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MARRIED WOMEN IN FACTORIES. 175
out the law might be looked for. A.s regards the interest%
of employem it must he obvious that whatever they might
suffer from the lessened supply of labour during the first
ten years would be amply repaid by tho abundant supply
of vigorous young mill-hands which mould then begin to be
ovailnblo.
Although the complete exclusion of child-bearing women
from factory ernploJment,s is the object to be aimod at, the
violence of t,lm chauge might bo mitigated for a time. Licenws
might bo given to particular large factories to employ such
women on thc condition that they establish on or close to
their premises cri~*ltr~s undcr constant medical s~xpervision,
wll~rc tho motllers uligllt visit their infmts at iuterrals during
the dny. This pl:m 11;~s becu adopted by S O I of ~ tho wedthy
nnd I~enevolcnt rnanufucturiug firms iu France, and is said to
hnve produced most beneficial results.* But no such crkhc
d~ould be ullowcd to csist exccyt undcr dirccL Goverrlmeut
irtspection, and, in any cas0 its existonco should bo regarded as
a transitiond measure.
Widows and deserted wives mould need to bo gently dealt
with : if, having n numerous family, they ought to have poor.
law relief, to LC addcd to tho sndl earnings which they can
make by home eu1ployment. In the long-run it would pay for
the State to employ them as nurses of their owrl children.
Where there are only ono or two infants, tho mother might be
allowed to deposit them for the day at a C&C~C, estaI&&ed
for and restricted solely to such cases, or at employers'
crkchea, just mentioned.
It is irnpossiblc not to see that there arc difficulties in the
matter which can be resolved only by trial. How, for instance,
would such prohibitive legislation act in tho case of reputed
married couples 2 But it cannot, of course, be expected that
the necessary details of legislation can be foreseen by any
single writer. Before anything is done in so formidable a
matter, there must be a minute inquiry into the treatment of
-tiow of the hnchester Statistical Society, 1868-9, p. 10.