seventeen hours daily, with a rest of
only an hour and a half at noon. Brick-makers work during the
summer months sixteen hours a day. In the sugar refineries the
average hours are from twelve to thirteen for men and from nine to
ten for women. The cabinetmakers, both at Ghent and Brussels,
assert that they have often to work seventeen hours a day.

"In Switzerland the law provides that a normal working-day shall
not exceed eleven hours, reduced on Saturdays and public holidays
to ten. Power is reserved for prolonging the working-day in certain
circumstances. Except in cases of absolute necessity Sunday labor
is prohibited, and in establishments where uninterrupted labor is
required, each working hand must have one free Sunday out of two.
Women cannot under any circumstances be employed in night or Sunday
labor. Italy has not legislated for adults, but has made
regulations for child labor. Sweden is in the same position. Spain
and Portugal have done nothing. The general rule in the latter
country, applying to old and young, is to work from sunrise to
sunset, an hour and a half being allowed for meals. In the
Netherlands a law was recently promulgated to prevent excessive and
dangerous work by grown-up women and young persons. In Turkey the
working-day lasts from sunrise to sunset, with certain intervals
for repose and refreshment. In Russia, where there are no laws
affecting the hours of adult labor, the normal working-day in
industrial establishments averages twelve hours, though it is often
extended to fourteen and even sixteen."

FOOTNOTES:

[31] Histoire des Classes Ouvriers en France depuis 1789 jusqu'a nos
Jours, par E. Levasseur.

[32] L'Ouvriere, par Jules Simon.

[33] Prisoners of Poverty, p. 118.

[34] Le Travail des Femmes au XIX. Siecle, par Paul Leroy-Beaulieu.

[35] L'Ouvriere, p. 158.

[36] Le Travail des Femmes aux XIX. Siecle.

[37] Annuaire de la Bourse du Travail. Volumes from 1887 to 1892
inclusive.

[38] Rapport sur l'Enquete faite au nom de l'Academie Royale de Medecine
de Belgique, par la commission chargee d'etudier la question de l'emploi
des femmes dans les travaux souterrain des mines, Bruxelles, 1868.

Documents nouveaux relatifs au travail des femmes et des enfants, dans
les manufactures, les mines, etc, etc. Bruxelles, 1874.

CHAPTER IX.

GENERAL CO