Page 20 sur 88

The less the skill and exertion of strength implied in manual

labour, in other words, the more modern industry becomes

developed, the more is the labour of men superseded by that of

women. Differences of age and sex have no longer any distinctive

social validity for the working class. All are instruments of

labour, more or less expensive to use, according to their age and

sex.

No sooner is the exploitation of the labourer by the

manufacturer, so far at an end, that he receives his wages in

cash, than he is set upon by the other portions of the

bourgeoisie, the landlord, the shopkeeper, the pawnbroker, etc.