第34章

"Thegreatimprovementsmadeinmachinesofeverykindhaveraisedtheirproductivepowerverymuch。Withoutanydoubt，theshorteningofthehoursoflabour……gavetheimpulsetotheseimprovements。Thelatter，combinedwiththemoreintensestrainontheworkman，havehadtheeffect，thatatleastasmuchisproducedintheshortened（bytwohoursorone—sixth）

working—dayaswaspreviouslyproducedduringthelongerone。"[91]

Onefactissufficienttoshowhowgreatlythewealthofthemanufacturersincreasedalongwiththemoreintenseexploitationoflabour—power。From1838to1850，theaverageproportionalincreaseinEnglishcottonandotherfactorieswas32%，whilefrom1850to1856itamountedto86%。

ButhowevergreattheprogressofEnglishindustryhadbeenduringthe8yearsfrom1848to1856undertheinfluenceofaworking—dayof10hours，itwagfarsurpassedduringthenextperiodof6yearsfrom1856to1862。

Insilkfactories，forinstance，therewerein1856，spindles1，093，799;

in1862，1，388，544;in1856，looms9，260;in1862，10，709。Butthenumberofoperativeswas，in1856，56，131;in1862，52，429。Theincreaseinthespindleswastherefore26。9%andinthelooms15。6%，whilethenumberoftheoperativesdecreased7%。Intheyear1850therewereemployedinworstedmills875，830spindles;in1856，1，324，549（increase51。2%），andin1862，1，289，172（decrease2。7%）。Butifwedeductthedoublingspindlesthatfigureinthenumbersfor1856，butnotinthosefor1862，itwillbefoundthatafter1856thenumberofspindlesremainednearlystationary。Ontheotherhand，after1850，thespeedofthespindlesandloomswasinmanycasesdoubled。Thenumberofpower—loomsinworstedmillswas，in1850，32，617;in1856，38，956;in1862，43，048。Thenumberoftheoperativeswas，in1850，79，737;in1856，87，794;in1862，86，063;

includedinthese，however，thechildrenunder14yearsofagewere，in1850，9，956;in1856，11，228;in1862，13，178。Inspite，therefore，ofthegreatlyincreasednumberofloomsin1862，comparedwith1856，thetotalnumberoftheworkpeopleemployeddecreased，andthatofthechildrenexploitedincreased。[92]

Onthe27thApril，1863，Mr。FerrandsaidintheHouseofCommons:"I

havebeeninformedbydelegatesfrom16districtsofLancashireandCheshire，inwhosebehalfIspeak，thattheworkinthefactoriesis，inconsequenceoftheimprovementsinmachinery，constantlyontheincrease。Insteadofasformerlyonepersonwithtwohelpstentingtwolooms，onepersonnowtentsthreeloomswithouthelps，anditisnouncommonthingforonepersontotentfour。Twelvehours’work，asisevidentfromthefactsadduced，isnowcompressedintolessthan10hours。Itisthereforeself—evident，towhatanenormousextentthetoilofthefactoryoperativehasincreasedduringthelast10years。"[93]

Although，therefore，theFactoryInspectorsunceasinglyandwithjustice，commendtheresultsoftheActsof1844and1850，yettheyadmitthattheshorteningofthehoursoflabourhasalreadycalledforthsuchanintensificationofthelabourasisinjurioustothehealthoftheworkmanandtohiscapacityforwork。"Inmostofthecotton，worsted，andsilkmills，anexhaustingstateofexcitementnecessarytoenabletheworkerssatisfactorilytomindthemachinery，themotionofwhichhasbeengreatlyacceleratedwithinthelastfewyears，seemstomenotunlikelytobeoneofthecausesofthatexcessofmortalityfromlungdisease，whichDr。Greenhowhaspointedoutinhisrecentreportonthissubject。"[94]Therecannotbetheslightestdoubtthatthetendencythaturgescapital，sosoonasaprolongationofthehoursoflabourisonceforallforbidden，tocompensateitself，byasystematicheighteningoftheintensityoflabour，andtoconverteveryimprovementinmachineryintoamoreperfectmeansofexhaustingtheworkman，mustsoonleadtoastateofthingsinwhichareductionofthehoursoflabourwillagainbeinevitable。[95]Ontheotherhand，therapidadvanceofEnglishindustrybetween1848andthepresenttime，undertheinfluenceofadayof10hours，surpassestheadvancemadebetween1833and1847，whenthedaywas12hourslong，byfarmorethanthelattersurpassestheadvancemadeduringthehalfcenturyafterthefirstintroductionofthefactorysystem，whentheworking—daywaswithoutlimits。[96]

