│ │ │ Total │ │Proportion│ Spinning │
│ Year. │ Parish. │Population.│Deaths.│of Deaths │ Works. │
│ │ │ │ │per Cent. │ │
├───────┼───────────┼───────────┼───────┼──────────┼───────────┤
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
├───────┼───────────┼───────────┼───────┼──────────┼───────────┤
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1840 │Günselsdorf│ 1,500│ 48│ 3.2│Teesdorf │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1840 │Pottendorf │ 4,000│ 157│ 4.0│Pottendorf │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1840 │Pottenstein│ 3,000│ 111│ 3.7│Fatnafeld │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 10 │Schönau │ 860│ 354│ 4.1│Schönau │
│ years │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 10 │Sollenau │ 750│ 288│ 3.8│Sollenau │
│ years │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ The │ │ │ │ │ │
│average│Schwadorf │ 1,700│ 62│ 3.7│Schwadorf │
│ of 7 │ │ │ │ │ │
│ years │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │Steinabürkl│ 640│ 33│ 2.5│Steinabürkl│
│2 years│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │Teresimfeld│ 1,200│ 78│ 3.3│Felydorf │
│2 years│ │ │ │ │ │
├───────┼───────────┼───────────┼───────┼──────────┼───────────┤
│ │ Total │ 13,650│ 1,131│ 3.8│ │
└───────┴───────────┴───────────┴───────┴──────────┴───────────┘
┌───────┬───────────┬───────┬──────────┬──────────────────────────────┐
│ │ Mill │ │Proportion│ Age of Death of the Mill │
│ Year. │Population.│Deaths.│of Deaths │ Population. │
│ │ │ │per Cent. │ │
├───────┼───────────┼───────┼──────────┼──────┬───────┬───────┬───────┤
│ │ │ │ │Under │Between│Between│Between│
│ │ │ │ │ 3 │3 and 6│6 and 9│10 and │
│ │ │ │ │years.│years. │years. │ 14 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │years. │
├───────┼───────────┼───────┼──────────┼──────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1840 │ 700│ 21│ 3.0│ 9│ │ │ 1│
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1840 │ 1,200│ 42│ 3.5│ 13│ 4│ 3│ 3│
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1840 │ 500│ 19│ 3.8│ 11│ 1│ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 10 │ 300│ 132│ 3.4│ 46│ 6│ 5│ 23│
│ years │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 10 │ 360│ 115│ 3.2│ 59│ 1│ 8│ 5│
│ years │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ The │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│average│ 550│ 13│ 2.3│ │ │ │ │
│ of 7 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ years │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ 394│ 16│ 2.0│ 13│ │ 1│ │
│2 years│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ 700│ 28│ 2.0│ 19│ │ │ 2│
│2 years│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
├───────┼───────────┼───────┼──────────┼──────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ │ 4,704│ 386│ 3.3│ 170│ 12│ 17│ 34│
└───────┴───────────┴───────┴──────────┴──────┴───────┴───────┴───────┘
┌───────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │ │
│ Year. │ Age of Death of the Mill Population. │
│ │ │
├───────┼───────┬───────┬───────┬───────┬───────┬───────┬───────┤
│ │Between│Between│Between│Between│Between│Between│Between│
│ │15 and │19 and │26 and │32 and │38 and │41 and │45 and │
│ │ 18 │ 25 │ 30 │ 36 │ 40 │ 44 │ 47 │
│ │years. │years. │years. │years. │years. │years. │years. │
├───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1840 │ 1│ │ │ 2│ 1│ 1│ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1840 │ 5│ 6│ 4│ 1│ 1│ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1840 │ 3│ │ │ 1│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 10 │ 7│ 12│ 2│ 4│ 2│ 5│ 4│
│ years │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 10 │ 5│ 6│ 3│ 5│ 2│ 2│ 6│
│ years │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ The │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│average│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ of 7 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ years │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ │ │ 1│ │ │ │ │
│2 years│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ │ 1│ 2│ 2│ │ │ │
│2 years│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
├───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ │ 21│ 25│ 12│ 15│ 6│ 8│ 10│
└───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┘
┌───────┬───────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │ │
│ Year. │ Age of Death of the Mill Population. │
│ │ │
├───────┼───────┬───────┬───────┬───────┬───────┤
│ │Between│Between│Between│Between│Between│
│ │50 and │55 and │60 and │65 and │70 and │
│ │ 54 │ 58 │ 64 │ 68 │ 75 │
