Page:VCH Staffordshire 1.djvu/348

 A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE The effect of the coal strike was, of course, widely felt among all the trades dependent on the coal supply, that is to say throughout the whole of Staffordshire. The distress was widespread, being increased by the fact that it occurred at the time when the hardware trade was suffering a severe check as the result of a money crisis in America. Rents remained unpaid, the homes of the workers were stripped of nearly all their possessions, riots occurred, and an enormous amount of outdoor relief had to be given. The poor rates went up rapidly, and the small shopkeepers suffered severely. 173 The clerk to the Dudley Board of Guardians said that in his district the chief applicants for relief were whitesmiths, and chain and trace-makers ; also glass-makers, who used to get 3 or 4 per week, and were now reduced to breaking stones and scraping the streets. 174 The moral and intellectual condition of the children of the industrial classes in Staffordshire was deplorable. This is abundantly proved by the evidence given before the Commissioners in 1842-3. The provision of schools was wholly inadequate, and the attendance at such as existed was very bad, the children being taken away as early as possible to work in the iron, coal, and pottery industries. 176 In South Staffordshire the evidence of many resident clergymen went to show that there was not provision for a quarter of the uneducated youth of the neighbourhood, and that a great number of children never attended school at all nor any place of worship. 176 At Bilston, for instance, with a population ot twenty thousand, there were the following schools for the working classes : Four ordinary day schools, two infant schools, two or three night schools, and two schools for girls where reading and sewing were taught. A British School was attempted but did not succeed, and the only other means of instruction consisted in a few Sunday schools. 177 Yet Bilston was admit- tedly better in many respects than the neighbouring town of Wolverhampton. ' Among all the children and young persons I examined,' says Mr. Home, speaking of the Wolverhampton district, ' I found, with a few exceptions, that their minds were as stunted as their bodies, their moral feelings stagnant as the nutritive process whereby they should have been built up towards maturity.' 178 These remarks refer specially to the children working in the various branches of the iron trade, where the physical condition was as bad as the moral and intellectual state of the young workers. In his report on the mining popu- lation of South Staffordshire Dr. Mitchell testifies to the excellent physique of the miners young and old, which compares favourably with that of the workers in the pottery industry in North Staffordshire. But he adds, 'whilst the physical condition and treatment of the boys are so satisfactory, it is to be lamented that as to the moral condition it is in some respects quite the reverse.' 179 The health and physique of the children and young persons working in the pottery industry was not invariably bad, but in some branches of the work the bad effect was very marked. 180 '" Midland Mining Com. Rep. i, 1843. vol. xiii, p. xxix. '" Ibid. App. 101. 74 Children's Employment Com. 1842, Rep. i, App. vol. xvi, 23. " Ibid, xvi, 26 and xiii, 142. '" Ibid. vol. xvi, 24, Dr. Mitchell's Rep. on S. Staffs. 79 Ibid. App. Rep. ii, 1843, vol. xiv, 574, Mr. Home's Rep. " Dr. Mitchell's Rep. 1842, vol. xvi, Rep. i, App. 23. 110 Children's Employment Com. Rep. ii, vol. xiii, 107-8. 304