in the ensuing years, to one where, with a premium of three
guineas, the training lasts for three months only, and the worker is put
on piecework after that period.
Two women compositors who had served for four years gave it as their
opinion that two years were sufficient to learn; during the remaining
years "you are expected to do as much as a full hand and get only half
wages."
It is obvious, however, that much depends on the amount of work taught,
and the complaint is reiterated over and over again that girls will only
learn the easy, plain work: "they want to make money at once."
[Sidenote: Women and technical classes.]
Enquiries were addressed to the Secretaries of Technical Education
Committees in every town in the kingdom where the printing and kindred
trades are of any importance, asking--
"1. Whether, in connection with your technical and other schools,
any provision is made for the training of women in the bookbinding
or in any of the printing or stationery trades;
"2. Whether the classes have been attended by any numbers of
women; and
"3. Whether you have received at any time from employers
statements showing the effect of such classes upon these trades?"
Seventeen replied that no provisions were made, six that the matter was
under consideration, but only in one case was it stated that classes had
been opened, and then the women had not taken advantage of them. The
London County Council Technical Education Board has had only one
application (to which it could not accede [60]) from a woman who desired
to attend bookbinding classes.
[Footnote 60: The woman was an amateur who had no connection with the
trade, and the Board refused admission on that ground. See this Board's
Special Report on Technical Instruction of Women.]
This shows that in these trades the school, so far as women are
concerned, has not yet been brought into contact with the workshop.
Nominally the classes are open to women actually engaged in the trade,
but women do not attend. This seems to be partly owing to the attitude
of the men, and partly owing to the lack of interest on the part of the
woman worker in the few facilities afforded to her by Technical
Education Committees.
The Home Arts and Crafts Association and kindred movements have taught
women amateurs bookbinding and leather work in a good many centres, but
this training has had no general industrial effect. The Association for
the Employment of Women has offered facilities for the training of women
in working the linotype, but it has met with but scanty response. "It is
work which needed more skill," said one employer, "than women
possessed."[61]
[Footnote 61: We have heard since this was written that women are
employed on linotype machines in a prosperous provincial newspaper and
general printing office.]
Here again we have had evidence of the most conclusive nature to show
that the work of women is special in its simplicity, and that the
craftswoman is hardly to be found anywhere. And they seem to have
accepted the position, and make no attempt to move out of it.[62]
[Footnote 62: This note is typical of a good many which occur in the
reports of the investigators. "There are two girls now on the
black-bordering machine whom the forewoman has offered to teach to place
out by hand, but they won't learn it; it is too much trouble."]
2. WHY WOMEN DO NOT TRAIN.
Some explanation is required for the fact that women have so little
ambition to become skilled, especially seeing that their lack of
technical knowledge and their willingness to remain at work which is
merely mechanical, _i.e._, folding, etc., explain their low wages,
casual employment, and careless organisation.
[Sidenote: Marriage as an industrial influence.]
The physiological differences between men and women have sociological
results. These differences have no doubt been exaggerated and emphasised
by traditions of propriety, and the change of opinion indicated
generally by the expression, "the woman movement," has done a great deal
to bring down those differences to their natural proportions and
relations. If certain claims of equality, such as women's suffrage, were
generally accepted, men and women might tend to occupy a much more equal
industrial status. But when all false emphasis and exaggeration have
been removed, a considerable residuum of difference must remain.
The special status of the married woman will no doubt survive all
readjustment of traditional modes of thought, and will tend to withdraw
her mind from the steady pursuit of industrial efficiency, because she
will never consider wage earning to be her special task in the world.
That has tempted her hitherto to steer off from the currents in the
mid-stream of industrial life, and float upon those that flow more
sluggishly by the margin. Hence she has entered industry, not with
expectations of long employment, but with hopes of a speedy release, and
she has therefore been in haste to earn money at once, and unwilling to
sink capital (either in time or money) in making herself efficient. She
is found in the more mechanical and more easily acquired branches of
work, and also in those which provide no future for men,[63] and her
willingness to take low wages has been her great protection against
competing machinery. She has preferred to remain incompetent. "Out of
twenty-six girls," is the report from the manager of a well-known firm
for high-class artistic bookbinding, "not one could he trust as a
forewoman."
[Footnote 63: An interesting illustration of this is afforded by the
recent employment of women in typefounding in London. London has not
been a place where women were much employed in this industry. For twenty
or thirty years girls have been employed in Edinburgh typefoundries, at
certain processes through which the type, when cast, has to go, but they
have been introduced only within the last year or two in London, to take
the place of boys who could not be got because the work offers no very
satisfactory prospects for them, and because the introduction of the
linotype and mono-type threatens the future of the typefounding
industry. _Cf._ Aberdeen, p. 47, Manchester and Birmingham, p. 50.]
[Sidenote: The lack of openings and ambition.]
Moreover, this enquiry has shown that there is but little chance for
women in these trades to improve themselves. Openings for responsible
employment are few, and the ambition of the woman is not stirred by the
possibility of material improvement as the reward of skill and industry.
When responsible places become vacant, it is sometimes difficult to get
women to consent to fill them. They seem to have little of that divine
discontent which is the mainspring of progress. "They never ask for a
rise as a man would, ... though after a time when they are useful, the
firm would be quite willing to give one." "He finds that girls want to
earn a certain wage. As a rule they will not take less, and they don't
trouble to earn more." A Manchester correspondent reports: "There is
very little chance of rising, and no particular desire for it, on the
part of the ordinary girl, whose main aspirations are otherwise
directed."
Reporting generally on her enquiries, an investigator writes: "The
progressive young woman, eager to show that she is man's equal and can
do man's work, seems to be a product of the middle classes. I never met
girls with ambitions of that sort among the employees I talked with. On
the other hand, I have met with cutting reproofs from forewomen and
others in the bookbinding houses when I tried, in my innocence, to find
out why they did not turn their hands to simple and easy processes which
were being done by men. 'Why, that is man's work, and we shouldn't think
of doing it!' is the usual answer given with a toss of the head and a
tone insinuating that there is a certain indelicacy in the question."
Another investigator reports: "In a paper-staining department an attempt
was once made to have a forewoman instead of a foreman over the girls,
but she was not successful in watching the colours and had to be
replaced by a man. The employer in consequence came to the conclusion
that such a feat was beyond a woman's power, and the workers themselves
are of the same opinion and scorn the idea of a forewoman."
[Sidenote: Sex reputation.]
Women in slowly increasing numbers seem to be settling down to a
thorough industrial training, but except when they start businesses of
their own, the general reputation of woman as workers, especially their
liability to marry and leave, must permanently handicap the most
efficient in search of employment.
Even the woman who has paid a premium of £50 or £100 for thorough
instruction in the art of bookbinding is warned that "a worker cannot be
taken on anywhere, but has to set up on her own account," and even then
she often does not enter the regular open competitive market, but
attaches certain customers to herself, owing to her special work.
The exceptional woman will always have to bear the burden of the average
woman.
The questions put to employers upon this point received very emphatic
replies: "It does not pay us to train women," they said in some form or
another; "We only want them for simple processes such as folding, and if
we tried to make them skilled in more complicated work they would leave
us before we got the same return for our trouble as we get from men."
[Sidenote: Physique, hours, etc.]
The low standard of women's living also diminishes their stamina and
strength, and though in the course of this enquiry we have not
discovered any very serious complaint that women were irregular at their
work owing to ill-health (a common complaint against women in offices),
yet the drawback has been mentioned.
Moreover, it must be noted that when a girl's work in the workshop is
finished she has often to go home to commence a new round of domestic
tasks from which a boy is exempted. This aggravates the seriousness of
her long hours of mechanical work as a wage-earner, and increases the
difficulties placed in her way should she desire to attend evening
technical classes. The directors of several educational institutions
and the teachers of technical classes for women have strongly urged this
point upon us.
We have to face the fact that, for various reasons, in modern industrial
society there is of necessity a tendency to specialise the work of men
and women and centre the one in the workshop and the other in the home,
and to incline women to take a place in industry second to their male
relations. Hence, in the workshop women have hitherto been adjuncts to
machines; they have taken up simple mechanical processes, and have shown
little interest in complete series of industrial operations. They have
picked up the arts, but have shunned the sciences. The factory and the
workshop have been to them the scenes of "meanwhile" employment.
[Sidenote: Gentility in trade.]
In such circumstances one is not surprised to find such considerations
as conventional gentility determining the branches of trade taken up by
the women. The printing trades generally do not attract the most genteel
girls, but there are grades within them. One informant says, "In
Manchester, up to 1870, to be a folder was looked upon as being next
door to being on the streets;" but now folders look down upon feeders.
"Folding and sewing girls look down on the machine girls tremendously,
and would not sit at the same table with them for anything." Perhaps the
manager who said in a shocked tone of voice that "The women never care
to talk of the Sunday's sermon" was hypercritical, but undoubtedly
certain sections of these trades are staffed by rather rough specimens
of women.
Then again, a folder, despised herself by those above her, is reported
to "look down upon the litho and bronzing girls. They are of the very
lowest class (she says), with hardly a shoe on their feet. They are on
quite a different floor and have nothing to do with the folders." Or
again, for reasons of gentility, girls prefer to become book-folders,
where the hours are longer and the pay lower, rather than to become
paper-bag makers. The distinction between these various sections is not
similar to that between skilled and unskilled labour. The simple
explanation is that amongst women engaged in industry convention is
particularly potent in determining what trades are desirable and proper
and what are not, so that when certain employments acquire a reputation
for gentility, the others will be filled by a goodly proportion of
unassorted girls, and will ultimately acquire characteristics which
appear to justify the feminine prejudices against them. It has been
suggested that these notions of gentility have, as a matter of fact, a
deeper significance, and that the favoured trades are the lighter ones.
To some extent this is true. The heavier employments are staffed by a
rougher class of women. But, as in the case of the Manchester folders
cited above, fashions change, and we must recognise that reputation for
gentility is a very important factor in determining the distribution of
character amongst the trades. This appears to be the main reason why
high wages do not always attract the better class of girls to certain
kinds of employment, and also why there is a reluctance on the part of
many self-respecting girls to enter a course of industrial training.
CHAPTER VI.
_LEGISLATION._
1. THE LAW.
The printing and allied trades were not brought within the scope of
legislation until Mr. Walpole's Factory Acts' Extension Act of 1867.
[Sidenote: Conditions of employment, 1866.]
The Commission on Children's Employment in 1866[64] first disclosed the
fact that substantial abuses prevailed throughout the printing and
kindred trades. Long hours, frequent nightwork, Sunday labour,
irregularities regarding meal times, and insanitary conditions--such,
roughly speaking, were the hardships which made it desirable to bring
them under State supervision. Mr. Lord, who took an active part on these
Commissions, said that the general state of printing houses in London
was very bad; not only were the composing rooms generally overcrowded
and ill-ventilated, but even machine rooms were often extremely dirty,
close and unhealthy. He cites the case of a machine room, where the roof
was so low that a hole was cut in the ceiling for the head of the boy
who was "laying-on" to go through. "The heat of steam printing," says
he, "is very deleterious in close cellars, such as many places in this
town are."
[Footnote 64: Children's Employment Commission, 1862-1866 (Report V.).]
Speaking of the factories of wholesale stationers, the same witness
says, "Many of the workrooms are ill-ventilated and overcrowded. The
cubical contents of one large room measured by me were 136 ft. per head;
those of another only 87 ft. per head."
With regard to hours, the Commissioners report: "These ordinary hours
(viz., 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for females, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. for men and boys)
are from time to time exceeded to the extent of one or two hours, and
sometimes more. In the case of those who bind for publishing houses the
four or five winter months are the busy season, and the six weeks
immediately preceding Christmas those of the greatest pressure; at one
such place work often continued from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. in those six
weeks. The 'push' of 'magazine day' also affects this trade as it does
the printer, keeping the workpeople for several days at the end of each
month until 10 or 11 p.m., and on rare occasions till 1 or 2 a.m. The
case of railway guides is even worse than that of magazines, for females
sometimes have to work the whole night through till 6 a.m., returning to
work at 10 on the same morning, and when the first of a month is on a
Monday, work the whole of the preceding Sunday. On Sunday, April 30th
this year, at one place twenty females worked from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.,
and after a rest of two hours went on again through the night. Even
girls of thirteen had worked in the same week once from 4 a.m. to 10
p.m., and twice from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Another rather older (fourteen
and a half) worked on one day from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on the
preceding day from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. A boy aged fourteen had worked two
or three times in a week from 7 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m. and three Sundays
through."
"With paper-box makers," the Commissioners say, "it is not uncommon to
make two or even three hours overtime (this after a day of from 9 a.m.
to 8 or 9 p.m.). For two months in spring and six weeks in autumn
fourteen hours is the usual length of a female's working day. At one
place females over fifteen are said to work constantly in the busy time
from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and in some places till 1 or 2 a.m., especially
with 'little men' working at home with their family and two or three
girls to help. These are instances of London work, but in Manchester the
hours are even longer. One girl worked, at sixteen years old, night
after night in succession, from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m.; the younger ones
there worked from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; at another place the same witness
had frequently worked from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Another, at nine years old,
worked from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. generally; she said that the older ones
worked a good deal later than that. Some young women had worked on three
or four occasions all the night through."
"Boys of fourteen and fifteen employed at making cardboard, have in some
cases worked from 8 a.m. till 10 or 11 p.m. twice a week for four or
five weeks running, but that is not general in the trade. Girls of that
age have worked at making paper bags nearly every night for a similar
period, till 10 or 11 p.m. from 8 a.m., and were very much tired by it.
As paper-box making is all handwork and paid for by the piece, it is not
uncommon for work to go on in the meal hours--'they please themselves.'"
The following was the experience of one girl which she gave before the
Commissioners. "I am thirteen; I have been here twelve months. Some of
the girls worked all night last month for two nights together. I call
'till 4 in the morning' all night. We generally work one night till 4
a.m., and three or four nights till 12. My mother thought all night hurt
me and so would not let me go on, but I work till 12. Last month I
worked five times in the night till 12. It is only in that week; we get
very tired towards the end of it."
With regard to the moral conditions of the workers the Commissioners
reported: "The indiscriminate mixing of the sexes which still prevails
in many workrooms is generally condemned. The evil of such a practice is
especially conspicuous where they are late and irregular in their hours.
The bad language and conduct of the boys is made the subject of very
strong comment by two witnesses, who go so far as to say that there is a
marked deterioration in this respect during the last ten years."
Again, "The younger children were in many cases unable to read. The evil
of late and irregular work in letting women loose on the streets at all
hours of the night is justly censured by an employer as necessarily
leading to great immorality."
[Sidenote: Legislation, 1867.]
In consequence of the Report of the Commissioners, the Factory Act
Extension Act, 1867, was passed. It applied specifically to any premises
where paper manufacture, letter-press printing and bookbinding were
carried on; and generally to any premises where fifty or more people
were employed in any manufacturing process. The hours allowed for women
and young persons were from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., or from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
with intervals amounting to one and a half hours for meals; on Saturday,
work had to cease at 2 p.m. By way of exception, women employed in
bookbinding could work fourteen hours a day, provided that their total
hours did not exceed sixty per week.
To those trades, such as litho-printing, that did not come under the
above Act, was applied the Workshops Regulation Act of the same year,
the provisions of which resembled, though they did not coincide with
those of the foregoing enactment. The same aggregate number of hours
per day and week was established, but more elasticity was permitted in
workshops, women and young persons being allowed to work in them for the
hours specified at any time between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m., and until 4 p.m.
on Saturdays.
[Sidenote: Factory and Workshop Act, 1878.]
The discrepancies in the regulations applying to different classes of
work were productive of a good deal of inconvenience, and after the
Commission of 1876 came the Factory and Workshop Act, 1878, having as
its object the consolidation and amendment of the existing statutes with
a view to rendering their administration more even and secure. The main
provisions of the law as it now affects the printing and kindred trades
were laid down, although since that date there have been various
additions and amendments. By this Act a distinction was drawn between
factories and workshops, the chief difference being that, in the former,
machinery propelled by steam, water, or other mechanical power must be
in use; while in the latter, no such agency must be employed. Certain
classes of works, however, apart from all question of mechanical power,
were defined as factories and not workshops. Under these came
paper-staining works, foundries (including typefoundries), except
premises in which such process was carried on by not more than five
persons, and as subsidiary to the repair or completion of some other
work--paper mills, letter-press printing works, and bookbinding
establishments.
[Sidenote: Factory and Workshop Act, 1901.]
As regards hours of work and overtime, slight modifications have been
effected by legislation subsequent to the year 1878, and the present
state of the law as laid down in the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, is
as follows:--The regular hours for women and young persons except
Saturday, are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., or 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.,
with an allowance of one and a half hours for meals, one hour of such
meal-time being before 3 p.m. On Saturday the period of employment may
be 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., or 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with not
less than half-an-hour for meals. But where a woman or young person has
not been actually employed for more than eight hours on any day in a
week, and notice of this has been affixed in the factory or workshop and
served on the inspector, she may be at work on Saturday from 6 a.m. to 4
p.m., with an interval of not less than two hours for meals.
There are various special restrictions and exceptions applying to
different classes of work. No protected person may take a meal or remain
during meal-time in any part of a factory or workshop where typefounding
is carried on, or where dry powder or dust is used in litho-printing,
playing-card making, paper-staining, almanac-making, paper-colouring and
enamelling. In certain industries, including printing, bookbinding,
machine ruling and envelope making, women may work three days a week,
and for thirty days during the year, two hours overtime, provided that
such employment ceases at 10 p.m., and that they have two hours for
meals. But this limit of overtime applies to the factory or workshop as
a whole, and not to the overtime of individual workers.
2. ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRIAL EFFECTS OF LEGISLATION.
The foregoing brief summary of the law has naturally preceded the
question as to how far legislation has affected women in these
particular trades. When restrictions are imposed upon the labour of any
class of wage-earners, their economic position must be altered for good
or evil, unless the trade can so adjust itself as to meet exactly the
requirements of these restrictions. If the worker is of great
importance, an effort will be made to adapt the trade to the novel
conditions; if another class of workers or machinery, free from all
restrictions, can be as easily used, it is probable that the labour
affected will be ousted.
[Sidenote: Has legislation displaced women?]
Is there, then, evidence to show that any material displacement of women
or girls in these trades followed the enforcement of factory
legislation? Instances of dismissal must obviously be sought for soon
after the Act of 1867, as the employer then knew on what terms he
engaged his staff, and, except in a few cases where deliberate evasions
of the law might be attempted, the effect of legislation would be to
deter him from employing women, rather than lead him to dismiss them.
Owing to the lapse of time, it is difficult to find out from those in
the trade the immediate consequences of this Act, nor does the
Commission of 1876 give much assistance. Of 103 employers questioned by
us, not half a dozen remembered dismissing women in consequence of the
new enactment.
One employer turned off ten or twelve women "folders" and introduced
machinery, alleging as his reason the want of elasticity in the Factory
Act. His ordinary hours were from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., but on certain days
in the week it was necessary to begin work at 6 a.m. He made
arrangements that the total number of hours should not exceed those
sanctioned by the Act, but the variation was not allowed. If his women
began work at 6 a.m. on any day, his hours had to be regularly 6 a.m. to
6 p.m., except in the case of thirty nights in the year when overtime
was permitted. As this did not suit his business, he dismissed the women
and had recourse to folding machines. Personally he gained, as the
machinery proved an economy, but it told hardly on the women, whom
otherwise he would have kept on as they were old hands.
Another employer told a similar tale regarding the introduction of
folding machinery, but stated that he had been obliged to dispense with
female operatives by reason of the strict enforcement of the regulations
regarding overtime only.
In both these cases it is clear that the state of the trade was such
that it required only a very slight disability on the part of the worker
to make it worth while for the employer to use machinery.
Quite apart from any effect of legislation the machine was destined to
supplant manual labour; its advent was merely accelerated by the Act.
Its first introduction caused isolated cases of hardship, but its
ultimate results were beneficial. Thus at the present day women and
girls are largely employed upon the very machines which once seemed to
threaten their industrial existence.
[Sidenote: The case of women compositors.]
In the _Economic Journal_ of 1899 an interesting paper by Miss Bradby
and Miss A. Black discusses the position of women compositors in
Edinburgh, and deals with the subject of legislation. After an
exhaustive investigation, no single instance was discovered of the
displacement of a woman by a man owing to the Factory Acts.
The chief contention of those who oppose special factory legislation on
the ground that it limits the usefulness of women compositors is, that
women are not employed on newspaper work, and they give the legal
prohibition of nightwork for women as the reason. Careful enquiry has
shown that reason to be purely imaginary. Women are not employed on
evening papers, though the factory law does not stand in their way. In
the provinces women set-up one or two weekly or bi-weekly journals, the
firms employing them preferring them solely on the ground of cheapness.
Experience shows that women are not suited for newspaper work, unless
the paper does not appear more frequently than, say, twice a week, and
if the factory code disappeared to-morrow, morning daily newspapers
would afford to women compositors no fresh openings.
[Sidenote: Have their opportunities been limited?]
As regards the further point whether more women would be employed if
they were unprotected by law, the views of representative employers and
managers of labour are here set forth.
Out of thirty-five,[65] twenty-eight were emphatic in their assurance
that the Factory Acts did not affect the question. Seven, on the other
hand, were inclined to think otherwise. Of these, five were unable to
say that they really would employ more women if freed from restrictions,
but two of them thought that "there might be something in it," though
the point had "never occurred to them before." Only three of them were
of the opinion emphatically that legislation was certainly one amongst
the obstacles to the employment of women.
[Footnote 65: These are the firms interviewed by Miss Bradby and Miss A.
Black as above.]
When, on the other hand, we turn to the opinions of those acquainted
with the conditions of the trade, either as workers (chiefly women) or
Trade Union officials, we find practical unanimity. The eighteen
persons[66] of this description questioned were strong in their
declarations that the employment of women was not affected by the
Factory Acts. To most of them, indeed, the idea of any harmful
connection between the two was novel and ridiculous. This of course
proves nothing; but if legislation had, to any considerable extent,
hampered the work of women, the women themselves would doubtless have
become aware of it.
[Footnote 66: Compositors only.]
The evidence available leads to the conclusion that, except in a few
small houses, the employment of women as compositors has not been
affected by the Factory Acts.
[Sidenote: Legislation and home work.]
The earlier stages during which the protection conferred by the
Legislature was enforced, were marked by attempts on the part of certain
employers to evade the spirit of the law by means of home work.[67]
[Footnote 67: See pp. 99-101.]
One example of this practice was given by the Rev. H. W. Blunt in his
evidence before the Commission of 1876. He says that much work was sent
to be completed after factory hours. For instance, in one book-folding
firm which had occasional rushes of work, a girl was employed till 11
p.m. on the Monday before Christmas. She was then told with the other
girls that they must take home 1,000 quarto sheets to fold by the
morning. Several did so, but she refused, because her mother was on the
point of death, and the doctor said there must not be a light in the
room. She was consequently dismissed at once. Mr. Blunt says further
that religious "weeklies," the sheets of which came off the press at 12
o'clock at night, were sent out to be folded by 8 a.m. They were taken
away in perambulators, children being employed to do this every week.
[Sidenote: Work sent to "folding houses."]
Another immediate result of legislation was the expedient of sending out
work to "folding houses" which did not come within the definition of a
factory or workshop. Such places may be premises belonging to a factory
and yet separate from it. Mr. Henderson, of the Factory Department, in
giving evidence before the Commission of 1876, says: "Some years ago I
came across Messrs. X., where newspapers were folded wholesale by steam
machinery, and I thought it was a factory. Messrs. X. resisted the idea.
Boys were employed at irregular hours, but the Crown officers decided
that it was not a factory." Christmas card packing and sorting are in
the same position. Miss Deane, a lady factory inspector, who made a
special investigation into the conditions of the Christmas card industry
as recently as 1899, points out that many of the workplaces are outside
the operation of the Act.
In the Report on Factories and Workshops for 1899, she says: "A large
number of Christmas cards, almanacs, etc., are made in Germany and are
sent to England, where girls are employed in sorting and repacking and
arranging them, for the purpose of being sold wholesale. Such places,
unless attached to some factory or workshop, being unregulated by the
Act, the girls are without the protection afforded by the law regarding
length of hours, meal-times, etc. It was impossible not to be struck by
the difference between the conditions found in one such place and those
found in the large airy sorting rooms of a publishing factory close
by--yet the girls in the stuffy workroom of the former were without the
protection given by the law in the latter workplace. A curious instance
arose in connection with one such place where about forty girls had been
employed in packing and sorting for illegal hours. The occupier took to
employing some of them in affixing a minute bow of ribbon to the cards,
and during this temporary employment all the girls could claim and were
accorded the protection of the Factory Acts. Excessive hours in hitherto
unsuspected workrooms were also found to be worked in the processes of
adapting and preparing bonbons for sale. In some cases, baskets, boxes
and bags, were trimmed for the reception of these articles, in others
they were merely selected and arranged in patterns in fancy boxes
subsequently tied up with ribbon. In the first case clearly, and in the
last also probably, the definition of workshop under the Act applies.
Instructions were given and better conditions have gained the day."
Speaking of these unregulated workplaces, in the same report, Miss Deane
remarks: "In the course of some inspections after midnight last winter
near the City, I came across several of these workplaces where women,
girls and children, were then at work under deplorable conditions--dirty
rooms, foul, gassy air, and overcrowding. In one of them I was met by
the observation that 'I might come in if I liked, but I could do nothing
there.'"
The experience of two of our investigators corroborates the above
statement. One of them says: "At about 2.45 a.m. we went to see
newspapers folded by women in the City. It was done in an old
tumble-down room opposite a printing shop. We peeped in through a chink
in the shutters--it was a boiling night, and the shutters were
closed--and we could see a man carrying in a load of paper from time to
time. When we entered we found four women streaming with perspiration in
the foul hot atmosphere, folding away at the ... _News_. They were quite
friendly and communicative, and told us they came every Thursday night
about 11 p.m. and stayed till they had done. They were paid three times
as much as day-workers and did no regular work in the daytime. Before
beginning work they had a cup of tea. They said they liked the work and
were glad that the Factory Act could not stop them; the police had been
round to them and also two young ladies, but nothing had happened; and
they considered that they were quite old enough to do nightwork if they
liked."
Folding houses are growing fewer in number owing, no doubt, to the fact
that rent is so high in the City and space so valuable, that it is not
worth while to erect them separate from a factory. Viewed also with
dislike by factory inspectors as a means of evading the law, their
tenure of life is not likely to be long.
[Sidenote: Nightwork.]
Employers admit that the effect of the Factory Acts has been to make
them reduce nightwork. In criticising the Act before the Commission of
1876, Mr. Bell, of the firm of Darton, Bell and Thomas, bookbinders,
says: "The Factory Act of 1867 has been a boon to employers and
employed, because it has enabled us to put pressure on customers. Now we
can say to the public 'We can't go beyond certain hours,' and,
therefore, work not new has to be sent in earlier."
Mr. Darton, of the same firm, adds: "We have persuaded booksellers to
give out stock work in June and July instead of September or October,
and so begin the work earlier and avoid nightwork." This stimulus is
undoubtedly good, and these views are echoed by other employers.
The whole question of how far the practical prohibition of overtime for
women has limited the volume of work available for them, and thus
diminished their aggregate wages, needs very careful consideration, as
mistaken conclusions may easily be formed. The matter was carefully
considered by a Committee of the Economic Section of the British
Association, appointed in 1901, to enquire into the effect of special
legislation on women, and the following extracts from its final
report[68] are of some interest:--
"A very important, perhaps from the economic point of view the most
important, effect of legislation has been to spread the period of work
more uniformly through the week, month, and year than had been the case
before regulation" (p. 5).
"The tendency to put off giving orders to the last moment is easily
checked when the customer can be met with a universal legal prohibition"
(p. 7).
"Restriction is met by adaptation of manufacture or rearrangement of
numbers employed and time at which work is done, women being still
employed at the work" (p. 13).
"Except for a few complaints as to the abolition of the possibility of
payment for overtime, which, as has been pointed out, by no means prove
any loss of earnings ... the Committee have no record ... of any loss of
wages or earnings traceable to the [Factory] Acts" (p. 25).
[Footnote 68: Presented at Southport in 1903.]
Thus, it will be seen that the loss of overtime is not necessarily a
loss of work, but a re-distribution (and an economical one, too) of the
times at which work is done, and does not therefore mean a loss in
income, but a steadying and regulation of income.
Nevertheless, before the re-organisation which has been consequent on
Factory legislation, overtime and nightwork were necessary in order to
turn out a certain volume of trade by a certain number of workpeople,
and the influence of restrictive legislation has been shown in the
following directions:--
1st. An increase in the class of workers called "job hands";
2nd. An enlargement of the permanent staff;
3rd. A rearrangement of the employment of male and female labour.
The third of these changes we have found to be practically
imperceptible, whilst the second has affected women most beneficially.
[Sidenote: The job hand.]
On the margin of casual and regular labour the job hand stands--the
reserve battalion of this section of the labour army. She is generally a
married woman, and commonly the wife of a faulty husband. She does not
want regular work, and only desires to earn a certain limited wage. When
she goes to a factory in search of work, she has to wait idle for hour
upon hour, but she generally stays at home until summoned by her
forewoman. Certain kinds of cheap seasonal work as, for instance, penny
almanacs, are almost exclusively done by her,[69] and she is commonly
employed either periodically, _e.g._, for weekly papers and monthly
magazines, or casually, _e.g._, prospectus work, for rushes. A notice in
certain public-houses, or information supplied to certain known agents,
brings her to the place where she is wanted.
[Footnote 69: "The majority of the almanac makers are married women who
stay at home from February to July": Leeds.]
Job hands existed before 1867, but at that time they did not hold quite
the same position in the trade as they do now. They were the _hands_ who
went to different firms for two or three nights a month to help in a
recognised rush of work which occurred regularly. In the Commissioners'
Report for 1876, mention is made several times of job hands who were
employed quite regularly for definite pieces of work at definite times
during the month. Firms publishing certain weekly papers were in the
habit of employing women in folding during the early hours of the
morning before distributing the papers to the newsagents. Firms which
printed monthly magazines needed women to fold all night for two or
three nights or more at the end of each month. Such employment naturally
came to an end as soon as the Act of 1867 came into operation; but the
job hand only changed her hours. It became necessary during rushes of
work to call in extra hands, in order to comply with the clauses of the
Act, and many firms solved the difficulty by employing job hands during
the day instead of at night, for a few days to meet the emergency.[70]
This work was generally taken up by married women who had served in the
trade before marriage, and who were glad to get a few days' employment
from time to time.
[Footnote 70: But this is not the invariable rule. A manager of a firm
dealing largely in magazines and periodical issues says: "The effect of
legal restrictions on our business is to make women work hard for two
weeks and slacken off for two weeks. There is no thought of giving the
work to men, or of sending it home, or of employing job hands."]
[Sidenote: Increase of permanent staff.]
The second method of solving the difficulty--by employing a larger
permanent staff--involves the erection of more extensive premises, and
can only be adopted by firms whose financial position enables them to
meet a considerable outlay. It is probably the best means for ensuring
that work shall be done efficiently for the employer, and conducted
under the most favourable conditions for the employed.
[Sidenote: Nightwork and overtime.]
But there still remains a slight residuum of nightwork which has to be
done by men. To this extent, and to this extent only, can restriction be
said to have hindered the employment of women.
We have tried to ascertain how much this really means to the women
workers. Thirty-three firms stated that work of the same character as
that performed by women in the daytime was sometimes given out to men
at night. We cannot, however, assume that the work is always given to
men on account of legal restrictions, and it does not follow that the
abolition of such restrictions would induce all masters to introduce
women for nightwork. Several of them, indeed, emphatically deny that
they would adopt this practice; and in some instances we have been told
that it was not observed in the best firms before the law prohibited it,
_e.g._, "Mr. A. remembers the time before the Act of 1867 (he has been
in the trade since 1851). He could have worked women at night, but never
would because of questions of morality."
These statements are, however, only part of the case, because nightwork
is generally overtime, and we must consider how far employers care to
practise it.
There seems to be an almost unanimous opinion against overtime, and any
mention of factory legislation appears to suggest overtime at once to
both employers and employed. Experience has driven it home to them that
overtime is a most uneconomical method of work;[71] and as there does
not appear to be any demand for women's labour at night except
occasionally as overtime, the factory law in this respect is only a
protection to the employée engaged by the employer who is still
experimenting with this unproductive use of labour.
[Footnote 71: "When the factory (now a large provincial lithographer's,
almanac maker's, etc.), was a small one, and it employed only a few
hands, they used to work a great deal of overtime. They used all the
time they were allowed by the Factory Acts and sometimes tried to get in
more. But now they do not find it pays to work overtime."--It is of some
importance to note that a responsible spokesman for the men engaged in
London houses informed one of our investigators that when men are put on
at night to fold "they take it easy, and six men do in two hours what
two women do in two hours. They don't bother to walk up and down
gathering, but sit at it in a row, and hand sheets on from one to the
other."]
[Sidenote: Testimony of employers.]
Some employers, like Mr. Bell,[72] admit candidly enough that
legislation enables them to be more humane (and humanity in this respect
pays) than they could otherwise afford to be. The Act is "a great
relief," such an employer has said. "Legislation is an excellent thing;
existing hours are quite long enough. If a person has not done her work
by the time they are up, she never will do it." "The Factory Acts are a
very good thing," another has said. "Long hours diminish the output"; or
again: "Factory legislation is a capital thing; I only wish it could be
extended to men." "Women are not so strong as men, and therefore the law
rightly steps in." "I think it would be very inadvisable to employ women
at night. I think legislation a very good thing. Overtime is not really
worth it." "Legislation is a very good thing. I don't believe in long
hours. Employers are often shortsighted and think that workers are like
machines--the longer you work them the more they do, but this is not
really the case; if they work from 9 to 7 they have done as much as they
are good for." "The good done by the Factory Acts has quite outweighed
any evils or hardships." Another employer remarked: "I shouldn't like my
own daughter to do it, and I don't see why other women should do so. I
should think it a very bad thing for women to go home in the early hours
of the morning." On hearing that restrictions were objected to on the
score that they hindered the employment of women, he replied scathingly
that it was rubbish, but that "ladies must have something to talk
about."
[Footnote 72: _Cf._ p. 78.]
From this it is evident that protection is viewed favourably by many
employers, on the specific ground that it prevents systematic overtime.
On the whole, they are of the opinion that nightwork is harmful to
women, and that after overtime the next day's work suffers. Some are
doubtful whether they would employ women at night even if the law
permitted it. Nightwork, they assert, is unfit for women, not merely on
account of the harm to health, but because of the insult and temptation
to which they are exposed in going home. Whether these views would have
been held so generally before the passing of the Factory Acts it is not
possible to say; probably the results have justified the Act, and
experience has provided moral reasons for legal limitations.
* * * * *
Such in the main is the attitude of employers towards legislation. Of
103 who expressed an opinion, twenty-six stated that legislation had not
affected women's labour at all, sixty considered it to have been
beneficial, and seventeen looked on all legislation as grandmotherly and
ridiculous--one among these thinking that legislation was all very well,
and much needed in the City, but that Southwark should be free from
interference. The attitude of those employers who objected to
interference was expressed generally in some such way as that it was
"unnecessary" for their trade at least, even if desirable for others.
Pressed to explain what "unnecessary" meant, they said that women could
take care of themselves; that protection was all very well for young
girls, but when women arrived at the age of forty or fifty they could do
what they liked; that it was hard on women that they should not be
allowed to work day and night as well; that women could stand overtime
just as well as men; and, finally, that legislation pressed very
severely on the employer, who had to use the more expensive medium for
doing nightwork, viz., men.
Such is the attitude of these employers, and it is fairly well expressed
in the following quotation from _The Stationery Trades' Journal_,
September, 1880:--
"We report in another column a case in which Messrs. Pardon & Co. were
summoned for an offence under the Factory Acts. Four women were employed
during the night to fold a periodical which is printed by Messrs. P. The
youngest of the four women was a married woman of thirty-five, whose
husband is unable to work, and she, like the rest, prized the job
because it afforded the means of earning a little extra money for the
support of her family. Under the pretence of protecting these women, the
law steps in and says: 'Your families may starve or go to the workhouse,
but you shall not work overtime or go beyond the limits prescribed by
the Act. You cannot be trusted with the care of your own health. You may
fast as much as you like; it will do you good and help your children to
grow up stalwart men and women--but you shall not endanger your health
by working too many hours at a time.' This in substance is what the law
does for women. As regards the employment of children and young persons,
the Act is no doubt beneficial, but surely women of thirty-five and
forty do not need the same legislative protection as children. A great
deal of sentimental nonsense is written and spoken by benevolent
busybodies without practical knowledge of the subjects with which they
meddle; and one of the results is the application of the Factory Acts to
women who are old enough to judge for themselves. In the case alluded to
there was more real benevolence in providing work for women than in
limiting their hours of employment." As a contrast to these opinions,
the views on overtime expressed in the Factory Inspector's Report for
1899 are worth noting:--
"The prohibition of overtime for young persons imposed by Section 14 of
the Factory Act of 1895 has, in my opinion, proved to be the most
beneficial clause of that Act. It has, moreover, been carried out
without any serious interference with trade and without causing much
difficulty to the inspectors.
"The further restriction in the same clause of the overtime employment
of women by reducing the number of times on which it may be worked in
any twelve months from forty-eight to thirty was also a step in the
right direction. If overtime were abolished altogether except for
preserving perishable articles, the season trades would soon accommodate
themselves to doing without overtime in the same way that the cotton,
woollen, linen and silk manufacturing trades have done, for they also
are season trades."
[Sidenote: Opinion of employées.]
Among the older workers in the trade are men and women who remember
conditions before the passing of the 1867 Act, and the experience of
some of them and the comparison they make between work done before and
after the Act is worthy of note.
A. used to work till 10 every night when she first entered the trade.
She was glad when the Act was passed to get home early, and never liked
working late.
B. used to work from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. regularly, including Saturdays.
Frequently she had to work till 10 or 12 and sometimes to begin at 5
a.m. The "young governor" used to take her and some of the other girls
home at night as they were afraid to go alone. She disliked overtime,
was tired out at the end of a day's work, and thought the other women
were too, and she had often noticed how badly the work was done after
eight or nine hours at it. Later on, as a forewoman, she noticed that
the girls after overtime always loafed about the next day and did not
work well. Some women liked overtime, but she noticed it was always
those who spent the extra money earned on drink. She did not think that
work had gone from the women in consequence of factory legislation, but
thought that married women were employed for a little while during a
rush of work where before the regular hands were kept working late. She
remembered how tiresome it was for the married women to get home in
time to fetch their babies from the _crêches_ when the hours were from 8
to 8.
C. has often heard her mother-in-law say that as a girl she constantly
worked all night and then had to work just the same the next day. She
used to consider that to get home at 7 on Saturday was early, and now
every young lady looks forward to her Saturday afternoon. Workpeople
have a much better time than they used to. There were no proper meal
hours. She used to get "just a snack between her work."
D. remembers that when they were busy they had to work all night and all
the day before and the next day too. They used to work on Sundays and
were given a glass of gin. She never knew anyone who wanted to do
nightwork, and thinks eight and a half hours quite long enough for
anyone to work, especially when there is housework, too, when one gets
home.
E. remembers the time when he was a boy and women were kept at work all
night; he remembers shops where they worked regularly all night after
working all day, for two or three times a week.
F. a bookbinder, remembers women who worked all night frequently. They
were very poor, very rough, and of very low moral standing. "Some of the
women who worked could hardly be said to belong to their sex."
Respectable girls would not come for such low wages, and also because
they had to go home alone through the streets. After the Factory Acts
the moral tone and respectability increased greatly; wages were no lower
and there were fewer hours of work.[73]
[Footnote 73: This is an interesting comment on the relation between low
wages and long hours on the one hand and character on the other.]
G. says, "We used to have to come in at 6 in the morning and work till
10 or 11 at night, and then be told to come back again at 6 next day. I
often used to faint; it took all my strength away." She considers the
Factory Act an unmixed blessing.
H., before the Factory Act, has worked from 9 to 7, 8, 9, or 10. Often
as a learner she stayed till 11 or 12, and once till 12 several nights
running. Once she remembers being turned out in a thunderstorm at
midnight, and how frightened she was. Occasionally she worked all night;
they used to be given coffee at 2 a.m. Once or twice she worked from 9
a.m. one day to 2 p.m. next day; "Excitement keeps you up." They were
allowed to sing at their work and be as merry as they could; "We didn't
count it much of a hardship." Some women after leaving the factory would
go and work all night in printing houses; one woman would leave at
tea-time and go to spend the night at the "Athenæum" until 7 a.m. After
the Factory Act no one might stay beyond 10 without special permission.
Once she did work all night; they put out the lights in the front and
worked at the back. The only result of the Factory Acts that she could
see was that employers had to have larger premises and employ more
hands, instead of working a small staff hard.
J. says "I entered the trade in 1863 when I was thirteen. Boys and
porters came at 6 a.m.; journeymen at 8 a.m. (sixty hours a week); women
at 8 or 9 a.m. All had to stay as long as they were wanted, _i.e._, till
10 or 11. Boys were frequently kept till 11 p.m. I was never kept all
night. Conditions have improved for both sexes, men's owing to Trade
Unionism, women's to factory laws."
[Sidenote: The opinions of forewomen.]
The testimony of the forewomen is to the same effect. A. a forewoman,
used to work often till 10, 11, or 12 at night, sometimes all night.
Sometimes she was obliged to keep her girls all night when there was
work that had to be finished, but usually she gave them a rest the next
day. She thinks it a very good thing that they should not be allowed to
work all night; the work is piecework and long hours don't do any good,
for they mean that you work less next day: if you work all night, then
you are so tired that you have to take a day off; you have gained
nothing. She used to find that so herself.
B. a forewoman, thought the Factory Acts a very good thing. Girls
grumbled if they had to stop till 8, and she never heard of any of them
wanting to stay longer. "If you work till 8 for many weeks you get used
up; there is no change in your life, and as soon as you get home you
have to go to bed, you are so tired."
