Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-10-05
FEMALE LABOR.

sioner Carroll ID. Wright, has Just come
from the presses of the Government
Printing Office. 1t is volume of 63l
pages, giving the results of investiga-
tons made in twenty-five cities, relative
to the condition of women who earn
their living in the occupations calling
for manual labor. The information
was obtained, with certain exceptions,
by female agents of the department,
who interviewed individually 11,427
women to get the facts relating to their
lives.
The study comprehendS 343 distinct
industries out of the large number now
open to women. General tables and
summaries form the bulk of the volume,
and the statistics they furnish were
given to the public some time ago.
There are also chapters on boarding
houses and aids for working women in
the several cities, the age, conjugal con-
dition, families, health conditions, earn
ings and expenses, moral character, etc,
and chapter on the General Condi-
tons" Under the latter head the
Commissioner says, in regard to the
working women in New YORK:
1.-TWO features in the conditions of
New York city so largely affect the
working women there as to dwarf all
other considerations - the tenement
house and the influx and concentration
of foreign immigration. The existence
of separate homes is a rarity even
among the we'll TODD industrial class.
The crowded condition of the poor and
struggling is beyond belief, unless actu-
ally witnessed. This brings with it dis
ease, death, immortality, etc. Tall rear
tenements block up the small air spaces
that are insufficient even for the front,
and often third house stands behind
| the second. Sewerage is lacking or de-
! fective, and stenches of all kinds prevail
in the poorer quarters. The new tene-
ments are built with more attention to
air, light and cleanliness and there is a
growing movement toward securing
better homes for the working popula-
ton. Ground being so dear, rents are
enormous. The necessaries of life are
high, and many of the poor live on the
refuse of the markets. On the other
hand, the comforts Of life are found in
the vilest tenements. Carpets and clean
beds, lace curtains, upholstered furni-
ture, pictures, pianos and organs are not
unfrequent. Among the foreign set
| hn illitnrnoxr 10 nh
ton 70 learn English, however. fills the
night schools with eager pupils, while
the native population is content with
ignorance.
working girls born in New York are
alert and worldly wise rather than well
educated. even according to the stand
ards of the public schools. The pres
sure of necessity drives them early into
the workshop. The moral coalition of
the working women is influenced for
evil by the tenement house home in a
way too vast for discussion here. One
noteworthy cause of immortality is the
taking of men as dodgers for the sake of
extra income. Another is the long dis
lance girls are compelled to traverse af
ter dark, especially Oh leaving stores
which remain open till 10 or II O'Clock
on Saturday night. Another is the
the metropolis, where they live without
home restraint, suffering every conceiv-
able discomfort, subject to long periods
of idleness, which they often enter upon
with an empty purse. Even among the
lower grades, however, there is ready
response to gentle treatment, and an in
nate politeness that can spring only
from kind heart. The truest heroi4m
of life and conCuct was found beneath
rags and dirt, In dress and bearing the
better class Of working girls compare
favorably with women of leisure and re-
finement. The almost invariab!e church
contributions, especially among the
foreign population, indicate q steady
church attendance.
GAS respects ventilation a properly
regulated workshop is the exception.
The average room is either stutfy and
close, or hot and close, and even where
windows abound they are seldom
opened. Toilet facilities are generally
scant and inadequate, hundred work
ers sometimes beng dependent upon a
single closet or sink, and that, too, often
out of order, The moral conditions OF
the shops vary with the character OF
occupation, the foremen and forewo
men. and the interest the proprietor
takes IN his employees. Wherever the
sexes work unfortunately together
great laxity obtains. In well conducted
rooms the tone is often higher than in
the girls Town home. Open violations
of morality ara rarer, and always dis
countenanced Wherever the employer
was personally acquainted with his peo
pie, the standard Of conduct was apt tc
! be excellent. In many an instance,
however, the employer openly declared
that so long as his work was done he
did not inquire or care how bad the
girls might be.
considering the cost of living, wages