312 



REPORT — 1902. 



The indirect results of the recent extension of factory inspection are of 

 considerable importance as regards their influence, both on the hours of 

 labour and on the general condition of factories. The following figures 

 show how considerable has been the increase in the number of factories 

 under inspection since the passing of the Act of 1873 on the labour of 

 children and young persons, and the Protection of Machinery Act of 1889. 

 In 1874, the first year that the former Act was in force, the number of 

 factories under inspection was 673, employing altogether 21,402 persons, 

 of whom 2,632 were children, 2,522 were young persons, and 16,248 were 

 adults ; in 1900 the number of factories had risen to 3,652, employing 

 altogether 78,206 persons, of whom 3,464 were children between ten and 

 fourteen years of age, 8,295 young persons, and 66,447 adults, of whom 

 13,192 were women. The statistics compiled by the factory inspectors also 

 show that during the years 1874-1900 there has been a tendency for the 

 proportion of children to adults to decrease, while the proportion of young 

 persons has recently increased. (The actual numbers are higher in both 

 cases.) 



The new law of April 1901, which raises the age for beginning work 

 to twelve years, will probably cause a still further displacement of child 

 labour. 



Of the 66,447 adult persons under inspection some 13,000 are 

 women: they are employed in small numbers in the same industries in which 

 men are engaged, with the exception of gas-works and flour mills with 

 mechanical power. The only industries in which they are employed to the 

 number of 1,000 and upwards are the cotton, linen, and woollen trades, 

 and the manufacture of tobacco and cigars. This fact has an influence on 

 the hours worked by women, for though the hours of labour are only 

 legally restricted for children and young persons, the result of inspection 

 has been a notable decrease in the number of establishments working very 

 long hours. These are now found only in the smaller workshops where 

 one or two persons are employed, very rarely in the larger factories. The 

 proportion of textile factories doing more than 10^ hours' eflective work 

 is only about 7 per cent., whereas as many as 47 per cent, work only ten 

 hours. The following table shows the decrease in the hours of labour 

 generally which has taken place since the institution of factory inspec- 

 tion : — 



Percentage of Factories working not more than 10^ hours a day. 



The debates on the new Factory Act raised the question of the extent 

 to which women were employed at night, and returns from all the inspec- 

 toral districts showed that in all the industries under inspection only 127 

 women, or about 1 per cent., were regularly employed at night. These 

 were distributed as follows ;— 



