The legislature has interfered to pre vent children in factories being tasked beyond their strength, to the permanent injury of their constitutions. This abuse was the more to be apprehended, because a large proportion of the children en gaged in cotton-spinning are not directly employed by the masters, but are under the control of the spinners, a highly-paid class of workmen, whose earnings depend greatly upon the length of time during which they can keep their young assist ants at work. A parliamentary commit tee sat for the investigation of this sub ject in 1832, and subsequently a commis sion was issued by the crown for ascer taining, by examinations at the factories themselves, the kind and degree of abuses that prevailed, and for suggesting the proper remedies. In consequence of these inquiries, an act was passed in 1853 (3 & 4 Wm. IV., c. 103) for regulating factories. This act has been amended by 7 Viet. c. 15 ; but in order to show the course of recent legislation on this subject, we shall first give some of the main enactments of the first act.
The act 3 & 4 Wm. IV. provided, that after the 1st of January, 1834, no person under the age of eighteen years should work in any cotton, woollen, flax, or silk factory worked by the aid of steam or water-power, between the hours of half past eight in the evening and half-past five in the morning ; that no person under eighteen years of age should work more than twelve hours in any one day nor more than sixty-nine hours in the week. Except in no children under nine years of age were to be em ployed. Children under eleven years old were not to be worked more than nine hours in any one day, nor more than forty-eight hours in one week. This clause came into operation six months after the passing of the act. At the ex• piration of another twelve months its restriction was applied to children under twelve years old ; and when thirty months from the passing of the act had elapsed, the restriction was applied to all children under thirteen years old. This clause came into operation on the let of March,1836. In silk-mills, children under thirteen years of age were a liewed to m ork ten hours per day. It wa.. made illegal for any other mill-owner to have in his employ any child who had not completed eleven years of age without a certificate by a surgeon or physician " that such child is of the ordinary strength and ap pearance of children of or exceeding the age of nine years." In eighteen months from the passing of the act this provision was made to apply to all children under twelve years of age ; and upon the 1st of March, 1836, the provision was made to include all children under the age of thirteen. Four persons were appointed under the act to be Inspectors of Facto ries, in order to carry into effect the vari ous provisions which it contained.
After the expiration of six months from the passing of the act, it was declared unlawful to employ in any factory any child under the ages restncted to forty eight hours' labour in the week, unless on every Monday the employer should receive a ticket from some schoolmaster, certifying that such child had for two hours at least for six out of seven days of the week next preceding attended his school. The school might be chosen by the parents or guardians of the child ; but in case of their omitting to appoint any school, or in case of the child being with out parent or guardian, the inspector might appoint some school in which the child might be taught, and the employer was allowed to deduct from its weekly earnings any sum not exceeding one penny in every shilling, to pay for the schooling of such child.
By the Amended Factory Act (7 Viet. c. 15), every person who begins to oc cupy a factory must give notice thereof, and full details respecting the same, " to the office of the Factory Inspectors, London." There are various penalties for the offences constituted by the two acts, and the duty of seeing them carried into effect is devolved upon four inspectors, called the Inspectors of Factories, each of whom has sub-inspectors employed under him. The United Kingdom is divided into four districts, and at the head of each is a chief inspector. The four inspectors assemble together at their office in Lon don every half year, and make a joint report to the Secretary of State for the Home Department of such matters as appear necessary. Each inspector makes a report to the same authority every half year; but the reports were formerly made quarterly.
The powers of inspectors and sub inspectors are very considerable. An inspector or sub-inspector is authorized to enter every part of any factory, at any time, by day or by night, when any person shall be employed therein ; and to enter by day any place which he shall have reason to believe to be a factory; and to enter any school in which children em ployed in factories are educated ; and at all times to take with him into any fac tory the certifying surgeon of the district, and any constable or other peace officer whom he may mean to assist him ; and may examine, either alone or in the pre sence of any other person, as he shall think fit, every person whom he shall find in a factory or in such a school, or whom he shall have reason to believe to be or to have been employed in a factory within two months next preceding the time when he shall require him to be ex amined touching any matter within the provisions of the Factory Act. And the inspector or sub-inspector may, if he shall see fit, require such person to make and sign a declaration of the truth of the matters respecting which he shall be examined.