A visit to one of these establishments, will convince those who have taken
their ideas of a manufacturing population from the rabid novelettes and yet
more rabid railings of the Ferrand school, that there is nothing in the
factory system itself, properly conducted, opposed to the permanent welfare
of the working classes. On the contrary, in average times, the wages are
sufficient to enable the operatives to live in great comfort, and to lay by
more than in other trades; while between the comfort of their position and
that of the agricultural labourer there is no comparison, so infinitely are
the advantages on the side of the factory hand. There have also been a
series of legislative and other changes during the last twenty years, all
tending to raise the condition of this class. At the same time, it is
impossible not to observe that, quite irrespective of political opinions,
there is a wide gulf between the great mass of the employers and the
employed. There is dislike--there is undefined distrust. Those who doubt
this will do well to investigate working-class opinions for themselves, not
at election time, and in such a familiar manner as to get at the truth
without compliments.
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