Douglas Camp - Brush factory

Isle of Man Examiner, Saturday, August 26, 1916,

A NEW INDUSTRY.

A contemporary, inspired possibly from the proper quarter, rejoices in the establishment of yet another "industry". Some of the details may be interesting to our friends whose prejudice toward the Hun is notorious. The old brewery in Glen Falcon-road, or part of it, is taken on a considerable lease for the purpose of a brush factory. This "industry" is, I am informed, already in existence at the [Douglas] Alien Camp, and run by some London firm which finds an extension of premises necessary. Here labour is solely employed at the usual Hun wages, and altogether the Government must be making a considerable profit out of their unwilling guests. That is, of course, if the Government ever receive any profits resulting from the industrial activities of the Huns. Of course it is very nice to think that we are keeping the Huns employed, that they are being trained in brush-making by experts, and that they are starting a new industry. Possibly, when victory prevents us from hurting the kindred of the Hun any further, we will beg of these Boche brushmakers to stay and work with us for 1s per day. We are so short of industries, you know. If your contemporary could realise that while it is making itself ridiculous in large type, the Hun and his friends are over-running the Island, it would be at last serving some reasonable purpose.

By early October 1916 Alien labour was employed in erecting a roof over the open yard at Castle Hill Old Brewery - a letter to the Isle of Man Times, 7th October 1916 complained that the work was being done on a Sunday - the complainent noted "that a number of aliens are already at work manufacturing brushes". The Revd Copeland-Smith who had started the Manx Industry Association to provide employment in for the women of Douglas was quick to respond "I neither have, nor at any time had, any share whatever in the management of the Brush Factory at the Old Brewery Buildings, and regret to hear that Sunday labour is engaged in there quite aa keenly as your correspondent."

Colonel Madoc, commandant of the camp, was proud of the factory as it provided indoor employment for relatively unskilled labour that could easily adapt to the varying numbers who wished to work there - the internees being civilian prisoners could not be forced to work against their wishes - the low pay at least could buy some additional comforts for those otherwise destitute most of whom it seems were austriians who were not in receipt of any money from their government.. From mid 1917 Madoc makes a note nearly every day in his log book of the number working there that day.

Madoc ususually got any official visitors to leave a note in his log book - Edward Montifiore visited on 23rd November 1916 noted that he had "visited the camp and the Brush making premises and was much struck with the rapid growth of the latter where near 300 men were working" by November 1917 it was usually nearer 800.

There is group of documents held at TNA (FO 383/244) dated 17 Sept 1916 in which the Admiralty having been informed by their usual supplierof Blacking Bushes (Messrs W. M. Strachan & Co) that they could no longer meet their contract as the original brushes came from abroad but who could offer brushes marked "Isle of Man Govt. Manufacture" understood to be made in the Internment Camp at Douglas. They were enquiring of the Home and Foreign Offices if such use of civil internee labour was allowable. The Foreign Office replied that they saw no objection.

The competition that this factory with its very low labour rates of pay could provide for existing British brush-makers was soon being raised in the House of Commons. The Peel City Guardian 3rd March 1917 reported one such exchange of views:

FEARED COMPETITION WITH ENGLISH INDUSTRIES

House of Commons, Thursday-Mr Byrne asked the Home Secretary if he had received any protests against the regulations that allow German prisoners interned in the Isle of Man to be trained in industrial pursuits, if he is aware that a fear exists that the trades which these prisoners are being taught at the expense of the taxpayer will be utilised after the war to flood the labour market and thus reduce wages in Great Britain, if he can give any guarantee against such a thing happening, and if the teaching of the trades to German prisoners will be stopped (and they be put to till the land to provide food ?)

Sir G. Cave, in a printed reply, stated: I have received some representations with regard to the employment of German prisoners in brushmaking, but I am advised that the fears which are entertained as to the effect of such employment on the English industries after the war are not well founded. The German prisoners have nearly all other occupations which they will prefer to resume, either in this country or elsewhere, after the war, and the conditions under which the industries are carried on in the Isle of Man are not such as are likely to lead to undesirable competition after the war. Every effort is being made to employ the prisoners on the land, and some thousands are waiting to be employed in agriculture as soon as the Board of Agriculture is ready to take them over: but others are not suitable for this purpose, and it is very desirable to meet the needs of the country by utilising their services in other ways.

This was just the start of a series of questions - Isle of Man Examiner, 10th March 10, 1917:

ALLEGED DETRIMENT TO BRITISH TRADE.

In the House of Commons, on Wednesday, Mr O'Grady (Lab.) asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he was aware that German prisoners interned in the Isle of Man had been trained to and were making brushes, and that the brushes not required for Government use were put on the open market by a firm who in pre-war time were large importers of German and other foreign-made brushes, and whether, having regard to the fact that these arrangements hit badly a trade where dilution of Labour had been adopted, and in which the capacity to produce had increased rather than diminished, steps would be taken to cease the training of such prisoners and the manufacture of brushes under such conditions, by diverting the labour of the prisoners to the cultivation of land or road-making ?

Sir George Gave: I would refer the hon. member to he reply which I gave the hon. member for the Dublin Harbour Division last Wednesday. The work of brushmaking is confiined to prisoners who cannot be employed on the land.

A reported court case in 1919 throws a little more light on the subject [Isle of Man Examiner, 5th, July 1919] -

ACTION FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT ONE SHILLING DAMAGES.

In the Common Law Division (Superior Jurisdiction) of the High Court of Justice, at Douglas, on Wednesday, a jury awarded one shilling damages to Samuel Woolfson, trading as Woolfson and Son, hardware merchants, of Birmingham, in respect of a claim for £1,000 against A. Dupont and Co., of Tromode. Douglas. Defendant had contracted, in July. 1917, to supply plaintiff with 800 gross of scrubbing brushes. Only 200 gross were supplied, and plaintitf claimed as damages the difference in the price at the time of the contract and the market value of the brushes now. The defence was that the brushes were being made by the German prisoners of war at the Government brush factory, Castle Hill, Douglas, and that after the contract was made the Government took all the output of the factory for Army purposes. It appeared that brushes which were 1s 6d a dozen before the war, were in July, 1917, 6s 7d a dozen; and in October, 1918, the price had risen to 10s 6d and 9s 6d; and also that the rise was chiefly due to all the fibre in the country having been bought up by the Castle Hill Brush Factory, to find employment for the aliens.

Towards the end of the war thought turned to the provision of employment post-war - an interim report of the committee included the following

Castle Hill Brushworks.

These Works have been established by the Imperial Authorities, at considerable cost, to give employment to the alien prisoners at the Douglas Camp, and are now, so the Committee believe, one of the finest, up-to-date brush factories in the Kingdom: equipped with the most modern machinery, and capable of very large output. This factory would, as in the case of Knockaloe. be best dealt with if sold by tender, and the Committee recommend that His Excellency be requested to communicate with the authorities in England, to have this carried through in the same way as suggested for the Camp at Knockaloe. It would, in the Committee's judgment, be of great advantage if conditions of sale contained a clause binding the purchaser to continue the works for a period of years. It is known that there is now a large number of young people already trained to this work. so there conld be no question of shortage of labour to carry on the factory.

However nothing would appear to have been done

It is an extroardinary thing that, while the Manx people are being called upon to pay large sums of money each week in unemployment benefits, the brush factory at Castleward-the famous Hun factory, which at one time found employment for about 800 Huns-is closed. This is due, so far as we can understand, to the Home Office, that wonderful department which is supposed, amongst other things, to look after the interests of the Manx people.

Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2019