300 REPORT — 1902. 



small producer in the workshop has in Kingswood long outlived the 

 producer under similar conditions in Bristol. 



There are also two distinct seasons, and as the workers are not able 

 to shift from one branch of the trade to the other there are always some 

 of them idle. The heavy trade is usually slack from January till the end 

 of June, very busy from July till October, and moderately busy during 

 November and December. The light trade has two seasons, the first four 

 months and August and September being busy, while the rest of the year 

 is slack. In one or two places attempts are being made to cater for both 

 trades, and if this is successful the trade may become a fairly regular 

 one. 



The wholesale trade started about thirty years ago with the intro- 

 duction of the rivet system. Although this has afl'ected the character of 

 the work done by men and boys, it has not much altered that of the 

 women and girls. There are still the two chief divisions of labour, 

 machinists and fitters, with perhaps more of the former than the latter. 

 For many years after the introduction of the rivet system men's work was 

 given out to be done, and the indoor system grew up with the extension 

 of machinery to various operations ; but women were not aflected by this, 

 and their work would probably be done at home to the present time if the 

 power sewing-machine had not been introduced. Before that invention 

 the sewing was chiefly done at home ; now it is chiefly done in the factory. 



Manufacturers and workers agree in attributing most of the changes 

 in the customs and regulations in this trade to these inventions. Machinery 

 made the factory and the employment of capital necessary, and the Factory 

 Acts have not hindered but furthered this development. 



The power sewing-machine was introduced into Bristol about ten years 

 ago, and came generally into use about five or six years ago. The work is 

 much lighter for women now than formerly, and more work is done per 

 head per annum. 



In Bristol the work is usually day-work. When, some years ago, out- 

 work was general, it was invariably piece-work ; and, although this 

 method of payment obtained for a time after the advent of the factory 

 system, its replacement by day-work had commenced before the introduc- 

 tion of the power sewing-machine. In Kingswood, where more out-work 

 is done, the out-workers are piece-workers, and the indoor hands usually 

 day-workers. In some places a system of task -work is in vogue where the 

 workers are paid a fixed wage, but have to do a certain amount of work. 

 If this amount is not done in one week it has to be made up in the next. 



Have the Acts introduced any change of custom in the case of the women 

 themselves ? 



Yes. The trade being a seasonal trade, there has usually been a lot 

 of overtime worked. The Acts have tended to put this down. On all 

 sides there is evidence of a decreased use of overtime, and this has had 

 the effect of making the industry more regular. Therefore all workers 

 have been affected. In the case of women workers the ' nuisance ' of 

 having to register the overtime worked, and the limit of that overtime to 

 a certain time at night and to thirty occasions in the year, has led 

 employers to do all they can to keep it down. On the other hand the 

 usual hours obtained by the action of the men's trade-union are fifty-four 

 and fifty-one, and are thus below the limit of the Factory Acts. A factory 

 cannot be profitably worked by men alone, and when tlie women and. 