│ │years. │years. │years. │years. │years. │
├───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1840 │ 1│ 1│ 2│ 1│ 1│
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1840 │ 1│ │ │ │ 1│
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 1840 │ │ │ │ 1│ 2│
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 10 │ 3│ 2│ 4│ 4│ 3│
│ years │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ │ │ │ │ │
│ 10 │ │ 3│ 6│ 2│ 2│
│ years │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ The │ │ │ │ │ │
│average│ │ │ │ │ │
│ of 7 │ │ │ │ │ │
│ years │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ │ │ 1│ │ │
│2 years│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│During │ 1│ │ 1│ │ │
│2 years│ │ │ │ │ │
├───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ │ 6│ 6│ 14│ 8│ 9│
└───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┘
23.—_Typhus Fever, the vast amount of, produced among the Poor of
Liverpool from want of Ventilation and Cleanliness._
The typhus, or low contagious fever, prevails in all large cities and
towns to a degree that those are not aware of who have not turned their
attention to the subject, or whose occupations do not lead them to mix
with the labouring poor. In Liverpool it has been supposed that this
disease is seldom to be met with; and it is certainly true, that the
upper classes of the inhabitants are not often subjected to its ravages.
When the extent to which it is constantly present among the poor shall
be proved by authentic documents, this circumstance will serve to
demonstrate the narrow sphere of the contagion, and to show how much it
is within the limits of human power to lessen the frequency of the
disease.
Of the inhabitants of Liverpool, it is ascertained that about 9500 live
in cellars underground, and upwards of 9000 in back houses, which in
general have an imperfect ventilation, especially in the new streets on
the south side of the town, where a pernicious practice has been
introduced of building houses to be let to labourers, in small confined
courts, which have a communication with the street by a narrow aperture,
but no passage for the air through them. Among the inhabitants of the
cellars and these back houses the typhus is constantly present; and the
number of persons under this disease that apply for medical assistance
to the charitable institutions, the public will be astonished to hear,
exceeds, on an average, 3000 annually. For the ten years preceding 1797,
there were, on an average, 119 patients ill of fever constantly on the
books of the dispensary. Of convalescents, unfit for labour, the average
number will be nearly as great. Thus, in Liverpool, 240 of the poor may
be considered as constantly rendered incapable of earning their
subsistence by this single disease; and as the poor seldom lay up any
part of their earnings for a season of sickness, the expense of their
maintenance must, in one form or other, fall on the public. If we take
this as low as 10_l._ for each, it will amount to 2400_l._ annually.
Though the cure of this disease is a principal object of our charitable
institutions in Liverpool, it is to be lamented that hitherto little or
nothing has been done for its prevention. The infection arises from a
want of cleanliness and ventilation, and its influence is promoted by
damp, fatigue, sorrow, and hunger. A vigilant exercise of all the means
of prevention might, in a short period, supersede the use of hospitals,
by extinguishing the disease; a prospect in which the philanthropist
might more safely indulge, if he could calculate with the same
confidence on the wisdom as on the power of his species.[63]
24.—_Extract from Dr. Ferriar’s Advice to the Labouring Classes in
Manchester; given in 1800._
Avoid living in damp cellars; they destroy your constitutions and
shorten your lives. No temptation of low rents can counterbalance their
ill effects. You are apt to crowd into the cellars of new buildings,
supposing them to be clean; this is a fatal mistake; a new house is
always damp for two years, and the cellars which you inhabit under them
are generally as moist as the bottom of a well. In such places you are
liable to bad fevers, which often throw the patient into a decline, and
you are apt to get rheumatic complaints, that continue for a long time
and disable you from working.
If you cannot help taking a cellar, be attentive to have all the windows
put in good repair before you venture into it, and, if possible, get it
whitewashed. If you attempt to live in a cellar with broken windows,
colds and fevers will be the certain consequences.
