New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-11-27

SEWING MACHINES.
The invention of new machine whose re-
suit is TO save labor, is boon for mankind.
Ii increases the general comfort by reducing
the cost of manufactured goods. 1t is one step
more in the transformation of man from the
state of beast of burden, toling and struggling
10 wiring precarous existence from the earth,
to his Interior destiny, that of being at whose
command the forces of nature perform the
tasks he is pleased TO impose upon them.
But though the final result of an invention
or practical discovery be good and benefceut,
there is an immediate, transitory result which
is quite different. by the new process work
men are thrown out Of employment, and suf.
fering and misery are the lot of those whose
intellect orege does not admit of their learn
ing new trade in short time. Thus, for in
stance, it is recorded that the first introduction
of cotton, as an article of common wear in
Great Britain, was attendedwith great disasters
TO those who had previously lived by their labor
as weavers of wooden or linen cloth, which, TO
considerable extent, was supplanted by the
new fabric. Riots and bloodshed were the
consequence, and severe penalties were in
ficted to punish the rebeilious work.people.
Those evils have passed away, but the benefits
of the use of cotton are now greater aud more
universally enjoyed than ever
Among machines, those for making lace,
knitting, netting, embroidery, when first intro
duced. produce, for the time being, the most
terrible changes in the condition of those who
have hitherto depended upon those branches of
industry. These persons are women, who have
always received but scanty wages, have laid by
nothing, and dislike domestic seryitude. When
thus suddenly deprived of their means of earn
inc living, what resource remains for them
Some few find employment in special trades
that are not invaded by machinery some per-
haps obtain places as sellers OF dry goods,
gloves and ribbons, though stout, whiskered,
six-foot men generally have the monopoly Of
such occupations But the mass have hitherto
been compelled to resort to the needle, until
the occupation of seamstress has become so de-
pressed, so paid and precarious, that, in the
large cities especially, such as London or New
York. il is but another name for starvation,
despair and vice, carried by local and acciden-
tai causes TO the most frshtful extremes,
The class Of sewing women having thus al
ready reached the depth of misfortune in our
great centers of population, which the present
commercial policy of the United States power
fully tends to crowd still more densely with
the destitute, il seems almost that the cOndi-
ton Of this class ls not capable of deteriOra-
ton. and that no change can really be for the
worse. Indeed, a change which takes FROM
them altogether tie wretched work whereby
so large proportion do but starye and freeze.
ard which drives them by sheer necessity to
seek employment lsewhere-ithardly matters
az what sort OF labor, none Can be worse than
that they now pursue-cannOt long be All evil.
The suffering will be very intense and wide
spread tor time. as is that attending every
revolutionary change. but it must be COM
Paratiyely brief Women viii cease 10 flock
in such numbers 10 the cities, as the chances
of getting living there by the needle be-
come not merely diminished but destroyed.
Society Itself viii be reused TO the imperative
duty OF giving better education 10 girls, and
Of training them to.usefulness IN those branches
Of work which require taste, and belong on
the verge ofart if lot within its sphere, such
as designing fower-making, porcelain-pantinc,
and so forth the increase in the general
wealth resulting from the new agency viii
allow far more extensive consumption Of
such articles Of beauty ndluxury and thus at
last the great universal good Of the Invention
will be manifest
SuChis the character Of the Sewing Machine.
Ii is not surprising that, in the minds Of those
most directly interested, the immediate evils
should outweigh the ultimate benefits resulting
from It's introduction. Ii IS a hard thing 70
strike thus al the industry Of the thousands
who live by the needle, and We sympathize
with the antagonism excited by the invention.
even though, looking at its final consequences
we invoke the day when ingenuity shall have
rendered it SO perfect, simple and efficacious
that sewing by hand shall be as much matter
Of tradition as weaving by hand now is The