Industrial Decay
The Moral and Physical Conditions of the Working Class of Manchester made in 1832 by Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth, describes the life of the working class during the first Industrial Revolution in the city of Manchester. Through this pamphlet, he had given us a glimpse of the daily lives of the proletariats as well as their living environments. Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth provides numerous amounts of information on the working class during that time. Some of the main points that were made in his pamphlet are the concerns on the well being of the working class in their current conditions, their inabilities to support their families due to low amount of wages and the mistreatment of the working class. However, Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth was not mainly concerned about the working class, but the aftermath of the three factors instead. He feared that if these factors were not to be taken into action, the very society that he lives in might be destroyed.
During the early stages of industrialization, the working class lived in unsanitary and overcrowded dwellings while the factory owners moved out and lived in a much better environment. The workers lived in overcrowded houses, narrowed streets with little ventilation, unpaved occupied with motionless pools as well as diseases spreading around everywhere had made the people weak and unhealthy. Furthermore, not only on the streets, but in the houses of the workers share a similar situation. It was unclean, damaged, badly drained and so on. The people who lived there were starved, had bad clothing and thrifty. These were the conditions of men, women and child during industrialization. These conditions were all the same in districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 13 and 14. Throughout these districts inspections had taken place among over 500 streets. As a result of these cruel conditions for the working class, crime broke out. Thieves, prostitutes and criminals roamed the streets in those districts where laws cannot do any harm to them. (Kay-Shuttleworth, The Moral and Physical Conditions of the Working Class of Manchester). The lack of physical resources had made the working class steal food and other properties to survive. They were forced to steal or became prostitutes just to survive this horrible time. This was what Sir James feared the most; crime had broken out into the streets and had rendered the law useless towards the criminals. This abomination of crime had caused critical effects to the society of England itself. The awful circumstances that the working class was in had made crime rates rise up and eventually cripple England’s society if action was not taken.
In addition to the harsh conditions of the proletariats, their labor wages were extremely low causing the workers not being able to support their family. The workers had to work long hours, day in and day out without having decent resting time. Moreover, they were only given a small amount of time to eat breakfast and lunch. Their breakfast diet included bread, tea or coffee, and sometimes oatmeal porridge, while for lunch it was mainly potato and little pieces of meat. After filling up their appetites with malnutrition food, they were to resume work. The working class endured long and exhausting hours of work as well as eating malnutrition foods that caused their health to decay, physically and mentally. With the addition of pollution that came out from the factory’s chimney, the working class health reached its lowest point (Kay-Shuttleworth, The Moral and Physical Conditions of the Working Class of Manchester). The hard work of the proletariats did not pay off due to low labor wages. As a result, they did not have enough money to support their families (Brown, Industrial Manchester n the Nineteenth Century). Consequentially, women as well as the children in the family had no choice but to go and work in the factory. Another consequence that occurred was that the family members enacted crime to survive in this horrible time. Again, this was the same point was listed in The Moral and Physical Conditions of the Working Class of Manchester and one that Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth feared of happening. Overall, the consequences of working endlessly and receiving low wages means that the working class were being exploited by the factory owners and the aftermath of this caused crime rate increases. As a result, this made the England society decayed and it’s economics drop.
During the industrial age, the workers were mostly uneducated due to the little amount of spare time they had had, as a result, the educated ones (the factory owners) easily exploited the workers. Again, the working class worked long hours in the factories and were given a small amount of time for breaks. They did not have a lot of free time to do any other activities besides going to work. Due to that little period free from work, they did not have time to learn, especially the young ones since they had no choice but to go to work so that they can help support the family. Furthermore, during their working hours, the workers did not need to use their intellects. The actions that were required were dull and they need only to repeat their actions time and time again, while machinery did most of the work. In The Moral and Physical Conditions of the Working Class of Manchester, Sir James stated, “ The mind gathers neither stores not strength from constant extension and retraction of the same muscle. The intellects slumbers in supine inertness; but the grosser part of our nature attain a rank of development.” From this statement, we can derive that the brain of the working class does not develop or gain knowledge from the labor at all; the mind of the working class only weakens, while their bodies develop. Without knowledge and education provide to the working class, they were easily be persuaded and leading to the distrust of the artisans towards other classes. As a result from this, revolution can easily occurred and chaos raged on to the society.
