Future Village

7/28/2019 Future Village

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1888 513

THE INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE OFTHE FUTURE.

T H E two sis ter ar ts of A gric ul tu re an d I n d u st ry were no t a lways soes t ran ged f rom one ano ther a s th ey a re now. T here was a t im e , andth a t t im e is no t far off, when bo th were tho ro ug hly com bined : th ev i l lages were th en th e sea t s of a va r ie ty of indu s t r i e s , and th e a r t i sansin the c i t i e s d id no t abandon agr icu l tu re ; many towns were no th ingelse b u t indu st r ia l v i l lages. I f th e mediaeval c i ty was th e cradle of tho seindus t r i e s which f r inged a r t and were in tended to supply the wa nts ofth e r ich er c lasses , s t i l l i t was th e rur a l m anu factu re which suppl iedth e wan ts of th e mi l l ion ; so i t does u n t i l th e prese n t day in Russ ia .B u t t h e n c a me t h e w a t e r -m o t o r s , s t e a m , t h e de ve l opm e n t ofm ach ine ry , and the y broke th e l ink which former ly connec ted thefa rm wi th th e workshop . Fac tor ies g rew u p , and th ey aband oned th ef ie lds . T hey ga the r ed wh ere t h e sa le o f th e i r p rod uce was eas iest ,o r th e raw m ate r i a l s an d fuel could be ob ta ined wi th th e grea tes tad van tage . New c i t i e s rose , and th e o ld ones en la rged wi th an a s ton i sh in g ra p id i ty ; the fie lds were dese r ted . M i l lions of l aboure rs ,com pel led to leave the i r cot ta ge s, ga the red in th e c i t ies in search oflabour , and soon forgot th e bon ds which former ly a t t ac hed th em toth e soi l. A nd we , in our ad m ira t io n of th e prodigies achiev edun de r the new fac tory sys tem, over looked th e adv antag es of th e o ldsystem under which the t i l le r of the soi l was an indust r ia l worker a tth e same t im e . W e doomed to d i sappearance a l l those branches ofind us t ry w hich former ly used to prosper in th e v i l l a ge s ; we condem ned in indus t ry a l l th a t was no t a big fac tory.

T rue , th e resu l t s were gran d as reg ard s th e inc rease of th e produc t ive powers of m an . B ut th ey proved t e r r ib le a s rega rds th emi l l ions of human be ings who wTere p l un ge d i n t o a n unp re c e d e n t e d ,unh eard-o f m ise ry in our c i t i e s . T he sys tem , as a wh ole , b ro ug htabo ut tho se qu i t e abnorm al cond i t ions which I have endeav ouredto expose in two prece din g ar t ic les . 1 W e are th us dr iven in to ac o rn e r ; a nd w h i le a t ho roug h c ha ng e i n t he p re s e n t r e l a ti onsbe tw een l abour and cap i t a l i s beco m ing an im per iou s necess i ty ,a tho ro ug h rem ode l l ing of th e whole of our i ndus t r i a l o rga n i sa t i on ha s a lso be c ome una vo i da b l e . T he i ndu s t r i a l na t i ons a r e

1 Nineteenth Century, April and June, 1888.V O L . X X I V . N O . 140 . N N


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514 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Oct.bound to revert to agric ulture , they are compelled to f ind outth e best means of combining i t with ind ustry , and th ey m ustdo so w ithou t loss of tim e. T o ex am ine th e special question as toth e po ssibility of such a com bination is th e aim of th e followingpa ge s. Is i t possible, from a tech nica l poi nt of view ? Is it desirable ?Are th er e, in our pre sen t ind ustrial life, such features as m ig ht leadus to presu m e th at a chan ge in th e above direction would find th enecessary elements for its accomplishment ?Such are the questionswhich rise before th e m ind. And to answer the m , the re is , Isuppose, no be tter mean s than to s tudy th at imm ense, b ut overlooked and underrated, branch of industries which are described underth e names of rural industr ies, domestic trades , and p etty tra de s: tostudy th em , no t in th e works of th e economists who are too m uchinclined to consider th em as obsolete types of i nd ustr y, bu t in th eirlife itself, in their s truggles , their fai lures and achievements .Most of the petty trades, we must admit, are in a very precariouscondition. T he wages of th e workers are very low and th e employm en t unc ert ain ; th e day of labour is by two, th re e, or four hours longe rtha n in th e facto ries; th e crises are frequent, and th ey last for year s.And each tim e a crisis ravages some branc h of th e p et ty trades , th er eis no lack of writers to predic t th e speedy disappearance of the tra de .D urin g th e crisis which I witnessed in 1877 amidst the Swiss watchm ake rs, th e impossibility of a recovery of th e tra de in t he face of t h ecom petition of m achine -ma de watches was a cu rren t topic in th e press.T he same was said in 1882 with regard to th e silk-trade of Ly ons,an d, in fact, whereve r a crisis has broke n out in t he pe tty tr ad es.And y et , n otwithstand ing the gloomy predict ions , and th e s t i llgloomier prospects of the workers, that form of industry does not disapp ear. N ay , we find it endowed with an astonish ing vita lity. I tundergoes various modifications, it adapts itself to new conditions, itstruggles without altogether losing hope of [ better t imes to come.Anyhow, it has no t th e characteristics of a decaying ins titut ion . Insome industr ies the big factory is undoubtedly victorious; but thereare other branches in w hich th e pe tty trade s hold their own position.E ven in th e te xtile ind ustries which offer so ma ny advantage s for t h efactory system, th e hand-loom still competes with th e power-loom.As a whole, th e transformation of th e pe tty trades into gre at indu striesgoes on with a slowness which cannot fail to astonish even those whoare convinced of its necessity. N ay, sometimes we m ay even see th erev erse m ov em ent going on occasionally, of course, and only for ati m e . I cannot forget my am azem ent when I saw at Verviers, somete n years ago, tha t most of th e woollen cloth factories imm ensebarracks facing th e streets, with more th an a hun dred w indows eachwere silent, and their costly machinery was rusting, while cloth waswoven in ha nd-loom s in t h e wea vers' houses, for th e owners of those verysame factories. H ere we hav e, of course, bu t a tem pora ry fact, fully


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1888 THE INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE OF THE FUTURE. 51 5exp la ined by th e spasmodic charac te r of the t rade and the heavy lossessus ta ined b y th e owners of the fac tori es wh en they canno t ru n the i rmi l l s a l l th e yea r rou nd . B ut i t i l lus t ra tes t h e obs tac les which th et ransform at ion has to com ply wi th . As to th e s ilk t rad e , i t con t inuesto spread over E urop e in i t s ru ra l ind us t ry sh ap e ; whi le hu nd reds ofnew pe t ty t rad es appear every yea r , and when th ey f ind nobody toca r ry th em on in th e v i l l agesas i s t h e case in th i s co un t ry the yshel ter themselves in the suburbs of the c i t ies , as we now learnf rom t h e i nqu i ry i n t o t h e 'S w e a t i ng S ys t e m . '

Now th e adv antag es offered by a big fac tory in com parison w i thhan d-w ork are se lf -evident as reg ard s th e econom y of labou r , t h efaci l i t ies bo th for sale an d for hav in g th e raw pro du ce at a lowerpr ice , and so on . H ow can we th en expla in th e pe rs i s t ence of th epe t ty t rader s ? M any causes , m ost o f which canno t be va lued inshi l l ings and pe nc e , are a t work in favour of th e p et ty t rad es, andth es e causes wi l l be bes t seen f rom th e following i l lust ra t ion s. Im us t say , howev er , th a t even a br ie f ske tch of th e count less indus t r ies which are carr ied on on a sm al l scale in this co un try, and ont h e C on t ine nt , would be far beyo nd th e scope of a review ar t ic le .W h en I beg an to s tu dy th e subjec t some seven or e ig ht years ago, Inever guesse d , from th e l i t t l e a t t e n t io n devoted to i t by th e or thodoxeconom is t s , wh a t a wide , complex , im po r tan t , and in te re s t in g orga ni sat ion would ap pe ar at th e en d of a closer in qu iry . So I see m yse lfcom pel led to g ive he re only a few typ ica l i l lust ra t i on s, and to prep area separa te work which wi l l embody the bulk of the mater ia ls whichI have ga the red in connec t ion wi th the sub jec t .

