e homes, and were taught by the side of the masters' own
families. The old English law of master and servant was the labor law
of that time as, to some extent, it still is to-day in Great Britain
and America. The living and working conditions of the wage-workers
were in general the same as those of the master himself and of his own
family; and this was the best possible guarantee that the conditions
would be kept up to the best standards of that time. The same change
in industrial relations that led to the rise of the organized labor
movement[1] revealed new and often horrible neglect and evil in
and about the factories. They had been erected with no thought of
sanitation, safety, and decency for the workers.

Sec. 2. #Improvement of factory conditions#. Legislation to remedy these
evils began in England a century ago, and the English code of factory
laws, regulating the construction and operation of factories and
providing for their inspection, has become voluminous. It has been
copied, and in some respects improved, by all of the great industrial
nations. This is true in America of the manufacturing states, tho the
agricultural states have still very few such regulations. As a result
of these measures, accompanying and stimulating an enlightenment
of the employers' self-interest, there has been a very remarkable
improvement in such matters in recent years. In many American
factories erected in the last quarter-century the conditions as to
lighting, heating, ventilation, stairways, fire-escapes, protection of
the workers against accidents, and lavatory and sanitary arrangements,
are better than the best conditions ever existing in domestic
manufactures. A somewhat corresponding improvement has taken place on
railroads, in mercantile establishments and, perhaps less, in mining.

Factory legislation often has been opposed by employers because of the
expense it causes; but if the regulations apply to all factories, the
expense becomes a part of the cost of production and is shifted, like
the other expenses of production, to the general body of consumers,
of which the employers form only a small part. Much of the recent
progress in some establishments has, however, gone much beyond the
requirements of any existing laws. Many employers recognize that it is
costly and unprofitable to themselves to allow their workmen to be in
surroundings that reduce their vitality and efficiency, such as do the
conditions mentioned at the