, 1888-11-15
WORK And WAGES.
Second Days Session Of the K.
Of L Convention.
Mrs, Barry's Sad Experience
Among Her Sex.
Woman's Labor and How it is
Paid in the East.
The K. of L.

OLiO ne AulOIlS
of Labor convention reassembled this
morning and took up reports of the gen.
eral officers and committees.
The report of Treasurer Turner for the
year ending June 80 last shows receipts
of 1922, 600 and expenditures the same.
The supplementary report to Nov. l
shows receipts $53, 900 and expenditures
$4,000. Mrs. l.. NJ. Barry, general in
vestigator of woman's work and wages,
gave an interesting resume of her labors,
with sugg% estions toward the amelioration
of women's lot. The report Of the gen
eral executive board is a voluminous doc
ument containing an account of all mat
tiers acted on by the board. Treasurer
Turner in his report says.
According to the receipts from taxes
the membership has decreased about
300,0 900 during the past fiscal year, and at
the present time the receipts are not suf-
hclent to meet the necessary expenses.
He recommends cutting down the staff of
general officers and other retrenchments
to the amount of S25, 000."
In view of the great falling off in mem
bership and the debt hanging over the
order the delegates are feeling rather blue,
wondering what the outcome will be-. At
the end of June, 1887, the order was sew
eral thousand dollars ahead. OF its con-
di. ion one year later Turner says:
"On June 80, 1888, our balance was
1854, with bills amounting to 80, 227-
and unpaid. Oct. 81, 1888, there is a
balance of $40, with $3,6S7 due and I'M
paid bills.
Mrs. Barry gave the price paid women
and girls in various parts of the country
visited and describes the disadvantages
under which they work.1She found much
to criticize and condemn. AT Cincin-
natl, she says, Organization was in a
deplorable state of disruption" and after
expressing her inability to explain in de-
tail the women employing industries, she
says: But of n or two classes of
toilers llwould like to speak, in the hopes
that the knights of Labor ere this con-
vention closes may devise some way or
means to overcome, prohibit or restrict by
legislation Tor the compulsory use oflabels
on fair made goods, which, in my iudg-
ment, is the most practically one of the
most oppressive, pernicious and damaging
to the public good, systems that affiict our
country to-day. | speak of the contract
and sweating middlemen or slop shop
plan which works ruin, misery and shame
to the ~toilers, and death or failure to leg
itfmate or the regularly established indus
try with which it completes. as instance
the following:
Mems pants that retail at a price
from 81 to 81 per pair, are taken by con-
tract at Is cents per pair. The operatives
are employed and huddled together in
close, sitting back rooms where machine
operatives furnish their own machines,
and in most cases .heir own thread, and
do all the machine work on pants without
basting for ) cents a pair. Six pairs are
an average DAYS work. Surprising five
operatives to be employed land there are
| often more than less)the contractor makes
80 cents a head, which nets him or her
l.50 per day, while his or her victim
gets 80 cents per day. This is only one
of many instances.
Speaking Of her tips through PennSyl-
vanla, Mrs. Barry says: The violation
of every law in regard to the employment
of women and children in PENNSYLVANIA
is not be met with on every hand. There
are many evils attendant upon the EN-.
ployment of children, particularly girls,
which leads to misery, Ignorance and de.
spair, a custom that is rapidly increasing
III Ghio County,, "hiCu LuCduS SudLUG, us
honor and humiliation to manhood, and |
here and now appeal to every father
within the sound of my voice to be
watchful and wary of his little daughter if
she be employed in any large establish
ment, a small one either, where she is
made to understand that the price of her
position is that she stand in with the
boss
Many may ask why | do not give the
name and locality. First, because those
who resent such pernicious approaches
shrink from giving publicity to their
humiliation. and those who do submit,
will not make their misfortunes public
until perhaps they can no longer hide
their shame. In very many instances
facts were given that were blood curdling,
but no affidavit would be make and Meth
er myself or TIE order was in a position
to stand a libel suit with all the power Of
wealth against Us wherewith to influence
4 decision against honor and truth"
The report OF J. A. Hayes, who sue.
ceeded Charles Lichman as general secre
tary in September, will be presented in
the morning. He gives a tabulated
statement of membership, showing So, $50
local assemblies in good working order,
with a total membership of 259. SIS, and
81, 900 not reported. On July l. 1887,
the membership according to this report
was 45l .I79, showing a loss in one year of
not less than l53, 73l.
Tie largest stock of fine br4udie5. old
| -ul.I.- .o 49, II ..a..