A vigorous and timely plea for the supervision of monasteries
and convents in this country on their industrial side appears in last Saturday's Times from the pen of Miss E. Mary Young. The argument of the writer may be briefly summarised. Heads of religious houses in England, and in England alone, have the extraordinary power of employing labour under conditions which are in direct contravention of the law; and although they may be wholly guiltless of any greed for private gain, this affords no guarantee that they will abstain from sweating their employees. Miss Young supplies a con- crete instance in the detailed narrative of the experiences of a young English girl employed in a monastery at Caen. If such abuses are possible in a country where inspection is enforced, there is certainly reason to apprehend their existence in England, where no such inspection,is provided by law. Miss Young's contention is strongly supported by the figures which she gives at the close of her letter. There were in England alone one thousand and fifty-seven monasteries and convents at the beginning of the present year, as against nine hundred and ninety a twelvemonth before. We have no desire to violate in the slightest degree the religious liberty of these bodies, but when they take to trading they should, we think, be subject to the supervision considered necessary in the case of ordinary commercial undertakings.
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