In conclusion the three factors above, we can see how the working class was being exploited everyday by other social classes, especially factory owners. These actions had brought forth major consequences to England’s society such as revolution, crime and the downfall of the English economy. The act of living in unhygienic dwellings as well as the surroundings, the spread of diseases, the inability to support one’s family due to low wage payment, and the long and exhausting hours spent in the factories had made the proletariats easily be deceived others. Furthermore, they could enact crime, making the society as well as the community cripple piece by piece. In addition, the working class’s uneducated mind made them vulnerable to be deceived by those who seek this chance. Consequentially, led to protest and revolutions of the working class to attain freedom and better physical as well as moral health conditions.
Ultimately, these have had decay England’s society, but Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth saw the consequences of the factory owner’s action towards the working class and came upon with this pamphlet, The Moral and Physical Conditions of the Working Class of Manchester where he became a social reformer and changed the laws of the land which benefits the working class. He and other social reformers ban the employment of children under nine years old and limited the amount of time of work for the children by age (Brown, Industrial Manchester n the Nineteenth Century). These actions has led to the growth of the life conditions of the working class as well as the growth of the England’s economics as well as the spread of industrialization over the globe.
During the early stages of industrialization, the working class lived in unsanitary and overcrowded dwellings while the factory owners moved out and lived in a much better environment. The workers lived in overcrowded houses, narrowed streets with little ventilation, unpaved occupied with motionless pools as well as diseases spreading around everywhere had made the people weak and unhealthy. Furthermore, not only on the streets, but in the houses of the workers share a similar situation. It was unclean, damaged, badly drained and so on. The people who lived there were starved, had bad clothing and thrifty. These were the conditions of men, women and child during industrialization. These conditions were all the same in districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 13 and 14. Throughout these districts inspections had taken place among over 500 streets. As a result of these cruel conditions for the working class, crime broke out. Thieves, prostitutes and criminals roamed the streets in those districts where laws cannot do any harm to them. (Kay-Shuttleworth, The Moral and Physical Conditions of the Working Class of Manchester). The lack of physical resources had made the working class steal food and other properties to survive. They were forced to steal or became prostitutes just to survive this horrible time. This was what Sir James feared the most; crime had broken out into the streets and had rendered the law useless towards the criminals. This abomination of crime had caused critical effects to the society of England itself. The awful circumstances that the working class was in had made crime rates rise up and eventually cripple England’s society if action was not taken.
In addition to the harsh conditions of the proletariats, their labor wages were extremely low causing the workers not being able to support their family. The workers had to work long hours, day in and day out without having decent resting time. Moreover, they were only given a small amount of time to eat breakfast and lunch. Their breakfast diet included bread, tea or coffee, and sometimes oatmeal porridge, while for lunch it was mainly potato and little pieces of meat. After filling up their appetites with malnutrition food, they were to resume work. The working class endured long and exhausting hours of work as well as eating malnutrition foods that caused their health to decay, physically and mentally. With the addition of pollution that came out from the factory’s chimney, the working class health reached its lowest point (Kay-Shuttleworth, The Moral and Physical Conditions of the Working Class of Manchester). The hard work of the proletariats did not pay off due to low labor wages. As a result, they did not have enough money to support their families (Brown, Industrial Manchester n the Nineteenth Century). Consequentially, women as well as the children in the family had no choice but to go and work in the factory. Another consequence that occurred was that the family members enacted crime to survive in this horrible time. Again, this was the same point was listed in The Moral and Physical Conditions of the Working Class of Manchester and one that Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth feared of happening. Overall, the consequences of working endlessly and receiving low wages means that the working class were being exploited by the factory owners and the aftermath of this caused crime rate increases. As a result, this made the England society decayed and it’s economics drop.