As far as I know , th er e are in this co un try no s ta t i s t ic s as tot h e e xa c t nu m be r s of w orke rs e n ga ge d i n t h e dom e s t ic t r a de s , t h eru ra l i ndus t r i e s , a nd t h e pe t t y t r a de s . T he w ho le sub je c t ha snev er rece ived th e a t t e n t io n bes towed upo n i t in G erm any , andespecia l ly in Russia . And y et we can gue ss th a t even in th is

cou nt ry of g rea t indu s t r i e s , th e num ber s of those who ea rn the i rl ive l ihood in th e pe t ty t rad es m ost prob ably equ als , i f i t does n otsurpass , th e n u m b er s of those employed in t he b ig factori es.2 W eknow, a t any ra te , th a t th e suburbs of Lo nd on, Glasgow, and o th e rgr ea t c i ti e s sw arm wi th sm al l workshops , and the re a re reg ionswh ere th e dom est ic indu st r ies are as developed as th ey a re inSw itzer land or in Ge rm an y. Sheffield i s a wel l -know n exam ple

in po in t . T he Sheff ie ld cu t l e ry one of th e g lor ies of E ng lan dis not ma de by m ach inery : i t i s chie fly ma de by ha nd . T he rear e a t Sheff ie ld a few f irms which m an ufa ctu re cut le ry r i g h t

2 W e find it stated in various economical works th at there are nearly 1,000,000workers employed in the big factories of E ngla nd alone, and 1,047,000 employed inth e pe tty trades the various trades connected with food (bakers , butchers , and soon), and the build ing trad es being included in th e la st figure. But I do not knowhow far these figures are reliable.N N 2


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516 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Oct .th ro ug h from the m ak in g of s tee l to the f inishing of tools , andemp loy wage workers ; and ye t even the se f irmsI am told by m yfriend , E . Carpente r , who k ind ly g a th e re d for m e informat ion ab out theSheffie ld t ra d e le t ou t some pa r t of th e work to th e ' s m a l l m asters . 'B ut by far the grea te s t nu m be r of th e cu t l e r s work in the i r hom es ,wi th the i r re la t iv es , or in smal l worksh ops supp l ied wi th whe el-power , which the y ren t for a few shi l l ing s a wee k. Im m en seyards are covered wi th bui ldings, which are subdivided into ser ies ofsm al l worksho ps. Some of th em cover only a few squ are ya rd s, an dthere I saw smiths hammering, a l l the day long, blades of knives ona s m all anv il , c lose by th e blaze of th ei r f ires ; occasionally t h e sm ithm ay have one he lp, or two. In t h e up pe r s tor ies scores of sm al lworkshops are suppl ied wi th wheel-power , and in each of them, three ,four , or f ive workers and a 'm a s te r ' fabr ica te , wi th th e occasional a idof a few pla in m ac hin es , eve ry des cript io n of tools : f iles, saws, bl ad esof kniv es, razors , and so on. G rin din g and gla z ing are don e inother smal l workshops, and even s tee l i s cast in a smal l foundry thew ork ing staff of wh ich consists only of f ive or six m en . W h e n walkin g th ro ug h the se worksho ps I easi ly im agin ed mysel f in a Russiancut ler y vi l lag e , l ike Pavlovo or Vo rsma . T he Sheffield cu t lery hasth us m ain ta ined i t s o lden organ i sa t ion , and t he fac t i s th e m orerem arka ble as th e ea rn ings of th e c u t l e r s a re ve ry low as a r u le ;b u t , even wh en redu ced to a few shi ll ings a week , th e cut l er prefersto ve ge ta te on his smal l earnin gs th an to go as a waged lab oure r in a'h o u se . ' T he sp i r i t of th e o ld t rad e orga ni sa t ions , which were som uc h spoke n of f ive-and-twenty yea rs ago , is th u s st i l l a l iv e.

Unt i l la te ly , Leeds and i t s environs were a lso the sea t of extensivedom est i c indu s t r i e s . W he n E dw . Ba ines wro te , in 185 7 , h i s f irstaccount of th e Yorks h i re indus t r i e s ( in T h . Ba ines 's Yorkshire, Pastand Present), m ost of th e wool len c loth wh ich was m ad e in th a tregion was woven by hand. 3 T w i ce a w e e k t he ha n d-m a de c l o thwas b rou gh t to th e Clo th ie rs ' H a l l , and by noon i t was so ld to th em erc ha nts , who ha d i t dressed in the i r fac tor ies . Join t -s to ck m i l lswere ru n by com bined c lothiers in order to prep are an d sp in th ewool, bu t i t was woven in th e han d-loo m s by th e c lothiers an d t h em em be r s of the i r famil ies . T welve years la ter th e hand -loom wassupe rseded to a g rea t ex ten t by the pow er- loom ; b u t th e c lo th ie rs ,who were anxious to main ta in the i r independence , re sor ted to apec ul iar organ isa t ion : th ey ren ted a room , or pa r t of a room , an dsomet imes a lso the power- looms in a workshop, and they worked inde p e nd e n t l y a c ha ra c te r i st ic o rga n i sa ti on pa r t l y ma i n t a i ne d un t i lnow, an d wel l in te nd ed to i l lus t ra te th e effor ts of th e p et ty t rad erst o ke e p t he i r g round , no t w i t h s t a nd i n g t h e c ompe t i t ion of t h e

3 Nearly one-half of the 43,000 operatives who were employed at that time in thewoollen tra de of thi s cou ntry were wea ving in h and-loom s. So also one-fifth of th e79,000 persons employed in the worsted trade.


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1888 THE INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE OF THE FUTURE. 5 1 7factory . And i t m us t be said th a t th e t r i um ph s of th e factorywe re too of ten achieved only by m ean s of th e m ost f raud ulen t adu l t e ra t io n and th e und erpa id l abour of t h e ch i ld ren . Co t ton-warp becam e qu i t e u sua l i n goods l abe l led 'pu re woo l, ' and ' s h o d d y ' i . e .wool com bed ou t of o ld rags ga the red al l over th e C on t ine nt andformer ly used only for b lankets fabr icated for the Indians in America be ca m e of ge ne ral us e . In th es e k in ds of goods th e factoriesexce l led . An d ye t the re are branc hes of the wool len t ra de w herehand-work i s s t i l l the ru le , especial ly in the fancy goods which cont inua l ly r equ i re new ada p ta t ions fo r t em pora ry dem and s . T hu s , i n1881 th e han d- looms of Le eds were p r e t t y wel l occup ied wi th th efabr icat ion of wool len im i tat io ns of sealsk ins .

