THE INDUSTRIES OF LEICESTER 63 
motor. This method effects a great saving in shafting, belts, etc., and 
total stoppages are therefore rare. 
Although mass production of like articles is carried out as far as possible, 
the great variety of styles which prevails in single garments rendered the 
team system very difficult. If the fastest operation be taken as unity, 
the numbers of machines may be regarded as multiples of this in the 
production of a given garment, and the machines so arranged that a 
conveyor system becomes possible. A change in garment or style, 
however, necessitates a complete re-arrangement, and, in practice, the 
machines are often ‘ averaged ’ in order to take account of a more or less 
constant variety of articles. Factory planning has now developed to a 
high degree so as to ensure a flow of goods in a given direction. 
Hosiery manufacture demands a large proportion of skilled and semi- 
skilled labour. The most highly skilled work is that of ‘ legging ’ fully 
fashioned silk hose of fine gauge, and this is usually done by men, while 
‘ transferring ’ and ‘ footing ’ are done by mixed male and female labour. 
Seamless hose machines, web frames, and warp-knitting machines are 
operated by both male and female labour, usually by women during the 
day and by men during night-shifts. Winding, mending, seaming, 
linking and machining are carried out by women. 
In dyeing and finishing, the light operations, such as turning, brushing, 
calendaring, etc., are carried out by women, but scouring, milling, dyeing, 
napping, pressing and boarding are usually done by men. A shortage 
of skilled labour sometimes occurs, owing to the custom of working shifts 
in a busy season. 
There is no systematic method of training labour, no scheme of 
apprenticeship, for example, but youths and girls are first employed as 
assistants or ‘ runabouts,’ and afterwards transferred to knitting or sewing 
machines. Opportunities for practice work are afforded by the Leicester 
College of Technology and by the colleges at Loughborough and Hinckley. 
This assists in some measure, although the conditions under which the 
work is done do not approximate very closely to those of the factory. 
The earlier system of marketing, whereby wholesalers, after purchasing 
finished goods, distributed them to shopkeepers, still persists on a con- 
siderable scale. To-day, however, many quite small firms supply the 
multiple stores and largeshopsdirect. In other cases, especially with large 
firms, manufacturers advertise their own goods and employ travellers or 
salesmen, both at home and abroad. Manufacturers’ agents also assist in 
the distribution. 
Within the factory the system of piece-work applies generally through- 
out the trade, although the time-rate is not unknown. Prices which were 
established before the war are still utilised as a basis, and to these is added 
a bonus which varies according to the cost of living. This plan has 
proved very satisfactory, and few disputes have taken place. Wages are 
high in comparison with those paid on the Continent and, of course, in 
the East, and the industry has been protected to some extent by the 
imposition of tariffs. 
During recent years Leicester has developed a large knitting-machine 
building business, which has enabled manufacturers to benefit by the 
