ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR
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artisans to protect themselves from female competition.[1]
It has further been urged, and not without reason, that the present tendency to extend the area of social legislation, which practically restricts the sphere of individual liberty, increases the risk of legislative invasions on the freedom of women. Add to this that on any question which concerns the relation of the sexes—e.g., the law of divorce—a man will constantly assume, in and out of Parliament, that all women agree with him. Who has not heard it stated in debate that every woman condemned, or, with equal confidence, that every woman desired, the repeal of the law prohibiting marriage with a deceased wife's
- ↑ This motive is generally charged against the Factory Acts by those who desire for themselves or for working women complete freedom of contract. It may be true in certain instances or in certain quarters, but it is untrue of the majority of those who passed or who wish to maintain these Acts. Are we to believe that women desire to be freed from the provision prohibiting mothers from employment in a factory within four weeks of giving birth to a child? If so, they require still, in the interests of the community, to be protected against themselves. And, even if women are to be free to sell their labour, under prejudicial conditions, what about the children?
