Roberts Owen’s Contribution to Political Economy
When the Manchester board of health was set up in 1796 Robert Owen was invited to represent the cotton
industry looking into the health and well-being of workers in the mills
Marrying Anne Caroline also meant that Robert was now in with his father-in-law and his mills at new
Lanark
As was normal for the time around 500 of the 2 000 employees at the mill were children and 300 of these
were apprenticed orphans from the local workhouses. These children were often made to work long hours
for dangerous exhausting work and got very little in the way of food or clothing in return, the children
had to work from 6am until 7pm with only breaks for breakfast and dinner.
Such a system of training cannot be expected to produce any other than a population weak in bodily and
mental faculties, and with habits generally destructive of their own comforts, of the well-being of those
around them, and strongly calculated to subdue all the social affections.
Poverty created an environment in which theft and drunkenness were rife and education was practically
non-existent those who lived at the bottom rung of society had little choice but to work in the factories
and mills.
Robert bought the New Lanark mill from David and became its sole owner and manager.
Robert set about establishing his own improvements for his workers starting with his mills truck system, a
truck system was in place at many mills and consisted of workers being paid with a currency that could
only be spent in the mills shop usually at ridiculously inflated prices, new Lanark was different although
currency could only be spent in the mills local shop in the village the prices were only a little above cost
making it far cheaper than anywhere else The employees could have gone. Alcohol sales were strictly
supervised in order to try and reduce drunkenness. The profits from the shop even went towards a free
school in the village set up for the children who worked in the mill. These ideas led to Robert being
known as the founding father of the British cooperative movement, the village's free school was the first
infant school in Britain.
The other important development for the mill was in how the workers were encouraged in their work.
Robert developed a system known as the silent monitor this was a cube held near each employee's
workstation and was painted with a different color on four of its faces, excellent work was the white side,
good work was yellow, adequate was blue, black and was for poor work. There were also fines for
drunkenness and between these two reforms the workers were encouraged to be on their best behavior
purely on their own merit.
All of these changes stemmed from Robert Owens core beliefs that people were shaped by their
environment for better or worse he believed that many of the problems in poverty-ridden neighborhoods
could be blamed on the conditions people were forced to live in and if these were improved it would
make the lives of these people happier and healthier.
In 1810 he raised the issue with parliament of an eight-hour day and set about putting this into practice at
new Lanark, Owen would later encapsulate this in a phrase eight hours labor eight hours recreation eight
hours rest
The American Sea Island cotton used at new Lanark came from Barbados the cotton used here almost
certainly came from slave plantations
In 1825 he moved to America with the intention of starting a new self-sufficient community. Back in
Britain he had outlined his idea for a communal society of 500 to 1 200 people living in one large
building with separate apartments but communal kitchens and eating areas children would be looked after
completely by their family until they were three then they would be raised by the entire community with
parents seeing them at meal times and in the evenings
Robert Owen publicly declared that believing in any religion was a block to progressing as a society
Robert bought a parcel of land in Indiana in January 1825 set about remodeling the village into his model
for a utopian socialist society. Residents did make several firsts for the town establishing the first public
library a civic drama club and a public school system open to both men and women. However the town
was not the success Robert had hoped. For leadership was finally established through the formation of a
committee a system was also worked out where residents were responsible for their own household goods
but could work for or buy credit at the town's local store, the experiment was to fail permanently as time
went on after two years most of the residents had left in despair of ever having their viewpoints listened to
or implemented and the social experiment of new harmony was done. Robert Owen returned to Britain,
his fortune depleted he had sunk nearly 40 000 pounds into his utopian vision about 80 percent of his
fortune
Robert Owen did an enormous amount to improve the lives and condition of the working classes and truly
tried to change society for the better with his utopian ideals he was responsible for being the founder of
the cooperative movement in Britain and for creating the first infant schools in Britain through his efforts
in new lanark and new harmony he established public libraries and schools all for free to allow everyone
an education
Beliefs:
Poverty created an environment in which theft and drunkenness were rife and education was practically
non-existent those who lived at the bottom rung of society had little choice but to work in the factories
and mills.
People were shaped by their environment for better or worse he believed that many of the problems in
poverty-ridden neighborhoods could be blamed on the conditions people were forced to live in and if
these were improved it would make the lives of these people happier and healthier.
Robert Owen publicly declared that believing in any religion was a block to progressing as a society
Owen’s Reforms:
Mills Truck System
- truck system was in place at many mills and consisted of workers being paid with a currency that
could only be spent in the mills shop usually at ridiculously inflated prices, new Lanark was different
although currency could only be spent in the mills local shop in the village the prices were only a
little above cost making it far cheaper than anywhere else the employees could have gone alcohol
sales were strictly supervised in order to try and reduce drunkenness. The profits from the shop even
went towards a free school in the village set up for the children who worked in the mill. These ideas
led to Robert being known as the founding father of the British cooperative movement the village's
free school was the first infant school in Britain.
Silent monitor
- A cube held near each employee's workstation and was painted with a different color on four of its
faces, excellent work was the white side, good work was yellow, adequate was blue, black and was
for poor work. There were also fines for drunkenness
Eight-hour day
- In 1810 he raised the issue with parliament of an eight-hour day and set about putting this into
practice at new Lanark, Owen would later encapsulate this in a phrase eight hours labor, eight hours
recreation, eight hours rest
Utopia
- In 1825 he moved to America with the intention of starting a new self-sufficient community. Robert
bought a parcel of land in Indiana in January 1825 set about remodeling the village into his model for
a utopian socialist society. A communal society of 500 to 1 200 people living in one large building
with separate apartments but communal kitchens and eating areas.
1st. To limit the regular hours of labour in mills of machinery to 12 per day, including one hour and a half
for meals.
2nd. To prevent children from being employed in mills of machinery until they shall be 10 years old, or
that they shall not be employed more than 6 hours per day until they shall be 12 years old.
3rd. That children of either sex shall not be admitted into any manufactory, – after a time to be named, –
until they can read and write in an useful manner, understand the first four rules of arithmetic, and the
girls be likewise competent to sew their common garments of clothing.