iLUtu ' SSlT Y Qc +6 ' rC >> HOUSE No. 50 <0 * The first petition which was referred to your committee, came from the city of Lowell, and was signed by Mr. John Quincy Adams Thayer, and eight hundred and fifty others, “peaceable, industrious, hard working men and women of Lowell.” The petitioners declare that they are confined “ from thirteen to fourteen hours per day in unhealthy apartments,” and are thereby “hastening through pain, disease and priva¬ tion, down to a premature grave.” They therefore ask the Legislature “ to pass a law providing that ten hours shall con¬ stitute a day’s work,” and that no corporation or private citi¬ zen “ shall be allowed, except in cases of emergency, to employ one set of hands more than ten hours per day.” The second petition came from the town of Fall River, and is signed by John Gregory and four hundred and eighty-eight others. These petitions ask for the passage of a law to consti- kO Q r* 2 HOURS OF LABOR. [March, tute u ten hours a day’s work in all corporations created by the Legislature.” The third petition signed by Samuel W. Clark and five hun¬ dred others, citizens of Andover, is in precisely the same words as the one from Fall River. The fourth petition is from Lowell, and is signed by James Carle and three hundred others. The petitioners ask for the enactment of a law making ten hours a day’s work, where no specific agreement is entered into between the parties.” The whole number of names on the several petitions is 2,139, of which 1,151 are from Lowell. A very large proportion of the Lowell petitioners are females. Nearly one half of the Andover petitioners are females. The petition from Fall River is signed exclusively by males. In view of the number and respectability of the petitioners who had brought their grievances before the Legislature, the Committee asked for and obtained leave of the House to send for a persons and papers,” in order that they might enter into an examination of the matter, and report the result of their examination to the Legislature as a basis for legislative action, should any be deemed necessary. On the 13th of February, the Committee held a session to hear the petitioners from the city of Lowell. Six of the female and three of the male petitioners were present, and gave in their testimony. The first petitioner who testified was Eliza R. Hemming- way. She had worked 2 years and 9 months in the Lowell Factories; 2 years in the Middlesex, and 9 months in the Ham¬ ilton Corporations. Her employment is weaving,—works by the piece. The Hamilton Mill manufactures cotton fabrics. The Middlesex, woollen fabrics. She is now at work in the Middlesex Mills, and attends one loom. Her wages average from $16 to $23 a month exclusive of board. She complained of the hours for labor being too many, and the time for meals too limited. In the summer season, the work is commenced at 5 o’clock, A. M., and continued till 7 o’clock, P. M., with half an hour for breakfast and three quarters of an hour for dinner. During eight months of the year, but half an hour is allowed 1845.] HOUSE—No. 50. 3 for dinner. The air in the room she considered not to be wholesome. There were 293 small lamps and 61 large lamps lighted in the room in which she worked, when evening work is required. These lamps are also lighted sometimes in the morning.—About 130 females, 11 men, and 12 children (be¬ tween the ages of 11 and 14.) work in the room with her. She thought the children enjoyed about as good health as chil¬ dren generally do. The children work but 9 months out of 12. The other 3 months they must attend school. Thinks that there is no day when there are less than six of the females out of the mill from sickness. Has known as many as thirty. She, herself, is out quite often, on account of sickness. There was more sickness in the Summer than in the Winter months; though in the Summer, lamps are not lighted. She thought there was a general desire among the females to work but ten hours, regardless of pay. Most of the girls are from the coun- try, who work in the Lowell Mills. The average time which they remain there is about three years. She knew one girl who had worked there 14 years. Her health was poor when she left. Miss Hemmingway said her health was better where she now worked, than it was when she worked on the Hamil¬ ton Corporation. She knew of one girl who last winter went into the mill at half past 4 o’clock, A. M. and worked till half past 7 o’clock, P. M. She did so to make more money. She earned from $25 to $30 per month. There is always a large number of girls at the gate wishing to get in before the bell rings. On the Middlesex Corporation one fourth part of the females go into the mill before they are obliged to. They do this to make more wages. A large number come to Lowell to make money to aid their parents who are poor. She knew of many cases where married women came to Lowell and worked in the mills to assist their husbands to pay for their farms. The moral character of the operatives is good. There was only one American female in the room with her who could not write her name. Miss Sarah G. Bagley said she had worked in the Lowell 4 HOURS OF LABOR. [March, Mills eight years and a half,—six years and a half on the Ham¬ ilton Corporation, and two years on the Middlesex. She is a weaver, and works by the piece. She worked in the mills three years before her health began to fail. She is a native of New Hampshire, and went home six weeks during the sum¬ mer. Last year she was out of the mill a third of the time. She thinks the health of the operatives is not so good as the health of females who do house-work or millinery business. The chief evil, so far as health is concerned, is the shortness of time allowed for meals. The next evil is the length of time employed—not giving them time to cultivate their minds. She spoke of the high moral and intellectual character of the girls. That many were engaged as teachers in the Sunday schools. That many attended the lectures of the Lowell Institute; and she thought, if more time was allowed, that more lectures would be