New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-10-17
THE PRISONERS OF POVERTY.

women in these days and in all large cities are
known 10 the public in vague ana genera
way. The reality and steady continuance Oh
the frichtful pressure which compcls scores OF
thous ands of " omen to work sixteen hours OUT
of every twenty-four for wage barely
sufficient TO keep body aud soul together, are
not generally recognized; certainly are not
oonerallv borne In mind. To realize the ex
tent and depth of the drudgery which these
our fellow creatures endure Is to desire 10
ameliorate their condition. To become ac-
ouainted with the hopeless Indulgence, the
ceoseless toll. the unreleved priyation, which
make nm the lives of these untortunates, Is to
he convinced that the Wanted civilization of
the neriod il "A hollow sham if it cannot solve
this social problem. AS an aid to such solution
THE TRIBUNE is about to publish a series OF
articles showing exactly what the situation OF
the New York workingwomen is. These
articles will be prepared by special commits
sioner who possesses peculiar aptitude and
knowledge, as her writings already before the
public abundantly testify.
The TRBUNE's commissioner is Mrs. Helen
Campbell, author of the powerful and sug-
gestive novel Mrs Herndon's lncOme.' That
novel conld only have been written By one
who had studied the most difficult of social
problems deeply and at first hand. lis motive
is the endeavOr of a warm hearted, phianthrO-
PIC woman, who suddenly became possessed OF
n large income, so to distribute it as TO do the
most good to the greatest number. Her quest
brings her in contact with every kind of suffer
ing aud rlship, and these painful phases OF
community life are described with the clearness
ami precision of personal observation. In
effect Mrs Campbell in this deeply interesting
story employed her own experiences. She had
gone down among the poor and suffering, had
familiariLed herself with the workings OF the
multtudlnous charitable organizations, and had
sought light upon the problems involved at
the fountain head. She proposes, i'll under
taking ner new mission, to tell the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Revelations will have to be made involving
discredit to some. IIeartless and dishonest
and brutal employers of female labor who
grind the last copper out of their helpless
workers and even in some cases plot and plan
to cheat them out of few cents, will be drawn
in their true colors. The deadly competition
which seems to defy all measures of relief and
to overwhem by successive and lncessant
waves of struggling humanity the fainting
most speed and reduced to starvation wages,
will be described The ceaseless toll which
leaves no leisure for thought, much less recrea-
ton which forces thousands to live UPON cold
food, to take their scanty meals standing, to
know no interval between sleep aud work, will
be shown for what it is.
There is 10 need, as indeed there is little
room, for exagger ton in this work. The
sin pie truth is as pitiful as anything that can
be conceived. There are 100000 working
women in New York. The highest average
earning of these workers is So week
| Numbers earn but So a week. Thou
sands are unable, with sixteen hours work
every day. to reach the lower amount.
The prices for the work they do are miserable
almost beyond belief. Competition both in
trade and IN the labor market has wrought this
state of things, and under the existing con-
ditions there is no pro 'pect OF better times.
! With q continual foreign imm grafton which
maintains the supply of unskied and partly
! skilled female labor, and with IA competition
manufacturing which compels the producer to
avail himself of every help, the working
women are ground as between the upper and
the neither milestone, and there is no help for
them Dut it is evident that society cannot
longer tolerate a state of things which involves
an inhumanity that would shame savages
which gives the lie hourly to tho assumed
! Christianity of the nation and which not only
fosters and encourages but tends to Justify the
feelings of hatred and enmty toward the state
and the whole social system menacin ely
progressive and apparent to-day.
The problem is a difficult one, but there must
be a solution to il, and THE TRIBUNE, without
blinking any of the perplexng considerations
which surround it, hopes by the publication of
the public conscience and the public in
telgence to the end that the necessity of
remedial action nay be generally recognized,
and the best course ID take may be discussed
and agreed upon. AS to the gravity of the
subject there can be question, and it is be-
coming more serious and more pressing
continually 1t is literally true that chattel
slavery never involved such unmitigated
suffering as a large percentage of our working
women endure. 1t il not less literally true that
human beings thus chained to the oar
can by no possibility develop their higher
faculties. They Can only be either drudges or
dangers. They arc in fact, prisoners of
poverty, and ir them the New World has
reproduced the saddest and most deplorablc
conditions of the Old one Mrs Campbelrs
first article On this interesting and important
question will appear in THE TRIBUNE next
Sunday.
TIE COLORED BROTHER