Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-30
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DIsrArcH.I

ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DIsPArcH.i
WASHINGTON, ,September29.- fourth
annual report OF Carol D. Wright, Com
missioner ofLabor, just issued, is an interest
ing addition to the existing information and
statistics on the subject of labor in America.
The work deals entirely with the question of
working women in large cities. Not the
least important feature of the volume
is the chapter devoted to the
character of working women. Original
investigations were made in Brooklyn,
Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland.
indianapolis. Louisville, Newark, New
Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Rich
mond, st. Louis and San Francisco. Com
missioner Wright says: "From all that can
be learned one need not hesitate in asserting
that the working women of the country are
as honest and as virtuous as any class Of
our citizens"
Relative to the condition of the working
women in New York City, the report says:
TWO CHIEF FEATURES.
Two features in the conditions OF New York
City SO largely affect the working women there
as to dwarf all other considerations-the tene-
ment house and the influx and concentration
of foreign immigration. The existence of sep
arate homes is rarity, even among the well-to-
do industrial classes. The crowded condition
OF the poor and struggling is beyond
belief, unless actually witnessed, This
morality ETC. Tall, rear tenements block
up the small air spaces that are insufficient
even for the front, and often a third house
stands behind the second. Sewerage is lack
ing or detective, and stenches of all kinds pre-
vail in the poorer quarters. The new tenements
are built with more attention to air, light and
cleanliness. and there is a growing movement
toward securing better homes for the working
population. Ground being SO dear, rents are
enormous The necessar1es of life are high,
and many of the poor live on the refuse of the
markets.
A DIFFERENT PICTURE.
On the other hand, the comforts of life are
found in the best tenements. Carpets and
clean beds, lace curtains, upholstered furni-
ture, pictures, pianos and organs are not infre-
quent Among the foreign settlers the litter
acy is very great. Ambition to learn English,
however. fills the night schools with eager pu-
pills. while the native population is CON-
tent with ignorance. Working girls born
in New York are alert and worldly
wise rather than well educated, even according
pressure of necessity drives them early into the
workshop. The moral condition of the work.
ing women is influenced for evil by the tene-
ment house home in 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 distances
girls are compelled to traverse after dark,
especially on leaving stores which remain open
till 10 or II o'clock on Saturday night; another
is the crowding of friendless young women to
the metropolis. where they live without home
restraint, suffering every conceivable discom-
fort subject to long periods of idleness, which
they often enter upon
WITH AN EMPTY PURSE.
Even among the lowest grades, however,
there is q ready response to gentle treatment
and an innate po1iteness that can spring only
from a kind heart. The truest herolsm Of life
and conduct was found beneath rags and dirt.
In dress and bearing the better class of work.
ing girls compare fayorably with women Of
leisure and refinement. The almost invariable
church contributions. especially among the
foreign population, indicate steady church
attendance. As respects ventilation, prop
erly regulated workshop is the exception. The
average room is either stuffy and close.
or hot and close, and even where windows
abound they are seldom opened. Toilet facili.
ties are generally seant and inadequate, and
100 workers are dependent. sometimes, on
single closet or sink, and that too often out OF
order.
Considering the cost Of living, wages are
little, if any, higher in New York than in other
cities though the number of well-paid positions
being greater, chances of promotion are better.