102 
CHAPTER VII. 
be employed except between 9 A.M. and 12-30 P.M. and again between 
1-30 p.M. and 5 p.M., and the manager of any factory in which children 
were discovered working outside those limits would be liable to prosecu- 
tion. We believe that a provision of this kind would prove as easy to 
enforce as any other that could be devised, for surprise visits to factories 
at hours lying outside those prescribed by the provincial Government 
would ordinarily be sufficient to ensure compliance with the law. 
Homework and Overtime. 
We further recommend that no child who had been employed 
full time in a factory should be allowed to work overtime or to take work 
home after factory hours. The criticism of unenforceability might be 
made against this latter requirement since it is possible for work to be 
taken away by the child ostensibly for a homeworking member of 
the family, and no control could be exercised on the child’s activities 
once he had left the factory premises. This criticism, however, has 
applied in the past with almost equal strength in other countries, and 
yet the very existence of such a clause, taken in conjunction with 
factory legislation, has ultimately proved to have an educative effect. 
There is no need to anticipate less good results in India. 
Pledging of Child Labour. 
Reference has been made to the existence in some of these factories 
of a system of mortgaging thelabour of children. The system is inde- 
fensible ; it is worse than the system of indentured labour, for the inden- 
tured labourer is, when he enters on the contract, a free agent while 
the child is not. The State would be justified in adopting strong measures 
to eradicate this evil. The giving of advances to secure the labour of 
shildren and the execution of bonds pledging such labour could both be 
made criminal offences. But, as there may be other questions of policy 
to be taken into account, we commend the proposal for examination 
by Government. In any case we recommend that a bond pledging 
the labour of any person under the age of 15 years, executed for 
or on account of the receipt of any consideration, should be void. 
This will not interfere with any honest system of apprenticeship, for 
in the cases where a bond is executed on behalf of an apprentice, any 
preliminary payment is made by and not to the parent or guardian of the 
apprentice. This recommendation is intended for application not merely 
to work in the factories mentioned in this chapter, but generally. Un- 
fortunately, there is evidence that similar abuses have occurred in 
connection with the employment of children in «ome of the Ahmedabad 
aotton mills. 
Weekly Holidays. 
We also recommend that in every factory of this kind there 
should be a weekly holiday. This is particularly necessary for 
children, but there is no reason why it should not apply to adults also, 
wind we recommend that all such factories should be entirely closed