C. is a forewoman. As a girl she used to work from 8.30 a.m. to 9 or 10
at night every day from September to Christmas. She had to stay till 2
a.m. one night and come again just the same next day; she had to work
from 3 a.m. one Good Friday morning and sometimes had to come to work at
1 on Sunday mornings. This nightwork was only occasional, but she
thinks it a very good thing that it has been stopped; she never found it
pay; the girls were so tired the next day.
Another forewoman gave it as her deliberate opinion that when overtime
is worked the piece workers do not make more as a rule, for they get so
tired that if they stay late one night, they work less the next day.
This is the unanimous view held by the forewomen, and it comes with
considerable force from them, as it is they who have to arrange to get
work done somehow within a certain time. They are the people who have to
put on the pressure, and are in such a position as to see how any
particular system of getting work done answers.
[Sidenote: Exceptions.]
Among the younger women--the girls who have had no experience of
conditions before 1867, the opinion about overtime is not so unanimous.
Some few like what little overtime is allowed to them and say they would
not mind more. One such worker was met, just arrived home from her
factory late one Saturday afternoon. She had been working overtime as a
consequence of the Queen's death--the envelope makers and black
borderers were all working late just then. It was a bleak and wet
afternoon, and she came in in high spirits, evidently regarding all life
as a joke, and frankly confessing that factory life especially was a
joke, particularly when they had overtime. "It is 'larks' working late,
and the governor he up and spoke to us so nice. He says, 'Girls, you
won't mind doing a bit of overtime for the sake of our dear Queen?' and
we says 'No.' _I_ shouldn't mind doing overtime every day of the week. I
like the factory and should hate to be out of it." A few such girls
there are who are in excellent health, like the work and don't find it
monotonous, and, above all, enjoy the larger life that they meet in a
factory just as girls in another social scale enjoy public school or
college life. It is these who revel in their day's work and are not
tired at the end of it, but how in actual fact they would like longer
hours or systematic overtime it is impossible to say. It is probably the
rarity of it, the stimulus and excitement of working against time for
once in a way, the being put on their mettle by the "governor" himself,
that make the enjoyment. We must also remember that the younger hands
are those who take the most anti-social views of work and care least
about industrial conditions. But even by these few, when the idea of
all night work is suggested, it is scouted with horror. On the whole,
the view adopted is that when you have done your day's work, you have
done enough. A worker in the stationers' trade assured us that overtime
means a doctor's bill, so you don't really make anything by it. The
experience of two women who had tried nightwork illegally was also
instructive.
[Sidenote: Overtime experience.]
A. an apparently strong woman was once offered a night job when she was
hard up, and thought that it would be a "lark" to take it. She went in
about 8 a.m. on Friday and worked on with intervals for meals till 3
p.m. on Saturday, being paid piece rates for the day hours and 6_s._ for
the work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. She was utterly done up in
consequence of this work and lost more money next week than she made by
the whole job.
B. once worked all night in a City shop for 5_s._ and got no good out of
it, for she was so done up that she could not work at all next day, and
very little the day after.
Three girls working at the same factory, and speaking of conditions
there, said that when they were busy after 9.30 p.m. men were put on to
do the card mounting. These girls ridiculed the idea that they disliked
this or wanted to stay. "You feel quite done for by 9 o'clock. Girls
sometimes cry, they get so tired in the evening." None of the three had
ever heard of any girls who objected to the Factory Acts. "The little
ones do not mind overtime so much because they get 3_d._ an hour the
same as the full hands, but the full hands do mind. Overtime, _i.e._,
till 4 p.m., on Saturdays is not so bad because you ain't so worn out."
C. thinks it a very good thing that women may not work at night--"hours
are quite long enough as it is--you feel quite done up after working
from 8 a.m. to 9.30 p.m."
D. is very much opposed to the idea of women working at night; she hears
that in some places they work till 9 p.m. and thinks that dreadful. She
has never heard anyone grumble that they cannot work longer, and scoffed
at the idea. She herself hates overtime.
E.'s views are that if you've had work from 9 to 7 that is quite as much
as you can do properly. She never likes her daughters to work overtime,
because it only tires them out. It is sometimes rather provoking when a
job comes in late after you've been sitting idle and you have to leave
it, but thinks that it is better on the whole. Some women wouldn't mind
working "all the hours that God gives," but it is very selfish of them.
Most can't stand it. If she had to be at the factory by 8 a.m. instead
of 9 a.m., she never did any more work, because she was so tired.
So the instances could be multiplied. There is no mistaking the note of
relief that runs through the experiences of the workers who have worked
both before and after 1867. Forewomen, employers and factory inspectors,
who are in the position of the "lookers-on at the game," from different
standpoints are nearly unanimous in agreeing that protective legislation
is beneficial.
The thirty-three firms, the authorities of which are returned as having
stated that they give men at night work done by women during the day,
consist for the most part of printing houses, and the work done by women
was folding. The result produced by legislation is that men do the
folding at night and on Saturday afternoons, when there is a press of
business, but in one or two cases, a regular staff of night workers is
employed. As the men are slower workers than the women, and charge a far
higher price for their labour, it is to the employer's interest to
reduce nightwork to a minimum. Prospectuses, however, and weekly
newspapers have to be folded during the night, and this must fall to the
men's lot. In two firms, men occasionally do relief stamping for
Christmas cards when there is a great press of work, and in one firm
they do card mounting. In none of the above firms is there any question
of employing men instead of women in the daytime. In one of the
remaining two--a printing house--the manager said that perhaps he might
have more women for folding; and in another the employer distinctly said
that he would employ women for feeding his printing machines were it not
for the limitations on their hours, which renders it impossible to keep
them when a press of work comes in. These few cases can scarcely claim
to constitute a serious hindrance to women's employment; nor, in view of
the chorus of gratitude for factory legislation, can they be regarded as
a serious indictment against that legislation.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Has legislation affected wages?]
On the question as to whether the restrictions of the Factory Acts have
affected wages, it is almost impossible to obtain any trustworthy
information. In briefly touching on it, we must be careful to
distinguish between the rate of wages and the sum total earned. There
seems an entire lack of evidence that the _rate_ of wages has been
affected, although the sum total of women's earnings collectively and
individually is obviously lowered, when some of their work is given to
men. But even then the mere deprivation of the chance of working
unlimited overtime is an altogether exaggerated measure of the loss in
wages. A human being differs from a machine, for, even when the work
done is mechanical, an interval of leisure and rest is essential, after
a certain point, before the output can be continued. Experience has
abundantly proved that for the regular worker overtime does not pay, and
is also a wasteful expedient from the point of view of the employer.
The Factory Commission of 1866 published evidence that may be accepted
as reliable regarding the wages paid in the trade before legislation
intervened. Mention is made in the Report of one firm of printers who
employed four girls for folding and stitching, three of whom, under
thirteen years of age, earned from 2_s._ to 3_s._ 6_d._; the fourth, a
sort of overlooker, earned 12_s._ Another firm of printers paid the
younger girls 4_s._ to 5_s._ a week; the older ones 8_s._ and 10_s._ The
women employed by a third firm earned at least 14_s._ a week and 3_d._
an hour overtime. In a fourth a young girl earned 9_s._ 10½_d._ for
fifty-three hours, another 12_s._ 10¾ _d._ for forty-eight hours,
another 13_s._ for fifty-seven hours, and the journeywoman 17_s._ 6_d._
for sixty hours.
In a firm where women made envelopes, one girl working from 9 a.m. to 8
p.m. every day, and till 3 p.m. on Saturdays, said she could earn 10_s._
6_d._, and a journeywoman earned from 10_s._ to 12_s._ Women making
envelopes for another firm earned 9_s._ or 10_s._ a week.
Paper-box makers earned, on an average, 9_s._ or 10_s._, some made
15_s._ or more. In another firm they earned 7_s._ or 8_s._ up to 25_s._
on piecework. Timeworkers earned 12_s._ or 14_s._; young girls earned
2_s._ 6_d._
These wages are very much the same as those paid to-day, and the hours
then were undoubtedly longer.[74] Nor must it be assumed that wages
would have risen more satisfactorily had there been no Factory Acts. Had
there been any tendency for wages to rise which the Factory Law was
retarding, that tendency would have shown itself in a marked way during
the intervals between each Act, but no such thing is observable, as Mr.
Wood's figures in the footnote indicate. Moreover, taken all together,
the evidence gathered by this investigation proves that neither the
demand for improvement nor the organisation to make that demand
effective exists in the case of the woman worker. On the other hand,
there is no evidence to show that legislation has improved wages, except
in so far as it has reduced hours without apparently having lowered
rates.
[Footnote 74: _Cf._ "The Course of Women's Wages during the Nineteenth
Century," by Mr. G. H. Wood, printed as an Appendix to "A History of
Factory Legislation," by B. L. Hutchins and A. Harrison, where the
following figures are given as the estimated average weekly earnings of
women and girls in the printing trade: 1840, 6_s._ 3_d._; 1850, 6_s._
6_d._; 1860, 7_s._ 5_d._; 1866, 7_s._ 10_d._; 1870, 8_s._ 6_d._; 1883,
8_s._ 9_d._; 1886, 8_s._ 9_d._; 1891, 9_s._ 10_d._; 1895, 9_s._ 10_d._;
1900, 10_s._ 1_d._]
On the whole there seems to be no ground for considering that special
legislation for women in this trade has materially injured the value of
their labour. There is nothing to show that their wages have decreased,
that legislation has acted as a drag upon their income, or that they
have lost employment to any appreciable extent.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Want of elasticity in the law.]
A lack of elasticity in the law seems to be the greatest complaint of
the employers. On the face of it, it looks like a piece of senseless
red-tape that, because it is usually preferable to an employer to open
his factory between the hours of 8 to 8, he may not when it is more
convenient to him, open it between 6 and 6 or 7.30 and 7.30. It seems
absurd that it was an illegal act of an employer to allow two young
women to begin work at 6 a.m. and work till 8 p.m., whereas it would
have been quite legal if they had begun work at 8 a.m. and worked till
10 p.m., due notice having been given to the Home Office.[75]
[Footnote 75: _Stationery Trades' Journal_, 1898.]
Mr. Henderson, as above quoted, gives it as his opinion that "a wide
limit of law is necessary for printing offices where women may not work
after 8 p.m. or before 6 a.m. Hours for adult women other than at
present should be allowed by the Secretary of State, as for instance the
folders of weeklies."
Again, it is felt that a greater freedom is needed with regard to
overtime. Mr. Vaughan, the Factory Inspector for North London, in the
Factories and Workshops Report for 1899 says: "I find in some trades,
_e.g._, Christmas cards, great dissatisfaction at the curtailment of
overtime from five to three nights a week, when the busy season lasts
only for a month or so; the allowance of thirty nights a year is not
required, but an allowance of more nights during these few weeks would
be an enormous assistance. The temptation in such cases to work more
nights a week than are allowed is universally great."
It appears to be a great hardship that women who have not been working
by day may not upon occasions work by night, and both employers and
employées are unanimous in demanding that the law should recognise this
distinction. There is a great difference between retaining an ordinary
worker through the night, or for more than a certain number of hours per
week, and drafting in a fresh set of workers to do work by night at
stated periods in the month or at times of emergency.
Whether or not the law can be made sufficiently elastic to allow of
greater freedom with regard to period of employment, overtime, and
nightwork, raises difficult questions. No doubt it would be an advantage
both to employées and employers, if the law could be made so elastic,
but the difficulty of effective inspection would be so great as to
outweigh any possible advantage. The early history of factory
legislation and its working shows clearly that the intention of the Act
was defeated because employers could so easily evade its clauses. At
present it is known to a factory inspector that a factory that opens at
6 always opens at 6 and closes at 6, unless notice has been given that
overtime is being worked; if, however, an employer were free to open his
factory at 6 or 7 or 8, as occasion demanded, and close accordingly, the
difficulty of administration would obviously be greatly increased.
The same point arises with regard to nightworkers. It is quite
impossible to know among a staff of nightworkers, who has been working
all day and who are _bonâ fide_ job hands. Such cases as the following,
which was the cause of a prosecution, would occur far more frequently.
"Twenty-four girls who were employed at a neighbouring printing and
bookbinding firm, worked for twelve hours at that firm on Friday,
November 20th. They then went straight to the Carlyle Press, and worked
all night, going back to their regular work at the other firm at 8 the
next morning. The forewoman employed by the latter firm said that she
did not know these girls had been working all day, or she would not have
admitted them."[76]
[Footnote 76: _Printers' Register_, January 12th, 1892.]
It must be remembered that so far as the class of job hands is
concerned, they owe their present position in a large measure to factory
legislation. By utilising them, the employer has been able to meet a
sudden press of work, and yet to comply with the provisions of the law,
so that, without the legislation of which they now complain, many of
them would not have found employment. Moreover, job hands are not
numerous when compared with regular workers, and the provisions in the
Factory Acts which seem to bear hardly on casual labour have rightly
been passed in the interest of the permanent staff. To accede to the
demand for greater elasticity is to suppose a higher code of morals on
the part both of employers and of employed than experience justifies,
and it would also render necessary a far more elaborate and irritating
system of inspection than at present exists. The efficiency of modern
factory industry depends very greatly upon automatic working--upon its
standardisation of conditions, and the existing factory law with its
inelastic provisions is, in reality, a great aid in maintaining those
conditions of efficiency. Now and again an employer complains of some
hard experience, and forgets that a departure from rigid rule would
destroy the certainty which he feels that the law is treating him
exactly as it is his competitors. Such a feeling of security is
essential to business enterprise.
CHAPTER VII.
_WOMEN AND MACHINERY._
There is a general opinion amongst the women workers themselves that the
introduction of machinery has ruined these trades for them. But we have
found that certain opinions prevail, not because they have stood the
test of investigation, but because they are passed round, and have never
been subjected to enquiry. We have already referred to the question in a
general way.[77]
[Footnote 77: P. 48.]
[Sidenote: Effect of machinery.]
The impression of workers that machinery is displacing them, must be
received with a great deal of reserve as they rarely take long or broad
views.
Mechanical aid is very imperfect in most of these trades, and in book
folding, envelope making, black bordering, etc., its use has hitherto
been greatly restricted owing to the nature of the work.
The census figures, moreover, seem to be pretty conclusive that, taking
the trade as a whole, machinery cannot have had such a very destructive
influence upon women's employment.[78]
[Footnote 78: An old-established publisher commits himself to the
statement that machinery has increased women's work by 20 per cent. The
manager of a leading Scottish paper and stationery firm stated, with
reference to envelope making: "The use of machinery is always extending;
but only in the direction of increasing the output; there has been no
displacing of workers; the result has been rather to increase their
employment."]
The following statement by a Trade Union official is at once the most
emphatic and most detailed of a considerable mass of information on this
subject:--
"Folding and stitching machines have largely superseded female
labour and men's labour too. _E.g._, A. (a certain weekly paper),
if folded, etc., by hand, would employ thirty hands--now it is all
done by machinery. B. (another similar paper) by hand would employ
100 girls and, say, twenty or thirty men--now no girl touches it
except just to insert 'things,' _e.g._, advertisements, and men
merely pack it; machinery does the rest. Even wrapping is done by
machinery--one machine with one man does the work of eight men.
At X. (a well-known London firm) ten folding machines do the work
of 100 girls."
As a matter of fact the papers referred to have been created by the
cheap work of machines, and no labour has been displaced by their
employment. They have rather increased the demand for labour. But the
statement shows the efficiency of machinery worked under the best
conditions.
Another statement by a woman worker, typical of many others, is as
follows:
"Machinery is ruining the trade, and workers are being turned off;
thirty were turned off a few months ago, and twenty more will have
to go soon."
This applies to a certain well-known London firm of bookbinders, and it
is curiously corroborated by other investigators who found in other
firms traces of the women discharged from this one. The firm's own
statement, however, was that they had to turn away "ten hands (young
ones), the other day, because of the introduction of folding machines";
but this information was received five months before the woman employed
quoted above was seen.[79]
[Footnote 79: An Edinburgh firm states that one folding machine can be
managed by two girls and it does the work of eight women hand-folders.
The firm does not state if it turned away hands, but it considered that
there is too great a strain placed upon girls in watching this machine
constantly, so their work is varied.]
[Sidenote: Displacement.]
That there is some displacement, either directly or by the substitution
of younger workpeople, cannot be gainsaid with reference to particular
processes.
The class most affected is the sewers. The evidence in support of their
displacement places it beyond dispute, and though the increased facility
for sewing has created an extra demand for folding, and some sewers have
turned to folding in consequence, this class as a whole has suffered by
machinery. Folders have been less affected.
The way in which the displacement is brought about is of some interest.
We have, to begin with, the general apparent inability of women to
manage machines, and we find that the folding machine has tended to
reintroduce men to aid in work which for many years has been exclusively
women's.[80] Here we have a case of men and machinery doing women's
work. On the other hand, the sewing machine does not appear to have had
that tendency, the only explanation apparently being that convention
determines that in these trades sewing machines and women go together.
Sewing machines are domestic implements in men's eyes. It is very
curious that it should be so, but we are driven to that as the only
possible explanation of well-observed facts. In this instance machines
alone displace women.
[Footnote 80: The manager of a firm with an extensive business in
popular periodical literature says: "Folding, which was all hand work
and women's work, is now largely done by machines managed by men.
Wrapping, of which the same was true, is also largely done by machines
which are managed by men.... If the machine is large and complicated,
men will replace women, if it is small and simple, women will replace
men."]
No process--excepting the few rare instances in the typographical
trade--seems to have been opened up to women in consequence of the
introduction of machinery; and, on the other hand, the instances where
young persons, either boys or girls, have been put to women's work owing
to the introduction of machinery are very rare. So all that has happened
has been that machines have somewhat changed the character of women's
work, and their chief effect, beyond the displacement of sewers, has
been to prevent the taking on of some learners who otherwise might have
been employed in certain branches of these trades.
Conclusions can be arrived at with more accuracy in respect of the
paper-colouring and enamelling processes.
Paper colouring and enamelling hardly exists as a separate trade now.
Paper is coloured or enamelled, as a rule, in the mill where it is made,
and the processes are carried out by machinery.
This trade, then, affords a definite instance of the replacement of
women's work by machinery, handwork being now a rare survival. In one
firm where forty-five women were formerly employed twelve now work. The
process of colouring by hand is very simple. The sheet of paper to be
coloured is placed in front of the woman who wets it over with the
required colour by means of a long thin brush like a whitewash brush,
which she dips into a bowl. She then takes another round brush, about 10
ins. in diameter, and brushes over the whole surface, so that the colour
shall lie quite evenly. The process is now complete, and the sheet of
paper is taken up and hung on a line to dry. Enamelling is done in
precisely the same way, enamel, instead of colour, being applied.
These hand processes apparently survive in the case of small quantities
of paper which it is not worth while to colour or enamel by machine.
Those who have seen the process cannot regret the abolition of hand
labour. The work is rough and dirty; the workers and the walls are all
splashed over with the colour, the result being picturesque, but not
healthy. When dry powder or dust is used in the process, meals may not
be taken on the premises. The work does not attract a high grade of
workers; they are of the job-hand type, friendly, rough and ready, and
by no means tidy or "genteel."
Paper colouring and enamelling was once a man's trade but women replaced
men for the same reason that machinery has now replaced women, _i.e._,
cheapness.
Machine ruling has also been slightly affected. One of the investigators
reports of an Edinburgh factory: "In this factory I was shown a ruling
machine which was provided with an automatic feeder, in the form of two
indiarubber wheels, which drew each sheet of paper into the machine with
great exactness. The machine, after ruling one side, turned the paper
and ruled the other without any adjustment by hand being necessary.
After being set, this machine required only the occasional supervision
of one man operative. It was estimated that its output equalled that of
twelve persons on the old machines, whilst on some work of a simple kind
which was merely to be run through, it might replace the work of
thirty."
[Sidenote: Cheap labour and mechanical appliances.]
In these circumstances it is hardly to be expected that much evidence
could have been collected leading to very definite conclusions regarding
how far the cheapness of women's labour retarded the introduction of
machinery, and the efficient organisation of these industries.
With the large up-to-date employers, the fact that women's labour is
cheap counts for little in face of the fact that machinery is rapid, and
enables them on a small area and with a productive capital charge, to
turn out large volumes of produce. "When we see a good machine," said
one of these employers, "we try it, and we do not think of the cheapness
or dearness of the labour it may displace." But with small employers,
and with those producing for a lower class or special market,
considerations of wages do enter greatly into calculations of the
utility of a new machine, and to some slight extent the cheapness of
women's labour has retarded the application of machinery in
these trades. One investigator states of a large West End
stationer:--"Undoubtedly he would put up steam folding and stamping
machines if women's labour were not so cheap." A printer who prints some
of the best-known weekly papers and reviews is reported to have
said:--"Taking it broadly, the cheapness of men's or women's work
undoubtedly tends to retard the introduction of machinery."
But the most striking proof of the connection between cheap labour and
handwork is given by one investigator who, whilst being taken over
certain large printing works was shown women folding one of the
illustrated weekly papers. Folding machines were standing idle in the
department, and she was told that these were used by the men when
folding had to be done at times when the Factory Law prohibited women's
labour.[81] Another employer stated that he had introduced folding
machines as a consequence of the legal restrictions placed upon women's
labour, whilst another well-known bookbinder said:--"If women would take
a fair price for work done it would not be necessary to employ
machinery."
[Footnote 81: _Cf._ pp 80, 81, etc.]
A large printer of magazines reports: "The saving in cost, and therefore
the inducement to put in machinery, is much less if higher wages are
paid for men doing the work." The scarcity of women's labour, we are
told, induced a Manchester printing firm to adopt folding machines;
whilst, on the other hand, the cheapness of women's labour has kept
linotypes out of Warrington composing rooms.
CHAPTER VIII.
_HOME WORK._
[Sidenote: Census figures.]
The table of occupations compiled from the census of 1901 for the first
time indicates the number of home workers. For these trades the figures
for women are as follows:
+----------------+----------------------------------+-----------+
| _Census | ENGLAND AND WALES. | |
| 1901._ +------------+------------+--------+-----------+
| | Unmarried. | Married or | Total. | Total for |
| | | Widowed. | | Scotland. |
+----------------+------------+------------+--------+-----------+
| Paper | 9 | 10 | 19 | 0 |
| manufacture | | | | |
+----------------+------------+------------+--------+-----------+
| Paper | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| stainers | | | | |
+----------------+------------+------------+--------+-----------+
| Stationery | 37 | 25 | 62 | 0 |
| manufacture | | | | |
+----------------+------------+------------+--------+-----------+
| Envelope | 27 | 42 | 69 | 4 |
| makers | | | | |
+----------------+------------+------------+--------+-----------+
| Paper box (a) | 524 | 1,153 | 1,677 | 36 |
| and paper bag | | | | |
| makers | | | | |
+----------------+------------+------------+--------+-----------+
| Other workers | 54 | 52 | 106 | 2 |
| in paper, | | | | |
| etc. | | | | |
+----------------+------------+------------+--------+-----------+
| Printers | 73 | 46 | 119 | 2 |
| [? folders] | | | | |
+----------------+------------+------------+--------+-----------+
| Lithographers, | 18 | 12 | 30 | 0 |
| copper | | | | |
| and steel | | | | |
| plate | | | | |
| printers | | | | |
+----------------+------------+------------+--------+-----------+
| Bookbinders | 129 | 145 | 274 | 9 |
+----------------+------------+------------+--------+-----------+
| Typecutter | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
+----------------+------------+------------+--------+-----------+
(a) Paper box making was not investigated.
It is always difficult to trace out the home worker, and the information
we obtained was collected through communication with School Board
officers, Charity Organisation Society secretaries, district nurses,
sanitary inspectors, and workpeople. The groups of trades investigated
are mainly factory and workshop trades, and are becoming more so. Home
work is not so prevalent in them as it used to be, and it is now
somewhat difficult to trace its effects in its present decayed
importance.
[Sidenote: Home work drawbacks.]
There used to be a good deal of home work in these trades, but the
growth of large firms and the introduction of machinery[82] have
discouraged it.[83] The material is very heavy and sometimes costly, and
has to be carefully handled. It is therefore difficult to move from
workshop to dwelling-place; and when handled in kitchens or other living
rooms it runs a great risk of being stained and spoiled. The home
workers find some of their own material, _e.g._, paste and brushes for
bag making, and they save light and rent for employers; but, on the
other hand, they are apt "to send back their work with the mark of
teacups upon it," or spoiled in some other way, and it is difficult to
get them to return it punctually. So in these trades, home work really
does not pay.
[Footnote 82: This seems to be specially the case in the provinces.]
[Footnote 83: One of the home workers (also workshop worker) visited
said, "Home work is given less and less and is difficult to get now.
Only three work at it--old hands--and they are going to stop it
altogether, perhaps." Another investigator reports of machine-ruling in
Scotland: "Two elderly women who worked a paper-ruling machine in their
kitchen. They had been at the work for thirty years, having been taught
by their father, and have carried on the business since his death. The
father had a good business, and they can make their living by it, but
say the work has sadly fallen off. They get enough orders to keep them
going, and when very busy employ a girl occasionally to help them. 'It
is useless to try to compete with the new machines they have nowadays.
What used to be given to us at 2_s._ 6_d._, can now be turned out by the
machines for 1_s._ 6_d._ We couldn't afford to do it at those rates.'"
_Cf._ Appendix V.]
The Trade Unions prohibit home work when they are able to detect it.
There is, generally, a healthy feeling opposed to this method of
employment, and firms deny practising it.
[Sidenote: Home work processes.]
Home work is now mainly confined to book and paper folding, sewing
printed matter, black bordering and folding envelopes, making paper
bags, and designing and painting Christmas cards which is done at home
not so much because employers encourage it, but because it is undertaken
by a class of women indisposed to enter a workshop. The folding is
mostly of cheap printed matter like popular almanacs and other street
literature. Also, a good deal of folding thin paper Bibles and prayer
books is done at home.
Some paper staining is also done in living rooms by workpeople, but the
practice is less common than it was. "One paper colourer, a married
woman, whom we saw, told us that her mother worked at the trade before
her at home, and when she herself was a baby her cradle was rocked on
the colouring board. 'Many was the night' that she sat up as a child
helping her mother to do the work. She certainly throve on it and seemed
immensely proud of her industrial career."
[Sidenote: The home worker.]
What home work is still done is given mainly to women employed in the
workshop during the day, and is therefore illegal.[84] In addition,
women who have married whilst working in certain firms, or widows of men
who have been workmen in these trades, keep up old connections by
occasional--if not systematic--home work. But as it hardly pays the
employer to avail himself regularly of domestic workers, the work now
done at home is chiefly given out to meet a temporary pressure of
demand, and would practically disappear if these exceptional pressures
did not take place.
[Footnote 84: The wording of the section (31 (2)) of the Act, however,
makes it difficult to enforce.]
[Sidenote: Paper-bag making.]
The making of paper bags is, of this group of trades, most extensively
and systematically practised as a home industry. This is particularly
the case in the neighbourhood of busy street markets, such as are found
in South London. The work is mostly done by married women of a rough
class, as a supplement to their husbands' wages.[85] Reporting upon one
such worker an investigator says: "Mrs. ---- is one of nine daughters,
and seven are paper-bag makers. All her cousins, aunts and
relations-in-law have taken it up.... A niece of hers was consumptive
and could not earn her living, but she was fond of dress. Mrs. ----
taught her paper-bag making and she soon earned 8_s._ or 9_s._ a week."
The profit which yielded this income is stated to be 6_d._ or 7_d._ per
thousand bags. Many women who occasionally work at paper-bag making only
do so to earn a particular sum of money of which they are in need--say
10_s._ When that is earned they cease work. Such is the casual nature of
the employment and the disorganised state of the labour employed in it.
[Footnote 85: "In nearly all the cases that Mrs. ---- (an employing bag
maker in the Borough) knows there are bad husbands. Mrs. ---- is in the
trade herself to supplement her husband's earnings because she has nine
children and he cannot earn enough to keep them in comfort."]
[Sidenote: The homes.]
The practically unanimous report of the investigators is that these home
workers' home conditions are of the very worst. "A very squalid and
evil-smelling slum:" "Very poor and miserable house shared by others,"
are typical descriptions of the dwellings to which the home work
investigations led us.
CHAPTER IX.
_THE MARRIED AND THE UNMARRIED._
The investigators tried to obtain information bearing upon the
interesting and important question of the influence of the married and
the unmarried woman worker on industry, on the home, and on the family
income. But the difficulty of following up statements and testing their
accuracy has been so great and some of the factors in the problem so
elusive under the conditions of the trades investigated, that
conclusions are stated with considerable reserve.
The custom in the trades under review undoubtedly is that married women
should not work in them; and, as a rule, only widowhood, or a bad or
sickly husband, or a slack time, brings a woman back to them after
marriage.[86] Sometimes, however, she comes back, because it is too dull
at home.[87] This is more generally the case in the provinces than in
London, where certain job departments, especially certain kinds of
folding, are filled by rather a rough class of women, amongst whom the
proportion of married is exceptionally high. Throughout the reports sent
in, it is most interesting to note how strongly the sense of feminine
respectability opposes their fellow workwomen working after marriage,
"unless they have been unfortunate in their husbands."[88]
[Footnote 86: For statistics see Appendix VII.]
[Footnote 87: A woman worker says, "They come back after they have
married, because a girl who has been accustomed to make 18_s._ for
herself is not comfortable when she marries a man on £2 a week who is
accustomed to have that for himself, so she comes back to make extra
money."]
[Footnote 88: So also it is interesting to note the lingering shadow of
chivalry in this connection. "Mr. ----," said one of the girls, "never
will take married women, but then he is always _such_ a gentleman."]
The average age of the women regularly employed is low,[89] because as a
rule girls leave at marriage. The investigators generally report that
the age in workrooms appears to be mainly between eighteen and
twenty-three. The report that "Four girls here out of thirty or forty
are over eighteen" (Leeds bookbinder's), is typical of many others. This
fact alone has an enormous influence on women's wages and makes it
necessary to be very careful in drawing conclusions under the headings
dealt with in this chapter.
[Footnote 89: A manager of a provincial printing establishment estimated
that twelve years was the maximum workshop life of average girls.]
[Sidenote: Wages and expenditure.]
An attempt has been made to discover how far the earnings of women
workers in these trades are only supplementary to family income, and how
far the family worker is entirely dependent upon them for her
livelihood. On the whole (but with important exceptions) they appear to
be supplementary. In cases, certain fixed weekly payments are made for
board and lodging to the relatives who are heads of the households, but
these payments are not enforced in times of unemployment and are reduced
when work is slack. Even when being made in full they do not always
represent the actual cost of accommodation and living. It is becoming
less and less common, it seems, for the wives of idle and improvident
husbands to eke out their household income by casual or seasonal work,
but the practice is still followed and in London prevails to a
relatively considerable extent. In such cases the women do not work for
mere pocket-money, nor again, do their wages cover the full cost of
their living.
"Miss ---- lives at home and her parents are evidently in comfortable
circumstances," runs one report of a book-folder. "I went into the best
parlour, where there was a piano--also a high hat in the corner!"
The following gives a somewhat fuller picture of these workers:--"Mrs.
---- is a widow and has no children. She looks about sixty and is
probably about fifty. She lives on the top floor in model dwellings
(three rooms, for which she pays 5_s._ 9_d._) Her husband died in 1891
of consumption, and she does not know what she would have done had she
not been made forewoman (in a book-folding room). She does not see how a
pieceworker can support herself. She must live at home. Most of the
girls working under her live at home and give their mothers 7_s._ a
week, keeping the rest for themselves. She was doing some washing and
mangling when I called. A little girl comes to help clean, but otherwise
she does everything for herself."
A fairly large employer in London stated that his "girls are living with
their parents and work for pocket-money." Another "would think that
about half lived at home." One woman stated, "A bit of extra money comes
in handy. It is nice for a woman to put a little by--you cannot expect
her to save out of her husband's money"; another said: "A woman ought
never to let her husband know what she earns--if she is foolish enough
to do that, he at once becomes lazy and extravagant. A woman should only
work after marriage either to save a little money, or to help a sick or
delicate husband." A well-known London general stationery dealer
reports: "Some of the women employed are the wives of the porters and
packers, but in the majority of cases the husbands are worthless, and
the earnings of the women are the chief support of the household." In
one case reported upon, a girl, working in a Bible and prayer-book
house, having to support herself, could not do it, and began pilfering
prayer-books to make both ends meet. She was turned away as a thief.
For the purpose of throwing light upon the problems with which this
chapter deals, particulars have been obtained from one firm in London
where eighty-six women are employed. The married women are described as
follows:--
1. A widow.
2. Has a husband, a bookbinder in good work, but they are extravagant.
3. Has a husband in work.
4. A widow.
5. A widow with a daughter to support.
6. A widow.
7. Has a husband in work. Has been summoned for boys not attending
school.
8. Has a husband who drinks. Looks after her children and goes home at
dinner time.
9. A widow with recalcitrant boy.
10. Has a husband in work.
11. Has a husband irregularly employed. Very poor and slatternly.
12. Has a husband who drinks.
Of the unmarried workers, one learned the trade when on in years
because, owing to a misfortune, she had to bring up her brothers and
sisters. She was very slow and her earnings only averaged about 7_s._
per week. Two support themselves. The others live at home and pay 6_s._
or 7_s._ per week, or hand over everything they make, and receive back
small sums for pocket-money.
A report from another well-known firm of bookbinders in London states
that in a room of ten women, five support themselves. In some instances
it is noted that married women have to receive charitable aid in looking
after their children when they themselves go to work. Of a large
printing firm it is said, "Most of the girls at ... don't seem to mind
if they make money or not. They couldn't possibly keep themselves on
what they earned." This was the statement of a girl working with the
firm and erred in being too absolute; but an examination of the wage
returns showed that, somewhat modified and limited, it was true. A
manager of a co-operative bookbinding establishment estimated that, from
his experience, not more than 25 per cent. of the girls working in that
trade, regarded their wages as the only means by which they supported
themselves. The forewoman of a large stationery department stated that
only three out of twenty girls under her had to depend on their own
wages. The conclusion of a report submitted by an official of the
Typographical Association in Coventry may be taken as being true of the
provinces generally. "The females for the most part are young girls,
with a sprinkling of experienced and older hands who leave when about
entering married life."
Evidently it is a very common thing for such workers to pay so much into
a common purse from which general family expenses are drawn, and into
which the individual contributions vary with the state of trade.
The industrial effect of these conditions is obvious. The women keep no
vigilant eye upon wages which are fixed rather by use and wont than by
competitive pressure. Employers have rarely[90] to offer high pay as an
inducement to women to enter these trades, and, consequently, there is
always a downward drag upon wages, and although the women spasmodically
interest themselves in their conditions, they feel so little dependence
on wages that they can never be taught to make that steady upward
pressure which would improve the organisation of these trades and yield
more return for labour. Hence, the low rate of wages obtainable by
those who have to maintain themselves is kept down almost solely by the
circumstance that such a large proportion of the women employed remain
part of families and share in general family income. It should be noted
that it is often the policy of employers to be "careful only to take
respectable young girls who live with their parents." The economic
influence of this "respectable" standard is obvious.
[Footnote 90: The establishment of a laundry in the vicinity of a
well-known provincial firm of printers resulted in an increase of wages
in the shape of a guarantee that no wages should be paid under 6_s._ per
week.]
[Sidenote: Influence on family income.]
On the question whether an extensive prevalence of "supplementary
earnings" tends to reduce the wages paid to other members of the family,
our investigations in these trades threw no light. Only in one case,
where a husband and wife were questioned, was the opinion stated that,
"Now that women go into trades so much, a man and a woman together only
make as much as a man used to." The question is one which can be
answered only by investigation in other trades, the circumstances of
which are more favourable for its elucidation.
[Sidenote: Wages rates and married women.]
What little influence the married woman has upon wages seems to be to
raise and not to lower them. That is the unanimous opinion of the
forewomen in London, and they know best.[91]
[Footnote 91: The following are extracts from the opinions of forewomen
on this point:--
"They don't lower rates; they want more."
"They don't lower rates of pay; it is rather the reverse, for they are
most troublesome about the price; _e.g._, the other day a married woman,
a new hand, made four or five girls refuse to do some sewing at the
price quoted, so they and she sat idle and wasted their time till the
forewoman saw what she could do for them. She (the forewoman) pointed
out to the girls how foolish it was to waste their time like that, and
they said that they wouldn't have done it by themselves."
"So far from working for less if they don't get enough, they say--'Thank
you' and walk off."
"They are the first to grumble; they don't think it worth coming unless
they can make something good."
"Married women are more trouble than the unmarried; they are at the
bottom of any agitation, and won't come if you are slack, for they
wouldn't get enough to pay for washing."
"They are more independent than single workers, and teach the others to
stand out."
"They think it a favour to do your work."
"They won't work for less, for they generally have more than themselves
to keep."
A forewoman of a book-folding department in a large firm said that
though not employing married women on her regular staff, she had had
some experience of them as job hands, and found that they would not do
ordinary work at ordinary rates, it not being worth their while. "They
have not got to earn money, as they have husbands to fall back upon."
To this should be added the testimony of one thoughtful observer, who
has considered the question during a long experience in the trade. He
has never come across a case where married women have lowered the rate
of pay; on the other hand, the elder women often complain that the young
girls who are living at home don't mind having ¼_d._ or ½_d._ cut
off.
See also the Report on Home Work, published by the Women's Industrial
Council, 19, Buckingham Street, Strand, 6_d._, for further details
confirming this view.]
In a good many instances, the married women complained that the
unmarried ones accepted reductions, and at a Conference held at
Manchester in connection with this investigation, the opinion was
unanimously expressed that married women do not lower wages, but, "on
the contrary, the casuals grumble most and get most."[92] "I know of a
case," writes a Plymouth correspondent, "where a married woman would not
work for less than 15_s._, which she obtained and retained for a year or
two." Out of a batch of ninety employers who had definite opinions upon
the influence of married women upon the standard of wages, seventy-seven
said they did not lower it, and thirteen that they did. The married
woman is more able than the unmarried girl to appreciate the relation
between wages and living expenses, and when she returns to the workshop,
it is as a worker who accepts the life of the wage earner as a final
fact and not as a mere interval between school and marriage.
[Footnote 92: The casually employed sometimes give trouble owing to
unpunctuality, and several employers have complained against married
women on this ground. But the investigation as a whole does not show the
complaint to be at all general.]
The married woman is more independent and disinclined to accept low
rates when offered, and she is generally chosen to go on deputations
making complaints to employers. A Trade Union official said that
theoretically the married woman ought to reduce wages, but that he was
bound to say that his experience in the trade taught him that she did
not. She has acquired the right to grumble, and she is put down in a
considerable proportion of the reports as the centre from which general
discontent in the workrooms emanates. Many employers object to her in
consequence.
She seems to regard herself as a permanent worker when she is a widow,
and generally remains for a considerable time--twenty or thirty
years--with her employers without thinking of changing. She is not so
"particular" as her unmarried co-worker, and does not give herself so
many "airs." She cleans litho-rollers without "turning up her nose." She
is, in short, part and parcel of the fellowship of wage earners; her
unmarried sister is not.
She is more rarely found in the provinces than in London in these
trades. Leeds and Bradford, and Bristol and the surrounding district may
be taken as typical, and the reports of the investigators who visited
these towns are quoted in full below on this point.
[Sidenote: The employment of married women. (a) London.]
In London, several firms refuse to employ married women as regular
hands. In some cases this is a policy of the forewoman only, and not a
rule of the firm. In others the head of the firm is responsible for the
order. The motives vary. Some refuse on principle, holding that husbands
should support their wives; _e.g._, "She won't countenance husbands
living on their wives' earnings and idling themselves"; or, again, that
it is "hard on single girls," or undesirable to have married women
working amongst unmarried girls, because, "They spoil a shop by talking
about all sorts of things." Other employers refuse to have them because
they are too irregular--"You can't get them in in time"; others because
"one has no hold over them," or because "they are tiresome, being so
cocky." "Out of seventy-five girls," runs one of our reports, "he had
none married till recently, when he failed to get enough unmarried.
Dislikes having them because influence bad."[93]
[Footnote 93: Reasons given for not employing married women, taken from
a batch of London reports:--
(1) Irregular. (2) Principle. (3) Principle. (4) Principle. (5) No
hold. (6) Chance. (7) Principle. (8) Chance. (9) Irregular. (10)
Irregular. (11) Principle. (12) Moral principle. (13) Moral
principle. (14) Principle (?). (15) Principle (?). (16)
Expediency. (17) Principle. (18) Principle. (19) Principle. (20)
Principle. (21) Principle. (22) Rule. (23) Rule. (24) Rule. (25)
Expediency. (26) Principle. (27) Principle. (28) Principle. (29)
Principle. (30) Principle. (31) Irregular.]
As a rule, however, there is a certain number of married women on the
staff, and all houses who have recourse to job hands in busy seasons
must, on occasions, have married women on their premises, though they
may object to employ them as regular workers.
The exact proportion of married to unmarried women in these trades is
impossible to judge. Accuracy could only be obtained by taking a census
of each shop. Estimates vary. A forewoman of experience calculated that
more than half were married. A Trade Union secretary and an experienced
worker estimated that about half were married, whilst of the job hands
taken separately, more than three-fourths were married women. Another
Union official, however, reckoned that, taking the trades as a whole,
there were four unmarried to one married; taking job hands separately,
two were married to one unmarried. Most of those conversant with the
trade are careful to give no figures, "a large proportion" are married,
or a "good few," and so on, are the common expressions. All, however,
agree that the largest proportion of married to unmarried is found
amongst the job hands; that, in fact, the majority of that class of
workers have husbands. A few instances of the proportion amongst the
regular staff in houses taken at random are given below. In most cases,
it was impossible to obtain any figures, but the following may be taken
to be types:--
A. _Printing._--12 married out of 86.
B. _Printing and Magazine Binding._--Half the staff.
C. _Printing._--2 regular hands unmarried, 1 married taken on when
busy.
