The Osceola times., 1888-09-29
wooiSiA wooiSiAN's DEPARTMENT.
WHITE SLAVES
4 cass Of Laborers Who Never strike-
Women Workers Who Know No Rest,

women Workers Who Know No Rest,
There Is class OF people In this
country who get up at FIVE a. m, and
selcom get back TO bed until ten and
eleven at night; who work without
reading the whole of that time, and re-
ceive no other emolument than food and
the plainest clothing. They under
stand something of every branch Of
economy and labor, from finance TO
cooking. Although harrassed by hum
dred responsibilities, driven and wor-
ried, reproached and looked down upon,
they never revolt, and they can not Or
ganize for their own protection. Not
even sickness releases them from their
posts. No sacrifice is deemed too great
for them to make, and no incompetency
In any branch Of their work Is excused.
No books or essays are written in trib-
ute to their steadfastness. They die in
the harness. and are supplanted as
quickly as may be.
These are the housekeeping wives OF
laboring men. 1t is they that get their
husbands breakfast at five a. m; get
the children off TO school, do the wash
Ing, ironing, baking, sewing, scrubbing.
sweeping and marketing, care for the
babies and do the family mending after
the husband lies asleep. They go to
bed, but hardly to sleep, for nursing
children often draw their life from them
all night long.
What leisure or enjoyment is there
for themf What chance for improve
ment or upliftingP What do they think
of the eight-hour movement? 1t means
to them that the calico they now buy
for five cents will cost eight by and by;
that the coal, instead OF six, will soon
be seven and eight dollars q ton, and
that the pittances out Of which they
buy these bare necessaries Of life will
be less before long. Is 1t pleasure to
them that their husbands will have two
hours more of leisurep II the men stay
at home during that time, the chances
are that the wives will be reproached
for what is deemed neglect, and that
some OF the children will be whipped.
VIII the husbands fetch coal, or polish
the stove, or take the washing from the
line, or go to marketp Not for one day
in the 365. Too often they will irritate
their wives with their witticisms, will
make the children unhappy, and then
leave for some place more suited to
their seliishness. 1t sounds hard. but
II is true, and every woman knows that
II is true. She knows that there viii
be two hours less in which TO earn
money, and two hours more in which
TO spend it. She knows that her bur-
den will be no lighter, and in patient
cynicism she awaits the result Are
these women striking for eight hoursp
Have they a union to which they can
appeal against the cruelty OF their task
masters? Are eloquent voices raised in
their behalf? Are there any laws en-
acted for their benefit?
Are there any prominent journals
advocating their causeP What would
their husbands say If these women
turned out en- masse and voted not TO
work but certain number OF hours per
day, or demanded that more righteous
division of the income be made here
after? They would doubtless say it was
midsummer madness.
Is the picture overdrawnP Do or do
not these women receive their sharesp
Is working fifteen hours per day, cook
ing over a hot stove, scrubbing over
washtubs, exposing the body TO every
danger OF our tickle climate, bearing or
an average one child year, and max
ing both ends meet after the rent is
paid and the husbands beer money is
spent, in return for food, shelter and
the plainest clothing-is this a fair
half OF the working partnership Is
this an equal division Of labor with an
equal distribution OF the profits? What
would some Of the men who arc parad-
ing the streets, voluntarily out OF
work, and in their best clothes, do II
they found themselves bound to EN-
ployers by tie that could not be dis
solved, while their work was made
thousand times more laborious and the
hours nearly doubled?- Woman's Jour
nal