During the industrial age, the workers were mostly uneducated due to the little amount of spare time they had had, as a result, the educated ones (the factory owners) easily exploited the workers. Again, the working class worked long hours in the factories and were given a small amount of time for breaks. They did not have a lot of free time to do any other activities besides going to work. Due to that little period free from work, they did not have time to learn, especially the young ones since they had no choice but to go to work so that they can help support the family. Furthermore, during their working hours, the workers did not need to use their intellects. The actions that were required were dull and they need only to repeat their actions time and time again, while machinery did most of the work. In The Moral and Physical Conditions of the Working Class of Manchester, Sir James stated, “ The mind gathers neither stores not strength from constant extension and retraction of the same muscle. The intellects slumbers in supine inertness; but the grosser part of our nature attain a rank of development.” From this statement, we can derive that the brain of the working class does not develop or gain knowledge from the labor at all; the mind of the working class only weakens, while their bodies develop. Without knowledge and education provide to the working class, they were easily be persuaded and leading to the distrust of the artisans towards other classes. As a result from this, revolution can easily occurred and chaos raged on to the society.
In conclusion the three factors above, we can see how the working class was being exploited everyday by other social classes, especially factory owners. These actions had brought forth major consequences to England’s society such as revolution, crime and the downfall of the English economy. The act of living in unhygienic dwellings as well as the surroundings, the spread of diseases, the inability to support one’s family due to low wage payment, and the long and exhausting hours spent in the factories had made the proletariats easily be deceived others. Furthermore, they could enact crime, making the society as well as the community cripple piece by piece. In addition, the working class’s uneducated mind made them vulnerable to be deceived by those who seek this chance. Consequentially, led to protest and revolutions of the working class to attain freedom and better physical as well as moral health conditions.
Ultimately, these have had decay England’s society, but Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth saw the consequences of the factory owner’s action towards the working class and came upon with this pamphlet, The Moral and Physical Conditions of the Working Class of Manchester where he became a social reformer and changed the laws of the land which benefits the working class. He and other social reformers ban the employment of children under nine years old and limited the amount of time of work for the children by age (Brown, Industrial Manchester n the Nineteenth Century). These actions has led to the growth of the life conditions of the working class as well as the growth of the England’s economics as well as the spread of industrialization over the globe.
Bibliography
Primary Source
Kay, James Phillips. The Moral and Physical Condition of the Working Class employed in the cotton manufacture in Manchester. London: Piccadilly, 1832.
Secondary Source
Bloy, Majie. "Biography." Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth (1804-1877). N.p., 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. http://www.historyhome.co.uk/people/kay-shut.htm
Brown, Robert. “Industrial Manchester in the Nineteenth Century.” The City in European History. Robert W. Brown. 13th April 2014. Web. 12th April 2014. <http://www2.uncp.edu/home/rwb/manchester_19c.html >
Brown, Robert. “Industrial Manchester in the Nineteenth Century.” The City in European History. Robert W. Brown. 13th April 2014. Web. 12th April 2014. <http://www2.uncp.edu/home/rwb/manchester_19c.html >
Annotated Bibliography on Primary Source
This primary source was written by Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth, a bourgeois in the 1832. The period where the First Industrial Revolution still occurring. This article of his was written in a pamphlet, stated in his article, an article about the life situations of the working classes in Manchester. This source like any other pamphlets were made for the public to read, because of its many advantages such as it is cheap, anyone can write on them, and literate people all reads this. It is written to illustrate how the conditions in Manchester are for the working class. In his article, he mentioned how taxation, living in an over-crowded house, how unhygienic it is for the working male, female and children to live in. Furthermore, he also describes the conditions of the various districts in Manchester. In the end of the article he givens and demands change to happen in Manchester, much like the primary source of Chadwick’s Report from the Poor Law Commissioners. This source illuminates how the working class was treated in terms of class status. For instance, while the rich people lived in a comfortable home, the poor or the working class without the distinction of gender or age, they were forced to live in a house occupied by enormous amount of people of both genders. Furthermore, how taxation has made the lives of the proletariat into deeper poverty. This source shows no distinction of race nor gender, they were all treated the same, but again due to their class status, they were treated differently from the other class.