In many parts of the town you sleep in back rooms, behind the front
cellar, which are dark and have no proper circulation of air. It would
be much more healthy to sleep to the front; at least when you have large
families, which is often the case, you ought to divide them, and not to
crowd the whole together in the back cellar.
Keep your persons and houses as clean as your employments will permit,
and do not regret the loss of an hour’s wages when your time is occupied
in attending to cleanliness. It is better to give up a little time
occasionally to keep your houses neat, than to see your whole family
lying sick in consequence of working constantly without cleaning. It
would be of great service if you could contrive to air your bed and
bed-clothes out of doors once or twice a-week.
Always wash your children from head to foot with cold water before you
send them to work in the morning. Take care to keep them dry in their
feet, and never allow them to go to work without giving them their
breakfast, though you should have nothing to offer them but a crust of
bread and a little water. Children who get wet feet, when they go out
early fasting, seldom escape fever or severe colds.
* * * * *
Your health will always be materially injured by the following
circumstances:—living in small back buildings, adjoining to the open
vaults of privies; living in cellars where the streets are not properly
soughed or drained; living in narrow bye-streets where sheep are
slaughtered, and where the blood and garbage are allowed to stagnate and
corrupt, and perhaps more than all, by living crowded together in dirty
lodging-houses, where you cannot have the common comforts of light and
air.
It should be unnecessary to remind you that much sickness is occasioned
among you by passing your evenings at ale-houses, or in strolling about
the streets or in the fields adjoining to the town. Perhaps those who
are most apt to expose themselves in this manner would pay little
attention to dissuasive arguments of any kind; however, those who feel
an interest in your welfare cannot omit making the remark.
25.—_Principles of Jurisprudence and Responsibility for Accidents._
(_Extract from the First Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the
Labour Children in Factories._)
From the evidence collected, it appears that in many of the mills,
numerous accidents of a grievous nature do occur to the workpeople. It
appears also that these accidents may be prevented, since in some mills
where more care of the workpeople is in general displayed they are
prevented. It appears further, that whilst some manufacturers liberally
contribute to the relief of the sufferers, many other manufacturers
leave them to obtain relief from public bounty, or as they may.
The refusal to contribute to the expense of the cure of those who have
been maimed is usually founded on the assertion that the accident was
occasioned by culpable heedlessness or temerity. In the cases of the
children of tender years, we do not consider this a valid defence
against the claim for contribution from the employer. We cannot suppose
an obligation to perpetual caution and discretion imposed on children at
an age when those qualities do not usually exist. The indiscretion of
children must, we consider, be presumed and guarded against as a thing
that must necessarily, and to a greater or less extent, be manifested by
all of them.
But the accidents which occur to the adults, are of themselves evidence
(unless they were wilfully incurred in a state of delirium) that the
individual used all the caution of which he is capable; as it may be
presumed that the loss of life or limb, or the infliction of severe
pain, would rarely be wantonly incurred.
Some of the manufacturers have proposed that the inspectors, who they
think ought to be appointed to insure compliance with any legislative
regulation, should have power to inspect the factories, and direct what
parts of the machinery should be fenced off, and that after such
directions have been complied with, the manufacturer should be relieved
from further responsibility.
We concur in the proposition for giving such power to inspectors, but we
do not concur in the proposal to relieve the manufacturer from
responsibility.
We apprehend that no inspector would probably be so fully conversant
with all the uses of every variety of machinery as to be acquainted with
all the dangers which may be provided against; and also, that whilst
there is much machinery which does not, from its nature, admit of its
being boxed off, there is much that could not be made entirely safe
without the reconstruction of whole manufactories.
Excluding from consideration the cases of culpable temerity on the part
of the adults, and assuming that the aid to be given when accidents do
occur shall afford no bounty on carelessness, the cases which remain for
provision are those of adults which may be considered purely accidental.
Taking a case of this class, where mischief has occurred in the
performance of the joint business of the labourer and his employer; the
question is, by which of these parties the pecuniary consequences of
such mischief shall be sustained.
