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In
1802 Sir Robert Peel, father of the famous statesman, secured the passage of the
Health and Morals of Apprentices Act. This applied only to pauper apprentices in
cotton and woollen mills, limiting their hours to twelve a day, abolishing night
work, and making provisions for the cleanliness and health of the children. This
first act was thus partly an extension of the poor laws. The next act in 1819
was largely due to the efforts of Robert Owen and applied to all children in
cotton factories. Children under nine were not to be employed at all; from nine
to sixteen they were limited to twelve hours a day exclusive of meals. The next
important act was that of 1833, due largely to the efforts of Richard Oastler,
Michael Sadler, and Lord Shaftesbury. It applied to all textile mills and
continued the prohibition of work under the age of nine.' Children from nine to
thirteen were limited to a nine-hour day and were to receive part-time
schooling; young persons from thirteen to eighteen were limited to twelve hours.
Night work was prohibited in both cases. Above all, four full-time, factory
inspectors were appointed, thus remedying the fact that previous laws had often
not been enforced. In 1842 Shaftesbury secured the Coal Mines Regulation Act
which forbade the employment in mines of women or of children under ten. The
1840's were occupied with the famous 'ten hours' agitation in which John Fielden
played a prominent part. The result 'was the Ten Hours Act of 1847, which
limited the daily working-hours of women and young persons to ten. A further act
in 1850 restricted the times during which these ten hours could be chosen. By
this time the principle of laissez-faire had been abandoned, and henceforth
factory legislation is largely the consolidation and extension of principles
already recognised.
Important consolidating acts were passed in 1878, by Disraeli, and in 1901 and
1937. At the end of the nineteenth century acts were passed dealing with
occupational diseases, and in 1911 a weekly half-holiday for shop assistants was
prescribed. The Trade Boards Act of 1909 introduced the principle of regulating
wages in the 'sweated' industries, a principle considerably extended in 1918.
During the First World War (1917) agricultural wages were regulated, and
although the act was repealed in 1921, it was re-enacted in 1924.