given and more girls attend. She thought that the girls generally were favorable to the ten hour system. She had presented a petition, same as the one before the Committe, to 132 girls, most of whom said that they would prefer to work but ten hours. In a pecuniary point of view, it would be bet¬ ter, as their health would be improved. They would have more time for sewing. Their intellectual, moral and religious habits would also be benefited by the change. Miss Bagley said, in addition to her labor in the mills, she had kept evening school during the winter months, for four years, and thought that this extra labor must have injured her health. Miss Judith Payne testified that she came to Lowell 16 years ago, and worked a year and a half in the Merrimack Cotton Mills, left there on account of ill health, and remained out over seven years. She was sick most of the time she was out. Seven years ago she went to work in the Boott Mills, and has remained there ever since ; works by the piece. She has lost, during the last seven years, about one year from ill health. She is a weaver, and attends three looms Last pay- day she drew $14 66 for five weeks work ; this was exclusive of board. She was absent during the five weeks but half a day. She 1845.] HOUSE—No. 50. 5 says there is a very general feeling in favor of the ten hour system among the operatives. She attributes her ill health to the long hours of labor, the shortness of time for meals, and the vr bad air of the mills. She had never spoken to Mr. French, the agent, or to the overseer of her room, in relation to these mat¬ ters. She could not say that more operatives died in Lowell than other people. Miss Olive J. Clark .—She is employed on the Lawrence Corporation; has been there five years; makes about $1 G2£ per week, exclusive of board. She has been home to New Hampshire to school. Her health never was good. The work is not laborious; can sit down about a quarter of the time. About fifty girls work in the spinning-room with her, three of whom signed the petition. She is in favor of the ten hour sys¬ tem, and thinks that the long hours had an effect upon her health. She is kindly treated by her employers. There is hardly a week in which there is not some one out on account of sickness. Thinks the air is bad, on account of the small par¬ ticles of cotton which fly about. She has never spoken with the agent or overseer about working only ten hours. Miss Celicia Phillips has worked four years in Lowell. Her testimony was similar to that given by Miss Clark. Miss Elizabeth llowe has worked in Lowell 16 months, all the time on the Lawrence Corporation, came from Maine, she is a weaver, works by the piece, runs four looms. “ My health,” she says, “ has been very good indeed since I worked there, averaged three dollars a week since 1 have been there besides my board; have heard very little about the hours of labor being too long.” She consented to have her name put on the petition because Miss Phillips asked her to. She would prefer to work only ten hours. Between 50 and 60 work in the room with her. Her room is better ventilated and more healthy than most others. Girls who wish to attend lectures can go out before the bell rings; my overseer lets them go, also Sat¬ urdays they go out before the bell rings. It was her wish to 6 HOURS OF LABOR. [March, attend 4 looms. She has a sister who has worked in the mill 7 years. Her health is very good. Don’t known that she has ever been out on account of sickness. The general health of the operatives is good. Have never spoken to my employers about the work being too hard, or the hours too long. Don’t know any one who lias been hastened to a premature grave by factory labor. I never attended any of the lectures in Lowell on the ten hour system. Nearly all the female operatives in Lowell work by the piece ; and of the petitioners who appeared before the Committee, Miss Hemingway, Miss Bagby, Miss Payne and Miss Rowe work by the piece, and Miss Clark and Miss Phillips by the week. Mr. Gilman Gale , a member of the city council, and who keeps a provision store, testified that the short time allowed for meals he thought the greatest evil. He spoke highly of the character of the operatives and of the agents; also of the boarding houses and the public schools. He had two children in the mills who enjoyed good health. The mills are kept as clean and as well ventilated as it is possible for them to be. Mr. Herman Abbott had worked in the Lawrence Corpora¬ tion 13 years. Never heard much complaint among the girls about the long hours, never heard the subject spoken of in the mills. Does not think it would be satisfactory to the girls to work only ten hours, if their wages were to be reduced in pro¬ portion. Forty-two girls work in the room with him. The girls often get back to the gate before the bell rings. Mr. John Quincy Adams Thayer , has lived in Lowell 4 years, 11 works at physical labor in the summer season, and mental labor in the winter.” Has worked in the big machine shop 24 months, off and on; never worked in a cotton or woollen mill. Thinks that the mechanics in the machine shop are not so healthy as in other shops; nor so intelligent as the other classes in Lowell. He drafted the petition. Has heard many complain of the long hours. 1845.] HOUSE—No. 50. 