Home work drawbacks.
There used to be a good deal of home work in these trades, but the growth of large firms and the introduction of machinery[82] have discouraged it.[83] The material is very heavy and sometimes costly, and has to be carefully handled. It is therefore difficult to move from workshop to dwelling-place; and when handled in kitchens or other living rooms it runs a great risk of being stained and spoiled. The home workers find some of their own material, e.g., paste and brushes for bag making, and they save light and rent for employers; but, on the other hand, they are apt "to send back their work with the mark of teacups upon it," or spoiled in some other way, and it is difficult to get them to return it punctually. So in these trades, home work really does not pay.
[82] This seems to be specially the case in the provinces.
[83] One of the home workers (also workshop worker) visited said, "Home work is given less and less and is difficult to get now. Only three work at it—old hands—and they are going to stop it altogether, perhaps." Another investigator reports of machine-ruling in Scotland: "Two elderly women who worked a paper-ruling machine in their kitchen. They had been at the work for thirty years, having been taught by their father, and have carried on the business since his death. The father had a good business, and they can make their living by it, but say the work has sadly fallen off. They get enough orders to keep them going, and when very busy employ a girl occasionally to help them. 'It is useless to try to compete with the new machines they have nowadays. What used to be given to us at 2s. 6d., can now be turned out by the machines for 1s. 6d. We couldn't afford to do it at those rates.'" Cf. Appendix V.
The Trade Unions prohibit home work when they are able to detect it. There is, generally, a healthy feeling opposed to this method of employment, and firms deny practising it.