Primary Source: The Moral and Physical Condition of the Working Classes of Manchester in 1832
The township of Manchester chiefly consists of dense masses of houses, inhabited by the population engaged in the great manufactories of the cotton trade. Some of the central divisions are occupied by warehouses and shops, and a few streets by the dwellings of some of the more wealthy inhabitants; but the opulent merchants chiefly reside in the country, and even the superior servants of their establishments inhabit the suburban townships. Manchester, properly so called, is chiefly inhabited by shopkeepers and the labouring classes. Those districts where the poor dwell are of very recent origin. The rapid growth of the cotton manufacture has attracted hither operatives from every part of the kingdom, and Ireland has poured forth the most destitute of her hordes to supply the constantly increasing demand for labour. This immigration has been, in one important respect, a serious evil. The Irish have taught the labouring classes of this country a pernicious lesson. The system of cottier farming, the demoralisation and barbarism of the people, and the general use of the potato as the chief article of food, have encouraged the growth of population in Ireland more rapidly than the available means of subsistence have been increased. Debased alike by ignorance and pauperism, they have discovered, with the savage, what is the minimum of the means of life, upon which existence may be prolonged. The paucity of the amount of means and comforts necessary for the mere support of life, is not known by a more civilised population, and this secret has been taught the labourers of this country by the Irish. As competition and the restrictions and burdens of trade diminished the profits of capital, and consequently reduced the price of labour, the contagious example of ignorance and a barbarous disregard of forethought and economy, exhibited by the Irish, spread. The colonisation of savage tribes has ever been attended with effects on civilisation as fatal as those which have marked the progress of the sand flood over the fertile plains of Egypt. Instructed in the fatal secret of subsisting on what is barely necessary to life, - yielding partly to necessity, and partly to example, - the labouring classes have ceased to entertain a laudable pride in furnishing their houses, and in multiplying the decent comforts which minister to happiness. What is superfluous to the mere exigencies of nature is too often expended at the tavern; and for the provision of old age and infirmity, they too frequently trust either to charity, to the support of their children, or to the protection of the poor laws.
When this example is considered in connection with the unremitted labour of the whole population engaged in the various branches of the cotton manufacture, our wonder will be less excited by their fatal demoralisation. Prolonged and exhausting labour, continued from day to day, and from year to year, is not calculated to develop the intellectual or moral faculties of man. The dull routine of a ceaseless drudgery, in which the same mechanical process is incessantly repeated, resembles the torment of Sisyphus - the toil, like the rock, recoils perpetually on the wearied operative. The mind gathers neither stores not strength from the constant extension and retraction of the same muscles. The intellect slumbers in supine inertness; but the grosser parts of our nature attain a rank development. To condemn man to such monotonous toil is, in some measure, to cultivate in him the habits of an animal. He becomes reckless. He disregards the distinguishing appetites and habits of his species. He neglects the comforts and delicacies of life. He lives in squalid wretchedness, on meagre food, and expends his superfluous gains in debauchery.
The population employed in the cotton factories rises at five o'clock in the morning, works in the mills from six till eight o'clock, and returns home for half and hour or forty minutes for breakfast. This meal generally consists of tea or coffee, with a little bread. Oatmeal porridge is sometimes, but of late rarely used, and chiefly by the men; but the stimulus of tea is preferred, and especially by the women. The tea is almost always of a bad, and sometimes of a deleterious quality; the infusion is weak, and little or no milk is added. The operatives return to the mills and workshops until twelve o'clock, when an hour is allowed for dinner. Amongst those who obtain the lower rates of wages this meal generally consists of boiled potatoes. The mess of potatoes is put into one large dish; melted lard and butter are poured upon them, and a few pieces of fried fat bacon are sometimes mingled with them, and but seldom a little meat. Those who obtain better wages, or families whose aggregate income is larger, add the greater proportion of animal food to this meal, at least three times in the week; but the quantity consumed by the labouring population is not great. The family sits round the table, and each rapidly appropriates his portion on a plate, or they all plunge their spoons into the dish, and with an animal eagerness satisfy the cravings of their appetite. At the expiration of the hour, they are all again employed in the workshops or mills, where they continue until seven o'clock or a later hour, when they generally again indulge in the use of tea, often mingled with spirits accompanied by a little bread. Oatmeal or potatoes are however taken by some a second time in the evening.
