The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1875-02-13
TENEMENT CIGAR FACTORIES.


The report OF the New York Board OF
Health, affecting to give their opinion on
the effects of cigar making in the tenement
trctorics u that city. on the health Of the
Inmates, published elsew here, is worthy d
more than passing notice. illustrating, as
Il does, the tendency 81 all public officials
70 palliate tssc gravest injustice committed
by the wealthy on the poorer classes, and to
| prostitute their influence and official 20.
sItlon % smother all honest investigation.
No one can read their manifesto without
being convinced that neither science, ex-
perience nor common sense sustains or
warrants their conclusions. Ii is white
washing, pettlfogging document from be-
ginning to end, evidently prepared with a
design 70 hoodwink the public, and sustain
those soulless manufacturers, who, devoid
OF all humanity OF manhood, are willing.
Ia their insane greed for money, to sacri-
hce the health and lives Of those operators
whose necessities compel them TO accept their
ultlmatum. The admission that the
services of children too young 10 b, tr,ssted
from home, d,,d the rheumatic old people, in
stead Of depicting add t. the family IN
come, Is humiliating one indeed, and
shows o. what straits the Inspectors were
compelled to resort to turtlfy their state
ment Of the case, and is asad, sad common
tary on the boasted intelligence and civiI-
zatiou 81 the nineteenth century. and a
standing refutatlon of the claim that the
condition IF the American mechanic is far
su ,erlur TO that Of the 50 called European
pIuper. Ii proves beyond peradventure
chat Drs. t) Emerson, Tracy and Day are
frauds and toadies Of the first water, unfit
for the positions they occupy, and that
their names should be dressed in Grape in
every cigar factory IN the country
The reply Of the Citizens Committee,
retuting their mlsstatements, Sc replete
with facts, common sense, and soAnd logic,
riddles their apology, and does not leave
them peg 70 stand on. Every position
they have taken in favor of the prevailing
system, has been rtfuted in manner So
convincing that he Who runs may read. On
the questions Of Air, Light, Ventilation,
Food Cleanliness, Wages, and Health
subjects to which they profess to have CIV
en- their especial attention their answers
are either preysrications Or direct false
hoods. For example, IN replying e. the
ventilation uf the yenenneuts and factories.
the Board 0f Health saws
Ventilation can be secured in both cases
q shops by open windows
Now when 1T is taken into consideration
that workshops where one ~ two hun
dred mechanics are employed. are OF should
be constructed with view t. thorough
ventilation by a skylight Or other means,
while dwellings, where single family re-
sides, a. not require r. he constructed on
such PRINCIPLES, the fallacy Of the argu
ment can be seen at a glance Again, it
must be remembered that children too
young to be trusted from home" and
rheumatic old people cannot sit near the
draft Of an open dor or window the only
means Of ventilation IN tenement build
ing without running risks which able
bodied men need not fear
But Why pursue the subject further II
being compelled to live, eat, drink and
sleep where the poisonous fumes Of tobac-
co permeate every nook and Granny uf the
room; 70 labor from fourteen to sixteen
hours per day t. exc out a miserable exis-
ence, and where a return Of $500
for each person engaged is the weekly
average remuneration; where social moral
or mental recreation j. out Of the question,
and where body and soul destroying agen-
cles are brought to bear upon the slave.
who must live in the tenement selected by
his employer generally his own proverty
can be Justified by any law, human or
divine. We leave to the Intelligence of our
readers to decide