In early Victorian England, the new philosophy of social democracy challenged the bourgeois creed of laissezfaire. An important aspect of this struggle, which historians have neglected, is the campaign (1831-1853) for a shorter and regulated factory workday. This study concludes that during the Parliamentary debates on factory legislation, Britain's leaders, regardless of party affiliation, decided that the Government, indeed, had an obligation to assist the victims of social and economic injustice, a decision which meant the end of laissez-faire.