Why did some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe prefer hand labour over machines?

Solution: In the 19th century, some European industrialists preferred hand labour over machines because

1. New technologies and machines were expensive and untested. So, the producers and the industrialists were cautious about using them.
2. Machines often broke down, and repairing them was an expensive affair.
3. Poor peasants and migrants moved to cities in large numbers in search of jobs. As a result, there was a large pool of labourers available for cheap labour.
4. In seasonal industries, where production fluctuated with the seasons, industrialists usually preferred hand labour, employing workers only for the season when it was needed.
5. The variety of products required in the market could not be produced by the machines available at that time. In the mid-nineteenth century, in Britain, for instance, 500 varieties of hammers and 45 kinds of axes were produced; these required human skills and not mechanical technology.