TRA.NSAeiI0S3 Oif SLCTI03 F. 853 



already evident at home that local governing todies must assume somewhat of the 

 rule which is now exercised hy the Imperial Parliament ; and much existing 

 organisation in Canada need not he destroyed. It would he a grand day should 

 she hecome as much an integral part as Scotland and Ireland now are, hy the 

 United Kingdom becoming that not of Great Britain and Ireland, hut of Great 

 Britain, Ireland, and North America. Canada seems already ripe for the discus- 

 sion of such a question. Australasia may ripen whilst it proceeds, and, together 

 with the smaller dependencies, he included in the scheme before final effect is given 

 to the decision. 



4. The Factory Acts. By R. Whately Cooke-Taylor. 



The object of the paper is to discuss both the proper sanctions for factory legislation 

 and the means of making it most efficient and useful. Many of the advocates of 

 Factory Acts have never comprehended, still less formally announced, the sound 

 basis, both economic and historic, on which such legislation reposes. Much of this 

 misunderstanding has arisen from a double interpretation of the word ' labour,' 

 which at one time was used as a mere abstract term, implying a purely impersonal 

 force, and at another time as the embodied effort of sentient beings. It is in this 

 latter sense, as 'the human element in industrial production,' that political economy 

 is concerned with the Factory Acts ; and one object in studying that science is 

 to obviate whatever — like the unimpeded force of competition — is harmful to 

 humanity in economic tendencies. Hence the scientific basis for Factory Acts. 

 There is equally an historic basis, inasmuch as industrial production has from time 

 immemorial been under some exterior control — whether of the State, of some 

 industrial labour corporation, or of custom. 



With respect to the question how they can be made most operative and useful, 

 this matter is considered under three heads. First, the objects of factory legisla- 

 tion ; second, the subjects of it ; third, the methods of enforcing its decrees. The 

 objects are properly women, children, and young persons, but circumstances are 

 conceivable which would make men proper objects too. Under the second head is 

 considered the range which factory laws should take, the industries and occupations 

 with which they should interfere. A very wide latitude is advocated for them 

 to the extent of including legislation for shops, and even for some kinds of 

 services, as railways and the Post Office. It is argued that having departed so far 

 already from their original intentions, no logical resting-places short of those 

 mentioned can be found. On the other hand, the proposal for interfering specially 

 with the employment of married women in mills is condemned. On the subject of 

 the proper method of inspection, the paper advocates a combination of local and 

 central supervision. The result to aim at is aggregate justice, not absolute uni- 

 formity. Localities can best decide on the precise requirements of the several 

 industries located there, and officers from the central authority should see that on 

 the whole the law was fairly observed. The sanitary and educational authorities 

 of the district should furnish the means for putting the sanitary and educational 

 portions of the law into effect in the first instance, and what little supervision would 

 still remain unprovided for could be furnished between them, or would result 

 spontaneously from the impulse of other enactments relating to industry. 



5. The Phosphate Industry of Canada. By Robert C. Adams. 



Mineral manures were suggested by Liebig in 1840, he having observed the 

 effect of sulphuric acid in making minerals soluble. 



As a ton of wheat takes sixteen pounds of phosphoric acid from the soil, this 

 must be replaced to ensure future production. Phosphates are obtained from 

 Spain, England, Norway, France, West Indies, South Carolina, and Canada. 



Canadian apatite was mentioned in 1827. In 1847 Dr. Hunt reported^ it in 

 New Burgess, Ontario. About 1860-3 mining was begun there, and continued 

 intermittently. In 1875 mining was begun in Ottawa County, and work has in- 

 creased constantly, large deposits being discovered. 



