Page:Guide to the Bohemian section and to the Kingdom of Bohemia - 1906.djvu/130



hile in many countries, home industrial work has ceased owing to the introduction of the factory system and adoption of wonderful mechanical labour-saving devices now so commonly used in these days of keen trade competition and commercial rivalries, in Bohemia home-industries still flourish; but not to the great profit of the workers whose hand productions must compete with the machine-made work of the factories. The fact however, is, that our home workers are contented, and not afraid of hard work even though the hours are long and their earnings small. The consequence is that their handiwork holds its own even in competition with the manufacturers of the large establishments.

The cheapness of the labour has led many energetic commercial men possessing capital, to do a great deal in the way of organising the trade of the various industries, and so the work which at one time was only produced to supply local requirements, now, thanks to the system introduced by large dealers, agents and others, the great world markets have been opened up for the products of our home industries.

It is our intention to deal separately in a series of short articles, with a number of the principal trades carried on for the most part in the homes of the people. [sic] But we shall first give a brief general survey of the field of labour and