Discussion of the first factory laws of the Russian Empire in the metropolitan press

The article provides an overview of the publications of the leading periodicals of St. Petersburg and Moscow on the factory laws of 1882–1886, which ensured the labor protection of children, adolescents and women, regulated the relations of workers and business owners concerning the conditions of employment, the issuance of wages, the imposition of fines, etc. The liberal press called for the further development of this legislation, as well as to expand the rights of workers, up to the resolution of strikes with economic demands and the creation of trade union organizations. Conservative publications opposed any self-organization of the factory population and any form of strike struggle. Some of them («Russian Business», «Modern News») They criticized the adopted laws, which, in their opinion, infringed on the interests of the owners and did not correspond to the relations that, allegedly, had long been established between workers and employers. M.N. Katkov, the influential publisher and editor of «Moskovskiye Vedomosti», on the contrary, demanded an all-out strengthening of state regulation at industrial enterprises. His ideas were formed in the 1880s. The concept of «guardianship» is based on strict administrative custody of «factory people».