The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844: with a Preface written in 1892Engels, Friedrich
History
The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844: with a Preface written in 1892
Engels, Friedrich
Great Britain -- Economic conditions; Working class -- Great Britain
And yet this report suffices wholly to exhibit the most shameful
recklessness of the manufacturing bourgeoisie towards its employees, the
whole infamy of the industrial exploiting system in its full inhumanity.
Nothing is more revolting than to compare the long register of diseases
and deformities engendered by overwork, in this report, with the cold,
calculating political economy of the manufacturers, by which they try to
prove that they, and with them all England, must go to ruin, if they
should be forbidden to cripple so and so many children every year. The
language of Dr. Ure alone, which I have quoted, would be yet more
revolting if it were not so preposterous.
The result of this report was the Factory Act of 1834, which forbade the
employment of children under nine years of age (except in silk mills),
limited the working-hours of children between 9-13 years to 48 per week,
or 9 hours in any one day at the utmost; that of young persons from 14-18
years of age to 69 per week, or 12 on any one day as the maximum,
provided for an hour and a half as the minimum interval for meals, and
repeated the total prohibition of night-work for persons under eighteen
years of age. Compulsory school attendance two hours daily was
prescribed for all children under fourteen years, and the manufacturer
declared punishable in case of employing children without a certificate
of age from the factory surgeon, and a certificate of school attendance
from the teacher. As recompense, the employer was permitted to withdraw
one penny from the child's weekly earnings to pay the teacher. Further,
surgeons and inspectors were appointed to visit the factories at all
times, take testimony of operatives on oath, and enforce the law by
prosecution before a Justice of the Peace. This is the law against which
Dr. Ure inveighs in such unmeasured terms!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account