T he var i e ty of dom es t i c i ndu s t r i es car r i ed on in the L ak e Di s t r i c ti s much g rea t e r t han migh t be expec ted , bu t t hey s t i l l wai t fo rcarefu l ex p lo rer s. I wi l l on ly m en t ion th e hoo p-m ake rs , t h e ba ske tt r ad e , t he charcoa l -burner s , t he bobb in -ma kers , t h e smal l i ron fu r naces working wi th charcoal a t Backbarrow, and so on .4 As a whole ,we do no t wel l know th e pe t ty t rade s of th i s co un t ry , and thereforewe som et imes come across qu i t e unex pec ted fac ts . Fe w co n t inen ta lwri ters on ind us t r ia l topics would gue ss , ind ee d, th a t nai l s are s t i l lm ade by han d by thou san ds o f m en , wom en , and ch i ld ren in t heBlack C oun t ry of So uth Staf fordshi re , as a lso in D erby shi re . 5 Chainsare a lso m ade by han d a t D ud ley an d C rad ley , and a l tho ug h th epress i s per iodical ly moved to speak of th e w retche d condi t ion of th ech a i n - mak e r s , t h e t r ad e s t i l l ma i n t a i n s itself; whi le near ly 7 ,000men are busy in thei r smal l workshops in making locks , even of thep la ines t descr ip t ion , a t W al sa l l, W olve rham pton , and W i l l enha l l .T he var ious i ronmon ger i es connec ted wi th h orse-c lo th ing bi t s , spurs ,br id le s , and so on are also largely m ad e by ha nd at W alsal l . N ay ,M r . Bev an t e l ls us th a t even need les a re l a rge ly m ade by hand a tR e d d i t c h .

T he B i rm ing ha m gu n and r if le t r ades a re wel l kno wn . As toth e var ious branc hes of dress , th er e are s t i ll im po r tan t d iv is ions ofth e U ni t e d K ing do m wh ere a var i e ty of domes t i c t r ade s connec tedw i th dress i s car r ied on on a large scale . I need only m en t ion t h eco t t age indus t r i es o f I r e l a nd and l ace m ade by han d in Sou th Devon ,as a lso in th e sh i res of B uc kin gh am , Oxford, and Be dfo rd; hosiery i sa common occupat ion in the v i l l ages o f t he coun t i es o f Not t inghamand Derby, and several great London f i rms send out c lo th to bem ade in the v i ll ages of Sussex and H am psh i re . W ool len hos i e ry i sa t ho m e in th e v i l lages of Le ices ter , and especial ly in S c ot la nd ;s t r aw-p la i t i ng and ha t -m ak ing in m any par t s o f t h e coun t ry ; wh i l ea t N or tha m pto n, Le ices ter , Ipswich , and Staf ford shoe -m aking i s awidely sp read dom est ic occu pat ion , or i s car r ied on in sm al l w ork sho ps;4 E . Roscoe 's no te s in the English Illustrated Mag azine, May 1884.

5 B e v a n ' s Guide to English Industries.


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5 1 8 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Oct .e ve n a t N orw i c h i t r e m a i ns a pe t t y t r a d e t o a g r e a t e x t e n t , n o t w i t h s ta nd ing th e comp et i t ion of th e fac tor ies .

T he pe t t y t r a de s a r e t h us a n i m po r t a n t f ac to r of i nd us t r i a l li fee ve n i n G re a t Br i t a i n , a l t hou gh m a ny of t h e m ha ve ga t he re d i n t o t hetow ns . B u t if we f ind in this co un try so m u ch less of ru ra l ind us t r ie st ha n on t h e Co n t i ne n t , w e m us t no t im a g i ne t h a t t h e i r d i sa ppe a ra nc eis due only to a ke en er com pet i t ion of th e fac tor ies . T he chiefcause i s th e com pulsory exodus f rom th e vi l lages an d th e acc um ul a t i o n of i mm e nse nu m be r s o f de s t i t u t e i n t h e c it ie s . T he w ork shops , m uc h m ore even th an th e fac tor ies, m ul t ip ly wh erever th eyf ind c hea p labo ur ; an d th e speci fic fea tu re of th is co un try i s , th a t th ec he a pe s t l a b our t ha t i s , t h e g r e a t e s t nu m be r of de s t i t u t e s i s foundin t h e g rea t c i t i e s . T he ag i t a t io n ra i sed (w i th no res u l t ) in connec t io n wi th ' t h e Dw el lings of th e Poo r , ' t h e ' Un em ploy ed , ' andthe ' Sweat ing System ' has ful ly disc losed tha t character is t ic fea tureof th e economica l l ife of E ng lan d and Sc ot l an d; and the pa in s tak ingresea rches m ade by M r . Bo oth and com m unica ted to th e S ta t i s t i ca lSoc ie ty have shown th a t one -qua r te r o f the pop ula t ion of Lo nd on t ha t i s , 1,000,000 out of 3 ,800 ,000 wou ld be hap py if th e hea ds ofth ei r famil ies could hav e regu lar earn ing s of less th an 1l. a week a l lth e yea r rou nd . H a l f of th em would be sat is fied w i th m uch l e ss th anth a t . Cheap l abour i s o ffe red in such qu ant i t i e s a t W hi te ch ap e l andSouthwark , a t Shawlands and o the r suburbs of the grea t c i t i e s , tha tthe pe t ty and domest i c t rades which a re sca t t e red on the Cont inen t inth e vi l lages, ga th er in th is cou ntry in th e c i t ies . E xac t f igures as tot h e sma l l i ndus t r i e s a r e w a n t i ng , bu t a s i mp l e w a lk t h rou gh t he sub urbsof London would do m uc h to rea l i se the va r ie ty of pe t ty t rade s w hichswarm in th e m et ropol i s , and , in fact , in a ll ch ie f u r ba n agg lom era t i ons . T he e v ide nc e g i ve n befo re t he 'S w e a t ing S y s t e m ' Com m i t te ehas shown how fa r th e furn i tu re and ready -m ade c lo th pa laces andt h e 'B o nh e u r de s D a m e s ' ba za ar s of London a r e m e re e xh i b i t ionsof sam ples , or m ar k et s for th e sa le of the pro duc e of th e sm al li ndu s t r i e s . T housa nd s of 'sweaters ,' some of th e m ha vin g th ei rown w orkshops , an d o th e rs m ere ly d i s t r ib u t in g work to su b-sw ea te rswho d i s t r ib u te i t aga in a m ids t th e d es t i tu tes , supp ly those pa lacesan d bazaars wi th goods mad e in the s lum s or in ve ry smal l wo rkshops .T h e c om m e rc e is c e n t ra l is e d i n t hose ba z a a r s not t h e i nd us t ry . T hefu rn i tu r e pa laces and bazaars a re th us m ere ly p lay ing th e pa r t whichth e feud al cast le formerly played in ag r icu l tur e : the y cen t ra l i se th ep ro f i t s not t he p roduc t i on .

In rea l i ty th e ex tens ion of th e pe t ty t rade s , s ide by s ide w i th th eb ig fac tor ies , i s no th in g to be won dered a t . T he absorp t ion of th esmal l indu s t r i e s i s a fac t, b u t th e re i s ano the r p rocess wh ich i sgo ing on par a l le l wi th th e former , and which consis ts in the co nt inu ous c rea tion of new ind us t r i e s , usua l ly m ak ing th e i r s t a r t on a sm al lsca le . E ach new fac tory ca l ls in to exis ten ce a nu m b er of sm al l


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1 8 8 8 THE INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE OF THE FUTURE. 5 1 9worksh ops , pa r t ly to supp ly i t s own need s and pa r t ly to sub m i t i t sprod uce to a fur the r t ransforma t ion . T hu s , to quo te b u t one in s tanc e , th e co t ton m i l l s hav e c rea ted an im m ens e de m an d for w oodenbobb ins and ree l s , and thousan ds of m en in th e Lak e Dis t r i c t se t tomanufac ture themby hand f i r s t , and l a te r on wi th the a id of somepla in m ach inery . Only qu i t e recen t ly , a f te r yea rs had been sp en t ini nve n t i ng a nd i mprov i ng t he m a c h i n e ry , t h e bobb i ns be ga n t o bem ad e on a larg e sca le in fac tor ies . An d even ye t , as th e mac hin esare very cost ly , a grea t quant i ty of bobbins are made in smal l workshops , wi th b u t l i t t l e a id f rom m achine s , whi le th e fac tor ies t h e m selves are re la t ive ly smal l , and se ldom employ more than f i f ty operat ives chief ly chi ldre n. As to th e ree ls of i r re gu lar sha pe, th ey ares t i l l made by hand , o r pa r t ly in smal l machines cont inua l ly inventedby th e workers . New indu s t r i e s th us grow to sup plan t th e o ld on es ;each of th em passes th ro ug h a pre l im ina ry s tage on a smal l sca lebefore reach ing th e fac tory s tag e ; and th e more ac t ive th e inv en t iv egenius of a na t ion is , the more i t has of these auxi l iary indust r ies .

