The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-12-31

being only 90 much coarse work TO be done,
the greater the subdivision Of wages.
There being % nnch fine work TO do, the
fewer ths Workmen the larger the portion
Of wages 10 each ans. u the woman ia
dissatisfied with making shirts at six cents
apiece, let her make dresse at fifteen dol-
lars But she does not know how. What.
then. is she complaining II? Must the en-
ployer who wants shirss, and does not want
drsxes, pay Cor one end receive the other (?
f,c it is said; but The smployer who wants
shirts made should pay living price. Not
in the least Whsthss bic price be living
or dead 10 no affair Of bin Il is bis solely
10 pay the sum necssmry TO get his work
done II is not q question Of morality. u
ia question Of market price. You hare
no more right TO dsmsad Of man that be
shah pay twelve csnn for work which be
can buy at six tbsn " has to demand Of
you that you shall pay twelve dollars q
barrel for hour when ron can get il for Eve.
Morality and phianthEopy and sentimen-
tslity are entirely end Of place here. They
may come in TO relLsse individual suhF y
49, u - nI111ea1Gn
what they are worth. Extra price for sx-
ira quality Extra price for common quail
ity may be charity or sbort-sightedness /;
but it is not trade. Grade is law unto
itself II needs no outside Interference
The fashionable dressmaker or ths noted
lawyer demands exorbitant prices. The
remedy is at hand-yOu need not employ
them. If they are really exorbitant, the
Withdrawal of patronage will speedily bring
them to terms. II they are so skillful that
you must employ them, then their terms
are not exorbitant. For their signal skill
they have right demand signal wages /;
and you have no more right to say that they
shall bring theie style and their sagacity to
a cheaper market than you have to demand
that the owner Of coal mine shall distrib-
ute his coal around among the poor, or sell
it to werkingmen at half price.
The suit lately brought by dressmaker
to recover the amount Of her bill from a
customer exactly illustrates my meaning. |
know nothing of either party to the suit.
Both may be innocent Of any wrong intent
toward each o.her. Two thousand dollars
seems a large sum for dressmaking bill !;
but |, for one, am heartily glad when any
woman is 80 skillful in any honorable call
ing that she controls the market, and dares
charge high prices. She has precisely the
same right to do it that the great lawyer
has to charge high fees He does not nee
essarily bestOw more thought on bis cases
than his lowIier brother; but ho is paid for
his ability to do more work with less
thought The city dressnaker puts no
more stitches into her gown than the coun-
try dressmaker; but she charges for the
.Je-ne- sdis qsIOi-which is born, not made.
Of course, she may abuse her gift, and
make fraudulent charges she may want an
extra fifty dollars on Saturday night, glance
over her account book, and assess that sum
upon two or three Of her rich and careless
customers. That is simple dishonesty. So
the hotel keeper charges carriage hire to
guests who have ordered no carriage. II
they protest, he says it was mistake and
RENTS the 6ne. If t. 10 not notice it, be
gains bis five or ten dC.lars. 1t is only a
rnnaa of theft But il is not theft for a
woman to put upon her work as high val
uation as it will bear. 1t is public as well
as personal service. Every woman who
demands high price on what she has to
sell, and gets it, benefits every other wO-
man who has anything to sell. Nor does
she injure any one. For the women who
cannot afford to buy their dresses and bon
nets can make their own. Style is a lux
ury, not a necessity. A woman is under
no obligation to wear Worth gown, nor
is there real bitterness to the pain Of going
through life without it,