The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-09-19
CONVINCING PROOF.
A Woman's Argument in
National Legislation.
FEMALE LABOR IN AMERICA.
An Attempt to Reconcile Milan and
Natalte-A Serious Flood at
Port Jervis.
FEMALE LABOR IN AMERICA.
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION.
A New Way of Arguing With Tariff
Legislators

WASHINGTON, September 1S.-The
proceedings of the Senate ub-commit-
tee on tariff, this morning, is in refresh
ing contrast with the average of the last
two months. About fifteen we'll
dressed, fresh-looking ladies made their
appearance at the doors of the commit
tee room at II o'clock, headed by Mrs.
J. Ellen Foster, president of the
Women's Christian Temperance Union,
of Iowa, and were introduced by Sena-
tor Allison to his fellow-mem bers as a
delegation who wishes to be heard in
response to the Women's especial in
terest in protective tariff. Mrs.
Foster addressed the committee elo.
quently and at considerable length on
the advantages women have in this
country in the way of earning q living,
compared with European countries and
attributed it to protective tariff. She
then introduced the ladies with her,
who, she said, were operatives in cloth
and other mills in New England and
New York, whom she had invited to
come before the committee and relate
their experience. They were women
who had worked in England and other
European countries, and were uuani-
nous In declaring the vastly superior
conditions CT life which they were able
to secure in this country.
Mrs. Foster said she had been into
the mills and workshops of New York
and New England and, with the con-
sent of employers, had invited some of
the female employees to come to Wash
ington with her and tell the committee
how they were situated. Her compan-
ions were then briefly questioned by
members of the committee.
Mrs. Bonner, German lady, who
worked in factories in the Fatherland,
had been employed about two years in
Rockville, Connecticut, in weaving
cloth for mems clothing. Her weekly
wages were from SO to $40, as COM
pared with marks in Germany. She
laid up money here, and had three
times visited her birthplace, paying her
expenses from her savings.
Miss White, Miss Pitts and Mrs.
Stansfeld. all born in England, were
also employed in mills in Rockville,
Conn, but no two from the same mill.
The rest told similar stories to that of
Mrs. Bonner, of the superior wages and
superior advantages of their present
condition to that in which they lived in
the Old country, and declared them
selves with enthusiasm, Americans in
the fullest sense of the word.
Mrs. Gallagher and Miss N. DeWolf
were from a mems clothing house
in New York City; Miss Jennie Chevere,
Miss Studd and Miss Clark we're from the
mills of Ware, Massachuse, Is. There
was but little variation in the stories
briefly and modestly told of their res
pective localities and they were earn
ing comfortable livelihood by the
work of their own hands. The appear
ance of the ladies was, however. the
more convincing part of the evidence
received by the committee. which
carried the convention, irrespective of
the tariff views of the committeeman.
Senator Harris, who represented
the tariff reform doctrine on the COM
mittee, CALAMITY contented himself in
developing the fact from each of the
Rockville witnesses that the foreign
born element predominated among
their fellows and from the others it
equalled that of native birth, in the
New York shops and ware mills.