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PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION G. 
2.— FACTORY LAWS IN NEW ZEALAND. 
By GRACE NEILL , Inspector of Factories, N.Z. 
Factory legislation is a necessary outgrowth of the modern 
industrial system. In the tierce and ever fiercer war of capitalistic 
competition, the kings and princes of industry have shown a tendency 
to treat the industrial workers as so much powder and shot — women 
and children being the cheapest ammunition — to be spent and used up 
in their service. But times are changing. A glance backward over 
the social and industrial conditions in England suffices to show how 
the factory system has proved itself a potent motor-power in directing 
nineteenth century legislation towards its special characteristic — an 
equalisation of social rights irrespective of wealth or sex. 
It is exactly 100 years ago since early social reformers recognised 
the growing abuses connected with the establishment of the Lancashire 
cotton-mills. In 1795 a committee was appointed in Manchester to 
report upon the matter, and the resolutions then passed form the 
guiding principle of the earlier Factory Acts. Dr. Pereival, a member 
of this committee, made, in the year 1795, a proposal to apply “for 
parliamentary aid to establish a general system of law’s for the w r ise, 
humane, and equal government of all such work” ; and now*, in 1895, 
we had factory laAvs an accepted necessity for the just government of 
any State. England led the w r ay, America followed; and now* New 
Zealand may claim to be in advance with her comprehensive Factories 
Act of 1891. England and America had to deal with remedial 
measures — long hours of labour, overcrowding, slum- sweating haviug 
taken root in their populous centres. In New* Zealand the industrial 
centres are comparatively small and easily supervised, whilst successive 
Governments, of whatever shade in politics, have been keenly alive to 
the necessity for w r arding offi the evils so difficult of eradication in 
older countries. Her measures are therefore preventive rather than 
remedial, and have been steadily progressive in their growth. 
The first step in the direction of a Factory Act in New* Zealand 
seems to have been taken more than twenty years ago by the 
“ Employment of Females Act, 1873,” introduced by Mr. Bradshaw, 
a private member during the Vogel Ministry. It is very short, con- 
sisting of only five sections. “No person shall employ any female at 
any time between the hours of six in the afternoon and nine in the 
morning, or for more than eight hours in any one day.” This is 
indeed a radical reform when one considers that it was introduced 
twenty years ago, and that few T countries have arrived at the point of 
eight hours for female labour even in 1895. “Every female shall 
have holiday on every Saturday afternoon from two o’clock, and on 
Sunday, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter 
Monday, and any other day set apart as a public holiday, without loss 
of wages.” Here is a second radical reform, inasmuch as it deals 
with the wage question, and decrees that the always poorly-paid 
w’oman worker shall enjoy her legalised holiday on Saturday afternoon 
and other days without feeling that she will have to pay by a reduced 
pittance for ‘a rest that is of advantage to her well-being. “Every 
workroom shall be properly ventilated.” A short but weighty section. 
For the purposes of carrying out these provisions, “ Any person 
authorised in writing by a resident magistrate may enter and inspect 
any workroom at any time during working hours” There seems to be 
