The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-09-12

women from filing many places IN which the
are found to day. The laws passed preventing
the employment Of young children has wrought
untold good. and more laws should follow Of the
same sort. am quite sure shall be more con-
sentative upon the employment Of women Id
our own country for what / have seen in
England.
The whole labor problem centers ABOUT the
comfort and morality of the individual and the
home; the demoralized home makes the demon
allied state. This employment of married wom-
en- and children in connection with modern ma
cninery throws men out of their divineiy-ap-
pointed sphere work and cuts down wages of
men TO starvation rates. Men are forced to idle
ness and through this become drunken and dis
solute. In time they become so that they will
not work. but they snap the whip of beastly
strength (custom) and dire necessity over the
heads of women and children who support them
In their depravity.
Married women thus employed neglect their
homes of necessity, and their homes have no
comforts or attractions worthy of the name.
These women put out their bit of sewing and
cooking and their homes serve as mere covers
from wind and weather. Their children are
shamefully neglected. Infant mortality is SO
great in these manufacturing eentefs that dur
ing the months of July and August bills of warn
ing and instructions to mothers posted about
IN public places by health officers appointed to
this work, urging them to take care of their
children during the heated term. Among the
iron workers women are in the habit of leaving
".
pittaace to professionals for caring for them.
After work hours these mothers may be seen
going in all directions, getting their babies. stop
ping at the public houses for drink, then trudg-
ing to their miserable abodes.
In one hosiery town was shown children.
mere babies and toddlers that were literally
turned out to grass Early in the morning
mothers will be seen coming to this green COM
mon, some on foot, some in carts, out of streets,
courts and byways with their children. They
dump their babies down on the grass. give them
bottle of milk tied to them, piece of bread,
and leave them to grass luck until after factory
hours. There will be scures of children In
these parks or commons when the day bids to
be fair Factory life seems to largely destroy
mother love and home life. The lack Of virtue
among these women is simply appalling The
illegtimate child is given into the parish work
house, and nothing thought of it. This phase
of the problem causes the preacher and the
philanthropist as great concern that other
great curse of England. the public house; be-
tween these two almost universal crimes Eng
land is surely laying up for herself q day of
wrath and judgment | am fully convinced
that there should be stringent laws prohibiting
men from employing married women with chill
dren and able bodied men in their families in
factories. This would not work the hard
ships that are wrought now, for the
wages of these women do not more than
compensate for the amount paid out by
them to have their home work done. Every
child has right to be we'll born and taken care
cries out and appeals to every sentiment of hui
mainly against the present condition of things.
If the unemployed men took care of the homes
and the babies. there might be compromising
side to this question, but they do not and they
can not The great homework of these wage
earners is neglected, entirely neglected; men and
children are demoralized l we'll know that /
shall be met with great opposition in this posi-
ton, but theory is not superior to practice, and
exceptional cases will be quoted where this
might work hardship. but the application of the
great principle would work vast deal less harm
than the exception.
The school age, which is now thirteen, should
be raised for all girls to not less than sixteen
before men could employ them. and in addition to
the test that they must give now before they can
be employed. they should understand the prac-
tical part OF putting together palatable meal
of victuals, the healthful care of sleeping apart
ments. and the general tdyingup of home,
supplemented by goodly knowledge of cutting,
fitting, mending and sewing. At present these
girls at thirteen are driven to work In factories
they have little or no home restraints, they mix
up with men and boys they become mere lodg-
ers with their parents, they spurn the
restraints of domestic service the public
dance, public house and professional
procurers ensnare them, and the at
tendant immortality of these young girls is sim.
ply astounding. Mr. William T. Stead never be.
gan his crusade any too soon on behalf of the
young girls of his country. All honor to that
courage which enabled him to face the mob that
pubic sentiment might De aroused on this sub
ject.
The small wages earned by these women and
girls, if applied to home keeping, would be
money in their pockets; home work would be
done. and men would fill the places now improp
erly filed by women and children. There would
be enlarged demand for all those things
which go to furnish and keep home trade
would enliven, looms idle would be set in
motion, and the wages of men increased.
All labor organizations should demand equal
wages for the sexes, thus preventing capital
from amassing itself from the double advantage
of machinery and cheap work from women and
children The low wages earned finds old age
without penny laid by, and the work house
shelters the feeble and aged; there seems to be
little or no pride among children that binders
them from sending their parents to these public
institutions that are overcrowded all over the
empire.
believe that this phase of the labor problem
is so great in its decentralization as to be worthy
of profound consideration both in England and
America. There are many places filled by men
that women should fill, and by the proper ad-
settlement of the vexed question presented by
the interchange of commodities.
America can learn many valuable lessons
from the older civilization of her mother coun-
try; we may more easily see whittier we are
drifting The present condition of the laboring
classes of England gives US many valuable hints
toward settling present and future complica-
tons between capital and labor, to the end that
there shall be harmony between population and
subsistence throughout the length. breadth and
age of our common Inheritance our favored
land. HELEN NJ COUGAR.