第38章

Itbecomesaquestionoflifeanddeathforsocietytoadaptthemodeofproductiontothenormalfunctioningofthislaw。ModernIndustry，indeed，compelssociety，underpenaltyofdeath，toreplacethedetail—workerofto—day，grappledbylife—longrepetitionofoneandthesametrivialoperation，andthusreducedtothemerefragmentofaman，bythefullydevelopedindividual，fitforavarietyoflabours，readytofaceanychangeofproduction，andtowhomthedifferentsocialfunctionsheperforms，arebutsomanymodesofgivingfreescopetohisownnaturalandacquiredpowers。

Onestepalreadyspontaneouslytakentowardseffectingthisrevolutionistheestablishmentoftechnicalandagriculturalschools，andof"écolesd’enseignementprofessionnel，"inwhichthechildrenoftheworking—menreceivesomelittleinstructionintechnologyandinthepracticalhandlingofthevariousimplementsoflabour。ThoughtheFactoryAct，thatfirstandmeagreconcessionwrungfromcapital，islimitedtocombiningelementaryeducationwithworkinthefactory，therecanbenodoubtthatwhentheworking—classcomesintopower，asinevitablyitmust，technicalinstruction，boththeoreticalandpractical，willtakeitsproperplaceintheworking—classschools。Thereisalsonodoubtthatsuchrevolutionaryregents，thefinalresultofwhichistheabolitionoftheolddivisionoflabour，arediametricallyopposedtothecapitalisticformofproduction，andtotheeconomicstatusofthelabourercorrespondingtothatform。Butthehistoricaldevelopmentoftheantagonisms，immanentinagivenformofproduction，istheonlywayinwhichthatformofproductioncanbedissolvedandanewformestablished。"Nesutorultracrepidam"？thisnecplusultraofhandicraftwisdombecamesheernonsense，fromthemomentthewatchmakerWattinventedthesteam—engine，thebarberArkwright，thethrostle，andtheworking—jeweller，Fulton，thesteamship;[228]

SolongasFactorylegislationisconfinedtoregulatingthelabourinfactories，manufactories，&c。，itisregardedasamereinterferencewiththeexploitingrightsofcapital。Butwhenitcomestoregulatingtheso—called"home—labour，"[229]itisimmediatelyviewedasadirectattackonthepatriapotestas，onparentalauthority。Thetender—heartedEnglishParliamentlongaffectedtoshrinkfromtakingthisstep。Theforceoffacts，however，compelleditatlasttoacknowledgethatmodernindustry，inoverturningtheeconomicfoundationonwhichwasbasedthetraditionalfamily，andthefamilylabourcorrespondingtoit，hadalsounloosenedalltraditionalfamilyties。Therightsofthechildrenhadtobeproclaimed。ThefinalreportoftheCh。

Empl。Comm。of1866，states:"Itisunhappily，toapainfuldegree，apparentthroughoutthewholeoftheevidence，thatagainstnopersonsdothechildrenofbothsexessomuchrequireprotectionasagainsttheirparents。"Thesystemofunlimitedexploitationofchildren’slabouringeneralandtheso—calledhome—labourinparticularis"maintainedonlybecausetheparentsareable，withoutcheckorcontrol，toexercisethisarbitraryandmischievouspowerovertheiryoungandtenderoffspring……

Parentsmustnotpossesstheabsolutepowerofmakingtheirchildrenmere’machinestoearnsomuchweeklywage……’Thechildrenandyoungpersons，therefore，inallsuchcasesmayjustifiablyclaimfromthelegislature，asanaturalright，thatanexemptionshouldbesecuredtothem，fromwhatdestroysprematurelytheirphysicalstrength，andlowerstheminthescaleofintellectualandmoralbeings。"[230]Itwasnot，however，themisuseofparentalauthoritythatcreatedthecapitalisticexploitation，whetherdirectorindirect，ofchildren’slabour;

but，onthecontrary，itwasthecapitalisticmodeofexploitationwhich，bysweepingawaytheeconomicbasisofparentalauthority，madeitsexercisedegenerateintoamischievousmisuseofpower。

Howeverterribleanddisgustingthedissolution，underthecapitalistsystem，oftheoldfamilytiesmayappear，nevertheless，modernindustry，byassigningasitdoesanimportantpartintheprocessofproduction，outsidethedomesticsphere，towomen，toyoungpersons，andtochildrenofbothsexes，createsaneweconomicfoundationforahigherformofthefamilyandoftherelationsbetweenthesexes。Itis，ofcourse，justasabsurdtoholdtheTeutonic—ChristianformofthefamilytobeabsoluteandfinalasitwouldbetoapplythatcharactertotheancientRoman，theancientGreek，ortheEasternformswhich，moreover，takentogetherformaseriesinhistoricaldevelopment。Moreover，itisobviousthatthefactofthecollectiveworkinggroupbeingcomposedofindividualsofbothsexesandallages，mustnecessarily，undersuitableconditions，becomeasourceofhumanedevelopment;althoughinitsspontaneouslydeveloped，brutal，capitalisticform，wherethelabourerexistsfortheprocessofproduction，andnottheprocessofproductionforthelabourer，thatfactisapestiferoussourceofcorruptionandslavery。[231]

