第23章

Alltheseshiftsnaturallywereofnoavail。TheFactoryInspectorsappealedtotheLawCourts。ButsoonsuchacloudofdustinthewayofpetitionsfromthemastersoverwhelmedtheHomeSecretary，SirGeorgeGrey，thatinacircularofAugust5th，1848，herecommendstheinspectorsnot"tolayinformationsagainstmill—ownersforabreachoftheletteroftheAct，orforemploymentofyoungpersonsbyrelaysincasesinwhichthereisnoreasontobelievethatsuchyoungpersonshavebeenactuallyemployedforalongerperiodthanthatsanctionedbylaw。"Hereupon，FactoryInspectorJ。Stuartallowedtheso—calledrelaysystemduringthe15hoursofthefactorydaythroughoutScotland，whereitsoonflourishedagainasofold。TheEnglishFactoryInspectors，ontheotherhand，declaredthattheHomeSecretaryhadnopowerdictatoriallytosuspendthelaw，andcontinuedtheirlegalproceedingsagainstthepro—slaveryrebellion。

ButwhatwasthegoodofsummoningthecapitalistswhentheCourtsinthiscasethecountrymagistrates？Cobbett’s"GreatUnpaid"？acquittedthem？Inthesetribunals，themasterssatinjudgmentonthemselvesAnexample。OneEskrigge，cotton—spinner，ofthefirmofKershaw，Leese，&Co。，hadlaidbeforetheFactoryInspectorofhisdistricttheschemeofarelaysystemintendedforhismilp;Receivingarefusal，heatfirstkeptquiet。Afewmonthslater，anindividualnamedRobinson，alsoacotton—spinner，andifnothisManFriday，atalleventsrelatedtoEskrigge，appearedbeforetheboroughmagistratesofStockportonachargeofintroducingtheidenticalplanofrelaysinventedbyEskrigge。

FourJusticessat，amongthemthreecottonspinners，attheirheadthissameinevitableEskrigge。EskriggeacquittedRobinson，andnowwasofopinionthatwhatwasrightforRobinsonwasfairforEskrigge。Supportedbyhisownlegaldecision，heintroducedthesystematonceintohisownfactory。[122]Ofcourse，thecompositionofthistribunalwasinitselfaviolationofthelaw。[123]Thesejudicialfarces，exclaimsInspectorHowell，"urgentlycallforaremedy？eitherthatthelawshouldbesoalteredastobemadetoconformtothesedecisions，orthatitshouldbeadministeredbyalessfallibletribunal，whosedecisionswouldconformtothelaw……whenthesecasesarebroughtforward。Ilongforastipendiarymagistrate。;[124]

Thecrownlawyersdeclaredthemasters’interpretationoftheActof1848absurd。ButtheSavioursofSocietywouldnotallowthemselvestobeturnedfromtheirpurpose。LeonardHomerreports，"HavingendeavouredtoenforcetheAct……bytenprosecutionsinsevenmagisterialdivisions，andhavingbeensupportedbythemagistratesinonecaseonly……Iconsideredituselesstoprosecutemoreforthisevasionofthelaw。ThatpartoftheActof1848whichwasframedforsecuringuniformityinthehoursofwork，……isthusnolongerinforceinmydistrict（Lancashire）。Neitherhavethesub—inspectorsormyselfanymeansofsatisfyingourselves，whenweinspectamillworkingbyshifts，thattheyoungpersonsandwomenarenotworkingmorethan10hoursa—day……Inareturnofthe30thApril，……ofmillownersworkingbyshifts，thenumberamountsto114，andhasbeenforsometimerapidlyincreasing。Ingeneral，thetimeofworkingthemillisextendedto131/2hours’from6a。m。to71/2p。m。，……insomeinstancesitamountsto15

hours，from51/2a。m。to81/2p。m。"[125]Already，inDecember，1848，LeonardHomerhadalistof65manufacturersand29overlookerswhounanimouslydeclaredthatnosystemofsupervisioncould，underthisrelaysystem，preventenormousover—work。[126]Now，thesamechildrenandyoungpersonswereshiftedfromthespinning—roomtotheweaving—room，now，during15hours，fromonefactorytoanother。[127]Howwasitpossibletocontrolasystemwhich，"undertheguiseofrelays，issomeoneofthemanyplansforshuffling’thehands’aboutinendlessvariety，andshiftingthehoursofworkandofrestfordifferentindividualsthroughouttheday，sothatyoumayneverhaveonecompletesetofhandsworkingtogetherinthesameroomatthesametime。"[128]

Butaltogetherindependentlyofactualover—work，thisso—calledrelaysystemwasanoffspringofcapitalisticfantasy，suchasFourier，inhishumoroussketchesof"CoursesSeances，"hasneversurpassed，exceptthatthe"attractionoflabour"waschangedintotheattractionofcapital。

Look，forexample，atthoseschemesofthemasterswhichthe"respectable"

presspraisedasmodelsof"whatareasonabledegreeofcareandmethodcanaccomplish。"Thepersonneloftheworkpeoplewassometimesdividedintofrom12to14categories，whichthemselvesconstantlychangedandrechargedtheirconstituentparts。Duringthe15hoursofthefactoryday，capitaldraggedinthelabourernowfor30minutes，nowforanhour，andthenpushedhimoutagain，todraghimintothefactoryandtothrusthimoutafresh，houndinghimhitherandthither，inscatteredshredsoftime，withouteverlosingholdofhimuntilthefull10hours’workwasdone。

