268 
Darkey Shadows : 
[May, 
power, by the steam-engine, and the turbine. The pro- 
ductiveness of the earth is in many parts greatly increased. 
Above all things the transmission of intelligence and the 
conveyance of travellers and merchandise, whether by land 
or water, have been rendered safer, speedier, and cheaper. 
In this manner the total wealth of the world has doubtless 
been increased. Doubtless, also, all classes of society enjoy 
certain conveniences and luxuries to which their forefathers 
were strangers. But it must be distinctly asserted that life 
has not, as might be expected, been rendered easier. As a 
certain weekly organ of anti-vivisectionism and political 
economy hath it : — “ The class which uses its brains works 
as it never yet worked, and is harassed as it never was 
harassed before, till physicians are recognising over-work as 
a specific cause of disease.” It is sometimes asserted that 
the handicraftsmen, those whose labour is to a large extent 
performed by the muscles, have been the gainers in modern 
times. In England their hours of work have been reduced, 
as far at least as the building trades and the large staple 
manufactures of the country are concerned. But this 
shortened time does not prevail in all countries, and is in- 
deed one of the special difficulties which the English manu- 
facturer has to contend against as compared with his foreign 
rivals. Yet it does not extend to the very numerous class 
engaged in distribution especially by retail. Many persons 
thus employed enjoy the opportunity of working twelve, or 
sometimes even fourteen, hours daily. In some of the 
establishments of the monopolist drapers, which are now 
becoming so plentiful, the clerks, warehousemen, and other 
assistants are not unfrequently required to work all night 
without payment for “ overtime,” such as the carpenter or 
the mason receives. But the reduction of working hours, 
even where it exists, is more apparent than real, if we look 
back fora couple of centuries. In the olden time holidays 
were more frequent than at present. Persons still living 
can name at least one manufacturing town in England 
where work was not generally resumed between Christmas 
and New Year’s Day. Shrove Tuesday, Easter, May-day, - 
the “ feasts ” or “wakes” in the villages, and the yearly or 
half-yearly fairs in the country-towns, all involved the cessa- 
tion of labour for a day at least. Again, a much larger 
proportion of so-called working men were, a century ago, 
engaged either on their own account or were employed by 
“ little masters,” whose business was not carried on with the 
undeviating regularity of a modern factory. The hand-loom 
weaver of Lancashire or Yorkshire could work when he liked 