We conceive that it may be stated, as a principle of jurisprudence
applicable to the cases of evils arising from causes which ordinary
prudence cannot avert, that responsibility should be concentrated, or,
as closely as possible, apportioned on those who have the best means of
preventing the mischief. Unless we are to impose on the workman the
obligation of perpetual care and apprehension of danger, the nature of
the injuries inflicted are of themselves evidence that all the care
which can be taken by individuals attending to their work is taken by
them; it is only the proprietor of the machinery who has the most
effectual means of guarding against the dangers attendant upon its use.
If such an extent of pecuniary responsibility for the accidents which
are incidental to the use of the machines is imposed upon him, those
consequences will be more likely to be taken into account, and to be
guarded against at the time of the erection of the machinery. The
workmen are not prone to regard immediate dangers, still less dangers
which are remote and contingent, and many of the accidents are of a
nature apparently too uncertain to form data for insurance. It could
hardly be expected that a workman in entering a manufactory should
object that any portion of the machinery is dangerous, and that it ought
to be boxed off. But the proprietor of the machine is necessarily the
person who can best foresee all the consequences incidental to its use,
and can best guard against them. By throwing upon him a portion of the
pecuniary responsibility for those mischiefs, we combine interest with
duty, and add to the efficiency of both.
If the pecuniary consequences from unavoidable accidents were
considerable, the imposition of the proposed responsibility may be met
by the master, or by a deduction from the wages. Considering the
defective nature of most existing modes of provision against sickness
and casualties by benefit or friendly societies, and also, unhappily,
the large proportion of those who, from improvidence, do not take
advantage of these or other means, (of which some portion of the
working-class avail themselves in so exemplary and admirable a manner),
if we were to devise a form of insurance against the casualties in
question, available to all classes, we should recommend that measures
should be taken to secure from the master the regular deductions of the
amount of the contribution of the persons employed.
We propose that in the case of all accidents whatsoever from machinery
occurring to children under fourteen years of age, the proprietor of the
machinery shall pay for the medical attendance on the child, and all the
expenses of the cure, until medical attendance is no longer required;
and also during the same period, shall continue to pay wages at the rate
of half the wages enjoyed by the individual in question at the time of
the occurrence of the accident.
We are of opinion that persons above that age, in all cases where the
injury was received from accidents in the ordinary course of business,
where there was no culpable temerity, should receive similar treatment
at the expense of the employer, and should also be allowed half wages
until the period of cure, as we believe that an allowance of full wages
would occasion considerable fraud in the protraction of that period,
especially in the cases of accidents of a less serious nature.
We think that the remedy should be given on complaint before a
magistrate or the inspector.
“With regard to fatal injuries occasioned by wilful negligence, we have
at present no new remedies to suggest as substitutes to those afforded
by the common law.”
[In a recent case, I believe in Scotland, 300_l._ damages were
recovered against the owner of an old mine for the loss of a child,
which had fallen into it accidentally from the opening not being
properly protected.
It is sometimes stated that the owners of mines already come within
the principle, that they are interested in prevention, inasmuch as
they incur loss from the stoppage of work and otherwise by accidents.
The fact, however, of no exertions being made for prevention might be
adduced as proof that the share of the loss was not sufficiently
great, and the interest therefore inadequate; but it will generally be
found that no share of the loss falls directly on the manager of the
works, and that the pecuniary consequences are so far diffused over
numerous partners as not to be felt, and that this is so particularly
in works or machinery belonging to joint-stock companies.
In Prussia, as well as Austria, deductions are required by the law to
be made from the wages of the men engaged in mining operations, which
deductions constitute a sick-fund for the support of the men during
ordinary sickness. The following is a translation of the articles of
the Prussian code in respect to the responsibility now imposed on the
owners for accidents to the workpeople in Prussia as in Austria:—
Art. 214. “The proprietors of the mines are bound to take care of the
miners who are wounded or fall into bad health in their service.
Art. 215. “When the provincial laws do not contain any express
provisions thereon, the person who works the mine shall pay to the
sick or wounded workman four weeks’ wages if the produce of the mine
does not cover the expense of working, or if it be only just equal to
it, or if it be required to defray the antecedent expenses of the
mine; and when the mine produces a sufficient dividend, the workman
shall be paid eight weeks’ wages in case the illness lasts that length
of time.