7 Mr. S. P. Adams , a member of the House from Lowell, said he worked in the machine shop, and the men were as intelli¬ gent as any other class, and enjoyed as good health as any persons who work in-doors. The air in the shop is as good as in any shop. About 350 hands work there, about half a dozen of whom are what is called ten hour men. They all would be ten hour men if they could get as good pay. The only witnesses whom the Committee examined, whose names were not on the petition, were Mr. Adams and Mr. Isaac Cooper, a member of the House from Lowell, and also has worked as an overseer in the Lawrence Cotton Mills for nine years. His evidence was very full. He gave it as his opinion that the girls in the mills enjoy the best health, for the reason that they rise early, go to bed early, and have three meals reg¬ ular. In his room there are 60 girls, and since 1S37, has known of only one girl who went home from Lowell and died. He does not find that those who stay the longest in the mill grow sickly and weak. The rooms are heated by steampipes, and the temperature of the rooms is regulated by a thermometer. It is so he believes in all the mills. The heat of the room va¬ ries from 62 to 68 degrees. The above testimony embraces all the important facts which were elicited from the persons who appeared before the Com¬ mittee. On Saturday the 1st of March, a portion of the Committee went to Lowell to examine the mills, and to observe the gen¬ eral appearance of the operatives therein employed. They arrived at Lowell after an hour’s ride upon the rail-road. They first proceeded to the Merrimack Cotton Mills, in which are employed usually 1200 females and 300 males. They were permitted to visit every part of the works and to make what¬ ever inquiries they pleased of the persons employed. They found every apartment neat and clean, and the girls, so far as personal appearance went, healthy and robust, as girls are in our country towns. The Committee also visited the Massachusetts and Boott Mills, both of which manufacture cotton goods. The same 8 HOURS OF LABOR. [March. spirit of thrift and cleanliness, of personal comfort and con¬ tentment, prevailed there. The rooms are large and well lighted, the temperature comfortable, and in most of the window cills were numerous shrubs and plants, such as geraniums, roses, and numerous varieties of the cactus. These were the pets of the factory girls, and they were to the Committee convincing evi¬ dence of the elevated moral tone and refined taste of the opera¬ tives. The Committee also visited the Lowell and the Middlesex mills; in the first of which carpets are manufactured, and in the second, broadcloths, cassimeres, &c. These being woollen mills, the Committee did not expect to find that perfect clean¬ liness which can be and has been attained in cotton mills. It would, however, be dillicult to institute a comparison between the mills on this point, or to suggest an improvement. Not only is the interior of the mills kept in the best order, but great regard has been paid by many of the agents to the arrange¬ ment of the enclosed grounds. Grass plats have been laid out, trees have been planted, and fine varieties of flowers in their season, are cultivated within the factory grounds. In short, every thing in and about the mills, and the boarding houses appeared, to have for its end, health and comfort. The same remark would apply to the city generally. Your com¬ mittee returned fully satisfied, that the order, decorum, and general appearance of things in and about the mills, could not be improved by any suggestion of theirs, or by any act of the Legislature. During our short stay in Lowell, we gathered many facts, which we deem of sufficient importance to state in this report, and first, in relation to the HOURS OF LABOR. From Mr. Clark, the agent of the Merrimack Corporation, we obtained the following table of the time which the mills run during the year. Begin work .—From 1st May to 31st August, at 5 o’clock. From 1st September to 30th April, as soon as they can see. 1845.J HOUSE—No. 50. 9 Breakfast .—From 1st November to 28 th February, before going to work. From 1st March to 31st of March, at 7£ o’clock. From 1st April to 19th September, at 7 o’clock. From 20th Sept, to 31st October, at 7J o’clock. Return in half an hour. Dinner .—Through the year at 12J o’clock. * From 1st May to 31st Aug. return in 45 minutes. From 1st Sept, to 30th April, return in 30 minutes. Quit work .—From 1st May to 31st August, at 7 o’clock. From 1st September to 19th Sept., at dark. From 20th Sept, to 19th March, at 7£ o’clock. From 20th March to 30th April, at dark. Lamps are never lighted on Saturday evenings. The above is the time which is kept in all the mills in Lowell, with a slight difference in the machine shop; and it makes the average daily time throughout the year, of running the mills, to be 12 hours and ten minutes. There are four days in the year which are observed as holi¬ days, and on which the mills are never put in motion. These are Fast Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving Day, and Christ¬ mas Day. These make one day more than is usually devoted to pastime in any other place in New England. The following table shows the average hours of work per day, throughout the year, in the Lowell Mills : Hours. Min. Hours. Min. January, 11 24 July, 12 45 February, 12 August, * 12 45 March, # 11 52 September, 12 23 April, * 13 31 October, • 12 10 May, • 12 45 November, 11 56 June, 12 45 December, 11 24 * The hours of labor on the 1st of March are less than in February, even though the day's are a little longer, because 30 minutes are allowed for breakfast from the 1st of March to the 1st of September. 2 10 HOURS OF LABOR. [March, In Great Britain, the hours of labor per week are limited by act of Parliament to 69, or 11J hours per day, but the general regulation in all the factories is 9 hours on Saturday and 12 hours on each of the other five working days. It is also enact¬ ed that there shall be six holidays in the course of the year. It is hardly possible to diaw a comparison between the ope¬ rations in Great Britain and those in Lowell. The one is a manufacturing population, in the strict sense of the word, the other is not. There, the whole family go into the mills as sobn as they have sufficient bodily strength to earn a penny. They never come out until they die. Very little attention is paid to their moral or physical culture, and, as has been proved by facts ascertained by commissioners appointed by Parliament, few can read or write, and, unless they have attended Sabbath schools, few obtain any knowledge of the Bible or of the Christ¬ ian religion. In Lowell, but very few (in some mills none at all) enter into the factories under the age of fifteen. None under that age can be admitted, unless they bring a certificate from the school teacher, that