New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-04-22
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
LoSDoN's WHITE SLAVES.
PRISONERS OF POVERTY ABROAD. BY, Heller
Campbell. 12mo, pp. 2<s Boston; ROBERTS

Brothers.
The author Of prisoners Of Poverty after In
vestigatIng the condition OF the working men ana
women of New-York and other American cities.
naturally desired to compare her discoveries Win .no
European conditions and the interesting ana moving
volume before US Is the result OF nteen mouths VI
observation In London, Paris Rome norhn' eno
Vienna, the most careful inquiry having peen gwen
10 the labor market Of the English metropolis. ihose
who are old enough TO remember the sensation creaeed
nv The publication In London newspaper some forty
wears ago. of the minute, careful ana graphic
d.xcrsuttous BY the brothers Mayhsw, under the
general title London Labor and the LONDON POOR,
and who recall the shock given to the reading PUBIC
by the terrible revelations concerning the N6weanns
svxtepn of making clothing, VIII perhaps expect 70
end mention of that system only as an outgrown
rel,c NJ barbarsm. Unhappily, forty years have
effected. SO far as can be Judged from Mrs. camp
he,ps observations no aneoraton In the los OK tns
london Door In that immense city It Is eeumaaca
that n million women earn their living, ana olVeh oo
living of their whole family, by working At Vanous
trades and in nearly every case this WORK. OF Cue
,nost combining exacting and exhausting charaotef' Is
Acme for literally starvation wages. On TINS hesu
Mrs Campbelps figures leave no room for ooup' VI
onas,ion Here arc few examples OF inc rs'e y, PsS
Making paper bags 1-od. DO ia Per xoUo'
possible SaTnng s 8; = ss Ss S. per week
shirts. I'd, each worker finding her own ooO'Ni 90"
ses sa sSf Cd for possible ssnnES'
1s 1sr week voss,h,s
phi M ox making Is for thirtysx gross possiOis
'aIBlas o On making ia can DO three
or donE aossH Is ner dozen can do dozen per DAY
ro1ser fnishing Sd. to Sd. each, finding own COT
sop sii Sea Is iD ID. to ID. per dozen
Can life be worth living to tho hoTdes OF maSefsoio
,,o,rsn Who have 10 work from fifteen egn'eon
hours day for wage Of from 20 70 80 or 4o 0e"S
And what have all the study Of poltdcal ECONOMY, 81
the writing of treattses about laoor' al s'S rIan
mentary debates, all tho blue-books. all inc pniian
,hronto organizations all the appeals TO ooninloh
humanity. done in half oeAtury, for these victims
:, mat A. called modern civilization MIS- CsmPOen
,s NV no means sentimentalist. We hno" :" -.
one who examines facts more coofy ana
mr. who labors moro earnestly 30 nnn Ins roe1 49,
sor the continued depression Of tbs laoor mAfnoS q
this horrible state of things is euphemnsuoAa efno
The conelustons she reaches are therefore sooer ~
.storthv II t. she believes, machinery that Keeps
he wages of women at starvation point anu !"
thts vav: The steady advance Of mechanical ln'odE
ton does away more and more win inc neea Vi mon
nal skin In many lines Of production conseouonus
Il n no longer possible 10 learn the trade. Al Ihas
tbe manufacturer requires is hands" to tend MACHINES
- 40 Iarr. extent this demand can be flied by I'M
shiIled labor The inevitable result is the degrsdA
ton Of labor Intelligence and knowledge have no
longer market vaue, and the price OF inc cheapest
elements governs tho wages OF all.
sweating Is rs rife as ever In London. Competition
and machinery stimulate It. and the working women IN
their desperate necessity underbd one another ana SO
helm to keep themselves down Organisation seems the
only available remedy and that can but mitigate
the situation But how tho slaves OF the sowing
machine and the factory worked they are every da
TO the very limit of human endurance, md ume for
oreanzationf They cannot, and moreover they arc
too stupened By innutrt0n and exhaustion to think
seriously in any direction They literally degraded
houa khe quf5f the
to help themselves What do they live upon2 AS
ru,e bread and butter and tea. or bread and
dripping and tea or dry broad ana Tea
Thcus ands do taste meat half dozen times year
Sometimes the poor driven souls go for temporary
oblivion to the gin bottle, but the majority are sober
enough the minutes are precious TO be wasted In
drinking. Not seldom these incessant toilers have
husbands who assert their marital authority by beating
their wives every time they get drunk and who get
drunk Whenever they have any money In many
families the children are put to work at nve years OF
aee and henceforth must AID In wage-earning. 1t Is
mockory to compare these lives 10 those OF orufes'
the brtites are so much better of in all ways AS TO
parliamentary efforts for reform, they seem to be
almost entirely useless. There are inspectors to SEQ
that the law against working over hours obeyed out
the employers UP 30 all sorts OF TRICKS ana sub
terfuges, and generally evade the law AS TO tho
women they dare not inform or complain, for tho
only result would be instant dismissal and suhsequene
The nilliners and dressmalers are better OF. On
der the most favorable conditions they earn IS
per week and that is regarded by employers as the
outside Of what woman ought to or can expect TO
mako. Over hours are common in these trades, too
Sometimes the girls are kept at work until they faint
and fan from their chairs. Some houses give them
supper when they are kept late, but more do not.
The rule Is to get as much as possible out OF them
and to give them little possible. Is not that
fundamental business principles Why then. should
these workngwomen complain pretend that they are
hardly usedi Most employers take that tone; 40
pearing genuinely surprised that one should show
sympathy for the hands and being usually quite ex-
asperated at the governmental attempts to interfere
on bohslt Of the victims OF Mammon Indeed the
brualizang effect of competition and the greed of gain
is nowhere moro strkingly exhibited than IN the cal
Ious inhumanity which naturally dndlyIand SYM
pathetic men practise without compunc5on under
tho allexcusRg name Of business.
Mrs CampbeRs practical common-sense does NOT
help her to solution Of the dreary problem. Be
fore the struggle for existence ethical principles
paralyzed weakness goes TO the wall; womans help
iessness is taken advantage Of crueays constantly
pitiiessIy. AS the field Of laborsavng mechanism
extends steadily, vast but defenceess Is being
thrust slowly backward into deeper penkgy. more sb
feet and hopeless servitude. In Lontion. In this
country the pinch is frightened by the importation of
= SIN cheaper foreign labor, WeRtern Chinese ole-
rent as It might be termed. which crowds the already
desperate Engshwomen from thci1 stools and forces
their miserable pittance yet lower. The picture is
equally appalling and perplexingL Time br1ngs no
relief, no hint OF solution. Tho host of the uneu-
pIoyed swells and swels The host Of the employed
cutters moro and more sharply.
In France. and also in Italy stress Of poverty
among the workingwomen appears little lighter than
IN England. but the temperament is moro gay and
cheerful and they biessed with sunshine and fresh
air, neither of which the London worker Knows any
tbtnr about Fyerywhere however, the author found
a forebodng sentiment. fearful expectation Of the
future and steadily growing competition, marked by
e steadily falling wsgerate. The great problem, in
fact is becoming gIayer and more urgent throughout
tho world The Prisoners Of Poverty are IS far as
ever iror liberation. Tho din Of production, tho clash
OF competition. the strain and struggle rise louder and
kercsr and at the bottom Of the social strata sweter