The comparatively innutritious qualities of these articles of diet are most evident. We are, however, by no means prepared to say that an individual living in a healthy atmosphere, and engaged in active employment in the open air, would not be able to continue protracted and severe labour, without any suffering, whilst nourished by this food. We should rather be disposed, on the contrary, to affirm, that any ill effects must necessarily be so much diminished, that, from the influence of habit, and the benefits derived from the constant inhalation of an uncontaminated atmosphere, during healthy exercise in agricultural pursuits, few if any evil results would ensue. But the population nourished on this aliment is crowded into one dense mass, in cottages separated by narrow, unpaved, and almost pestilential streets, in an atmosphere loaded with the smoke and exhalations of a large manufacturing city. The operatives are congregated in rooms and workshops during twelve hours in the day, in an enervating, heated atmosphere, which is frequently loaded with dust or filaments of cotton, or impure from constant respiration, or from other causes. They are engaged in an employment which absorbs their attention, and unremittingly employs their physical energies. They are drudges who watch the movements, and assist the operations, of a mighty material force, which toils with an energy ever unconscious of fatigue. The persevering labour of the operative must rival the mathematical precision, the incessant motion, and the exhaustless power of the machine.
Hence, besides the negative results - the abstraction of moral and intellectual stimuli - the absence of variety - banishment from the grateful air and the cheering influences of light, the physical energies are impaired by toil, and imperfect nutrition. The artisan too seldom possesses sufficient moral dignity or intellectual or organic strength to resist the seductions of appetite. His wife and children, subjected to the same process, have little power to cheer his remaining moments of leisure. Domestic economy is neglected, domestic comforts are too frequently unknown. A meal of coarse food is hastily prepared, and devoured with precipitation. Home has little other relation to him than that of shelter - few pleasures are there - it chiefly presents to him a scene of physical exhaustion, from which he is glad to escape. His house is ill furnished, uncleanly, often ill ventilated - perhaps damp; his food, from want of forethought and domestic economy, is meagre and innutritious; he generally becomes debilitated and hypochondriacal, and, unless supported by principle, falls the victim of dissipation. In all these respects, it is grateful to add, that those among the operatives of the mills, who are employed in the process of spinning, and especially of fine spinning (who receive a high rate of wages and who are elevated on account of their skill), are more attentive to their domestic arrangements, have better furnished houses, are consequently more regular in their habits , and more observant of their duties than those engaged in other branches of the manufacture.
In some districts of the town exist evils so remarkable as to require more minute description. A portion of low, swampy ground, liable to be frequently inundated, and to constant exhalation, is included between a high bank over which the Oxford Road passes, and a bend of the river Medlock, where its course is impeded by a weir. This unhealthy spot lies so low that the chimneys of its houses, some of them three stories high, are little above the level of the road. About two hundred of these habitations are crowded together in an extremely narrow space, and they are chiefly inhabited by the lowest Irish. Many of these houses have also cellars, whose floor is scarcely elevated above the level of the water flowing in the Medlock. The soughs are destroyed, or out of repair; and these narrow abodes are in consequence always damp, and are frequently flooded to the depth of several inches, because the surface water can find no exit. This district has sometimes been the haunt of hordes of thieves and desperadoes who defied the law, and is always inhabited by a class resembling savages in their appetites and habits. It is surrounded on every side by some of the largest factories of the town, whose chimneys vomit forth dense clouds of smoke, which hang heavily over this insalubrious region.
Pauperism is everywhere accompanied with moral and physical degradation. Impressed with this opinion, we endeavoured to discover, from such facts as might be ascertained at the town's offices, how this calamitous law affected Manchester.
