The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1866-04-28
CHICAGO, APRIL %, 1866.

ling eli this time the wife and children are
suffering from cold and hunger They fit
round the cabsrst 9Th the hope Of catching
his eye, and thinking that, after an, father
lis not utterly insensible 10 pity or sesnefse
But that man is no longer father, nor even
man.; he is merely ruined and drunk on
issuing from the cabdret if he has not
beaten somebody or himself been beaten, the
family have cause to rejoice Aarunkard
who enters o cdLGrst is never sure of not
going to prison the next day. Many books
of morality and medicine have been written
on this ignob1e vice the latter are better
because they abound in irrefragable truths I"
| EXPECTS OF ISrEMPERAScR.
After noticing the work of Dr. Magnus
| Hus on the enormous consumption Of spirit
uous liquors in Sweden, NJ Simon gives an
account Of the state OF things at home;
"Even in France there are towns where
women rival men In habits Of iatoxication.
| At Lille, at Rouent there are some so sstur-
ated with il that their infants refuse to take
the breast of a sober woman. In the noun
tains OF the Vosges. infants drink eau-de-vie.
On Sun day in tie Churches the air is liter
ally infected with the smell of eau-dc-ve
made from potatoes. In those mountains
there are no more frequent causes Of idiotcy
and imbecility, for in general the dwellings are
healthy and the water is excellent. The great
misfortune Is that the children Of drunkais
are idiots, so that the punishment fol-
lows from generation to generation, from the
guilty and degraded father to the innocent
children. In the manufacturing towns, the
mayors are obliged to fake measures against
the crbdrsts that supply ean-de vie to CHILD
rem, for there are drunkards of fifteen as
there are lab0rers at eight; and, morally ard
phy sically, they present a melancholy spec
tacIe Can il be this precious debauchery
and the consequences Of il which oblige the
| War Department te lower the regulations
height for the service What is done to
combat the evil A few sermons which are
not listened 10 a few municipal ordinances
that are not carried out, pathetic cxherta-
tions which nobody pays attention 10, are
notsntlcient to absbive saclety, which allows
The pestiIence % spread, as If Il were an ~
eyiiable consequences Of industry. Instead
Of preaching and furnishing, cure should be
applied, and for that the cause OF the evil
should be known. No one can believe, no
one VIII venture to say, that the wretched
people who haunt the public house TO ruin
and to poison themselves, have any excuse
for so doing III 9f
THE EVIL or EKcEssws HOURS or LABOR.
| Yet think Of the twelve hours that these
men spend in their workshops-twelyel long
and weariseme hours, without any recrea-
ton, without even the pleasure of seeing
their work finished under their hands for
the artisan IL a mere piece % machinery, and
feels no interest in what ne produces. After
those twelve hours, 80 exhausting, 50 monot-
oneus, follow him, in the snow and frost
when he quits his shop. Mount The crazy
aud rotten staircase leading to bis room
Enter with him into the frIghtful dogholc,
where his meal is scarcely ever ready, for
This wife is at work like himself; whore he
never tastes wine, because wine is too dear !,
where ne cannot breathe, because air fit for
hreathing-is dearc still than wine; where
he has no furniture, for during illness and
stoppage Of work his furniture is sent to the
pawnbroker and where he finds neither
fire, nor covering, nor Sleep DO you know
many men, even among those who are most
eloquent on drunkenness, who would resist
the attraction OF the pleasant tap well
lighter, we'll warmed, with its glittering pots,
itssdusty bottles, its gay companions, and
all the semblance of happiness. which hides
from him the want o, real happincssY"
/ COOPERATION.
| NJ. Simon notices the efforts made BY the
cooperative associations in England, Ger
many and France, for the improvement Of
the habitations for the poor. London, he
4 saws, Is of all places in the world the city
where most has been done in this way:
s'It, indeed, wanted it, and will want il
more for long time to come for in city
so immense, containing a floating popula-
ton so numerous, many years will pass
before anything like complete refurin can
be effected"
In spite Of many difficulties he admits
that a great deal has been done in London,
and French architects and organizers of as
sociations for the Improvement of lodging
houses, would learn much from it. One
thing IN particular is deserving Of imitation
namely, thai wafer Is carried into all the
rooms ssand," he adds, cleanliness becomes
gradually habit, and very soon neces-
sity. With US, on the contrary, water, and
consequently cleanliness, is an object Of
luxury" IA"
HOMES FOR woRKMEN.
For some years past France has entered
lresolutely on reform. The huge buildings
known as 'cites oucrieres," constructed pre-
vions to 1850, were failure !, and not more
than five or six OF these barracks-or these
lconvents, so to speak favor with the
working classes. Instead OF collecting fami
lies together in. these buildings, it is now
sought to keep them apart, and this, hs
thinks, an important progress, as it favors
Iiniividual liberty He decidedly gives .
preference to the plans carried out by the
Mulhouse Association, which was formed III
4 1858, witlia capital Of SOC, ,00of. in 90 shares
lof 8, 5,000f each. The State contributed 500,
l600f., which have been laid -out in streets
} Sideways, sewers, fountains, plantations
baths, wash houses, bakeries, &c. Witt
these resources the association has bull
!; seven hundred houses, containing at ths
present day population Of five thousand
n The houses are OF various sorts. Some have
one story, and some only aground heor
but the architect has turned to- the best pos
sible accouAt the space at his disposal, with
} view to health, decency and comfort. Each
Ihoase, with It's garden, covers 100 squar,
metz es. The workmgman IS the picprietor
How this is done by the kulheuss Assoeia
ton is thus explained. The price Of hous,
! with a gronnd-f ,or only is now 2,650f
Il I(fl06,) and Z, 800. or sometimes S,400f., o
"a one-story house Ths associations aeithel
l-~.s. ..x.r l..s.s, -. - .al.. la .~,-a. a.