Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1853-06-07
rIrsHusu ShAGiRIAs
,n,,,, MoRNiNc. JUNE 1, 1853.
TOOK AT HOME.

in ina, Scotch city. The paper contains The proceedings u
,rr.t puslic meeting Of boot and shoe makers. demanding
, rise Of wages, aud exposing the sweating" system. Inc
eri,, ,cu,1, TO The Association refer. 10 The fact of a me-
n,orial OF the working shoe-makeis In favor OF an advance
Of wages. The memorial, the report says
NV, or..o,,cd nj The door o! the Trades Hall, and given
-, the employers meeting. We reasonably
s - q mar some notice would have been taken of oui
memorial. when we considered t.at ,'a. e,n''eHnlh a. u ..
y" 49, -, " scut al an employers meeting, declared
" w." p.'' 80 ,sh.urd ci the manner III which the employers
~ heir yorkInen. Now, here was an opportunity if
him to cxer, his philanthropy. ne M y b 10 rrassl 10 ame.
10, n ,h,e. millions Of slaves. here, 81 us own door, were
,. nrce thousand suffering white men-men working for from
eiiphI 10 len sEinings a weck-paying as Gear Tor al the artl.
Giles they can get, not what .ney w. - r,nnirsd oo,a;do.a,; ,n.
~, he Inns, our memorial in his pocket and look no notice
oft. | need not repeat the trinsacHohs = ,c neetnes pei
. ~ ~ = ,tis one, A dcputation OF your committee waited
'lous - 'his =. secretary, on Friday night. He had gone
on me c"imo{ p saves soirre-he had gone 10 sigh Orer
The ,rronss Of American bondage, ~ w.. c 1iil%u y evening"
Ina heari nxeraowing with kindness, nc calsa u meeting ol
ms leaia n,atr n speech TO them, told them that he
wouId do them all the good 10 ms poSI II u =, up NE
pocket, and offered them an aSsI naid class > Of : ,r rui pe1 pun H.
or a weekly advance 10 st -"
Britain Of from 81. 10 "a.
MIR VIM. Reid, addressed the mee'hg' and spoke OF
The illumination of the "s%e'tng sys'e"' oy whicn
na class of middlemen, or mahu'ae'ue'0' touno iooa
md lodoinp for their worEmen, "i'le he poor TEL
,oye pnder these sweaters we're IN q STATE oi Is cruel BON
dspe, If not infinitely worse than 'has oescf'sea In "oncie
Toms Cabin"
Finally, Mr.. McMilan spoke win great energy OF the
- ,ha demands Of The shocmakers, whose miseries
were frequently very severe NV '''o ~
bv so. MIR. NJ. said that
.. ,a. unnecessary that he should harrow up their feel
;,na nv . = DESCRIPTION Of these, but he might mention n well
Known fact as an Illustration. (Hehr, nearl 81 knew MOI
- - ,r,e, resorctsblc, Woodworking men, "hose wives
~ n,bon he Mains of child. bearing were upon mem, had
. hou, leg put into iheIr hands, and cases ~heIe even lnose
moor women, when scarcely recovered, naa = ,s ~ Up IN oeu,
=, - ,IAo atpn pmnl0pmHnt III GNuDIEl C liIllS u
a y IiltIe aid 10 sustain them in existence. laeaI, near,
and "rrue.") a shocmaker's wife, in tact, vas oGhged 10
"mu no hard as her husband, and why should II be SO In
o.",or a,a,e of socicty7 Why should society, iuf The sake
Of o law law prices, seek 10 ruin Individuals Yet 30 II was, for
under the present low scale OF remuneIa'io" neeess'ty ON
n"IIisd the shoemaker 10 employ his wife In order TO earn for
,hsm n subsistence. The rise which they sought might do
,h,m n l,ule good; but now, although a young man might
iiy, nv The trade, with the present state OF wages married
mu % I,r,d i, imnossiblc TO give his children either the food,
nIncaIion or clothing which they ought 10 receive. People
ui,br talk Of slavery and Uncle TOMS Cabin. but he could
sIa1e before this meeting that he would be ptifng 10 gre his
IE. i;m. traits 10 any employer 1cho irould gire himself and
f,nuv food, clothing, and education, and mat, 100, without
paving two hundred dollars forit."
.pan, a correspondent of the London Times gives the
f,lIowinp facts with reference 10 a great mantua. making es.
Enlistment in that city:
"Work is commenced every morning at ] O'Clock, and
continued Ill! II at night, a period OF sixteen hours, The on.
~ intervals allowed being about ten minutes for each meal
viz: breakfast a, 5 o'clock, dinner al nall past i lea al
half nasl :. and supper al half past 9-the total amount OF
lime allowed for eating their food, was going TO FAY, but
surely boiling ii is the more appropriate phrase, being torty
minutes per day; thus leaving fifteen hours and twenty
mirn,,s as the period devoted 10 work. And this, be il re.
memb.red, is not merely during the bu:y season, as at Inc
West End, but for all the year round from January to pecefn-
her. for Won must understand that Al the establishment 10
vbich ! r, fer, the greater part Of the sewing IL given out 10
slop- work 5 in the business season; the city danes, ! 81 Lect,
nave no notion Of the kind Of dens iheir dresses arc MADE 10
and all that is done indoors is the original cutting out ana
ultimate fitting together OF the separate parts; out tnat "hen
me slack season comes there is always as tnuch sewing re-.
