Page:The Laboring Classes of England.djvu/150

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CONCLUSION.

CONCLUSION.


In taking a hasty glance at the factory system, two things are evident to the most casual observer.

First, that the wealth of the country, and especially of certain districts, has increased greatly within the last forty years;—Second, that the race of Englishmen is dwindling down, and degenerating under the effects of the unremitting labor, and the insufficient and unwholesome food that their country's laws allows them to enjoy.

The creation of wealth, is, in many instances, the multiplication of happiness; but there are circumstances which render such creation anything but a blessing. When the wealth created is generally distributed, it is an unmixed good, and always associated with the progress of civilization. It is never generally distributed, but when the capitalists employed are the many, and not the few.

That the wealth of the country has greatly increased, is not a matter of doubt. This is not only an acknowledged truth, but it is the boast of the millocracy. It is at the head of all their demands—"Mark our wealth—our importance to the conntry." This is the language in which their demands are urged. It is then agreed that they are opulent—that they have vast estates—that they are not only able to buy, but have actually bought up a portion of the aristocracy. We have now one point fully established, viz: that the millocracy abound in riches, which have been regularly accumulating for a series of years. This fact suggests a simple question. Have the artisans employed in those branches of trade participated in the benefits of these riches? Has their condition been progressively improving? To avoid misconception, we will descend to particulars. Have the wages of the arti-