Scott—Labor Conditions in Massachusetts, 1860-70. 173 
ity of agricultural as compared with manufacturing communi¬ 
ties.” 25 The evidence which has been presented here seems to 
indicate a slower recovery in manufacturing communities, for 
Massachusetts is preeminently a manufacturing state. 
The fluctuations of wages and prices and the discontent aris¬ 
ing therefrom had many results.. Tor one thing, there were 
attempts on the part of workingmen to combine. During and 
after the war we find trades-unions, as well a:s other kinds of 
associations of workingmen, multiplying and increasing in 
strength. 20 Although these forms of resistance often failed, 
they are at least a partial cause of the improvement of the rela¬ 
tions between labor and capital which came about in the seven¬ 
ties. During the sixties we also find a considerable agitation 
for shorter hours of labor. The Voice frequently complains of 
the injustice of compelling employees, particularly women, to 
work eleven or more hours a day in a factory. Eight Hour 
Leagues were formed in Boston, 27 and a commission was ap¬ 
pointed by the legislature of Massachusetts to inquire into the 
question of the hours of labor. The commissioners, in their 
report of January, 1867, make the following statement: “An¬ 
swers to the . . . inquiry were received from seventy-four 
establishments, which give the following as the hours of labor:— 
5 worked 10% hours. 
63 w T orked 11 hours. 
4 worked 12 hours. 
12 worked irregular hours, 8 to 15. 
From this it wull be seen that eleven hours is the rule, and any 
longer or shorter time the exception in the factories of the 
Commonwealth.” 28 Much of this agitation centred around, and 
was chiefly caused by, the employment of women and children 
in the factories. The wdthdraw T al of large numbers of men for 
the army frequently left the burden of supporting their families 
25 Some Phases of the Economic History of Wisconsin, 1860-1870. 
Proc. Wis. Hist. Society for 1907, p. 211. 
26 Voice, Dec. 28, 1864; Jan. 5, 1865; also 1865, 1866 passim; Rept. 
Boston Board of Trade 1870, p. 127. 
2 T Voice, Sept. 10, 1865, and passim; Report of the President of the 
Boston Eight Hour League, 1872. 
28 P. 8. 
7 