ThenecessityforageneralisationoftheFactoryActs，fortransformingthemfromanexceptionallawrelatingtomechanicalspinningandweaving？thosefirstcreationsofmachinery？intoalawaffectingsocialproductionasawhole，arose，aswehaveseen，fromthemodeinwhichModernIndustrywashistoricallydeveloped。Intherearofthatindustry，thetraditionalformofmanufacture，ofhandicraft，andofdomesticindustry，isentirelyrevolutionised;manufacturesareconstantlypassingintothefactorysystem，andhandicraftsintomanufactures;andlastlp;thespheresofhandicraftandofthedomesticindustriesbecome，ina，comparativelyspeaking，wonderfullyshorttime，densofmiseryinwhichcapitalisticexploitationobtainsfreeplayforthewildestexcesses。Therearetwocircumstancesthatfinallyturnthescale:first，theconstantlyrecurringexperiencethatcapital，sosoonasitfindsitselfsubjecttolegalcontrolatonepoint，compensatesitselfallthemorerecklesslyatotherpoints;[232]secondly，thecryofthecapitalistsforequalityintheconditionsofcompetition，i。e。，forequalrestrainonallexploitationoflabour。[233]Onthispointletuslistentotwoheart—brokencries。Messrs。CooksleyofBristol，nailandchain，&c。，manufacturers，spontaneouslyintroducedtheregulationsoftheFactoryActintotheirbusiness。"Astheoldirregularsystemprevailsinneighbouringworks，theMessrs。Cooksleyaresubjecttothedisadvantageofhavingtheirboysenticedtocontinuetheirlabourelsewhereafter6

p。m。’This，’theynaturallysay，’isanunjusticeandlosstous，asitexhaustsaportionoftheboy’sstrength，ofwhichweoughttohavethefullbenefit。"[234]Mr。J。Simpson（paperboxandbagmaker，London）statesbeforethecommissionersoftheCh。Empl。Comm。:"Hewouldsignanypetitionforit"（legislativeinterference）……"Asitwas，healwaysfeltrestlessatnight，whenhehadclosedhisplace，lestothersshouldbeworkinglaterthanhimandgettingawayhisorders。"[235]Summarising，theCh。Empl。Comm。says:"Itwouldbeunjusttothelargeremployersthattheirfactoriesshouldbeplacedunderregulation，whilethehoursoflabourinthesmallerplacesintheirownbranchofbusinesswereundernolegislativerestriction。Andtotheinjusticearisingfromtheunfairconditionsofcompetition，inregardtohours，thatwouldbecreatedifthesmallerplacesofworkwereexempt，wouldbeaddedthedisadvantagetothelargermanufacturers，offindingtheirsupplyofjuvenileandfemalelabourdrawnofftotheplacesofworkexemptfromlegislation。Further，astimuluswouldbegiventothemultiplicationofthesmallerplacesofwork，whicharealmostinvariablytheleastfavourabletothehealth，comfort，education，andgeneralimprovementofthepeople。"[236]

InitsfinalreporttheCommissionproposestosubjecttotheFactoryActmorethan1，400，000children，youngpersons，andwomen，ofwhichnumberaboutonehalfareexploitedinsmallindustriesandbytheso—calledhome—work。[237]Itsays，"ButifitshouldseemfittoParliamenttoplacethewholeofthatlargenumberofchildren，youngpersonsandfemalesundertheprotectivelegislationaboveadvertedto……itcannotbedoubtedthatsuchlegislationwouldhaveamostbeneficenteffect，notonlyupontheyoungandthefeeble，whoareitsmoreimmediateobjects，butuponthestilllargerbodyofadultworkers，whowouldinalltheseemployments，bothdirectlyandindirectly，comeimmediatelyunderitsinfluence。Itwouldenforceuponthemregularandmoderatehours;itwouldleadtotheirplacesofworkbeingkeptinahealthyandcleanlystate;itwouldthereforehusbandandimprovethatstoreofphysicalstrengthonwhichtheirownwell—beingandthatofthecountrysomuchdepends;itwouldsavetherisinggenerationfromthatoverexertionatanearlyagewhichunderminestheirconstitutionsandleadstoprematuredecay;finally，itwouldensurethem？atleastuptotheageof13？theopportunityofreceivingtheelementsofeducation，andwouldputanendtothatutterignorance……gofaithfullyexhibitedintheReportsofourAssistantCommissioners，andwhichcannotberegardedwithoutthedeepestpain，andaprofoundsenseofnationaldegradatiop;[238]

TheToryCabinet[239]announcedintheSpeechfromtheThrone，onFebruary5，1867，thatithadframedtheproposalsoftheIndustrialCommissionofInquiry[240]intoBills。Togetthatfar，anothertwentyyearsofexperimentumincorporevilihadbeenrequired。Alreadyin1840aParliamentaryCommissionofInquiryonthelabourofchildrenhadbeenappointed。ItsReport，in1842，unfolded，inthewordsofNassauW。Senior，"themostfrightfulpictureofavarice，selfishnessandcrueltyonthepartofmastersandofparents，andofjuvenileandinfantilemisery，degradationanddestructioneverpresented……Itmaybesupposedthatitdescribesthehorrorsofapastage。Butthereisunhappilyevidencethatthosehorrorscontinueasintenseastheywere。ApamphletpublishedbyHardwickeabout2yearsagostatesthattheabusescomplainedofin1842，areinfullbloomatthepresentday。Itisastrangeproofofthegeneralneglectofthemoralsandhealthofthechildrenoftheworking—class，thatthisreportlayunnoticedfor20years，duringwhichthechildren，’bredupwithouttheremotestsignofcomprehensionastowhatismeantbythetermmorals，whohadneitherknowledge，norreligion，nornaturalaffection，’wereallowedtobecometheparentsofthepresentgeneration。"[241]

Thesocialconditionshavingundergoneachange，ParliamentcouldnotventuretoshelvethedemandsoftheCommissionof1862，asithaddonethos