rived as will keep The girls OF The reimbursement employed
80 tn, hn full pltrh--O that there Is, IN IhCt, no IdC lsO
AZ all for Them. And yet Tor this continued and unrelenting
pressure Of sixteen hours work per day, from year END 10
wears end. this firm assume Ia themselves Inc greatest pos
siblc credit They thank God that they arc not as other
firms are AT The Veal end-oppresSors and destrovers OF
young women. They nrver-not even Tor a ie" weeks IN
,he busy seasou-nakc their people sit up III. three or iour
in the morning. Oh, no! their gas is always turned on IN
The workroom BY II o'clock. Why, sir. The West end sys'
lem. with its few weeks Of severity, followed as hls ~
m"nIhs of comparative leisure, il mercy itelf when ricwel
alongside of this unmiiigated, never ending, SIM beginning
slavery 10 which ! am referring
m.nt haze is Sunday. Then they may go where and DO
what they please; but rom Monday morning 10 oa'ufuaY
night, they are az complete Elsoltrs hs any III 'rN Sete.
They know no, whether the sun aniheS q me ain ans All
That fine. lney are not allowed 10 cross the infcsnold even
10 purchase a pair @! shoes or a new gown if ,hTEHSe''ee.
and must employ their friends outside 10 dn i?s i"' the'h.
"Sor i, ,lr accommodation INDOORS such az IN nny way
10 f.conci,y them - this close confinement. The WORK room,
~ ui,th ten OF Twelve # them ire employed, is only about
Twelve feet SQUARE. and il entirely devoid OF arrangements
for ventilation which is the more 10 be deplc'ed as during
The evening they have TO encounter The heat and loui ar Vi
three tlr!ng gas burners TlPit ' 'eh HS"As s'J
and wiuduw bsinc shut oy which a breath OF pure air could
possibly enter. The bedrooms arc equally uncoInioriao'',
mn fewer than six persons being luddlcd into one, and four
..Hut Thy don't they demonstrate against this vile treat-
meur, you will perhaps ASH Why, sir, they nav. 'en,on-
straled, and are none the better Tor j. IN lhuraasY a.
without any prompting from any one, oni 5s!)re lhey nae
heard OF the recert declaration 81 tho fifty iwG West SID
firms in favor OF tel and a hall hours work, they consulted
together, and, finding that The usage TO w'.lcn they were
Subjected was equally intolerable TO them all, they sent a
memorial TO The heads OF the firm 10 the elect ihat they couIu
not continue 10 work more than twelve honrs-srz from
ciebt o'clock in the morning till eight at night-withant men
tiGninp any deduction for meals, leaving mat point as D c
fore. That moderate memorial, cir, was treated WIN me W.
most contempt. Its authors were snecrinsly told that tney
uere scckinp' TO degrade Themselves 10 The level Of factory
urls, and that their conduct wus only worthy OF drunken sol
dicrs and sailors, who were the only parties ,hat mad ever any
thing TO do with round robins" You would be amused, sl'
if | could d, scribe TO you the horror which these yonng girls
fell al the mention Of this awful round robin They had
never heard the word before, and had NOT the slehtest Nea
OF what il meant, and they were afraid that, without Know.
ing it, they had been guilty OF some naneless 1trocity..
"rheir minds were, therefore, greatly relieved when, in re-
ply 10 q Iimid inquiry as 10 whet a round robin really was
lhcy were informed that it was only the bit Of paper 10
which they had put their names which was so Described
Inc consequence OF this rejection OF the prayer OF Their me
mortal is that eight Of them have given notice OF their lnlen'
ton 10 quit the establishment on the Eth OF next month";
The olhGts are apprentices, who cannot leave.
"And yet, sir, would you believe II, these white slaves are
nj This moment busily employed In making a dress for Mrs.
Beecher Stowe, The champion of the black slaves of Ameri-
ca! | wish you would ask maj iady 10 ske a peep INTO tne
cabin where her dress is now being made, and 10 put a lev
questions TO those who are employed in making il, and tell
you what she thinks OF the system shei s patronizing"
Such is the dcsoIa,c picture, from British hands, OF a very
respectable portion of The Scotch and English population,
over whose sufierinPs British Ladies' and Lords have not
The lime nor the feeling TO shed a tear OF sympathy-they
are so fully engrosscd BY The lawful oppression" OF the
poor slaves in this country, as POLITICALLY deIineated before
them by the Imaginative Mrs. Stowe.
Bat a very hard hi, was given by The Rev. MIR. Stowe TO
the Scotch sympathizers in The anti slavery schemes of his
cara spOsa. He pointed them TO the magnificent buildings
for the manufacture of cotton, The frui, Of slave labor. He
told Them emphalicaly that it was they who, by employing
slave raised cotton, were really encouraging and sustaining
the institution Of slavery. And AT the great demonstration
in Excite. Hall, this same Professor Stowe made a speech in
which he hurled the same severe charge against the selfish
ness OF Great Britain. Professor Stowe. after mentioning
the favorable opinions which were held with regard 10 the
condition Of slaves in the early part of the Republic, when
il, was universally acknowledged that slavery was a sin
and ought to be abolished, and ins,ancing as a proof OF
this that in his early days black children were admitted
into the same schools as white, he observed that
This state OF things continued up to abouI 30 years ago,
and the reason that il had changed was owing to the profit