Blog #4

In this passage, a young factory is tasked with leading a tour through her place of business, the Lowell Mills. She talks about what she likes and dislikes about the factory life, as well as what she thinks could be improved upon or avoided in the future for potential factory workers. She first goes through all the massive factory rooms and impressive machinery that she seems to be in awe of. For example, when she walked into the first room of the factory tour, she stated “We will just look into the first room. It is used for cleaning cloth. You see the scrubbing and scouring machines are in full operation, and gigging and fulling are going on in full perfection”. She also talks about some of the other activities that she seems to very much enjoy, like using the spinning jennies and their meal time. However, as the tour progresses, she begins to talk about some of the things she strongly dislikes about the factory life. Some of which include the long hours that they work for, the low wages allowed for labor, the length of time allotted for their meals, and even the harsh and discriminatory words that she says are “not called for”. She explains that she believes it gives no one pleasure to work or be treated this way in the factory life. She strongly believes that the factory workers should be given more time off from work, better health and safety precautions, and greater pay. However, towards the conclusion of her tour she dives back into some of the positive aspects of working in the factory, such as the lectures, evening classes, and libraries that they all have access to. She concludes with saying that she strongly believes the practice of sending agents through the country to decoy girls away from their homes and with the promise of high wages, when the market is already stacked to overflowing should strongly be avoided in the future.