en a period from a
half-hour to an hour was allowed for dinner, then the work began again
and continued till 7.30 or 8.30 in the evening. It was customary to
eat breakfast after reaching the mill, but this was done while
attending the machinery, there being no general stoppage for the
purpose. Some mills ran even longer hours, opening at 5 A.M. and not
closing till 9 P.M. In some exceptional cases the hours were only 12;
from 6 to 12 and from 1 to 7. The inducements to long hours were very
great. The profits were large, the demand for goods was constantly
growing, the introduction of gas made it possible to light the
factories, and the use of artificial power, either water or steam,
seemed to make the labor much less severe than when the power had been
provided by human muscles. Few or no holidays were regarded, except
Sunday, so that work went on in an unending strain of protracted,
exhausting labor, prolonged for much of the year far into the night.

To these long hours all the hands alike conformed, the children
commencing and stopping work at the same time as the grown men and
women. Moreover, the children often began work while extremely young.
There was a great deal of work in the factories which they could do
just as well, in some cases even better, than adults. They were
therefore commonly sent into the mills by their parents at about the
age of eight years, frequently at seven or even six. As has been
before stated, more than half of the employees in many factories were
below eighteen years, and of these a considerable number were mere
children. Thirdly, there were certain other evils of factory labor
that attracted attention and were considered by the reformers to be
remediable. Many accidents occurred because the moving machinery was
unprotected, the temperature in the cotton mills had to be kept high,
and ventilation and cleanliness were often entirely neglected. The
habit of keeping the machinery in motion while meals were being eaten
was a hardship, and in many ways the employees were practically at the
mercy of the proprietors of the factories so long as there was no form
of oversight or of united action to prevent harshness or unfairness.

In the discussions in Parliament and outside there were of course many
contradictory statements concerning the facts of the case, and much
denial of general and special charges. The advocates of factory laws
drew an extremely sombre picture of the evils of the factory