Social woes of Dickens' work holds currency in Philippines

Dickens' works were called social novels, scathing commentaries on poverty in Victorian England. His novels should be made required reading for English classes, made more relevant for Filipino students if teachers can discuss how so many of the social problems described by Dickens persist throughout the world and especially in the Philippines.

Dickens himself was a victim of this poverty given that his parents were sent to prison for not being able to pay debts. Dickens was known to have worked as early as the age of 12, which was not uncommon in England at that time.

Two Nations

Benjamin Disraeli, who later became prime minister, wrote a novel “The Two Nations” in 1845, the two nations referring to Britain's rich and poor. Friedrich Engels, the son of a rich factory owner, saw the poverty around him and in 1845 wrote “The Condition of the Working Class in England,” an excerpt of which, except for the reference to chimneys, could apply to one of Manila's slums:

“The cottages are old, dirty and of the smallest sort, the streets uneven, fallen into ruts, and in parts without drains and pavement masses of refuse, offal and sickening filth lie among standing pools in all directions the atmosphere is poisoned by the effluvia from these, laden and darkened by the smoke of a dozen tall chimneys. A horde of ragged women and children swarm about here, as filthy as the swine that thrive upon the garbage heaps.”

This was the Engels who wrote, with Karl Marx, “The Communist Manifesto,” a reaction to the harsh problems of inequity brought about by industrial capitalism.

England, and not China, was the workshop of the world at that time. The Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th century in England, allowed factory mass production of commodities which were then exported throughout the world.

The cheap cotton exports were disastrous, wiping out many local textile industries. In our own Panay island, home-based weavers were known worldwide for their exquisite pina, sinamay and other local textiles but these home industries virtually disappeared as cheap British textiles flooded the Philippines.

The production of these textiles also came at great cost to Britain's children, many of whom became factory workers at an early age. Economist Douglas Galbi, in an article in the Journal of Population Economics, cites a survey from 1788 that found two-thirds of workers in English and Scottish cotton mills were children. Factory owners preferred children over adults because the young were easier to train and also argued that the earlier a child was made to work, the better it was for building character.

It was not until 1831 when Britain passed a law regulating the employment of children in factories. Children aged 11 to 18 were not supposed to work more than 12 hours a day, while those aged 9 to 11 were limited to an 8-hour work day. Children below the age of 9 were not allowed to work.

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