Acting on the recommen-
dation of a British government
committee investigating the
Line high incidence in white lead
(5) factories of illness among
employees, most of whom
were women, the Home Sec-
retary proposed in 1895 that
Parliament enact legislation
(10) that would prohibit women from
holding most jobs in white lead
factories. Although the
Women's Industrial Defence
Committee (WIDC), formed
(15) in 1892 in response to earlier
legislative attempts to restrict
women's labor, did not dis-
count the white lead trade's
potential health dangers, it
(20) opposed the proposal, view-
ing it as yet another instance
of limiting women's work
opportunities. Also opposing
the proposal was the Society
(25) for Promoting the Employment
of Women (SPEW), which
attempted to challenge it by
investigating the causes of ill-
ness in white lead factories.
(30) SPEW contended, and WIDC
concurred, that controllable
conditions in such factories
were responsible for the devel-
opment of lead poisoning.
(35) SPEW provided convincing
evidence that lead poisoning
could be avoided if workers
were careful and clean and
if already extant workplace
(40) safety regulations were
stringently enforced. How-
ever, the Women's Trade
Union League (WTUL), which
had ceased in the late 1880's
(45) to oppose restrictions on
women's labor, supported the
eventually enacted proposal,
in part because safety regu-
lations were generally not
(50) being enforced in white lead
factories, where there were no
unions (and little prospect of
any) to pressure employers to
comply with safety regulations.

According to the passage, the WIDC believed that the proposed legislation resembled earlier legislation concerning women's labor in that it

A. caused divisiveness among women's organizations
B. sought to protect women's health
C. limited women's occupational opportunities
D. failed to bolster workplace safety regulations
E. failed to make distinctions among types of factory work