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CHAPTER 1V, 
departments of the mills, as is frequently the case, it is most unlikely 
that they will be able to have their meals together. In the second place, 
supervision becomes extremely difficult and the Chief Inspector of 
Factories gave evidence of long series of infringements in these mills. 
It is stated that an appreciable number of the workers shown in the re- 
gisters have no existence in fact. N on-existent workers are credited with 
pay which is divided between the clerks, the jobbers and the men who do 
the extra work. The proportion of such “ dummies ” was estimated by 
competent witnesses at 74 or 10 per cent of the total. Where this is true, 
the daily hours are clearly being lengthened beyond the legal limit. 
This abuse reaches its height in the case of children and the certifying 
Surgeons agree that “the systems of shifts in multiple-shift jute mills 
afford every opportunity for employment beyond legal limits and in some 
mills children are actually working as many as 11 or 12 hours a day ”. 
It is only fair to add that the certifying surgeons report that the over- 
working of children also occurs in single-shift mills. But in such mills 
it appears to take the form of employment in more than one mill and we 
agree with the Bengal Government that “ the regulation of child labour 
is easier from the point of view of both the manager and the factory 
inspector > 
Some Effects of the System. 
The system increases the power and the illicit profits of the 
jobbers and it diminishes correspondingly the control over labour which 
the management can exercise. Thus the influence of the jobbers is in 
favour of its maintenance and this is partly responsible for the fact 
that many workers apparently prefer it. Moreover, it enables the 
operative who desires to work longer than the Act permits to do so. 
On the other hand, the operative who wishes a short working week can 
secure 1t, for a strict observance of the time-table at present means only 
44 hours’ work weekly against 55 hours in the single-shift mills. We 
believe that this constitutes a powerful attraction for many, and the 
extra day off which has generally been associated with the system has 
an obvious appeal. So far as wages and production are concerned, it is 
admitted that both are increased by the transition from multiple to single 
shift working. As even the supporters of the double-shift system admit 
that it is uneconomical, its continuance is a matter for some surprise. 
The explanation generally given is that the maintenance of g large reserve 
of labour makes it possible for the industry greatly to increase production 
without employing new workers or additional machinery. We do not 
believe that the reserve of labour is as large as the legitimate working of the 
system should produce, and in any case we regard these considerations as 
affording insufficient justification for its continuance, 
Conclusion regarding Overlapping Shifts. 
The proposal made by the Government of Bengal is that, in 
respect of shifts, local Governments should have power similar to that held 
by factory inspectors prior to 1922. Under the original Factories Act 
of 1911, textile mills could not work for more than 12 hours except on 
a system of shifts approved by the inspector. We consider that this