D. _Envelopes, etc._--5 girls, 2 married.
E. _Binding._--3 married out of 20.
F. _Card Mounting, etc._--2 married out of 30.
G. _Binding._--3 married in machine room out of 60; 1 in
perforating department.
H. _Stationery._--9 married out of 20.
J. _Printing._--1 married out of 10.
K. _Binding._--2 married out of 30.
L. _Printing and Magazine Work._--5 married out of 100.
M. _Printing._--1 or 2 out of 56.
N. _Printing._--2 out of 128. (In most departments won't take
them.)
These houses show a much lower percentage of married workers than anyone
hazarded at a guess.
[Sidenote: (b) Bristol and district.]
"Seventeen houses in Bristol, employing about 1,170 women, have no
married hands. In three of these, it is the rule that girls must leave
on marriage, because the employer or the forewoman dislikes having
married women, either 'because they are not such good workers after they
have got the breakfast for their husbands and children, and seen to the
house, and are not then much good for work in a factory,' or else
because of a feeling that it is wrong to take married women from home
duties.
"In eight houses, employing about 1,200 women, there is no rule against
employing married women, and a few are employed. The exact proportions
were impossible to ascertain, but mostly box-makers.
Employed. Married.
A. 100 Most leave when married, but a few
good workers kept on.
B. 6 Two.
C. 5 One or two.
D. 30 A very few kept on.
E. 2 Both married.
F. 18 One married.
G. 40 Generally leave; a few kept on.
H. 1,000 A good many married.
"So few married women are employed in these trades in Bristol that it is
impossible to find any evidence of their influence on rates of pay, and
the generalisations as to the quality of married women's work are made
on very little information. One employer (B.) declared that married
women are better workers because they do not go out unless they have
good-for-nothing husbands and _have_ to be the breadwinners, a remark
corroborated by G., who assigned the same reason for their superiority,
adding that married women make 2_s._ or 3_s._ a week more at piecework
than the unmarried, and seem more anxious to get on. C. regards them as
steadier than girls: "They take life more seriously."
"In two houses in Gloucester with twenty-two and fifty-five girls, there
are no married women. 'They don't want to stay.'
"In Frome, a leading printing establishment employs 130 girls, but none
are married. There is a rule against employing married women. It is
regarded as immoral to do so--'It means that the husband spends the
extra money in beer.'
"In Stroud, amongst thirty girls, none were married.
"In Bath, in a firm employing forty girls, a few were married, but none
whose husbands were in work. 'That would be considered _infra dig_.'
[Sidenote: (c) Leeds and Bradford.]
"Married women are rarely employed in these trades in Leeds. Out of
seventeen houses visited, only three had married women as regular
workers. One of these is an account-book maker's, where a few out of the
thirty hands are married; another is a wallpaper manufacturer's, where
no difference is made when girls marry, and the third is a paper-bag
house, where a few out of the thirty women employed are married. In the
remaining fourteen houses, comprising about 930 girls, no married women
work. It is a custom recognised by masters and workers alike that women
leave on marriage, so that the industrial career of these workers stops
usually at twenty-two or twenty-three. In two houses old hands who have
married are taken on for occasional rushes of work.
"This dearth of married women in these trades seems strange in a town
where married women's work is such a common feature in the mills, but is
accounted for by the fact that the girls employed in the printing trades
belong to a comparatively comfortable class, marry in their own class,
and are not expected to be breadwinners. One employer suggests that the
work requires more regularity than can be expected from a married woman,
but this does not seem to be a serious difficulty in London.
"Bradford conditions are practically the same. Seven firms have no
married women, one has one married out of 100 workers, and this is an
exception, married women not being employed as a rule. As in Leeds, the
hands who have married come in to help when there is a rush of work. One
manager remarked that, if the girls think they are not going to marry
they leave for the mills, where pay is higher."
* * * * *
[Sidenote: The moral influence of the married worker.]
There seems to be a pretty widespread objection to the moral influence
of married women in the workshop. "Mr. ---- objects to the employment of
married women. He dislikes the way they talk to the unmarried girls....
Lately he has been obliged to employ them as he could not get enough
unmarried women."
[Sidenote: Family health.]
As regards the effect of work in these trades on family life, again the
evidence is sparse, but so far as it is clear it tends to show that the
employment of women makes little difference to the ordinary state of
things. The work is not unhealthy, and the woman worker does not do much
of the heavy tasks, such as lifting formes, using presses, and so on.
The instances where she does this are rare, and the men have always, in
this respect, turned their chivalrous instincts to industrial purpose
and to protect their own interests. One investigator reports that a girl
suffers from weak knees on account of long spells of standing at a
machine for making envelopes, and that a vellum-folder complains of
having to lift heavy weights. Another reports against "powdering" in
book-binding; and employment in typefoundries, where girls handle type,
is dangerous, since it may lead to lead-poisoning. Another says that
bronzing, even when the bronzing machine is used and the precautions
specified by the Factory Act are taken, is unhealthy. A case is given of
a woman permanently injured by the excessive strain of working a
guillotine cutting machine.
The bookbinders have always been ready to point out that certain parts
of their work are too heavy for women, and the compositors have done the
same. The latter also show that consumption is a trade disease amongst
them, and recently have defended their attempts to exclude women from
working the linotype on the ground that the fumes and gases which are
generated by its typefounding arrangement are injurious to health. They
also maintain that standing for long periods at a stretch is injurious
to women, but in at least one large printing firm in the provinces women
were seen by our investigators setting type whilst sitting on stools in
front of the case. The conditions of some wallpaper factories seem to be
unhealthy, partly owing to the hot air, the smell, and some of the
material used, especially the arsenic. Some reports state that the
constant "standing about" necessary in these trades gives headaches and
produces anæmia. What valid objection there is against married women
leaving their homes and children for long periods at a time during the
day, must of course be added to this, in common with all other kinds of
continuous work in which married women engage, but there is no special
danger to life or health in these industries from which the coming
generation may suffer.
CHAPTER X.
_WAGES._
We have succeeded in getting the authentic records of wages from about
eighteen firms in London, representing every branch of work in
connection with printing, binding, and despatch, and employing together
1,000 hands--more in busy, less in slack weeks. We have also less
detailed information about some half-dozen other firms.
These studied together and apart will no doubt give a correct general
impression of the amount and variability of wages paid, but
circumstances have made it very difficult to group them so as to give a
simple bird's-eye view of the whole.
These circumstances are partly due to the very great differences between
the class of work done by the various firms, and the difficulty of
tabulating the workers under a few definite heads; partly to the
difficulty of collecting records. Our investigators were recommended:--
i. To get complete wage sheets for as many weeks as their time and the
courtesy of the manager allowed, making the record as complete as
possible for 1899, and extending their researches back as far as the
books existed, choosing the wage sheets of one week in every month.
ii. To trace individual workers through as long a period as possible,
choosing workers who would best illustrate all the various conditions of
employment.
iii. To note any other information.
As regards i., we have the wage sheets for some 470 separate weeks, in
addition to the complete lists of two very small firms for one and four
years respectively; ii., the complete earnings of about 130 hands for
periods varying from one to fourteen years.
Owing to the fact that it was impossible to get the complete lists
through 1899 for many firms, and that the periods of slackness and full
work were not the same in different places, it proved very difficult to
handle the wage lists. At last the plan was adopted of getting complete
lists of one busy week, one typical week, and one slack week in 1899,
leaving the employers to choose the weeks, unless our investigators
could make a complete record. In the following analysis we have
endeavoured to bring out the salient features of the statistics of each
firm separately, and we have then grouped together all the typical
weeks, either chosen by the employer or selected by us from the series;
and it is believed that this grouping gives an adequate idea of the
wages at a time which the trade regards as ordinary.
The earnings of the 130 individual hands is a very valuable and, it may
be, almost unique record. Many interesting facts are brought out by
their study, and the records should have a place in sociological
literature apart from their interest in the present connection.
It has been necessary to make a technical use of averages in collating
and tabulating the material, and we offer the following explanations.
Where the word "average" is used without qualification, it is the
ordinary arithmetic average, obtained by dividing the total by the
number of payees. This is the best for general quantitative
measurements.
In most cases the median and quartiles and sometimes the dispersions
have been calculated. They may be explained as follows. Suppose the
wages of, say, sixty persons to be arranged in ascending order, _e.g._,
5_s._, 5_s._ 3_d._, 6_s._, 6_s._ 1_d._ ... 11_s._ 9_d._, 12_s._, 12_s._
6_d._, then the wage _halfway_ up the list is the _median_ wage; thus,
there are as many individuals above the median as below it. The wages
halfway from the ends to the median (_i.e._, fifteenth and forty-fifth
from bottom), are the _quartiles_, so that between the quartiles half
the wages are grouped. Thus, if the median and quartiles in the above
list were 7_s._ 6_d._, 10_s._ 6_d._, 12_s._ 6_d._, there would be
fifteen earning less than 7_s._ 6_d._, fifteen more than 12_s._ 6_d._,
thirty between 7_s._ 6_d._ and 12_s._ 6_d._, thirty below and thirty
above 10_s._ 6_d._ For a single measurement of the grouping of the wages
about their median, the distance between it and the quartiles is
significant: in this example 3_s._ and 2_s._ are these distances. The
more convenient way of stating this is to express half the distance
between the quartiles (2_s._ 6_d._) as a fraction of their average
10_s._, which is generally very nearly the median. This fraction (¼ or
·25) we call the _dispersion_, and it enables us to study the changing
character of a group in a very simple and efficient manner.
I.--STATISTICAL VIEW OF THE VARIOUS FIRMS.
FIRM A.
_Information obtained._--Wages of thirty-six hands tabulated week by
week through 1899.
Total amount paid in wages and total number employed each week,
1885-1899.
The whole wages sheet for one week in July and one week in November for
each of these fifteen years.
A. is a firm employing from fifty to one hundred and ten women and girls
as folders, stitchers and sewers. The number employed has changed
gradually; in 1885-7 there were about a hundred: from 1888 to 1894 the
number continually diminished to sixty, and after a brief spurt in the
autumn of 1894 to one hundred and fifteen and a rapid fall, has from
1895 to 1899 gradually risen from fifty to ninety.
Through the fifteen years which the statistics cover, 1885-1899, the
_annual_ average (roughly calculated) has fluctuated within the narrow
limits of 8_s._ 9_d._ and 10_s._ 6_d._; it was above 10_s._ in 1888,
1889, 1897, 1898, 1899; below 9_s._ in 1886 and 1894. This average
includes the learners. But when examined more minutely it is seen that
the fluctuations week by week and month by month are very rapid.
Briefly, there is a change of about 4_s._ in four-weekly cycles. Thus in
November, 1899, the averages for the five weeks were 10_s._, 11_s._
2_d._, 13_s._ 9_d._, 13_s._ 10_d._, 12_s._
In November the wages are much higher than in July, and evidently more
regular in character; the number earning near the average is also
greater. Thus the "dispersion" in November is generally about ·2 (the
quartiles and median being, for example, 12_s._, 15_s._, 18_s._); while
in July it is generally about ·4 (_e.g._, 3_s._ 9_d._, 6_s._ 3_d._,
8_s._ 9_d._). Again, it seems quite doubtful each year whether there
will be any July wages worth the name; the median in four weeks selected
each year in July changes from 2_s._ 11_d._ to 8_s._ 2_d._; while that
for selected weeks in November is from 10_s._ 8_d._ to 17_s._ 11_d._, a
smaller proportionate variation.
The majority are piece workers.
The following table shows the wages in two weeks (slack and busy) in
1899. The figures are probably typical of similar weeks in previous
years.
+-------------------+------------+------------+
| FIRM A. | July 14th, | Nov. 29th, |
| | 1899. | 1899. |
| From to | Numbers | Numbers |
| _s.__d._ _s.__d._ | earning. | earning. |
+-------------------+------------+------------+
| 24 0 26 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 22 0 24 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 20 0 22 0 | 1 | 12 |
| 18 0 20 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 16 0 18 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 14 0 16 0 | 4 | 14 |
| 12 0 14 0 | 5 | 10 |
| 10 0 12 0 | 4 | 11 |
| 8 0 10 0 | 11 | 1 |
| 6 0 8 0 | 17 | 2 |
| 4 0 6 0 | 11 | 2 |
| 2 0 4 0 | 6 | 2 |
| -- -- 2 0 | 1 | 1 |
+-------------------+------------+------------+
July 14th, 1899: Median, 7_s._;
Quartiles, 5_s._ 8_d._, 9_s._ 11_d._;
Dispersion, ·27.
Nov. 29th, 1899: Median, 14_s._ 6_d._;
Quartiles, 11_s._ 10_d._, 19_s._;
Dispersion, ·23.
+-------+-----------------------------------+
| FIRM | Average |
| A. | Wage. |
| +-----------+-----------+-----------+
| | 1st | 2nd | Year. |
| | Six | Six | |
| | Months. | Months. | |
+-------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ |
| 1885 | 8 11 | 9 2 | 9 1 |
| 1886 | 8 4 | 9 5 | 8 10 |
| 1887 | 8 8 | 9 5 | 9 0 |
| 1888 | 8 0 | 10 7 | 9 4 |
| 1889 | 9 5 | 10 11 | 10 1 |
| 1890 | 10 4 | 10 10 | 10 6 |
| 1891 | 9 0 | 10 1 | 9 6 |
| 1892 | 8 4 | 9 8 | 9 0 |
| 1893 | 9 4 | 8 8 | 9 0 |
| 1894 | 8 2 | 9 8 | 8 11 |
| 1895 | 8 5 | 10 4 | 9 4 |
| 1896 | 9 5 | 10 0 | 9 8 |
| 1897 | 9 10 | 10 11 | 10 4 |
| 1898 | 10 6 | 10 1 | 10 4 |
| 1899 | 9 11 | 10 4 | 10 1 |
+-------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
+-------+-----------+-----------+
| FIRM | Median |
| A. | Wage. |
| +-----------+-----------+
| | Week | Week |
| | in | in |
| | July. | Nov. |
+-------+-----------+-----------+
| | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ |
| 1885 | 8 2 | 15 2 |
| 1886 | 4 5 | 17 0 |
| 1887 | 5 5 | 14 7 |
| 1888 | 8 9 | 14 6 |
| 1889 | 9 3 | 17 2 |
| 1890 | 6 7 | 17 11 |
| 1891 | 6 6 | 16 10 |
| 1892 | 7 0 | 15 4 |
| 1893 | 6 2 | 10 8 |
| 1894 | 3 0 | 13 11 |
| 1895 | 5 4 | 14 4 |
| 1896 | 5 7 | 11 8 |
| 1897 | 6 7 | 15 0 |
| 1898 | 4 7 | 11 4 |
| 1899 | 7 0 | 13 3 |
+-------+-----------+-----------+
For the 15 years:
1st six months, 9_s._;
2nd six months, 10_s._;
year, 9_s._ 6_d._
FIRM B.
_Information obtained._--Wages of five hands tabulated week by week,
for years 1886-99, 1887-99, 1896-99, 1898-99, 1899, respectively.
Monthly earnings and half-yearly bonus for all regular hands, 1888-99.
Weekly wages of all hands throughout eighteen months in the years
1886-96 and 1899, three weeks in 1877 and two in 1898.
This firm employs folders, stitchers, and sewers.--The number of
permanent hands employed increased with slight variations from two in
1886 to twelve in 1899. Jobbers are occasionally employed, sometimes as
many as there are permanent hands.
Considering the regular hands and choosing each year a wage earner near
the median for that year, we have the following table.
+--------+-----------+-----------+------------------+
| FIRM | Total | Bonus. | Average Earnings |
| B. | Wages | | per week, |
| | in Year. | | including bonus. |
+--------+-----------+-----------+------------------+
| | £ _s._ | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ |
| 1887 | 18 0 (a) | 10 6 | 14 3 |
| 1888 | 39 6 | 21 8 | 15 6 |
| 1889 | 38 16 | 20 4 | 15 4 |
| 1890 | 36 6 | 16 6 | 14 4 |
| 1891 | 39 0 | 18 9 | 15 4 |
| 1892 | 39 12 | 20 0 | 15 7 |
| 1893 | 38 8 | 24 0 | 15 2 |
| 1894 | 40 3 | 15 0 | 15 9 |
| 1895 | 37 10 | 19 0 | 14 10 |
| 1896 | 40 7 | 20 0 | 15 9 |
| 1897 | 37 11 | 19 6 | 14 10 |
| 1898 | 40 7 | 20 0 | 15 11 |
| 1899 | 29 11 (b) | 14 9 | 15 6 |
+--------+-----------------------+------------------+
(a) half-year
(b) 9 months
In a typical week, January 5th-12th, 1899, the wages were:
Full workers, average, 16_s._ 2_d._
1 at 21_s._
5 between 16_s._ and 17_s._
4 " 15_s._ and 16_s._
1 at 14_s._ 10_d._
1 " 12_s._ 9_d._
Learners in their third year, 2 at 10_s._ 6_d._
" " second " 1 " 5_s._
9 jobbers, average 5_s._ 5_d._
1 at 7_s._ 2_d._
4 between 5_s._ and 7_s._
4 less than 5_s._
Average, for all except learners, 11_s._ 7_d._
FIRM C.
_Information obtained._--Complete list of wages for first week in every
month, from January, 1897, to February, 1900.
Full lists in five weeks described as "slack," "busy," or "typical."
The wages of fifteen hands tabulated, most of them throughout 1897-99.
The work is divided into four departments:--
Binders, from twenty-nine to thirty-eight hands. The median wage
fluctuated in the three years between 11_s._ and 17_s._, excluding
holiday weeks; 13_s._ is the general average. About six are on time
wages.
In the warehouse, where Government folding is done, five hands are
employed. The median wage of this group fluctuated in 1897 between
16_s._ and 27_s._, being low at the end of 1897. In 1898 and 1899 it was
a little steadier, averaging about 21_s._ (piece rates).
In the envelope room, where folding and relief stamping is done, seven
to thirteen hands are employed. The median wage is very variable,
fluctuating from 9_s._ to 16_s._, and averaging about 12_s._, chiefly
time wages.
Machine ruling is done by from four to eleven girls. Their median wage
was nearly steady at 6_s._ in 1897 and 1898, and rose regularly to 8_s._
in 1899. Nominally these were time wages.
The following table shows detailed wages in five selected weeks
(learners excluded).
+------------------+--------------------------+-------+---------+
| FIRM C. | Typical Weeks. | Busy | Slack |
| | | Week. | Week. |
| +--------+--------+--------+-------+---------+
| | Nov., | Feb., | Nov., | Dec., | March, |
| | 1898. | 1899. | 1899. | 1899. | 1899. |
+------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+---------+
| Binders-- | No. | No. | No. | No. | No. |
| Above 20_s._ | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 18_s._ to 20_s._ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 5 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 1 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 7 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 7 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 2 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 14 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
+------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+---------+
| Envelope Room-- | | | | | |
| 20_s._ to 22_s._ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2_s._ " 4_s._ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
+------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+---------+
| Machine Ruling-- | | | | | |
| 8_s._ to 9_s._ | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 7_s._ " 8_s._ | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6_s._ " 7_s._ | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5_s._ " 6_s._ | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 4_s._ " 5_s._ | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 3_s._ " 4_s._ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2_s._ " 3_s._ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
+------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+---------+
| Warehouse | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. |
| Earnings. | 22 4 | 24 1 | 27 9 | 28 0 | 21 6 |
| | 22 1 | 24 1 | 26 10 | 26 10 | 20 8 |
| | 22 1 | 23 3 | 26 4 | 26 3 | 20 8 |
| | 20 5 | 22 1 | 24 6 | 24 9 | 19 3 |
| | 12 7 | 20 10 | 11 3 | 24 0 | 15 6 |
+------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
FIRM D.
_Information obtained._--Complete lists of wages in all weeks in 1899.
Wages of thirty-one hands tabulated week by week through 1899.
The lists are made up in five divisions.
1. Sixty-five to seventy-eight employed in sewing, folding and collating
(of whom eleven to seventeen are learners). Excluding Bank Holiday weeks
and learners, the average wage fluctuates only between 10_s._ and 13_s._
9_d._ Average for 1st half, 12_s._; 2nd half, 11_s._ 6_d._; year, 11_s._
9_d._
2. Eighty to ninety (including sixteen to twenty-three learners),
collating and sewing. Average from 10_s._ 7_d._ to 16_s._ 3_d._ Average
for 1st half, 13_s._ 5_d._; 2nd half, 13_s._ 2_d._; year, 13_s._ 3_d._
3. Eighty-three to ninety-two (including thirteen to thirty learners),
folding. Average from 10_s._ 6_d._ to 16_s._ 5_d._ Average for 1st half,
13_s._; 2nd half, 13_s._; year, 13_s._
4. Layers-on, about six. Average fluctuates from 12_s._ to 24_s._ 8_d._;
1st half, 15_s._ 7_d._; 2nd half, 16_s._ 11_d._; year, 16_s._ 3_d._
5. Lookers-over, four or six. Fluctuates from 11_s._ 8_d._ to 15_s._
10_d._ Average for year, 13_s._ 8_d._
The following table shows detailed wages in five selected weeks.
+------------------+-----------------+-----------------+--------+
| FIRM D. | Slack Weeks. | Typical Weeks. | Busy. |
| +--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| | Feb. | Feb. | June | Oct. | Dec. |
| | 24th, | 23rd, | 30th, | 13th, | 8th, |
| | 1899. | 1900. | 1899. | 1899. | 1899. |
+------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| Above 24_s._ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 22_s._ to 24_s._ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 20_s._ " 22_s._ | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
| 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 6 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 33 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 23 | 20 | 26 | 40 | 36 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 45 | 58 | 51 | 52 | 59 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 40 | 44 | 45 | 38 | 17 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 35 | 32 | 26 | 24 | 19 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 24 | 19 | 15 | 24 | 17 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 15 | 15 | 6 | 18 | 7 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 9 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| 2_s._ " 4_s._ | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
+------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. |
| Median | 12 9 | 13 4 | 14 0 | 13 8 | 14 10 |
+------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| Quartiles | 15 0 | 14 9 | 15 6 | 16 0 | 18 0 |
| | 10 0 | 10 4 | 11 4 | 10 6 | 13 4 |
+------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| Dispersion | ·20 | ·17 | ·18 | ·20 | ·15 |
+------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
FIRM E.
_Information obtained._--Complete wage list for one week each month from
August, 1894, to December, 1899.
Wages of eight hands tabulated, five through the whole period.
Folding, stitching and sewing are done. Number employed was nearly
regular, but increased from forty to sixty, and fell back to fifty.
The median fluctuates rapidly and greatly, but shows a gradual rise from
13_s._ (with fluctuations down to 8_s._ and up to 16_s._) to 16_s._
(with fluctuations down to 10_s._ and up to 19_s._). The "dispersion"
has changed little, and was about ·15.
The following weeks (table p. 121) show the general run of wages.
+------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| FIRM E. | Feb. | July, | Nov. | Feb. |
| | 1895. | 1895. | 1895. | 1899. |
+------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Above 24_s._ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22_s._ to 24_s._ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20_s._ " 22_s._ | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 4 | 10 | 10 | 3 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 8 | 17 | 18 | 4 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 13 | 8 | 14 | 12 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 9 | 7 | 7 | 19 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 4 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
+------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. |
| Median | 11 4 | 12 7 | 12 5 | 9 10 |
+------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Quartiles | 12 11 | 14 7 | 14 4 | 10 11 |
| | 9 8 | 10 8 | 10 7 | 8 4 |
+------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Dispersion | ·14 | ·16 | ·14 | ·13 |
+------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| FIRM E. | July, | Nov. | Dec. | A Slack |
| | 1899. | 1899. | 1899. | Week, |
| | | | | 1900. |
+------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Above 24_s._ | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 22_s._ to 24_s._ | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 20_s._ " 22_s._ | 5 | 9 | 4 | 1 |
| 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 9 | 9 | 13 | 2 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 12 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 7 | 10 | 9 | 3 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 9 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 3 | 0 | 4 | 12 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 0 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
+------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. |
| Median | 16 5 | 17 8 | 16 3 | 10 3 |
+------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Quartiles | 18 7 | 20 1 | 18 10 | 12 0 |
| | 13 5 | 15 5 | 13 9 | 8 4 |
+------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Dispersion | ·16 | ·13 | ·16 | ·17 |
+------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
FIRM F.
_Information obtained._--Wages for all hands each week in 1896, and
until March, 1900. So few are employed that no average can be given, and
the wages are treated later under individual hands.
Also a small bookbinding firm.
1. A quick folder; wages generally from 12_s._ to 16_s._, but
fluctuations down to 5_s._ and up to 20_s._
2. A quick sewer; very fluctuating, about 10_s._
3. A collator at 3¼_d._ per hour; 12_s._, with fluctuations.
FIRM G.
_Information obtained._--List of wages paid in 2nd week in each month,
1896, February, 1900, and four other weeks.
Wages of fourteen hands; six throughout the period.
All Departments.
_Weeks Selected at Beginning and End of Data._
+------------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+
| FIRM G. | 1896. |
| +--------------+--------------+--------------+
| | Feb. | July | Nov. |
| | 8th. | 11th. | 14th. |
| +----+---------+----+---------+----+---------+
| | -- | Machine | -- | Machine | -- | Machine |
| | | Rulers. | | Rulers. | | Rulers. |
+------------------+----+---------+----+---------+----+---------+
| Above 24_s._ | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 22_s._ to 24_s._ | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 20_s._ to 22_s._ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 18_s._ to 20_s._ | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 16_s._ to 18_s._ | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 14_s._ to 16_s._ | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 12_s._ to 14_s._ | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 10_s._ to 12_s._ | 10 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 8_s._ to 10_s._ | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 6_s._ to 8_s._ | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| 4_s._ to 6_s._ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 2_s._ to 4_s._ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
+------------------+----+---------+----+---------+----+---------+
| (Apprentices excluded.) |
+------------------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+
| Median (without | 14s. | -- | 15s. | -- | 16s. | -- |
| rulers). | 8d. | | | | 6d. | |
+------------------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+
| FIRM G. | 1899. |
| +--------------+--------------+--------------+
| | July | Nov. | Dec. |
| | 8th. | 11th. | 9th. |
| +--------------+----+---------+----+---------+
| | -- | Machine | -- | Machine | -- | Machine |
| | | Rulers. | | Rulers. | | Rulers. |
+------------------+----+---------+----+---------+----+---------+
| Above 24_s._ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 22_s._ to 24_s._ | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 20_s._ to 22_s._ | 10 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 18_s._ to 20_s._ | 6 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 16_s._ to 18_s._ | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 14_s._ to 16_s._ | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 12_s._ to 14_s._ | 9 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 10_s._ to 12_s._ | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 8_s._ to 10_s._ | 3 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| 6_s._ to 8_s._ | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| 4_s._ to 6_s._ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2_s._ to 4_s._ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
+------------------+----+---------+----+---------+----+---------+
| (Apprentices excluded.) |
+------------------+------+-------+-------+------+------+-------+
| Median (without | 14s. | -- | 16s. | -- | 18s. | |
| rulers). | | | 6d. | | 2d. | |
+------------------+------+-------+-------+------+------+-------+
_Machine Ruling._--Four to nine hands, generally seven to nine. Time
wages. Median moves slowly and steadily from 6_s._ to 7_s._ during
1896-99.
_Stamping._--Four, increasing to twelve hands, sometimes sixteen. The
low wages are time (presumably learners); the rest piece. Time hands are
excluded in the medians here, and in binding and despatch. Median is
sometimes fluctuating, but not far from 12_s._ or 13_s._ for long.
_s._ _d._ _s._ _d._
1896 1st half-year 14 3 2nd half-year 11 0
1897 " " 13 0 " " 13 0
1898 " " 12 4 " " 11 11
1899 " " 12 6 " " 11 11
1900 " " 14 2 (two months)
_Binding room_, including despatch, till middle of 1897, when numbers
fell from forty to twenty. The despatch room, beginning with twenty,
increased to thirty hands.
Binding--median varies from 11_s._ to 17_s._
_s._ _d._ _s._ _d._
1896 1st half-year 14 1 2nd half-year 16 1
1897 " " 14 8 " " 15 4
1898 " " 15 0 " " 14 4
1899 " " 14 2 " " 13 11
1900 " " 14 2 (two months)
Despatch--median steadier and rising.
_s._ _d._ _s._ _d._
1897 1st half-year -- -- 2nd half-year 15 0
1898 " " 17 6 " " 18 11
1899 " " 19 4 " " 20 9
1900 " " 16 3 (two months)
FIRM H.
_Information obtained._--Wage list, 3rd week in every month, 1895-98.
Every week in 1899, and eight special weeks. Wages of three hands
tabulated throughout period.
Work done.--Printers' folding, sewing, magazines. No bookbinding.
Twenty-four to thirty-eight hands. Median very variable; _e.g._, July,
1899, 14_s._ 2_d._, 16_s._ 6_d._, 13_s._ 7_d._, 15_s._ 10_d._
_s._ _d._ _s._ _d._
1895 1st half-year 11 5 2nd half-year 13 3
1896 " " 13 10 " " 12 4
1897 " " 12 11 " " 10 2
1898 " " 11 5 " " 16 0
1899 " " 13 1 " " 14 1
General trend to 13_s._
+------+------+------+------+-------+------+------+-------+------+
| FIRM | Feb. | Aug. | Jan. | March | Oct. | Aug. | Sept. | Apr. |
| H. | 15th | 16th | 24th | 9th | 7th | 25th | 15th | 6th |
| | 1895 | 1895 | 1898 | 1898 | 1898 | 1899 | 1899 | 1900 |
| | | | (a) | (b) | (c) | (a) | (c) | (b) |
+------+------+------+------+-------+------+------+-------+------+
| 23s. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 22s. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20s. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 21s. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
+------+------+------+------+-------+------+------+-------+------+
| 19s. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 18s. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 17s. | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| 16s. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 15s. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
+------+------+------+------+-------+------+------+-------+------+
| 14s. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 13s. | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 12s. | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| 11s. | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 10s. | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
+------+------+------+------+-------+------+------+-------+------+
| 9s. | 4 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 8s. | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 7s. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6s. | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5s. | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | | | | (d) | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+-------+------+------+-------+------+
| 4s. | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3s. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
+------+------+------+------+-------+------+------+-------+------+
| Me- | 11s. | 9s. | 10s. | 15s. | 17s. | 9s. | 14s. | 17s. |
| dian | | 4d. | 3d. | 6d. | | 3d. | 7d. | 2d. |
+------+------+------+------+-------+------+------+-------+------+
(a) Slack.
(b) Typical.
(c) Busy.
(d) 3 learners
FIRM I.
Publishers and bookbinders. No printers' folding.
_Information obtained._--Wage lists: 2nd week in each month, October,
1898, to March, 1900. Total wages every week to March, 1900. Wages of
nine hands tabulated throughout.
+----+-------------+------+-----------------------------+------+
| FIRM |
+ I. +-------------+------+-----------------------------+------+
| | Median | Quarterly Averages |
| | varies | (excluding Bank Holiday). |
| | from +------+-----------------------------+------+
| | _s._ _d._ | 1898 | 1899 | 1900 |
+----+-------------+------+-------+-------+------+------+------+
| C. | 11 0 - 21 4 | 20 2 | 19 3 | 16 9 | 13 4 | 20 8 | 17 3 |
+----+-------------+------+-------+-------+------+------+------+
| S. | 7 0 - 15 6 | 14 0 | 12 8 | 9 10 | 8 6 | 13 6 | 13 0 |
+----+-------------+------+-------+-------+------+------+------+
| F. | 8 3 - 14 2 | 13 2 | 13 0 | 8 11 | 10 0 | 12 2 | 10 5 |
+----+-------------+------+-------+-------+------+------+------+
| T. | 13 0 - 16 4 | 15 8 | 15 11 | 13 6 | 13 4 | 15 0 | 14 0 |
+----+-------------+------+-------+-------+------+------+------+
48 hours: no record of overtime.
C. = Collators (18 to 23)
S. = Sewers (27 to 40)
F. = Folders (53 to 91)
T. = Time workers putting in plates (17 to 22)
+------------------+------+-------+------+------+------+
| FIRM I. | Nov. | March | July | Nov. | Feb. |
| | 11th | 10th | 14th | 10th | 9th |
| | 1898 | 1899 | 1899 | 1899 | 1900 |
+------------------+------+-------+------+------+------+
| 32_s._ to 34_s._ | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 30_s._ " 32_s._ | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 28_s._ " 30_s._ | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 26_s._ " 28_s._ | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 24_s._ " 26_s._ | 5 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 22_s._ " 24_s._ | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 20_s._ " 22_s._ | 11 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 3 |
| 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 14 | 16 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 20 | 16 | 2 | 14 | 14 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 25 | 22 | 10 | 13 | 15 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 22 | 28 | 18 | 30 | 32 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 24 | 32 | 20 | 25 | 24 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 14 | 17 | 27 | 6 | 15 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 7 | 5 | 30 | 4 | 11 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 3 | 3 | 18 | 1 | 5 |
| 2_s._ " 4_s._ | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 0_s._ " 2_s._ | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
+------------------+------+-------+------+------+------+
The total wage bill was:--
1898. £ 1899. £ 1899. £ 1900. £
Oct. 462 Jan. 428 July 245 Jan. 330
Nov. 483 Feb. 471 Aug. 263 Feb. 346
Dec. 430 March 569(a) Sept. 502(a) March 408(a)
-- April 305 Oct. 417 --
-- May 302 Nov. 403 --
-- June 383(a) Dec. 420(a) --
(a) Five weeks.
£
Total in 4th quarter, 1898 1375
" 1st " 1899 1468
" 2nd " " 990
" 3rd " " 1010
" 4th " " 1240
" 1st " 1900 1084
FIRM J.
A firm undertaking magazine work. _Information obtained._--General
statement of ordinary wages. Wages in three selected weeks.
Bookfolding, stitching, wrapping, etc. (magazine work). Work is regular
for three weeks; none in the fourth.
+------------------+-------+---------+------------------+--------+
| FIRM J. | Wages of all Employed. |
+ +-------+---------+------------------+--------+
| | Slack | Typical | -- | Busy |
| | (a) | (b) | | (c) |
+------------------+-------+---------+--+---------------+--------+
| 22_s._ to 24_s._ | 0 | 1 | 34_s._ to 36_s._ | 2 |
| 20_s._ " 22_s._ | 0 | 0 | 32_s._ " 34_s._ | 0 |
| 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 0 | 2 | 30_s._ " 32_s._ | 3 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 0 | 4 | 28_s._ " 30_s._ | 0 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 0 | 4 | 26_s._ " 28_s._ | 3 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 0 | 1 | 24_s._ " 26_s._ | 1 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 3 | 1 | 22_s._ " 24_s._ | 0 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 4 | 1 | 20_s._ " 22_s._ | 3 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 6 | 0 | 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 1 |
+------------------+-------+---------+------------------+--------+
| | s. d. | s. d. | | s. d. |
| Median | 8 0 | 15 9 | -- | 26 4 |
| Average | 8 4 | 15 7 | -- | 25 11 |
+------------------+-------+---------+------------------+--------+
(a) Slack Week, Feb. 8th, 1901.
(b) Typical Week, Feb. 15th, 1901.
(c) Busy Week, March 1st, 1901.
FIRM K.
A publisher's bookbinder. _Information obtained._--Wage sheet for three
selected weeks in 1898-9.
A week as slack as the slack week here given, was only experienced two
or three times.
+------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
| FIRM K. | Typical. | Busy. | Slack. |
+------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
| | Av. | Av. | Av. |
| | No. _s._ _d._ | No. _s._ _d._ | No. _s._ _d._ |
+------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
| Folders | 46 13 1 | 55 15 8 | 43 8 7 |
| (piece) | | | |
+------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
| Sewing | 8 22 2 | 8 31 1 | 8 11 7 |
| machinists | | | |
| (piece) | | | |
+------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
| Collators | 3 26 10 | 3 27 2 | 5 14 5 |
| (time) | | | |
+------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
| Layers-on | 4 14 0 | 4 19 7 | 3 16 11 |
| (piece) | | | |
+------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
| Learners | 2 4 1½ | 2 8 7 | 2 3 7 |
+------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
+-------------------+-----------+---------------+-----------+
| FIRM K. | Typical. | Busy. | Slack. |
+-------------------+-----------+---------------+-----------+
| 36_s._ to 38_s._ | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 34_s._ " 36_s._ | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 32_s._ " 34_s._ | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30_s._ " 32_s._ | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 28_s._ " 30_s._ | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 26_s._ " 28_s._ | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 24_s._ " 26_s._ | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 22_s._ " 24_s._ | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 20_s._ " 22_s._ | 9 | 4 | 0 |
+-------------------+-----------+---------------+-----------+
| 18_s._ to 20_s._ | 3 | 13 | 2 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 6 | 8 | 3 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 7 | 14 | 4 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 11 | 10 | 2 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 13 | 7 | 15 |
+-------------------+-----------+---------------+-----------+
| 8_s._ to 10_s._ | 3 | 1 | 16 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 2_s._ " 4_s._ | 1 | 0 | 2 |
+-------------------+-----------+---------------+-----------+
| | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ |
| Median | 13 3 | 16 10 | 9 6 |
+-------------------+-----------+---------------+-----------+
| Quartiles | 19 1 | 19 10½ | 11 1 |
| | 11 1 | 13 10½ | 7 10 |
+-------------------+-----------+---------------+-----------+
FIRM L.
Compositors. _Information obtained_: Complete wages of the six hands
employed through 1900.
No. 1 has been in the trade two and a half years. In 1900 she was away
seven weeks (three, slack trade; two, holidays; two, ill); in the
remaining forty-five weeks her wages fluctuated between 5_s._ and 18_s._
3_d._, reached a total of £28 15_s._ 9_d._, making an average of 11_s._
1_d._ weekly through the year, or 12_s._ 7_d._ per week employed.
No. 2 lost four weeks in 1900 through slack trade. In the remaining
forty-eight weeks her wages fluctuated between 5_s._ 6_d._ and 23_s._;
reached a total of £40 4_s._ 11_d._, making an average of 15_s._ 6_d._
weekly through the year.
No. 3 made £52 9_s._, working fifty-one weeks at £1 per week, making
29_s._ overtime, and taking one week's holiday; average, 20_s._ 2_d._
weekly for the year.
No. 4 made £37 16_s._ in forty-four weeks, lost five weeks through
slack trade, and took three weeks' holiday; average, 14_s._ 6_d._ weekly
for the year.
No. 5 made £39 1_s._ 9_d._ in forty-six weeks, lost four weeks through
slack trade, was ill one week and took one week's holiday; average,
15_s._ weekly for the year.
No. 6 made £22 1_s._ 6_d._ in forty-eight weeks, lost three weeks
through slack trade, was ill for one week. She was unsuccessful in her
work, and only averaged 8_s._ 4_d._ a week through the year.
FIRM M.
A press warehouse. _Information obtained._--Wage list in three selected
weeks.
+-----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| FIRM M. | Week | Week | Week |
| | Ending | Ending | Ending |
| | Feb. | Nov. | July |
| | 9th, | 24th, | 21st, |
| | 1900. | 1899. | 1899. |
| | Average | Average | Average |
| | wage. | wage. | wage. |
+-----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| | No. s. d. | No. s. d. | No. s. d. |
| Time workers | 36 15 0 | 37 15 6 | 31 13 5 |
| Folders (piece) | 41 13 3 | 50 14 5 | 31 11 10 |
| Sewers " | 7 14 7 | 7 13 6 | 12 9 1 |
| Apprentices | 11 4 1 | 11 4 2 | 5 4 4 |
+-----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
+------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| FIRM M. | Feb. | Nov. | July |
| | 9th, | 24th, | 21st, |
| | 1900. | 1899. | 1899. |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| Above 26_s._ | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 24_s._ to 26_s._ | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 22_s._ " 24_s._ | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20_s._ " 22_s._ | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 14 | 19 | 1 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 25 | 22 | 19 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 16 | 18 | 20 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 12 | 15 | 15 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 8 | 4 | 3 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2_s._ " 4_s._ | 1 | 0 | 4 |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| Median | 14 3 | 14 9 | 12 9 |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| Quartiles | 15 9 | 17 0 | 14 9 |
| | 10 9 | 12 2 | 11 1 |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| Dispersion | ·19 | ·16 | ·14 |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
(Excluding Apprentices.)
FIRM N.
Bookbinders. _Information obtained._--Complete wage sheets for three
selected weeks. Folders, piece; collators, time.
+-----------+--------------+--------------+--------------+
| FIRM N. | Dec. | Oct. | Aug. |
| | 15th, | 6th, | 18th, |
| | 1899. | 1899. | 1899. |
| | Busy | Typical | Slack |
| | Week. | Week. | Week. |
| | Average | Average | Average |
| | wage. | wage. | wage. |
+-----------+--------------+--------------+--------------+
| | No. s. d. | No. s. d. | No. s. d. |
| Collators | 18 15 7 | 17 11 3 | 18 11 0 |
| Folders | 20 13 9 | 12 11 10 | 9 9 0 |
| Learners | 16 4 6 | 5 4 1 | 7 2 9 |
+-----------+--------------+--------------+--------------+
1 Sewing Machinist, 23_s._ 9_d._
+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| FIRM N. | Dec. | Oct. | Aug. |
| | 15th, | 6th, | 18th, |
| | 1899. | 1899. | 1899. |
| | Busy | Typical | Slack |
| | Week. | Week. | Week. |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| 20_s._ to 22_s._ | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 10 | 6 | 3 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 1 | 10 | 5 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2_s._ " 4_s._ | 2 | 0 | 1 |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ |
| Median | 15 8 | 12 9 | 11 3 |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| Quartiles | 16 6 | 14 6 | 12 9 |
| | 11 10 | 11 0 | 8 0 |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| Dispersion | ·16 | ·16 | ·21 |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
(Excluding Learners.)
FIRM O.
_Information obtained._--Wage lists in three selected weeks, probably in
first half of 1900. Five hands.
