HAND-LOOM WEAVERS FACTORY SYSTEM. 447 



little section of manufacturers, who ought to be shipped off, sine 

 mora, to New South Wales, in company with the next cargo of 

 convicts. They will be surprised no doubt to learn, that their 

 numbers are considerably greater than the entire mass of weavers 

 engaged in the Cotton Mills ; the latter employing about 40,000 

 hands in actual labour, and the former 250,000. 



It is upon these 250,000 Hand-Loom Weavers that the influence 

 of Machinery on human labour may be exemplified. In 1795, a 

 Hand-Loom Weaver engaged on fine work earned 1. 13s. 6d. per 

 week. Mr. Gaskell thus describes his condition at this period, and 

 we would beg to refer Mr. Baines to his work, as it contains a very 

 important digest of the subject : 



" These were undoubtedly the golden times of manufactures, con- 

 sidered in reference to the character of the labourers. By all the 

 processes being carried on under a man's own roof, he retained his 

 individual respectability : he was kept apart from associations, 

 which might injure his moral worth, whilst he generally earned 

 wages that were sufficient, not only to live comfortably upon, but 

 that also enabled him to rent a few acres of land ; thus joining in his 

 own person two classes that are now daily becoming more and more 

 distinct. It gave him employment of a healthy nature, and raised 

 him in society a step above the mere labourer : a garden was like- 

 wise invariably an adjunct to the cottage of the Hand-Loom 

 Weaver ; and in no part of the kingdom were the floral tribes, 

 fruits, arid edible roots, more zealously or more successfully culti- 

 vated; and to crown all, he was a respectable member of society, a 

 good father, a good son, and a good husband." 



Such was the Hand- Loom Weaver in 1795. Let us compare his 

 condition in 1834, now that the whole force of the era of mechanism 

 has been brought to bear upon him. His wages have fallen pro- 

 gressively from 1. 13s. Qd. per week to 4s. 1 \d. What is his moral 

 and social condition ? It has been thus described by a Dr. Kay, 

 who we believe was employed by the Manchester overseers to inquire 

 into the subject, and who lives amongst the lower orders. " The 

 Hand-Loom Weavers labour fourteen hours and upwards daily, and 

 earn only from 5s. to 7s. per week ; they are ill fed, ill clothed, half 

 sheltered and ignorant, weaving in close, damp cellars, or crowded 

 in ill-ventilated workshops ; and it only remains that they should 



