West Riding – Western Rhineprovince, 1790-1840: Diverse Paths to ...

West Riding – West of the Rhineland, 1780-1840 12
Alfred Reckendrees, University of Cologne reckendrees@wiso.uni-koeln.de
The different concepts of the industrial revolution can not be discussed here 33 and also not
the technical correctness of the Marxian definition of the “machine” that fits more or less
with the development of the 18 th century. What is crucial for my argument is, first, that the
implementation of the spinning machine and, often underestimated, of the machines for
wool preparation changed the traditional systems of production (and accumulation) of the
woollen cloth industry dramatically. And, second, that inspite of similar technological progress
the development in the West of the Rhineland differed crucially from that in the West
Riding. The implementation of machinery resulted in different types of firms and even different
units of production. That asks for an explanation.
3.3 The factory
The pre-dominant unit of production of industrial capitalism was the factory. There is an
almost uncountable number of definitions of the factory of which many include a catalogue
of non-necessary criteria. 34 I will however provide another one that includes only necessary
and sufficient criteria in order to permit a distinction of the factory from manufactures, artisan
workshops, and domestic production as well. While each single criteria was not necessarily
new and some were found in other units of production, the novelty of the factory
of industrial capitalism was the coincidence of the following four criteria: (1) centralised
production employing wage labour; 35 (2) coordinated division of labour; (3) employment
of mechanical tools (work machines); and (4) employment of prime movers to operate the
tool or work machines. 36 It has been explained above that the exploitation of a prime mover
was no essential criteria for a machine, for the factory however it is a necessity. 37
The productivity of the machines as well for spinning and carding as for finishing cloth
could only be utilised efficiently if sufficient power was available; systems of different
machines, in particular, afforded powerful prime movers. Yet it depended on available
natural resources whether this meant steam engines; and it is therefore possible to recognise
different regional musters (see below). But even if clothiers possessed water mills and
if they were licensed to use water, they increasingly exploited steam engines in order to detach
production from climatic influence (frost, water shortage, etc.), to operate capital
equipment continuously, and to accelerate capital refunding. 38
The contemporaries used very different terms of reference. For instance, the British factory
33
E.g. the concepts of the technologically driven “Unbound Prometheus” (D. Landes), of the industrious
revolution (J. de Vries), or of proto-industry as the “first stage of industrialisation” (F. Mendels); see introducing:
Mokyr, Introduction (1999).
34
E.g. Wehler, Gesellschaftsgeschichte, Bd. 1 (1987), 115pp. names eight criteria; see also Jenkins, West
Riding (1975), 11p. for different definitions of the factory.
35
Wage labour was of course only to be found in capitalist societies.
36 th
In the first half of the 19 century this means the use of a central prime mover as steam engine or water
engine via a transmission to the work machines.
37
See e.g. von Tunzelmann, Power (1978). It may be noteworthy that already Marx was most sceptic towards
an overestimation of the steam engine, Marx, Kapital, Bd. 1 (1977 [1867]), 399p.
38
This was already the purpose of the first steam engine at Burtscheid that was only operated during water
shortage and at night. It seems that operating the watermills in the night was not allowed; Kunth,
Bericht 1816 (1888), 257.