Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1863-11-16
" ORCEs TIE RI:
MONDAY, xovMM SEE 10, ' ',.0.l.-.-


working women
The hieier-Tages movement SCI q" '"o' -
,.l.;,r-,,an ut various trades in the cities.
,.o, oxto,5ad 10 the humber class Of working
,ro,ncp. who are pursuing the same ends, bat
IN a more sensible and practical manner.
They have formed an association for mutual
help, while seeking relief by enligltening
public opinion, and by wise and patient mp
peal TO the good sense and justice Of their
EMPLOYERS. 1t is better plan than dchantly
throwing up their needles, and thimbles, and
thread following in angry and vindictiye pro-
cession one bad leader after another, and after
all threatening their employers with iniimida-
ton. which fails Il hundred times where rca-
son and persuasion fail once. Their nuve-
ment, if II is as prudently managed to the end,
cannot fail to amelurate the lot of many of
them. and lift them for a while at least above
the hard condition of dependence and pinch
ing want.
But if there is one distressed class that has
a better right than any other to arraign not
only the men who Cypress them but the.inex-
orablr social custom or prejudice which makes
the injustice Of their oppressors possible, it
is the guild Of needle-women in our large
cities Society first shuts them out of all the
better wages Of profitable employment, then
leaves them at the mercy of spectators in the
limited sphere where they can work-a sphere
always over-crowded by competition, and al
ways eXacting the utmost possible labor for
the smallest possible return. The weary and
sad refrain of the Song of the Shirt is no
fancy, but the living expression of thousands
to whom every day brings nothingbut the con-
sciousness Of a heavy burden of which no
activity Of theirs can ever relieve them,
though they sew never SO nimbly, and never
so late. They are fortunate if they keep their
honor pure under such load and escape the
fate Of women weaker, though not much
worse, than themselves but who have passed
that point at which society, though it may
sometimes pity them, ceases-to forgive.
The condition of men whose labor almost
always commands enough for their own and
their families support, and who when one kind
Of work fails them turn their hands to ano-
tiVI; Is OuS VI CONlldidllN Z llut leuucnce anu
comfort. Custom throws open all depart
ments Of physical activity for men who are
willing to work, and though they sometimes
receive wages incommensurate with their ser
vice, they are never compelled to work for
less than is adequate to the ordinary necessity
Of their lives. Men of correct habits and
sound physical health have resources always
at their command. Society under free insti-
tutions dispenses its favor to the humblest Of
them with no stinted hand. But free institu.
tions have not yet learned to give equal favor
t2 women who are equally dependent on their
own eXertions for their own support. In al
most all branches of service where thay o..
tolerated, they receive wages incommensurate
with the service they rrndor, in onIe branches
Iuauequate 10 decent support.
The dstresses of sewng-women are not
now brought before the public for the first
time; nor is this the first effort that has been
made for their help. But it is the most
promising Of goods results. The facts
revealed of what they are compelled to do and
suffer will awaken public interest in their be-
half, and that is the beginning Of salutary re-
form. They might bear the great burden of
their life in silence, toiling on.
"With fingers weary and worn,
With eyelids heavy and red
till death took them to its kinder rest Yet
prejudice and the oppression under which
they suffer would revel on in the blood Of their
sacrifice. 1t is only by wise agitation that
they will get what belongs to them. There is
nothing in justice or in reason to compel
woman to do mans work for less than
mans pay, or any work for wages reduced and
degraded because the laborer is woman. BY
and by, fshe is patient, the world will find it
out, and men will concede something ap-
preaching equality of reward, instead of taking
Systematically the lions share of whatever be-
longs to both.