The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-03 00:00:00

THE OVERWORK OF MILLINERS.

The committee of the Ladies' Sanatory Association
on Dressmaking have issued an address on the system
of the overworking in ill-ventilated rooms to which
many of this class annually fall victims, whilst the
constitutions of others who survive are permanently
injured. They describe the system as follows :
" The girls in the large London houses are, with a
few exceptions, thoroughly respectable. Character
is required by the managers, and is' maintained in
their establishments. This is a great point, for many
of them are orphans, often well educated and well
connected, to whom character is dearer than life.
In a good house of business they are able to secure
protection. A girl is usually sent to the business at
the age of 13 or 14, and bound for about three
years. A premium of from £2O to £5O is paid on
entrance, and she receives board and lodging during
the time of her apprenticeship. At the end of that
time she becomes an improver' for one year or more,
receives her board and lodging., but is still depen-
dent on her own resources for her other wants. By
this time her little capital is generally exhausted,
and she begins to earn a salary varying according
to her abilities from £l2 to £5O a year." Not one
in a hundred, they add, passes through the ordeal
with unimpaired health ; and, after touching more
minutely on the evil effects, they say :—« All this
occurs in a trade which is in itself perfectly healthy.
And whose fault is it ? We cannot help it,' says
the employers, ' for ladies will have their dresses to
the day ; they. give short notice and take long
credit, and it is hard to pay our way and please
them." We cannot help if,' say the ladies ; ' we
are willing to give a good price for good work, but
we cannot take charge of work and work-rooms.'
We cannot help it least of all,' say the poor girls,
for we must keep our situations or starve—or
worse."
The committee, after consideration of the subject,
offer various suggestions to mitigate, and, in the end,
they hope to remove the evil. To ladies they
recommend the duty of ascertaining whether the
employees of the house they give their custom
to are treated with consideration, of refraining
from unreasonable demands, and. of paying their
bills. To employers they urge that no overwork is
really profitable. "By securing sufficient out-door
assistance in the early part of the season, so as to
avoid beginning the late-hour system, the skilled
inmates would bo kept up to their highest energy
and effieiency, and the result would, we believe, be
found equally if not more profitable in the long rue.
A wholesome atmosphere would also powerfully
conduce to the same end." To the workwomen, they
say there can be no thorough change till the work-
women combine among themselves to demand what
is right, and they urge parents and guardians to
protect their young girls from overwork and over-
crowding, suggesting that if such protection is im-
practicable in this trade they should seek other
trades. "There are many trades, especially those
which minister to the wants end tastes of their own
sex, for which women are more suitable and as com-
petent as men, into which young girls might enter,
if able to secure the necessary education and train-
ing. The power to write well, and to keep accounts,
would open to them many of the lighter and better
paid situations in shops ; and such easy feminine
.trades as ladies' hairdressing would naturally fall
into their hands if they could gain the requisite
skill. Indeed, even among needlewomen skill is
much wanted, and will always secure better remu-
neration and position. There are plenty of workers
—too many ; but good workers are rare, and till
the competition for situations in which health is
sacrificed is lessened, fewer will be able to rise into
the rank of skilled workers, and demand a fair day's
wages for a fair day's work."
The committee; conclude by saying that pubiic
sympathy, and it may be Legislative enactment,
would aid them, hut they indicate one way in which
they think public support might aid largely and in
the most legitimates way, viz., "by encouraging
and petronising the establishment of houses of
busioess on the principle of partnership or co -
operation." By combinicg the capital of their skill
and industry, there is nothing to hinder dress-
makers from becoming, to a great extent, their own
employers, it ladies would be induced to pay ready
money, or not take more than three months' credit.
They might also aid in the task of opening fresh
employments to women by asking for their services
in preference to those of men in such things as at-
tendance in shops, hairdressing, &c. It is only by
efforts thus combined, and by attention to the laws
which regulate work and wages, that the condition
of dressmakers can be permanently unproved. We
hope that suchen effort will be made before another
season has added its victims to a system of cruel
and unnecessary over ffcrk.