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It shall now be shown by English factory labour, especially that of Lancashire , in which directions it at once comes into account as a result of centralised industrial progress, and, at the same time, as a demander of its further development,
B,—The Factory Labour of Lancashire ’s Cotton Industry.
That Lancashire to-day possesses the most capable labour in the cotton industry- all expert observers agree. Thus J. C. Fielden, a well-known member of the business world of Manchester, sees in the superiority of the labour the chief strength of Lancashire (1). A similar view was expressed by the American Consul in Manchester (Mr. B. Shaw), an acknowledged capable judge, in agreement with German employers before the Enquete-Commission (2). “An English operative,” says Mr. Shaw, “ is satisfied if he has abundant work and abundant wages ; only a few think of changing to another calling (3). This fixity of labour is of great value to the industry, because long experience creates a dexterity in always minding the same machines, which guarantees the most complete regularity, as well as superiority of the results.” Samuel Andrew, the Secretary of the largo Employers’ Association of Oldham, condenses the advantages of English labour into the following words: “ We have at this moment the most capable labour in the world. It is born and brought up well suited and disciplined to its work; under its wage-lists, with the present improved machinery w-e can depend upon it fulfilling its duty with the accuracy of clockwork.”
Upon what do the advantages of North English factory labour depend ? The following points of view- can be shown to be valuable : —(a) a high vitality, which finds its expression in greater speed, dexterity, and strength; (b) the presence of certain mental qualifications which specially suit machine labour; (c) the peculiar arrangement of labour contracts; (d) the consumption pow-er of the working classes.
(a) The physical superiority of the English factory operative when compared with the Continental is recognised by German
1. Compare a series of articles on Foreign Competition in the Manchester Examiner , 1SS2, especially the articles of 28th November and 5th December.
2. “Protokolle,” pp. 14, 81, 227. “Commercial Relations of the UnitedStates, ” No 12 (Oct. 1881), p. 129.
3. On the other hand in America, according to Sartorius von Wattershausen (“ Die nordamerikanischen Gewerkschaften,” p. 108), the facility for changing a calling still discloses a certain colonial character in the people.