Weavers' Amalgamation informed us that at the present time the sickness
returns of this Association are not tabulated according to ages,
but that such tables could be obtained from the local Unions and a
complete estimate made if the need be proved. One Weavers' Society,
the Nelson and District Weavers' Insurance Society, No. 1882, which is
outside the Amalgamation, does indeed tabulate its records according to
ages, but the total number of women and girls in this society reaches
only 5982, so that far-reaching conclusions cannot be drawn from its
experience. Unfortunately not all the members of the Trade Union are
in the Insurance section of their Society for the National Insurance
Benefit, but many belong to such Approved Societies as the Prudential,
the Blackburn Unity, etc., so that evidence from these sources cannot
be regarded as entirely conclusive. Nevertheless, were such data
available for purposes of comparison between one industry and another,
considerable evidence as to the particular effects of different
industries might be obtained.
During adolescence the plasticity of the human organism makes it
more easily affected by external factors. Chief among the external
influences which may disturb normal development are the attitudes,
postures, and movements which industrial work involves. If these are
cramped and constrained the healthy action of the heart and lungs
and their natural development may be retarded, while if excessive
muscular strain, such as that resulting from heavy lifting or prolonged
standing, is experienced, active injury to vital organs may be brought
about, and similarly these factors and the demands which excessive
fatigue due to long hours, etc., makes on the growing organism may
result in stunted growth and abnormal development. Information on
these lines can only be obtained by detailed anthropometric and medical
examination, and would have to be carried out on a large scale if the
datum is to be of any value. But the material so collected would be the
most reliable index of the effect of industry on health and physique,
and if comparison be made between industrially employed and unoccupied
girls by examination of different groups the final results would be
invaluable. Such an inquiry might be carried out by medical women and
anthropometric investigators in specific industries throughout the
country. The exact conditions of the work, number of hours worked,
etc., would have to be observed, and a record made of the history as
well as the present physical condition of each girl examined. If groups
of girls aged between 14 and 20 from different industries are thus
examined, comparison can be made by similar examination amongst girls
attending secondary schools. In districts like north-east Lancashire,
where the pupils of the secondary schools are drawn from the same class
and from the same type of home as the majority of the operatives, the
exact influence of industrial work will be more accurately gauged than
where the home environment differs in the two groups.
An inquiry based on methods such as these would be of vast national
importance. What is needed is exact scientific information available
for the guidance of those responsible for the organisation of
adolescent labour, and, more important still, as a basis for new
regulations controlling the extent and conditions of this labour.
TABLE I
Occupations of Girls in England and Wales, according to Census of 1911
00's omitted in Employed Columns
Key:
A: Employed.
B: Per cent.
+----------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| |14 years.|15 years.|16 years.|17 years.|18 years.|
| TRADES. +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| | A B | A B | A B | A B | A B |
+----------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|Manufacture-- | | | | | |
| Textiles | 312 9·1| 343 10·3| 352 10·4| 357 10·6| 356 10·5|
| Dress | 251 7·3| 383 11·5| 425 12·6| 414 12·3| 405 11·9|
| Other | 234 6·7| 328 9·7| 366 10·7| 381 11·2| 386 11·3|
| | | | | | |
|Domestic, Hotel and | | | | | |
|Restaurant Service-- | | | | | |
| Private Indoor and | | | | | |
| Other Domestic | 367 10·7| 598 17·8| 733 21·8| 810 24·1| 855 25·1|
| Hotel and Restaurant,| | | | | |
| etc., Service | 16 ·5| 35 1· | 57 1·7| 76 2·3| 93 2·7|
| Commercial | 89 2·6| 168 5· | 225 6·7| 257 7·7| 275 8·1|
| Other | 63 1·8| 78 2·3| 95 2·8| 125 3·7| 160 4·7|
+----------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|Total Occupied |1332 38·7|1933 57·6|2253 66·7|2420 71·9|2530 74·3|
+----------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|Total Unoccupied |2111 61·3|1424 42·4|1121 33·3| 946 28·1| 874 25·7|
+----------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|Total |3443 100 |3357 100 |3374 100 |3366 100 |3404 100 |
+----------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
[Extracted from _The Present Position of the Juvenile Labour Problem_,
by F. Keeling.]
TABLE II
Proportion per 1000 Girls engaged in Occupations in certain Districts,
England and Wales, 1911[15]
+------------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| | AGES. |
| +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| |14 Years.|15 Years.|16 Years.|17 Years.|18 Years.|
+------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|England and Wales | 387 | 576 | 668 | 719 | 743 |
| | | | | | |
|Lancashire | 651 | 751 | 801 | 826 | 837 |
| | | | | | |
|Blackburn | 841 | 905 | 925 | 931 | 934 |
|Burnley | 872 | 899 | 932 | 940 | 938 |
|Oldham | 843 | 890 | 910 | 926 | 923 |
|Preston | 784 | 887 | 906 | 930 | 916 |
|Rochdale | 853 | 904 | 910 | 932 | 932 |
| | | | | | |
|London | 365 | 625 | 737 | 795 | 820 |
| | | | | | |
|Birmingham | 643 | 812 | 867 | 890 | 894 |
|Bradford | 790 | 858 | 881 | 895 | 896 |
|Leeds | 673 | 768 | 815 | 831 | 835 |
|Sheffield | 435 | 595 | 660 | 699 | 714 |
+------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
_Printed by_ R. & R. Clark, Limited, _Edinburgh_.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Adolescence_, vol. i. 167.
[2] _Report on Physical Deterioration_, 1904, p. 123.
[3] _Health and Physique of School Children_, by Arthur Greenwood. P.
S. King, London, 1913, 1s. net.
[4] _Labour Gazette_, November 1917.
[5] See _The Present Position of the Juvenile Labour Problem_, by
Frederic Keeling, 1914, 2d.; compare the same author's _Child Labour in
the United Kingdom_, P. S. King, 1914.
[6] Starr, _The Adolescent Period_, p. 15.
[7] Tarbell, _New Ideals in Business_, p. 211.
[8] Starr, _The Adolescent Period_.
[9] _Inter-Departmental Committee on Physical Deterioration, Report_,
1904.
[10] A lap is a thick layer of cotton fibre wound on a roller in early
stage of preparation.
[11] See below, p. 33.
[12] Cf. the evidence of the British Mission on the output of munitions
in France in December 1915, who note the advantage to health accruing
from the long dinner hour, generally one and a half hours, and often
two hours. (Cd. 8187 of 1916, p. 7.)
[13] "Lancashire Women as Cotton-Piecers," _Englishwoman_, June 1914.
[14] Keeling, _op. cit._ p. 7.
[15] Census, Summary Tables, p. 242.
* * * * *
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
Minor punctuation errors repaired.
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_
Table I has had the the original headings "Employed." and "Per cent."
replaced with "A" and "B" to enable the table to fit within the
75-column limit of an ASCII etext.
Footnote 11 "See below, p. 33." refers to footnote 12.