154 
CREFELD. 
The ordinary hours of labour in both groups of factories are in the town 
of Crefeld from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in summer, and from 8 a.m. to 8 pan. in winter, 
with two hours of intervals. On Saturdays work stops at 5'30 p.m. Work in 
the rural factories usually begins earlier—at 6'30 a.m. in summer and 7 or 7 30 
in winter. Night-work does not exist and overtime is rare. Employment is 
apt to be very irregular as the trade fluctuates greatly ; the velvet industry is 
usually busy in the summer months, and the stuff industry in the winter, but 
lately employment in the velvet branch has been much more steady through 
out the year. Such factories as were visited, both in the town and outside, 
seemed clean, light, and well maintained, and the sanitary arrangements were 
fairly good. The male and female weavers are mingled together in the work 
rooms. In velvet weaving the one-loom system is in force, whilst in stuff 
weaving the two-loom system is commonly employed, both for men and women. 
Another very important branch of the silk industry in Crefeld is dyeing. 
The following Table gives the number of factories and workmen employed in 
the town for the three years 1903-5 :— 
No. of 
Factories. 
36 
36 
37 
No. of 
Workmen. 
2,753 
2,659 
2,907 
Year. 
1903 
1904 
1905 
The hours of labour are 10 per day, usually from 7 a.m. to 6 30 p.m., with 
an interval from 12 noon to 1*30, and no other pauses. 
Other important branches of the industry are silk printing, which is a 
factory occupation, and the manufacture of silk neckties, which are made up by 
women working in their own homes for various manufacturers. 
Many of the silk stuff manufacturers employ domestic industry in various 
degrees, partly in Crefeld itself and partly outside. This is sometimes hand 
weaving, but for ribbons it is frequently mechanical weaving, and a short 
description of the small commune of Anrath, a few miles from Crefeld, may be 
added here. Anrath had formerly some 1,500 hand weavers (chiefly of velvets), 
and suffered greatly from the introduction of machinery and the factory system 
in the late eighties. Large numbers of able-bodied weavers had to be given 
poor-relief, and the efforts of the local authorities, both municipal and other, to 
devise occupations for the workmen were for long unsuccessful. Finally an 
attempt was made to establish silk-ribbon weaving with mechanical looms ; the 
municipality, with the aid of a loan from the Central Government, established 
in 1902 electric power works, and undertook to supply the power for the looms 
in the workers' own homes. The result has been a great revival ; the silk-ribbon 
weaving seems to be firmly established as a domestic industry, and the commune 
is again prospering, as was recently shown by the opening of a new town hall 
and an infirmary. The electric power costs to the worker 6s. a month per 
loom, and to prevent excessive hours of labour it is supplied only from 
7'30 a.m. to 12 noon, and from 1*30 to 8 p.m. The industry in the commune 
suffers, of course, from the fluctuations common to the industry as a whole, but 
otherwise there can be no doubt of the success of the experiment. In October, 
1906, there were 150 looms at work, owned by about 104 workmen 
Dr. Heinrich Brauns, as the result of his inquiries in 1905, estimated the cost 
of establishing a single loom, with the necessary equipment and accessories, at 
about £76 105. Ihe workman usually has the assistance only of members of 
his family—wife or children—even when he has more than one loom ; the 
employment of workers who are not of the family is very rare. The «ross 
earnings with one loom are normally about £65 a year ; in rare cases £70 may 
be reached, and very exceptionally, when the trade is unusually active, even £75. 
But the general rate is probably not above £65, and when allowance is made 
for interest on the expenditure incurred for the loom and the fitting up of the 
worXroom, for lighting and heating, rent, tools, and miscellaneous expenses, 
Dr. Brauns concludes that the normal net earnings do not exceed £41 to £45. 
The majority of the workmen are strongly and actively Homan Catholic, but 
nevertheless many of them vote Socialist, and a good number of Roman Catholics