The workpeople gradually get accustomed to a lower and lower standard of life. There was a temporary exception to this about the beginning of this century. The rapid extension of steam and machinery was not sufficient for the still faster increasing demand for their produce. At the same time the trades superseded by machinery were slowly starved to death. But in the meantime the Trades Unions, legalised in 1824 had also stepped in, and high time it was.
Capitalists are always organised.
They need in most cases no formal union, no rules, officers, etc. On the other hand, the workpeople from the very beginning cannot do without a strong organisation, well-defined by rules and delegating its authority to officers and committees. The Act of 1824 rendered these organisations legal. From that day Labour became a power in England. The formerly helpless mass, divided against itself, was no longer so.