Sir J. Gorst, who is on a sort of roving
Commission of Inquiry into the conditions of labour, made a long speech upon them at Wolverhampton on Friday week. He was not cynical at all, and less inclined to commit himself than usual ; but while be expressed the greatest sympathy with the " universal modern demand " for more leisure, he made it clear that he considered a general Eight-Hours Law im- practicable. The conditions of each trade varied too much. The textile industry almost unanimously condemned the pro- posal, and how could Parliament affect to teach them their own business P He would, however, allow the State factories and the Municipalities to try the experiment. He would also prohibit insanitary conditions of trade, give special protection to women against long hours, and insist that children should not be employed too early. Speaking again at Liverpool on Thursday, Sir John intimated that the most pressing of all problems was how to content the labourers, and so prevent their swarming into the towns. He desired to get the labourer back to the land, and hoped for some arrangement by which any one who desired to work on the land could get a piece of land on which to work. Does that mean peasant-proprietor- ship, or only a compulsory Allotment Act ? If the former, who is going to pay for the little holdings and the buildings on them ?
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