of the labourers, the surest and happiest mode of all government. By legislation you have given to the working classes the full power to exercise, for themselves and for the public welfare, all the physical and moral energies that God has bestowed on them; and by legislation you have given them means to assert and maintain their rights; and it will be their own fault, not yours, my Lords, if they do not, with these abundant and mighty blessings, become a wise and an understanding people. Factory and Workshop Act 1878 (the 'Consolidation Act') In the debates on Mundella's bills and the 1874 Act, it had been noted that years of piece-meal legislation had left factory law in an unsatisfactory and confusing state; the government had spoken of the need to consolidate and extend factory law by a single Act replacing all previous legislation, but had not felt itself able to allocate the necessary legislative time. In March 1875, a Royal Commission (headed by Sir James Fergusson) was set up to look at the consolidation and extension of factory law. It took evidence in the principal industrial towns, and published its report in March 1876. It recommended consolidation of legislation by a single new Act. The new Act should include workplaces in the open air, and carrying, washing and cleaning; however mines and agriculture should be excluded. Work by protected persons should be within a twelve-hour window (between 6 am and 7 pm: exceptionally for some industries the window could be 8 am to 8 pm). Within that window: in factories two hours should be allowed for meals and no work session should exceed four and a half hours; in workshops work sessions should not exceed five hours and meal breaks should total at least one and a half hours. Sunday working should be permitted where both worker and employer were Jewish. All children should attend school from five until fourteen; they should not be allowed to attend half-time, nor be employed under the new Act, until ten. From ten to fourteen employment would be conditional upon satisfactory school attendance and educational achievement. The government announced that the report had been produced too late for legislation in the current parliamentary session, but legislation would be introduced in the following one. A bill was given a First Reading in April 1877, but made no further progress; at the end of July