CHAPTER XXI-THE LIFE OF THE I I 34. PEOPLE The Children in the Coal Mines SHALL now proceed to the statement I have undertaken respecting the condition of the working classes in our mines and collieries, and the measures requisite to ameliorate that condition. I am sorry to detain the House by reading documents; I shall often have occasion to trespass on their patience; but the subject demands it. I think that the points I wish to establish should be made out by statements and evidence, rather than by any attempts at declamation. In the first place, I shall present the House with the result of the evidence respecting the age and sex of persons employed in the mines and collieries. The extent to which the employment of females prevails varies very much in different districts in some parts of the country none but males are employed, in other places a great number of females. With respect to the age at In years, which children are worked in mines and collieries in South mission of inquiry into the conditions of labour in the mines. The first report was issued in May, 1842. The state of it revealed aroused general in- the same; in Lancashire and Cheshire, from 5 to 6. Near Oldham children are worked as low "as 4 years old, and in the small collieries towards the hills some are so young they are brought to work in their bed-gowns." In Cumberland, many at 7; in South Durham, as early as 5 years of age, and by no means uncommonly at 6. In reference to this I may quote a remark of Dr. Mitchell, one of the Comthings which missioners; he says, "Though the very young children are not many in proportion, there are still such a number as is painful to contemplate, and which the great coal-owners will perhaps now learn for the first time, and I feel a firm belief that they will do so with sorrow and regret." Now, in justice to the great coal-owners of the North, I must say, that if they had been the only parties with whom we had to deal, the necessity for this Bill would perhaps not have existed: they have exhibited, in many respects, care and kindness towards their people. Many children, the Report goes on to state, are employed in North Durham and Northumberland at 5, and between 5 and 6: "The instances in which children begin to work at 7, and between 7 and 8, are so numerous, that it would be tedious to recite them." In the east of Scotland it is more common for children to begin work at 5 and 6 than in any part of England. In the west of Scotland children are taken down into the pits at a very early age, often when 8 years old, and even earlier. In North Wales the cases are rare of children being employed at 5 or 6 — they are very common at 7. In South Wales more cases are recorded of the conditions of employment of children in the pits at very early ages than clude women and children from the difficulty. It was followed by other measures completely revolutioniz ing the labour in England. in any other district. It is not unusual to take them into the pits at 4 years. Many are absolutely carried to the work. In South Gloucestershire cases are recorded of children employed at 6 years, the general age is about 9. In North Somersetshire many begin to work between 6 and 7. In the south of Ireland no children at all are employed. All the underground work, which in the coal-mines of England, Scotland, and Wales, is done by young children, appears in Ireland to be done by young persons between the ages of 13 and 18. Now, with respect to sex, the Report states that in South Staffordshire no females are employed in underground work, nor in North Staffordshire. In Shropshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, and Derbyshire, the same. In the West Riding of Yorkshire the practice of employing females underground is universal. About Halifax and the neighbourhood girls from 5 years old and upwards regularly perform the same work as boys. At Bradford and Leeds, far from uncommon. In Lancashire and Cheshire it is the general custom for girls and women to be employed. In North Lancashire, throughout the whole of the district, girls and women are regularly employed underground. In Cumberland there are none, excepting in one old colliery, nor in Durham, nor in Northumberland. In the east of Scotland the employment of females is general, but in the west of Scotland extremely rare. In North Wales, some on the surface, none underground. In South Wales it is not uncommon. In Gloucestershire and Somersetshire there are none. In none of the collieries in the coal-fields of Ireland was a single instance found of a female child, nor a female of any age, being employed in any kind of work. I must observe that, with respect to that country, neither children of tender years nor females are employed in underground operations. I have often, Sir, admired the generosity and warm-heartedness of the Irish people; and I must say, that if this is to be taken as a specimen of their barbarism, I would not exchange it for all the refinement and polish of most civilized nations of the globe. The next point to which I desire to call the attention of the House is the character of the localities to which these young creatures are consigned. . . . ... "While efficient ventilation," the Report adds, "is neglected, less attention is paid to drainage. . . . Some pits are dry and comfortable. . . . Many are so wet that the people have to work all day over their shoes in water, at the same time that the water is constantly dripping from the roof in other pits, instead of dripping, it constantly rains, as they term it, so that in a short time after they commence the labour of the day their clothes are drenched; and in this state, their feet also in water, they work all day. The children especially (and in general the younger the age the more painfully this unfavourable state of the place of work is felt) complain bitterly of this." It must be borne in mind that it is in this district [Derbyshire] that the regular hours of a full day's labour are 14, and occasionally 16; and the children have to walk a mile or two at night without changing their clothes. In the West Riding of Yorkshire it appears that there are very few collieries with thin seams where the main roadways exceed a yard in height, and in some they do not exceed 26 or 28 inches: nay, in some the height is as little even as 22 inches; so that in such places the youngest child cannot work without the most constrained posture. The ventilation, besides, in general is very bad, and the drainage worse. In Oldham the mountain-seams are wrought in a very rude manner. There is very insufficient drainage. The ways are so low that only little boys can work in them, which they do naked, and often in mud and water, dragging sledge-tubs by the girdle and chain. In North Lancashire, "the drainage is often extremely bad: a pit of not above 20 inches seam," says a witness, "had a foot of water in it, so that he could hardly keep his head out of water." . . The evidence, as given by the young people and the old colliers themselves, of their sufferings, is absolutely piteous. In North Wales, in many of the mines, the roads are low and narrow, the air foul, the places of work dusty, dark, and damp, and the ventilation most imperfect. In South Wales, in many pits, the ventilation is grossly neglected, and the report complains of the quantity of carbonic acid gas, which produces the most injurious effects, though not actually bad enough to prevent the people from working. So long as a candle will burn, the labour is continued. . Sir, the next subject to which I shall request your attention is the nature of the employment in these localities. Now, it appears that the practice prevails to a lamentable extent of making young persons and children of a tender age draw loads by means of the girdle and chain. This practice prevails generally in Shropshire, in Derbyshire, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in Lancashire, in Cheshire, in the east of Scotland, in North and South Wales, and in South Gloucestershire. The child, it appears, has a girdle bound round its waist, to which is attached a chain, which passes under the legs, and is attached to the cart. The child is obliged to pass on all fours, and the chain passes under what, therefore, in that posture, might be called the hind legs; and thus they have to pass through avenues not so good as a common sewer, quite as wet, and oftentimes more contracted. This kind of labour they have to continue during several hours, in a temperature described as perfectly intolerable. . Now, Sir, it appears that they drag these heavy weights some 12,000 yards, some 14,000, and some 16,000 yards daily. "In the east of Scotland," says the commissioner, "the persons employed in coal-bearing are almost always girls and women. They carry coal on their back on unrailed roads, with burdens varying from 3 cwt. to 3 cwt., - a cruel slaving," says the sub-commissioner, "revolting to humanity. I found a little girl," says he, "only 6 years old, carrying half a cwt., and making regularly 14 long journeys a-day. With a burden varying from I cwt. to 1 cwt., the height ascended and the distance along the |