Bes ides , th e factory s t im ula te s th e b i r th of new p e t ty t rad es bycrea t ing new wa nts . T he cheapness of co t tons and wool lens , of paperan d brass , have c rea ted hu nd red s of new smal l ind us t r i e s . Ourhou seholds a re full of th e i r p rodu ce m ost ly th ing s of q u i t e m od erninv ent io n . And whi le some of th em a l ready a re tu rn ed ou t by th emi l l ion in th e factory , a l l have passed th ro ug h th e smal l worksh ops tage be fore th e d em and was g re a t eno ugh to req ui re th e fac toryorga ni sa t ion . T he m ore we m ay have of new inve nt ion s , th e m oreshal l we hav e of such sm al l ind us t r ies ; and again , th e m ore we shal lhave of the m , th e mo re sha l l we have of the inven t ive ge n iu s , th ew ant of wh ich i s so ju s t l y com pla ined of by W . Ar m st ron g . W em u s t no t w onder , therefore , if we see so m an y sm al l t rad es in th isc o un t ry ; b u t w e m us t r e g re t t h a t t h e g re a t num be r ha ve a b a n doned the vi l lages in consequence of the bad condi t ions of landt e n u re , a nd t h a t t he y ha ve m i g ra t e d i n suc h nu m be r s t o t h e c it i e s ,t o t h e de t r i m e n t of a g r i c u l t u r e .

T he va r ie ty of pe t ty t rade s ca r r i ed on in F ra nc e , bo th in th evi l lages and th e c i t ies , i s very g rea t , and i t would be m ost ins t ru ct iv eto hav e a gene ra l descr ipt ion of tho se smal l ind us t r ies , and to showthe i r imp or tance in th e na t iona l economy. L e t m e only say th a tth e ve ry m ain ten anc e of th e smal l peasa n t p rop r ie torsh ip in severa lpa r t s of F ra nce i s du e , to a g re a t ex ten t , to th e add i t iona l incom eswhich m an y peasan t s de r ive f rom th e rura l m anu fac tu res . In fac t,i t i s es t im ated th a t whi le one-hal f of th e p op ula t io n of Fr an ce i sl iv in g upo n agr icu l tu re and one- four th pa r t upon in du s t ry , th i sfou r th pa r t i s equa l ly d i s t r ibu ted be tw een th e gre a t ind us t r y andth e p e t ty t rades , which th us g ive t h e m eans of ex i s tence to no l e sst h a n 1,500,000 wo rkers mo re tha n 4 ,000 ,000 pe rson s , fami li e s in c lude d . As to th e rura l folk who resor t to dom est i c t rade s w i tho ut


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5 2 0 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, Oct .a ba ndon i ng a g r i c u l t u r e , w e on l y c a n se e t ha t t he i r numbe r s a r e ve rycons ide rab le , w i thout knowing the exac t f igures .

T he mo s t c ha ra c t e r i s ti c f e a t u re of t h e F re n c h p e t t y t r a de s i s ,th a t the y s t i ll ho ld so im po r tan t a pos i t ion in th e t ex t i l e m anu fac t u r e s . T hus , i t w a s r e c kone d du r i ng t h e l a s t e xh i b i ti on (18 78) t h a tt he re w e re i n F ra nc e 3 28 ,000 h a nd- l oo ms , a s a ga i ns t 120 ,000 pow e r -looms, and a l th ou gh a gre a t num be r of th e former a re now s i l en t , s t il lt h e ha n d- l ooms a t w ork nu m be r m uc h more t h a n a qu a r t e r o f am i l l ion . I t i s no t m y in te n t io n to en te r he re in to a de ta i l ed desc r ipt ion of th e F re nc h p e t ty t rad es , and I wi ll m en t ion on ly four ch iefc e n t r e s T a ra re , t h e N o r t h , Lyon s , a nd P a r i s a s fou r d i ff e re n tand charac te r i s t i c type s of smal l ind us t r i e s . In th e m anu fac tu re ofm usl ins , T a ra re ho lds the same pos i t ion as Leeds former ly he ld in th ec lo th ie rs ' t r a de . I t s fac tor ies p re pare th e m ate r i a l s fo r weaving th em us l ins , an d th ey finish th e s tuffs wh ich are woven in th e vi l lage s.E ac h peasan t ' s hou se , each fa rm and metairie, a l l roundT ara re , a re so man y workshops , and E eyb aud says th a t you of tensee a lad of tw en ty who em bro iders f ine m usl in s af ter ha vi ngcleane d his s tables . T h e gre at va r ie ty of s tuffs woven an d th e cont inu ou s inven t ion of new des igns , too of ten cha nge d to be prof i tab lym a d e by m a c h i ne ry , a r e t he r e a l ke y t o t he ma i n t e n a nc e of t h a tru ra l m anu fac tu re . As to the re su l t s of i t s com bina t ion w i th agr i cu l tu re , a l l descr ip t ions ag ree in reco gn ising th a t i t i s benef ic ia l fort h e ma i n t e n a nc e o f a g r i c u l t u r e , a nd t h a t w i t hou t i t t he pe a sa n t rycould hardly resis t the depressing agencies which are a t work againstt h e m . T he same i s t r u e w i t h r e ga rd t o no r t he rn F ra nc e , w he re w ehav e wide ly spread m anu fac tures , s ide by s ide wi th such im po r tan tm a nu fa c t u r i ng c e n t r e s a s A m i e ns , L i l le , E ouba i x , E ou e n , a nd so on .E ven co t ton ve lve ts and p la in co t tons a re woven to a ve ry cons ide r ab le a m ou nt in th e v i l lages of th e N ord and N orm andy .6 I n t h eva l l ey of the Aude l l e , in the departement of th e E ur e , each v i l lagea nd ha m l e t a r e i ndu s t r i a l be e h i ve s , a nd e ve ryw he re a g r i c u l t u r e t h r i ve sbes t wh ere i t i s comb ined wi th in du s t ry . T he com par ison be tw eenth e weavers ' co t t ages in t h e cou nt ry and th e weavers ' s lums in th eind us t r ia l c i t ies i s s t r ik ing , and i t i s s t i l l m ore to th e ad va nta ge ofthe country i f the vi l lage keeps a communal fac tory, as i s the caseoc c as iona ll y i n N o rm a nd y . T he a t t a c hm e n t of t h e w e a ver s t o t h esoi l i s so s t ron g, th a t th e c lothiers of Elbeuf, w ho c a nno t ke e p e no ughl ive s tock to t i l l th e soil them selv es, resor t to a cu sto m wh ichI saw a lso in H au te -S avo ie , and no t i ced a t Cla i rvaux , n am ely ,th a t o f hav ing one hou seho lder in t he v i ll age who keep s th e necessa ryte am of hors es , and t i l l s th e soil for a l l th e oth ers , th e tu rn b ein galways k ep t w i th a scrupu lous eq ui ty , as i t i s a lso ke pt for th ethrash ing machine , o r , in wine-growing d i s t r i c t s , fo r the pressoir .

