The opening of Preface
This is the first occasion on which, on the special lines indicated in this book, any adequate attempt has been made in this or any other country to deal with the conduct of trades and other occupations in respect to the dangers to life and health to which the workers are liable.
The subject is year by year engrossing more of the attention of the public, and this has been evinced in many ways, e.g., in the amount of space devoted by the Press to the subject of leadless-glaze in pottery, and to the manufacture of matches without phosphorus, etc.
The increasing interest displayed by the public in social affairs has led to a corresponding desire for accurate information as to the condition in which their fellow-men and women live and work. This volume is a response to a widely-expressed demand for a true and authoritative statement on this important subject--a subject which concerns thousands upon thousands of our fellow country-people.