o’clockatnight。Thestrawcutstheirmouths，withwhichtheyconstantlymoistenit，andtheirfingers。Dr。BallardgivesitasthegeneralopinionofthewholebodyofmedicalofficersinLondon，that300cubicfeetistheminimumspaceproperforeachpersoninabedroomorworkroom。Butinthestraw—plaitschoolsspaceismoresparinglyallottedthaninthelace—schools，\"122/3，17，181/2andbelow22cubicfeetforeachperson。\"
Thesmallerofthesenumbers，saysoneofthecommissioners，Mr。White，representslessspacethanthehalfofwhatachildwouldoccupyifpackedinaboxmeasuring3feetineachdirection。Thusdothechildrenenjoylifetilltheageof12or14。Thewretchedhalf—starvedparentsthinkofnothingbutgettingasmuchaspossibleoutoftheirchildren。
Thelatter，assoonastheyaregrownup，donotcareafarthing，andnaturallyso，fortheirparents，andleavethem。\"Itisnowonderthatignoranceandviceaboundinapopulationsobroughtup……Theirmoralityisatthelowestebb，……agreatnumberofthewomenhaveillegitimatechildren，andthatatsuchanimmatureagethateventhosemostconversantwithcriminalstatisticsareastounded。\"[184]AndthenativelandofthesemodelfamiliesisthepatternChristiancountryforEurope;sosaysatleastCountMontalembert，certainlyacompetentauthorityonChristianity！
Wagesintheaboveindustries，miserableastheyare（themaximumwagesofachildinthestraw—plaitschoolsrisinginrarecasesto3shillings），arereducedfarbelowtheirnominalamountbytheprevalenceofthetrucksystemeverywhere，butespeciallyinthelacedistricts。[185]
E。PassageofModernManufacture，anDomesticIndustryintoModernMechanicalIndustry。TheHasteningofThisRevolutionbytheApplicationoftheFactoryActstothoseIndustriesThecheapeningoflabour—power，bysheerabuseofthelabourofwomenandchildren，bysheerrobberyofeverynormalconditionrequisiteforworkingandliving，andbythesheerbrutalityofoverworkandnight—work，meetsatlastwithnaturalobstaclesthatcannotbeoverstepped。Soalso，whenbasedonthesemethods，dothecheapeningofcommoditiesandcapitalistexploitationingeneral。Sosoonasthispointisatlastreached？andittakesmanyyears？thehourhasstruckfortheintroductionofmachinery，andforthethenceforthrapidconversionofthescattereddomesticindustriesandalsoofmanufacturesintofactoryindustries。