, 1881-02-20
WAGE WORKERS.
Some Facts About Their Condi.
ton and Present Pros
poets.
What the Workshop Inspectors Have
Discovered in Their Jour-
neyings.
The Council to Be Urged to Again Make an
Appropriation for The Present In.
spection System.

| '"o Suuhcll ~ DC utgtu u AAalH maAe dR
Appropriation Tor The Present In.
spection System.
The report Of the Workshop Inspectors is
| nearly completed, aud will be submitted to
Health Commissioner De Wolf next week. It
| contains great deal Of very Interesting infor~
nation, and will be awaited with interest. a
TRIBUNE reporter had talk With one Of tho In
| spectors while at work yesterday, and learned
| from him what follows:
Tho Council passed an ordinance in October,
1875, providing for tho eanitary regulation and
inspection Of all places OF employment aud serv
| Ice. 1t remained n deul letter up to April !,
1850, because the Council had neglected to make
! an appropriation to pay the Inspectors. This
ordinance had been gotten up by T. J. Morgan.
| In Imitation OF the British Parliamentary law Of
1878, nnd was glttering generality. huying no
t pracncal effect on account Of tho division Of
powers and functions among the different do
purttnents Of tho City Government.
| Morgan worked ont, with the help of one Of
| the Factory Inspectors, new ordinance tho
main main points of which nre these: Air-space for
workers, ventilation Drainage, plumbing, sufety
| OF 1n4chnery and elevators. trc-escapes. exits,
sic. 1t requires the monthly Inspection Of every
thereon to tic Health Commissioner. The
Council passed this ordinance without single
dissenting wore, and 1t has been In force since
|
are: 2lo workrooms and RI p water closets pro-
yided with vcatilating appliances (one firm
spent sso0 to yentilate two floors, another firm
veutilators in an iron fouudry); = catch
| basins cleaned; Il drains repaircd; =.
opsa ad esposed vants ,e remoycd 1 III
cleaned; II re-cscapes constructed Or addi-
! tonnl exits provided;. tho wallis and ceings Of
! doors, and sides OF IS workshops mostly cur.
penter and repair -shops) put III good repair, 80
] as TO Keep out rain snow, aud wind; IL stair-
ways or wide scuttios opened or nowly erected;
III elevators and hoistways guarded, fenced, or
! boxed in; over 1000 driving and tly-whccls,
counter-shatts, belts, pnlcys, circular, and band
saws, md other dangerous machinery fenced
or guarded.
Tho Inspectors haye visited over $3.50 work
! offices, the ordinance requiring the enumeration
| OF all men, women, boys and Girls as divided
into the different trades and occupations:
establishing the State R1,rcau of Labor
Statistics was to provide this Bureau with
tne necessary tnformaton by making tue
Of the wage workers in Chicago : The e1l1n,er:,-
tion has been malc. and it shows about 125,0 ,0Oo
ual, mercantile, skilled, or unsk,lled occupa-
| uons, including a0,Oo0 females. 1t Is very di-
cult to guess ut the ages OF young persons en-
| plOyed. but the guessis haZlrdcd that there arc
about GOO boys and 200 girls under Is years OF
age engaged in manual or mercantile employ
ments.
| the actual resident population of Chicago
after tho close Of navigation IN 1850 was no less
thnn le5,00U, divided into the following clnsscs
to il, 1M,0oo: it Il, l0oo Total Under Il Years.
| S@ss5W 5.WO. Over = years, 3D.Uo0. Last year the
Of the civilized world was unprecedented. there
being an unusual number especially OF Bu-
heminns, Poles, scundinavians. and Germans
| who filled every available living room iii the
| city. causing Il rise in rents, which has eulmi-
mated In I'M attempt to organize nh nnti-exturtion
movement against the landlords. The work ing
OF employment or serric. They like to live in
town. ana would not tAke ii lot In II suburb as
ems cros fs oney On e "a an9 qnsey ey
may suit business men; worklngmen will nuck
into the town and romaln there. even It it takes
81 the earnings Of themselves their wives, and
I'll There are 5o0o6 pupils in tho public and 5000
IL v the pfvate OF o he ne
school, half OF whom nre under Is years. and,
it is claincd, should learn the rndimcnts Of
tile trades In industrial schools connected with
the public-school system, rs practically tested
in Puris and other cities. Several thousand boys
and girls
WASTE THEIR BEST YEARS
Of growth as errand boys, newsboys, ,boot-blacks,
cashboys, and loafers, their sisters idIing away
wod remaa m hoy cou
something which would enable tliom to earn q
living IN after years: .Apprenticeship is prAc-
ctc, and standard occupations; improved ma
ehnesy worked BY steam having superceded tho
women @ formerly tiiied. Ono % standard a1 trade t
after anGtheF is b1;s;inF cut up into
coming snperhuous, md employment getting
source except Ut certain SEASONS OF the year.
There are no less than 25oop men and women
out Of employment in the interval between the
several working seasons, aud this accounts for
tho fact that SO many parents are compelled to
takc their children from school and send them
wherever there is chance to make dollar.
THE Labor Union advocates tho employment Of
the idle. through the concerted action OF
employed to make room for those who ire not,
either by rotation or by reducing the hours Of
Tsde snce he pac 1a Of no trad
has been able to gather all of tho sumo ocoupa-
ton into ono union. AT present ont Of $50 oc:u-
ternatIonai Unions, and Local Unious cannot |
strike, because Chicago can be filled with men |
OF ali standard trades from all parts Of tho |
civilized world upon short notice. An avalanche |
OF immigrants would bury mud crush any Trade
Union which is not International, Trades
unionism santiquated. and has outlived its use
The Factory Inspectors have found families
where both parents work. and even children un-
aud at any price, because the father Of the fam
lily is anxious to provide against business
crisis which may throw him out of work.
The population OF Chicago Is increasing at tho
rate of ut least 100 persons day by births and |
immigration, and tho arrivals from MI parts of
Inc Elt1llZGQ WQElu CONSIST DI plEkEu lHG1A 4uu
women in their reproductive age. 1t is the lower
middle clnss whicE omigratcs from the Euro
peun Continent, the poor working class nCkfng |
the means and the courage to emfgrIte
pennfless in great muses.. Businessmen and
skilled worknlcn arc daily opening new shops |
aud stores, and factories are being removed from
all parts OF the United States to this commercial
centre. As labor marbet, ChicuKo ia the main |
point tor cmgrants from Europe, Canndn, and
all States Of the Uuiun. There are in this city |
settlements of Poles, Dohemnns. Scandinayans, |
Germans, Irish, Cunudians, French. Belgians,
and Dutch, and some occupations are taken up
mainly by Irish, others by Germans, and sOme !
By native Americans Of mixed parentage. Work |
in the open air,--fn coal, wood, lumber, and
stonc-yards; teamtnK, driving, street labor,
sewer building, and unskilled labor OF ull kinds
Is mostly performed by the Dohcminus Poles,
and Irish. Skilled trades requiring
many years Of education and practice, causing
great expense in br1in-work and money, ARE
mainly carried on. by, nntiye Americans,
Germans, and Scanltnavians. The wholesale |
business is carried on almost exclusively by |
Au1cricaus,-the retail trade by Americans and
Germans. The manufacturing firms are Amer
lean and German. The children Of all iul1ni-
grants commence to earn money as soon as they |
get chance; those OF the native Americans
quite generally avoid manual mechanical, and
outdoor occupations, prefcrring to become
clerks, or to study in the commercial colleges, |
uw schools, and medical colleges, There is also
in Chicago large and increasing number of !
persons who 1--we by rents, interest on money, |
bonds etn. |