Tobacco manufacture trade and labour in Malta 1850-1914

Abstract

Apart from the introductory and concluding parts, this dissertation is divided into three main chapters. The first chapter introduces the reader to a wider discussion of tobacco. It briefly describes the properties of the plant and its cultivation in Malta, the social class conditions with the different methods of tobacco consumption, early health implications, and also the state interest in the consumption of tobacco. The second chapter gradually delves into the tobacco industry as it gives reference to trade describing import and export patterns, revenues accumulated from duty, quarantine procedures and advertisement. Building upon the last two, the last chapter discusses the manufacturing concerns and the labour supporting the tobacco industry. Special reference is made to the modes of production and the shift from the ‘cottage industry’ to factory-based production, and hence the repercussions left by machines on manual manufacture and the division of labour. The purpose of this study is to shed some new light on other local industries since other historians have shown interest in the much larger and historically important cotton industry which declined during the nineteenth century. One problem faced in this research was that actually there is very little secondary sources about Maltese tobacco on which to base this study. However, this was also beneficial since it allowed most of the information found to be used here. Most of this research was mainly based on primary sources found in the National Library of Malta, the National Archives of Malta and the University of Malta. Yet it should be remarked that most of the data was mainly collected from correspondence letters between customs house and government representatives. Three oral interviews were also performed with persons who had firsthand experience in the tobacco industry. Both Jospeh Dougall and George Sclivagnotis are descendants of families whose members were employed in a tobaccorelated business, while Violet Caruana was employed in a cigarette factory. Viewed from a historical standpoint, the Maltese tobacco industry is quite interesting and vast, and it merits quite a closer study. Hopefully, this study will offer some contribution in that field.