he or she has attended school at least three months during the preceding twelve. Nine-tenths of the factory popu¬ lation in Lowell come from the country. They are farmers’ daughters. Many of them come over a hundred miles to enter the mills. Their education has been attended to in the district schools, which are dotted like diamonds over every square mile of New England. Their moral and religious characters have been formed by pious parents, under the paternal roof. Their bodies have been developed, and their constitutions made strong by pure air, wholesome food, and youthful exercise. After an absence of a few years, having laid by a few hun¬ dred dollars, they depart for their homes, get married, settle down in life, and become the heads of families. Such, we be¬ lieve, in truth, to be a correct statement of the Lowell opera¬ tives, and of the hours of labor. THE GENERAL HEALTH OF THE OPERATIVES. In regard to the health of the operatives employed in the mills, your Committee believe it to be good. The testimony of 1845.] HOUSE—No. 50, 11 the female petitioners does not controvert this position, in gen¬ eral, though it does in particular instances. The population of the city of Lowell is now rising 26,000, of which number, about 7,000 are females employed in the mills. It is the opinion of Dr. Kimball, an eminent physician of Lowell, with whom the Committee had an interview, that there is less sickness among the persons at work in the mills, than there is among those who do not work in the mills; and that there is less sickness now than there was several years ago, when the number was much less than at present. This we understood to be also the opinion of the city physician, Dr. Wells, from whose published report for the present year, we learn that the whole number of deaths in Lowell, during the year 1844, was 362, of which number, 200 were children under ten years of age. The following table shows the comparative mortality in Low¬ ell during the past live years, enumerating some of the princi¬ pal diseases :— DISEASES. 1840 1841 ■ 1 842 1843 1844 Consumption, • 40 54 70 73 77 Inflammation of Lungs, 17 20 38 16 24 Cholera Infantum, 12 30 34 27 31 Scarlet Fever, • 7 43 32 6 3 Measles, 0 4 12 0 10 Dysentery, 47 18 17 11 2 Inflammation of Brain, 7 11 6 8 4 Croup, * 7 10 12 6 11 Total Mortality each year, 426 456 473 363 362 The population of Lowell, in May, 1840, was 7341 males and 13,740 females; total, 20,981. The population in May, 1844, was 9432 males, 15,637 females; total, 25,163; increase of population in four years, 4182. Notwithstanding this in¬ crease of population, the number of deaths has decreased. There being fewer the past year than in any of the four pre¬ ceding years, and 64 less in 1844 than in 1840. Yet, during the past year, the mills have been in more active operation than during either of the four years preceding. The decrease in the 12 HOURS OF LABOR. [March, mortality of Lowell, Dr. Wells attributes, in part, to “ the en¬ lightened policy of the city government, in directing the con¬ struction of common sewers, and the enterprise of individuals, in multiplying comfortable habitations, the establishment of a hospital, supported by the liberality of the corporations, for the accommodation of the sick in their employ, The more gen¬ eral diffusion of a knowledge of the laws of health, is also con¬ ducive to the same end.” The petitioners thought that the statements made by our city physician, as to the number of deaths, were delusive, in¬ asmuch as many of the females when taken sick in Lowell do not stay there, but return to their homes in the country and die. Dr. Kimball thought that the number who return home when seized with sickness was small. Mr. Cooper, whose tes¬ timony we have given, and who is a gentlemen of great expe¬ rience, says that he has known but one girl who, during the last eight years, went home from Lowell and died. We have no doubt, however, that many of the operatives do leave Low¬ ell and return to their homes when their health is feeble, but the proportion is not large. Certainly it has created no alarm, for the sisters and acquaintances of those who have gone home return to Lowell to supply the vacancies which their absence had created. In the year 1841, Mr. French, the agent of the Boott Mills, adopted a mode of ascertaining from the females employed in that mill the effect which factory labor had upon their health. The questions which he put were : 11 What is your age?” “ How long have you worked in a cotton mill?” “ Is your health as good as before ?” These questions were addressed to every female in “ No. 2, Boott Mill.” The Committee have the names of the females interrogated, and the answers which they returned, and the result is as follows : 1845.] HOUSE—No. 50. 13 List of Girls in Boott Mill , No. 2 —May 1841. Where Employed. Whole No. of Girls. Average Age. Average time employed in a Mill. EFFECT UPON HEALTH. Impr’d. As good. Not as gd. Carding Room, * / 20 T. 23 D. 30 Y. 5 D. 25 3 12 5 Spinning “ 47 28 38 4 10 14 29 4 Dressing “ 25 26 60 7 25 2 16 7 Weaving “ 111 22 98 3 84 10 62 39 Whole No. • 203 22 85 4 29 V 119 55 To these questions, several of the girls appended remarks. One girl, named S. Middleton, had worked in a mill 9 years. She says, “ health quite as good ; has not been sick in the time.” A Miss Proctor says, “ have worked 14 years; health a great deal better; sick when out of the mill.” A Miss Law¬ rence says, “have been 5 years in a mill; health quite as good; not. a day’s sickness in the time.” A Miss Clark says, “ have been 17 years in the mill ; health quite as good; hasn't hurt her a mite." The Boott Mill employs about 900 girls, not half a dozen of whom are under 15 years of age. In order to give the House a full statement of the facts con¬ nected with the factory system in Lowell, and in other towns in the Commonwealth, it would be necessary to answer inter¬ rogatories like these : 1st. The kind of work of the girls—is it proportioned to their age and intelligence ? 2d. The amount of their wages, and how the girls dispose of them ? 