Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-09-03
New York Herald

mans Union.
New York Herald
Women who are compelled to rely
upon the labor OF their hands or brains
aud who have not the strong srm o
father, brother or husband to protec
them, sre subjected to wrongs and injus
tlcs Of which the general public have
little or 10 knowledge. The records o.
that very excellent institution, the
Working Women's protective union
which was Organized IN 1868 "to pro-
mote the interests OF women who OBJ
tsiu livelihood 10y employments othel
tlan household service, aud especially
10 provide them with legal protection
from the frauGs and impOsitions Of 10.
sorupulous employers" has during the
past sixteen years performed q work OF
service 10 the working women which is
not h be lightly estimated. Ii is not an
uncommon practice for employers, find
ing tsat they can dispense with the ser
vices % their employees, TO discharge them
with balance still Que them. Indeed,
some msks It a custom to retain por-
ton Of the weekly stipend anent the
time Of discharge.
Oae ef the most common frauds now
pTEciiced upon women is that now well
known as the sewing machine swirdle.
u lder the guise OF beuev0leuce, too fire.
q Ienjly, u descriptions agents induce the
sezmstIe to purchase y sewing ma-
chine, 20 be psid for in weekly or month
ly iDssalimeais. tleast this IL the sup
position Of toe seaDstTess. But when
the arrangement is about to be cOnsum
mated printed form is handed to her
for Der signature, which ID but a lease OF
q mschiue 10 her a. q rental OF five dol
Lars per month, while u ver1sl promise
is given that when she has paid twelve
dollSrs or more rent the machine is to
become her own property. Relying
UPON her credu'ity sod Der ability to dis
eliminate between the lease and the YER
bal promise the victim is entrapped.
She believes that the money she is pay
ing per month is making the machine
securely her own. The Sgent knows
fail wel thst 10y one failure to pay the
monthly install nent, falling back upon
the lease which the sesmstress has been
induce to sign, and the character Of
which she does not comprehend, he may
seize and repossesses himself of that by
which she is to earn her livelihood.
Tais may occur, and, in fact, it has too
frequently been the case that the SEAM
stress has nearly paid for the machine
aud was within only one or two months
Of its actual ownership.
II called to account the agent falls
bsck UPON the printed form, and shows
that il was merely leased st five dollars
per month She ssys she was paying
for the machine by ibstallments, and
that when she had paid the full amount
asked for the machine il was 10 become
har OWE property. The WHY agent asks
her for written proof of her statements,
aud presents the written form signed by
herself Ehs cannot controVert il. So
he takes the machine, but little worn by
less than years use, and her labor and
money are gone beyond recall. The
woman is robbed, sRd the crafty agent
is protected by the law. This can be
called no hing NOR or less than sys-
tematic sWindls, and the meanest kind
OF one at that.
Ia partially breaking up this swindle,
ana ia presenting the rascalities OF their
agent to the sewing-machine compa-
MES the lion has done excellent work.
Another form of this swindle is in in
ducipR the poor woman TO purchase a
machine under the promise of keeping
her in constant work until it ia paid for.
Instead Of paying her for the work done
all is credited against the machine, and
she Is compelled to work in the dlrest
poverty, OF sac her machine seized, aud
her previous work 60 for nothing. l1-
Vulnerable instances Of this most con-
temptible sWindiing could be given il
IT were necessary. The above is but one
of the impositions to which working
women are subject. Since the
fret Of the year four hun
bred and foTty-thTee complaints
against employers have been presented
10 the union for redress. The msjority
of these C user consist OF petty evssions
ofjust claims. The meTest pretext upon
which to base dissatisfaction with the
work performed is seized upon for re-
tention of portion o; the wages. Cen
orally the amounts retained are small
in the eyes OF the employer, but sadly
large in the eyes of the emplOye, since
necessity increases the worth of q penny
beyond its nominal value. Lamentable
rs the fact may be, yet it is true thst the
most OF these complaints are msde by
women against women. Too often, IN
der the highly moral guiss Of inhictiDg
an alleged deserved punishment, these
poor womeE are robbed OF their hardly
earned wsges. The case Of leading
ACTRESS was noticed among the list
against a seamstTess for the making Of
q thestricsl robe, nineteen dollars and
nine'y-two cents Another is that OF a
fashionable milliner on Broadway
against q trimmer, the figures standing
At sevenfy-siX dollars. Then there is
distiD guished dIessmakeT, who slso has
her emporium on Broadway, employing
somewhere in the neighborhood Of thir.
ty girls. She has fully a dozen cases
fled against her on the collection book,
the bills covering all sums from two up
to thirty dollars. 0ne OF the most
shameful frauds Is that of lace en-
br iderer. He advertised in the paper
for pupils who wished to learn the art Of
cework, stating that he would lind
work for his scholars as soon as they
were proficient. One poor girl gladly
responded to the advertisement and
applied to him for instruction.
He agreed to teach her thorough
ly In three or four days for
the Eum OF ten dollars, and then find her
work. She paid him the money, and be-
gan her course Of instruction. He failed,
however, to teach her as perfectly as he
promised how to operate the machine,
alleging that he had not time. TIE re-
suit was that at the end OF week he had
her ten dollars and her work, and she
was no more competent to run an en-
broideTiDg machine than when she took
her fist lesson. She demanded her
money, but it was refused her. She
asked him for work, but that was also
denied. On her complaint to the union,
that Institution entered a suit for her
against him, which was decided in her
favor, and he was forced to pay the bill,
costs and sheTiff's fees. During the hour
that the repor .er sat there twenty-five
complaints were fled by Mr.. Persons
(the attorney employed by the union)
for prosecution. The plaintiffs covered
all GLASSES of trade and conditions. There
were miiliners, dTessmakers, Lu-seF,
governesses, fur sewers and corset-sew-
err. Some bad large bills fer collection,
and others q "Widow's mite" but all
cases. great and small, were listened to
a'teLb vely, carefully jotted down for iu-
vestigstioD, aud the clients, each in
turn, dismissed with such words of en-
eoursgement as their csse demanded.
~ Will thus be seen that the Working
Women's protective union is doing a
grStpitOus work, which ,h0uld commend
y 10 al VINO are cbaTItsbIy inclined, to
those who love justice, al d who believe
the words Of the Master, that "the Ia.
DOFQF a. Of his hire