InEnglandtheestablishmentofworkers’dwellingsclosetoeachbigruralfactoryandsimultaneouslywiththefactoryhasbeentheruleforsixtyyearsandmore。Asalreadymentioned，manyofthesefactoryvillageshavebecomethenucleusaroundwhichlateronawholefactorytownhasgrownupwithalltheevilswhichafactorytownbringswithit。Thesecolonieshavethereforenotsolvedthehousingquestion，onthecontrary，theyfirstreallycreateditintheirlocalities。Ontheotherhand，incountrieswhichinthesphereoflarge-scaleindustryhaveonlylimpedalongbehindEngland，andwhichhavereallyonlygottoknowwhatlarge-scaleindustryisafter1848，inFranceandparticularlyinGermany，thesituationisquitedifferent。Here，itisonlycolossalfoundriesandfactorieswhichdecidedaftermuchhesitationtobuildacertainnumberofworkers’dwellings——forinstance，theSchneiderworksinCreusotandtheKruppworksinEssen。Thegreatmajorityoftheruralindustrialistslettheirworkerstrudgemilesthroughtheheat，snowandraineverymorningtothefactories，andbackagaineveryeveningtotheirhomes。Thisisparticularlythecaseinmountainousdistricts，intheFrenchandAlsatianVosgesdistricts，inthevalleysoftheWupper，Sieg，Agger，LenneandotherRhineland-Westphalianrivers。IntheErzgebirgethesituationisprobablynobetter。ThesamepettyniggardlinessoccursbothamongtheGermansandamongtheFrench。
HerrSaxknowsverywellthatboththeverypromisingbeginningandtheflourishingcoloniesmeanlessthannothing。There。fore，hetriesnowtoprovetothecapitalistswhatmagnificentrentstheycanobtainbybuildingworkersdwellings。Inotherwords，heseekstoshowthemanewwayofcheatingtheworkers。
Firstofall，heholdsuptothemtheexampleofanumberofLondonbuildingsocieties;partlyphilanthropicandpartlyspeculative，whichhaveshownanetprofitoffromfourtosixpercentandmore。ItisnotnecessaryforHerrSaxtoprovetousthatcapitalinvestedinworkers’
housesyieldsagoodprofit。Thereasonwhythecapitalistsdonotinveststillmorethantheydoinworkers’dwellingsisthatmoreexpensivedwellingsbringinstillgreaterprofitsfortheirowners。TheexhortationofHerrSaxtothecapitalists，therefore，amounts，onceagain，tonothingbutamoralsermon。
AsfarastheseLondonbuildingsocietiesareconcerned，whosebrilliantsuccessesHerrSaxsoloudlyproclaims，theyhaveaccordingtohisownfigures——andeverysortofbuildingspeculationisincluded——