3d. Are the girls separated from the men?—what surveil- ance is exercised over them?—what police is used ? 4th. What is their religious, moral or literary instruction? 5th. Where do they pass the time not occupied in work? 6th. What are their general habits and character? What is the common age of entering the mill, and how long does a girl remain there ? These and other questions are very fully answered by B. F. 14 HOURS OF LABOR. [March, French, Esq., agent of the Boott Mills, in a letter addressed to Wrn. Boott, Esq., dated Lowell, March 22d, 1844, a copy of which is subjoined, marked u A.” In addition to which we have been permitted to copy the following memoranda from a book kept by John Clark, Esq., agent of the Merrimack Mills: May 6 th, 1841. “I have ascertained, by inquiries this day, that 124 of the females now at work in the Merrimack Mills have heretofore taught school; and that in addition 25 or 30 have left within the last 30 days to engage their schools for the summer, mak¬ ing in all 150 or more. 1 also find, by inquiries at our board¬ ing houses, that 290 of our girls attended school during the evenings of the last winter.” January ls£, 1812. “ We have th's day in our five mills, 40 females, including sweepers and other day hands, who cannot write their names; of this number, 30 are Irish. The average wages of 20 job hands of the above, as compared with the same number of the best writers in the same ro:;ms, is over 18 per cent, below them. All our weavers sign their names except four, in No. 4, upper room.” February 26, 1842. “We have this day in our five mills, 50 foreigners, 37 are Irish, (including 15 sweepers,) 10 English and 3 Scotch, and not one hand in all our works, under 15 years of age either male or female. Usual number of hands employed by the Merrimack Company in their five mills is about 1,200 females and 300 males.” There are many interesting facts connected with this inquiry which your Committee have not included in the foregoing re¬ marks, and which we could not include without making our report of too voluminous a character. We will state however in this connection, that the evidence which we obtained from gentlemen connected with the Lowell 1845.] HOUSE—No. 50. 15 Mills all goes to prove that the more intelligent and moral the operatives are, the more valuable they are to the employers, and the greater will be the amount of their earnings. Your Committee have not been able to give the petitions from the other towns in this State a hearing. We believed that the whole case was covered by the petition from Lowell, and to the consideration of that petition we have given our undivided attention, and we have come to the conclusion unanimously , that legislation is not necessary at the present time, and for the following reasons :— 1st. TJfiat a law limiting the hours of labor, if enacted at all, should''be of a general nature. That it should apply to indi¬ viduals or copartnerships as well as to corporations. Because, if it is wrong to labor more than ten hours in a corporation, it is also wrong when applied to individual employers, and your Committee are not aware that more complaint can justly be made against incorporated companies in regard to the hours of labor, than can be against individuals or copartnerships. But it will l e said in reply to this, that corporations are the ciea- tures of the Legislature, and therefore the Legislature can con¬ trol them in this, as in other matters. This to a certain extent is true, but your Committee go farther than this, and say, that not only are corporations subject to the control of the Legisla¬ ture but individuals are also, and if it should ever appear that the public morals, the physical condition, or the social well¬ being of society were endanged, from this cause or from any cause, then it would be in the power and it would be the duty cf the Legislature to interpose its prerogative to avert the evil. 2d. Your Committee believe that the factory system, as it is called, is not more injurious to health than other kinds of in¬ door labor. That a law which would compel all of the facto¬ ries in Massachusetts to run their machinery but ten hours out of the 24, while those in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Is¬ land and other States in the Union, were not restricted at all, the effect would be to close the gate of every mill in the State. It would be the same as closing our mills one day in every week, and although Massachusetts capital, enterprise and in¬ dustry are willing to compete on fair terms with the same of 16 HOURS OF LABOR. [March, other States, and, if needs be, with European nations, yet it is easy to perceive that we could not compete with our sister States, much less with foreign countries, if a restriction of this nature was put upon our manufactories. 3d. It would be impossible to legislate to restrict the hours of labor, without affecting very materially the question of wa¬ ges ; and that is a matter which experience has taught us can be much better regulated by the parties themselves than by the Legislature. Labor in Massachusetts is a very different commodity from what it is in foreign countries. Here labor is on an equality with capital, and indeed controls it, and so it ever will be while free education and free constitutions exist. And although we may find fault, and say, that labor works too many hours, and labor is too severely tasked, yet if we attempt by legislation to enter within its orbit and interfere with its plans, we will be told to keep clear and to mind our own busi¬ ness. Labor is intelligent enough to make its own bargains, and look out for its own interests without any interference from us; and your Committee want no better proof to convince them that Massachusetts men and Massachusetts women, are equal to this, and will take care of themselves better than we can take care of them, than we had from the intelligent and virtu¬ ous men and women who appeared in support of this petition,, before the Committee. 