The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1869-05-13
The Story of Manufacturing New England
-Appallins Statements.

appalling Statements.
A public meeting was held recently
in Boston, to devise means to better
the condition of the working women
of that city. We qnote the following
from the report of the proceedings to
the New Hork Herald::>- -
"A Mrs. Houghton said she had
been informed by many sewinswomen
that they did not support themselves
by their work. These women took
shirts to make at fifty cents a DOZEN
'Whatv cried the President, excit-
edly, What! What Fifty cents a
dozen! Do'syou kHewswomeHEthat
take shirts to make at fifty cents
dozen 2
" Mrs. Houghton, very decidedly
I do, sir, and shirts at four cents a
| piece. 1t is on Milk street that the
shirts at fifty cents q dozen were got.
l know several women who prefer to
go QUITO wash to sewing at those rates.
They prefer to wash and clean houses
at twelve and half cents an hour
Mrs. Daniels mentioned the case of a
girl who worked from seven O'Clock
in the morning to half-past six o'clock
at night for four dollars week, and
had to pay it all out for board. She
said: Il knew soldiers widow-with
eleven children who has been last
winter on the verge of starvation. In
Stoughton, a short time since,1 found
soldiers widows. who, W ere in the
same condition. Even in Washington
the same is the ease. Gentlemen ask
me why do not these women 60 west
and take up land You might almost
as well ask why they do not.go to the
moon with scarcely penny, or even
clothing sufficient to keep them warm,
it is utterly impossible. They cannot
go out of the city without aid
ssa" DR.. Dio Lewis, the wells known
lecturer and writer on physical cul-
ture, said; Il get my clothes made at
an establishment on Washington ST.,
considered one of the best tailoring
| shops in the city. I was attracted
there by the belief that. they treated
their sewing=girls unusually WE'LL
One day, in conversation with the gen.
| tleman who has immediate charge of
the 130 or 14O girls there, asked is
this hard work for the gifls7!'Js'Y Y es, it
| is hard work. We'll, what do you
pay them?' 'Oh, we pay them 81 and
So a week, and there is girl who
eal..:--Es eal.:--E &c a Meo1=z.t sDoes She work
nardY yes, she is astavef to work
1 said, 'thisiis warm,i close place;
how long DO these girls last?' Well
he said, if they run sewing machine
they last from one and a half to two
years, though some few stand it long
er. j Their backs give out; their spincs
give way. 1t is that ugly motion of
the foot that. .spoils the spine. l Won
der that some one does not devise
sewing machine that will allow the
operator to put the foot backward and
forward, as in walking% WELL I
said, when they give out, at that, you
put them at something else? mo,
when they give out they are pretty
we'll spoiled.l" 51i! a.a-G ,9sH
That is,an appalling statement, and
yet, terrible as it is, it is not more SO
than the report of the male manufac-
turing population of New England
made by General II. K. Oliver, the
other day, to the Legislature of Mass
achusetts. He says that jeertain par
ties are. called the great manufacturers
of New England, and 'Ehave been en-
gagged as such for several generations J;
yet the man or the family, that has
been in their employ and come out of
it with more than enough for a decent
interment is yet to be found" General
Oliver further says: "A helpless
crowd of workers, the oppression of
low wages, inevitable poverty, and a
disguised serfdom; rich master, a
poor servant and "a mean population
such is the story of manufacturing in
Old England, and such is the story of
manufacturing in New England
Making shirts for fifty cents dozen
earning 81 to S5 a week-lasting
from one and half to two years
when their backs give out and their
spines give way, after which they
are pretty well spoiled and unfit for
work-such are the sewing girls
Those who spend their lives in the
manufactures, while living, suffer the
oppression of low wages, inevitable
poverty, disguised serfdom, and
leave with not more than enough for
decent interment. Such is the sad
picture presented of the workingmen
and workingwomen in manufacturing
establishments of New England.
And it is noticeable that the rich are
growing richer and the poor poorer,
yearly. A disguised serfdom is ere
ated, from which the slaves are unable
to escape, on account Of their poverty.
Like Victor Hugo's devil-fish, that
never releases its hold on its victim
until all the flesh is picked from its
bones and nothing of it left but the
bare skeleton, so these rich New Eng
land manufacturers and capitalists
never let man or family free of their
grasp until the grave is ready to re-
ceive their worn-out frames. "a rich
master, a poor servant and a mean
population ~ Such, says General o.
iveT, Is the story of manufacturing in
New England.-EnQmirer. " 7 !
-fsc --- IL II ----es eel------ &1
The Eight Per Cent. Interest Law. .
The following is the vote by which
the law legalizing eight per cent. in
terest upon special contract, passed
the Senate: a ffsa ssa Hor i
Yeas-Messrs. Biggs, Brooks, Bur-
rows, Campbell CoreN Dangler,
Dowdney, Emmitt, Everett, ,Griswold,
Keifer, Kessler, King, Kramer, Onder-
dohk, Potts, Stedman, Winner, Wood
worth, and Yeoman-20. no tBen
Nays-Messrs. Carter, Evans, Cod
frey, Golden, Harmount, ,Hutcheson,
Jamison, Kenney, Lawrence. Linn,
May, Rex, Scribner and Simmons
Ia. i,a Aga TgE g7T na q" --Efa
This bill is now enacted into a law
to take effect October L, 1859. Five
Democratic Senators-Messrs. Camp
bell, Dowduey, Emmitt, iOnderdonk