6 According to Baudrillart, 2,500,000l. worth of plain cottons were woven in 1880in the villages around Rouen.


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1888 THE INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE OF THE FUTURE. 5 2 1T he imp or tanc e of th e s i lk t ra de , fo r which L yo ns i s a cen t re ,

i s be st seen f rom th e fac t t h a t i t occupies no less th an ] 10,00 0 loom si n t h e departement of t h e E ho ne a nd se ve n ne i g hbo ur i ng departe-nients. G re a t advance ha s been m ade of l a t e a s regard s weavingth e most com pl ica ted des igns in th e pow er- loo m ; s tuff s fo rmer lyrep ute d unfeas ib le by m ach inery a re now m ade by th e i ron-worker .Y et s i lk-w eaving s t i ll rem ains chiefly a dom est ic t r ad e , and th efac tory pe ne t ra te s in to i t ve ry s lowly. T he nu m be r of power- loomsin th e Ly on s region was f rom 6,000 to 8,000 in 1865, and i t was expe c t e d t h a t t h e y w ou ld r a p i d ly m u l t i p l y ; bu t t w e n t y ye a rs l a t e r t he ynumbered on ly f rom 20 ,000 to 25 ,000 , ou t o f the 110 ,000 loomswh ich were a t work. T he s lowness of th e prog ress aston ishes eventho se ma nufac ture rs who a re pe rsu ade d th a t th e power- looms m us tsupplan t most o f the hand- looms. 7 T he organi sa t ion of th e t rad e s t i llremains the same as be foretha t i s , the Lyons weaver i s more of anar t i s t who executes in s i lk th e des igns vagu e ly sug ges ted by th em erch ant w hi le in th e sur ro un ding reg ion a ll k inds of s i lks , even toth e p la ine s t ones , a re woven in th e houses of th e workers . T he condi t ions of th e F r en ch s i lk -weavers have been m ost p reca rious du r in g th elas t few years , pa r t ly because F rance has no longer the monopoly ofth e t ra de , an d pa r t ly because of th e com pet i t ion of th e fac tory, whichnow m an ufa ctu res a l l chea p desc r ipt ions of s i lks wh ich form erlywere resor ted to even by th e bes t hand-w eavers wh en orders forh ig he r sor ts were no t fo r thcom ing . N ever th e less th e ha nd fabrica t ion of si lk spreads in F ra n ce ; i t has ex ten ded over th e ne igh bo ur in g departements as far as U pp er Savoy, and gon e over to Sw itzerl and ; a s to Ly ons , th e ind us t ry aband ons i t , and i t becom es m orean d mo re a m ere cen t re for th e best w eavers who are capab le ofpr om pt l y ex ecu t ing any order for new and com pl ica ted s tuffs wh ichmay be rece ived by the merchant s .

T h e new fac tor ies h ave bee n bu i l t chief ly in th e vi l lages, an d the rew e c a n se e how t he y ru i n t he pe a sa n t ry . T he F re nc h pe a sa n t s ,overb urden ed as th ey a re wi th t ax es an d m or tg age s , a re compel ledto seek an addi t iona l income in in d u s t ry ; th e i r l ads and l a sses a reth us ready to t ak e work in t h e s ilk or r ibbo n m an ufa c tur e , how everlow the sala r ie s . B ut the i r hom es be ing sca t te red in th e cou nt ry a tconsiderab le dis tances f rom th e fac tory, and th e ho urs of labour bein glon g, the y are m os t ly com pel led to s tay in bar rack s a t th e fac tory ,and to re tu rn hom e only on Sa tu rday . On M onday , a t sunr i se , a vani s sen t round the v i ll ages to br in g the m back to th e looms. In th i s

7 Out of the 110,000 looms, only from 15,000 to 18,000 hand-looms have remaineda t Ly ons, as ag ain st 25,000 to 28,000 in 1865. I am inde bte d for these figures to th ePre side nt of the L yons Chamber of Commerce, who kindly gave me, in a lette r d atedAp ril 25, 1885, all kinds of information abou t th e pe tty trades of the Lyons regionand to whom I am glad to express my full grat itud e, as also to the President of theCham ber of Commerce of St. E tien ne who supplied me with most inte restin g dataw ith rega rd to th e various trade s of the St. E tienn e region.


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522 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Oct.way they will soon have totally abandoned agriculture, and as soon asthey are com pelled to sett le separately from th eir pa ren ts th eywill find it impossible to live on th e pre sen t low w ages. T he n someof the factories depending on low wages will perish, and their operatives will be com pelled to m igr ate to th e cities. One easily sees allth e mischief which the vicious organ isation is th us doing in th evillages, instea d of being a source of well-being, as it ou gh t to beunder different conditions.

I ough t her e to men tion th e lace trade , which gives occupation tonearly 70,000 women in N orm andy , and to nearly 200,000 persons inFran ce al together ; the cut lery of the H aute -M arne , a t rade of recentorigin, which has reached a high degree of perfection, and now hasspread thoug h thir ty vil lages in th e neighbourhood of N o g e n t ; th ekn itt i ng trade about T royes, where 20,000 persons, usin g a varietyof small m achin es, are ma king kn itte d goods of every des crip tion ;th e well-known watch, jewelry, and tu rn in g trades of t h e J u r a ; andthe variety of petty tradessilk ribbons, ribbons with woven inscript ions , hardw are, arm s, and so on in the region of St. E tien ne .8But I economise my space, as I have to say a few words more aboutthe petty trades of Paris.T he capital of Fra nce is an emporium for petty trades anddomestic industries, and while it has a considerable number of greatfactories, th e small workshops prevail to such an ex ten t tha t th eaverage number of operatives in the nearly 65,000 factories and workshops of Par is is only ni ne . I n fact, ne arly five-sixths of th e Par iswo rkers are connected w ith the dom estic trad es, and th ey fabricateth e m ost astonishing variety of goods requ iring skil l, tas te, and inven tion. Most of the petty trades of Paris are connected with dress, 9 b u tjewelry, artificial flowers, stationery, bookbinding, morocco-leathergoods ( 500,000 l. every year) , carriage-making, basket-m aking,and many others, are very important branches, each of which isdistin gu ishe d by th e hig h perfection of its produ ce. I t is worthy ofnote that while the Paris industries are mostly characterised byartist ic w orkm anship, they are rem arkab le also for th e variety ofha nd y and inexpensive m achines which are invente d every year by

8 Out of th e 15,000 to 18,000 looms e nga ged in th e wea ving of ribbo ns at St.E tie nn e and its neighbourhoo d, no less tha n from 12,000 to 14,000 belong to th eworkers themselves. T he trad e was once prosperous, so th at most of th e houses inth e suburbs of St. E tien ne were built by the weavers, bu t for several years since itsprospec ts have been very gloomy. T he ma nufac ture of arm s occupies from 5,000 to6,000 worke rs. As to hardw are, it is fabricated in a great numb er of small workshopsall rou nd St. E tien ne, L e Chambon, Firm iny, Rive de Griers, an d so on. Of otherpe tty tra de s, some of which have a considerable impo rtance, let me me ntion t he silk-grow ing of th e Ardeche, the wire trad es of th e Doubs, th e clothiers a nd th e glove-makers of the Isere, the stay-makers, the broom and brush makers of the Oise (800,0002.every year), the button-makers, the shoe-makers of the Drome, and so on.9 T he ready-m ade cloth and m antle s alone are value d at 5,400,0002. every ye ar ;lad ies' stays are m ade to th e value of 400,000Z. at Par is, an d 2,000,000l. in Francealtogether.