4th. The Committee do not wish to be understood as con¬ veying the impression, that there are no abuses in the present system of labor; we think there are abuses; we think that many improvements may be made, and we believe will be made, by which labor will not be so severely tasked as it now is. We think that it would be better if the hours for labor were less,—if more time was allowed for meals, if more atten¬ tion was paid to ventilation and pure air in our manufactories, and work-shops, and many other matters. We acknowledge all this, but we say, the remedy is not with us. We look for it in the progressive improvement in art and science, in a higher appreciation of man’s destiny, in a less love for money, and a more ardent love for social happiness and intellectual superiority. Your Committee, therefore, while they agree with 1845. HOUSE—No. 50. 17 the petitioners in their desire to lessen the burthens imposed upon labor, differ only as to the means by which these burthens are sought to be removed. It would be an interesting inquiry were we permitted to en¬ ter upon it, to give a brief history of the rise and progress of the factory system in Massachusetts, to speak of its small be¬ ginnings, and show its magnificent results. Labor has made it what it is, and labor will continue to improve upon it. . Your Committee, in conclusion, respectfully ask to be dis¬ charged from the further consideration of the matters referred to them, and that the petitions be referred to the next General Court. For the Committee, WM. SCHOULER, Chairman . 3 K / 18 HOURS OF LABOR. [March, (A.) - Lowell, March 22, 1844. William Boott, Esq. : Dear Sir,—It gave me much pleasure to receive the questions proposed by you in relation to the females in our establishment, and I exceedingly regret that circumstances beyond my control should have prevented an earlier reply. The Boott Cotton Mills, as you well know, are devoted exclu¬ sively to the manufacture of cotton goods. The capital of the company is $1,200,000, all paid in. The buildings consist of 4 water mills, each 150 feet long, and 48 feet wide—four stories high, besides the basement. There belong to the establishment, for the accommodation of the hands, 32 boarding houses, in which, with but few exceptions, all reside, both male and fe¬ male. Each house is calculated to contain with comfort about 30 inmates, besides the family of the tenant. There are 32 smaller tenements, for men employed in the yard who have families. These 64 tenements are comprised in 8 blocks, built of brick and slated. In the week following the first Saturday of the current month, there were paid off in the yard, for labor performed in the pre¬ ceding four weeks, eight hundred and sixteen girls. That is about the number which we constantly require. It is always intended to adapt the employment of the hands to their age and intelligence. A contrary course, if persisted in, must inevitably result in discomfiture. The amount of muscular strength which a girl is required to exert in any de¬ partment is very small. The water-wheel has nearly super¬ seded the use of it in all cases; and where that agent cannot be advantageously used, men are employed to perform those offices which require any considerable effort. For the four weeks ending March 4. 1844, the average wages of the girls was as follows: 1845.] HOUSE—No. 50. 19 Mill No. 1, - “ “ 2 , - “ “ 3, - “ “ 4, - $2 95 3 10 3 17 3 01 These several sums, in all cases, include board, which is $1 25 per week. Subtract that amount, and the remainder is the net earnings. It is difficult to say with certainty how these earnings are disposed of; but from the known habits and character of the girls it may fairly be inferred that, with few exceptions, they are applied to laudable objects. They are obtained at too great a sacrifice of ease to be squandered upon articles of mere fine¬ ry, or in the pursuit of frivolous amusements. A knowledge of their habits and modes of life, previous to their entrance into the mills, will assist one in coming to a correct conclusion upon the subject. It appears, from an inspection of the books, that but 72 of the 816 girls in the mills reside permanently and have their home in the city of Lowell. All others come from towns in the country, more or less remote—from Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as Massachusetts. With a view of learn¬ ing the distance which they travel, on an average, to get to Lowell, I took the names under the letter A on the Register which has been kept for some time, and enrols those now in the mills as well as many who have left, and measured on the map the number of miles which Lowell lies from the place of their abode. Upon adding these several sums together, and dividing the aggregate by 70, the number of names entered under that letter, the result was 70.67 miles. Of course, this mode of calculating, by avoiding all crooks in the roads, gives less than the true distance. They travel alone and unattended all over New England, in cars, stage coaches and steamboats, and it is very unusual to enter any public vehicle, leaving or coming into Lowell, without meeting many of them. Such is public sentiment, and such the manners and customs of the country, that they do it with perfect impunity. Their sole ob¬ ject in leaving home and coming here, from places so remote, and entering upon an entirely new co«urse of life, is to make 20 HOURS OF LABOR. [March, more money by their exertions than they can in any other em¬ ployment. They are not paupers. They are not diiven here by wretchedness and hunger. They have homes and friends to which they expect to return. Few intend to make this place their permanent residence, or to devote their lives, or even a great portion of it, to the business of manufacturing. They have commonly some definite purpose to accomplish, and then they intend to go back to their friends. Their schemes are laid before the wages are earned. Gain, and not bread, is the object of their pursuit; and, with very few exceptions, it is kept steadily in view. It is estimated in round numbers that the factory girls have over $100,000 in the Savings Bank. It is not usually placed there for