New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-12-26
PRISONERS OF POVERTY.
~oxEN wAQE-woRKERs, THEIR TRADES
"o" MprHEIR LIVES
BETWEEN THE RIVERS.
ny HrLES CAMPBELL

IL was n strong werd, and tile org cness HUN
ubich il issued held more OF the same sorV-a YOU
worker carpenter apparently. hurfying on WIN
his box of tools aod talking as he went T"n@
companion half his si1o. but with quite MS po~o'
of sxuression, INTERPRETING strange German oaths
:. no listened to tho story poured out to him.
with that story we have at present nothing
"a do But tho first words fingered and they linger
sti,l "a the summary OF such life as Is lived oV
many work ers on east and west sides alike.
Were the laws governing q series OF this uatnre
riody observed. the present phase OF TINS inVessi-
cation could hardly be the point at which TO stop
for any detail of how these workers live from DAY
To day. Bat as the search has gone on throngh
these hours when Christmas joy Is Ia tbs sir whea
tho smallest shop hangs out it's Christmas ioKeh'
end tho great stores are thronsed with buyers Ias
into the evening. l think OF the lives IN when
Christmas has no place, of the women for whom all
DAYS are alike, each opesthe syuonyms of relentless
unending toll; of the children who have never
xnown a childho pd ana for whom Christmas Is but
a name. For oven whom mission and refuge have
d,ne their utmost there In still the army nn-
reached by any effort and In great part unreachseie
no method recorded in any system OF the DAY
having power to drag them to the light and thus
make known 70 ua what mannsr OF creature
IL is Kat covers in shadowy places and has no 1907
hold in tho path we call progress. That their own
ignorance holds them in these shadows bouna as
with chains that even y little more knowledge
wsuld break the bonds. in part at least has no
present boariug ON fct that thousands are alive
amene us 70 whom existence has brought only
pain. and that fresh thousands JOIN this dunno
thrcng of martyrs with every added year. III they
had learned On any degree how to use to the best
advaataeo the pistance earned, there woud oe less
need Of these papers, yet as read the assurances
of eur poiitieai economists, that wage of 81 per
week is sufficient IL intelligenty used, to supply
all the actual necessities of the worker, tho Ques-
ton pushes itself between the lines. Why should
they be forced to know only necessiies and Is this
statement made OF any save those too ignorant
TO define their wants and needs. too helpless to
dam any protestation, oven il moro knowledge
had come
Tho professional political economist of the old
school. tho school to which all but handful
belong takes refuge in the census returns as the
one reply 70 any arraignment OF the present Blind
as a bat to any figures his own, he answers all
complaint With the formula "In 1850 the
property OF this country equally divided wouid
have gwen ,cry man. woman aud child @ol4 each
In 1870 the share would have been 1924 in 1880
1914. In 1885, returns are not in, but 5000 and
more would DO the division per capita. What mad
ness 20 talk of suffering when this food Of wealth
pours through tho land. Admitting that the lowest
class suffer- IL is chiefly crime drunkenness, etc.,
that bring sunering. The majority are perfectly
comfortable" '."''
Having read this statement in many letters and
heard IT ia interviews as we'll 1t seems plain that
the conviction embodied in both has fastened tself
upon that portion Of the public whose thinking is
done for then, and who range themselves by
ehoice with chat order who would not be convinced
seven though ore roso from the dead" "The
majority are perfectly comfortable Lot us see
how comfortable.
turn FIRST to the pair, mother and daughter.
portion of whose experience found place IN the
Mxth number of this series Here as in 30 many
eascs there had been better days. and when these
suddenly ended period Of bewlderod helpiessness.
in WHICH the widow felt that respectabity like
hers must know no compromise. and that any step
that would involve her being talked about" was
q step toward destruction She must live on a
decent street. In a house where she need not be
ashamed to have the relations come, and she did.
till brought face to face with the fact that there
were no more dollars to spend upon respeotaoity.
and that her quarters must hereafter conform 10
her earnings She had been dweller In that
curious triangle. the remnant OF "Greenwich
VILLAGE tho 1t ron ghoId still of old New-York. and
she went Mt once to a region unfamiliar to her
cousery alive fest as Baxter Hester. any other
street given over TO evil Far over toward tho
North River in the first door of q great tenement
bonse inhabited by the better class of Irish chiefly
she took two rooms, one a mere closet where the
bed could stand bestowed in them such furniture
ms remained, and at ffty with no ce~ left that
any friend could trace, began the fight for bread
Itmight have been better to go to the country"
she sad. But you see wasn't used to the
country. and then any work l could get to do
right here I'd always liked to sew, and so had
Emelne, and we found we could get regular work
chilhranis anita with skrts and sucA tbinQs in
the dull seasons. 1t was good pay and we were
comfortable till prices began to fall. We made $15
a week sometimes and couid haze got ahead II 1t
hadn't been for little debt of my husbands that
wanted to pay, for we'd never owed anybody
penny and | couldn't let even that debt stand
against his name Bat when ii was paid. somehow
came down with rheumatic fever. and Pye never
got back rny full strength yet. nd the prices kept
going down. Emmy is an expert. never know
her make a mistake, but working twelve and four
teen hours day and its most often fourteen-the
most she has made for more than year and half
is SIS ceuts day. and on that we've managed.
suppose We couldn't il ever went ont but I've had
no shoes in two years patch the ones got then
with one OF my husbands old coats and keep along
but we never get ahead enough for me to have
shoes. and Emmy too and she's the one that has TO
60 out How Iiyef les all IN this little book
It's FOOLS 81 to put it down, and yet always some
how liked to see how the money went even when
had plenty, and it's second nature to put down
every cent. Take last month. 1t had twepty-seven
working DAYS; 500 90 Ont Of that we took first
the SIT for rent. Pve been here eleven years. and
they've raised dollar on me twice. That leaves
$l2 % for provisions and coal aud light and
clothes. 'Tisn't much for two people, is itf You
wouldn't think it could be done, would yonf Well,
il u.s. aad here's the expense for one week for what
We eat:
Sugar 20. Tomatoes, Potatoes 5.......-.... so 80
IS: Butter. 80 Bread, %
Coal. ~; MIX. 10; Clans 10. "
Oh 10; Paper Clans. 10; Potatoes. 5.--.-- ~
Cabbage. 81 Bread. Flour, Is; Rolls, 3.--.- 80
Total .......................s 81 90