Art. 216. “If the illness lasts a greater length of time, the miner
shall be supported out of the sick-fund.
Art. 217. “The expenses of medical treatment, and of burial of a miner
wounded or killed by accident, shall be defrayed from the same fund.
Art. 218. “The widow of a miner has also the right to claim the
gratuitous wages fixed by Article 215.
Art. 219. “The gratuitous wages granted to the miner in case of wounds
or death are not allowed if the miner has killed or wounded himself
with premeditation, or by any gross neglect, working otherwise than in
the mine.
Art. 220. “If the wound or death has been occasioned by malice or the
gross neglect of a third person, the latter shall indemnify the
sick-fund and the proprietors of the mine.”—E. C.]
26. _Extract from the Report of John L. Kennedy, Esq., Barrister at Law,
to the Commissioners for Inquiring into the Labour of Young Persons in
Mines and Manufactories._
In all the instances which I have met with of accidents occurring in
coal-mines, as I have repeatedly stated, negligence forms an almost
invariable element—negligence which is fairly assignable to one or other
of the parties concerned in this branch of industry: either negligence
on the part of the colliers, whether adults or children, in omitting
those means of safety which are within their own control, or negligence
on the part of the superintendent, or ultimately of the owners of the
mines, in not providing the _means_, or duly regulating those means of
safety, which are not within the discretion of any child or the control
of the individual workman.
The children who are below the age of discretion are of course not to be
deemed responsible for that which they have not to exercise; and
unfortunately in the present state of education of the adult colliers, a
large proportion of them are in the same category as children in respect
to the want of discretion; and hence arises the first difficulty of any
direct legislative interference for their protection.
Whatever detailed provisions might be laid down in any statute, or
directed by any public officer acting under the authority of any
statute, I can see no reason to believe that they would be adopted below
ground by such a population.
For example; the safety-lamp is provided by most, and directed by all
proprietors and underlookers to be used by the colliers; but, as we have
seen, they habitually set aside the protection thus provided for them,
though they do so under a penalty of maiming or death—and what more
severe penalty could any statute impose or enforce with greater
certainty? Education appears to me to be the slow and remote but
complete preventive of those calamities arising from indiscretion. The
efficiency of this remedy, the fact that ignorance and brutality are not
essential to mining occupations, will, I apprehend, be shown by the
comparative superiority of a better educated class of miners, namely,
the Cornish miners and the lead miners of Lead Hills, Lanarkshire, who
often, with less wages than the colliers of this district, attain a
superior condition and are comparatively free from the like instances of
indiscretion.
It will, however, be seen that there is a large class of accidents which
comes within the control of responsible agents, and which would scarcely
be within the control of the colliers, even if they had the discretion.
For example, the sufficiency of the winding-ropes, guiders and
side-rods, chairs, sliders, casing of the pit sides with brick and
mortar, covers over the tubs to prevent coal falling on those ascending
and descending in them, and the various other means of security in
superior pit gearing, which, having been adopted in some mines with
success, are demonstrably practicable, and no doubt ought to be used in
all other similar cases.
But these practical measures appear to me from their number to be
incapable of specification in any statute that could be discussed or
tolerated in Parliament, if it should take upon itself the direction of
mining operations, and they are apparently too numerous and important,
to be intrusted to the discretion of any public officer. Positive
regulations by statute or under legislative sanction would, I apprehend,
impede changes in machinery and in operations which are commonly
beneficial to the whole class of the workpeople. In whatsoever mode such
preventive regulations were prescribed, the enforcement of them would, I
apprehend, imply an inspection by a public officer; from the nature of
the places I should doubt the efficiency of such inspection. I doubt
whether inspectors could be found who would faithfully descend shafts
two or three times the depth of the height of St. Paul’s, and amidst wet
and damp and noxious gases crawl or allow themselves to be waggoned
through miles of dark drains and subterranean caverns, with the chance
of the roof falling on them or being burnt by explosion, _to see that
all was right_, and not act on the easy assumption that it was so.
I believe, in the course of my own performance of the disagreeable duty
assigned to me, I became tolerably familiar with such places; but I
could not but perceive that I might easily have been deceived, and was
always at the mercy of the colliers themselves for the completeness of
my information.