The condition of the London match-girls may serve as an illustration of this.

Their miserable life has rightly roused the indignation of all kind-hearted people.

The wretched earnings they take have provoked people to suggest that we should put an end to the trade by refusing to buy from them.

But since the earnings of these girls depend entirely on the amount they sell, this direct result of your action, prompted by humane sentiment, will be to reduce still further these miserable earnings; that is to say, you increase the suffering of the very persons whose lot you desire to alleviate.

You may say that you buy your matches all the same, but you buy them at a shop where you may or may not have reason to believe that the attendants are well paid.