ABSTRACT
A bill on the employment of children in manufactories has been read twice in the House of Commons, passed through the Committee, had its blanks filled up, and is to be read a third time the first Monday in April. Its supporters are those who deem the practices which at present prevail in our manufactories to be in many cases injurious to the children. The practices which prevail in our manufactories form, in a peculiar manner, one of these exceptions. The employment of children before they possess sufficient strength for their work; before they can be initiated in their necessary domestic duties; and before they can acquire any fixed moral habits or knowledge that may render them useful, or not injurious, members of the community. Security can now be found only in that system of policy which regards the proper training, education, and advantageous employment of the working classes as the primary objects of government.
