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22
My notes of workshop inspection led me to believe
that there are about 700 females engaged at needlework
in dressmaking establishments, besides a large
number of private houses unknown.
As the carrying out of the provisions of this Act by
the local Authority was entrusted to me, and as from
the first I always considered it an important part of
the functions of a health officer, I felt prepared to
make the return asked for, although it involved
considerable labour and extra assistance to collect the
details on forms provided for the purpose by H.M.'s
Inspector of Factories. I had previously inspected
and obtained records of about fifty of the establishments
in which large numbers of females were employed
in dressmaking, millinery, &c., but had not attempted
a more general inspection (which sooner or later I
deemed to be a desirable object) of all the workshops
where labour and handicraft of various kinds were
carried on. To accomplish this task, and to keep
proper records of the state of things discoverable, and
to make suggestions for Sanitary improvement, would
be sufficient work to occupy the time of a special
officer, while the experience gained in obtaining the
return, is so exceedingly instructive with regard to the
social condition of large numbers of the work people
carrying on their trade in private houses or small
shops, that it fully warrants me in saying great
benefit would accrue from a regular periodical inspection.
It is not so much for the protection of females
and children, for whom the Workshops Regulation Act
was at first designed ; but regular inspection is
desirable to secure a better state of cleanliness and