In
1831 John Hobhouse, the Radical M.P.
for Westminster,
decided to introduce a bill restricting child labour. Hobhouse proposed
that: (a) no child should work in a factory before the age of 9; (b)
no one between the ages of 9 and 18 should work for more than twelve
hours; (c) no one aged between the ages of 9 and 18 should
work for more than 66 hours a week; (d) no one under 18 should be
allowed to do night work.
After details of Hobhouse's Bill was published, workers in spontaneously
started forming what became known as Short Time Committees in an effort
to help promote its passage through Parliament. The first Short Time
Committees were formed by textile workers in Huddersfield and Leeds.
Within a few months Short Time Committees were established in most
of the major textile towns.
Spinners and weavers made up the bulk of the membership, but anyone
who supported their campaign were welcome to join. For example, in
Huddersfield several shopkeepers and the manager of the local co-operative
store were members of the committee. The Short Time Committees held
public meeting and attempted to persuade people to sign petitions
in support of Hobhouse's Bill. Leeds Short
Time Committee collected 10,000 signatures in a week and the Bradford
branch sent a petition to Parliament bearing the names of 4,000 people.
Parliament was dissolved
in April, 1831 and so Hobhouse's Bill had to be reintroduced after
the General Election. Hobhouse's proposals for factory legislation
were discussed in Parliament in September 1831.
The Short Time Committees were furious when Hobhouse agreed to make
changes to his proposals. Although Hobhouse's Bill was passed, it
only applied to cotton factories and failed to provide any machinery
for its enforcement.
Unhappy with what Hobhouse had achieved, the Short Time Committees
continued to work for factory legislation. A magnificent orator, Richard
Oastler soon became the main speaker at Short Time Committee public
meetings. They also published pamphlets written by Oastler such as
Humanity Against Tyranny and The
Factory Question.
The Short Time Committees attempted to gain support for new factory
legislation by sending information of their campaign to trade unions,
sick-benefit clubs and friendly societies. Posters were displayed
on the walls of reading rooms and taverns and placed in the windows
of shopkeepers who supported the cause. This propaganda campaign was
expensive.Richard Oastler gave all his
savings and a percentage of his income to help fund the movement.John
Wood, a factory owner from Bradford,
was another large contributor. Some committees, such as the one in
Leeds, employed full-time agents to tour the country to raise money
for the campaign.
In the House of Commons, Michael Sadler,
the M.P. for Newark, became the main spokesman for the policies of
the Short Time Committees. On 16th March 1832 Sadler introduced a
Bill in Parliament that proposed limiting hours in all mills to 10
hours for persons under the age of 18. In an attempt to demonstrate
to Parliament the strength of public opinion in favour of factory
legislation, Sadler and Oastler organised a mass meeting in Huddersfield.
Over 16,000 people attended the meeting and another one in Manchesterattracted
over 100,000 people.
After much debate it was clear that Parliament was unwilling to pass
Sadler's bill. However, in April 1832 it was agreed that there should
be another parliamentary enquiry into child labour. Sadler was made
chairman and for the next three months the parliamentary committee
interviewed 48 people who had worked in textile factories as children.
Michael Sadler
lost his seat in the General Election that took place in December
1832. When Sadler's report was published in January 1833, the information
in the report shocked the British public and Parliament came under
increasing pressure to protect children working in factories. Richard
Oastler and Rev. George Bull
organised a general conference in Bradford
of Short Time Committees. There were now twenty-six Short Time Committees,
twelve in Yorkshire, eleven were in Lancashire, two in Scotland and
one in Nottingham. At the meeting it was decided to ask Lord
Ashley, the M.P. for Dorsetshire, to become their new leader in
the House of Commons. Lord Ashley agreed but his initial attempts
to persuade Parliament of the need for a ten hour day ended in failure.
The Short Time Committees continued to campaign for legislation and
remained in existence until the passing of the 1847
Factory Act.
Child
Labour Debate Activity (International School of Toulouse)
Child
Labour Simulation (Spartacus Educational)
(1)
The Huddersfield Short Time Committee sent out a circular to all trade
unions, sick-benefit clubs and friendly societies in the district
on 6th October, 1831.
Is
it not a shame and disgrace that, in a land called "the land
of the Bibles", children of a tender age should be torn from
their beds by six in the morning, and confined, in pestiferous factories,
till eight in the evening? Ten hours a day, with eight on Saturdays,
is our motto - may it be yours. Gentlemen, let us rouse ourselves
from lethargy and carelessness, and rally round the principles of
humanity, with an irresistible voice, demand the immediate curtailment
of the hours of factory labour.
(2)
Resolution passed by the Leeds Short Time Committee on 29th October,
1831.
The
ten hour day would equalise labour by calling into employment many
male adults, who are a burden on the public, who, though willing and
ready to work, are obliged to spend their time in idleness, whilst
children are compelled to labour from twelve to sixteen hours per
day.
(3)
Statement made by the Pudsey Short Time Committee on 9th April, 1836.
Is
not ten hours long enough for any man to work, to say nothing about
children? And would not your work people be able to learn their duty
to you, as well as to God, much better if they finished work at six
every night, and worked only ten hours. What nonsense it is to cry
out, "If you have only ten hours' work you must be content with
ten hours' wages". The fact is they don't get their share of
their own production, and they will never get it, till they shorten
time.
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