ABSTRACT
On the following day I called upon Messrs. Brocklehurst, who are very extensive silk manufacturers, having several mills in this neighbourhood, which furnish employment to between 4000 and 5000 hands. By the kindness of these gentlemen, I was allowed to inspect their works; one of them kindly accompanying me through the different rooms of the establishment. By this means I got a full insight into the various branches of the manufacture of silk. In this way I have made many observations bearing upon the condition and comfort of the workpeople ; and, as far as I have hitherto seen, I am inclined to think that they are better off than are
those who labour in cotton factories. But as it is impossible to form a correct opinion from hearing only one side of the question, I shall withhold the remarks I may have to make on some things, until I have seen and conversed with the work-people after mill-hours, and have heard their own statement of the working of the factory system here* I may, however, say, that in consequence of the material being much more valuable than cotton, flax, or wool, the discipline in some respects appears to be of a more rigorous nature. As the work-people have it in their power to do much harm to the valuable property intrusted to their care, they require to be more narrowly watched. In the silk mills, there are regulations respecting their dress, general conduct, and behaviour, which in flax, cotton, and woollen factories are not so rigidly enforced. The females, generally, seem to be clean, modest-looking young women. I have not observed the looseness of carriage among females here, which is so conspicuous in the factory girls of Manchester and Leeds. When I was in the mill of Mr. Broderick, and conversing with that gentleman upon the general licentiousness of factory people, he observed, that it was not so bad in silk mills as in other factories; and to convince me of the fact, he requested his manager to go through the rooms, and ascertain how many females had had illegitimate children; and, to my surprise, he made his report that there was not one unmarried female who had ever had a child.