+-----------+---------------+--------------+--------------+
| FIRM O. | Typical Week. | Busy. | Slack. |
+-----------+---------------+--------------+--------------+
| | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ |
| Folder | 17 6 | 20 0 | 12 6 |
| Stitcher | 21 0 | 26 0 | 15 0 |
| Sewer | 12 0 | 15 0 | 8 6 |
| Laying-on | 12 0 | 15 0 | 11 0 |
| Learner | 5 0 | 5 0 | 5 0 |
+-----------+---------------+--------------+--------------+
FIRM P.
_Information obtained._--Wage lists in three selected weeks. Wages of
twelve selected workers in these weeks.
+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| FIRM P. | Aug. | Dec. | Dec. |
| | 11th, | 15th, | 22nd, |
| | 1899. | 1899. | 1899. |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| | 1 at | 1 at | 1 at |
| | 27_s._ | 28_s._ | 30_s._ |
| | 4_d._ | 2_d._ | 8_d._ |
| | | | |
| Above 24_s._ | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 22_s._ to 24_s._ | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 20_s._ " 22_s._ | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 0 | 13 | 24 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 8 | 23 | 21 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 17 | 30 | 21 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 26 | 20 | 13 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 24 | 9 | 9 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 10 | 7 | 1 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | -- | --- | --- |
| | 90 | 106 | 105 |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ |
| Median | 15 0 | 15 3 | 16 8 |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| Quartiles | 14 0 | 17 2 | 19 2 |
| | 10 8 | 13 0 | 14 3 |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| Dispersion | ·11 | ·14 | ·15 |
+------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
FIRM Q.
_Information obtained._--Wage lists in eleven selected weeks. Work
done--machine ruling in its higher branches, usually done by men; also
paging and numbering (see table, p. 131).
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| FIRM Q. | 1890. | 1891. | 1897. |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| | Nov. 8th. | May 9th. | May 14th. |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| 20_s._ to 22_s._ | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 9 | 6 | 4 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 9 | 8 | 11 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 15 | 14 | 12 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 5 | 7 | 6 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 6 | 9 | 6 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| 2_s._ " 4_s._ | 5 | 6 | 1 |
| 0_s._ " 2_s._ | 0 | 0 | 0 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| | 68 | 71 | 59 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| Median | 12 6 | 11 3 | 12 2 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| Quartiles | 15 4 | 14 3 | 14 6 |
| | 7 4 | 7 0 | 7 7 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| Dispersion | ·3 | ·3 | ·3 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| FIRM Q. | 1897. | 1898. |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| | Nov. 12th. | May 13th. | Nov. 11th. |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| 20_s._ to 22_s._ | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 6 | 5 | 7 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 10 | 8 | 10 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 12 | 13 | 12 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 6 | 4 | 5 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 2_s._ " 4_s._ | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| 0_s._ " 2_s._ | 0 | 0 | 0 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| | 56 | 56 | 58 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| | | | |
| Median | 12 4 | 12 10 | 12 4 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| Quartiles | 14 9 | 15 6 | 15 0 |
| | 8 2 | 8 9 | 8 0 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| Dispersion | ·3 | ·28 | ·3 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| FIRM Q. | 1899. |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| | Feb. 10th. | May 12th. | Aug. 11th. |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| 20_s._ to 22_s._ | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 6 | 8 | 1 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 10 | 6 | 4 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 11 | 9 | 6 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 6 | 10 | 10 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 7 | 9 | 4 |
| 2_s._ " 4_s._ | 7 | 2 | 8 |
| 0_s._ " 2_s._ | 0 | 0 | 1 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| | 58 | 57 | 50 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| Median | 12 0 | 11 4 | 9 6 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| Quartiles | 15 0 | 15 0 | 13 0 |
| | 6 0 | 7 3 | 6 0 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| Dispersion | ·4 | ·35 | ·37 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| FIRM Q. | 1899. |
+------------------+------------+-----------+
| | Nov. 10th. | Dec. 8th. |
+------------------+------------+-----------+
| 20_s._ to 22_s._ | 0 | 1 |
| 18_s._ " 20_s._ | 2 | 2 |
| 16_s._ " 18_s._ | 10 | 9 |
| 14_s._ " 16_s._ | 9 | 10 |
| 12_s._ " 14_s._ | 7 | 10 |
| 10_s._ " 12_s._ | 5 | 7 |
| 8_s._ " 10_s._ | 7 | 4 |
| 6_s._ " 8_s._ | 5 | 6 |
| 4_s._ " 6_s._ | 6 | 14 |
| 2_s._ " 4_s._ | 8 | 1 |
| 0_s._ " 2_s._ | 0 | 0 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+
| | 59 | 64 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+
| | _s._ _d._ | _s._ _d._ |
+------------------+------------+-----------+
| Median | 10 0 | 12 0 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+
| Quartiles | 15 4 | 15 2 |
| | 6 4 | 6 4 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+
| Dispersion | ·41 | ·35 |
+------------------+------------+-----------+
* * * * *
Additional information from other firms, 1900-1901:--
FIRM R. Bookbinders. Folders and sewers, 14_s._, 15_s._; head banders,
15_s._; forty-eight hours weekly all the year.
FIRM S. Eleven numberers; median, 17_s._ 8_d._
FIRM T. Printing works. Piece workers make 5_d._ an hour; time workers,
5½_d._ Four compositors: average, busy week, 23_s._ 2_d._; typical,
19_s._ 11_d._; slack, 18_s._ 9_d._
FIRM U. Vellum sewers, 12_s._ to 13_s._ all the year round; numerical
printers, average week, 15_s._ to 16_s._; slack week, 10_s._
FIRM V.
No. Median. Quartiles.
Folders (piece work): _s._ _d._ _s._ _d._ _s._ _d._
Slack week 38 12 1 9 6 16 0
Typical week 44 15 6 15 6 20 9
Busy week 38 20 1 17 10 20 0
Counters
(time workers). Stitchers. 1 Packer.
No. Median. No. Median.
_s._ _d._ _s._ _d._ _s._ _d._
Slack Week 16 10 0 9 9 9 19 1
Typical Week 14 11 6 9 11 7 20 0
Busy week 14 11 7 9 11 2 20 0
In this case there is very little to choose between the weeks entered as
"typical" and "busy" by the employer.
FIRM W.
Two compositors make, at 5½_d._ an hour, 22_s._ or 23_s._ nearly every
week in the year.
* * * * *
The inclusion of the eighty-four workers, of whom we have sufficient
details in firms R. to W., would affect the figures on p. 133 below very
slightly, raising the median and upper quartile 2_d._, and increasing
the proportion between 18_s._ and 22_s._ to 13½ per cent. of the whole
instead of 12¼ per cent.
II.--GENERAL GROUPING OF WAGES.
The material is not sufficiently complete or homogeneous to allow any
complete account of wages at any date; but the tables now given
(supplemented occasionally by the raw material) allow us to offer an
estimate of the grouping in a typical week of 1899, supposing each firm
to be paying typical wages in one and the same week. This method is
rough, and will not support any fine calculations to be based on it; but
at the same time it affords a view, sufficiently accurate for most
purposes, of the general trend and distribution of wages. All classes of
workers, except apprentices and learners, are included.
AN ESTIMATE OF WAGES IN A TYPICAL WEEK IN 1899 OF 1,001 WORKERS IN
ALL BRANCHES.
Less 2_s._ 4_s._ 6_s._ 8_s._ 10_s._
than to to to to to
2_s._ 4_s._ 6_s._ 8_s._ 10_s._ 12_s._
1 17 41 68 92 131
12_s._ 14_s._ 16_s._ 18_s._ 20_s._ 22_s._ Above
to to to to to to 24_s._
14_s._ 16_s._ 18_s._ 20_s._ 22_s._ 24_s._
174 177 131 72 55 17 25
Of those above 24_s._:
24_s._ 26_s._ 28_s._ 30_s._ 32_s._ 36_s._
to to to to to to
26_s._ 28_s._ 30_s._ 32_s._ 34_s._ 38_s._
11 6 4 1 2 1
These figures are so similar in many respects to those which generally
arise when a large group of trades are massed together, that they afford
strong evidence that they make a fair sample.
Remembering the roughness of the hypothesis, and not assuming that these
wages multiplied by fifty-two give annual earnings, we find, in a week
which the employers regard as typical, the following: Average, 13_s._
8_d._; median, 13_s._ 8_d._; quartiles, 10_s._ 6_d._, 16_s._ 10_d._;
dispersion .23. Thus, half the wage earners obtain between 10_s._ 6_d._
and 16_s._ 10_d._; and 80 per cent. obtain from 7_s._ 4_d._ to 20_s._
There is some doubt as to who are and who should properly be included at
both ends of the series. At the lower end, no doubt, some learners have
been included, and some piece workers excluded, for in a typical week
there would certainly be some cases where the wages were abnormally low.
On the other hand, in the large number above 24_s._, no doubt many above
the status of the ordinary worker are included, and some are definitely
stated to be forewomen.
If we omit all above 24_s._, we have: Average, 13_s._ 4_d._; median,
13_s._ 7_d._; quartiles, 10_s._ 5_d._, 16_s._ 6_d._
The difference in these averages is not significant.
The table is best written in percentage.
2_s._ 4_s._ 6_s._ 8_s._ 10_s._ 12_s._
to to to to to to
4_s._ 6_s._ 8_s._ 10_s._ 12_s._ 14_s._
2 4 7 9 13 17
14_s._ 16_s._ 18_s._ 20_s._ 22_s._
to to to to to Above
16_s._ 18_s._ 20_s._ 22_s._ 24_s._ 24_s._
18 13 7 5½ 2 2½ per cent. earning.
Note, that if these wages were repeated week by week through the year
the average worker would make about £35.
III.--CHANGE OF WAGES BETWEEN 1885 AND 1900.
Where wages are continually fluctuating week by week and month by month,
while, in addition, there are depressions and inflations affecting
various groups of workers for one or two years, it is a matter of very
great statistical difficulty to determine whether wages have on the
whole been stationary, rising, or falling. Even if we had a complete
account year by year these difficulties would remain; but as it is we
are dependent on the records of only seven firms--good, bad, or
indifferent--since 1885, 1887, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, and 1898,
respectively. No amount of further research would make such records more
than very insufficient, for it is very rarely that the figures are
preserved for any length of time. What changes there are may very likely
be due to peculiarities of a particular firm, to its success, or to
changes in character of work, and only in case of agreement in all the
figures could we generalise. Our conclusions, then, will be chiefly
negative.
There is no sufficient evidence that wages in 1899 are above or below
wages about 1895, 1890 or 1885; the only difference appears to be due to
individual busy or slack years.
In the two cases (C. and G.) where machine rulers are separated their
wages have risen from 6_s._ to 8_s._ in 1897-99.
As regards the years 1896-99, there is no general agreement as to any
two years, but the figures are consistent with a slight general
improvement from 1895 to 1900.
There is nothing in the figures to show that the course of wages in Firm
A. given above is different from that in the trade in general, while
there is just a little evidence that it is the same. We therefore repeat
the annual average wage in that firm:--
1885. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889.
9_s._ 1_d._ 8_s._ 10_d._ 9_s._ 9_s._ 4_d._ 10_s._ 1_d._
1890. 1891-2. 1892-3. 1894. 1895.
10_s._ 6_d._ 9_s._ 6_d._ 9_s._ 8_s._ 11_d._ 9_s._ 4_d._
1896. 1897-8. 1899.
9_s._ 8_d._ 10_s._ 4_d._ 10_s._ 1_d._
IV.--WAGES IN DIFFERENT OCCUPATIONS.
The occupations are so involved, and the arrangements differ so much
from firm to firm, that it is impracticable to state a definite wage for
any occupation, and the wages are so diverse that it is useless to
speak of an average wage. The table on p. 135 gives a general view of
the wages of those hands who can be labelled with some exactness, and it
is seen that the facts are so complex that they cannot be summarised in
a few words. The wages included are the actual weekly averages (total
annual receipts divided by fifty-two) in 1899, except where they are
otherwise distinguished.
+--------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| WAGES IN | Numbers whose average weekly wages were |
| DIFFERENT | _s._ |
| OCCUPATIONS. +---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| | | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | |
| | > | to | to | to | to | to | to | to | to |Above|
| | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| BOOKBINDING | | | | | | | | | | |
| HOUSES | | | | | | | | | | |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| Handfolders | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| Folders | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| who were | | | | | | | | | | |
| also sewing | | | | | | | | | | |
| machinists, | | | | | | | | | | |
| gatherers, | | | | | | | | | | |
| placers, | | | | | | | | | | |
| or sewers | | | | | | | | | | |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| Handsewers, | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| or collators | | | | | | | | | | |
| and | | | | | | | | | | |
| gatherers | | | | | | | | | | |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
>6 = Under 6
+--------------+-----------+
| WAGES IN | Median. |
| DIFFERENT | |
| OCCUPATIONS. | |
+--------------+-----------+
| BOOKBINDING | _s._ _d._ |
| HOUSES | |
+--------------+-----------+
| Handfolders | 13 4 |
+--------------+-----------+
| Folders | 12 6 |
| who were | |
| also sewing | |
| machinists, | |
| gatherers, | |
| placers, | |
| or sewers | |
+--------------+-----------+
| Handsewers, | 15 0 |
| or | |
| collators | |
| and | |
| gatherers | |
+--------------+-----------+
+--------------+-------------------------------------------+-----+
| WAGES IN | Numbers whose average weekly wages were | |
| DIFFERENT | _s._ | |
| OCCUPATIONS. +---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| | | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | |
| | - | to | to | to | to | to | to | to | to |Above|
| | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| PRINTING | | | | | | | | | | |
| HOUSES: | | | | | | | | | | |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| Folders who | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 3 | 6 |
| were also | | | | | | | | | | |
| sewers | | | | | | | | | | |
| or stitchers | | | | | | | | | | |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| Folders in | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 5 |
| typical | | | | | | | | | | |
| week, 1901 | | | | | | | | | | |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| Gatherers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| Inserters | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| Numberers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| Counters in | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| typical | | | | | | | | | | |
| week, 1901 | | | | | | | | | | |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| Stitchers | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| Compositors | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
+--------------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
+--------------+----------+
| WAGES IN | Median. |
| DIFFERENT | |
| OCCUPATIONS. | |
+--------------+----------+
| PRINTING | _s._ _d._|
| HOUSES: | |
+--------------+----------+
| Folders | 18 6 |
| who were | |
| also sewers | Maximum |
| or stitchers | 26 10 |
+--------------+----------+
| Folders in | 15 6 |
| typical | |
| week, 1901 | |
+--------------+----------+
| Gatherers | 18 0 |
+--------------+----------+
| Inserters | -- |
+--------------+----------+
| Numberers | 17 8 |
+--------------+----------+
| Counters in | 11 7 |
| typical | |
| week, 1901 | |
+--------------+----------+
| Stitchers | 11 6 |
+--------------+----------+
| Compositors | 18 6 |
+--------------+----------+
[Illustration: Firm D.--Wages Week by Week in 1899. 1. _Looker-over_
(_time_, 14_s._ 6_d._). 3. _Folder and Sewer (piece)._ Firm G.--1896.
_Dispatch (piece)._]
V.--EARNINGS OF INDIVIDUALS.
Out of the 130 lists we have, showing the actual earnings week by week
of individuals for periods of one to fifteen years, thirty-nine have
been selected, twenty-six of which are tabulated on the following pages
(Appendix VI.), and twelve of which are represented in the following
diagrams. These have been selected as illustrating the various classes
of workers and of work.
The most noticeable characteristic of the diagrams is the frequency and
violence of the fluctuations, and the same is found in a study of the
original figures throughout.
A few time hands (Appendix VI.; diagram C), are nearly regular; only one
shows perfectly regular earnings; many fluctuate as rapidly as the piece
workers (Appendix VI.; diagram D. 2), and on the sheets we have several
actual records of lost time and overtime, showing how these changes
arise; others show a steady increase with slight movements (Appendix
VI.; diagram A. 4).
The four Bank Holiday seasons are marked on most of the diagrams and
wage lists.
The most interesting, novel, and important feature of these lists is the
light thrown on the very obscure relation (obscure in all branches of
industry) between "nominal," "average," or "typical" wages and actual
annual earnings; there are in existence very few actual records of
individuals' earnings over a series of years for any workers in the
United Kingdom. The workers included in the list are among the more
regular ones, who succeed in keeping their place month after month.
Though the wages vary so greatly week by week, yet when we come to take
the average over any period greater than, say, two months, we find there
is but little variation. Thus, in the example from Firm B. in diagram,
the quarterly average is between 16_s._ and 17_s._ for nine years,
except for absence in two quarters, and the annual average is still
more regular. The great bulk of the regular workers (folders and the
like) make a sum between £30 and £40 every year, and between £7 and £11
every quarter.
In view of this result, periodic pressure becomes relatively unimportant
for the regular hands. There is no season in the industry as a whole
shown in the wage lists. The different firms and different workers have
in many cases their regular times of pressure like bank clerks and
schoolmasters; these times are sometimes monthly, sometimes quarterly.
In other cases no rule is to be discovered.
The most important effect of this irregular pressure is in the number of
jobbers employed.
VI.--JOBBERS.
Jobbers usually come in at the busy season and make good money. As they
go from house to house, it is impossible to get a full account of any
particular jobber's earnings.
Jobbers are frequently employed in Firm B, and in many cases the highest
wage earned is by a jobber. Thus in the last week of April, 1895, out of
thirty workers, fifteen were jobbers; the eleven highest sums were
earned by them, five being over £1.
VII.--TIME AND PIECE RATES.
The distinction between time rates and piece rates is not vital; the
method of payment seems to be accidental, and the custom varies from
house to house. Machine rulers seem generally to have time rates, and
these are among the lowest earners, while some of the best paid
permanent hands are also time. On looking through the lists of
individuals' earnings, it is seen that time earnings are sometimes quite
as variable as piece earnings, for hours worked fluctuate continually.
In other cases the time payment is much more regular, showing
fluctuations only at holidays.
APPENDIX I.--POINTS UPON WHICH ENQUIRIES WERE MADE.
1.--TRAINING.
(_a_) Method, Indentures or not.
(_b_) Length.
(_c_) Age when it begins.
(_d_) Premiums.
(_e_) Wages during training.
Comparison between length of training in vogue now and formerly, to be
obtained where possible.
2.--WAGES (_Forms appended_).
Wages throughout the factory or workshop for two or three slack and two
or three busy weeks to be obtained where possible, and for a few
ordinary hands throughout the year.
3.--CONDITIONS OF WORK.
(_a_) Describe the nature of the work, and subdivisions.
(_b_) Is it a season trade?
(_c_) Is it healthy? Is there a special trade disease?
(_d_) Is much strength or intelligence needed?
(_e_) Is dangerous machinery used?
(_f_) Average hours per week; meal hours.
(_g_) Is there a chance of rising? If so, to what position?
4.--ORGANISATION.
What attempts have been made to organise women, and with what success?
Attitude towards, and knowledge about, Women's Unions?
5.--MARRIED AND UNMARRIED WORKERS.
How long do women remain in the trade?
Proportion of married to unmarried.
Are there signs of married women lowering rates of pay?
Comparison between married and unmarried as workers.
6.--SEPARATE FACTORY LEGISLATION.
(A.) Economic effects:--
(_a_) Instances of women being turned off owing to Factory
Legislation.
(_b_) Do the restrictions imposed by the Factory Acts hinder the
employment of women?
(_c_) How far do these restrictions influence wages?
(_d_) How far has legislation diverted the industry from or to,
factory, workshop, or home?
(B.) Contrast between conditions of work before and after Act of 1867.
7.--MEN AND WOMEN.
Instances where either sex replaces the other, and the reasons for it in
each case.
Relative wages when men and women do the same work.
If women's wage is lower, why is it?
Attitude of Men's Unions towards female labour.
8.--WOMEN AND MACHINERY.
How far has machinery increased or diminished women's work?
How far does the cheapness of women's work tend to retard the
introduction of machinery?
9.--HOME WORK.
In which branches is this done, and to what extent?
Plant required.
Rates of pay compared with work done inside.
Why, from the point of view of the home worker in each case, is home
work done?
10.--INFLUENCE OF WOMEN'S WAGES ON THE FAMILY INCOME.
Occupation of husband.
Amount contributed towards home expenses.
APPENDIX II.--DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN TYPICAL FIRMS.
1. A.,[94] _A well-known Printing Firm in London. Employée's
Information._
[Footnote 94: Index letters by which reference is made to the firm in
the body of the volume, except in the chapter on wages.]
WORK.--Folding, sewing, numbering, etc.
REGULARITY.--The work is not seasonal, at any rate at A.
HEALTH.--Numbering is very bad for a weak chest and makes one's head
ache as well. Girls with weak chests cannot stand it. Folding, however,
is not unhealthy unless the hours are too long.
HOURS.--At B. they are 48 per week; but at A. they are 53½, distributed
as follows:--Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.;
Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.
to 1 p.m.; one hour for dinner and half an hour for tea being allowed
each full working day.
GENERAL.--The sanitary arrangements are very bad at A., and lavatories
open straight out of workrooms, and are in very bad condition. One does
not use them unless she wants to get a fever. The company is very mixed.
"You can tell that it is rather a low place, because the girls wear
curlers and nothing is said. When one works at B. she has to take out
curlers before she comes. You can always tell the sort of place when the
girls wear curlers."
2. _A well-known Printing Firm in London. Forewoman's Information._
WORK.--6 or 7 girls are employed at machine ruling, and a few at vellum
sewing and folding.
REGULARITY.--The girls are kept on all the year round.
HOURS.--The hours are from 8 a.m. to 7.30 p.m., with one hour for dinner
and half an hour for tea.
PROSPECTS.--Might rise to forewomen, but that not common.
GENERAL.--Work girls have nothing to complain of now; they are always
very well looked after.
3. S., _Small Printing Firm in London. Employée's Evidence._
WORK.--16 girls and 1 man (who is an engineer) are employed, S. helping
himself. Upstairs there are 2 men "blocking," and 2 girls powdering for
them. The girls do all the printing, _e.g._, the informant can set up
the type, lock it into the frame, make ready, and then feed the platen
machine--which alone is used in this firm. Informant can also clean the
machine. She also does "bronzing," _i.e._, dusting-on bronze with a pad.
The girls powdering upstairs do nothing else. A few younger girls fold
circulars.
REGULARITY.--Work is steady, and they are always busy.
HEALTH.--Bronzing is most unhealthy. ----'s colour has all gone since
she was put on to it a few weeks ago. "You are supposed to have milk to
drink, but you never get more than half a cupful at the end of the day,
when it is too late. The inspector has been round and has asked about
the milk, but of course the manager said that milk was always given."
(Informant looked very ill.) She had to stay away from work all the
previous Thursday, and lost a shilling in consequence. Her father and
mother say she must leave the work or she will die. "You see, they lost
a brother of mine at twenty-three and a sister at thirteen, and they
don't want me to go off too."
The powdering done by the girls in the blocking room is very unhealthy.
None of them can stand it long. They get ill and go off elsewhere. It
brings on consumption.
Feeding machines is very tiring.
One girl works the cutting machine, which is unfit for a woman and very
dangerous. A girl who worked it lost her finger and was six weeks in
hospital, but the firm paid her well not to tell. The printing machines
are dangerous, for you often get your fingers caught; it comes back
quicker than you expect.
HOURS.--The hours are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., with one hour for dinner
and a quarter of an hour for tea; on Saturdays, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.,
with half an hour for a meal. They never get away at 6 though, not till
6.30 or later, for there are the machines to be cleaned and things to be
cleared up.
GENERAL.--Mr. S. sometimes comes round and talks as if he were the
kindest of employers. "He'll say, 'Take care of your head, there, dear.'
It makes you sick to hear him. If he'd give better wages it would be
more to the point."
4. Q., _Job Printing Firm in London. Visit to Works._
WORK.--I went through the works and saw 10 extra young girls sticking on
pockets for stamps on to an appeal sheet of ...; one girl feeding a
platen machine which was gumming instead of printing; 4 or 5 upstairs in
the regular folding room folding....
REGULARITY.--Q. has only 4 or 5 regular hands, and when there is a rush
of work, he takes on job hands. "You put up a bill and can easily get
100 if you want them." He dislikes the custom, but does not see how it
is to be obviated in the printing trade. "You suddenly have 75,000
circulars to do, and you don't know when the next order will be."
HOURS.--The hours are from 8 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., with one hour for
dinner, ten minutes for lunch and ten minutes for tea. Girls prefer
this to half an hour for tea and leaving at 7. On Saturdays the hours
are from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., no meal time being allowed. The married
women, however, rarely come till 9 a.m.
5. L., _Printing, etc., Firm in London. Employée's Evidence._
WORK.--200 girls are employed at L.'s. Informant does folding now, used
to do sewing by machine.
REGULARITY.--The work is regular, "but you never know when the work is
coming in. They are always busy with the ... guides at the end of the
month, and two or three job hands come in."
HEALTH.--She has always found the occupation healthy.
PROSPECTS.--None; is slow herself. She has worked at L.'s six years, and
has never known of anyone becoming a forelady.
DANGERS.--She has never had an accident, and was working on a machine
for five years.
HOURS.--The hours are from 8.30 a.m. to 7 or 8 p.m., with an hour for
dinner (from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.), and half an hour for tea (4 p.m. to 4.30
p.m.) and from 8.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Sometimes they are let
off early if there is no work. But some girls go and lark about in the
street, and then the manager scolds the forelady and she will not let
the others go. She never takes a holiday except Bank Holidays.
GENERAL.--Only talks to a few of the girls, but they are quite a nice
set.
6. T., _Weekly Newspaper Firm in London. Visit to Works._
WORK.--Folding, gathering, collating, sewing (all sewing by machinery),
or stabbing with wire, insetting, wrappering (glue pot), feeding folding
machines.
REGULARITY.--It is more or less regular, but there is the regular weekly
and monthly work, so there is less fluctuation than in "binding houses."
Tuesday to Friday are busy days, and the forewoman employs some married
women who come in as long as they are wanted.
DANGERS.--One stitching machine is dangerous, the forewoman said; the
folded sheet has to be pushed along with the hand and there is the
_chance_ of the hand being caught.
HOURS.--The hours are from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., occasionally till 8; one
hour being allowed for dinner and half an hour for tea.
PROSPECTS.--The girls may rise to forewomen and a sort of
deputy-forewoman, chosen by forewoman, to overlook certain rooms. The
girls are not, as a rule, at all eager for the responsibility.
7. _Large Bookbinding Firm in London._
(A.) _Manager's Information._
WORK.--Folding, sewing, collating, placing plates, laying-on gold, etc.
REGULARITY.--The work is partly seasonal. They are busy in the winter
time, and work to limits allowed by the Factory Acts; they are slack in
the summer, and may even have no work for three weeks or so at a time.
DANGERS.--They have only had two accidents. One was with an ordinary
sewing machine; the other was with a Bremner machine, when a little girl
was setting it up. She caught her finger in it, but was not away from
work a fortnight.
HOURS.--They work 48 hours per week, allowing one and a half hours for
meals per day, _i.e._, from 8 a.m. to 12, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and
from 4.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.; on Saturdays, from 8 a.m. to 12. This
really comes to 49 hours a week if the girls are punctual, but he
reckons 48 hours because they are not punctual.
PROSPECTS.--Only a chance of rising to forewomen.
(B.) _Forewoman's Evidence._
REGULARITY.--It is a season trade and they are just beginning to be
slack (March) in Miss X.'s shop where the new work is done.
HEALTH.--Miss X. "had been through it all," and thought folding
dreadfully tiring. There is nothing specially unhealthy about it.
HOURS.--The hours are supposed to be 49 a week, but if there is any work
they do not keep to that. A 48 hours' week only means that the time
workers get paid extra. Miss X. worked in a place where they were
supposed to have 51 hours a week but rarely made more than 40.
The firm make their girls stay as little as possible when there is no
work, but this is very different to most places, as the workpeople are
studied here.
(C.) _Employée's Evidence._
WORK.--In E., Bible work and new or cloth work are quite separate, and
there are separate hands for each. She did folding for the Bible work
herself.
HEALTH.--The work is not very healthy. "Sitting all day is bad for you,"
but there is no special disease. Bible work is light work, as much of it
is on India paper; new work is much heavier.
HOURS.--The hours are from 8.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., with an hour for
dinner and half an hour for tea, but when busy they work till 8 p.m. or
9 p.m. This happens about thirty times a year. They are allowed to go
home if there is not work.
[There is a very nice set of girls at the Bible work; they are
particular there about whom they take, and it is a very good house to be
in.]
GENERAL.--It is rather dull and tiring working because they are not
supposed to talk to each other at Bible work.
8. _Printing and Stationery Firm in London. General Information._
TRAINING. In the Book-folding and Vellum Sewing Department the girls
have an agreement to serve two years.
_Age At Beginning._--Fourteen.
_Premium._--None.
_Wages._--6 months at 1_s._, 6 months at 2_s._ 6_d._, 6 months at 5_s._,
and 6 months at 7_s._ 6_d._ per week.
IN THE NUMBERING, RELIEF STAMPING, ETC., PACKING Department there are no
indentures or regular system of apprenticeship but girls are expected to
serve about two years.
_Age At Beginning._--Fourteen.
_Premium._--None.
_Wages._--Girls start at 1_s._ per week, for, say, three months, then
get three-quarter earnings. Very few are trained in this firm, they take
on workers who have learnt elsewhere. How many branches learners are
taught seems to depend on chance. Some old hands do all the processes,
some only one.
MACHINE RULING.--In this department there is no system. Little girls
come and feed at 5_s._ and 7_s._ per week. When they have been at it a
year or two they are drafted off to other departments.
LITHOGRAPHIC WORK.--There is no regular training in this department. It
only takes about two weeks to learn the work done by girls here.
NOTEPAPER FOLDING requires no training. "Why! you could pick it up in a
week or two."
WAGES.--The firm does much work for public bodies, and so has to pay
"fair" wages. The manager did not seem to know whether this applied to
women's work too, but evidently it does.
DEPARTMENT I.--NUMBERING, ETC.--The manager gave wages as 11_s._ to
16_s._ per week, some being paid on time and some on piece work. The
foreman considered 14_s._ to be about the average. The following girls
were questioned:--
One packer got 12_s._ (time wages) per week.
Another packer got 13_s._ (time wages) per week.
One piece relief stamper got about 13_s._ (piece work) per week.
Another piece relief stamper got about 16_s._ (piece work) per
week.
One numberer got 15_s._ (piece work) per week.
DEPARTMENT II.--LITHOGRAPHIC FEEDING.--Here girls start at 6_s._ and
rise up to 14_s._ (time wages).
DEPARTMENT III.--MACHINE RULING.--In this department all wages are for
time work. Quite little girls receive 4_s._ or 5_s._ up to 7_s._ per
week. They are drafted off when they want higher wages than that. There
were, however, two older ones in the room who were folding and counting
the ruled foolscap paper at 14_s._ per week.
DEPARTMENT IV.--BOOK-FOLDING, ETC.--Out of the 45 girls employed in this
department, 10 were on time work, and were being paid from 13_s._ to
16_s._ per week. The piece workers, according to the forewoman, were
making from 13_s._ to 16_s._ per week, taking all the year round. Some
were making over 20_s._ per week.
DEPARTMENT V.--VELLUM WORK.--All 15 girls employed here were on time
work. They got 11_s._ per week when first out of their time; 12_s._
after two years. None were receiving over 12_s._, except one who "makes
up" at 13_s._ a week. These wages were given by the forewoman. The
manager seemed surprised that they were not higher, and remarked that
they were lower than in the book-folding department. The forewoman said
that in most places the vellum workers got more than book workers, but
this firm had arranged otherwise.
DEPARTMENT VI.--The girls FOLDING NOTEPAPER in the warehouse were
getting 13_s._ or 14_s._ (time wages) per week.
WORK.--Department I.--NUMBERING, RELIEF STAMPING, PERFORATING, PACKING,
AND GUMMING going on.
The numbering and the stamping are different trades, done by different
girls, but most of them can do packing as well, though in some cases
they learn packing only. They can mostly do perforating and gumming,
odds and ends too. Some were folding postal forms. Special envelope
orders are done here. About 35 girls were employed.
There was one man doing the illuminating required and working at a
rather heavy press. There was also a good number of youths doing
numbering. I tried vainly to find out what they were paid. The manager
and the foreman said that they were not doing the same work; it was the
same except that a name was stamped on as well as a number (it was on
money orders). Two girls were also doing this, but I was assured that
that was only "by accident." Two or three boys were perforating and
stamping.
DEPARTMENT II.--LITHO PRINTING. Girls were feeding machines and washing
rollers. About 12 girls were employed.
DEPARTMENT III.--MACHINE RULING. Little girls were feeding the ruling
machines, and a few older ones were counting and folding the foolscap
paper; 18 girls were employed.
DEPARTMENT IV.--BOOKBINDING AND SEWING. All sorts of folding, sewing and
stitching (by machine mostly), eyeletting, etc., etc., were being
carried on, and about 45 girls were employed.
DEPARTMENT V.--VELLUM WORK. Sewing, folding, etc., for account books and
ledgers was being done; 15 girls were employed, also one girl
"laying-on" for cloth work, and two or three running errands.
DEPARTMENT VI.--In the WAREHOUSE were three girls folding notepaper.
REGULARITY.--Work here is constant all the year round. The forewoman in
the book-folding department said they only had in job hands about twice
a year.
HOURS.--The firm works about 54 hours per week, _i.e._, from 8 a.m. to 7
p.m., with one hour for dinner, half an hour for tea, and ten minutes
for lunch. On Saturdays they work from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
OVERTIME.--It was very difficult to get anything definite about overtime
pay. The manager first said that they all got 6_d._ an hour overtime.
Then he said that piece workers were simply paid at piece rates. The
forewoman in the book-folding department said that time hands got 4_d._
an hour overtime. In the vellum work they never had any overtime. These
extra payments seem to be irregularly made.
PROSPECTS.--The girls can rise to forewoman's position, here or
elsewhere. Vellum work forewoman mentioned that two of her young ladies
had become forewomen elsewhere.
ORGANISATION.--The manager knew that a Women's Union existed, but
thought it was more of a Benefit Society than anything else. He assured
me that the problem of the organisation of women's labour was the
problem in trade, and seemed vaguely to regret that women were so
helpless and ready to be cut down.
MARRIED AND UNMARRIED.--The manager estimated twelve years as the
average period that a woman remained in the trade. He fancied that there
were a good many married women here; but when we went round and asked
the different heads of departments we found that the only married ones
were 2 in the litho department, _i.e._, 2 out of 12 in that department,
_i.e._, 2 out of about 128 employed altogether. In the other departments
the forewomen or foremen did not care to have them because they were so
irregular. "You can never count on them." Two widows were employed in
the book-folding department. The head of the litho department had only
lately found out that two of his employees were married--one had run
away from her husband, the other's husband was a stone polisher and she
had to come out to keep the house going. The manager was very decided
that undoubtedly married women's work tended to lower wages. They only
want a little to supplement their husbands' earnings. He explained
afterwards that his remarks applied more to the provinces than to
London. He thought that the thing to aim at in improving the industrial
position of women was the abolition of the married woman worker. How
this could be done he could not say. The forewoman of the book-folding
and sewing department, who had had some experience of married jobbers,
said that they would not do ordinary work at ordinary rates, as they did
not consider it worth their while. They had not _got_ to earn any money,
as they had husbands to fall back upon. The manager said that in the
litho department the single girls thought it _infra dig._ to wash the
rollers, but the married women "made no bones about it."
LEGISLATION.--In no case had women been turned away because of
restrictive legislation. A certain amount of folding and stitching has
to be done by men at night, and he would say that about 2 or 3 men were
employed at this for about one hour five nights in the week. Sometimes
the folding was not ready till 11 p.m., and the men had to hang about
before. The manager thought that the chief grievance of the Factory Acts
was that if only one woman in a department was employed overtime, one of
the thirty legal nights was thereby used up. The manager thought that it
was forty-eight nights you might work overtime, and seemed surprised on
looking up the notices to find that it was thirty only. He approved of
Factory Legislation on the whole, and thought that women had benefited
by it. Personally, he would like to see all overtime abolished by law
for men and women. Men worked worse next day when they had had to sit up
at night. Public bodies were the worst offenders in the matter, "They
have no consciences." The forewoman of the folding and sewing, where
overtime was worked, said that her girls disliked overtime very much;
and she did not think it worth while working them, as they could do less
work next day in consequence. She had much rather that the men did it at
night. She and the manager agreed that in places where women did not
make a decent wage by working ordinary hours they might want to work at
night. As to the effect Factory Legislation had upon the diverting of
work from the home to the workshop, or _vice versâ_, the manager thought
that the tendency had been for work to come in to the factory. There
used to be much more home work.
MEN AND WOMEN.--According to the manager, there is a hard and fast line
drawn by the various Societies in London as to what a woman may or may
not do.
In _Bookbinding_ of all descriptions she is practically confined to
folding and sewing. She may not touch a glue brush or do any putting of
paper books or magazines into paper covers.
In the provinces, on the other hand, the rules of the Consolidated
Societies are different. A woman may do flush binding (_i.e._, books
whose covers are cut on a level with the leaves and which have no
"turnings in") up and foolscap size, two quires. Hence women do diaries,
etc. In certain works at Tonbridge women are set to do this.
_Litter-press Printing._--This firm had never tried female compositors.
They had 100 men. If they tried to introduce women, all the men would go
out and "you'd have a hornet's nest." The idea of paying women at the
same rate as men struck them as ridiculous. "They would never be worth
as much because they stay such a little time." They might some day try
women compositors in their country establishment.
_Feeding Printing Machines._--They might not employ women on platen
machines because of the Union, but were going to try them on smallish
letter-press machines. The Union had no objection to that.
_Machine Ruling._--The firm only had little girls for feeding. The
foreman remarked that at R.'s, "over the water," they had women to do
most of their ruling, but did not seem to think that it would be worth
while to train a woman for it. At first he said that the Men's Union
would object, then said that he thought they would not; only he would
have to give the woman the same pay as a man, "and fancy giving a woman
32_s._ a week!" This was uttered in a tone of supreme contempt. The
manager remarked that he supposed it would not matter paying the woman
the same if she did as much work, but the foreman smiled superior to the
idea.
WOMEN AND MACHINERY.--The manager thought that the output of printed
matter had increased so enormously since the introduction of machinery
that more hands than ever were employed.
The forewoman of the folding and sewing department said that it seemed
as if there must be fewer employed, and yet she had never turned any
off.
HOME WORK.--No home work is given out by the firm. Since so much was
done by machinery it was not worth while to send work out.
INFLUENCE ON FAMILY INCOME.--The manager and forewoman and foreman said
that none of the girls were working for pocket-money. Most lived at home
and helped their parents; some who had no parents lived with relatives.
GENERAL.--The premises were rather nice and the people looked superior
and friendly. There was a great gulf fixed between the litho girls and
the others. The latter look down tremendously on these former and would
not think of speaking to them. They are a much lower set to look at and
their language is reported not to be choice. Many of them were arrayed
in curlers, whilst none of the girls in other departments wore these
decorations.
The vellum sewers were said by their forewoman to be "a nice family
party."
9. _Lithographic Firm. General Information._
GENERAL.--I saw the manager; he was "very much on the spot," friendly
and communicative, and took me all over the works and was quite
interested in showing different processes. He said he had to look sharp
after his workers, and so they often thought him a bully.
WORK.--Chief work done is lithography, but there is also a certain
amount of letter-press work. Engraving and stationery orders are given
out in sub-contract.
TRAINING.--In the binding room, _i.e._, where folding is done, there are
no learners now, but they need to have one or two. These apprentices
were taken on from fourteen years of age without premiums, and were kept
two or three years according to ability. They were paid a few shillings
to begin with, and, if good at their work, they rose gradually. If slow
and stupid, they got nothing. The forewoman said she did not care to
take learners now; "they are more trouble than they are worth."
In the litho room the firm never had apprentices. The new hands come in
and begin "taking-off" for about 8_s._ By-and-by, according to their
nimbleness, they are elevated to "layers-on."
In card mounting there is no training. It is picked up in a few months,
and new hands start at about 8_s._ per week, time wages.
WAGES.--_Binding Room._--The staff (12 girls) are all on time work, the
extra hands are paid piece work. Time wages range from 12_s._ to 14_s._
I was shown last week's wages, and they ranged from 7_s._ to 15_s._, the
forewoman having £1 2_s._ 6_d._; 7_s._ to 8_s._ was the predominant
figure. Job hands on piece "make as much as 15_s._ in a full week," I
was informed, but the wage book that week showed they had only made
about 7_s._ or 8_s._
For overtime, time and a quarter is paid to all time workers, ordinary
rates to piece workers.
_Litho Work._--All wages in this department are time wages, and vary
from 8_s._ to 12_s._ or 14_s._ In the wages book the predominant figure
was 7_s._; there were two 5_s._ and some 8_s._, and up to 12_s._ When
bronzing the workers appeared to get 1_s._ extra.
_Card Mounting._--All time wages paid here, and they were said to range
from 8_s._ to 12_s._ In the wages book, however, 6_s._ and 7_s._ were
the predominant figures. Some were as low as 5_s._, and there were a few
girls who had drawn 8_s._
NO. EMPLOYED.--There were about 200 employees, of whom one-third were
women. The number fluctuated, I was told.
_Litho Artists' Work._--8 or 9 men were employed on this, but no women
on the premises. The firm often accepted sketches from lady artists
living outside, some of whom could even work on stone.
_Litho Machine Work._--Girls are employed feeding litho machines, and
they have about 30 when busy. When I was there only about 12 were
engaged. When bronzing by hand is wanted these girls are set to it (13
were doing it last week). In the same room is
_Card Mounting._--There were only 3 girls at that, but sometimes there
are as many as 12 or 13. This consists of pasting the advertisement,
almanac, etc., on to a piece of cardboard, varnishing it, eyeletting it,
tying the bits of cord through (the 3 girls were doing that), and
sometimes putting gelatine over the surface--a minor trade, at which
they get better paid.