The operative population constitutes one of the most important elements of society, and when numerically considered, the magnitude of its interests and the extent of its power assume such vast proportions, that the folly which neglects them is allied to madness. If the higher classes are unwilling to diffuse intelligence among the lower, those exist who are ever ready to take advantage of their ignorance; if they will not seek their confidence, others will excite their distrust; if they will not endeavour to promote domestic comfort, virtue, and knowledge among them, their misery, vice, and prejudice will prove volcanic elements, by whose explosive violence the structure of society mat be destroyed. The principles developed in this Pamphlet, as they are connected with facts occurring within a limited sphere of observation, may be unwittingly supposed to have relation to that locality alone. The object of the author will, however, by grossly misunderstood, if it be conceived, that he is desirous of placing in invidious prominence defects which he may have observed in the social constitution of his own town. He believed the evils here depicted to be incident, in a much larger degree, to many other great cities, and the means of cure here indicated to be equally capable of application there. His object is simply to offer to the public an example of what he conceives to be too generally the state of the working classes, throughout the kingdom, and to illustrate by specific instances, evils everywhere requiring the immediate interference of legislative authority.
LINK to SOURCE: http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/p-health/mterkay.htm
When this example is considered in connection with the unremitted labour of the whole population engaged in the various branches of the cotton manufacture, our wonder will be less excited by their fatal demoralisation. Prolonged and exhausting labour, continued from day to day, and from year to year, is not calculated to develop the intellectual or moral faculties of man. The dull routine of a ceaseless drudgery, in which the same mechanical process is incessantly repeated, resembles the torment of Sisyphus - the toil, like the rock, recoils perpetually on the wearied operative. The mind gathers neither stores not strength from the constant extension and retraction of the same muscles. The intellect slumbers in supine inertness; but the grosser parts of our nature attain a rank development. To condemn man to such monotonous toil is, in some measure, to cultivate in him the habits of an animal. He becomes reckless. He disregards the distinguishing appetites and habits of his species. He neglects the comforts and delicacies of life. He lives in squalid wretchedness, on meagre food, and expends his superfluous gains in debauchery.
The population employed in the cotton factories rises at five o'clock in the morning, works in the mills from six till eight o'clock, and returns home for half and hour or forty minutes for breakfast. This meal generally consists of tea or coffee, with a little bread. Oatmeal porridge is sometimes, but of late rarely used, and chiefly by the men; but the stimulus of tea is preferred, and especially by the women. The tea is almost always of a bad, and sometimes of a deleterious quality; the infusion is weak, and little or no milk is added. The operatives return to the mills and workshops until twelve o'clock, when an hour is allowed for dinner. Amongst those who obtain the lower rates of wages this meal generally consists of boiled potatoes. The mess of potatoes is put into one large dish; melted lard and butter are poured upon them, and a few pieces of fried fat bacon are sometimes mingled with them, and but seldom a little meat. Those who obtain better wages, or families whose aggregate income is larger, add the greater proportion of animal food to this meal, at least three times in the week; but the quantity consumed by the labouring population is not great. The family sits round the table, and each rapidly appropriates his portion on a plate, or they all plunge their spoons into the dish, and with an animal eagerness satisfy the cravings of their appetite. At the expiration of the hour, they are all again employed in the workshops or mills, where they continue until seven o'clock or a later hour, when they generally again indulge in the use of tea, often mingled with spirits accompanied by a little bread. Oatmeal or potatoes are however taken by some a second time in the evening.
The comparatively innutritious qualities of these articles of diet are most evident. We are, however, by no means prepared to say that an individual living in a healthy atmosphere, and engaged in active employment in the open air, would not be able to continue protracted and severe labour, without any suffering, whilst nourished by this food. We should rather be disposed, on the contrary, to affirm, that any ill effects must necessarily be so much diminished, that, from the influence of habit, and the benefits derived from the constant inhalation of an uncontaminated atmosphere, during healthy exercise in agricultural pursuits, few if any evil results would ensue. But the population nourished on this aliment is crowded into one dense mass, in cottages separated by narrow, unpaved, and almost pestilential streets, in an atmosphere loaded with the smoke and exhalations of a large manufacturing city. The operatives are congregated in rooms and workshops during twelve hours in the day, in an enervating, heated atmosphere, which is frequently loaded with dust or filaments of cotton, or impure from constant respiration, or from other causes. They are engaged in an employment which absorbs their attention, and unremittingly employs their physical energies. They are drudges who watch the movements, and assist the operations, of a mighty material force, which toils with an energy ever unconscious of fatigue. The persevering labour of the operative must rival the mathematical precision, the incessant motion, and the exhaustless power of the machine.
