simply by forgetting this fact. But if the arguments in favour of a general reduction of the hours of labour are strong anywhere, they are peculiarly strong in the case of women, for in a vast number of cases a woman, when she leaves her daily work, has to begin a second spell of work at home. (_b_) _Continuation of Work at Home after Factory Hours._--This is a practice which is openly encouraged by some manufacturers, and more or less secretly by others. It is a common sight, for instance, in Belfast, to see women returning home from the handkerchief or other works in which they have been employed during the whole day, with bundles of work to make up at night, so that the worker has to stitch often till midnight, or later, in order to take the finished bundle back the next morning. In London, too, this practice obtains. Obviously, if such an infringement of the spirit of the Act is allowed, the factory regulation becomes worthless in respect of hours. (4) _The Regulation of Outwork._--By a clause in the Act of 1891 the Home Secretary was empowered to schedule certain trades in which work was given out by a middleman or manufacturer--either to contractors or to workpeople direct--to be done off the premises; to enforce the keeping of a register giving the names and addresses of such persons, so as to enable the factory inspector or the sanitary authority to investigate the conditions under which the work was being done. The Home Secretary has made an order which brings the clothing trades, the cabinet trade, and the electro-plating industry under this provision, and energetic steps have been taken to trace the work thus given out. Obviously, however, such a task involves a large staff of inspectors; and in cases where the duty devolves upon the sanitary authority the expense suddenly thrown upon the ratepayers to provide an adequate staff, added to other considerations, has led to practically nothing being done, so that the order remains inoperative. It is unquestionably desirable that the person who gives out the work should be made responsible for the sanitary and other conditions under which it is performed, a provision which would act as a deterrent to a practice which is admittedly full of hardships for the workers and of risks for the consumers. As to the latter consideration, the whole question of the administration of the workshops part of the Factory Acts by the local authorities will have to be revised. As things are at present, there is no power of compelling them to do the work, whilst the division of authority which exists between the Factory Department and the local sanitary authority is very far from tending to the efficient carrying out of the measures laid down. The great thing is, however, that the principle of throwing the responsibility for the conditions of labour upon the person who practically employs such labour--whether by means of the sweating system or not--should be recognised, and a first