CHAPTER IV

REVOLT AGAINST LAISSEZ FAIRE AND BEGINNING OF ORGANISATION

The new

Sec. 1. 1. Hindrances and Aggravations. machinery had been humming and pounding for a long time before the social conditions which it brought aroused men to the fact that a new world had been created, and before any serious attempt was made to ameliorate the conditions of the workers. In addition to the natural inactivity of the people when it comes to questions beyond those of immediate welfare, there were many causes which worked against reform movements. In the first place, individualism was rampant, and it was thought that "enlightened self-interest" would prove a panacea for the social diseases which came with the new industrial order; (2) the excesses of the French Revolution frightened even the most advanced English statesmen; (3) the energies of the nation were strained to the utmost in the struggle for self-preservation; (4) patriotism stifled the bitter cry of want, for we are told that "reviews, illuminations in celebration of victories, the public funerals of soldiers, and the thanksgiving services in the churches helped to keep up enthusiasm and to restrain dissatisfaction"; (5) the idea of society as an organism and the new morality which centres around the idea had not yet dawned in the human mind,

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The old, mediaval trade regulations, made for a simple and comparatively stable society, proved utterly inadequate for a society rapidly increasing in complexity, numbers, and functional differentiation; (6) but greater than all other forces was the mad struggle of the mill owners for wealth, which made secondary all other considerations. In addition to the many hindrances in the way of improving the lot of the workers, there were a number of incidents which aggravated the already terrible conditions: (1) the conclusion of the war threw out of employment 121,000 seamen between 1813 and 1817, and many thousands of soldiers as well, who were compelled to seek work in an already over-crowded or depressed market; (2) improvidence and low wages were alike encouraged by the unwise poor law which permitted the supplementing of wages from the poor-rates; (3) the natural contraction of the inflated war prices injured agriculture and many industries which were supported by the temporary and abnormal war demands.

Sec. 2.-The Political Economists. Following in the main the doctrines of Adam Smith, but with vicious. enlargements and interpretations, the economists were opposed to placing new restrictions on the rapidlydeveloping industries. Having recognised the failures and fallacies of the medieval trade regulations, they were naturally antagonistic to renewing, in any form, State interference. They strongly advocated the "enlightened self-interest" doctrine; they discovered natural law in the social world holding the free labourer to perpetual bondage, and the discovery was highly acceptable to the capitalists and mill owners. Malthus wrote about "the misery arising from a redundant population," and in suggesting a plan for the abolition

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of the poor laws, said: "We are bound in justice and honour to disclaim the right of the poor to support." The reverend gentleman added: "If parents desert their child, they ought to be made answerable for the crime. The infant is, comparatively speaking, of little value to society, as others will immediately supply its place." The conclusions of the old school were, in short, that man is a miserable, helpless creature here below, powerless to change anything, and that Nature would have to take its course, starving, eliminating, and yielding up the hindmost to his Satanic Majesty.

See. 3.-The Revolt. The conditions finally became so unbearable that the people, who had no voice in shaping the public policy, expressed their deep-seated resentment at the iniquities of the new order in occasional outbreaks. Rick burning and the destruction of machinery showed the determined spirit of the times. Discontent and unrest were rife throughout the North. The suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act and the Six Acts (1819) aimed at the suppression of sedition, revealed the fright of the Government, and virtually declared England to be in a state of anarchy; while the so-called Peterloo Massacre added fuel to the flames of civil unrest. But it was not by riots and the destruction of property that the people were to secure control over their conditions of life and labour. The work of individualism in striking down and clearing away the old economic, social, and political wreckage had been invaluable; but its failure to secure to the people the barest comforts of life soon became evident.

Sec. 4.-Factory Legislation. When it became a physical impossibility to endure this terrible state of affairs any longer, the agitation for factory legislation

began. However, the problem was approached with "bated breath and whispering humbleness," for fear of trenching upon the sacred rights of freedom of contract. Human life was nothing when measured against the holy obligation of precedent. Factory legislation in England has been brought about by curious forces. Philanthropists, scheming politicians, men with moral and social convictions, have joined with the workers in the struggle for better conditions. The first step in the direction of legislative control of the new industry was made in 1802. Terrible as were the conditions depicted in reports and pamphlets, they seem to have attracted little attention from the general public until the spread of disease created alarm outside the precincts of factories. Long hours, il ventilation, filthy homes, scanty food and clothing, and total lack of decent sanitary arrangements, led to the spread of epidemics in the factory districts, and action on the question could not be delayed longer without seriously involving public health. In 1796, the Manchester Board of Health was appointed, and to this committee, Dr. Percival, President of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, submitted a report, in which he said: "In the prosecution of this necessary undertaking, the Board have had their attention particularly directed to large cotton factories established in the town and neighbourhood of Manchester, and they feel it a duty incumbent on them to lay before the public the result of their inquiries: (1) It appears that the children and others who work in the large cotton factories are particularly disposed to be affected by the contagion of fever, and that when the affection is received it is rapidly propagated, not only amongst those who are crowded together in the same apartments, but in the

families and neighbourhoods to which they belong. (2) The large factories are generally injurious to the constitution of those employed in them, even where no particular disease prevails, from the close confinement which is enjoined, from the debilitating effects of hot and impure air, and from the want of active exercises, which are essential in childhood and youth to invigorate the system, and to fit our species for the duties of mankind. (3) The untimely labour of the night, and the protracted labour of the day, with respect to children, not only tend to diminish future expectations as to the general sum of life and industry, by impairing the strength and destroying the vital stamina of the rising generation, but it too often gives encouragement to idleness, extravagance, and profligacy of the parents who, contrary to the order of Nature, subsist by the oppression of their offspring. (4) It appears that the children employed in factories are generally debarred from all opportunity of education, and from moral and religious instruction. (5) From the excellent regulations that subsist in several factories, it appears that many of these evils may, in a considerable degree, be obviated; and we are therefore warranted by experience, and are assured that we shall have the support of the liberal proprietors of these factories, in proposing an application for Parliamentary aid (if other methods appear not likely to effect the purpose) to establish a general system of laws for the wise, humane, and equal government of all such works."

As a result of the agitation on the condition of factory operatives, two years after the opening of the new century a Statute was passed providing for the preservation of the health and morals of apprentices