The same girls do occasional work in the _cutting_ room; not at the big
guillotines, but (_a_) at feeding a machine which cuts the strips down
or blocks into bent shapes like a small almanac of ----'s mustard which
I saw; (_b_) at putting shapes on to huge piles of sheets of
advertisements and labels, which are then pressed into the sheets by a
heavy top weight being brought down by steam. They were doing some big
"flies," on to which a string was to be put, so that they could be
whirled round and buzz.
_Binding Room._--There were only about 12 girls employed, but there was
room for 100, and they have them in at a press of work. They do folding
by hand in this firm for certain newspapers and all sorts of
advertisements. Wire stitching is also done. They were folding various
things, packing up labels, and so on, when I was there.
REGULARITY.--The firm's trade fluctuates, but by no regular fixed
seasons; they are always busy before Christmas.
HEALTH.--I was told that it was quite a mistake to think bronzing
unhealthy. The manager stated he had known men at it for months at a
time without any evil effects. They sometimes imagined themselves ill,
but he had never known of a single case of real illness. They grumble at
doing it, and pretend that they are afraid of it because then they get
extra money (1_s._ extra a week). They really object to it because it is
bad for clothes--as you get covered with dust--and uncomfortable to be
all powdered with gold.
He had a machine below on which most work was done, except when there
was a great press. Messrs. ---- gave him out so many thousand to do; he
could not do them fast enough with only one machine, and it was not
worth while having more than one as he had not work enough ordinarily.
No dust escaped from the machine. As a proof of the healthiness of
bronzing he said that he stood for three or four hours in the middle of
it all, "keeping them to their work" (which they want), and got all
covered over with the dust himself. "You wouldn't get a manager doing
that himself if it were unhealthy." He always gave his bronzers one pint
of milk a day to drink, he stated with pride.
The other work, folding, card mounting, etc., was all quite healthy.
Indeed, work was unhealthy more on account of bad ventilation than of
any circumstance belonging to itself; he always had the window open and
a board put across the bottom, 6 ins. high, on the most approved plan.
The workpeople grumbled very much and tried to paste up every crevice
with brown paper, but they could not shut it. They objected to the
incandescent burners which he put in, for they liked the heat of the gas
and missed it.
DANGERS.--Occasionally girls catch their skirts in wheels and so on, but
there are never any "bad accidents." "With people of that class it is
'funk' more than pain that they suffer; they will turn as white as
anything from just a little flesh wound with a cog-wheel." The Factory
Inspectors were very fussy about fencing machinery, he thought. He told
me long stories about men's carelessness and how the boys would sit on
the edge of the lift. He fined them 2_s._ 6_d._ for it.
HOURS.--The hours are about 54 a week, from 8 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., with
one hour for dinner. The women are allowed by the forewomen to have
lunch in the middle of the morning and tea in the afternoon, and when
the men are industrious the manager has no objection to their taking
"snacks." If it is an idler, he objects.
When busy, the work continues till 8 p.m. He had not used special
exemption once the last year.
PROSPECTS.--There are no prospects except for the girls in the binding
room. The present forewoman ("a jewel") had been with the firm for
thirty years; one or two others whom she had trained could take her
place.
ORGANISATION.--He had no knowledge of any Women's Unions covering the
women employed here. This is a Society house in every branch for the
men, but the manager said, "Trades Unionism is all humbug," and he would
like to do away with it altogether, if possible; but it is so strong in
London that if you want to get good men you must be a Society house.
MARRIED AND UNMARRIED.--He employed 2 or 3 married women amongst litho
feeders. The firm ask no questions, but he said he knew most of the
workers.
A lot of the job hands were married, but none of the regular hands in
binding room.
LEGISLATION.--In manager's opinion legislation had not in any way
injured the position of women workers. It did not affect him at all. He
never employed men to fold at night, because it would not pay.
Occasionally, when the litho machines had to be kept working late, he
had to draft in men from other departments to feed them, and he could
understand that a small printer, without different departments, would
find it awkward.
He would not himself have the place open at night with girls working in
it. He would not take the responsibility of that; they would "lark
about, etc." He thought it all to the women's advantage that they must
not work at night.
The intentions of the Factory Acts are good, and he approved of them in
principle, but there was a lot of humbug about them and the L.C.C.
regulations,[95] _e.g._, making him have six basins for lavatory for his
workers. They never used more than two, preferring to follow each other,
and they broke the others, and then round came the inspector and said
you must have six.
[Footnote 95: This is allowed to stand as an indication of the frequent
misunderstandings our investigators met with regarding the L.C.C. This
body appeared to be charged with everything that caused irritation.]
The L.C.C. put a premium on burglary by making it compulsory to have a
way out on to the roof. The Factory Inspector was not a practical man,
and ordered a great deal of unnecessary fencing of machinery. He told me
how one night he kept the girls late without giving notice (the work
came in unexpectedly), and sat by the telephone so as to send up notice
to the forewoman if the inspector came. It was not the Factory Acts
which kept women from being compositors.
MEN AND WOMEN.--Women did litho artists' work at home, and there was no
reason why they should not be quite as good at it as men. It was paid by
the merits of the sketch.
_Feeding Litho Machines._--He used to have boys, and a few years ago
introduced girls. They were much better at it, cleaner, quieter, and
more careful to place the paper exactly than boys.
He still had boys for _feeding letter-press machines_--why, he did not
quite know, except that it was the custom; then, having thought about
it, he said further, that it was because less care was needed. Girls
were no cheaper than the boys were, and were introduced solely on
account of being better workers.
He had no women compositors, and employed only 12 men, and he did not
see how he could work the two together, though he did not see why women
should not do all the setting-up and the display work, though they could
not lift the formes. He did not think the Union objected. It never had
been the custom though.
He never had women to work _cutting machines_. The men would object.
Women never rose to mind the _printing litho machines_; he did not think
they could do it.
He had only one _platen machine_, worked and fed by a boy; but in some
places, where cheap things were done by this machine, _e.g._, paper
bags, girls attended to it.
Men used to do _folding_ in his youth, and they still did _stationers'
folding_, notepaper, etc., in some houses.
HOME WORK.--The firm gave out a certain amount of folding when there
was a press of work. The forewoman knew of old hands and others who
could do it at home. He considered that to be quite a convenient
arrangement.
INFLUENCE ON FAMILY INCOME.--Many of the job hands were married women,
who liked to come out occasionally for a few extra shillings. Others
were single girls, who preferred to be paid by the piece, and go about
from house to house, making as much as time workers for shorter hours.
10. _Paper Colouring and Enamelling Firm in London, also engaged in
Showcard Mounting and Varnishing and Book-edge Gilding. Employer's and
Manager's Information._
Both were very communicative. The former, after repeated questions from
me as to how things were done, took me over the whole place, intending
only to show me the varnishing, and finally letting me see everything.
He is a working-class master who has risen. His father had a small
business, and he has made it a big one. It is one of the biggest firms
in the trade.
TRAINING.--_Card Mounting._--The firm indentures apprentices, who agree
to stay three or four years. They are taken on at fourteen years of age,
and are paid 4_s._ a week for the first year, and then receive a portion
of their piece work earnings, varying according to efficiency, from
one-fourth, one-half, three-fourths, two-thirds, and so on, according to
skill. They come for a month first to see if they suit.
_Paper Colouring and Enamelling._--In this department apprentices are
also indentured for two years. They are taken on at fourteen, and are
paid 4_s._ a week first year, then a portion of their piece earnings as
above.
_Varnishing and Sizing._--No training is given for this. Girls must be
tall, or they are no use. Any girl will be "good at it" after three
weeks.
The employer remarked that parents could not afford to pay a premium. It
was very provoking when girls went off after four years, when a lot of
trouble had been spent in teaching them. I was shown some cards which a
girl, who was supposed to be competent, had spoilt by pasting the sheet
on so that there was a blister; 385 out of 500 were similarly spoilt,
and they cost 6_d._ each, he said.
WAGES.--_Card Mounting and Paper Colouring._--Piece work rates are paid
here, with overtime at the same rate. It is difficult to give an
average. One girl would make 25_s._, while another girl would only make
7_s._ at the same work in the same time. After consideration, the head
gave it as his opinion that 12_s._ 6_d._ a week would be what the
ordinary girl would earn, taking the whole year round, slack with busy
times. They were kept on all the year at this firm. Sometimes a girl
would make as much as 28_s._
It was further stated that a girl might make 6_d._ in less than an hour
at night, when the colours were mixed and she was finishing a job,
whereas it might take her a whole morning to earn the 6_d._ next day.
A quick girl could do 1,000 eyelets in an hour, eyeletting being paid at
10_d._ per 1,000.
_Varnishing and Sizing._--Piece work wages are paid here, with overtime
at same rates. Wages are reckoned by the lump sum for the gross work
done, and divided equally amongst all the hands. The division is made by
the firm, not the workers. We asked one girl what she took last week,
and she said 14_s._; but my guide said that the average would not be so
high for the year, say 12_s._
WORK.--There are four separate departments or businesses here, in three
of which the work is done by women.
_Varnishing and Sizing_, where 16 girls are employed. The calendars,
advertisements, and so on, to be varnished are placed in a pile on a
table underneath the long webbing band, and a girl sits there and feeds.
They are caught up and passed round rollers, and are sized or varnished
as the case may be. Another girl stands facing the machine, seeing that
they pass round all right. They are then carried over the top of the top
roller along the webbing band, which stretches the full length of the
room, till they come to the drum at the end, round which the band passes
on its return journey. There girls take them off and place them in
racks, the bottom one of which is on a small trolley. When a big pile of
racks (about 5½ ft. high) is filled the girls wheel it off, lift up a
door, and push it into a big cupboard which takes up all the middle of
the room, and above which is a fan. There they are left to dry, and when
dry the girls wheel them out again and take out the sheets.
There were two rooms in which this was being done, with about 8 girls in
each. There was also a third room at the side, where they make up odds
and ends, _e.g._, make up packets of "Happy Families," fold odd papers,
eyelet a few things, and so on. There was only 1 girl in this; sometimes
there are several. When a girl comes in first she does this work.
_Card Mounting._--About 30 or 40 girls were employed at this. This
consists in putting the advertisements, calendars, and so on, on to the
big sheets of cardboard and finishing them off. There are various
different processes. The board has to be cut, and this is done either by
a man or a girl who feeds the rotary cutting machine. The sheet of card
is "lined," _i.e._, the back pasted on, and edges pasted over if
required. Then the picture (or calendar) that is to go on it is pasted
down, the girls covering the backs of about four pictures (or
calendars), and then pressing them down one after another. For some work
eyelets are then punched, and in the best work the edges are bevelled by
a little machine consisting of a wheel in a trough, along which the edge
is pushed. In the case of a good deal of School Board work there is a
narrow band of tin or brass at the top which finishes it off, and out of
which comes a brass loop by which to hang it up. The men cut the brass
into slips, and the girls work about five hand machines, the principle
of which is that you put in your map (_e.g._), put the tin or brass slip
of metal in the right position, pull down a handle, lift it up, and the
work comes out with the metal band pressed down on each side and the
loop fixed in the middle. For other work, such as big maps, charts,
diagrams, and so on, wooden rods are used as rollers, etc., and the work
of fastening is done by girls.
_Paper Colouring and Enamelling by Hand._--Only 12 women were engaged
upon this work--a considerable decrease. The sheet of paper to be
coloured is placed in front of the girl, who then wets it over with the
colour (black when I saw it) by means of a brush like a whitewash brush
(the manager said that they were whitewash brushes with the handles
taken off), which she dips into a bowl. She then takes another round
brush, about 10 ins. in diameter, and brushes over the whole surface, so
that the colour lies quite evenly. The sheet of paper is then hung, as
it were, on to a clothes line to dry. These lines stretch over the room.
Enamelling is done in identically the same way, only it is enamel, not
colour, which is put on.
Enamelled paper is the very shiny coloured paper used for end pages of
books, for covering confectionery and similar boxes, etc.
Marbling is never done by this firm. All the coloured paper is in plain
colours, marbling being a quite different process.
_Book-edge Gilding._--Only men are employed in this.
REGULARITY.--The _card mounting_ department is specially busy before
Christmas with calendars, almanacs, etc., but advertisement cards are
turned out all the year.
_Paper colouring_ comes in rushes, but is not a seasonal trade.
_Varnishing_ is sometimes busier at one time than at another, but it is
not seasonal. The work of this firm is such that no job hands are
employed.
HEALTH.--_Paper Colouring and Enamelling._--Mr. ---- called down one
woman who had worked there fourteen years, and her mother before her.
She looked very strong and healthy. The other girls were not so robust
looking as she, but did not look _ill_. One was sitting in one of the
colouring rooms during the dinner hour, her hands all coated over with
paint, eating bread and butter. Mr. ---- rebuked her and told her that
she ought to wash her hands, and that he was always telling her to do
so, but she did not obey, and went on eating stolidly.
The colouring girls were all splashed over, and so were the walls. The
rooms were close and dirty. Work was done standing.
_Card Mounting._--The rooms were close and dirty, and the work seemed
tiring.
_Varnishing and Sizing._--The smell and heat were enough to knock one
down when one first went in, though one ceased to notice it after a bit.
There are hot pipes connected with the machine to dry the papers. The
place looked very dirty, and my guide showed me how the dust all stuck
to any varnish about, so that the racks, if left out for a day, got
covered with flue. The girls did not look strikingly unhealthy. They
have to drag heavy loads about. One or two looked a bit pale.
QUALIFICATIONS.--I should judge that strength was required for all three
departments, as girls are standing all day. Only tall girls are taken in
the varnishing room; short ones would be no good for moving about the
racks. The head said that no great intelligence was wanted for any
department, but a good deal of "perseverance" for card mounting and
paper colouring. If girls are careless at card mounting they spoil the
whole thing.
DANGERS.--The only machinery was the varnishing machine, and the firm
had never had any accident with it, and there seemed no reason why there
should be any. If girls are careless they are dismissed. The employer
considered the Compensation Act to be very unfair: "If a girl slips on
your iron staircase because her shoelace was undone, you have to pay
her."
HOURS.--The hours worked are from 9 a.m. to 7.30 p.m., with one hour for
dinner and half an hour for tea; on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. On a
board a notice was put up stating that work begins as follows: 9 a.m.
for women, 8 a.m. for boys, 7 a.m. for men.
PROSPECTS.--There is 1 girl in the _varnishing_ department who gets "a
trifle more than the others," owing to her skill. In _card mounting_
there are no prospects. A foreman manages the _paper colouring_
department, so that there is no chance of the women becoming forewomen.
The firm once tried a forewoman, but she was not a success. She could
not match the colours properly, etc. Mr. ---- and the robust worker
seemed to think such a thing beyond a woman's power (especially the
latter, who scorned the idea of a forewoman).
ORGANISATION.--The head did not know if there was a Union or not. "They
do not give us any trouble."
MARRIED AND UNMARRIED.--Only 1 or 2 married women were employed by the
firm, and they were confined to the colouring department. One married
woman had been there fourteen years.
LEGISLATION.--My informant did not consider that legislation had injured
the woman worker at all, but had benefited her by lessening her hours of
labour. Legislation was very hard on him, however, especially in the
paper colouring and varnishing work. "A customer comes in with some work
at 1 o'clock on a Saturday. You say you cannot do it till Monday.
'Well,' he says, 'I shall get it done elsewhere.' People working at home
are found to do it, and as they have not got the machinery or appliances
it means that they work at it all Sunday, and make their little children
of nine or ten work too, whereas the grown women may not work an hour
longer in factories." Mr. ---- evidently feels bitterly about this. It
would not pay to keep men on this kind of work. He would like more than
thirty days a year exemption for overtime. Besides, the girls would
often like to make a few shillings extra overtime. This was corroborated
by the paper-staining girl.
MEN AND WOMEN.--In the head's youth men used to do all the card
mounting; women were introduced for it about twenty-eight years ago.
They were brought in because the men drank so and kept away from work.
Men used to do paper colouring and varnishing, too, and were replaced
by women for the same reason. The Unions gave no trouble about this.
No women were employed in book-edge gilding by this firm. Mr. ---- and
an old man employee said that some people got their wives to help lay-on
the gold and so on, but it did not come to much.
MACHINERY.--_Paper colouring and enamelling_ machinery has diminished
women's work _considerably_. The head used to have 45 women at it--two
whole floors--and now only has 11. It is done by machinery elsewhere. A
certain amount is still done by hand, and must always be, as it is not
worth while putting anything under five reams on a machine.
_Varnishing._--The head invented the present machines because the women
kept away so. There used to be many more women in the trade.
_Card Mounting._--No machines are employed for this. Girls can feed the
rotary cutting machine, but it is generally done by a man.
HOME WORK.--No work is sent out from here. A good deal of paper
colouring and of varnishing is done by people in their own homes (see
under "Legislation").
FAMILY INCOME.--Very little information on this subject could be had
here. One girl in the varnishing room was pointed out to me, dressed in
black, whose father had recently died. She was the eldest of eleven, and
was "keen on picking up an extra shilling or two."
GENERAL.--The whole place was dirty, and there was hardly a vacant inch
to squeeze past in. Mr. ----, however, did not seem a bad sort of man;
the girls did not seem in the least in awe of him. All the girls looked
of the regular factory girl type, sloppy and dirty, and with their hair
in curlers or curl papers.
Mrs. ----, the paper stainer, who came down to talk to me, seemed a
friendly, rough-and-ready, low-class woman. Her mother worked in the
trade, and when she herself was a baby her cradle was rocked on the
colouring board, and "many is the night" that she sat up all night as a
child helping her mother at home. She seemed to have thriven on it, and
to be immensely proud of her industrial career.
11. _Bookbinding Firm, West End. London. Employée's Evidence._
WORK.--Trade in the West End is quite different to that in City firms.
This employée picked to pieces and sewed.
REGULARITY.--Hers was not a seasonal trade. She was busy all the year
round, but in January and July there was a special press, owing to the
number of magazine volumes then being bound.
HOURS.--She worked 48 per week, the length of the ordinary day being
from 8.30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
PROSPECTS.--She had never known anyone who rose to be a forewoman, but
supposed some did rise. Girls from West End shops could not be City
forewomen because they knew nothing about machines, and in all
advertisements for forewomen knowledge of sewing machines was put as a
necessary qualification.
GENERAL.--I asked why their hours were so much shorter than dressmakers,
and have come to the conclusion that it was because the men had got an
eight-hours' day. She said this class of workers in City shops is lower
than in these West End places, and yet in the City workplaces the best
industrial training is given.
12. _Bookbinding Firm in London. Employée's Evidence._
WORK.--Works at a large place about five minutes' walk away (not the
same place where she learned). There are four rooms of women. N. M.
works in a room on the third floor, where there are 80 women under two
forewomen, sisters. In this room folding, stitching, gathering and
sewing (hand) is done.
In the fourth room there are 12 girls doing machine sewing.
The two lower floor rooms each have about 10 or 12 girls. In one of them
laying-on of gold is done.
She herself does stitching, folding and gathering, hardly ever sewing.
REGULARITY.--Orders are very slack sometimes, especially just now
(August). There had been a great deal of sitting idle, and they had only
been making 6_s._ or 7_s._ per week. They did not like to go "out to
grass" for fear of losing work if it should chance to come in. It was
difficult to get off for a holiday. Sometimes they were told at 1 p.m.
that they could go home.
HEALTH.--_Gold laying-on_ was unhealthy. The dust got on the chest.
_Folding_ and _Sewing_ were very tiring, because "you are sitting in one
position all day." _Gathering_ is the most pleasant, because you walk
about and get a little exercise that way.
PROSPECTS.--There is not much chance of rising. The forewoman and
under-forewoman are sisters, and stay on and on. If one of them were to
give up, her successor would be taken from the time workers. The piece
workers might rise to be time workers, if they cared.
13. _Bookbinding Firm in London. Employée's Evidence._
WORK.--This informant was engaged at gold laying-on exclusively, but was
originally a folder and sewer.
REGULARITY.--In this firm it is a seasonal trade, and slack sometimes as
well. She left M. because of slackness.
HEALTH.--It is not very healthy. Layers-on cannot have the windows open
because of the draught blowing the gold about, also the gas used for
"blocking" overheats the rooms. Girls sometimes faint three or four
times a day, and get anæmic. After working overtime at ----'s would
often stagger in the streets. "You have to drink a lot of tea to keep
you up."
HOURS.--48 a week is about the normal working time, from 9 a.m. to 7
p.m., with one hour for dinner and half an hour for tea, as at M., and 9
a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays; or else from 8.30 a.m. to 6 p.m., as at N.,
with one hour for dinner, and 8.30 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturdays. She
preferred 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., because then she got a tea half-hour. "One
got so faint going on till 6.30 p.m. from 2 p.m."
At O. there was a great deal of overtime; not at M.
PROSPECTS.--She could have been a sort of forewoman at sixteen over 6
other girls at P., but an older hand persuaded her not to; and being
ignorant of the ways of the world she agreed not to, and then the older
hand became forewoman herself! That was her only chance of promotion.
14. J., _Bookbinding Firm in London. Employée's Evidence and Visit to
Works_.
WORK.--Folding, numbering, perforating, sewing. The regular staff do
all, but the firm take in job hands for folding only, when busy.
REGULARITY.--The regular hands are kept on all the year round.
HOURS.--The hours worked average 54 a week, from 8.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.
My informant said they were "obliged by the Factory Act[96] to have half
an hour for lunch from 11 a.m. to 11.30 a.m., but they did not take more
than a quarter of an hour, or else they ate whilst working;" dinner from
1 p.m. to 2 p.m., and tea from 5 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. On Saturdays the
hours are 8.30 a.m. to 2 p.m., with 11 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. for lunch.
[Footnote 96: This, of course, is incorrect.]
PROSPECTS.--The girls may rise to forewomen. One who had just risen
quickly to that position was going off to be married.
GENERAL.--They can cook food on the premises at this firm.
15. B., _Stationery Firm in London. Visit to Works_.
WORK.--About 150 to 200 women are employed.
(1) Hand folding and cementing of envelopes (includes putting band
round packet).
(2) Machine folding and cementing of envelopes (includes putting
band round packet).
(3) Black bordering.
(4) Stamping, plain and relief.
(5) Printing of addresses for circulars, etc. (small machines).
(6) Packing twelve packets in long packets and sample packing.
(7) Vellum sewing (folding, sewing, and looking over).
(8) Perforating (in same room).
(9) Machine ruling.
The number of women at each process in the part of factory seen were as
follows:--
(1) About 27, (2) 30, (3) 1, (4) 4 stamping, (5) about 8, (6) 3
and 1 sample packer (probably many more), (7) 4 sewing, 1 looking
over, 2 hanging about, (8) 1, (9) 4.
There are 42 other workers who are all older hands.
The girls employed in (1) are a superior grade to those in (2)
and will not mix at all. Wages about the same. (3), (4), (5), (6),
(7) and (8) are more or less same grade as (1); (9) are lower than
(2).
REGULARITY.--The work here is steady all the year round.
HEALTH.--All the girls are healthy, and the work is quite healthy.
HOURS.--They work 51 hours per week.
PROSPECTS.--Envelope hand folders can rise to be cementers or forewomen
(envelope hand folders being themselves a superior class to machine
folders or machine rulers); packers can rise to be sample packers.
16. R., _Stationery Firm (Christmas Cards, etc.) in London. Visit to
Works_.
WORK.--There are three departments:--
(1) _Relief Stamping_, with 20 regular hands. These girls work the
presses, which are of the newest kind, and some of which are very heavy.
They do monograms and all sorts of designs on menus, wedding cards,
Christmas cards, ball cards, etc., and stamp in gold, silver, or
colours.
(2) _Hand Painting_, with 21 regular hands. This means filling in
stamped-out or printed designs of various kinds of cards with colour,
_e.g._, figures of soldiers, flowers, and so on.
(3) _Packing Department_, with about 12 regular hands. They do up the
cards in packets, fold and gum special wedding envelopes, paste pictures
on to cards, tie the little ribbon bows on cards, and do all the many
little processes required for finishing this kind of work.
REGULARITY.--The work of this firm is very seasonal. The busy time is
for about three months before Christmas, but they are specially rushed
for the six weeks before Christmas. The regular hands are kept on all
the year round, but about 25 or 30 extra are employed for the packing
room for six weeks before Christmas. In the other departments they get a
few married hands just to come in and help. They are now (July)
preparing books of Christmas cards, but the orders for private Christmas
cards do not come in till November and December.
The girls who work in the packing room pack scents, etc., at other times
of the year.
HEALTH.--The work is quite healthy and the girls all appeared to be
healthy. The premises were light and airy. Two of the relief stamping
presses _looked_ very heavy indeed, and the forewoman said that they
were really men's work. The girls working them always had the same
machines, and did not look ill, though they said that it was very
tiring.
MACHINERY.--Machinery has not displaced women in this firm.
HOURS.--For _stamping and packing_ the hours are from 9 a.m. to 6.30
p.m. with three-quarters of an hour for dinner and a quarter of an hour
for tea; on Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with half an hour for
lunch. For _painting_ they are from 9 a.m. to 5.45 p.m., with the same
meal hour; on Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The hours of painters had been shortened about a year ago, and it was
found that they did just as much work. For the six weeks before
Christmas they regularly work from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with as much
overtime as is allowed, _i.e._, three nights a week.
PROSPECTS.--They may rise to forewomen; _e.g._, the forewoman over the
stampers came as an ordinary hand.
GENERAL.--There is a dining room, and every girl can pay 3_s._ a week
and get dinner of meat and pudding and tea every day. This covers all
expenses, wages of cook, gas for stove, all utensils, etc. Last year
there was money over, so they had free meals for a week.
17. G., _Large Stationery Firm in London. Visit to Works_.
WORK.--About 60 girls are employed. _Stationery and Printing_ with
following divisions:--(1) Plain cameo and relief stamping (about 25
girls), (2) illuminating, _i.e._, putting on the colour by hand (2
girls), (3) envelope folding and cementing (9 girls), (4) packing,
including cleaning (girls in each department), (5) folding notepaper
(saw 3 little girls doing this), (6) feeding printing machines, big and
small, and lithographic machines (about 6 girls), (7) various odd jobs,
_e.g._, cutting visiting cards to proper size, (8) feeding ruling
machine (1 girl).
REGULARITY.--This firm's trade is regular. They are busy all the year
round, though perhaps they are busiest at Christmas. The bulk of their
orders come from the country though.
HEALTH.--The little printing and lithographic girls looked anything but
healthy.
MACHINERY.--Machines have not displaced women. There was nothing
dangerous about the machinery used, though the small printing machine
which 1 girl was feeding _might_ be dangerous.
HOURS.--The hours worked are from 8.30 a.m. to 7 p.m., with one hour for
dinner and half an hour for tea; on Saturdays, from 8.30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
They work overtime at Christmas.
PROSPECTS.--Girls in (4) may rise to (1), and those in (1) to (2).
18. K., _Stationery Firm in London. Visit to Works_.
WORK.--_Numbering and Perforating_; girls also dust and clean up after
blocking.
REGULARITY.--The work in this firm is regular, "as they work for the
trade."
SKILL.--Intelligence is required for numbering, or else valuable
material is spoilt, _e.g._, the other day a girl, who was six months out
of her time, never changed when she came to the 1,000 and so spoilt the
work, as one figure came out darker. Three numbers are harder to do than
two or four. The firm had tried to take two girls from the blocking work
and teach them numbering, but it was no good, they were not intelligent
enough.
HOURS.--The hours worked are from 9 a.m. to 7.30 p.m., with one hour for
dinner, ten minutes for lunch, and ten minutes for tea; on Saturdays,
from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
PROSPECTS.--The girls can rise to be forewomen.
19. I., _Stationery and Stamping Firm in London. Employee's Evidence_.
WORK.--Stamping, plain and relief, including tradesmen's cards,
notepaper, Christmas cards, etc.
REGULARITY.--The work here is regular, because they work for the trade.
SKILL.--The girls need arm strength. Artistic taste is also required.
Some never make good stampers on account of deficiency in taste.
MACHINERY.--Machinery has not displaced women.
HOURS.--The hours worked are from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with one hour for
dinner, and half an hour for tea; on Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
PROSPECTS.--Girls may rise to forewomen. "There is a little girl of
fifteen now, who has only been here a year, and the other day Mr. I.
(who does not say things when he does not mean them) told her that she
would rise to be forewoman one day. She is very good at her work and
knows how things should look."
GENERAL.--The girls are very comfortable here. They have a room to
themselves upstairs, and a dining room and a stove to cook on.
20. F., _Stationery Firm in London. Employee's Evidence_.
WORK.--(1) Envelope folding, which includes creasing, gumming, and
shuffling.
(2) Envelope cementing.
(3) Plain stamping.
(4) Relief stamping.
(5) Looking over and packing.
REGULARITY.--Slack times vary in different houses. "You never can tell,"
but summer, as a rule, is slack. Last summer there was very little work
all July and August at C. and D. and F. She made only 8_d._ or 9_d._ a
day sometimes.
HOURS.--At C. and D. the hours worked are from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with
one and a-half hours for meals; at E., from 8 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., with
one and a-half hours for meals on Monday and Tuesday; from 8 a.m. to 7
p.m., with one and a-half hours for meals on Wednesday, Thursday, and
Friday; and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.
MACHINERY.--Machinery has not taken work from women.
GENERAL.--She remarked that G. was "a dreadful place." The girls cried
because there was no work.
21. X., _Stamping Firm in London. Employee's Evidence_.
WORK.--There are about 100 girls in the _stamping_ room, about 30 of
whom pack up the work in boxes, etc. In some places the stampers have to
pack their own work. There is also _envelope work_, etc., done on the
firm, but my informant knew nothing of this. Some girls did the hand
illuminating, _i.e._, colouring part of a design that has been stamped.
REGULARITY.--The trade is seasonal, and is slack in the summer and busy
in winter.
SKILL.--"You have to be strong to stand the stamping," she said. She
herself had to give it up after she had been a learner for two years,
and take to packing. Her health gave way; she got very anæmic, and could
not stand the strain. Most of the packers were girls who could not stand
stamping. They had one very heavy press with big dies, and tried a girl
on it, but she got injured internally, so a man was put on it. At R. she
heard they had heavy presses. She said she knew of two girls who went
there, and both injured themselves. She thinks they had to go to the
hospital. The best paying work was done on the big presses. However,
many girls stood the stamping all right. Strength is absolutely
necessary.
HOURS.--The hours worked are from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with one and a-half
hours off for meals; on Saturdays, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. When busy they
work regularly from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and three nights a week to 9.30
p.m.
22 and 23. U. and V., _Two Stamping Firms in London. Employee's
Evidence_.
WORK.--My informant did plain stamping, but never learnt relief work.
She once tried it, but did not get on with it. At U. there were only 5
stampers, at V. quite 30.
REGULARITY.--At U. work came in rushes, and they were always either very
busy or else very slack; at V. work was steady all the year.
HEALTH.--My informant herself had grown rather crooked, and had to leave
off work. She did not know of any other girls similarly affected though,
nor did she consider it unhealthy. A good many were anæmic. She thought
that now she has had a rest she might be able to stand it better. The
big dies were the bad ones, and were tiring.
HOURS.--At U. the hours were from 9.15 a.m. to 7 p.m., with one hour for
dinner and half an hour for tea; at V. from 9.15 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., but
at V. one could work till 7 or 7.30 p.m., if one cared. At U. they were
then working till 8 p.m. (December). She had never worked later than 9,
and that very rarely.
PROSPECTS.--She thought that the chance of rising to forewoman was
exceedingly remote.
GENERAL.--Both U. and V. were very nice and respectable shops, and
particular about whom they took on. At U. there was a dining room, and
things more comfortable than at V.
24. Y., _Machine Ruling Firm in London. Visit to Works_.
WORK.--There are _two departments_. (1) Top floor: _Machine ruling_. (2)
Ground floor: _Perforating_, _numbering_, _and paging._
(1) The following is the general principle of the ruling machine:
There is a band about 1 yd. wide which goes round and round in a large
ellipse (one flat side of the ellipse is about 3½ yds. long). Upon this
band the sheets of paper are placed by the girls, and by it they are
drawn under a row of pens set at the required intervals for the lines.
They are then carried up and round by the revolutions of the band--being
held in their places by string which revolves with the band--and fall
out of the machine with the ink dry.
A good many machines are fitted with a second row of pens which rules
the underneath side of the paper as well as the upper.
The pens are fed by a piece of flannel which is kept soaked by a regular
flow of ink from a vessel fitted with a small tap.
These machines are worked by power. They used to be worked by hand.
(2) _Perforating_ is done by a machine worked by a treadle. A good many
foreign and colonial postage stamps are done here.
_Numbering_ of loose pages, cheques, receipts, etc., is done by a
machine with a handle which has to be pulled down by hand.
_Paging_, which is for made-up books, is done by a machine worked by a
treadle.
REGULARITY.--The summer is a slack season in this trade as a rule. The
firm are especially slack just now (August) as there are no orders from
South Africa.
HEALTH.--The upper floor was exceedingly, almost insupportably, stuffy.
The ground floor was fairly airy. The under-forewoman said that working
the treadle for paging was very hard work. "It always upset her inside,"
so she had to give it up.
SKILL.--Strength is required for paging.
DANGER.--They had just had an accident with the perforating machine. The
bands upstairs were dangerous to long hair. One girl had her hair caught
and was carried right up to the ceiling. The band was loose and slipped
off the wheel, so she was let down again with no great injury.
PROSPECTS.--The girls may rise to forewoman; the machine rulers may rise
to wet the flannels.
25. _Paper Bag Making in London. Employee's Evidence._
WORK.--(1) Cake bags, (2) tea bags, (3) sugar bags. These are different
classes of work and some hands can do only one class.
The girls do their own cutting except for the very heavy work, which men
do. As a rule, the piece-rate girls make the bag right through from the
sheet, _i.e._, cut the paper, lay it out and paste. Tea bags are made on
a tin. There were 150 girls working in the room.
REGULARITY.--The work is irregular, but if a girl can do all kinds it is
better for her. "There is always some work, but sometimes you may sit
idle doing needlework most of the day."
HEALTH.--"It is very bad for you standing all day long," said my
informant. "Girls come in looking lively and healthy, but they soon get
run down." The standing and the used-up air are bad, the latter
especially in the winter-time when the gas is alight. She herself has
lost her health.
MACHINERY.--Machinery had not displaced women.
HOURS.--The hours are from 8 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., with one hour for
dinner, ten minutes for lunch, and twenty minutes for tea; on Saturdays,
from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The girls have to be in by 8.15 or they are locked
out for the morning.
When at overtime they work from 8 a.m. to 9.30 p.m.
PROSPECTS.--The forewoman was at the bench once.
GENERAL.--"On the floor below," said my informant, "are litho girls--not
the sort whom you _could_ speak to. That is a very bad trade."
26. _Printer's and Bookbinder's Firm in Leeds. Employer's Information._
I was shown over the factory. The rooms are all very large and lofty.
Electric instead of steam power is used, and so the factory is far less
noisy and cooler than most printing works.
_One hundred and twenty girls_ of a very superior class are employed.
The conditions under which work is carried on here are evidently very
good.
They print large advertisement posters, time-tables, magazines, novels,
and make account books, cheque books, etc.
TRAINING.--Girls begin by feeding ruling machines, packing, etc., and
the length of their "apprenticeship" depends entirely upon the girls
themselves. They are put on piece work as soon as they are fit for it;
they are taken on about fourteen without premium, and their wages begin
at 4_s._ 6_d._ or, sometimes, 5_s._, and rise by degrees till they are
paid piece work rates.
WAGES.--_Folding and Sewing_ (piece work).--The pay ranges about 10_s._,
12_s._, 16_s._, up to 25_s._ per week.
_Laying-on of Gold-leaf and Blockers_ (piece work) yields 18_s._ to
20_s._ per week.
Girls who put _paper covers_ on to cheap novels, etc., earn about 20_s._
_Layers-on_ (_Letter-press and Litho_) are paid time wages and receive
8_s._, 10_s._, and 12_s._ per week.
The employer says he has known three sisters take home £4 a week for
several months in succession. He thinks it pays well to give high wages.
HOURS.--The hours are 52½ per week: from 7.30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with
dinner from 12.30 p.m. to 1.30 p.m.; on Saturdays, 7.30 a.m. till 12.30
p.m.; but overtime is worked thirty days in the year. Piece workers
receive no extra pay; time workers get time and a quarter.
WORK.--_Folding_ is done chiefly by hand. There is one machine, but that
is self-feeding and a man minds it.
_Sewing_ is done by hand and by machinery.
_Perforating_ is done by a machine worked by power, which has simply to
be fed.
Several girls were employed putting the wrappers on to 6_d._ novels,
while others were pasting cloth on to cardboard for school exercise
books. Little girls were feeding the ruling machine, punching labels,
eyeletting and packing.
Girls were also engaged in gold laying-on and blocking, but none were
employed at this when I was there.
In the litho and letter-press printing rooms a large number of very
respectable girls, about eighteen years of age, were employed as
layers-on. They were feeding large as well as small machines.
REGULARITY.--The girls are employed all the year round, but they are
busier in the autumn and winter (from September to May). They are also
very busy the last week in each month. _Occasionally_, in June and July,
they only work half-time, but this does not happen often.
HEALTH.--The work is very healthy. Before they had electric power the
employer had seen girls fall down and faint when "laying-on" at night
when the gas was lit and the room hot. Now that they have electric power
and electric light such a thing never happens.
DANGER.--The use of electric power does away with the need of belting
shafts, etc. There is simply a small motor on the ground.
ORGANISATION.--There is no organisation amongst the women, though the
men are all Unionists.
MARRIED AND UNMARRIED.--Girls all leave when they get married.
Occasionally, when they are busy, an old hand who has got married comes
back, but 99 per cent. are unmarried. The employer did not know whether
they had any married women there then.
FACTORY LEGISLATION.--Factory legislation has in no way limited the
usefulness of women. Girls do not mind working overtime when they can
make a little extra by it, but the employer said "overtime does not pay
anybody." _E.g._, when layers-on worked overtime they were paid time and
a quarter, and it did not pay to give that extra money. The restriction
of overtime to thirty days a year worked out very inconveniently for the
masters, but this employer thought the factory legislation was a very
good thing on the whole.
One direct result of factory legislation here has been the introduction
of a self-feeding folding machine worked by electric power, which they
use when they are busy instead of getting in extra hands or working
overtime. When not busy this machine stands idle, and the folding is
done by hand. Another result of factory legislation is that they have to
employ more hands than they otherwise would, and so girls sometimes have
to work short time.
MEN AND WOMEN.--The employer said there was a clearly drawn line between
men's work and women's work. The Union made a great point of keeping
women out of what they consider to be men's work, and there would be a
"row" amongst them if women were put on, but I found out later on that
girls do the laying-on and _gold blocking_ for the backs of books, etc.
The employer said he put them on to that about three years ago. At first
the men made a fuss about it, but it passed over. His reason for putting
girls on was that it was light work quite suitable for a girl. Only
skilled girls did it. They would get perhaps 12_s._ 6_d._, time wage,
while they were learning, and then go on to piece work and earn 18_s._
or 20_s._ a week. A man's wage for the same work would be a minimum of
32_s._ a week (time), as that is the Trade Union minimum, and the Trade
Unionists generally get something above the minimum.
This firm was the first in Leeds to introduce girls as layers-on for
letter-press and litho machines. That was about twenty years ago. The
reason was that it was impossible to apprentice the number of boys
required. The Trade Union regulation about the proportion of apprentices
to journeymen is very strictly enforced, and it was not fair to employ
boys and simply turn them off when they got older; so girls were
employed, and now the majority of layers-on are girls. They do the work,
on the whole, better than boys, and they are steadier.
MACHINERY.--Machinery is continually being introduced and more women are
being employed in spite of the fact that the machines do work so much
more quickly. Production is made cheaper and so the demand is greater.
HOME WORK.--No home work is given out.
_Relief Stamping Firms. General Summary._
We have information about twenty-one houses where women are employed at
stamping (covering over 300 women).
TRAINING.--Out of these nine have a regular system of training, four do
not take apprentices, having found them more trouble than they were
worth; three have no settled system, while three refused to furnish
information on the subject. In four cases indentures were signed, and
there were two cases of premiums, in one of which £2 was paid, to be
returned with 5 per cent. interest after three years; in the other,
£10--with variations. "It varies with the girl," we were told.
"Sometimes girls with very respectable parents like to pay a premium, in
other cases it is waived." In eight out of the nine houses where there
is a regular system of training, the girls serve an apprenticeship
varying from two to three years. They begin by a few shillings
pocket-money and go on to receive a part of what they make at piece work
rates. In one house they gave from two weeks to two months for nothing,
during which time their earnings went to the forewoman who taught them.
The following are some of the systems of payment during training:--
(1) 1st year (employed in warehouse), 3_s._; 2nd year, half
earnings, piece, with 4_s._ per month pocket-money; 3rd year,
three-quarter earnings, with 4_s._ per month pocket-money.
(2) 1st year, 5_s._; 2nd year, 6_s._ 6_d._; 3rd year, 8_s._
(3) 2_s._ 6_d._ for first 6 months; rising 1_s._ every 3 months,
till 8_s._ 6_d._ is reached.
(4) Start at 2_s._ 6_d._; rise to 10_s._ during training.
(5) 1st year, half earnings; 2nd year, three-quarter earnings.
(6) 3_s._ or 4_s._ first 6 months; 5_s._ second 6 months; then
6_s._ for 2nd year.
(7) Pay £2 premium. Put on piece work almost at once and receive
what they make. Premiums returned with 5 per cent. interest after
3 years.
(8) 3 months, nothing; 3 months, 2_s._ per week; next 3 months,
3_s._; next, 4_s._; so on till 8_s._
One forewoman considered that three years' training was much too long,
and stated that there was a tendency in certain houses to do work cheap
by means of apprentices. She said that the girls in such houses get
disheartened and sick of work, and when they were out of their time it
was no use staying on, for all the work got given to the learners. Some
learners are quite quick by the end of three weeks. We often found that
when a girl came in to learn stamping she was set to run about the
warehouse or to do gumming for the first year. This, it was urged by one
employer, was done purely from humane motives. Since the girls were
often delicate when they came in, it was far better for them to do odd
jobs for a year than to be stuck down at once at some sedentary
occupation.
