Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1885-03-07

party on both sides Of the Atlantic
is to represent the condition Of the
American workman as bad as that
lof the English labo1er. If not worse.
Thus the London Times tells its
readers that accounts from the Unit
ed States show that the distress re-
sulting from depression of business
is "still more cruel than III France,
Germany aud England. The ac-
counts on which the Times relies
must be of the same character as
that sent By some rabid Free-trader
from a town in Connecticut to the
Erekiag Post. He drew picture Of
prevalent distress that was harrow
ing in the extreme; but the news
papers and the clergy OF the neigh
borhood unite in characterizing his
statements us wild exaggerations.
He drew on his Imagination for his
:" facts.r
That very great degree of suf-
fering exists in some places and in
some branches of business in this
country no one would think Of deny
ing. These are hard times, and
they have come to a head in a hard
Winter. And the American work
man is not accustomed to take east
ly to pinching himself. He feels his
privations all the more keenly for
the comfort he has enjoyed in the
past. His sudden reduction to the
level that the English workman is
accustomed to think ease and pros
perity would be regarded as great
hardship aud justly SO. He lives in
a country in which the average Of
national wealth is still 20 per cent.
below that Of England, and yet his
wages average 81 per cent. more
than that of his English competitor.
A London clergyman, ina letter
to the Methodist Times, of that city.
makes the revolt ineligible to us.
He says that, great as are the evils
of the factory system in the North Of
England, the want OF it in London
makes the condition Of the poor
much harder than it would be. The
worst built and worst ventilated
factory is more wholesome than the
wretched rooms in which these poor
men and women toll by day aud
sleep at night. The hours of labor
are longer and wages lower. En-
ployment is more fitfal, and the de-
moralizing effect of alternate hurry
and idleness is felt in every quarter.
+" The poor are treated in many cases
with a cruelty and brutality for
which i know Of only one just pun
ishment-the cat.v He gives some
detail as to the wages paid worien
working for the slopshops which are
simply horrible to those who can
realize the meaning Of his figures.
Seven pence is paid for making a
child's knickerbocker suit children's
pinafores, from four pence to nine
pence q dozen according 10 quality;
shirts as low as three farthings
apiece
While there is contrast between
London and the North Of England,
the condition Of English labor every
where is dcplorable. The recent
conference held in London to discuss
industrial remuneration showed this.
Mr. Frederick Harrison told the con.
ference that ninety per cent. Of the
laboring classes have no home they
can call their own beyond the end
of a week; have no bit OF soil or so
much as room that belongs to them;
have the precarious chance of week
~ wages which barely suffice to keep
them in health; and are separated
by so narrow margin from destitu-
ton that month Of bad trade, sick
ness or unexpected loss brings them
face to face with hunger and pauper-
ism.n
The Methodist Times asks: ais it
known that half of the children Of
the Metropolitan school boards be.
long to families living in one room
Is it known that IN some districts
sixty per cent. Of the children 90 10
school without breakfast and that
the cry of over-pressure is the out.
come Of under feelingg DO our read.
ers know what hunger paDgs are
A short time since numbers Of in
telligent English people were con
doning murder on the ground that
the murderers were driven to that
course by the paDgs OF hunger. Yet
these agonies are beng endured by
hundreds of our fellow creatures, and,
alas! By little children. The streets
of birmingham have lately been the
scene Of melancholy doings, for hun
dreds ofable. bodied men have march
ed through them, carrying flags Of
distress, and appealing to the author.
tiles to find them work. The
Methodist Times believes with MIR.
Harrison that the beginning Of n re.