t followed that
children were "free" too. Besides, if Mr. Jones had tried to work his
factory without the use of children of five and six, his rival, Mr.
Stone, would have hired an extra supply of little boys and Jones would
have been forced into bankruptcy. It was therefore impossible for Jones
to do without child labour until such time as an act of Parliament
should forbid it for all employers.

But as Parliament was no longer dominated by the old landed aristocracy
(which had despised the upstart factory-owners with their money bags
and had treated them with open contempt), but was under control of the
representatives from the industrial centres, and as long as the law
did not allow workmen to combine in labour-unions, very little was
accomplished. Of course the intelligent and decent people of that time
were not blind to these terrible conditions. They were just helpless.
Machinery had conquered the world by surprise and it took a great many
years and the efforts of thousands of noble men and women to make the
machine what it ought to be, man's servant, and not his master.

Curiously enough, the first attack upon the outrageous system of
employment which was then common in all parts of the world, was made
on behalf of the black slaves of Africa and America. Slavery had been
introduced into the American continent by the Spaniards. They had tried
to use the Indians as labourers in the fields and in the mines, but the
Indians, when taken away from a life in the open, had lain down and died
and to save them from extinction a kind-hearted priest had suggested
that negroes be brought from Africa to do the work. The negroes were
strong and could stand rough treatment. Besides, association with the
white man would give them a chance to learn Christianity and in this
way, they would be able to save their souls, and so from every possible
point of view, it would be an excellent arrangement both for the kindly
white man and for his ignorant black brother. But with the introduction
of machinery there had been a greater demand for cotton and the negroes
were forced to work harder than ever before, and they too, like the
Indians, began to die under the treatment which they received at the
hands of the overseers.

Stories of incredible cruelty constantly found their way to Europe and
in all countries men and women began to agitate for the abolition of
slavery. In England, William Wilberforce and Zachary Macaulay, (the
father of