Parliament was passing some useful legislation for the improvement of the public health, and taking some action against some of the more heinous existing abuses. Several of the evils already described connected with the building of houses were dealt with in an Act[145] passed in 1878. It was at last declared to be--"expedient to make provisions with respect to the making, filling up, and preparation of the foundation of sites of houses and buildings to be erected within the metropolis, and with respect to the quality of the substances to be used in the formation or construction of the sites, foundations and walls of such houses with a view to the stability of the same, the prevention of fires, and for purposes of health." The Metropolitan Board of Works was empowered to make bye-laws respecting the foundations and sites of houses to be constructed, and with respect to the material used in the construction of such houses and of the walls and buildings; and the Board issued a set of comprehensive regulations upon the subject. "Considerable opposition was manifested by builders before the Secretary of State." But, nevertheless, the regulations were sanctioned and approved. And in the same year (1878) Parliament had passed an Act which materially improved the sanitary conditions under which men, women, and children worked in factories and workshops.[146] Guided by experience, Parliament had gradually been extending the operation of the previous Acts from one trade to another, and as Lord Shaftesbury said:-- "The general result had been to introduce and establish a system of order, content, and satisfaction. The children in the factories presented quite a different appearance from that which was their characteristic in former times; they were now hale and stout." And the Factory and Workshops Royal Commission[147] in 1876 wrote:-- "The improvement in the sanitary arrangements and ventilation of factories had been most marked in recent years; and the cases in which young persons and women suffer in labour unfitted for their years, or in which young persons and women suffer physically from overwork, are now, we believe, as uncommon as formerly they were common. "Much of this great improvement is undoubtedly due to factory legislation." The Act directed that:-- "A factory or workshop should be kept in a cleanly state and free from effluvia arising from any drain, or other nuisance." And that they should "not be so overcrowded while work is carried on therein as to be injurious to the health of the persons employed therein, and should be ventilated in such a manner as to render harmless, as far as practicable, all the gases, dust, &c., generated in the course of the manufacturing process and that may be injurious to health." By subsequent order of the Secretary of State, 250 cubic feet air space were to be given to each adult during the day, 400 cubic feet after eight o'clock at night.