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1888 THE INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE OF THE FUTURE. 523th e workm en, for th e purpose of facili tating prod uction. T he'G al er ie du T rav ai l ' of the E xhibi tion of 1878 was exceedingly instructive on th at account, as i t displayed in a thou sand varieties th einventive genius of the masses; and, when walking through it , oneasked oneself if all that genius really must be kil led by thefactory, instead of becoming a new fertile source of progress under abetter organisation of production.T he pe t ty trades and domest ic industries of Germany are p erhapsst il l more imp ortant tha n those of Fra nc e. Ninety-seven per cent ,of all th e indu strial establishm ents of Germ any employ less th anfive operatives, and m uch m ore th an one-half of th e 5,500,000persons connected w ith industr y are a t work in thos e small workshops ; while the re are, on th e w hole, less tha n 10,000 factoriesw hich employ m ore tha n fifty wo rkers. M oreover, 545,000 pers onsare engaged in domestic trades tha t is, th ey m anufacture for th etrad e in their own houses or rooms and two -thirds of th em belongto th e texti le indus tries. T here are whole regions, such as t heBlack Fo rest , parts of Saxony, Ba varia , Silesia, and th e E hi ne provinces, where the domestic trades, partly connected with agriculture,are th e chief m eans of existence for nu m erous pop ulation s. L et m eadd also tha t we have, in th e works of T hu n, E nge l, and m anyothers, excellent descriptions of several branches of the Grerman pettytrade s. I t would be impossible to exam ine here th e Grerman p et tyand dom estic trades w ithout en terin g into techn ical details, so letm e m erely m ention th at one of the m ost pro m inen t features of th eG erm an trades is, so to say, the ir rem arkab le plas ticity. T heprogress realised in some of themas, for instance, in the cutlery ofSolingen or th e toy trade of the Black Fo res t is strik ing. T heformer h as bee n totally reformed in order to respon d to th e newdemands of the market, and the latter has made a rapid start in theproduction of artistic and scientific toys, under the influence ofschools for m ode lling in clay and gen eral edu cation spread am idstth e workers. T he organisation of some of the se ind ustr ies (especiallyof th e kn itt in g trad e) offers m ost sug gestiv e illus tratio ns of successfulcombination in order to struggle against the big capitalists, andto adapt them selves to th e new conditions of production, am ongthousa nds of peasants who are spread over a very wide areafromSwitzerland to Saxony. B ut I m ust refrain from enter ing here intoth a t m ost inte res ting subject, as I hav e to add a few words ab outother countries.

In H ung ary no less than six per cent , of the popu lat ion that is ,801,600 persons are engaged in dom estic indus tries, the texti lesalone giving emp loyment to m ore tha n 680,000 workers. Switzerland , I ta ly , and even th e U nited St ate s, have also considerablydeveloped domestic ind us tries ; and the re are parts of Belgium ofwhich we m ay say w ith full safety th a t if ag ricu ltur e continu es to


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5 2 4 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. O c t .th r ive t he re , no twi th s tan din g so m any h os t i l e in f luences , i t i s chie flybecause th e peasan t s have th e poss ib i l ity of add ing to the i r incom esth e earn ing s in a var ie ty of ind us t r ies . B u t i t i s especia lly in Russiath a t we can fu lly apprec ia te th e imp or tanc e of th e rura l indu s t r i e s ,an d th e loss which th e cou ntry w ould susta in if th ey were to disappe ar .

T he mos t e xha us t ive i nqu i r ie s i n t o t h e p re se n t s t a t e , t hegrow th , th e t echnica l d eve lop me nt of the r ura l indu s t r i e s , and th ediff icul ties th ey have to con tend w i th , have be en m ad e in Russia .T he hous e - to-house inqui ry embraces nea r ly one mi l lion of pea san t s 'houses a l l over Russia ; and in the f i f teen volumes publ ished by theP e t t y T rades ' Co mm i t tee , and s t il l mo re in th e pu bl ica t ions of th eMoscow Sta t i s t ica l C om m it tee , and nea r ly a l l th e chief provincia lassembl ies , we f ind exhaust ive l i s t s giving the name of each worker ,th e ex te n t an d th e s tat e of his f ields, hi s l ive stock , th e valu e ofh i s agr ic u l tu ra l and indu s t r i a l p roduc t ions , h i s ea rn ing s f rom bothsources, and h i s yea rly b u d g e t ; whi le hun dred s of sep ara te t radeshave been descr ibed in separa te monographs f rom the technical , economical , and sani tary points of view.

T he resu l t s ob ta ined from th ese inqui r i e s a re rea l ly imp osing , asi t appears th a t ou t of th e 80 ,0 00 ,00 0 popu la t ion of E urop ean Russ iano l ess tha n 7 ,500 ,000 pe rsons a re engag ed in th e dom est ic t rad es ,and th a t the i r p roduc t ion reaches , a t the lowest e s t ima tes , more th an150,000 ,0002 ., and mo st p robably 200 ,000 ,0002 . (2 ,00 0 ,000 ,000roubles every yea r ) .1 0 I t th us equa ls th e to ta l p rodu c t ion of th egr ea t ind us t ry . As to th e re la t ive im po rtan ce of bo th for th e workin gclasses, suffice i t to say th a t even in t h e g o v er n m en t of Moscow ,which is the chief manufactur ing region of Russia ( i t s fac tor ies yie ldupw ards of one-f if th in value of th e ag gr eg ate ind us t r ia l pro du ct ionof E urop ean Russ ia ) , th e agg reg a te incomes de r ived by the popula t ion f rom th e domest i c indus t r i e s a re th re e t ime s l a rge r than th eagg rega te wages ea rned in th e fac tor i es . B u t th e mo st s t r ik ingfeature of th e Russian dome st ic t ra de s i s th a t t h e sud den s ta r t whichwas m ade of la te by th e fac tor ies in Ru ssia did no t pre judice th edom est i c ind us t r i e s . On th e co nt ra ry , i t gave a powerful imp ulseto the i r ex ten s io n ; the y grow and deve lop prec ise ly in thoseregions wh ere th e fac tor ies are grow ing u p fastest . An oth er m ostsugges t ive fea ture i s th e fo l lowing: a l thou gh th e mo st un fe r t i l eprovinces of Ce ntra l Russia have been from t im e imm em oria l th e sea t ofa l l k in ds of pe t ty t rad es, several dom est ic indus t r ies of m od ern or iginare deve loping in those prov inces which are bes t favoured by soi land c l im a te . T hu s , th e S tavropol go vern m ent of N or t h Caucasus ,

10 It appears from the house-to-house in quiry, which embodies 855,000 workers, tha tth e yearly value of th e produce which they use to ma nufa cture reaches 21,087,000l.( the rouble at 24d. ) , tha t is , an averag e of nearly 25l. pe r worker. An average of 20l. forthe 7,500,000 persons engaged in domestic industries would already give 150,000,000 l,for their aggregate production ; but the most authoritative investigators consider thatfigure as below the reality.


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1888 THE INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE OF THE FUTURE. 525wh ere th e peas an t ry have p len ty of fe r ti l e so il , has sudd enly becom eth e sea t of a widely developed s i lk-wea ving indu st r y in th e pe asa nts 'hou ses, and now i t suppl ies R ussia w i th che ap s i lks wh ich have com ple te ly expel led f rom th e m ar ke t th e pla in s i lks formerly im po rtedf rom F ra nc e .

T he capaci t ies of th e Russian do m est ic ind us t r ia l workers for coopera t ive organi sa t ion would be wor thy of m ore t h an a pass ingm ent io n . As to th e cheapness of th e produce m anufa c tured in th evi l lages, wh ich is rea l ly aston ish ing , i t can no t be ex pla in ed in full bythe exceedingly long hours of labour and the s tarvat ion wages, becauseoverwork ( twelve to s ixteen hours of labour) and very low wages arecha racte r is t ic of th e Russian fac tories as wel l . I t dep end s a lso up onth e c i rcumstance th a t th e pea san t who grows h i s own food , b u tsuffers from a co ns tan t w ant of m on ey , sel ls th e pro du ce of hisindu s t r i a l l abour a t any pr ice . T here fore , a l l m anu fac ture d wareused by the Russian peasantry, save a few pr inted cot tons, i s a produceof th e rura l m anu fac tures . B ut m any a r t i c le s of luxu ry , too , a rem ad e in th e vi l lages, especia lly arou nd Moscow, by pea san ts w hocon t inue to cu l t iva te the i r a l lo tm en ts . T he si lk ha t s which a re soldin th e bes t Moscow shops , and b ea r the s t am p of 'N ou ve au tesPar i s i enn es , ' a re m ade by th e Moscow peasan t s ; so a lso th e 'V i e n n a 'furn i tu r e of th e bes t ' V ie n n a ' shops , even i f i t goes to supply thepalaces. An d wh at i s m os t to be wo ndered a t i s no t th e skil l of th epeas an t s agr icu l tu ra l work i s no obs tac le to acqui r ing indu s t r i a l sk i ll b u t th e rapid i ty wi th wh ich th e fabr ica t ion of f ine goods has spreadin such vi llages as formerly m anu factu red only goods of th e ro ug he stdesc r ip t ion .

