The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1883-04-12

ism or real conception of Republican PRINCIPLES
is among people divided into snail commune
ties by a difference so radical as that Of Ian
guage. This is n yet greater obstacle than the
custom of working at home to the spread Of
ideas of association, mutual benefit and CO.
operation, which spring up so easily among
American wOrkmen, and it was thought a
wonderful thing when the cab-driveFs of
Cannes overcame the individGalizing tendencies
of their av0catiOu so far as to form an as5Oeia-
ton, which had its first annual dinner the
other day.
The question of working women's wages
seems even more vcxed on this side of the
water than on the other Figaro reproaehes
tile Republican government for necIecting the
interests of the working women, and attributes
part OF their misfOrtuneS TO their disfTanchise-
ment. A bill is before the English Parliament
for limiting the working hours Of women nail
makers, and prohibiting the employment of
girls under fourteen years of age in this I'M
feminine employment. And the Russian Gov
eminent either has just adopted or is about to
adopt measure imposing haIf-time schools on
all boys and girls under fourteen years of age
in certain industries not yet fully enumerated
IN the public reports. Meanwhile technical
schools for the training of women are growing
every year in number and efficiency in France,
and the pressure Of women into the industries
is increasing. The developement Of new in
dustries is slower than with US there is no
surplus territory to call off to agriculture the
men who are superseded in the other industries
by underpaid women; and there is, therefore,
more ground for the complaint that women are
beginning 70 share work and wages without
adding to the aggregate Of either. 4 large
share Of the work OF women, however, merely
c6unterbalances the enforced ideness Of the
vigorous young soldiers of the regular army,
and something of the aggregate of wealth
created by the work of men and women to-
-. II
costly organization. Whatever the remote
causes may be, there is evidently something
radically wrong IN an economic system which
obliges many of the working people of Paris to
send away their children to grow up among
relatives in the country as the only security
against their dying for want of their mothers
care. This represents degree of toll the more
appalling in view of the fact that marriage is
not contracted among French people IN any
class without some accumulation of money in
hand on the part of the wife.
THE HILL VILLAGES.
Along the Riviera there stretches chain of
| hill villages quite different from the chain of
winter resorts In some OF the latter the hill
village and winter resort are united, but they
never blend. Nice was once a hill village,
which survives as Old Nice, and the new city
grows up around it, contributing work and aims
to its support. This is true of San Reno Men
I
winter health stations. The most popular of
the new towns, however, Monte Carlo and
Aspedalette, have no inheritance of hill-village
population and pauperism. Meanwhile the hills
short distance inland bear melancholy, dead
looking stone towns upon their pointed crests.
In these towns strangers ara rare apparitiOns,
and deplorable poverty and toll are the common
lot. La LuTbie and Eze, two Of these villages,
are said to be exceptionally comfortable, yet
they are beyond the power of the imagination
of a prosperous American workman. La Eurbie
was founded no one knows when. The invad-
ing Romans found colony of Ligurians es-
tablished there and recorded nothing of its
previous history. The people are shepherds of
lean sheep that crop Scanty grass high on the
barren hillsides, or they are farmers of stony
fields which they terrace with incredible labor.
! A few of the richest own donIzeys which dwell
in black holes on the ground floor of ancient
| stone houses. The owners live above, and
mount to their rooms by narrow, crooked,
| chilly stone stairs, built between houses or
outside. The town is walled, as all the hill
| villages are, and the wall and narrow streets
tell the story of a life in the middle ages when
| the natives dreaded the 0nslaughtS of pirates,
and took this means of guarding against them.
There is a tradition that Eze neighbOring
| village to La LuFbie, was besieged by the Sar-
! aeens, who merely encamped at the base of its
cOnical hill and comfortably watched the in
! point was reached, surrender followed, and the
/ invaders found rich prey in the slaves whom
/ they carried off. The pirates are gone now; the
inhabitants of EZe have no possible slavery TO
dread more terrible than the toll which they
lavish on their hillsides; yet the sight of their
/ dwelling places is as mournfil one as wide
range of travel reveals These hill-yillage
populations rarely secure money for emigra-
/ tion, and when they do, their agriculture is
/ valleless; for American soil and customs do
not call for sireless delving but for discretion
and versatility which hill-vilIage life fails to
| supply. Hence, IL by any chance a group of
( these people find themselves in America, it is
| only to become professional beggars or swell
the mass of those unhappy foreigners in the
cities of the atlantic coast who live by trifing
work that needs no skill What can be done
for such populations is a problem grave enough
for France and Italy. and happily deferred fer
/ US by the happy accident Of our youth and our
vast territory.
POSTAL SAVINGS BANKS.
To prevent more fortunate workers from
| falling into restitution the French Gov
eminent supplies the postal savings banks,
/ banks, to which reference has been made in
former letters. Some of the provisions of the
I laws governing deposits IN these banks may be
mentioned as having bearing on the French
industrial status. First of all requirements IS,
that the postal deposit shall be the only one
made by the depositor. This, of course. limits
| the depOsitors, and, IN measure, prevents in
| reference with the work of ordinary savings
banks. Then, too the minimum being q frame
or twenty cents, the number Of depositors is
checked again. In this matter of small mini
mum the English system is more advanced, for
| under it penny deposits e. c. deposits of two
American cents may be made. ANY person,
man, woman or child, may open an account at
! any time III any Office, sure OF an interest rate
| at three per cent. guaranteed by the govern
ment, and the restrictions upon Withdrawals
are so slight as not to be discouragements.
These restrictions are merely to the effect that
married woman may not withdraw her de
| post iii defiance of the written objection OF
her husband. In all ether respects she is a free
agent, so far as regards her postal deposits she
may MAJ Ike them in her own name and withdraw
| them, except in case of the one contingency
mentioned. Children cannot withdraw de-
| posits in defiance of the written objections of
| parents or guardians, and this provision covers
both sexes to the age of sixteen. The deposits
may be withdrawn at any post Office wholly
irrespective of the place at which the first is
made, and the slight previous notice required
| acts as check on thoughtless Withdrawals,
and is easily arranged for on the part of de-
positors. 1t is said that these postal banks are
| greatly liked by domestic servants and day
| laborers and il is certain that they afford
every opportunity and encouragement TO the
accumulation of small funds. In certain cities
provisions for savings deposits are insufficient,
/ = n.