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WORKMEN'S TOPICS. .

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WORKMEN'S TOPICS. BY MABON, M.P. PARLIAMENT-AND FACTORY LEGISLATION. Th. Government Sneaking Out of the Berlin Conference Recommendations. long series of Factory Acts which °?Ve been passed since the beginning t)f the present century constitutes one 0 the most important chapters in »h,e history of English legislation. } lh P"ncip^e that the State has a right to with the labour of women and j^ydren, if the moral and physical well- g of the community demands it, I?8 been conceded, and although 1 e naale adult labourer has yet been left to to his own exertions as a trades -monist to put any limit to his hours of toil, protection, extended to those on whose ^"Operation he is dependent has to a veiy extent effected a reduction in his °*king hours also. THE MORAL AND HEALTH ACT. The first law enacted with the object of tegulating the period of labour in factories the so-called Moral and Hpalth Act J 1802, generally styled Sir Robert *Ws Act. The havoc made by J^demic diseases among the working children *?r°Ughout the factory districts of Man- drew attention to the hardships which they were made to work. J»lper children from the South were trans- ited in large numbers to the North, where J?«y were pent up in the factories day and 5j§^t, and kept to long hours of labour, j^ork was carried on without intermission, I d the sanitary conditions of the building which it was performed were shocking. I 8 a natural consequence serious epidemic were frequent in Manchester, and ,he whole population becamc alarmed. In a Board of Health was appointed, and l°n pointed to the overcrowding of ths **ctories as being the direct and chief source the evil. In 1802 an act was passed Enforcing regulations as to the sanitary ^Mition of work-rooms anc^ the hours labour for children. But, unfortunately, "is only applied to those called parish apprentices, i.e., those sent from the wcrk- rOllses, and it was not till 1815 that protec- l0ft was extended to the children living Jftder the care of their parents. In 1844 *^ord Ashley brought in a bill prohibiting and children from working ty wjSftfc. And, again, in 1847, a Ten Hours' III was carried, by which women and #°Ung persons were restricted to ten hours a legal working day to begin noteaflier han 5.30 a.m., and to end not later tnan .0 p.m. However, the series *f Factory .ACts culminated in the Act of 1878, which "e now propose to amend. Some of the Iterations under consideration are of the Neatest importance among them the pro- positions to raise the age at which that class children called half-timers should be allowed to commence work at factories and Workshops. EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN. J?16 present time of employment is as °Uows •'—(a) In textile factories for young and women :—The period shall be *01)5 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., or from 7 a.m. to P m. on Saturday from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. J manufacturing processes, and 1.30 for U employments if one hour is allowed for ^fcals otherwise at 12.30 and 1. Or, if the J°rk begins at 7 a.m., it shall end on Saturdays at and 2 P m' respectively. °r meals, two hours at least on week-days, *5^ on Saturdays half an hour, must be rj*°wed. Continuous employment without a time cf at least half an hour not to eXceed four hours and a half. Now, the e,l*ployment of childien under ten years of is for half-time only, in morning or f'e^noon sets, or alternate days. The ^rking day is the same as mentioned* tV°Ve *or younS persons. But a child of «is description cannot and must not be etnployed for two successive periods of kBeven days in the same set, Aether morning or afternoon, nor '011 two successive Saturdays, nor on Saturday in any week if he has already P11 one day been employed mere than four ft°urs and a half. Nor shall a child be etllployed on two successive days nor on the Blurie day in two succesive weeks. The half arrangement in non-textile factories is e same as the foregoing; continuous g^ployment without a meal not to exceed ve hours; and no child under 10 shall be employed. A DISCREDITED GOVERNMENT. ^OW, it is a matter of great surprise for e and all others interested in improving moral and physical condition of these ^udren to find that the Home Secretary not followed the recommendation of the Conference in preventing children °m working before the age of 12, and it is to be hoped that discussion in the will result in raising the age at which a ^niers be admitted to workshops factories. It is well known also that the Ending committee on trade declined in ra*se the minimum of age of half-timers factories and workshops. The opponents this reform, backed up by the expressed ^Pmions of the Lancashire factory operatives J^oiselvcs, and believing that those of us "■ti° Were favour of the improvement will v. | carry, as we will do, our advocacy of it ack to the House of Commons when it will -f'^Ppear there, have taken us to task— i myself especially—for venturing ° vote upon the matter in a direction Ohrv, Pposite to the views of the representatives .I the workpeople themselves. Some of eSe gentlemen can see no better or other for our doing so than the fact that be Lancashire operatives voted against us ^r' the eight hours' question at the Liver- Pool Trade Union Congress. What but the °ry ingenuity of one of the proprietors of Cardiff contemporary could have in- such a reason, cr could have devised 8Uch means of attempting to place class c\f workmen against another, and °d knows that I have no enmity towards a _°dy of m«»n who are apparently well satis- ed that the course they took upon that ^ccasion was the enly one which conduces to Protect and preserve the best interests of trades they belong to. Neither have I T? slightest sympathy with their present I whether real or otherwise, to justify the actions of the present Tory overnment. In my opinion, the course Government is taking in this matter "In prove to be a general misfortune to the ta.use of humanity, and to the best interests the working classes here and throughout; *rope. Yj.This question will again come before the "°use of Commons soon after Whitsuntide report. In the meantime it is ouv duty to and put clearly before the country what "111 be the effect of the committee's decision h be endorsed by the ^-ole House. Should this happen it will c^mpletely discredit the recommendations the Berlin Labour Conference in the eyes all Europe. For if England, which has hitherto shown herself foremost in protect- the physical, moral, and educational interests of women and children working in victories, totally declines to recognise to any by legislation the conclusions which s'le, in conjunction with the cther nations ^presented at the conference, arrived at as le basis of internaticnal action what be expected from other countries inclined to move in the right direction ""an ourselves ? Can they be expected to feel afiy obligation to act in this matter ? I fear llot. Such a result then, as I have already sktted, would not only be a general misfor- to the cause of humanity and to the best interests of the working classes here ^d throughout Europe, but the main inten- fcl<>ns of the conference, in pr emoting which 'e luvvc a greater interest thar. any other 1 COuHtry, von Id be entirely frustrated. I will refcui-u to thia subject r.«s,t week.

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