ANNUAL REPORT

OF

H.M. CHIEF INSPECTOR OF FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS FOR THE YEAR 1926.

HOME OFFICE,

April, 1927...

To The RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR WILLIAM JOYNSON-HICKS BART., M.P., His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department.

SIR,

I have the honour to submit the following Report upon the work of the Factory Department during the year 1926.

There were many indications during the first few months of a general improvement in industry, and the number of unemployed was steadily decreasing until the General Strike commenced. The effects of this Strike, though serious enough, were short-lived, but it was far otherwise with the long continued dispute in the coal industry. Inspectors in all parts of the country comment on the disastrous results of the coal stoppage, particularly in those industries where fuel plays an important part. Blast furnaces had to be shut down for months, iron and steel rolling mills were unable to carry on for lack of fuel, and such industries as shipbuilding and the heavy engineering trades operated with increasing difficulty as time went on through shortage of material. The areas which felt the effects of the coal shortage most acutely appear to have been South Wales, South Yorkshire, the North East Coast and Lanarkshire.

The South Yorkshire area, with its main industry coal mining and its principal factories heavy steel works, consuming great quantities of coal, suffered to a maximum extent. Five iron and steel works in this area normally employing between them twelve to fifteen thousand workers were practically shut down for the greater part of the year. Less important works, such as byproduct plants, middle-size rolling mills, engineering shops, glass bottle works, firebrick works, and such like, were either standing or had their activities drastically curtailed. Many of the coke ovens for months during the early part of the coal stoppage were first kept hot, then warm, and finally, as attempt after attempt at settlement failed, were allowed to go cold, with the certainty that several weeks would have to be spent, when coal supplies would again be assured, in warming up before coking could commence.

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As showing the widespread effect of the coal stoppage, it may be mentioned that the herring fishing industry was seriously restricted in its activities through scarcity of fuel for the boats, and the high prices charged for it did much to cancel any profits the fishermen earned:

Such is the dismal tale regarding industries of this class, but the astonishing fact remains, on the other hand, that a great many of our industries were able to carry on and employ most of their workers throughout the entire strike. This was largely due to the great electricity-producing companies and gas companies being able to supply both power and light. Foreign coal mainly enabled this to be done, but a great deal of outcrop was utilized in certain districts, and in South Wales it is estimated that over 100,000 tons of coal dust, which had been carried down by the streams from the coal washeries further up the valleys and deposited at bends in the rivers, were recovered and used as fuel. In addition many firms introduced oil as a substitute for coal, and in certain cases with good results. It was found, for instance, in the pottery industry, particularly successful in the firing of electrical porcelain. The output was increased due to shorter time in firing, and there was a substantial drop in the percentage of losses per oven.

Certain industries would actually appear to have benefited temporarily by the coal strike; thus there was general activity in the making of oil stoves and heaters, in the manufacture of cooked foods, in the production of engines of the Diesel-oil type, and lack of coal stimulated a great number of small employers throughout the country to cut up home-grown timber for domestic fires.

The textile industries,-cotton, wool, linen and jute,-like other trades, suffered severely from the coal shortage, and a certain number of cotton and woollen mills have gone into liquidation. In the West Riding of Yorkshire some of the older woollen mills, which have run for over a hundred years, are now empty and it is very doubtful if they will ever restart. While the lace industry has been particularly depressed, there appears to have been something of a revival in the silk industry and in the manufacture of tweeds, reps, damasks, tapestries, and similar fabrics, also in the making of bindings, ribbons and of gloves. Several inspectors report further developments in the artificial silk industry, which is rapidly becoming a very important one.

There has been remarkable activity in a variety of trades associated with the building industry, as, for example, in brick making, cement manufacture, roofing tiles, sanitary fittings, stoves, grates and spouting, paints and colours, window fittings, locks and domestic ironmongery, linoleum and furniture. Equipment for the mass production of building bricks has greatly increased since the war, and many works are on night and day shifts. One firm in the Eastern Division can produce nearly two