_Diffusion of Child-Labour._--In most countries the children, alike in the villages and in the towns, are employed in agricultural production, in trade, and in manufacturing industry. They herd geese, cows, sheep, and swine; work in the fields and in the mines; beg, sell matches, flowers, laces, newspapers; perform in the street, at the theatre, the circus, and the music-hall; work at home with their parents in inns and drinking saloons, and work in factories and workshops. In Germany, about two and a half million children are engaged in wage-labour, and of these more than 600,000 are of school age. Of these latter children of school age, nearly 60 per cent. are engaged in manufacturing industry. The number of children employed on Sunday is certainly not less than 100,000. In the years 1890-1894, the number of children returned as working in factories underwent a decline, for the law of 1891 and the need for notifying the employment of children drove a portion of the children previously employed in factories into unregulated domestic industry. In Switzerland, 50 per cent. of the children of school age are engaged in wage-labour; in Austria, only about 30 per cent. The child at work in the open air enjoys a healthy freedom of movement. For this reason, under certain conditions (which, however, to-day can hardly be said to obtain) agricultural labour is healthier than any other. It is seasonal work--that is, it is in abeyance in certain seasons of the year, but in other seasons is pursued with the greatest diligence and the greatest possible intensity, so that the children engaged in it must work very hard from early in the morning till late in the evening. No one who knows the wretched condition of the country schools will speak favourably of the school training of those children engaged in agricultural work. Child-labour in agriculture does not replace the labour of adults. Notwithstanding the increase in agricultural child-labour, the complaints of lack of labour-power in the country districts are unceasing. The increased working contributions of the children are more than counterbalanced by the withdrawal of adult labour. This is all the more important, because, owing to the multiple character of agricultural activities and the lesser extent of the division of labour, agriculture demands more independence and ability from the worker than manufacturing industry. Domestic work is an interesting field of child-labour. Working-class parents are out at work all day, and have but little time to give to housework. It is the children who attend to this. They clean out the house, and wash and dress and take care of the little ones; that is to say, such children do nearly as much work as those employed in factories or workshops. In addition, the girls have to knit, sew, mend, and cook.