Learners are taken at thirteen or fourteen years of age. Sometimes they
are left to "pick things up." Sometimes they are taught by a forewoman
or experienced hand. The relief stamper belongs to the upper class of
factory girl.
REGULARITY.--Trade is tolerably steady. A few weeks in summer are
generally slack, and where there is Christmas card work the six weeks
before Christmas are extremely busy.
HEALTH.--We were told almost unanimously that stamping was healthy work,
and undoubtedly, where the presses are light, it is so. Some of the
presses, however, are very heavy, and the girls who work them
acknowledged that the work was extremely tiring. Most houses have men to
work their heaviest presses. We heard of three cases in two different
houses of internal strain to girls working at these presses, and we
heard of one house where the girls in the packing room were recruited
from those who could not stand the stamping.
SKILL.--Skill is required for illuminating.
PROSPECTS.--In some cases it is possible to rise to forewoman, or from
plain to relief and cameo stamping and occasionally illuminating.
WAGES.--Wages vary from 13_s._ to 25_s._ or 30_s._, mostly piece work.
Some of the piece work rates were 9_d._ per 1,000 impressions, 2_d._ per
1,000 plain (2,000 can be done per hour); 10_d._ per ream one die (takes
two hours to do one ream), 1_s._ 8_d._ per 1,000 impressions.
MARRIED AND UNMARRIED.--Very few relief stampers are married. In some
houses married women are not allowed, in some they "come back to oblige"
at busy times. In one house only we heard "that many stampers marry,
though they might as well not, as they come back to work."
DISPLACEMENT.--Men used to do relief stamping, but women, owing to the
cheapness of their labour, have superseded them in all but the heaviest
work. For the heavy presses men are still employed, "but it is a poor
trade for them."
In some houses they do illuminating, as for this the women are found
not to possess sufficient skill and patience. One large house employs 4
men for a superior sort of relief stamping--gold and silver on a
coloured surface. The crest or monogram has to be stamped in plain
first, then coloured, then stamped with the gold or silver by the men.
This last process requires great skill and accuracy and care, for if it
is crooked by a hair's breadth the thing is spoilt. Girls are stated not
to be accurate and careful enough for this work, although they are
employed for the simpler sort of gold stamping.
Where heavy hand machines have come in they have ousted women. One
employer considered that if stamping machines worked by steam came in
women would be employed on them. In one house, however, where there was
machine stamping, it was done by men. We were told by a large employer
that there is now a new machine in the market which may supersede female
labour. It colours the surface first and then embosses it out. Another
new machine requires a feeder only, as the die is coloured, rubbed and
stamped down by machinery.
_Job Hands. Interview with Agent._
Miss R., like Mrs. B. before her, apparently acts as a sort of
bureau-keeper for job hands; sometimes she has work in to do herself and
keeps a certain staff, at other times she gets a notice to say that W.
has got a big job and wants so many hands; she collects them, sends
postcards all round, and goes and works herself too. Very few of her job
hands would touch magazine work; they usually work at prospectuses. Mrs.
B. used to do all the work for the ---- Societies. There were hundreds
of job hands, how many she cannot tell at all.
REGULARITY.--The work is quite uncertain. "You never know when there
will be work; but July and August are usually the slack months, but this
year (1900-01) it has been slack all the year. Job hands, however, do
what they like when there is not work, whereas constant hands have to
come in and wait whether there is work or not."
HEALTH.--It is hard work, but there is nothing unhealthy about it.
GENERAL.--She spoke with pitying contempt of the "constant" hands and
their low prices and the long hours they worked.
APPENDIX III.--GENERAL GLASGOW REPORT.
(A.) _Letterpress Printing. Machine Feeding and Flying._
Girls are employed to "feed" the machines and to "take off" the
impressed sheet. A girl will learn "taking off," or "flying," in a
couple of days; but except in the old-fashioned and smaller
jobbing-shops flying is now done entirely by machinery. Machine feeding
is not so easy and simple a process as it seems. The girls stand and
perform the same movement repeatedly, each time giving to the sheet the
precise swing required to send it accurately into the grips. The work
requires little intelligence, and the extent to which it can be
characterised as exhausting depends partly on the speed of the machine,
but chiefly on the length of the "run." Three methods of treating the
girls may be distinguished. In some shops where there are very long
runs, perhaps extending to a couple of weeks, as in the case of the
printing of low-priced Bibles, the work is tiring. At the close of a
long run the machines have to be prepared afresh, and the girls enjoy a
spell for a day or two. This leisure they are sometimes inclined to
abuse by interrupting the work of others with conversation, and
consequently attempts are being made to employ them on other machines
during the interval. This innovation the girls are resisting. In other
shops the fatiguing nature of a long run is mitigated by removing the
girl to another machine with a different movement, but the "right" of a
girl to be so moved about and rested is not recognised; it is simply a
matter for the consideration of the foreman. To allow the claim to
frequent shifting might prove inconvenient in times of pressure. Lastly,
in establishments where the bulk of the work involves short runs, as,
for example, in printing the official matter of a municipality or a
college, the necessity for frequently preparing the machines affords
considerable leisure to the feeders. These intervals explain the groups
of girls often to be seen chatting and knitting in odd corners of the
machine-room. Some of these shops recognise the right of a girl to feed
and keep clean "her own machine" and no other. Where this is the case a
girl may be employed feeding for no longer than a quarter of the normal
working week of fifty-two and a half hours owing to the shortness of the
runs and the length of time spent in re-adjustment. The work is dirty
but not dangerous, as all machinery is well-fenced, and accidents are
of very rare occurrence. The day's work usually starts at 6.15 a.m. and
ends at 6 p.m., with meal hours at 9 and at 2 o'clock and half an hour
for tea when engaged on overtime. Saturday's shift is from 6.15 a.m.
until 10 a.m. Girls are paid 5_s._, in a few shops 6_s._, a week as
beginners. They get their first rise in three months, and are gradually
advanced to an average wage of 10_s._, while an expert feeder may earn
11_s._, or at the outside 12_s._, a week. When girls find that they can
feed well after a comparatively short time in a shop and that they are
getting only 7_s._ or 8_s._ a week they commonly seek and obtain the
average wage elsewhere. Managers fancy "it would not do" to advance a
girl abruptly from 6_s._ to 10_s._ a week in the same shop, but do not
blame the girls for leaving. "It is human nature." Girls are taken on at
any age after fourteen, and stay on till they are married or until they
are called away to domestic duties. Some remain on after marriage, but
not more than 1 or 2 per cent. A few come back as widows. Married and
unmarried as workers are "six of one and half a dozen of the other,"
remarked an employer of both, while another thought married women "less
regular" in attendance. There are no signs of married women lowering
rates of pay. "Time and a half" is the overtime rate. Women workers who
do not get paid overtime when they work beyond the normal day get paid
over the holidays, but not otherwise. There are no fines. There is no
trade organisation among the machine feeders, and as the various unions
of the men are not directly affected they do not interfere. In some
firms feeding has been done by girls for a quarter of a century; in
others they have been introduced only within the last five or six years.
Boys were rough, irregular, scarce, and wanted higher pay. The girls,
although they also are drawn from a rough class, are steadier, cleaner,
and more economical in the use of material than boys. Besides, there are
more of them. There was no inducement for boys to continue at such work,
so they have been drafted into certain forms of unskilled, but fairly
well paid, labour, such as is offered by the Post Office or bread
factories. In some districts they go to the shipyards to assist
riveters, and are able to earn straight away twice the wages they would
obtain in a printing shop. As overtime by girls is restricted by
legislation, young men (over 18) are kept for feeding in one large
jobbing-shop where there are often seasons of great pressure (_e.g._, in
the printing of penny monthly diaries and time-tables) and where
"rushes" and overtime are inevitable. These young men would not be thus
employed but for the restrictions of the Factory Acts, as the manager,
for reasons stated above, much prefers girls for feeding. While all
modern machines are fitted with self-fliers, not one of the many
attempts to provide automatic feeders has proved quite satisfactory. For
long runs such feeders as have been designed may serve fairly well, but
in shops with much jobbing and many short runs too much time would be
spent in adjusting the feeder to the particular job. The sole advantages
of a mechanical feeder are that it neither "takes ill" nor "goes on
strike." Meanwhile it is imperfect and expensive, and the supply of
cheap female labour abundant.
(B.) _Lithographic Printing. Machine Feeding._
What has been said of feeders under letterpress printing is generally
true of feeders in the lithographic branch. The only difference seems to
be one of social position. Girls employed in feeding lithographic
machines are "higher,"[97] "less filthy in talk," etc. They form the
intermediate class, of which the girls in the bookbinding and warehouse
departments are at the top. In one shop where all three classes are
employed, the manager remarked that these caste distinctions were "clean
cut," and obvious to the most casual observer.
[Footnote 97: They are supposed to be lower in London, Manchester,
etc.--[Ed.]]
(C.) _Letterpress Printing. Type-setting._
The employment of women as compositors is a "vexed question." In two
shops only are they so employed in Glasgow, and both are on the black
list of the local trade union. Inasmuch as the conditions which obtain
in these shops differ in important respects, they are here described
separately.
Firm No. 1 introduced women as compositors some nine or ten years ago,
when a dispute with the union ensued. It now employs about a dozen women
at the cases. Girls are taken on at any age after fourteen. In three
months' time they are able to set up type in "solid dig," _i.e._,
newspaper or book matter, consisting of solid uniform paragraphs. Three
girls who have spent about eight years with this firm are declared to be
"good at displaying," and "more competent than the ordinary journeyman."
Beginners get 6_s._ a week during the first year, and in the third year
are put on piecework rates. There are no indentures. Capable women
compositors may earn 24_s._ a week, while their average earnings may be
put at 22_s._ a week, and they never sink below a pound. Young workers
make an average of 18_s._ a week or thereabouts. The normal week is one
of fifty-one hours, made up as follows:--
8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on four days.
8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays.
8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.
A compositor sometimes acts as "clicker," _i.e._, checks the amount of
piecework, but this is usually done by a clerk. No married women are
employed. Overtime is paid time and a half, and women are fined a penny
for being late.
Firm No. 2 employed at one time about two dozen girls in the
composing-rooms. They were engaged solely on solid newspaper work, and
never in the higher branches of the trade, such as "displaying." Seats
were provided for them. They worked a forty-eight hour week for a "stab"
wage of 15_s._ or 16_s._, and had three weeks' holiday, off and on, for
which they were paid. Further, they were never turned away in slack
time. But the experiment was not altogether a success, and by to-day the
two dozen have dwindled down to two, who set for newspapers and get
16_s._ a week. The reasons assigned for the gradual reversion to the
employment of men are as follows:--
(_a_) Irregularity of the women's attendance at work.
(_b_) Their shorter hours.
(_c_) Marriage.
(_d_) The introduction of the Linotype machine, of which there are
three in this establishment. This was urged as the most important
cause of the change back to men.
Of the work in general, it may be said that some intelligence is needed,
that no dangerous machinery is used, and that the health of the workers
depends largely on the character of the workroom. The special trade
disease is that to which men are similarly subject, viz., "consumption"
in some of its many forms.
In Glasgow the Typographical Association has strenuously, and, with the
above exceptions, successfully, resisted the introduction of women into
the composing-room. The attitude taken up by the men may be summarised
as follows: No objection would be offered to the employment of women at
the case provided that they served the usual seven years' apprenticeship
at the same rates as male apprentices, and then on its completion were
paid the full standard wage. "Underpaid female labour is equally unjust
to the legitimate employer and employee." To allow women unrestricted
access to the composing-rooms would probably lead in time, not only to
the reduction of the men's wages, but to the undermining of the trade
itself. The various branches of the trade which now demand many years of
apprenticeship before they are completely mastered by one man would be
split up and distributed among a number of highly-specialized workers.
Women would be employed for separate departments, and by being
continuously kept at one job or branch would become expert therein, but
would have no knowledge of the trade as a whole.
The employers, on the other hand, are aggrieved that, while the union
prevents women from acting as compositors in Glasgow, the same trade
society allows them to work in Edinburgh. The result of the present
arrangement is to divert a certain class of trade, viz., "solid dig," or
book work, from other centres to Edinburgh. The cause of this is to be
found in the non-employment of women compositors in Glasgow, and is not,
as sometimes suggested, due to the superiority of Edinburgh printing.
In answer to the claim of the union to equal pay for equal work for
women and men, it is urged by the masters:--
(1) Women when employed as compositors at piecework rates get the
best, _i.e._, the simplest jobs. They are put to do what boys
would be at when half through their apprenticeship. They are kept
always at pretty much the same kind of work, and thus become very
skilful at it. Boys, on the other hand, would claim to be shifted
on to the higher branches of the trade.
(2) The man who now does the solid type-setting, which the
employer wishes to see a woman do, is paid higher than a woman
would or should be, because he is liable to be called on at any
moment to undertake the more complex operations of his craft,
while a woman is not. In other words, the man is paid for
potential ability.
(3) If women were taken on freely to do solid setting, it is not
at all likely that they would seriously aspire to the higher
stages of the compositor's craft.
(_a_) Partly for physical reasons. Women are not fitted to handle
the heavy formes.
(_b_) Partly because they could not be relied upon to go through a
full course of training. They would be continually leaving in the
middle or at the end of it, and employers, therefore, would not
take the trouble to train them. "The pick of the girls get
married. The qualities which make a girl smart and successful at
her work would similarly make for her success in the marriage
market."
(4) The cheaper type-setting of women is needed in order to
compete successfully with the Linotype machine. There is no doubt
that to a certain extent the comparatively low price of women's
labour tends to retard the introduction of machinery.
(D.) _Bookbinding._
In the bookbinding trade girls fold, put in plates and illustrations,
collate, sew by hand and by machine. Sewing used all to be done by hand,
but machines were introduced some fifteen years ago. In the case of
primers and stitched books girls do all except print the covers. They
make cloth cases as distinct from leather cases. Girls also lay the gold
leaf on covers, which are subsequently stamped by machines operated by
men. For at least half a century women have worked in these branches,
but while in earlier days they learnt a variety of operations the
tendency now is to keep them to a special process or machine. Hence a
smart girl can pick up her task in a week. The old custom of a four
years' apprenticeship still survives. Girls start at fourteen, or at
thirteen if they have passed the fifth standard. The initial wage is
still in some shops 3_s._ a week, but there is a decided upward
tendency, which in one case was found to reach 4_s._ 6_d._ for
beginners. On the termination of the apprenticeship an average wage of
10_s._ a week is paid, but in the exceptional case referred to above the
average was given as 12_s._ 6_d._, while 15_s._ is earned by expert
pagers, coverers, and perforators who have been in the employment of the
firm for some time. A chargewoman gets about 15_s._ a week, while the
principal forewoman in a firm employing nearly 300 girls in its
bookbinding branch is paid a guinea per week. Folders and hand-sewers
are paid piecework rates in the large shops, but not in the smaller
ones. To the casual visitor these pieceworkers exhibit a remarkable
swiftness and accuracy, and the work must involve no small physical
strain. Although the girls engaged in folding and the allied processes
are as a rule of higher intelligence than mill girls and machine feeders
and drawn from different social strata, there are many who come, frail
and under-fed, from very poor homes. To these especially the early hour
at which the day's work begins is a hardship. On a Glasgow winter's
morning to start work at 6.15 on a hurried bite of bread and margarine,
with the distant prospect of more bread and margarine three hours later,
leads logically to "broken time." There has been some slight tendency
towards beginning at 8 o'clock and stopping on Saturdays at 1, but two
of the largest firms still adhere to 6.15 a.m. and finish on Saturdays
at 10 a.m. The manager of one of these characterised the system as a
"relic of barbarism," and said he had tried to alter the hour to 8
o'clock, but the men vigorously opposed the change and the scheme had to
be dropped. As matters now stand, and owing to the great irregularity of
the attendance during the week, work has often to go on from 11 till 2
on Saturdays. Otherwise in this establishment overtime is systematically
avoided, the manager maintaining that the normal week of 52½ hours is
quite exhausting enough for the girls. When, as at seasons of unusual
pressure, overtime is reluctantly resorted to, it is paid
time-and-a-quarter, as in the case of men. The busy season lasts from
August to March, but the girls are hardly affected, and have plenty of
work round the year. In another large firm, where much railway printing
is done, the conditions differ somewhat. The hours are as follows:--
6.30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturdays till 1 p.m.
There are small fines for spoilt work, but the money goes to the
Workers' Benevolent Fund. These fines do not amount to more than
sixpence per head per annum. Overtime is worked to the full limit. It is
paid at a higher rate, but not at the same proportionally higher rate as
men. Girls are never suspended in slack seasons, but are put on time
wages of 13_s._ or 14_s._ a week for the best workers.
The employment of married women is regarded as exceptional, but all
large firms have a small number of such--3 or 4 per cent., perhaps. The
usual practice is for girls to come from school and remain on until they
get married or leave for some domestic purposes. Some come back as
widows or when living apart from their husbands. Some firms boast a
considerable number of workers who have been employed for very long
periods, ranging from 15 to 30 years and upwards. There are no signs of
married women lowering the rates of pay. It is customary for those who
return after a long absence to do so at the old wages. Efforts have been
made from time to time to organise the women into unions, but they have
invariably proved disappointing. Indirectly the women have gained by the
successful efforts of the men to shorten the hours of toil. Generally
speaking the attitude of the men's unions is not so much one of
hostility as of indifference to women's work, except where it threatens
to encroach on the men's preserves. There is no positive agreement as to
the line of demarcation; it is determined tacitly by use and wont. The
men profess to see a tendency among employers to extend the field of
female labour. This extension of woman's sphere they deprecate as likely
to lead to the lowering of men's wages. Just as men are never employed
in folding in the bookbinding department of a publishing firm, so
certain processes are invariably never done by women. As a rule men do
the heavier and more complicated work, while women do that which is
preparatory or supplementary. In jobbing-shops where odd volumes come in
to be bound in various styles women are unsuitable, and men do the work
right through; but in large publishing houses where orders run into
thousands women specialise on particular processes. Women's work is apt
to be extended where there are large quantities involved and where the
work can be sub-divided. While women perform many of these sub-divisions
quite as skilfully as men, they do not exhibit a like concentration of
effort, and are more inclined to scamp.
Opinions differ as to the amount of homework done nowadays. The plant
required is just a folder--a piece of bone. There is no doubt that to
some extent folding is still done at home by the older girls who have
_during the day been employed in the factory_. One employer admitted
that on "not more than three or at most four nights in the year" do
girls take work home from his shop. The cause is set down to the
impatience of the public. Everybody wants his order executed
immediately. Rates paid for homework are, if anything, a shade less than
those paid for work done in the factory. While such work increases the
total earnings this is not the main motive for undertaking it. A good
deal of it is forced, and due to the urgency of the public demand.
During very busy months some firms have a great deal of folding done as
_outwork_ by widows and married women _not_ now employed in the factory
during the day. But this practice is declining. Twopence per 1,000 extra
is paid by one firm, _i.e._, 10_d._ as against 8_d._, for this outwork
to compensate for lack of facilities in the home.
Despite the great number of sewing and folding machines introduced in
recent years there are probably more women employed at the trade than
ever. There is more work. The small shops tend to retain women's labour.
Their jobs are so small in amount and varied in character that it would
not pay them to introduce machinery. Further, in the large shops,
folding machines have not always proved satisfactory. Doubtless, had men
been engaged in folding during the last fifty years, employers would ere
this have perfected a folding machine, but the cheapness of women's
labour takes away some of the incentive to invention. Sometimes the
introduction of a machine reduces women's work in one department and
increases it in another. Take as an example the wire-stitching machine
used in the production of tens of thousands of penny pocket time-tables
and diaries. If the diary is not out during the first three days of the
month it may as well not appear at all. There is a short selling time
during which sales are keen. Without the device of the stitching machine
the only way in which large quantities of such ephemeral publications
could be placed quickly on the market would be by the employment of a
very large staff of women. But the big and rapid output possible by
means of the machine, although it reduces the work of women stitchers,
brings increased work to the women folders.
(E.) _Machine Ruling._
Girls who start as feeders are sometimes promoted to the supervision of
simple ruling machines. Men look upon this with disfavour, as it used to
be considered their work. One firm is said to have only two men now
employed where there were once forty, and the two that remain are
tenters, who supervise the girls and the machines. Machine ruling is
paid at time rates. Wages rank as high as 17_s._ a week, where men
formerly got 28_s._ For more complex machines girls would need to be
specially trained, but managers think they could easily be prepared, as
intelligence rather than strength is necessary. The girls themselves
believe they would succeed if given a chance.
(F.) _Type and Stereotype Founding._
No type founding is done in Glasgow, and no women are employed here in
stereotype founding. Such work is considered unsuitable for women, and
there seems no likelihood of their taking it up.
(G.) _Paper Staining._
This work has always been done by women. There is no formal
apprenticeship, but it takes a couple of years before the girls are
thoroughly initiated. They are taken on at thirteen or fourteen at a
wage of 4_s._ a week, paid 5_s._ at the end of the first year and 6_s._
at the end of the second. Afterwards their wages range from 12_s._ to
14_s._, with an average of about 12_s._ 6_d._ per week. There is no
piecework and no fines are exacted. The working hours are 56 per week,
distributed as follows:--
6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturdays, 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Work is plentiful all the year round. No dangerous machinery is used,
and there is no special trade disease. The girls remain on till they get
married. They are drawn from the "better sort" of working-class
families, and some were reported as coming to the factory on cycles.
They have no trade organisation, and there do not seem to have been any
attempts on the part of the girls to supplant men in the allied
processes. No machinery has yet been devised capable of doing the work
of the girls.
(H.) _Paper-box Making._
Girls come from school and begin by dabbling about the shop and running
messages. Presently they become "spreaders," and in two or three years'
time "coverers," the highest position open to them. The cutting of the
paper and cardboard is done by machines, which men operate. The material
thus prepared to the required sizes is passed on to the girls to be
glued up into boxes. The girls use no machinery, and stand to their work
at benches. At the height of summer, and despite the gluey atmosphere of
the workrooms, the girls have the usual reluctance to open windows.
Wages start at 3_s._ or 3_s._ 6_d._ Spreaders are paid from 5_s._ 6_d._,
to 7_s._ 6_d._; coverers, 10_s._ and 11_s._ Hours vary from shop to
shop. Some begin at 8 and finish at 6.30 (Saturdays, 12.30), with a meal
hour at 1 o'clock. Others allow an hour and a quarter for dinner, so as
to enable girls to get home. The week is then arranged as follows:
7 a.m. to 9.15 a.m.
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
3.15 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
(I.) _Pattern-book Making._
This trade consists in making pattern-books for travellers, and is
usually found in close alliance with box-making. Girls get 4_s._ to
start, and rise to 13_s._ a week. The hours in one factory visited were
found to be as follows:--
8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
2 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. without a break.
APPENDIX IV.--WOMEN IN THE PRINTING TRADES IN BIRMINGHAM.
FIFTEEN firms were visited.
No women compositors were found in the chief printing businesses visited
in Birmingham. The wife of the manager of one factory said that ten
years ago in non-society places there had been a very few women
compositors in Birmingham. They took 15_s._, as compared to 33_s._ taken
by the men compositors for the same work. It is now fifteen years since
the informant left the trade, and she believes that at present none
exist in Birmingham. She imagines that it is the strength of the
Compositors' Union which has driven them out.
Only one owner of a printing business considered that factory
legislation was detrimental to the interests of women in the printing
trade. He says that he keeps a number of youths where he would otherwise
employ women, as in stress of trade overwork has to be done, including
Sunday work, _e.g._, at the time of the great cycle boom. He tried to
get permission for the women to work on Sunday, but could not.
Another manager considered that the Compositors' Union spoilt the chance
of women workers in the printing trade. He himself, if it were not for
the Union, would like to train girl compositors. No other printer
expressed this opinion. All said that, on the whole, men were better in
the compositors' room, as they could be set on any job, and the pressure
of women would necessitate much rearrangement.
MACHINE RULING.
_Training and Wages._--_Machine Ruling_ is the only process for which
training can be said to exist. In some houses women are still articled
or apprenticed to this branch, but in many they simply learn their trade
as they can, from the foreman or forewoman. They generally begin as
machine feeders of the ruling machine. The secretary of the Union of
Bookbinders and Machine Rulers gave the information that women had been
first employed as machine rulers about twenty years ago. He himself had
learnt his trade under a woman who was head of the whole department. The
final wage of a woman machine ruler is 17_s._ to 20_s._ In one case a
female ruler was taking 22_s._, but I was told that was because she was
a relative of the employer. The minimum wage of a man belonging to the
Union is 32_s._ I was informed, however, that the man always worked a
heavier machine, generally made the pens, was responsible for the good
condition of all the machines, and that his output was always in advance
of that of a woman.
_Men and Women._--In six businesses (the largest in Birmingham visited)
the proportion of women machine rulers is about three to one man. An
attempt was made about eight years ago to organise the women machine
rulers in Birmingham, but met with no response. The secretary of the
men's union informs me, "The reason why the attempt failed is probably
that they have little to complain of. The wages vary from 4_s._ to 5_s._
per week for beginners, to £1 per week of fifty-two hours."
TABLE PROCESSES.
All _table processes_, such as folding, knocking-up, gumming, numbering,
paging, interlaying, etc., are done by women. The average wage varies
from 8_s._ to about 12_s._ 6_d._ Numbering seems to be about the best.
Three numberers had taken 15_s._, but the average maximum was between
11_s._ and 12_s._ 6_d._
ENVELOPE MAKING.
_Training._--A beginner is given a teacher, that is, a more experienced
worker, for six weeks. The teacher gets the profits of the beginner's
work, and the beginner is paid about 4_s._ per week.
All the work in the establishment was piecework, with the exception of
the new Scotch folding machine, which turns out 25,000 envelopes per
day, as against 2,000 done by hand. The day wage is 12_s._ per week.
_Sub-divisions._--Envelope folders take 7_s._ to 15_s._ The smallest
envelopes are 6_d._ per 1,000, the largest 1_s._ 10_d._
_Average wage_ for folding is 10_s._ to 12_s._ _Stamping_, 7_s._ to
10_s._ _Stitching_, 8_s._ to 10_s._ _Gumming_, 10_s._ to 14_s._
_General Remarks._--Envelope making is not a seasonal trade.
_Hours._--Maximum, 49½ per week.
8.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., winter.
8 a.m. to 6 p.m., summer.
One week's holiday in August.
One week's holiday at Christmas.
COLOUR PRINTING.
Colour Printing takes about six months to learn well.
_Wages._--10_s._ to 12_s._ for a woman. A man employed on a heavier
machine took 20_s._
The forewoman takes 14_s._
BOOKBINDING.
By the rules of the Machine Rulers' and Bookbinders' Consolidated Union
women may only bind paper pamphlets. They are not allowed to bind
regular books. They may book-stitch with thread or wire, glue, fold,
bronze, and gild.
PAPER-BAG MAKING.
_Business No. 1._
_Conditions._--Cap bag-making is all piecework, except for beginners,
who start at 4_s._ In fifteen months, manager says they should be able
to earn 10_s._ per week by piecework.
_Average Wage._--13_s._ to 15_s._ Manager considered that in heavy cap
bag-making 19_s._ was top wage ever taken by an extra good hand in extra
busy time.
Eighteen girls were employed in cap bag-making.
A rougher class of girls were employed in the sugar bag department,
which is heavier work. The wages were higher for this heavier work. The
average wage approached 15_s._
The bag-stringing machine was the only machinery employed in this
business. It was worked by a foreman and forewoman. No married women
were employed. The clerks were all women, taking 20_s._ per week. The
manager preferred them to men because they were content with that wage
as a maximum.
_Outwork_ given to old workers under known conditions, as since the bags
are for the grocery trade it is important to know home conditions. Same
price as for inworkers, but outworkers found their own paste and
brushes, etc.
_Hours._--8 a.m. to 7 p.m., 1 hour dinner, 20 minutes tea. Saturday, 8
a.m. to 1 p.m.
_Remarks._--The contrast between this business and the business next
door (see following case) was very striking as regards relation between
manager and employees.
_Business No. 2._
Girls are employed here in bag-making and table processes. The employer
considered that the girls could average 9_s._ to 10_s._ He gave the
highest wage for machine laying-on, which begins at 7_s._ and goes up to
12_s._ and 13_s._ This wage was given because of the danger of the
process (I think the machine was the "Arab," which in union houses women
may not work "because of the danger"). Manager believed a good many of
his hands were married women. He did not care whether they were married
or not. The forewoman and the girl in the warehouse were each taking
11_s._
_Homework._--Given out in busy times to whoever applied, without further
precautions. Manager thought no outworker took more than 4_s._ to 5_s._
per week.
_Hours._--8 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Fifty-two and a half hours per week regular time. Just now (December)
they were working ten hours per day.
August slackest month. Manager generally turned off hands then. Manager
spoke of difficulty of getting workers--he could not get boys to feed
the machines, for example, because it led to nothing.
Manager said he "conducted his business on purely business principles"
and got his work done as cheaply as he could.
MACHINE FEEDING.
This is the lowest work in letterpress printing. Girls are employed
largely as feeders, and are replacing boys. The managers said that the
work was not liked by boys, as leading to nothing, and it was difficult
to get them. The wages for a machine feeder are 4_s._ 6_d._ to 5_s._
6_d._ initial wage, which rises to 8_s._ 6_d._ or 9_s._ In the best
workshops we were told that the firm tried to find better work for
machine feeders when they had been some time with them and had proved
themselves capable and steady. Other firms did not know what became of
machine feeders when they grew dissatisfied with the small wage paid to
them.
_Employment of Married Women._
It is curious to notice how few married women there are in the printing
trade in Birmingham compared to the pen trade, for example. A better
class of girl seems to go into the printing trade, coming from better
homes than women employed in the hardware trades. It is very exceptional
for a girl who marries a skilled artisan in Birmingham to continue her
work, and in these trades girls appear to belong more to the skilled
artisan class. Several employers refuse married women; one employer told
me that he never had had an application for work from a married woman.
Only one employer was indifferent as to whether he employed married
women, and did not know whether his hands were married or not.
_Women and Machinery._
It was very difficult to ascertain whether the machinery introduced
meant dismissal of hands. In one business, for example, the thread
sewing machine introduced 12 months ago did the work of 12 girls. The
machinist was taking 12_s._ per week in place of 12 girls at 10_s._ to
12_s._ 6_d._ The manager said that they had not dismissed any thread
sewers when this machine was introduced, but had absorbed them in other
processes. They would, however, engage no more girls as thread sewers.
The new Scotch folding machine for envelopes, which turns out 25,000 per
day against 2,000 done by hand, also was _said_ not to have been
productive of dismissals.[98]
[Footnote 98: The only actual cases of dismissal of workers owing to
introduction of machinery which I can ascertain is that of the new
grinding machines for pens. The employer, who has invented the machine,
told me he meant to dismiss about half his grinders and supply their
places with girls fresh from school, as very little skill will be needed
to work the machine. I hear that the largest pen business has ordered
sixty of these machines, but I have not yet ascertained what effect it
will have on that business. The employer in the first business mentioned
spoke of the grinders as the most indocile of his workers, and as many
of them belonged to the Penworkers' Union, he hoped that the machine
would help in annihilating the union. In two businesses I was told that
the cheapness of women labour retarded the introduction of thread sewing
machines, etc.]
_Continuity of Employment in Printing Trade._
The printing trade in Birmingham is slackest in August and September.
The busiest times are November, December, and towards Easter time. In
the best businesses the hands are asked to take half-holiday in turns in
slack times, or short hours are worked, but the managers appeared to
make every effort to keep the workers employed as far as possible, and
in no cases actually to dismiss hands. In the worst businesses dismissal
in slack times is common.
_Overtime and the Factory Laws._
Only one employer considered that the factory laws against overtime
militated against women's employment. All spoke of their endeavour to
reduce overtime, owing to the fact that their union men asked one and a
half and twice usual rate. No employer acknowledged that women were ever
kept overtime, although, from the account of one worker, apparently this
does sometimes occur.
All concurred that the cheapness of women's work compared to men's
outweighed any inconvenience arising from special legislation for women
and young persons. In no case was the cheapness of women's work
attributed to legislation, but to absence of unionism and different
standards of life for men and women, and inferiority of physical
strength and mental ingenuity, and also to custom.
APPENDIX V.