Hence, besides the negative results - the abstraction of moral and intellectual stimuli - the absence of variety - banishment from the grateful air and the cheering influences of light, the physical energies are impaired by toil, and imperfect nutrition. The artisan too seldom possesses sufficient moral dignity or intellectual or organic strength to resist the seductions of appetite. His wife and children, subjected to the same process, have little power to cheer his remaining moments of leisure. Domestic economy is neglected, domestic comforts are too frequently unknown. A meal of coarse food is hastily prepared, and devoured with precipitation. Home has little other relation to him than that of shelter - few pleasures are there - it chiefly presents to him a scene of physical exhaustion, from which he is glad to escape. His house is ill furnished, uncleanly, often ill ventilated - perhaps damp; his food, from want of forethought and domestic economy, is meagre and innutritious; he generally becomes debilitated and hypochondriacal, and, unless supported by principle, falls the victim of dissipation. In all these respects, it is grateful to add, that those among the operatives of the mills, who are employed in the process of spinning, and especially of fine spinning (who receive a high rate of wages and who are elevated on account of their skill), are more attentive to their domestic arrangements, have better furnished houses, are consequently more regular in their habits , and more observant of their duties than those engaged in other branches of the manufacture.
In some districts of the town exist evils so remarkable as to require more minute description. A portion of low, swampy ground, liable to be frequently inundated, and to constant exhalation, is included between a high bank over which the Oxford Road passes, and a bend of the river Medlock, where its course is impeded by a weir. This unhealthy spot lies so low that the chimneys of its houses, some of them three stories high, are little above the level of the road. About two hundred of these habitations are crowded together in an extremely narrow space, and they are chiefly inhabited by the lowest Irish. Many of these houses have also cellars, whose floor is scarcely elevated above the level of the water flowing in the Medlock. The soughs are destroyed, or out of repair; and these narrow abodes are in consequence always damp, and are frequently flooded to the depth of several inches, because the surface water can find no exit. This district has sometimes been the haunt of hordes of thieves and desperadoes who defied the law, and is always inhabited by a class resembling savages in their appetites and habits. It is surrounded on every side by some of the largest factories of the town, whose chimneys vomit forth dense clouds of smoke, which hang heavily over this insalubrious region.
Pauperism is everywhere accompanied with moral and physical degradation. Impressed with this opinion, we endeavoured to discover, from such facts as might be ascertained at the town's offices, how this calamitous law affected Manchester.
The operative population constitutes one of the most important elements of society, and when numerically considered, the magnitude of its interests and the extent of its power assume such vast proportions, that the folly which neglects them is allied to madness. If the higher classes are unwilling to diffuse intelligence among the lower, those exist who are ever ready to take advantage of their ignorance; if they will not seek their confidence, others will excite their distrust; if they will not endeavour to promote domestic comfort, virtue, and knowledge among them, their misery, vice, and prejudice will prove volcanic elements, by whose explosive violence the structure of society mat be destroyed. The principles developed in this Pamphlet, as they are connected with facts occurring within a limited sphere of observation, may be unwittingly supposed to have relation to that locality alone. The object of the author will, however, by grossly misunderstood, if it be conceived, that he is desirous of placing in invidious prominence defects which he may have observed in the social constitution of his own town. He believed the evils here depicted to be incident, in a much larger degree, to many other great cities, and the means of cure here indicated to be equally capable of application there. His object is simply to offer to the public an example of what he conceives to be too generally the state of the working classes, throughout the kingdom, and to illustrate by specific instances, evils everywhere requiring the immediate interference of legislative authority.
LINK to SOURCE: http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/p-health/mterkay.htm
This video describes a brief summary of Industrial Revolution as well as sums up what the writing above arguing about the disadvantages that the working class receive during that period of time.