But, as we have seen, for the power-loom masters it was not a “battle” but a great convenience to have an auxiliary cheap labour force, as a stand-by in good times and as a means of keeping down the wages of the women and girls (8s. to 12s. Manchester, 1832) who minded the power-looms. Moreover, there was scarcely no “transfer to the factory”. If the introduction of power had been swifter, then—all other things being equal—its consequences would have been even more catastrophic.