The following tables of wages paid to the workwomen as described, form,
we believe, a unique record in wages statistics. The occupations and the
nature of the wages, _e.g._, time or piece, are as follows:--
1. Hand Folder in Bookbinding House (Piece).
2. Hand Folder in Bookbinding House (Piece).
3. Hand Folder in Bookbinding House (Piece).
4. Hand Folder in Bookbinding House (Piece).
5. Hand Folder in Bookbinding House (Piece).
6. Hand Folder in Bookbinding House (Time).
7. Learner. Folder in Bookbinding House (Piece).
8. Folder and Gatherer in Bookbinding House (Piece).
9. Hand Sewer in Bookbinding House (Piece).
10. Hand Sewer in Bookbinding House (Piece).
11. Machine Sewer in Bookbinding House (Piece).
12. Learner. Sewing and Collating in Bookbinding House (Piece).
13. Folding, Sewing and Collating in Bookbinding House (Time).
14. Collating and Sewing in Bookbinding House (Piece).
15. Plate hand in Bookbinding House (Time).
16. Plate hand in Bookbinding House (Time).
17. Layer on of Gold in Bookbinding House (Piece).
18. Printers' Binding (Piece).
19. Printers' Binding (Time).
20. Printers' Binding (Time).
21. Printers' Binding (Piece).
22. Printers' Binding (Piece).
23. Printers' Binding (Piece).
24. Hand Folder in Printers' Warehouse (Piece).
25. Envelope Packer (Time).
26. Machine Ruler (Time).
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1. HAND FOLDER IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1898 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
| 41 | 14 10 | 3 | 16 1½ | 20 | 11 8½ | 37 | 11 10 |
| 42 | 15 2½ | 4 | 14 5 | 21 | 7 8½ | 38 | 12 9 |
| 43 | 15 7½ | 5 | 14 11½ | 22 | 11 11½ | 39 | 12 9½ |
| 44 | 15 7½ | 6 | 15 7½ | 23 | 9 1 | 40 | 14 2 |
| 45 | 15 0 | 7 | 15 0½ | 24 | 8 10 | 41 | 14 2½ |
| 46 | 15 7 | 8 | 15 1½ | 25 | 11 10½ | 42 | 13 7 |
| 47 | 15 5 | 9 | 15 6 | 26 | 6 4½ | 43 | 14 0½ |
| 48 | 15 0 | 10 | 14 10 | 27 | 6 2½ | 44 | 14 1 |
| 49 | 14 7½ | 11 | 13 2½ | 28 | 9 9 | 45 | 14 0 |
| 50 | 16 1½ | 12 | 12 0 | 29 | 8 7½ | 46 | 13 6 |
| 51 | 16 4½ | 13 | 10 10½ | 30 | 11 3½ | 47 | 9 3½ |
| 52 | 7 11½ | 14 | 5 4 | 31 | -- | 48 | 7 1½ |
| | | 15 | 11 2 | 32 | 4 0½ | 49 | 13 1 |
| 1899 | | 16 | 9 2½ | 33 | 10 9½ | 50 | 11 2 |
| Week | | 17 | 9 8½ | 34 | 12 7 | 51 | 8 10 |
| 1 | 10 10½ | 18 | 8 2 | 35 | 12 1 | 52 | 6 2 |
| 2 | 14 4 | 19 | 10 3½ | 36 | 12 5 | | |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 2. HAND FOLDER IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates--Quick Hand._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week.| s. d. |
| 1 | 7 9½ | 14 | 16 2 | 27 | 7 1 | 40 | 13 3 |
| 2 | 9 1 | 15 | 12 10 | 28 | 9 8½ | 41 | 12 8 |
| 3 | 16 9½ | 16 | 20 10 | 29 | 13 0 | 42 | 15 2½ |
| 4 | 19 6 | 17 | 17 5 | 30 | 12 9 | 43 | 14 0 |
| 5 | 14 0 | 18 | 10 8 | 31 | 12 0 | 44 | 11 6½ |
| 6 | 12 3 | 19 | 9 7 | 32 | 5 11 | 45 | 16 2½ |
| 7 | 13 9 | 20 | 26 2 | 33 | 14 7 | 46 | 17 5 |
| 8 | 18 5 | 21 | 17 4 | 34 | 21 3 | 47 | 18 9 |
| 9 | 11 4 | 22 | 15 0½ | 35 | 16 9 | 48 | 15 0 |
| 10 | 7 7 | 23 | 10 3 | 36 | 15 8 | 49 | -- |
| 11 | 14 4½ | 24 | 11 7½ | 37(a)| -- | 50 | -- |
| 12 | 15 6 | 25 | 13 9½ | 38 | 13 8 | 51 | -- |
| 13 | 15 5 | 26 | 9 1½ | 39 | 15 4 | 52 | -- |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| (a) Missing from wage sheets. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 3. HAND FOLDER IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates_--_Quick Hand._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
| 1 | 25 0 | 14 | 6 1½ | 27 | 25 11 | 40 | 21 0 |
| 2 | 22 3 | 15 | 25 6 | 28 | 25 8½ | 41 | 23 0½ |
| 3 | 20 3 | 16 | 19 0½ | 29 | 16 11 | 42 | 22 10½ |
| 4 | 23 7 | 17 | 23 10 | 30 | 16 8 | 43 | 22 1 |
| 5 | 19 11 | 18 | 24 2 | 31 | 8 4 | 44 | 20 6 |
| 6 | 26 10 | 19 | 28 1 | 32 | 6 2 | 45 | 17 0½ |
| 7 | 21 6 | 20 | 22 4 | 33 | 21 6½ | 46 | 26 6 |
| 8 | 14 6 | 21 | 14 2 | 34 | 22 1 | 47 | 20 8½ |
| 9 | 23 5½ | 22 | 22 3 | 35 | 19 11 | 48 | 21 3 |
| 10 | 25 11 | 23 | 23 4½ | 36 | 19 9 | 49 | 28 9 |
| 11 | 25 3 | 24 | 25 10½ | 37 | 20 2 | 50 | 24 10½ |
| 12 | 23 0 | 25 | 22 11 | 38 | 20 0 | 51 | 23 4 |
| 13 | 17 9 | 26 | 25 0 | 39 | 20 8 | 52 | -- |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 4. HAND FOLDER IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates--Typical Hand._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1 | 16 9 | 14 | 6 8 | 27 | 16 1½ | 40 | 12 7 |
| 2 | 14 9½ | 15 | 13 6 | 28 | 17 3 | 41 | 15 10½ |
| 3 | 14 5 | 16 | 11 6 | 29 | 16 0 | 42 | 18 0 |
| 4 | 15 1 | 17 | 19 5 | 30 | 14 8 | 43 | 22 10½ |
| 5 | 15 0 | 18 | 20 3 | 31 | 15 10 | 44 | 19 3 |
| 6 | 14 9 | 19 | 13 8 | 32 | 3 9 | 45 | 15 6 |
| 7 | 15 8 | 20 | 13 10 | 33 | 10 10 | 46 | 16 5½ |
| 8 | 11 11½ | 21 | 11 2½ | 34 | 16 10 | 47 | 16 3 |
| 9 | 16 9½ | 22 | 19 1 | 35 | 17 10 | 48 | 17 4 |
| 10 | 16 1 | 23 | 17 7½ | 36 | 14 11 | 49 | 19 2½ |
| 11 | 15 2 | 24 | 15 6 | 37 | 11 11 | 50 | 15 6 |
| 12 | 15 6 | 25 | 18 3 | 38 | 11 8 | 51 | 15 4½ |
| 13 | 9 3 | 26 | 18 0½ | 39 | 15 0½ | 52 | 4 4 |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 5. HAND FOLDER IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates--Slow Hand._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1 | 3 4½ | 14 | 3 0 | 27 | 8 8 | 40 | 7 10 |
| 2 | 5 10 | 15 | 7 2½ | 28 | 9 7 | 41 | 8 5 |
| 3 | 7 1 | 16 | 7 5½ | 29 | 8 3 | 42 | 10 0 |
| 4 | 7 6 | 17 | 9 7 | 30 | 7 3 | 43 | 10 0 |
| 5 | 7 4 | 18 | 11 8 | 31 | 8 10 | 44 | 10 7½ |
| 6 | 7 8 | 19 | 7 7 | 32 | 6 3½ | 45 | 7 7 |
| 7 | 7 9 | 20 | 8 1 | 33 | 11 0½ | 46 | 8 1 |
| 8 | 6 5½ | 21 | 5 6½ | 34 | 8 10 | 47 | 9 0 |
| 9 | 8 7 | 22 | 10 0 | 35 | 9 7 | 48 | 9 0 |
| 10 | 7 8 | 23 | 8 1 | 36 | 2 5½ | 49 | 11 1 |
| 11 | 7 8 | 24 | 8 10 | 37 | -- | 50 | 8 10 |
| 12 | 6 11½ | 25 | 8 9 | 38 | 3 9 | 51 | 10 9 |
| 13 | 5 9½ | 26 | 8 11½ | 39 | 5 7 | 52 | 2 3 |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 6. HAND FOLDER IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Time Rates._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| This worker was paid 18_s._ per week steadily throughout |
| the year 1899. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 7. LEARNER. FOLDER IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Up to week 8 receives Fixed Sum, afterwards |
| Half Earnings at Piece Rates._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1 | 2 0 | 14 | 3 1½ | 27 | 7 8 | 40 | 6 0½ |
| 2 | 2 0 | 15 | 6 1 | 28 | 5 2½ | 41 | 7 3½ |
| 3 | 2 0 | 16 | 5 8½ | 29 | 5 4½ | 42 | 6 0½ |
| 4 | 2 0 | 17 | 6 9½ | 30 | 4 11 | 43 | 6 9½ |
| 5 | 2 0 | 18 | 7 7 | 31 | 4 10 | 44 | 8 0½ |
| 6 | 2 0 | 19 | 7 2 | 32 | 3 10 | 45 | 6 4 |
| 7 | 2 0 | 20 | 6 4½ | 33 | 6 10½ | 46 | 6 4½ |
| 8 | 2 0 | 21 | 3 9½ | 34 | 2 2 | 47 | 6 2 |
| 9 | 6 6 | 22 | 6 9½ | 35 | -- | 48 | 6 0½ |
| 10 | 7 7 | 23 | 6 11½ | 36 | 4 2 | 49 | 7 4 |
| 11 | 5 9½ | 24 | 6 5½ | 37 | 6 2½ | 50 | 6 3½ |
| 12 | 6 1½ | 25 | 5 9½ | 38 | 6 1½ | 51 | 7 1 |
| 13 | 4 9 | 26 | 6 2 | 39 | 5 8 | 52 | 1 10 |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| 8. FOLDER AND GATHERER IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| 1 | 7 5½ | 14 | 5 9 | 27 | 4 3 | 40 | 14 0 |
| 2 | 16 4 | 15 | 11 3½ | 28 | 9 1½ | 41 | 13 1 |
| 3 | 10 1 | 16 | 21 2 | 29 | 13 5 | 42 | 16 7 |
| 4 | 18 7 | 17 | 20 0 | 30 | 17 7 | 43 | 14 3 |
| 5 | 14 9 | 18 | 12 8½ | 31 | 7 0 | 44 | 13 5 |
| 6 | 11 8½ | 19 | 12 5 | 32 | 9 1 | 45 | 14 1 |
| 7 | 13 9 | 20 | 27 11 | 33 | 15 4 | 46 | 19 10 |
| 8 | 19 11½ | 21 | 15 7½ | 34 | 18 8 | 47 | 21 11 |
| 9 | 13 3 | 22 | 15 11 | 35 | 17 9 | 48 | 18 2½ |
| 10 | 4 3 | 23 | 9 5 | 36 | 6 11 | 49 | 11 1½ |
| 11 | 14 6 | 24 | 14 5 | 37(a) | -- | 50 | 14 7½ |
| 12 | 17 7 | 25 | 12 1 | 38 | 8 0 | 51 | 8 9½ |
| 13 | 19 7½ | 26 | 14 3½ | 39 | 19 3½ | 52 | 8 6 |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| (a) Week missing from wage sheets. |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+---------+
| 9. HAND SEWER IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+---------+
| _Piece Rates--Slow Hand._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+---------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+---------+
| 1 | 3 3½ | 8 | 12 2½ | 15 | 8 10 | 22 | 10 5½ |
| 2 | 5 10 | 9 | 10 8½ | 16 | -- | 23 | 7 5 |
| 3 | 9 10 | 10 | 7 6 | 17 | 11 5 | 24 | 8 6½ |
| 4 | 10 1 | 11 | 9 3 | 18 | 5 5 | 25 | -- |
| 5 | 11 9 | 12 | 8 5 | 19 | 6 0½ | 26 | 5 5 |
| 6 | 8 4 | 13 | 10 3 | 20 | 13 1½ | 27 | 1 7(a) |
| 7 | 8 10½ | 14 | 6 11 | 21 | 9 9½ | | |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+---------+
| (a) She left after this. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+---------+
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| 10. HAND SEWER IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates--Quick Hand._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| 1 | 5 10½ | 14 | 12 0 | 27 | -- | 40 | 10 8 |
| 2 | -- | 15 | 13 4 | 28 | -- | 41 | 12 3½ |
| 3 | 15 8½ | 16 | 20 6 | 29 | 14 3 | 42 | 10 3 |
| 4 | 14 3 | 17 | 20 3 | 30 | 13 11 | 43 | 12 5 |
| 5 | 16 11 | 18 | 4 11 | 31 | 10 6 | 44 | 14 3 |
| 6 | 14 8½ | 19 | 6 5 | 32 | 6 8 | 45 | 13 11 |
| 7 | 13 4 | 20 | 19 6 | 33 | 14 7 | 46 | 16 1 |
| 8 | 18 6 | 21 | 14 6 | 34 | 18 10 | 47 | 16 10½ |
| 9 | 16 4 | 22 | 14 3 | 35 | 19 4 | 48 | 13 8 |
| 10 | 10 7 | 23 | 10 1½ | 36 | 17 4 | 49 | 15 7 |
| 11 | 14 (a) | 24 | 12 3½ | 37(b) | -- | 50 | 13 6 |
| 12 | 10 7½ | 25 | 16 1½ | 38 | 16 11 | 51 | 12 5 |
| 13 | 16 3½ | 26 | 1 5½ | 39 | 14 7 | 52 | 4 10 |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| (a) 5-12 |
| (b) Missing from wage sheets. |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 11. MACHINE SEWER IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
| 1 | 17 3½ | 14 | 8 10 | 27 | 18 1 | 40 | 20 2½ |
| 2 | 15 0 | 15 | 16 6 | 28 | 20 1 | 41 | 18 8 |
| 3 | 15 7½ | 16 | 16 6 | 29 | 14 0 | 42 | 20 7½ |
| 4 | 15 4 | 17 | 17 10 | 30 | -- | 43 | 17 11½ |
| 5 | 15 7½ | 18 | 19 3 | 31 | 12 2 | 44 | 19 5½ |
| 6 | 16 7 | 19 | 16 8 | 32 | 11 2½ | 45 | 17 10 |
| 7 | 16 3 | 20 | 16 10 | 33 | 18 11 | 46 | 21 9 |
| 8 | 16 9½ | 21 | 10 8 | 34 | 18 9 | 47 | 20 5 |
| 9 | 18 5½ | 22 | 18 2½ | 35 | 15 2 | 48 | 23 3 |
| 10 | 17 5½ | 23 | 16 9 | 36 | 14 0½ | 49 | 23 5 |
| 11 | 19 9 | 24 | 13 6 | 37 | 22 2 | 50 | 18 4½ |
| 12 | 16 3 | 25 | 10 4 | 38 | 18 7 | 51 | 20 1½ |
| 13 | 13 0 | 26 | 17 8 | 39 | 18 1 | 52 | 6 5½ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 12. LEARNER. SEWING AND COLLATING IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Receives Half Earnings at Piece Rates._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
| 1 | -- | 14 | 8 10½ | 27 | 2 6 | 40 | 3 3½ |
| 2 | 4 2½ | 15 | 5 1 | 28 | 3 7 | 41 | 5 5½ |
| 3 | 5 0½ | 16 | 5 5 | 29 | 4 8½ | 42 | 7 4 |
| 4 | 5 1½ | 17 | 6 4 | 30 | 4 6½ | 43 | 7 2 |
| 5 | 8 10 | 18 | 6 7½ | 31 | 7 2 | 44 | 8 5 |
| 6 | 2 10 | 19 | 4 6 | 32 | 7 5 | 45 | 4 5 |
| 7 | 4 6 | 20 | 4 10½ | 33 | 8 8 | 46 | 4 10½ |
| 8 | 4 9½ | 21 | 5 4 | 34 | 7 7½ | 47 | 7 0½ |
| 9 | 6 0½ | 22 | 5 8½ | 35 | 7 1½ | 48 | 6 8 |
| 10 | 5 0½ | 23 | 4 0 | 36 | 7 1 | 49 | 10 9½ |
| 11 | 5 7½ | 24 | 9 2½ | 37 | 7 6 | 50 | 6 4½ |
| 12 | 5 0½ | 25 | 7 9 | 38 | 9 10½ | 51 | 5 2½ |
| 13 | 6 6½ | 26 | 3 4 | 39 | 8 1 | 52 | 1 9½ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 13. FOLDING, SEWING, COLLATING IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Time Hand._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1898 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
| 41 | 19 8 | 7 | 19 8 | 28 | 15 6 | 49 | 18 3 |
| 42 | 19 4½ | 8 | 19 4 | 29 | 17 4 | 50 | 18 7½ |
| 43 | 19 6 | 9 | 19 10 | 30 | 15 6 | 51 | 19 6 |
| 44 | 19 8 | 10 | 19 4 | 31 | 15 6 | 52 | 11 2 |
| 45 | 20 0 | 11 | 17 6 | 32 | 10 2 | | |
| 46 | 19 10 | 12 | 18 10 | 33 | -- | 1900 | |
| 47 | 19 6 | 13 | 14 0 | 34 | 14 2 | Week | |
| 48 | 20 4 | 14 | 9 2 | 35 | 17 2 | 1 | 20 2 |
| 49 | 19 10 | 15 | 16 6 | 36 | 17 4 | 2 | 18 5 |
| 50 | 19 8 | 16 | 16 0 | 37 | 17 2 | 3 | 17 0 |
| 51 | 19 8 | 17 | 16 4 | 38 | 17 6 | 4 | 16 8 |
| 52 | 11 8 | 18 | 16 2 | 39 | 18 8 | 5 | 17 11 |
| | | 19 | 16 4 | 40 | 18 8 | 6 | 17 6½ |
| 1899 | | 20 | 16 4 | 41 | 19 2 | 7 | 18 1 |
| Week | | 21 | 10 4 | 42 | 19 8 | 8 | 12 10½ |
| 1 | 19 10 | 22 | 16 4 | 43 | 20 11 | 9 | 11 6 |
| 2 | 19 10 | 23 | 15 6 | 44 | 20 11 | 10 | 13 4½ |
| 3 | 19 8 | 24 | 15 4 | 45 | 20 9 | 11 | 15 9½ |
| 4 | 19 8 | 25 | 16 4 | 46 | 19 4 | 12 | 15 9 |
| 5 | 19 6 | 26 | 15 4 | 47 | 19 8 | 13 | 11 6 |
| 6 | 19 10 | 27 | 12 6 | 48 | 19 6 | | |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 14. COLLATOR AND SEWER. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates--Quick Hand._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
| 1 | 20 3 | 14 | 10 5 | 27 | 18 7 | 40 | 18 2 |
| 2 | 18 9 | 15 | 15 3½ | 28 | 18 3½ | 41 | 18 3½ |
| 3 | 18 9 | 16 | 18 2 | 29 | 15 4½ | 42 | 18 11 |
| 4 | 18 4½ | 17 | 20 8½ | 30 | 16 4 | 43 | 21 3 |
| 5 | 18 10 | 18 | 22 1 | 31 | 15 11 | 44 | 21 7½ |
| 6 | 20 1 | 19 | 19 10½ | 32 | 9 10 | 45 | 18 10 |
| 7 | 18 11 | 20 | 18 11 | 33 | 19 6 | 46 | 18 9 |
| 8 | 19 1½ | 21 | 12 9 | 34 | 17 7½ | 47 | 18 0½ |
| 9 | 21 6 | 22 | 20 0 | 35 | 16 0½ | 48 | 19 9½ |
| 10 | 20 4 | 23 | 18 9 | 36 | 17 6½ | 49 | 22 4 |
| 11 | 19 10½ | 24 | 17 5 | 37 | 18 0 | 50 | 19 5 |
| 12 | 19 1½ | 25 | 17 11 | 38 | 17 10 | 51 | 19 6 |
| 13 | 14 4 | 26 | 19 1½ | 39 | 17 4 | 52 | 6 3½ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+---------+
| 15. PLATE HAND IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+---------+
| _Time Rates, 13_s._ for 54 hours till October, then 14_s._ |
| Overtime, 3_d._ an hour._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
| 1 | 12 8 | 14 | 7 11 | 27 | 11 4 | 40 | 13 7½ |
| 2 | 12 5 | 15 | 13 9 | 28 | 12 8 | 41 | 12 8 |
| 3 | 12 8 | 16 | 14 4½ | 29 | 13 7½ | 42 | 14 10½ |
| 4 | 12 8 | 17 | 13 6 | 30 | 13 0 | 43 | 13 9 |
| 5 | 12 10½ | 18 | 13 0 | 31 | 13 0 | 44 | 13 10½ |
| 6 | 12 6½ | 19 | 13 0 | 32 | 8 2 | 45 | 13 7½ |
| 7 | 12 9 | 20 | 14 4½ | 33 | 12 9½ | 46 | 14 7½ |
| 8 | 12 10½ | 21 | 9 1½ | 34 | 13 0 | 47 | 18 6 |
| 9 | 12 10½ | 22 | 14 6 | 35 | 13 6 | 48 | 15 3 |
| 10 | 13 0 | 23 | 10 9 | 36 | -- | 49 | 13 6 |
| 11 | 13 0 | 24 | 12 10½ | 37(a) | -- | 50 | 13 6 |
| 12 | 12 9 | 25 | 13 4½ | 38 | 13 0 | 51 | 13 10½ |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| (a) Missing from wage sheets.
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| 16. PLATE HAND IN BOOKBINDING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| _Time Rates_, 16_s._ _for 54 hours. Overtime_, 3½_d._ _per |
| hour for first 3 hours_, 4_d._ _per hour afterwards._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
| 1 | 14 8 | 14 | 9 10 | 27 | 13 9½ | 40 | 15 8 |
| 2 | 14 7 | 15 | 16 5½ | 28 | 15 5 | 41 | 15 8½ |
| 3 | 14 8 | 16 | 18 0½ | 29 | 15 8½ | 42 | 15 7 |
| 4 | 15 1½ | 17 | 17 0½ | 30 | 15 5 | 43 | 15 10½ |
| 5 | 15 5 | 18 | 15 7 | 31 | 15 7 | 44 | 16 2 |
| 6 | 14 10 | 19 | 15 0 | 32 | 10 3½ | 45 | 15 3 |
| 7 | 14 8 | 20 | 19 2½ | 33 | 15 7 | 46 | 17 2½ |
| 8 | 13 4½ | 21 | 10 11 | 34 | 16 0 | 47 | 18 10½ |
| 9 | 15 1½ | 22 | 17 4½ | 35 | 16 10½ | 48 | 16 10½ |
| 10 | 14 3½ | 23 | 15 7 | 36 | 18 10½ | 49 | 15 10½ |
| 11 | 14 8½ | 24 | 15 5 | 37(a) | -- | 50 | 15 7 |
| 12 | 14 8½ | 25 | 16 10½ | 38 | 16 3½ | 51 | 15 5 |
| 13 | 15 7 | 26 | 15 10½ | 39 | 16 3½ | 52 | 9 11 |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
| (a) Missing from wage sheets. |
+------+--------+------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 17. LAYER-ON OF GOLD. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
| 1 | 22 0 | 14 | 8 4 | 27 | 9 7½ | 40 | 20 11½ |
| 2 | 19 3 | 15 | 18 1 | 28 | 19 11 | 41 | 20 5 |
| 3 | 17 8 | 16 | 15 8 | 29 | 7 6½ | 42 | 16 11½ |
| 4 | 17 6 | 17 | 10 0 | 30 | 9 9 | 43 | 17 10½ |
| 5 | 19 11 | 18 | 1 4 | 31 | 19 5 | 44 | 15 1½ |
| 6 | 17 10½ | 19 | -- | 32 | 16 9½ | 45 | 13 9 |
| 7 | 15 10 | 20 | -- | 33 | 18 8 | 46 | 15 1½ |
| 8 | 11 8 | 21 | -- | 34 | 24 6½ | 47 | 11 7½ |
| 9 | 22 0 | 22 | 11 3½ | 35 | 18 7 | 48 | 18 8 |
| 10 | 18 8 | 23 | 20 11 | 36 | 5 3½ | 49 | 14 10 |
| 11 | 22 1 | 24 | 16 6 | 37 | 18 2 | 50 | 9 7½ |
| 12 | 19 3 | 25 | 16 9½ | 38 | 26 3 | 51 | 11 8 |
| 13 | 15 10 | 26 | 12 4½ | 39 | 15 1 | 52 | 4 1½ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 18. BINDING DEPARTMENT IN PRINTING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates--Quick Worker._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1898 | | 1898 | | 1898 | | 1898 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
| 1 | 18 1 | 14 | 16 8 | 27 | 21 1 | 40 | 19 5 |
| 2 | 17 5 | 15 | 15 7 | 28 | 21 11 | 41 | 14 7 |
| 3 | 17 3 | 16 | 21 0 | 29 | 25 1 | 42 | 13 5 |
| 4 | 12 3 | 17 | 18 11 | 30 | 24 5 | 43 | 19 5 |
| 5 | 14 4 | 18 | 16 9 | 31 | -- | 44 | 17 1 |
| 6 | 19 8 | 19 | 21 1 | 32 | -- | 45 | 13 4 |
| 7 | 17 11 | 20 | 21 3 | 33 | 23 7 | 46 | 17 8 |
| 8 | 18 9 | 21 | 21 5 | 34 | 24 1 | 47 | 18 0 |
| 9 | 20 1 | 22 | 17 8 | 35 | 25 1 | 48 | 18 5 |
| 10 | 18 11 | 23 | 23 3 | 36 | 24 2 | 49 | 20 10 |
| 11 | 20 7 | 24 | 27 2 | 37 | 21 5 | 50 | 19 8 |
| 12 | 20 10 | 25 | 26 8 | 38 | 21 9 | 51 | 18 1 |
| 13 | 20 2 | 26 | 23 11 | 39 | 19 11 | 52 | 12 5 |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 19. BINDING DEPARTMENT IN PRINTING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Time Worker at_ 16_s._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
| 1 | 14 5 | 14 | 12 5 | 27 | 16 0 | 40 | 15 7 |
| 2 | 17 4 | 15 | 13 11 | 28 | 13 4 | 41 | 14 7 |
| 3 | 15 10 | 16 | 16 11 | 29 | 14 0 | 42 | 15 7 |
| 4 | 15 3 | 17 | 15 7 | 30 | 18 3 | 43 | 15 5 |
| 5 | 16 0 | 18 | 16 3 | 31 | 16 3 | 44 | 15 7 |
| 6 | 2 5 | 19 | 15 7 | 32 | -- | 45 | 15 9 |
| 7 | -- | 20 | 15 5 | 33 | 15 5 | 46 | 15 9 |
| 8 | 14 11 | 21 | 10 1 | 34 | 15 5 | 47 | 16 8 |
| 9 | 15 2 | 22 | 16 0 | 35 | 14 3 | 48 | 17 11 |
| 10 | 15 1 | 23 | 16 0 | 36 | 16 6 | 49 | 16 8 |
| 11 | 14 10 | 24 | 16 8 | 37 | 15 1 | 50 | 17 11 |
| 12 | 15 4 | 25 | 17 1 | 38 | -- | 51 | 16 3 |
| 13 | 11 0 | 26 | 15 7 | 39 | 10 1 | 52 | 10 2 |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+-------+------+--------+------+----------+------+-------+
| 20. QUARTERLY AVERAGES OF A TIME WORKER--PRINTERS' FOLDING |
| AND SEWING, &c. |
+------+-------+------+---------+------+---------+------+-------+
| | s. d. | | s. d. | | s. d. | | s. d. |
| 1886 | 14 1 | 1890 | 14 4 | 1893 | 13 10 | 1896 | 15 10 |
| | | " | 14 8 | " | 16 0 | | |
| 1887 | 15 3 | " | 11 0 | | | 1897 | 17 4 |
| " | 14 4 | " | 4 5(a) | 1894 | 16 0 | " | 16 0 |
| " | 14 1 | | | " | 15 8 | " | 16 7 |
| " | 14 3 | 1891 | 14 4 | " | 17 3 | " | 16 4 |
| | | " | 15 3 | " | 16 11 | | |
| 1888 | 15 6 | " | 14 11 | | | 1898 | 16 6 |
| " | 14 8 | " | 16 11 | 1895 | 16 10 | " | 15 11 |
| " | 13 11 | | | " | 15 6 | " | 15 9 |
| " | 14 3 | 1892 | 15 0 | " | 10 0(b) | " | 19 3 |
| | | " | 15 2 | " | 16 0 | | |
| 1889 | 15 11 | " | 15 7 | | | 1899 | 19 10 |
| " | 14 0 | " | 16 6 | 1896 | 18 6 | " | 18 9 |
| " | 14 2 | | | " | 15 0 | " | 18 8 |
| " | 15 9 | 1893 | 15 4 | " | 17 8 | " | 18 10 |
| | | " | 15 8 | | | | |
+------+-------+------+---------+------+---------+------+-------+
| (a) Absent 9 weeks. |
| (b) Absent 4 weeks. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+---------+------+-------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 21. PIECE HAND IN BINDING DEPARTMENT OF PRINTERS AND |
| STATIONERS. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1895 | | 1896 | | 1897 | | 1897 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
| 44 | 15 2 | 21 | 16 1 | 1 | 13 10 | 33 | -- |
| 45 | 18 0½ | 22 | 9 10½ | 2 | 14 1½ | 34 | -- |
| 46 | 14 6½ | 23 | 13 0 | 3 | 17 3½ | 35 | 14 4 |
| 47 | 18 5½ | 24 | 16 1 | 4 | 17 1½ | 36 | 14 1½ |
| 48 | 17 4 | 25 | 11 8½ | 5 | 15 4 | 37 | 17 8½ |
| 49 | 16 4½ | 26 | 15 9½ | 6 | 11 9 | 38 | 18 0½ |
| 50 | 13 9 | 27 | 13 7 | 7 | 16 2½ | 39 | 14 7 |
| 51 | 15 5½ | 28 | 16 1½ | 8 | 18 7½ | 40 | 14 8 |
| 52 | 7 9 | 29 | 6 5½ | 9 | 15 4½ | 41 | 16 0 |
| | | 30 | 17 6 | 10 | 20 1½ | 42 | 16 7½ |
| 1896 | | 31 | 19 4 | 11 | 15 2½ | 43 | 16 6½ |
| Week | s. d. | 32 | 13 3½ | 12 | 16 0½ | 44 | 18 2 |
| 1 | 7 2½ | 33 | -- | 13 | 15 5 | 45 | 20 5½ |
| 2 | 14 2 | 34 | -- | 14 | 16 4½ | 46 | 19 11 |
| 3 | 12 9½ | 35 | 15 4 | 15 | 15 0½ | 47 | 19 0½ |
| 4 | 13 0½ | 36 | 18 2½ | 16 | 15 5 | 48 | 17 2½ |
| 5 | 19 0½ | 37 | 16 9 | 17 | 12 8½ | 49 | 17 9½ |
| 6 | 18 1 | 38 | 17 0 | 18 | 17 6 | 50 | 20 1 |
| 7 | 14 5 | 39 | 17 0 | 19 | 18 8 | 51 | 20 6½ |
| 8 | 14 2½ | 40 | 15 10 | 20 | 19 1 | 52 | 20 2 |
| 9 | 14 10 | 41 | 16 10 | 21 | 18 1 | | |
| 10 | 17 5 | 42 | 19 2 | 22 | 18 4½ | 1898 | |
| 11 | 17 5 | 43 | 15 4½ | 23 | 14 2 | Week | s. d. |
| 12 | 13 7½ | 44 | 16 1½ | 24 | 9 0½ | 1 | -- |
| 13 | 17 1½ | 45 | 16 4 | 25 | 7 2 | 2 | -- |
| 14 | 14 0½ | 46 | 18 2 | 26 | 13 9 | 3 | -- |
| 15 | 11 2½ | 47 | 17 4½ | 27 | 15 6 | 4 | -- |
| 16 | 15 2 | 48 | 14 0½ | 28 | 11 11 | 5 | -- |
| 17 | 17 3 | 49 | 14 2 | 29 | 15 1½ | 6 | -- |
| 18 | 17 1 | 50 | 15 2½ | 30 | 18 8½ | 7 | -- |
| 19 | 19 4½ | 51 | 15 4 | 31 | 14 2 | 8 | -- |
| 20 | 11 9½ | 52 | 13 0 | 32 | 10 5 | 9 | -- |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1898 | | 1898 | | 1899 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
| 10 | -- | 39 | 14 3 | 12 | 17 2 | 41 | 15 4 |
| 11 | -- | 40 | 13 9½ | 13 | 15 5 | 42 | 14 7½ |
| 12 | -- | 41 | 14 5½ | 14 | 11 2½ | 43 | 19 10½ |
| 13 | -- | 42 | 14 9 | 15 | 15 8½ | 44 | 18 9 |
| 14 | 17 2½ | 43 | 16 9 | 16 | 17 9 | 45 | 19 1 |
| 15 | 16 0½ | 44 | 14 11 | 17 | 18 3 | 46 | 19 6 |
| 16 | 12 3½ | 45 | 19 1 | 18 | 18 6 | 47 | 21 2 |
| 17 | 13 1½ | 46 | 18 2 | 19 | 18 6 | 48 | 18 6 |
| 18 | 14 0½ | 47 | 20 3½ | 20 | 16 1 | 49 | 16 9½ |
| 19 | 18 8½ | 48 | 20 3 | 21 | 12 7 | 50 | 18 0½ |
| 20 | 20 3½ | 49 | 20 6 | 22 | 16 5 | 51 | 19 9 |
| 21 | 20 3½ | 50 | 18 2 | 23 | 18 2 | 52 | 11 10½ |
| 22 | 20 3½ | 51 | 16 1½ | 24 | 11 10½ | | |
| 23 | 16 6 | 52 | 18 1 | 25 | 15 6 | 1900 | |
| 24 | 17 9 | 53 | 10 2 | 26 | 20 2 | Week | s. d. |
| 25 | 19 1 | | | 27 | 15 8½ | 1 | 17 9½ |
| 26 | 20 3½ | 1899 | | 28 | 15 11 | 2 | 19 2½ |
| 27 | 20 4½ | Week | s. d. | 29 | 11 1½ | 3 | 18 3 |
| 28 | 15 8 | 1 | 20 1½ | 30 | 14 9 | 4 | 18 5 |
| 29 | 14 1 | 2 | 18 1 | 31 | 17 1½ | 5 | 16 9½ |
| 30 | 16 5½ | 3 | 18 7½ | 32 | 16 5 | 6 | 20 5 |
| 31 | 20 3 | 4 | 19 5 | 33 | -- | 7 | 20 1 |
| 32 | 14 8½ | 5 | 20 2 | 34 | -- | 8 | 19 0 |
| 33 | -- | 6 | 16 7 | 35 | 17 9½ | 9 | 19 1½ |
| 34 | -- | 7 | 18 4 | 36 | 16 4 | 10 | 19 5½ |
| 35 | 15 10½ | 8 | 18 5½ | 37 | 17 10 | 11 | 20 5 |
| 36 | 19 0½ | 9 | 17 6 | 38 | 18 0 | 12 | 19 2 |
| 37 | 14 6 | 10 | 14 6 | 39 | 20 0 | 13 | 16 5½ |
| 38 | 15 3 | 11 | 16 2½ | 40 | 17 2 | 14 | 20 2 |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 22. HAND FOLDER AND SEWER IN PRINTING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| | Half- | | Half- | | Full- | | Full- |
| | pay | | pay | | pay | | pay |
| 1895 | Earner | 1895 | Earner | 1895 | Earner | 1896 | Earner |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 7 | 2 5½ | 25 | 3 9½ | 42 | 16 3 | 5 | 12 1 |
| 8 | 3 5½ | 26 | 5 0½ | 43 | 14 3 | 6 | 17 8 |
| 9 | 3 9 | 27 | 7 4 | 44 | 12 3½ | 7 | 10 0 |
| 10 | 4 10 | 28 | 2 9½ | 45 | 14 4 | 8 | 10 2 |
| 11 | 3 9 | 29 | 3 5½ | 46 | 15 4 | 9 | 14 5 |
| 12 | 5 4½ | 30 | 5 8½ | 47 | 14 4 | 10 | 14 3 |
| 13 | 6 8 | 31 | 6 5 | 48 | 16 5 | 11 | 8 3 |
| 14 | 5 8 | 32 | 3 3½ | 49 | 15 4 | 12 | 11 8½ |
| 15 | 2 4 | 33 | 2 0 | 50 | 12 6½ | 13 | 10 1 |
| 16 | 2 7 | 34 | 3 9½ | 51 | 13 9 | 14 | 12 7 |
| 17 | 5 11 | 35 | 5 1 | 52 | 8 1 | 15 | 5 6 |
| 18 | 6 11½ | 36 | 7 6 | | | 16 | 9 0 |
| 19 | 6 7½ | 37 | 3 3 | 1896 | | 17 | 14 7 |
| 20 | 3 4 | 38 | 3 3½ | Week | s. d. | 18 | 14 8 |
| 21 | 2 8½ | 39 | 5 10 | 1 | 12 4 | 19 | 17 10 |
| 22 | 5 6 | 40 | 6 0 | 2 | 9 8 | 20 | 18 6 |
| 23 | 4 11½ | 41 | 5 3 | 3 | 12 7 | 21 | 7 3 |
| 24 | 6 6½ | | | 4 | 9 8 | 22 | 9 11 |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| | Full- | | Full- | | Full- | | Full- |
| | pay | | pay | | pay | | pay |
| 1896 | Earner | 1897 | Earner | 1898 | Earner | 1899 | Earner |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 23 | 15 1½ | 21 | 14 6½ | 18 | 16 10½ | 15 | 17 9 |
| 24 | 10 4 | 22 | 16 3 | 19 | 17 9½ | 16 | 18 3 |
| 25 | 13 8 | 23 | 19 11 | 20 | 15 10 | 17 | 14 5 |
| 26 | 10 0½ | 24 | 15 10 | 21 | 11 6½ | 18 | 18 3 |
| 27 | 9 4 | 25 | 14 2½ | 22 | 15 6 | 19 | 19 5 |
| 28 | 12 5 | 26 | 13 2 | 23 | 10 2 | 20 | 15 2 |
| 29 | 5 8 | 27 | 16 1½ | 24 | 8 11 | 21 | 5 5½ |
| 30 | 7 0 | 28 | 12 10 | 25 | 12 5½ | 22 | 12 9 |
| 31 | 11 2 | 29 | 9 2 | 26 | 18 0 | 23 | 19 11 |
| 32 | 13 9 | 30 | 9 9½ | 27 | 17 4½ | 24 | 22 2½ |
| 33 | 18 9½ | 31 | 6 4 | 28 | 8 6 | 25 | 18 4 |
| 34 | 9 0 | 32 | 12 9 | 29 | 15 8½ | 26 | 20 7 |
| 35 | 9 8 | 33 | -- | 30 | 9 7 | 27 | 18 1½ |
| 36 | 13 3 | 34 | -- | 31 | 15 11 | 28 | 19 9½ |
| 37 | 11 2½ | 35 | -- | 32 | 17 10½ | 29 | 17 1 |
| 38 | 11 8 | 36 | 13 5½ | 33 | -- | 30 | 20 0 |
| 39 | -- | 37 | 8 0 | 34 | -- | 31 | 16 6 |
| 40 | 4 5 | 38 | 6 8 | 35 | 15 5½ | 32 | 13 10 |
| 41 | 18 3½ | 39 | 7 0 | 36 | 19 3 | 33 | 22 8 |
| 42 | 10 11½ | 40 | 11 2½ | 37 | 18 4 | 34 | 9 5½ |
| 43 | 10 1 | 41 | 15 2 | 38 | 18 7 | 35 | -- |
| 44 | 16 6½ | 42 | 9 9 | 39 | 19 3 | 36 | 14 0½ |
| 45 | 14 0 | 43 | 10 4 | 40 | 23 5 | 37 | 20 3½ |
| 46 | 14 8 | 44 | 10 2½ | 41 | 18 8½ | 38 | 19 2 |
| 47 | 3 6½ | 45 | 16 4½ | 42 | 18 5 | 39 | 15 9 |
| 48 | 12 4 | 46 | 16 10½ | 43 | 12 0 | 40 | 18 6 |
| 49 | 12 3½ | 47 | 15 10 | 44 | 16 9 | 41 | 20 0½ |
| 50 | 13 5 | 48 | 17 6 | 45 | 20 3 | 42 | 18 11 |
| 51 | 13 10 | 49 | 9 1½ | 46 | 18 5 | 43 | 17 2 |
| 52 | 7 7 | 50 | 15 8 | 47 | 15 11½ | 44 | 20 5 |
| | | 51 | 11 6 | 48 | 17 9½ | 45 | 18 4 |
| 1897 | | 52 | 8 8½ | 49 | 19 0 | 46 | 19 7½ |
| Week | s. d. | 53 | 7 8 | 50 | 18 9½ | 47 | 18 5 |
| 1 | 10 3 | | | 51 | 14 5 | 48 | 19 9 |
| 2 | 14 1 | 1898 | | 52 | 12 3 | 49 | 20 0 |
| 3 | 7 4½ | Week | s. d. | | | 50 | 19 3½ |
| 4 | 6 4½ | 1 | 17 11 | 1899 | | 51 | 16 6 |
| 5 | 10 6 | 2 | 5 0 | Week | s. d. | 52 | 9 6½ |
| 6 | 15 4 | 3 | 7 6 | 1 | 19 1½ | | |
| 7 | 16 9 | 4 | 10 5½ | 2 | 19 10 | 1900 | |
| 8 | 15 2 | 5 | 16 7 | 3 | 17 11½ | Week | s. d. |
| 9 | 14 7 | 6 | 12 8 | 4 | 8 8 | 1 | 14 10 |
| 10 | 14 7 | 7 | 11 7 | 5 | 15 2 | 2 | 19 0½ |
| 11 | 15 3 | 8 | 12 11 | 6 | 19 8½ | 3 | 20 9½ |
| 12 | 18 0 | 9 | 16 0 | 7 | 16 9 | 4 | 19 6½ |
| 13 | 12 0 | 10 | 17 5 | 8 | 8 9 | 5 | 18 6 |
| 14 | 12 9½ | 11 | 18 0 | 9 | 11 7½ | 6 | 22 4 |
| 15 | 15 1 | 12 | 16 2 | 10 | 17 7 | 7 | 21 7 |
| 16 | 8 5 | 13 | 13 3½ | 11 | 17 5 | 8 | 22 0 |
| 17 | 9 7 | 14 | 16 8 | 12 | 15 0½ | 9 | 18 9 |
| 18 | 11 4 | 15 | 9 10 | 13 | 12 9 | 10 | 17 5½ |
| 19 | 18 11½ | 16 | -- | 14 | 14 0 | 11 | 15 3 |
| 20 | 10 3 | 17 | 13 3½ | | | | |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 23. FOLDER AND SEWER IN BINDING DEPARTMENT OF PRINTING HOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates--Slow Hand._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1898 | | 1898 | | 1898 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 19 | 6 8 | 33 | 6 2 | 47 | 3 3 | 6 | 6 2 |
| 20 | 7 11 | 34 | 9 1 | 48 | 8 9 | 7 | 5 9 |
| 21 | 7 11 | 35 | 8 3 | 49 | 8 3 | 8 | 7 11 |
| 22 | 7 6 | 36 | 8 0 | 50 | 10 9 | 9 | 8 3 |
| 23 | 8 7 | 37 | 8 10 | 51 | 11 8 | 10 | 7 10 |
| 24 | 8 10 | 38 | 8 3 | 52 | 4 10 | 11 | 11 8 |
| 25 | 6 0 | 39 | 8 11 | | | 12 | 10 11 |
| 26 | 7 1 | 40 | 7 11 | 1899 | | 13 | 7 0 |
| 27 | 8 1 | 41 | 5 1 | Week | s. d. | 14 | 4 2 |
| 28 | 6 6 | 42 | 4 6 | 1 | 7 9 | 15 | 7 10 |
| 29 | 8 2 | 43 | 2 10 | 2 | 8 4 | 16 | 7 6 |
| 30 | 7 5 | 44 | 6 2 | 3 | 5 11 | 17 | 9 11 |
| 31 | 5 9 | 45 | 6 0 | 4 | 8 6 | 18 | 4 5 |
| 32 | 9 5 | 46 | 1 10 | 5 | 8 1 | | |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 24. HAND FOLDER IN PRINTERS' WAREHOUSE. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Piece Rates._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1898 | | 1898 | | 1898 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d .| Week | s. d. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1 | 19 1 | 14 | 15 10 | 27 | 29 0 | 40 | 14 7 |
| 2 | 22 2 | 15 | 16 4 | 28 | 26 4 | 41 | 20 1 |
| 3 | 20 2 | 16 | 20 7 | 29 | 19 8 | 42 | 18 11 |
| 4 | 17 10 | 17 | 22 1 | 30 | 29 2 | 43 | 21 7 |
| 5 | 22 6 | 18 | 23 4 | 31 | 18 10 | 44 | 22 1 |
| 6 | 19 0 | 19 | 29 9 | 32 | 19 7 | 45 | 20 2 |
| 7 | 22 4 | 20 | 27 2 | 33 | 22 3 | 46 | 18 7 |
| 8 | 21 9 | 21 | 27 4 | 34 | 19 6 | 47 | 18 5 |
| 9 | 19 6 | 22 | 20 11 | 35 | 19 11 | 48 | 21 3 |
| 10 | 20 10 | 23 | 27 6 | 36 | 19 4 | 49 | 24 9 |
| 11 | 19 5 | 24 | 20 1 | 37 | 19 10 | 50 | 27 0 |
| 12 | 19 6 | 25 | 21 7 | 38 | 20 5 | 51 | 21 7 |
| 13 | 23 10 | 26 | 24 1 | 39 | -- | 52 | 15 5 |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 25. ENVELOPE PACKER. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| _Time Work_, 14_s._ |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1898 | | 1898 | | 1898 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. | Week | s. d. |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
| 1 | 13 8 | 14 | 9 10 | 27 | 13 5 | 40 | 13 0 |
| 2 | 13 8 | 15 | 11 4 | 28 | 13 8 | 41 | 14 0 |
| 3 | 13 8 | 16 | 13 8 | 29 | 12 5 | 42 | 14 0 |
| 4 | 13 2 | 17 | 13 9 | 30 | 14 6 | 43 | 14 0 |
| 5 | 13 9 | 18 | 13 9 | 31 | 11 6 | 44 | 13 10 |
| 6 | 13 8 | 19 | 13 10 | 32 | 13 10 | 45 | 13 10 |
| 7 | 13 8 | 20 | 13 10 | 33 | 13 9 | 46 | 14 0 |
| 8 | 13 8 | 21 | 11 2 | 34 | 13 3 | 47 | 14 0 |
| 9 | 13 9 | 22 | 11 4 | 35 | 13 10 | 48 | 13 10 |
| 10 | 13 9 | 23 | 13 11 | 36 | 14 0 | 49 | 13 9 |
| 11 | 13 8 | 24 | 13 9 | 37 | 14 0 | 50 | 13 9 |
| 12 | 13 9 | 25 | 12 5 | 38 | 14 0 | 51 | 13 9 |
| 13 | 13 11 | 26 | 13 9 | 39 | 9 1 | 52 | 8 9 |
+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+
+------+-------------+------+-------------+------+-------------+
| 26. MACHINE RULER. |
+------+-------------+------+-------------+------+-------------+
| The figures in brackets to the left of the wage give |
| the nominal time wage. |
+------+-------------+------+-------------+------+-------------+
| 1897 | | 1898 | | 1899 | |
| Week | s. d. s. d. | Week | s. d. s. d. | Week | s. d. s. d. |
| 1 | (4 6) 3 4 | 1 | (6 6) 5 10 | 1 | (7 6) 1 2 |
| 2 | " 4 9 | 2 | " 6 5 | 2 | " 6 8 |
| 3 | " 4 6 | 3 | " 6 4 | 3 | " 6 0 |
| 4 | " 4 6 | 4 | (7 0) 6 10 | 4 | " 7 3 |
| 5 | " 4 6 | 5 | " 6 11 | 5 | " 7 5 |
| 6 | (5 0) 5 0 | 6 | " 7 0 | 6 | " 7 6 |
| 7 | " 4 11 | 7 | " 6 9 | 7 | " 6 2 |
| 8 | " 5 0 | 8 | " 7 0 | 8 | " 7 8 |
| 9 | " 3 4 | 9 | " 6 10 | 9 | " 7 6 |
| 10 | (5 6) 5 6 | 10 | " 5 1 | 10 | " 6 11 |
| 11 | " 5 6 | 11 | " 6 11 | 11 | " 7 5 |
| 12 | " 5 6 | 12 | " 6 10 | 12 | " 7 6 |
| 13 | " 5 6 | 13 | " 6 11 | 13 | " 5 5 |
| 14 | " 5 6 | 14 | " 5 1 | 14 | " 6 1 |
| 15 | " 5 6 | 15 | " 4 2 | 15 | " 7 9 |
| 16 | " 4 0 | 16 | " 6 11 | 16 | " 7 10 |
| 17 | " 4 7 | 17 | " 6 10 | 17 | " 7 9 |
| 18 | " 5 0 | 18 | " 6 10 | 18 | " 7 7 |
| 19 | " 5 5 | 19 | (7 6) 7 5 | 19 | " 7 10 |
| 20 | " 5 6 | 20 | " 7 4 | 20 | " 7 9 |
| 21 | " 5 5 | 21 | " 7 5 | 21 | " 6 0 |
| 22 | " 5 4 | 22 | " 5 11 | 22 | " 7 4 |
| 23 | " 5 5 | 23 | " 7 11 | 23 | " 7 5 |
| 24 | " 4 8 | 24 | " 8 0 | 24 | " 7 5 |
| 25 | " 5 5 | 25 | " 7 4 | 25 | " 7 3 |
| 26 | " 4 6 | 26 | " 7 6 | 26 | " 5 7 |
| 27 | (6 0) 5 11 | 27 | " 7 3 | 27 | " 6 6 |
| 28 | " 6 0 | 28 | " 5 10 | 28 | (8 0) 6 5 |
| 29 | " 5 11 | 29 | " 7 5 | 29 | " 7 10 |
| 30 | " 5 11 | 30 | " 7 9 | 30 | " 7 11 |
| 31 | " 5 10 | 31 | " 5 1 | 31 | " - -- |
| 32 | " 3 11 | 32 | " 6 6 | 32 | " 6 0 |
| 33 | " 4 10 | 33 | " 7 2 | 33 | " 7 10 |
| 34 | " 5 5 | 34 | " 7 6 | 34 | " 7 11 |
| 35 | " 5 2 | 35 | " 7 6 | 35 | " 8 3 |
| 36 | " 5 10 | 36 | " 7 6 | 36 | " 7 9 |
| 37 | " 5 11 | 37 | " 7 5 | 37 | " 7 10 |
| 38 | " 5 10 | 38 | " 6 8 | 38 | " 7 10 |
| 39 | " 6 0 | 39 | " 5 8 | 39 | " 7 8 |
| 40 | " 5 10 | 40 | " 7 5 | 40 | " 7 9 |
| 41 | " 5 11 | 41 | " 7 4 | 41 | " 7 9 |
| 42 | " 6 0 | 42 | " 7 5 | 42 | " 8 2 |
| 43 | " 5 10 | 43 | " 7 6 | 43 | " 8 0 |
| 44 | " 5 11 | 44 | " 6 10 | 44 | " 8 1 |
| 45 | (6 6) 6 4 | 45 | " 7 3 | 45 | " 7 11 |
| 46 | " 6 2 | 46 | " 6 9 | 46 | " 8 0 |
| 47 | " 6 5 | 47 | " 7 5 | 47 | " 8 2 |
| 48 | " 6 5 | 48 | " 6 8 | 48 | " 8 5 |
| 49 | " 6 4 | 49 | " 7 4 | 49 | " 8 3 |
| 50 | " 6 4 | 50 | " 7 4 | 50 | " 8 1 |
| 51 | " 6 3 | 51 | " 7 6 | 51 | " 8 2 |
| 52 | " 4 0 | 52 | " 4 6 | 52 | " 5 0 |
+------+-------------+------+-------------+------+-------------+
APPENDIX VI.
