Lord Ashley的童工政策及其時代意義－以十小時工時法為例

Abstract

This study discusses the working conditions of child labors in the Great Britain during the early 19th century and how Lord Ashley (1801-1885) pushed the legislation of Ten Hours Bill forward in the parliament. Researches on child labor during the Industrial Revolution can be largely divided into two trends: the way of traditional research relied on historical materials such as parliament archives and reports of the investigation committee in the early 19th century, and emphasized how the Industrial Revolution had caused the child labor problem and how the factory reformers of the parliament were dedicated to solving these problems at that time. The other way of research focused on the population at that time combining with changes in the economy, political environment and social thoughts and emphasized that the child labor problem had its social roots in addition to the Industrial Revolution. According to this theory, the improvement for the working conditions of child laborers since the middle 19th century also had to do with the change in the economic situation and social thoughts. This study combined these two research trends and discussed the changes in the work scope and characteristics of child laborers in the early period of the Industrial Revolution. Load Ashley (1801-1885) was born in a noble family. He was a pious Evangelical, a great philanthropist who worked for the impoverished all his life. He was dedicated to improving the situation of child and women laborers. He started with pushing forward the legislation to protect child laborers in the plants, and then in the mines, manufacturing industry and finally agriculture, until all young people and those who lacked the ability to protect themselves were under the protection of laws. The Ten Hours Bill is Lord Ashley's first legislation proposed in the parliament to protect the rights of child labors. Since he undertook the trust of Short Time Committee in 1833 and started pushing forward this Bill, Lord Ashley had been constantly debating with members of the parliament who held dissenting opinions. This study is both based on collecting and sorting primary resources from the Hansard as well as electronic database from internet in order to analyze the real motives of Load Ashley in promoting the Ten Hours Bill and to reveal the standing of his opponents. It is hoped that this study can help us to better understand the child labor policies as well as their limitations in the UK during the 19th century. Some say that the child labor issue is the worldwide topic most unfamiliar to Taiwanese people. Indeed, related researches on this topic are just beginning in Taiwan. Thus through the current research, this study hopes to contribute to the knowledge accumulation in this field.