investment, but for safe keeping, until they are ready to go home. Then it is spent, sometimes in the pursuit of learning, or in educating a brother or sister; very often in fur¬ nishing their future residences with such articles of use or lux¬ ury as their parents are unable to bestow; and not unfrequent- ly in administering to the necessities of poor and aged parents. A small portion only of their income is spent in Lowell, and their general habits may be considered economical and thrifty. These facts explain the necessity which the several compa¬ nies are under of owning their boarding houses. Girls coming from abroad, and ignorant of the world, would be entirely lost in a place like this, were no one to look out for their safety. Now every girl who can obtain employment in a mill is sure of finding a good boarding place in one of the corporation houses. Men and girls work together in the mills, in the same rooms, but they board in separate houses. A great many of the men are married—the overseers and second overseers of the rooms almost without exception. During work hours, the strictest order and decorum are observed, and a close attention is paid to business, and any deviation from the rules subjects the of¬ fender to a reprimand or expulsion ; and a dismission for such cause banishes the culprit from all the mills in Lowell. When a girl enters the mills, she takes what is called a regu¬ lation paper —a printed paper containing some of the more prominent rules which she is required to observe. One of them 1845.] HOUSE—No. 50. 21 is that she shall board in one of the houses of the company for which she works. This rule she is required to observe, unless a relaxation is obtained in favor of residing with a parent, or a brother, or a sister, who must be housekeepers. This privi¬ lege, from their peculiar relation to the place, is seldom applied for. The mass board in the corporation houses. These houses are rented lor $100 per annum, to tenants who agree to keep them exclusively for this purpose. The tenants are selected with great care, and after full and minute inquiries into their quali¬ fication for the situation. Their characters for morality are strictly investigated, and their ability to manage and control such a household as they must necessarily have thoroughly ex¬ amined. They must not only have an established reputation for skilful housewifery, but their deportment be sober and dis¬ creet, calculated to command the respect of the inmates, as well as to win their confidence. The girls are allowed to change from one house to another at their pleasure, and as there is rather more house-room than is strictly required for their ac¬ commodation, free competition operates here as it does every where else, and produces a sufficient degree of kindness on the part of the landladies for the comfort of the boarders—while the fear of losing their place in the mill, by any misconduct, imposes a salutary restraint upon the vivacity of the girls. There are certain rules and regulations for the government of boarding-houses, which it is presumed are always enforced ;— in addition to these, every body understands that all the decen¬ cies and proprieties of life must be strictly observed. Any in¬ tentional violation is just cause for expulsion, and it is com¬ monly executed. A lax system of family government—any practices contrary to good morals, and subversive of the wel¬ fare of society, cannot long exist in a neighborhood so consti¬ tuted without detection. There is no agent or superintendent in Lowell who would sustain a housekeeper for a moment after such a development. Public sentiment would compel him, whatever his own inclinations might be, to send her off in dis¬ grace, or his own affairs would be in no enviable condition. The houses are commonly kept by unmarried women, either widows or maidens. Many of them have been accustomed to HOURS OP LABOR. 22 [March, better circumstances, and have been compelled by misfortune to resort to this employment for a livelihood. With the instruction of the hands in literature and religion, their employers never interfere. Public' sentiment, to which all are amenable, would not permit it. There is a lurking jealousy against rich corporations, and it is charged upon the agents that they exert an undue influence upon the people un¬ der their jurisdiction. Every one claims the right to which he is entitled in the eye of the law, to form his own opinion upon all subjects connected with politics and religion. In his own estimation, he acts in conformity with it. This prerogative is claimed by the operative in common with every citizen, and any encroachment upon it would arouse the worst feelings, and would be resisted with the utmost pertinacity. No partiality is shown to ony sect or party, but all are received upon the same footing of equality. But, although no inquisition is made into their articles of belief, it is required as a sine qua non that they all exhibit a correct moral deportment. No public provis¬ ion is made by law for religious instruction here or elsewhere, but, by a law of the State, every child under 15 years of age, who shall be employed in any manufacturing establishment, is required to attend some day school where instruction is given by a teacher, legally qualified, three months in every twelve months ; and every owner and agent who shall illegally employ such child, is liable to indictment and a fine of fifty dollars for each offence. In practice, the law has but little effect upon the population, We employ but one girl under 15 years of age in all our works. A single fact will show, that nearly all have enjoyed some advantages of education previous to their entrance into the mills. Of the 816 girls employed by us, on the first Saturday of the present month, only 43 could not write their names legibly. Forty of these are supposed to be Irish, two English, and one Yankee. Tne people work on an average through the year, as nearly as can be calculated, 12£ hours per day. This calculation is based upon the working days only. There are four holidays observed in Lowell, and three in other parts of the country. These are omitted in the estimate. From 20th September to 1845.] HOUSE—No. 50. 