As to th e re la t ions be tween agr icu l tu re and ind us t ry , one canno tpe rus e t he doc um e n t s a c c um ul a t e d by t h e Russ i a n s t a t is t i c ia nsw i tho ut com ing to th e conc lus ion th a t , f ar f rom dam ag ing agr icu l tu re , th e dom est i c t rades , on th e con t ra ry , a re th e bes t m ean s forimp rovin g i t , and th i s th e m ore , a s for severa l m on ths every yea r th eRussian pea sa nt has no th in g to do in t h e f ie lds. T he re are regio nswhere agr icu l tu re has bee n to ta l ly aband oned for th e in du s t r i e s ; b u tthe se a re reg ions where i t was rend ered im poss ib le by th e ve ry smal la l lo tm ents an d th e pove r ty of th e pea san t s , who were ru in ed by h ig htaxa t ion and red em pt io n t axes . B u t a s soon as th e a l lo tm ents a rereasonable and the peasan t s a re l e ss over taxed they cont inue tocu l t iva te th e l a n d ; the i r fie lds a re ke p t in b e t t e r o rde r , and th eaverag e nu m bers of l ive s tock a re h i gh er wh ere agr icu l tu re goes onha nd i n ha n d w i th t h e dome s t i c t r a d e s . E ve n those pe a sa n t s w hosea l lo tm en ts a re smal l find the m ean s of ren t in g m ore l and if th eyearn some money f rom th e i r in du s t r i a l w ork . As to th e re la t ivewelfare , I nee d ha rdly add th a t i t a lways s tand s on th e s ide ofthose v i l l ages which com bine bo th k in ds of work . Vorsm a andPavlovotwo cu t l e ry v i l l ages , one of which i s pure ly indus t r i a l , and


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526 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, Oct.th e othe r continues to t i l l th e soilcould be quoted as a str ik inginstance for such a comparison.11

Much more ought to be said with regard to the rural industriesof Ru ssia, especially to show how easily t h e p eas ants associate forbuying new machinery, or for avoiding the middlemen in theirpurchases of raw produce as soon as misery is no obstacle to th eassociation. Be lgium , and especially Sw itzerland, could also bequoted for mo re inter estin g il lustrations, but t he above will be e noug hto give a gene ral idea of the imp ortance, th e vital powers, and th eperfectibility of the rural industries.

T he facts w hich we have briefly review ed will also show, to someex ten t, th e benefits which could be derived from a co mb ination ofagriculture with industry, if the latter could come to the village, notin it s pre se nt shape of cap italist factory, b u t in th e shape of a sociallyorganised indu strial production. In fact, th e m ost pro m inen tfeature of th e pe tty trade s is t h a t a relative welfare is found onlywh ere the y are combined w ith ag ricu ltur e. A part from a few artis tictrade s which give a com parative well-being to th e workers in th ecities, everywhere we find but a long record of overwork, exploitationof children's labour, and m isery. B u t even am idst th e g eneralm isery th er e are oases of relative w ell-being, and th ese oases invariably app ear w here th e workers have rem ained in possession ofth e soil and continue to cultivate i t . E ven am idst th e cotton-weavers of th e no rth of F ran ce or Moscow, who have to reckon w ithth e com petition of th e factory, relative welfare prevails as long asth ey are not compelled to pa rt w ith t h e soil. On the contrary , assoon as high taxation or the impoverishment during a crisis hascomp elled t he dom estic worker to aban don his las t plot of land to th eusu rer, misery creeps into his hou se, alth ou gh t he com petition ofthe factory may be of no moment in his trade (as in the toy trade).T he sweater becomes all-powerful, frightful overwork is resorted to ,and the whole trade often falls into decay.

Such facts, as well as th e pronoun ced tende ncy of t he factoriestowards m ig ra tin g to th e villages, are very sugg estive. Of course,i t would be a great m istak e to imagine tha t industry ough t to retu rnto its hand-work stage in order to be combined w ith a gric ultu re.Whenever a saving of human labour can be obtained by means of amachine, the machine is welcome and will be resorted to; and thereis hardly a single branch of industry into which machinery workcould no t be in trod uce d w ith gre at adv antag e, at least in some ofth e prelim inary stages of th e fabrication. In th e prese nt chaoticstat e of ind us try we can ma ke nails and penkn ives b y han d, orweave plain cotton s in th e h an d-l oo m ; bu t such a chaos will notlast . T he m achine will supersede hand-work in th e man ufacture ofplain goods, while hand-work probably will extend its domain in the

11 Prugavin, in the Vyestnik Promyshlennosti, June 1884.


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1888 THE INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE OF THE FUTURE. 527artist ic finishing of many things which are now made entirely in thefactory. B ut th e ques tion arises, why should not th e cotton s, th ewoollen cloth, and th e silks, now woven by han d in the villages, bewoven by machinery in the same villages, without ceasing to remainconn ected w ith work in th e fields ? W hy should no t hu nd red s ofdom estic indu stries , now carried on entirely by hand, resort to labour-saving m achin es, as the y already do in the kn it t i ng trad e ? T h e r eis no reason why the small motor should not be of much moregene ral use th an now, wherever the re is no need to have a factory; andthere is no reason why the village should not have its factory where-ever factory work is useful, as we already see it occasionally inN orm and y. I t is evident th at now, und er th e capitalist system, th efactory is the curse of the village, as it comes to make paupers out ofi ts in ha bit an ts; and i t is qu ite n atura l th at i t is opposed by all m eansby th e workers, if th ey have succeeded in m ainta ining the ir oldentrad es' organisations (as at Sheffield, or S oling en) , or if th ey haveno t yet been reduc ed to sheer m isery (as in th e Ju ra ). B ut und era more rational social organisation the factory would find no suchobstacles : it would be a boon to the village.

T he m oral and physical adv antag es which m an would derive fromdividing his work between the field and the factory are self-evident.B u t th e difficulty is, we are told, in th e necessary centralisation ofth e mo dern indu stries. In industry , as well as in polit ics, cen tralisation has so m any ad m irer s! B ut in both spheres the ideal ofth e centralisers badly need s revision. In fact, if we analyse t h emodern industries, we soon discover that for some of them theco-operation of hundreds, or even thousands, of workers gathered atth e same spot is really necessary. T he great iron-works and m iningenterprises decidedly belong to that category; oceanic steamerscould n ot be m ad e in v illage factories. B u t very m an y of our bigfactories are nothing else but agglomerations under a commonmanagement of several dist inct industries; while others are merelyagglomerations of hundreds of copies of the very same machine.Such are most of our gigantic spinning and weaving establishments.T he m anufacture being a strictly private enterprise, i ts owners findit advantageous to have all the branches of a given industry undertheir own m an ag em en t; th ey thu s cum ulate th e profits of theauxiliary ind ustr ies. B ut , from a tech nica l po int of view, th e advan tage s of such an accum ulation are trifling and often doubtful. E venso centralised an ind ustr y as th at of th e cottons does not suffer atall from the division of production between several separate factories:we see i t a t Manch ester and the neighb ourin g towns. As to thep e tt y trad es, no inconvenience is experienced from a still gre atersubdivision betw een th e workshops in th e watch trad e and m an yothers .

