ems on a mutual basis. Each of these methods has been tried, but
without demonstrating conclusively the superiority of any one.
Whatever method may come into widest vogue, there must be a
recognition of the principle of democratic interest and democratic
control. No one class in society can dictate permanently to the people
as a whole. Industry is the concern of all, and all must have a share
in managing it for the benefit of all.

197. =Legislation.=--The history of industrial reform is first of all
a story of legislative interference with arbitrary management. When
Great Britain early in the nineteenth century overstepped the bounds
of the let-alone policy and began to legislate for the protection of
the employee, it was but a resumption of a paternal policy that had
been general in Europe before. But formerly government had interfered
in behalf of the employing class, now it was for the people who were
under the control of the exploiting capitalist. The abuses of child
labor were the first to receive attention, and Parliament reduced the
hours of child apprentices to twelve a day. Once begun, restriction
was extended. Beginning in 1833, under the leadership of Lord
Shaftesbury, the working man's friend, the labor of children under
thirteen was reduced to forty-eight hours a week, and children under
nine were forbidden to work at all. The work of young people under
eighteen was limited to sixty-nine hours a week, and then to ten hours
a day; women were included in the last provision. These early laws
were applicable to factories for weaving goods only, but they were
extended later to all kinds of manufacturing and mining. These laws
were not always strictly enforced, but to get them through Parliament
at all was an achievement. Later legislation extended the ten-hour law
to men; then the time was reduced to nine hours, and in many trades
to eight.

In the United States the need of legislation was far less urgent.
Employers could not be so masterful in the treatment of their
employees or so parsimonious in their distribution of wages, because
the laborer always had the option of leaving the factory for the farm,
and land was cheap. Women and children were not exploited in the mines
as in England, pauper labor was not so available, and such trades as
chimney-sweeping were unknown. Then, too, by the time there was much
need for legislation, the spirit of justice was becoming wide-spread
and legislatures responded more