WORKING CONDITIONS IN FACTORIES. 
A3 
(by With a view to health and comfort, 
So far as health and comfort are concerned, we see no objection 
in principle to local Governments having power to prevent the starting 
of factory work in buildings which are defective in design from this 
point of view, e.g., buildings provided with inadequate means of ventila- 
tion, or insufficient protection against excessive heat. Employers, how- 
ever, are paying much more attention than formerly to sound principles 
of factory construction. Further, the submission of complete plans 
to local Governments and their examination by experts in respect of 
ventilation, comfort, etc., would ordinarily give rise to serious delay, 
and in some cases it would be difficult, even for experts, to say from plans 
whether a particular building would, in actual working, be detrimental 
to the health and comfort of the operatives employed in it. We think 
that, if an endeavour is made to bring the requirements of the Act to 
the notice of intending factory owners and to warn them that these will be 
enforced, this should ordinarily be sufficient for the purpose. We 
suggest, however, that where an employer is willing to submit his plans 
for examination from the point of view of health and comfort, the autho- 
tities concerned should be prepared to give advice and to accord approval 
where this is justified. 
III. WELFARE. 
Need for Greater Uniformity. 
In the course of our tours, we endeavoured to visit as many 
factories as possible, and we were impressed by the great contrasts which 
they presented. There are factories which would compare favourably 
in lay-out, cleanliness, atmosphere and general well-being with any 
factories in the world ; there are others in which the welfare of the workers 
is almost entirely neglected. Even within the same industry in a single 
centre, there are often marked contrasts; and the example shown by 
some émployers seems to have little effect on others. Fortunately for the 
majority of the operatives, the larger factories are, on the whole, better 
than the smaller ones, and there has been a marked general advance 
in recent years. This has been due, partly to a growing realisation by 
owners and managers of the importance of promoting the health and com- 
fort of their operatives, and partly to an increasing unwillingness on the 
part of the operatives to tolerate unpleasant conditions. Both these 
influences are bound to gain in strength, and it is want of knowledge 
rather than unwillingness which prevents some factory owners from 
introducing further improvements. What is now required is some method 
by which the more backward employer may be brought at least up to the 
general level which has already been surpassed by the more enlightened 
and progressive employers. We do not here contemplate the Inaugu- 
ration of any new principle but rather the consolidation and extension 
of the principle already underlying those clauses of the Factories Act 
which deal with the general health, safety and welfare of the operatives. 
Circumstances necessarily vary in different centres and different in- 
dustries, and it is expedient that. rather than overload an Act which is