23 20th March, they commence in the morning as soon as they are able to see by daylight, and quit at 30 minutes after 7 P. M. During the rest of the year, they work as nearly as possible from 5 A. M. to 7 P. M. They do it when the days are long enough. From 1st November to 1st March, they breakfast before going into the mill. At other times they go out to break¬ fast, and' are allowed thirty minutes. Dinner is uniformly served at 12J P. M. From 1st May to 1st August, they are allowed 45 minutes for that meal,—for the residue of the year, 30 minutes. As no direct surveillance is employed, it is impossible for the agent to know with absolute certainty how the girls pass their time when out of the mills. But after working the whole day with great diligence, and certain of being called to resume their labors early in the morning, it is fair to presume, that they go early to bed. And, besides, the boarding houses are all re¬ quired to be closed at 10 o’clock P. M. There are no regular public amusements to which they can resort in the place. About ten years ago a building was erected, and an attempt made to establish a theatre,—but the municipal authorities refused the necessary license, and after a severe contest, in which public sentiment was abundantly developed at the ballot box, they were sustained, and the project aban¬ doned. It has never been revived, and the building is demol¬ ished. A number of benevolent individuals have associated together, under the name of the Lowell Institute, for the pur¬ pose of having a lecture once a week upon some literary topic, to which the girls can resort. Tickets are sold to the girls for 75 cents, which entitles them to the course of 26 lectures. The association has the use of the City Hall, which will contain about 1,000, free of expense. Some distinguished individual from abroad is usually invited to make the address. Many of the girls attend regularly. Several of the religious societies, to some one of which nearly all the girls belong, have frequent evening meetings in the win¬ ter, which they can attend at pleasure. A few of the girls sometimes attend dancing parties, which occasionally take place in the winter, but never in the summer. 24 HOURS OF LABOR. [March, As a general rule, the girls pass their time with great regu¬ larity,—early to bed and early to rise. The evils which con¬ stant employment and want of amusements are calculated to produce, if persisted in too long, are to a very great extent coun¬ teracted by periodical visits to their friends. They are sus¬ tained by the certainty of obtaining the object of their pursuit, if heajth and life are spared, and when the time arrives, they grasp it, and immediately retire to their homes, to recruit their wasted energies, and prepare, if need be, for another campaign. As to their general habits and character, I have but little to add. It will be seen, from what I have said, that we have, strictly speaking, no factory population,—no fixed and perma¬ nent inhabitants attached to the place,—who, feeling no ambi¬ tion to rise above their present condition, spend their earnings as fast as they accrue,—secure, at worst, of a place in the poor house, and content with it. Our laborers are altogether of an¬ other description, and with different aspirations. We are de¬ pendent for them upon the surrounding country. As none from abroad under 15 years of age can be employed, on ac¬ count of the school law, they have all attained to years of some discretion before they enter the mills. The great mass of them are from the agricultural districts, where the most primitive habits and the strictest morals prevail. Their entrance into the factory is looked upon by their parents with great anxiety, and the girls themselves are doubly for¬ tified to withstand the manifold trials and temptations which they expect to encounter. They come with a fixed determina¬ tion not to bring dishonor upon their homes, to which after a short absence they fondly hope to return. They meet here in masses, but as total strangers, under the eye of the matron who keeps the boarding-house and watches over their behavior. Few opportunities are afforded to any one for approaching them with sinister designs. A convincing proof that they do not become contaminated by this course of life, is that they do not lose caste in their own circle. They are affectionately wel¬ comed back by their relatives and friends, and most of them marry and settle among their early associates. Had they be¬ come corrupted, this could not take place, unless the whole 1845.j HOUSE—i\o. 50. community be equally corrupt. At any rate, it is sufficient to dispel all suspicions that they become contaminated by their exposure to factory influences here. A charge of this kind cannot be sustained, if it appear that they return in no worse condition than they came.^-The factory system has now been in operation long enough for the great public to judge of its ef¬ fects upon the character of the operatives, and it declares with great unanimity that it is not injurious. There seems to be no way to avoid that conclusion, when we see the great majority of girls who are compelled to labor for a livelihood, prefer to work in the mills rather than in private families—and when this choice has the approbation of their parents, and other friends, and is in accordance with public sentiments Prom actual inquiry, made of all the girls in one of our mills, 203 in number, in 1841, it was ascertained that the aver¬ age age was 22.85 years; and the average time which they had been employed in manufacturing 4.29 years. It follows that the average age at which they entered was 18.56 years. The average time they remain in the mills is probably about 4£ years. The population, in respect to age, presents the same general aspect that it did when I first became acquainted with it. The parts are constantly changing, but a stranger who only sees them occasionally cannot distinguish any difference 4 \ ' . 1 * ' k.