W e often hea r th a t one horse-power costs so m uch in a sm all


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5 2 8 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Oct .en gi ne , and so m uc h l e ss in an eng ine t en t ime s more pow erfu l ;th a t th e po un d of co t ton ya rn cos ts m uc h l e ss wh en th e factorydou bles th e nu m be r of i t s spind les . B u t such ca lcula t ions are goodonly for those ind us t r i e s which prep are th e ha l f -m anufac tured produce for fur th er t ransf orm at ions . As to tho se cou nt less desc r ipt ionsof ware wh ich der ive th e i r va lue chief ly f rom th e in ter ve nt i on ofski l led labou r , th ey can be best fabr ica ted in sm al ler fac tor ies wh ichemp loy a few h un dr ed s, or e ven a few scores , of op era t ives . E venun de r th e pres en t cond i t ions th e levia th an fac tor ies offer gr ea t incon veniences , a s they canno t rap id ly re form the i r m achinery accord ingto th e cons tan t ly va ry ing dema nds of th e consum ers . As to th e newbranch es of ind us t ry w hich I m ent ion ed a t th e be g in nin g of th i sa r t i c l e , th ey m us t m ak e a s t a r t on a smal l sca le ; and they can prosper in smal l towns, as wel l as in big c i t ies , i f the smal ler agglomera t ion s a re provided wi th ins t i tu t ion s s t im ula t ing a r t i s t i c t a s te andth e ge niu s of inv en t ion . T he progress achieved of la te in Grermanyin those v i ll ages which a re busy in to y-m ak ing , a s a l so th e h ig hperfec t ion a t t a in ed in th e fabr ica tion of m ath em at ic a l and opt ica lins t ru m en ts , a re ins tanc es in po in t . Ar t and sc ience a re no longerth e mo nopo ly of th e gr ea t c i t ies , an d fur the r progress wil l be insc a t t e r i ng t he m ove r t he c oun t ry .

A s t o t he n a t u ra l c ond i t ions upon w h ic h de pe n ds t h e ge o gra ph i ca l dis t r ibu t ion of indu st r ie s in a give n co un try , i t i s obvious th a tth er e are some spots wh ich are mo st sui ted for th e dev elop m ent ofce r ta in indu s t r i e s . T he bank s of th e Clyde and th e T yne a re ce r t a in ly mo st appro pr ia te for sh ipbu i ld ing ya rd s , and sh ipb ui ld ingyards m u st be s urro und ed by a var ie ty of workshops and fac tor ies .T he indu s t r i e s wi ll a lways f ind some ad van tages in be in g grou ped ,to a l imi ted ex te n t , accord ing to the na tur a l fea tures of sep ara tereg ions . B ut we m us t recognise th a t now the y a re not g r o u p e daccord ing to those fea tures . H i s tor i ca l causes chie fly re l ig iouswars and na t io na l r iva l r i e sh ave had a good dea l t o do wi th the i rgrow th and geog raphica l d i s t r ibu t ion , and s t i l l more cons ide ra t ionsas to th e fac il i ties for sa le and e x p o rt ; th a t i s , cons idera t ions wh ichare a l ready losing the i r im po rtan ce w i th th e increa sed fac i l it ies oft ransport , and wi l l lose i t s t i l l more when the producers produce forthe m selv es, an d not for custom ers far away. B u t wh y, in a ra t ion al lyorgani sed soc ie ty , ou gh t Lo nd on to rem ain a g rea t cen t re for th eja m and prese rv ing t rad e , and m anufac ture um bre l l a s for nea r ly th ew ho l e of t h e U n i t e d K i ngdo m ? W hy shou ld t h e W hi t e c h a pe lp e t ty t rade s rem ain where th ey a re , ins tead of be ing spread a l l overth e cou ntry ? W h y should P ar is ref ine sug ar for a lmo st th e wholeof Fr an ce , an d Gre eno ck for Russia ? W h y should one-h al f of t h eboots and shoes used in th e U ni te d S ta te s be m anu fac tu red in th e1 ,500 workshops of M ass ach us e t t s? T he re i s abso lu te ly no reasonwhy these and l ike anomal ies should pe rs i s t ; and the sca t t e r ing


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1888 THE INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE OF THE FUTURE. 529of in du str ie s am idst all civilised na tio ns will be necessarily followedby a further sca tterin g of factories over th e territor ies of eachnat ion .

Ag riculture is so m uch in need of aid from those who inh ab itthe cities, that every summer thousands of men leave their slums inthe towns and go to th e cou ntry for th e season of crops. T heLondo n d estitu tes go in thousands to K en t and Sussex as haymakers and hop-pickers; whole villages in France abandon theirhomes and the ir cottage industries in the summ er and wander tothe more fertile parts of the country; and in Russia there is everyyear an exodus of ma ny hun dred s of thousand s of me n who jou rne yfrom th e nor th to th e sou thern prairies for harv estin g th e cr op s;while many St. Petersburg manufacturers reduce their production inth e summ er, because th e operatives retu rn to the ir nativ e villagesfor th e cultu re of th ei r allotme nts. E xtensive agric ulture canno tbe carried on w ithou t additional hands in th e su m m er ; bu t it s tillmore needs a tem porary aid for improving t h e soil, for tenfold ingits produc tive powers. Stea m-d igging , drainage , and ma nur ingwould rend er th e heavy clays to th e north-west of Lo ndon a m uchricher soil th an th at of the Am erican prairies. T o become fertile,those clays want only plain, unskilled human labour, such as isnecessary for dig gin g t h e soil, layin g in drainag e tub es, pulv erisingpho sphate s, and the like ; and th a t labour would be gladly done byth e factory workers if it were properly organised in a free com m un ityfor th e benefit of th e whole society. T he soil claims th a t aid, and itwould have it under a proper organisation, even if it were necessaryto stop ma ny mills in the sum me r for th a t purpose. No doub t, th epr ese nt factory owners would consider it ruino us if th ey h ad to stopth ei r m ills for several m onth s every year, because th e cap ital en gaged in a factory is expected to pump money every day and everyhour, if possible. B ut th at is th e capitalist's view of th e m att er,not th e com mu nity's view. As to the workers, who oug ht to be thereal managers of industries, they will find it healthy not to performth e same monotonous work all th e year round , and t he y will abandonit for th e summ er, if indeed the y do not find th e means of keep ingthe factory running by relieving each other in groups.

T he scattering of industr ies over th e country so as to bring th efactory am idst th e fields, and to m ak e ag ricu lture derive all thoseprofits which i t always finds in bein g combined with ind ust ry (seeth e E astern States of Am erica)and th e combination of indu strialwith agricultural work are surely the next step to be made, assoon as a reorganisation of our pre sen t conditions is possible. T h atstep is imposed by the very necessities of producing for the producersthemselves; it is imposed by the necessity for each healthy manand woman to spend a part of their lives in free work in the free air,and it will be ren de red th e mo re necessary when th e gre at socialVOL . X X I V . N O . 1 40 . 0 0


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530 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Oct.mo vem ents, which have now becom e unavo idable, come to distu rbthe present international trade, and compel each nation to revert tohe r own resources for her own m ainte nan ce. H um an ity as a whole,as well as each separate individu al, will be gaine rs by th e chan ge,an d th e change will tak e place. B ut such a chang e also implies atho rou gh modification of our pre sen t system of edu catio n. I t im pliesa society composed of m en a nd wom en each of whom is able to workwith his or her hands, as well as with his or her brain, and to do soin more directions than one.

P . KROP OTKIN.

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