In view of the importance of the preservation of authentic wages figures
we reprint the Appendix published in 1849 by Mr. Dunning to his "Reply
to a Letter from the Committee of the Southwark Auxiliary Bible Society,
&c.," as under:--
No. I.
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| EARNINGS ON THE PREMISES. |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| _Piece Workers._ |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| 1845. | Sept. 6th. | Sept 13th. | Oct. 11th. |
| | £ _s._ _d._ | £ _s._ _d._ | £ _s._ _d._ |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| Ashford | 0 6 8 | 0 6 8½ | 0 6 4 |
| Aggersbury | -- | -- | 0 7 10 |
| Blichenden | 0 7 5¾ | 0 7 1½ | 0 7 7 |
| Burkitt, | 0 5 2¾ | 0 4 3¾ | 0 4 10½ |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Brown, | 0 6 9 | 0 7 1 | 0 6 5¼ |
| M. A. | | | |
| Berridge | -- | -- | 0 5 7¼ |
| Bozankae | 0 1 8½ | 0 4 8 | 0 4 0½ |
| Betherston | 0 0 9½ | -- | -- |
| Carpenter, | 0 4 5¾ | -- | 0 4 3½ |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Carpenter, | 0 7 0 | 0 7 9¾ | 0 6 6¾ |
| M. P. | | | |
| Cooper, | 0 5 4½ | 0 5 0½ | 0 4 8 |
| Ann | | | |
| Diggles | 0 7 4¾ | 0 7 9½ | 0 7 3 |
| Day, Mary | 0 7 2 | 0 6 11½ | 0 7 3¾ |
| Elliott, | 0 4 9 | -- | -- |
| E. | | | |
| Facey | 0 1 7½ | 0 4 3¼ | 0 6 4½ |
| Hart, E. | -- | 0 6 2 | 0 5 0½ |
| Joyce, | 0 7 7 | 0 7 8¼ | -- |
| M. A. | | | |
| Leggatt, | -- | -- | 0 3 5½ |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Pepper | 0 7 10¼ | 0 8 5½ | 0 8 11¼ |
| Rogers, E. | 0 6 6½ | 0 6 4½ | 0 6 7¼ |
| Richardson | 0 8 1¼ | 0 7 8¼ | 0 8 4 |
| Spencer | -- | -- | 0 4 10 |
| Satchell, | 0 6 0½ | 0 5 11¼ | 0 5 9¼ |
| A. E. | | | |
| Such, E. | -- | -- | 0 6 10 |
| Smith, | 0 3 1½ | 0 7 8½ | -- |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Speak, | 0 6 2½ | 0 7 10¾ | 0 8 5¼ |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Touse, | 0 4 10 | 0 5 0¾ | 0 4 9½ |
| M. A. | | | |
| Wilkins, | 0 12 2 | 0 11 0¼ | 0 12 3¼ |
| A. | | | |
| Wilkins, | 0 7 0½ | 0 7 9¾ | 0 8 11¼ |
| E. | | | |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| | £6 15 11 | £7 3 7 | £8 3 5 |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| _Time Workers._ |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| 1845. | Sept. 6th. | Sept. 13th. | Oct. 11th. |
| | £ _s._ _d._ | £ _s._ _d._ | £ _s._ _d._ |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| Osborne, | 0 11 6 | 0 10 6 | 0 10 0 |
| C. (10_s._ | | | |
| per week) | | | |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| Burrows, | 0 12 0 | 0 12 11½ | 0 12 0 |
| E. (12_s._ | | | |
| per week) | | | |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| Aurnett | 0 14 2 | 0 12 7 | 0 11 10 |
| (12_s._ | | | |
| per week) | | | |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| Holloway | 0 4 4 | 0 4 0 | 0 3 10 |
| (learner) | | | |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| Dew (7_s._ | 0 8 1½ | 0 7 9½ | 0 7 7 |
| 6_d._ | | | |
| per week) | | | |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| Bocking | 0 3 0 | 0 3 0 | 0 3 0 |
| (learner) | | | |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| Routledge | 0 9 4 | -- | -- |
| (4 days' | | | |
| work) | | | |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| Emery, A. | -- | 0 1 0 | 0 1 0 |
| (learner) | | | |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| Mills. M. | -- | -- | 0 10 0 |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| | £3 2 5½ | £2 11 10 | £2 19 3 |
+------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
+-------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| WOMEN WHO WORKED AT THEIR OWN HOMES. |
+-------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| 1845. | Sept 6th. | Sept. 13th. | Oct. 11th. |
| | £ _s._ _d._ | £ _s._ _d._ | £ _s._ _d._ |
+-------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| Atchiller, | 0 8 1 | -- | -- |
| S. | | | |
| Anstead, | -- | 0 8 1 | 0 7 8 |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Aldred | -- | -- | 0 7 1 |
| Bruce, C. | 0 4 11¼ | -- | 0 4 3½ |
| Bullmore | 0 5 9 | 0 3 7¼ | 0 3 8½ |
| Birch, | 0 8 6½ | 0 8 9 | 0 16 7¾ |
| Mrs.(a) | | | |
| Bell, Mrs. | -- | -- | 0 2 2 |
| Burton, S. | -- | -- | 0 6 4¼ |
| Clarke, M. | -- | -- | 0 4 8½ |
| Cauline, | 0 10 3¾ | 0 7 10 | 0 11 0½ |
| E. | | | |
| Cox, Mrs. | 0 6 5½ | 0 5 1 | -- |
| Collier, | -- | 0 3 8½ | -- |
| A. | | | |
| Fothergill | -- | 0 2 11 | -- |
| Fisher | -- | -- | 0 7 0 |
| Foster, | -- | -- | 0 2 1 |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Green, | 0 7 8½ | 0 4 0 | 0 5 6¾ |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Gulliers | 0 11 3¼ | 0 7 7¾ | 0 4 5½ |
| Glover, | -- | 0 9 3¾ | 0 3 5 |
| M. A. | | | |
| Haydram, | -- | -- | 0 2 6 |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Hayes, | 0 9 1¾ | 0 8 9½ | 0 9 4½ |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Hartopp | 0 4 1 | 0 3 5¼ | -- |
| Hearn, | -- | 0 3 8 | 0 2 8¾ |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Humphreys, | -- | 0 6 9¾ | 0 6 4¼ |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Hobdell | -- | 0 6 7½ | 0 3 7¾ |
| Hatfield | -- | -- | 0 5 2¾ |
| Hall, Mrs. | -- | -- | 0 6 10½ |
| Joyce, | -- | -- | 0 8 9½ |
| M. A. | | | |
| Knight, | 0 9 1 | 0 9 1¼ | 0 7 8 |
| H.(a) | | | |
+-------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| Carried | £4 5 4½ | £4 19 4½ | £6 19 4¼ |
| forward | | |
+-------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| 1845. | Sept 6th. | Sept. 13th. | Oct. 11th. |
+-------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| Brought | £4 5 4½ |£4 19 4½ | £6 19 4¼ |
| forward | | | |
| Knight, E. | 0 6 1¼ | 0 6 6½ | 0 3 11 |
| Kelly, | -- | -- | 0 7 1¾ |
| or Skelly, | | | |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Lawrance, | 0 4 10 | 0 4 4¼ | 0 6 10½ |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Latham | 0 5 3 | 0 3 10¼ | 0 1 8 |
| McDaniell | -- | -- | 0 5 1½ |
| Matthews | 0 7 3½ | 0 5 0¼ | 0 7 3½ |
| Mills, Mrs. | 0 8 9¾ | 0 7 7½ | 0 4 2½ |
| Mozer, E. | 0 6 8¼ | 0 5 0½ | 0 6 2½ |
| Margetts | -- | 0 7 2½ | 0 5 5¼ |
| Mayes | -- | 0 1 6½ | 0 5 5 |
| Moseley | -- | 0 0 9½ | -- |
| Neascomp | 0 6 8 | -- | -- |
| Norris, | -- | -- | 0 7 8 |
| M. A. | | | |
| Nichols, | -- | -- | 0 1 7½ |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Pottiee | -- | -- | 0 4 6½ |
| Parker, | 0 3 0½ | 0 3 11¾ | 0 4 10½ |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Pool | 0 2 4½ | -- | -- |
| Potter, E. | 0 5 7½ | 0 5 7¾ | 0 7 0¼ |
| Pontifex, | -- | 0 6 6¾ | 0 7 7½ |
| A. | | | |
| Pearce, C. | -- | 0 5 1½ | -- |
| Rumball, | 0 12 1¼ | 0 11 2 | 0 7 9½ |
| Mrs.(a) | | | |
| Rudge | -- | 0 6 8½ | 0 4 8½ |
| Ross, Mrs. | -- | -- | 0 1 7½ |
| Scott, Mrs. | -- | -- | 0 4 0 |
| Sleap | -- | -- | 0 2 2¾ |
| Slater | 0 10 5¼ | 0 11 3¼ | 0 6 4½ |
| Sharp, C. | -- | -- | 0 3 1½ |
| Such, E. | 0 9 4 | 0 4 7½ | -- |
| Smout, M. | -- | 0 4 3¾ | 0 5 1 |
| Sumner, | 0 10 1½ | 0 8 2 | 0 7 2¾ |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Tucker, | 0 4 10 | 0 3 4½ | -- |
| Mrs. | | | |
| Truscoat, | 0 5 6½ | 0 3 10½ | -- |
| A. | | | |
| Tattersall | -- | -- | 0 8 4¾ |
| Todd | -- | -- | 0 7 5¾ |
| Wichelam | -- | -- | 0 3 0½ |
| West, Mrs. | 0 4 2½ | 0 4 1½ | 0 2 11¾ |
| Weedon | -- | 0 3 5 | 0 5 3¼ |
| Williams, | -- | -- | 0 3 7¼ |
| Eliz. | | | |
| Williams, | -- | -- | 0 4 8½ |
| Eleanor | | | |
| Woods, Mrs. | -- | -- | 0 5 11¾ |
| Wacey | -- | -- | 0 1 5¼ |
+-------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| | £9 18 7¾ | £11 3 8½ | £15 11 0¾ |
+-------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| (a) Bills marked thus were for work done by more than one |
| person. |
+-------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+
No. II.
The following names are a transcript, as far as it extends, of the
Wages' Book of July 28th, 1849:--
FOLDERS.
_s._ _d._
Stone 6 10¼
Carroll 6 10
Donald 7 6½
Fenning 10 1¾
Nalty 6 0
Zugg 9 8
Read 5 6¼
Thomson 5 3¾
Frazier 4 7
Parker 7 2
Philpots, Mrs. (2 weeks) 9 1
Salter 7 1
Routledge 10 2¾
Giles 7 11½
Name not known 8 7½
Hodnett 7 10½
Measor 6 6
Moss 7 1½
Smith 3 2¼
York 6 6¼
Ainsworth 6 5
Smith 5 10
Surridge 5 0¾
Read 5 11¼
Hone 6 11¾
Stroud (2 weeks) 14 11¼
Pritlove 6 1½
Jolly 7 10¾
Thomas 6 10½
Olpin 8 7¾
Brown 7 0½
Desaper 7 0¾
Harlow 3 11¼
Glynn 7 0¾
Haywood 7 5¾
Cooper 6 1
Charles 7 11¾
Gauntry 5 5½
Leat 4 4½
Beattie 7 2½
Lockwood 8 7½
Burton 5 9¾
Cook 6 11¼
Spall 5 0¼
Name not known 6 2½
Shay 6 10
Hockley 8 4¼
Hodson 4 2
Coghan 3 9½
Charles 4 9¼
Donovan 6 6¼
Newham 3 9½
Brown, O. 7 9¾
Cleaver 6 9¾
Mallison 6 8
Chelsom 3 8¼
Griffiths 6 4½
Timlett 7 0
Guyon 5 4¾
Johnson 5 4
Smith 5 7
Daniells 3 4
Paris 5 10½
Rawlings 7 11½
Long 3 11¼
Macintosh 5 7
Cracknell 5 4
Old 7 2
SEWERS.
_s._ _d._
Clarke 5 9½
Trimnell 8 3¾
Abbott 7 0¾
Hawkins 5 7½
Hubbard 5 3¾
Deacles 6 6
Norcutt 6 3¼
_Time Workers._
_s._ _d._
Mrs. Brinton (Lewis) 15 9
Mary Shea 7 6
Mary Carpenter 9 0
Anne Cooper 8 10½
E. Manvill 10 11
Hardy 10 11
Norris 9 1
Aldred 8 11
Collis 8 11
Hayes 10 0
Kinder 10 11
Wilkins 10 0
Joyce 7 3
Dew 7 3
M. Joyce 7 4½
No. III.
+----------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| FOLDERS' WAGES FOR THE FOUR WEEKS BEFORE THE DISPUTE. |
+----------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| | Aug. | Aug. | Aug. | Aug. |
| | 4th. | 11th. | 18th. | 23rd. |
| | £ _s. d._ | £ _s. d._ | £ _s. d._ | £ _s. d._ |
+----------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| M. E. Zugg | 0 10 6¼ | 0 8 3¼ | 0 9 8 | 0 7 1¾ |
| A. Harlow | -- | -- | -- | 0 3 11½ |
| M. A. Long | 0 8 4 | 0 8 6 | 0 7 11 | 0 5 0 |
| S. Olpin | 0 8 3¾ | 0 7 6½ | 0 8 9 | 0 5 11 |
| M. Fowler | 0 6 0 | 0 5 11 | 0 6 1 | 0 2 7½ |
| M. Morris | -- | -- | -- | 0 5 1 |
| M. Beatie | 0 7 4 | 0 7 0 | 0 7 0½ | 0 3 2 |
| M. Parker | 0 8 0¼ | 0 8 4 | 0 7 9 | 0 5 9 |
| M. A. Jolly | 0 9 3½ | 0 8 9 | 0 7 5 | 0 5 3 |
| M. Thomas | 0 8 3 | 0 7 1 | 0 6 10½ | 0 4 5½ |
| E. Carroll | 0 6 7 | 0 6 4½ | 0 6 7 | 0 4 6 |
| M. Sheay | 0 6 9 | 0 6 1¾ | 0 6 5 | 0 2 11½ |
| H. Donovan | 0 6 4 | 0 6 1¾ | 0 7 0¼ | 0 4 0 |
| E. Hone | 0 8 4 | 0 7 3¼ | 0 6 11¾ | 0 4 11½ |
| S. Moss | 0 6 6 | 0 7 0 | 0 6 10 | 0 7 1½ |
| E. Hainsworth | 0 7 0 | 0 7 7 | 0 8 3 | 0 4 3 |
| E. Timlett | 0 7 0 | 0 6 11½ | 0 7 2 | 0 6 11½ |
| M. Cracknell | 0 6 0 | 0 5 9 | 0 5 6 | 0 6 0 |
| C. Guyon | 0 6 4 | 0 7 0 | 0 7 2 | 0 1 11 |
| Mrs. Philpot | 0 4 2 | 0 4 0 | 0 4 6 | 0 2 8 |
| P. Measor | 0 7 8 | 0 6 11 | 0 6 5 | 0 5 10½ |
| M. Cooke | 0 6 1 | 0 4 6 | 0 6 4 | 0 1 4 |
| M. Stone | 0 6 4 | 0 6 6 | 0 6 10 | 0 3 6¾ |
| M. Cleaver | 0 6 4¾ | 0 6 7 | 0 6 6 | 0 4 0 |
| M. E. Reide | 0 6 3½ | 0 6 8½ | 0 6 4 | 0 4 0 |
| M. Foweraker | 0 9 11 | 0 12 0 | 0 8 7¾ | 0 5 11 |
| A. Hodnett | 0 8 6 | 0 9 6 | 0 7 4 | 0 5 0½ |
| M. Smith | 0 6 7½ | 0 6 4 | 0 6 6 | 0 2 10½ |
| A. Smith | 0 7 2 | 0 5 4 | 0 6 2½ | 0 1 9¾ |
| M. Frazier | 0 6 5 | 0 4 3 | 0 4 6½ | 0 4 3½ |
| M. Roach | 0 6 3 | 0 4 2 | 0 5 9 | 0 3 3 |
| C. Mallison | 0 5 6 | 0 5 0 | 0 5 9 | 0 3 2½ |
| S. Macintosh | 0 4 4 | 0 5 0 | 0 4 11 | 0 2 0½ |
| B. J. Salter | 0 9 6 | 0 9 0¼ | 0 8 1½ | 0 6 1¾ |
| M. J. Smith | 0 7 0¼ | 0 6 11½ | 0 5 6 | 0 3 0 |
| E. Daniels | 0 5 3½ | 0 4 6¼ | 0 3 6¾ | 0 1 11½ |
| M. Brown | 0 7 0¼ | 0 6 0¾ | 0 5 6 | 0 3 2¼ |
| E. Rallians | 0 7 3½ | 0 7 6¼ | 0 7 0 | 0 5 0 |
| W. Reide | 0 8 4 | 0 8 1¼ | 0 7 7¾ | 0 5 0 |
| M. A. Lockwood | 0 5 0¾ | 0 8 1½ | 0 7 1½ | 0 6 8 |
| E. Spall | 0 7 5¾ | 0 6 1 | 0 5 6 | 0 4 0 |
| J. Griffith | -- | 0 4 8½ | 0 4 3 | 0 2 8½ |
| M. Thomson | 0 6 9 | 0 6 3½ | 0 6 4 | 0 4 1½ |
| L. Farris | 0 4 6½ | 0 5 1 | 0 3 4 | 0 1 9½ |
| M. Glyn | 0 7 0 | 0 6 7½ | 0 6 9 | 0 3 10½ |
| L. Yorke | 0 6 4 | 0 6 0¼ | 0 6 3 | 0 4 1 |
| C. Brown | 0 8 3½ | 0 8 0 | 0 7 0½ | 0 4 10½ |
| M. Fenning | 0 8 7 | 0 8 3½ | 0 8 0 | 0 6 4½ |
| E. Burton | 0 7 0 | 0 6 3½ | 0 6 0 | 0 5 2½ |
+----------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| | £16 4 6¾ | £15 18 2½ | £15 7 10½ | £10 7 3½ |
+----------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
+---------------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| SEWERS' WAGES FOR THE FOUR WEEKS BEFORE THE DISPUTE. |
+---------------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| -- | Aug. | Aug. | Aug. | Aug. |
| | 4th. | 11th. | 18th. |23rd. |
| | £ _s. d._ | £ _s. d._ | £ _s. d._ | £ _s. d._ |
+---------------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| M. Richardson | 0 6 4 | 0 6 10 | 0 7 1½ | 0 4 9 |
| M. Touse | 0 5 10 | 0 6 0 | 0 5 11 | 0 4 6 |
| E. Hawkins | -- | -- | -- | 0 4 8¼ |
| A. Hanson | 0 6 0¼ | 0 5 10 | 0 5 11 | 0 5 1 |
| M. Clements | 0 6 0 | 0 6 3 | 0 6 1 | 0 4 7½ |
| L. Thomson | 0 6 4½ | 0 6 10 | 0 7 4½ | 0 5 2 |
| E. Webb | 0 7 7 | 0 7 3 | 0 8 3 | 0 8 0 |
| E. Wigmore | 0 6 10½ | 0 7 0 | 0 7 2½ | 0 4 8½ |
| H. Gammon | 0 7 0 | 0 6 6 | 0 6 0 | 0 2 6 |
| A. Butcher | 0 10 0 | 0 10 4 | 0 10 10 | 0 9 7½ |
| E. Taylor | 0 7 0 | 0 7 6 | 0 7 1½ | 0 2 0 |
| M. Wheatley | 0 7 2 | 0 6 5 | 0 7 0 | 0 5 11 |
| E. Harris | -- | 0 5 0 | 0 5 4½ | 0 3 1¾ |
| J. Williams | 0 7 3 | 0 7 0 | 0 7 1 | 0 2 6 |
| H. Hutchinson | 0 6 9 | 0 6 9¼ | 0 6 2½ | 0 5 2½ |
| E. Ashford | 0 7 0 | 0 7 6 | 0 7 10 | 0 8 1 |
| R. Howell | 0 8 8 | 0 6 8 | 0 6 4 | 0 4 2½ |
| M. Hubbard | 0 7 0 | 0 6 10 | 0 6 6 | 0 5 0½ |
| M. Abbott | 0 8 0 | 0 8 4 | 0 8 1 | 0 6 8 |
| M. Akerman | 0 8 0 | 0 8 6 | 0 8 6 | 0 7 2 |
| A. Hall | 0 7 4 | 0 7 2 | 0 7 0 | 0 5 6 |
| E. Ellis | 0 3 11 | 0 4 5 | 0 5 6 | 0 1 6 |
| M. Gildbody | 0 7 1 | 0 7 4 | 0 7 6 | 0 3 6 |
| M. Mack | 0 10 7 | 0 10 1 | 0 10 4 | 0 9 10 |
| E. Potter | 0 7 6 | 0 7 0 | 0 7 4 | 0 6 6 |
| C. Collier | 0 9 0 | 0 8 6 | 0 7 9 | 0 7 0 |
| M. Smiley | 0 5 2 | 0 4 10 | 0 5 0 | 0 4 3 |
| A. Clarke | 0 7 0 | 0 5 3 | 0 6 1 | 0 4 5 |
| B. Mealoney | 0 6 8½ | 0 7 0 | 0 6 0 | 0 4 6 |
| M. A. | 0 7 0 | 0 7 5 | 0 8 3 | 0 6 6 |
| Sullivan | | | | |
| M. Diggles | 0 6 6½ | 0 6 5½ | 0 6 3 | 0 6 1 |
| J. Purvey | 0 6 0 | 0 6 1¾ | 0 6 3 | 0 5 6½ |
| M. Reding | 0 9 9½ | 0 9 2 | 0 9 4 | 0 8 2½ |
| L. Tattersall | 0 6 10 | 0 7 0 | 0 6 6 | 0 7 0 |
| E. Treacher | 0 5 3½ | 0 5 6 | 0 5 2½ | 0 3 8½ |
| M. Davis | 0 9 1½ | 0 9 0 | 0 9 7 | 0 7 0¼ |
| E. Griffiths | 0 7 5 | 0 7 3½ | 0 7 0 | 0 7 0½ |
| M. Clarke | 0 8 10½ | 0 9 3½ | 0 9 0 | 0 7 1½ |
| M. Perkins | 0 7 3½ | 0 6 10 | 0 7 7½ | 0 5 0½ |
| E. Marshall | 0 7 0 | 0 6 1½ | 0 6 6 | 0 4 8½ |
| G. Trimnell | 0 6 2½ | 0 5 5¾ | 0 4 2½ | 0 2 11 |
| H. Night | 0 6 1½ | 0 5 10½ | 0 6 0 | 0 4 3 |
| M. Norcott | 0 5 10 | 0 6 0¼ | 0 6 0 | 0 6 5½ |
| M. Goldwin | 0 6 3½ | 0 6 6¾ | 0 6 5 | 0 5 4½ |
| E. Ainyouns | 0 6 5½ | 0 6 0 | 0 5 3 | 0 4 1 |
| M. Newnham | 0 6 0 | 0 6 1½ | 0 6 0 | 0 5 8 |
| M. Rodgers | 0 7 0 | 0 6 10½ | 0 7 0 | 0 6 0½ |
| C. Greentree | 0 7 0½ | 0 7 0 | 0 7 5 | 0 4 11 |
| J. Greenaway | 0 7 5¾ | 0 8 6 | 0 7 0 | 0 3 11 |
| E. Carrington | 0 7 1½ | 0 7 7¼ | 0 7 6 | 0 5 11½ |
| S. Greenaway | 0 6 2½ | 0 6 1½ | 0 6 6 | 0 4 3 |
| M. Key | 0 7 6 | 0 7 0 | 0 5 2 | 0 5 9¼ |
| S. Williams | 0 8 4 | 0 5 1½ | 0 7 1 | 0 6 0¼ |
+---------------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| | £18 1 10¾ | £17 18 9½ | £17 19 11¼ | £14 4 2¼ |
+---------------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+
These tables are also valuable on account of the light they throw upon
the organisation of the bookbinding trade in the middle of last century.
It will be seen for instance that the week indicated by "October 11" in
Table I was a specially busy week, and that in consequence the payments
made to the home workers were much above those made for September 6th or
13th. Under September 6th, twenty-eight home workers were engaged, and
next week thirty-nine, but under October 11th the number had risen to
fifty-seven. It is also worthy of note that E. Such was an indoor worker
under October 11th, but a home worker during the other two weeks, whilst
M. A. Joyce worked at home in the third week, but in the workshop during
the other two. This condition of disorganisation has now fortunately
almost disappeared from the trade.
It should also be noted that slight errors of a few farthings in the
additions have crept into the totals of some of the columns, but as they
do not affect the accuracy of the wage figures the Appendix has been
copied exactly as it was published.
APPENDIX VII.--TABLE FROM CENSUS, 1901
Table from census, 1901, stating the number of males and females
employed in the trades enumerated at various ages in England and Wales,
and showing that the number of females employed between 15 and 20 is
nearly twice as great as at any other age.
+------------------------------------------------------------+
| PAPER MANUFACTURE. |
+-----------+-------------------------------------+----------+
| | Females. | |
| Age. +------------+-----------+------------+ Males. |
| | | Married | | |
| | Unmarried. | or | Total. | |
| | | Widow'd | | |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| 10 - | 163 | -- | 163 | 335 |
| 14 - | 378 | -- | 378 | 616 |
| 15 - | 2,995 | 15 | 3,010 | 3,079 |
| 20 - | 1,814 | 224 | 2,038 | 2,328 |
| 25 - | 856 | 504 | 1,360 | 3,583 |
| 35 - | 301 | 564 | 865 | 2,504 |
| 45 - | 124 | 446 | 570 | 1,690 |
| 55 - | 56 | 289 | 345 | 897 |
| 65 - | 15 | 95 | 110 | 277 |
| 75 and | | | | |
| upwards | 3 | 9 | 12 | 50 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| Total | 6,705 | 2,146 | 8,851 | 15,359 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| PAPER STAINERS. |
+-----------+-------------------------------------+----------+
| | Females. | |
| Age. +------------+-----------+------------+ Males. |
| | | Married | | |
| | Unmarried. | or | Total. | |
| | | Widow'd | | |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| 10 - | 19 | -- | 19 | 57 |
| 14 - | 21 | -- | 21 | 90 |
| 15 - | 97 | 1 | 98 | 396 |
| 20 - | 41 | 5 | 46 | 290 |
| 25 - | 22 | 18 | 40 | 520 |
| 35 - | 7 | 21 | 28 | 365 |
| 45 - | 4 | 19 | 23 | 202 |
| 55 - | 1 | 7 | 8 | 81 |
| 65 - | 0 | 3 | 3 | 28 |
| 75 and | | | | |
| upwards | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| Total | 212 | 75 | 287 | 2,032 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| STATIONERY MANUFACTURE. |
+-----------+-------------------------------------+----------+
| | Females. | |
| Age. +------------+-----------+------------+ Males. |
| | | Married | | |
| | Unmarried. | or | Total. | |
| | | Widow'd | | |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| 10 - | 84 | -- | 84 | 36 |
| 14 - | 297 | -- | 297 | 107 |
| 15 - | 1,921 | 1 | 1,922 | 811 |
| 20 - | 1,237 | 41 | 1,278 | 709 |
| 25 - | 603 | 107 | 710 | 1,209 |
| 35 - | 185 | 56 | 241 | 732 |
| 45 - | 55 | 54 | 109 | 483 |
| 55 - | 15 | 28 | 43 | 217 |
| 65 - | 2 | 10 | 12 | 65 |
| 75 and | | | | |
| upwards | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| Total | 4,399 | 299 | 4,698 | 4,381 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| ENVELOPE MAKERS. |
+-----------+-------------------------------------+----------+
| | Females. | |
| Age. +------------+-----------+------------+ Males. |
| | | Married | | |
| | Unmarried. | or | Total. | |
| | | Widow'd | | |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| 10 - | 103 | -- | 103 | 5 |
| 14 - | 254 | -- | 254 | 13 |
| 15 - | 1,276 | -- | 1,276 | 72 |
| 20 - | 654 | 26 | 680 | 62 |
| 25 - | 339 | 98 | 437 | 84 |
| 35 - | 99 | 98 | 197 | 76 |
| 45 - | 41 | 74 | 115 | 33 |
| 55 - | 22 | 36 | 58 | 18 |
| 65 - | 7 | 16 | 23 | 7 |
| 75 and | | | | |
| upwards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| Total | 2,795 | 348 | 3,143 | 370 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| PAPER BOX AND BAG MAKERS. |
+-----------+-------------------------------------+----------+
| | Females. | |
| Age. +------------+-----------+------------+ Males. |
| | | Married | | |
| | Unmarried. | or | Total. | |
| | | Widow'd | | |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| 10 - | 780 | -- | 780 | 144 |
| 14 - | 1,727 | -- | 1,727 | 192 |
| 15 - | 10,062 | 51 | 10,113 | 784 |
| 20 - | 5,342 | 628 | 5,970 | 476 |
| 25 - | 2,304 | 1,339 | 3,643 | 714 |
| 35 - | 547 | 1,094 | 1,641 | 481 |
| 45 - | 171 | 724 | 895 | 304 |
| 55 - | 58 | 271 | 329 | 144 |
| 65 - | 9 | 91 | 100 | 65 |
| 75 and | | | | |
| upwards | 0 | 11 | 11 | 6 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| Total | 21,000 | 4,209 | 25,209 | 3,310 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| OTHER WORKERS IN PAPER, &c. |
+-----------+-------------------------------------+----------+
| | Females. | |
| Age. +------------+-----------+------------+ Males. |
| | | Married | | |
| | Unmarried. | or | Total. | |
| | | Widow'd | | |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| 10 - | 88 | -- | 88 | 107 |
| 14 - | 168 | -- | 168 | 138 |
| 15 - | 1,139 | 4 | 1,143 | 676 |
| 20 - | 687 | 36 | 723 | 516 |
| 25 - | 330 | 87 | 417 | 1,097 |
| 35 - | 73 | 63 | 136 | 796 |
| 45 - | 24 | 53 | 77 | 617 |
| 55 - | 8 | 25 | 33 | 381 |
| 65 - | 0 | 11 | 11 | 169 |
| 75 and | | | | |
| upwards | 2 | 1 | 3 | 31 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| Total | 2,519 | 280 | 2,799 | 4,528 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| PRINTERS. |
+-----------+-------------------------------------+----------+
| | Females. | |
| Age. +------------+-----------+------------+ Males. |
| | | Married | | |
| | Unmarried. | or | Total. | |
| | | Widow'd | | |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| 10 - | 394 | -- | 394 | 1,309 |
| 14 - | 988 | -- | 988 | 3,362 |
| 15 - | 4,898 | 7 | 4,905 | 18,692 |
| 20 - | 1,999 | 76 | 2,075 | 15,360 |
| 25 - | 730 | 120 | 850 | 26,051 |
| 35 - | 146 | 112 | 258 | 16,155 |
| 45 - | 42 | 65 | 107 | 9,514 |
| 55 - | 21 | 56 | 77 | 4,584 |
| 65 - | 4 | 23 | 27 | 1,256 |
| 75 and | | | | |
| upwards | 1 | 11 | 12 | 205 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| Total | 9,223 | 470 | 9,693 | 96,488 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| LITHOGRAPHERS, COPPER AND STEEL PLATE PRINTERS. |
+-----------+-------------------------------------+----------+
| | Females. | |
| Age. +------------+-----------+------------+ Males. |
| | | Married | | |
| | Unmarried. | or | Total. | |
| | | Widow'd | | |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| 10 - | 35 | -- | 35 | 97 |
| 14 - | 97 | -- | 97 | 243 |
| 15 - | 518 | 4 | 522 | 1,721 |
| 20 - | 198 | 21 | 219 | 1,616 |
| 25 - | 91 | 20 | 111 | 2,966 |
| 35 - | 19 | 12 | 31 | 2,022 |
| 45 - | 5 | 12 | 17 | 1,170 |
| 55 - | 3 | 7 | 10 | 616 |
| 65 - | 0 | 1 | 1 | 214 |
| 75 and | | | | |
| upwards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| Total | 966 | 77 | 1,043 | 10,682 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| BOOKBINDERS. |
+-----------+-------------------------------------+----------+
| | Females. | |
| Age. +------------+-----------+------------+ Males. |
| | | Married | | |
| | Unmarried. | or | Total. | |
| | | Widow'd | | |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| 10 - | 364 | -- | 364 | 108 |
| 14 - | 1,204 | -- | 1,204 | 311 |
| 15 - | 7,623 | 20 | 7,643 | 2,107 |
| 20 - | 4,310 | 222 | 4,532 | 1,933 |
| 25 - | 2,190 | 653 | 2,843 | 3,146 |
| 35 - | 647 | 692 | 1,339 | 2,340 |
| 45 - | 291 | 525 | 816 | 1,575 |
| 55 - | 101 | 250 | 351 | 811 |
| 65 - | 30 | 83 | 113 | 281 |
| 75 and | | | | |
| upwards | 7 | 11 | 18 | 52 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| Total | 16,767 | 2,456 | 19,223 | 12,664 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| TYPE CUTTERS AND FOUNDERS. |
+-----------+-------------------------------------+----------+
| | Females. | |
| Age. +------------+-----------+------------+ Males. |
| | | Married | | |
| | Unmarried. | or | Total. | |
| | | Widow'd | | |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| 10 - | 8 | -- | 8 | 17 |
| 14 - | 31 | -- | 31 | 32 |
| 15 - | 97 | -- | 97 | 237 |
| 20 - | 30 | -- | 30 | 187 |
| 25 - | 11 | 2 | 13 | 345 |
| 35 - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 216 |
| 45 - | 1 | 0 | 1 | 141 |
| 55 - | 1 | 0 | 1 | 75 |
| 65 - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
| 75 and | | | | |
| upwards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
| Total | 180 | 3 | 183 | 1,287 |
+-----------+------------+-----------+------------+----------+
INDEX.
Ages of Workers, 203
Apprenticeship, 55-62
Bible Society Controversies, 32-36
Birmingham, Trades in, 179-183
Blackbordering Described, 12
Bond, Mrs., 38
Bookbinders' Agreement, 7-9
Bookbinders and Tea Half-hour, 31
Bookbinding Described, 3
Bookfolders' Union, 38
Bookfolding, 3
Census Figures, 17-21, 203
Character in Relation to Work, 11, 67, 85
(footnote), 111
Children's Employment Commission, 1862-66 ... 69-71
Compositors, Women:
Apprenticeship, 62
Birmingham, 179
Edinburgh, 29, 45, 47
(footnote), 48
(footnote), 49
(footnote), 74
Glasgow, 172
Historical, 24-25
Legislation, 74, 75
London, 27-28
Miscellaneous Places, 46
Perth, 29, 45-46, 47
Work done by, 46, 47
Conditions of Employment, 1866 ... 69-71
Dining Arrangements at Works, 161
Employers and Women's Unions, 37, 42
Envelope-making Described, 11
Factory Law. _See_ Legislation.
Family Health and Women's Work, 112
_See also_ Health
Family Life and Women Workers, 67, 102-106
"Folding-houses," 76-78
Gentility, 67
Girls _v._ Women, 53, 96
Glasgow, Trades in, 170-178
Health, 10, 11, 16, 66, 88-89, 112
_See also Sections under_ Typical Firms, 141-169
Home-work, 99-101, 152, 157, 176, 181
Nos. Employed, 21, 99
and Legislation, 75-76
and Machinery, 99, 148
and Organisation, 202
Hours in Glasgow, 171, 172, 175, 177, 178
Hours in Birmingham, 180, 181, 183
_See also Sections under_ Typical Firms, 141-169
Illuminating Described, 13
Job Hands, 3, 79, 137, 169
Wages, 137
Legislation:
Conditions before Legislation, 69-71, 84-86
Economic and Industrial Effects, 73-93, 147, 151, 166, 171, 179,
183
Employers' Opinions, 81-84, 91-93
Employees' Opinions, 84-86, 87
Forewomen's Opinions, 86
Home-work, 75-76, 101
Limitation of Employment, 75, 89
Machinery, 73-74
Married Women, 84
Nightwork, 71, 78, 80, 81, 82, 89, 152
Provisions of the Law, 71-73
Wages, 79, 90, 91
Want of Elasticity, 91-93
Women Compositors, 74
_See also_ Overtime.
Letterpress Printing Described, 2
Lithography Described, 10
Health, 10
London Society of Compositors and Women, 26, 27-28
London Trades Council and Women, 36
Machine-ruling Described, 9
Machinery:
Effect of Women's Labour upon, 46 (footnote), 97, 98
Effect on Women's Employment, 1, 48, 94-98, 148, 157, 160, 161,
162, 165, 167, 169, 173, 182
Folding, 48, 94, 95, 182
Home Work, 99
Machine-ruling, 97
Paper colouring, 96
Re-introduction of Men's Labour, 95, 173
Sewing, 95
Stamping, 48 (footnote)
Typography, 96, 173
Manchester and Salford Society of Women Employed in Bookbinding,
40
Marriage as an Industrial Influence, 64, 67
Married Women as Workers, 84, 102, 106-112, 147, 151, 166, 168,
171, 175, 182
Family Health, 112
In Birmingham, 182
In Bristol, 110
In Leeds and Bradford, 111
In London, 108-109
Moral Influence, 111
Nos. Employed, 203
Wages, 106-108, 171, 175
Men and Women, 11, 44-52
As Competitors, 12, 14, 45, 49-52, 156, 168, 173
Bookbinders, 36, 38, 44 (footnote), 51, 175
Compositors, 25, 26, 45, 173-174
Division of Work between, 7-9, 11, 148, 152, 166, 175, 180
Effect of Machinery, 95, 96 (footnote)
Machine Rulers, 177
Men's View, 47, 173-174
Methods of Work, 81 (footnote)
Nightwork, 79, 88, 89
Paper Colouring, 97
Relative Skill, 46-47, 50, 52, 58
National Bookfolders' Union, 39
Nightwork, 14, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84-86, 88, 89
_See also_ Overtime.
Numbering Described, 10
Organisation of Women:
Bookbinders, 30-41
Compositors, 29, 41
Miscellaneous Trades, 41-42, 180
Women's Views upon, 42
Overtime, 78-79, 81, 82, 84-89, 146, 183
And Wages, 78, 87, 88
_See also_ Nightwork.
Paging Described, 10
Paper-bag Making, 101
Paper Making Described, 1
Paterson, Mrs. Emma, 36
Perforating Described, 10
Perth Dispute, 45
Piece Rates of Wages, 137
Premiums, 55, 56, 59-60, 62
Printers' Folding Described, 3
Prospects, _See Sections under_ Typical Firms, 141-169
Regularity of Employment, 183
_See also Sections under_ Typical Firms, 141-169
Scottish Typographical Association, 29, 45, 173
Show Card Mounting Described, 13
Society of Women Employed in Bookbinding, 36-38
Stamping, Plain, etc., Described, 12
Technical Classes, 63, 66
Training for Women, 52, 53
Time and Piece Wages, 137
Trade Union Congress, Women at, 36, 37
Trade Unionism and Women:
Attitude of Bookbinders, 30-32
Conflicts with Compositors, 25-30, 179
_See also_ Organisation of Women
Training for Women, 55-68, 144, 149, 153, 165, 167, 170, 179, 180
Lack of and Marriage Prospects, 64
Typefounding Described, 14
Typical Firms, Conditions in, 141-169
Typographical Association, 25, 26, 47
Scottish, 29, 45, 173
"Use and Wont" in Women's Work, 52
Wages, 113-137
Birmingham, 179, 180, 181, 182
Bookbinders' (1834-50), 33-35, 196-202
Earnings of Individuals, 136-137, 184-195
Effect of Legislation upon, 79, 90
1840-1890 ... 91 (footnote)
1866 ... 90
1885-1900 ... 134
Glasgow, 171, 172, 174-175, 176, 177, 178
How far Supplementary, 103-106
Kept up Without Unions, 41
Learners, 55-62
Married Women's Influence upon, 106-108, 171, 175
Men's and Women's, 47 (footnote)
Time and Piece Rates, 137
Why Low, 46, 50-51, 105
Women _v._ Boys, 15, 47, 50
Women's Competitors, 11
_See also_ Men and Women; Women _v._ Boys; Girls _v._ Women.
Women Compositors.
_See_ Compositors, Women.
Women Workers, Number, 17-23, 203
Ages of, 203
Ambition, 11, 64, 65, 66
Domestic Sphere Predominant, 67
Gentility, 67
Irregularity, 50, 66
Women's Work, Characteristics of, 51, 63-64
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Women in the Printing Trades - A Sociological Study." ***
Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.