Asonthestage，thesamepersonshadtoappearinturnsinthedifferentscenesofthedifferentacts。Butasanactorduringthewholecourseoftheplaybelongstothestage，sotheoperatives，during15hours，belongedtothefactory，withoutreckoningthetimeforgoingandcoming。Thusthehoursofrestwereturnedintohoursofenforcedidleness，whichdrovetheyouthstothepot—house，andthegirlstothebrothel。Ateverynewtrickthatthecapitalist，fromdaytoday，hituponforkeepinghismachinerygoing12or15hourswithoutincreasingthenumberofhishands，theworkerhadtoswallowhismealsnowinthisfragmentoftime，nowinthat。Atthetimeofthe10hours’agitation，themasterscriedoutthattheworkingmobpetitionedinthehopeofobtaining12hours’wagesfor10hours’work。

Nowtheyreversedthemedal。Theypaid10hours’wagesfor12or15hours’lordshipoverlabour—power。[129]Thiswasthegistofthematter，thisthemasters’interpretationofthe10hours’law！ThesewerethesameunctuousFree—traders，perspiringwiththeloveofhumanity，whoforfull10years，duringtheAnti—CornLawagitation，hadpreachedtotheoperatives，byareckoningofpounds，shillings，andpence，thatwithfreeimportationofcorn，andwiththemeanspossessedbyEnglishindustry，10hours’labourwouldbequiteenoughtoenrichthecapitalists。[130]Thisrevoltofcapital，aftertwoyearswasatlastcrownedwithvictorybyadecisionofoneofthefourhighestCourtsofJusticeinEngland，theCourtofExchequer，whichinacasebroughtbeforeitonFebruary8th，1850，decidedthatthemanufacturerswerecertainlyactingagainstthesenseoftheActof1844，butthatthisActitselfcontainedcertainwordsthatrendereditmeaningless。"Bythisdecision，theTenHours’Actwasabolished。"[131]Acrowdofmasters，whountilthenhadbeenafraidofusingtherelaysystemforyoungpersonsandwomen，nowtookitupheartandsoul。[132]

Butonthisapparentlydecisivevictoryofcapital，followedatoncearevulsion。Theworkpeoplehadhithertoofferedapassive，althoughinflexibleandunremittingresistance。TheynowprotestedinLancashireandYorkshireinthreateningmeetings。ThepretendedTenHours’Actwasthussimplehumbug，parliamentarycheating，hadneverexisted！TheFactoryInspectorsurgentlywarnedtheGovernmentthattheantagonismofclasseshadarrivedatanincredibletension。Someofthemastersthemselvesmurmured:"Onaccountofthecontradictorydecisionsofthemagistrates，aconditionofthingsaltogetherabnormalandanarchicalobtains。OnelawholdsinYorkshire，anotherinLancashire，onelawinoneparishofLancashire，anotherinitsimmediateneighbourhood。Themanufacturerinlargetownscouldevadethelaw，themanufacturerincountrydistrictscouldnotfindthepeoplenecessaryfortherelaysystem，stilllessfortheshiftingofhandsfromonefactorytoanother，"&c。Andthefirstbirthrightofcapitalisequalexploitationoflabour—powerbyallcapitalists。

UnderthesecircumstancesacompromisebetweenmastersandmenwaseffectedthatreceivedthesealofParliamentintheadditionalFactoryActofAugust5th，1850。Theworking—dayfor"youngpersonsandwomen，"

wasraisedfrom10to10？hoursforthefirstfivedaysoftheweek，andshortenedto71/2ontheSaturday。Theworkwastogoonbetween6a。m。

and6p。m。;[133]withpausesofnotlessthan11/2hoursformeal—times，thesemeal—timestobeallowedatoneandthesametimeforall，andconformablytotheconditionsof1844。Bythisanendwasputtotherelaysystemonceforall。[134]Forchildren’slabour，theActof1844remainedinforce。

Onesetofmasters，thistimeasbefore，securedtoitselfspecialseigneurialrightsoverthechildrenoftheproletariat。Thesewerethesilkmanufacturers。

In1833theyhadhowledoutinthreateningfashion，"ifthelibertyofworkingchildrenofanyagefor10hoursadayweretakenaway，itwouldstoptheirworks。"[135]Itwouldbeimpossibleforthemtobuyasufficientnumberofchildrenover13。Theyextortedtheprivilegetheydesired。Thepretextwasshownonsubsequentinvestigationtobeadeliberatelie。[136]Itdidnot，however，preventthem，during10years，fromspinningsilk10hoursadayoutofthebloodoflittlechildrenwhohadtobeplaceduponstoolsfortheperformanceoftheirwork。[137]TheActof1844certainly"robbed"themofthe"liberty"ofemployingchildrenunder11longerthan61/2hoursaday。Butitsecuredtothem，ontheotherhand，theprivilegeofworkingchildrenbetween11and13，10hoursaday，andofannullingintheircasetheeducationmadecompulsoryforallotherfactorychildren。Thistimethepretextwas"thedelicatetextureofthefabricinwhichtheywereemployed，requiringalightnessoftouch，onlytobeacquiredbytheirearlyintroductiontothesefactories。"[138]Thechildrenwereslaughteredout—and—outforthesakeoftheirdelicatefingers，asinSouthernRussiathehornedcattleforthesakeoftheirhideandtallow。Atlength，in1850，theprivilegegrantedin1844，waslimitedtothedepartmentsofsilk—twistingandsilk—winding。Buthere，tomakeamendstocapitalbereftofits"freedom，"thework—limeforchildrenfrom11to13wasraisedfrom10to101/2hours。

Pretext:"Labourinsilkmillswaslighterthaninmillsforotherfabrics，andlesslikelyinotherrespectsalsotobeprejudicialtohealth。"[139]Officialmedicalinquiriesprovedafterwardsthat，onthecontrary，"theaveragedeath—rateisexceedinglyhighinthesilkdistrictsandamongstthefemalepartofthepopulationishighereventhanitisinthecottondistrictsofLanca