A factory in its modern sense is an establishment in which several persons cooperate to produce a commodity, the process of manufacture being divided into several stages, each of which is the special work of a separate class of laborers. The development of the factory system has its foundation in the principle, which is now well established, that economy of time, effort and financial expense and an advantage in the quality of production arise when several cooperate in the production of a complex article. The factory system first began to be important about the middle of the eighteenth century in England, when the inventions of Arkwright, Cartwright, Hargreaves and others led to the substitution of large and heavy machinery for hand labor with the small, simple tools which had been used previously. The system received a great impetus from the invention of steam power, which again increased the speed with which an article could be produced, caused a saving of labor and money and admitted of the establishment of manufacturing plants wherever conditions were most favorable. The next important step was the improvement in transportation facilities, and the last was the development of the patent system, by which the labors of inventors were protected and preserved to themselves, and the institution of labor-saving machinery was no longer opposed or its inventors persecuted. The factory system was introduced into the United States about 1790 by Samuel Slater, but its development was slow until 1840. After that time, as population increased, the tendency to concentration of population increased, and the natural consequence was a development of cooperative effort in manufactures. This was vastly hastened by the development of electrical appliances. The benefits of the factory system have been enormous. The division of labor has resulted in a vast improvement in the quality of the article, in a great saving of time and, therefore, the lessening of price; this has led to an increased demand, which, in turn, has improved the demand for labor, raised wages, the standard of living and the general condition of working people. Its evils have been also numerous, but are less important than is usually believed. Women and children have doubtless been employed in greater numbers under the factory system than before; but their employment did by no means begin with the institution of the factory system. Insanitary conditions prevail in many factories; but they are not to be compared in their evil results with the conditions prevailing in sweatshops and tenement houses, where manufactures are carried on. The great subdivision of labor perhaps requires a somewhat lower grade of intelligence, since each worker is required to understand but a small part of the whole process of manufacture. However, the development of machinery has made necessary a deftness of movement and an alertness of mind which were never before required, and the gathering of many workmen together, with the consequent discussion of their needs and conditions, has stimulated the minds and raised the ideals of the workmen as a class. Perhaps the most important result of the factory system has been the widening of the gulf between capital and labor, since under the old household system of manufacture the capitalist was also the laborer, while under the new order, the two factors of production are not only centered in different persons, but their interests are necessarily growing farther and farther apart. It also causes the distinction between skilled and unskilled labor to be emphasized, to the benefit of the skilled workman and to the disadvantage of the unskilled workman. This probably causes the raising of the average of skill, since it leads many unskilled workmen to make effort to enter the classes above them. Side by side with the development of the factory system has been the development of labor legislation, most of which in both England and America has been directed to the improvement of the sanitary conditions of work and the protection of the health of the workers in factories. This legislation has taken chiefly three directions: (1) the limitation of child and female labor, (2) the restriction of the hours of labor and (3) the improvement of the conditions of factory work. Most states now prohibit child labor, the age limit being placed variously at from ten to fourteen years. Many states limit, and some prohibit, work by adult women in factories or mines, and a vast majority now limit the hours of work, the average maximum probably being from fifty-five to sixty hours per week. Trades unions have played an important part in securing these reforms and are now devoting their energies to the universal passage of laws limiting the hours of labor to eight in one day. Their efforts have also aided in the accomplishment of another important reform, namely, the increase of the liability of employers for accidents to their workmen. All of these laws have required for their successful enforcement the institution of inspection systems. Inspection is now carried on in almost all states, with a view to bringing to court violators of factory laws. See SWEATSHOP SYSTEM; DIVISION OF LABOR; LABOR ORGANIZATIONS; MASTER AND SERVANT.