SECTION4THEFACTORY

Atthecommencementofthischapterweconsideredthatwhichwemaycallthebodyofthefactory，i。e。，machineryorganisedintoasystem。

Wetheresawhowmachinery，byannexingthelabourofwomenandchildren，augmentsthenumberofhumanbeingswhoformthematerialforcapitalisticexploitation，howitconfiscatesthewholeoftheworkman’sdisposabletime，byimmoderateextensionofthehoursoflabour，andhowfinallyitsprogress，whichallowsofenormousincreaseofproductioninshorterandshorterperiods，servesasameansofsystematicallygettingmoreworkdoneinashortertime，orofexploitinglabour—powermoreintensely。Wenowturntothefactoryasawhole，andthatinitsmostperfectform。

Dr。Ure，thePindaroftheautomaticfactory，describesit，ontheonehand，as"Combinedco—operationofmanyordersofworkpeople，adultandyoung，intendingwithassiduousskill，asystemofproductivemachines，continuouslyimpelledbyacentralpower"（theprimemover）;ontheotherhand，as"avastautomaton，composedofvariousmechanicalandintellectualorgans，actinginuninterruptedconcertfortheproductionofacommonobject，allofthembeingsubordinatetoaself—regulatedmovingforce。"

Thesetwodescriptionsarefarfrombeingidentical。Inone，thecollectivelabourer，orsocialbodyoflabour，appearsasthedominantsubject，andthemechanicalautomatonastheobject;intheother，theautomatonitselfisthesubject，andtheworkmenaremerelyconsciousorgans，co—ordinatewiththeunconsciousorgansoftheautomaton，andtogetherwiththem，subordinatedtothecentralmoving—power。

Thefirstdescriptionisapplicabletoeverypossibleemploymentofmachineryonalargescale，thesecondischaracteristicofitsusebycapital，andthereforeofthemodernfactorysystem。Urepreferstherefore，todescribethecentralmachine，fromwhichthemotioncomes，notonlyasanautomaton，butasanautocrat。"Inthesespacioushallsthebenignantpowerofsteamsummonsaroundhimhismyriadsofwillingmenials。"[97]

Alongwiththetool，theskilloftheworkmaninhandlingitpassesovertothemachine。Thecapabilitiesofthetoolareemancipatedfromtherestraintsthatareinseparablefromhumanlabour—power。TherebythetechnicalfoundationonwhichisbasedthedivisionoflabourinManufacture，issweptaway。Hence，intheplaceofthehierarchyofspecialisedworkmenthatcharacterisesmanufacture，theresteps，intheautomaticfactory，atendencytoequaliseandreducetooneandthesameleveleverykindofworkthathastobedonebythemindersofthemachines;[98]intheplaceoftheartificiallyproduceddifferentiationsofthedetailworkmen，stepthenaturaldifferencesofageandsex。

