eedom, at least in outward form; bows before a freedom-
loving public opinion, and herein lies the historic progress as compared
with the old servitude, that the _principle_ of freedom is affirmed, and
the oppressed will one day see to it that this principle is carried out.
{186}

THE REMAINING BRANCHES OF INDUSTRY.

We were compelled to deal with the factory system somewhat at length, as
it is an entirely novel creation of the industrial period; we shall be
able to treat the other workers the more briefly, because what has been
said either of the industrial proletariat in general, or of the factory
system in particular, will wholly, or in part, apply to them. We shall,
therefore, merely have to record how far the factory system has succeeded
in forcing its way into each branch of industry, and what other
peculiarities these may reveal.

The four branches comprised under the Factory Act are engaged in the
production of clothing stuffs. We shall do best if we deal next with
those workers who receive their materials from these factories; and,
first of all, with the stocking weavers of Nottingham, Derby, and
Leicester. Touching these workers, the Children's Employment Commission
reports that the long working-hours, imposed by low wages, with a
sedentary life and the strain upon the eyes involved in the nature of the
employment, usually enfeeble the whole frame, and especially the eyes.
Work at night is impossible without a very powerful light produced by
concentrating the rays of the lamp, making them pass through glass
globes, which is most injurious to the sight. At forty years of age,
nearly all wear spectacles. The children employed at spooling and
hemming usually suffer grave injuries to the health and constitution.
They work from the sixth, seventh, or eighth year ten to twelve hours
daily in small, close rooms. It is not uncommon for them to faint at
their work, to become too feeble for the most ordinary household
occupation, and so near-sighted as to be obliged to wear glasses during
childhood. Many were found by the commissioners to exhibit all the
symptoms of a scrofulous constitution, and the manufacturers usually
refuse to employ girls who have worked in this way as being too weak. The
condition of these children is characterised as "a disgrace to a
Christian country," and the wish expressed for legislative interference.
The Factory Report {189} adds that the stocking weavers are the worst
pa