Sofarasdivisionoflabourre—appearsinthefactory，itisprimarilyadistributionoftheworkmenamongthespecialisedmachines;andofmassesofworkmen，nothoweverorganisedintogroups，amongthevariousdepartmentsofthefactory，ineachofwhichtheyworkatanumberofsimilarmachinesplacedtogether;theirco—operation，therefore，isonlysimple。Theorganisedgroup，peculiartomanufacture，isreplacedbytheconnexionbetweentheheadworkmanandhisfewassistants。Theessentialdivisionis，intoworkmenwhoareactuallyemployedonthemachines（amongwhomareincludedafewwholookaftertheengine），andintomereattendants（almostexclusivelychildren）oftheseworkmen。Amongtheattendantsarereckonedmoreorlessall"Feeders"whosupplythemachineswiththematerialtobeworked。Inadditiontothesetwoprincipalclasses，thereisanumericallyunimportantclassofpersons，whoseoccupationitistolookafterthewholeofthemachineryandrepairitfromtimetotime;suchasengineers，mechanics，joiners，&c。Thisisasuperiorclassofworkmen，someofthemscientificallyeducated，othersbroughtuptoatrade;itisdistinctfromthefactoryoperativeclass，andmerelyaggregatedtoit。[99]Thisdivisionoflabourispurelytechnical。

Toworkatamachine，theworkmanshouldbetaughtfromchildhood，inorderthathemaylearntoadapthisownmovementstotheuniformandunceasingmotionofanautomaton。Whenthemachinery，asawhole，formsasystemofmanifoldmachines，workingsimultaneouslyandinconcert，theco—operationbaseduponit，requiresthedistributionofvariousgroupsofworkmenamongthedifferentkindsofmachines。ButtheemploymentofmachinerydoesawaywiththenecessityofcrystallisingthisdistributionafterthemannerofManufacture，bytheconstantannexationofaparticularmantoaparticularfunction。[100]Sincethemotionofthewholesystemdoesnotproceedfromtheworkman，butfromthemachinery，achangeofpersonscantakeplaceatanytimewithoutaninterruptionofthework。Themoststrikingproofofthisisaffordedbytherelayssystem，putintooperationbythemanufacturersduringtheirrevoltfrom1848—1850。Lastly，thequicknesswithwhichmachineworkislearntbyyoungpeople，doesawaywiththenecessityofbringingupforexclusiveemploymentbymachinery，aspecialclassofoperatives。[101]Withregardtotheworkofthemereattendants，itcan，tosomeextent，bereplacedinthemillbymachines，[102]andowingtoitsextremesimplicity，itallowsofarapidandconstantchangeoftheindividualsburdenedwiththisdrudgery。

Althoughthen，technicallyspeaking，theoldsystemofdivisionoflabouristhrownoverboardbymachinery，ithangsoninthefactory，asatraditionalhabithandeddownfromManufacture，andisafterwardssystematicallyre—mouldedandestablishedinamorehideousformbycapital，asameansofexploitinglabour—power。Thelife—longspecialityofhandlingoneandthesametool，nowbecomesthelife—longspecialityofservingoneandthesamemachine。

Machineryisputtoawronguse，withtheobjectoftransformingtheworkman，fromhisverychildhood，intoapartofadetail—machine。[103]Inthisway，notonlyaretheexpensesofhisreproductionconsiderablylessened，butatthesametimehishelplessdependenceuponthefactoryasawhole，andthereforeuponthecapitalist，isrenderedcomplete。Hereaseverywhereelse，wemustdistinguishbetweentheincreasedproductivenessduetothedevelopmentofthesocialprocessofproduction，andthatduetothecapitalistexploitationofthatprocess。Inhandicraftsandmanufacture，theworkmanmakesuseofatool，inthefactory，themachinemakesuseofhim。Therethemovementsoftheinstrumentoflabourproceedfromhim，hereitisthemovementsofthemachinethathemustfollow。Inmanufacturetheworkmenarepartsofalivingmechanism。Inthefactorywehavealifelessmechanismindependentoftheworkman，whobecomesitsmerelivingappendage。"Themiserableroutineofendlessdrudgeryandtoilinwhichthesamemechanicalprocessisgonethroughoverandoveragain，islikethelabourofSisyphus。Theburdenoflabour，liketherock，keepseve