Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-09-11

business In France therefore, as national
branch of industry, may be said to rest
upon the elementary condition OF giving
meat once week only to the great mass OF
lab0rers who are engaged IN It's produc-
ton.
But if the women and children were al
together drawn from those occupations, as
they are in the United States, it would not
be possible to produce iron except at a con-
siderable advance in the price of labor.
In conclusion, Mr.. Hewitt said: In
the effort to produce cheap commodities,
and to underSall each other in the markets
of the world, the rightfuI claims of hui
mainly have been disregarded. Of the
silk industry in England. so prosperous in
the days of protection, now so depressed,
the London Spectator said, editorially:
''If the silken curtain be held up it may be
seen from two points of view, from the
sunny and brilliant side of Shorebreds, or
from the dark and dreary side of Spital
fields. When worn, the dress is the proof
of the increased means of society; when
made it is a testimony of the decreasing
means of society The weaver VINO wove
such silks as chat used. in former days, to
earn Is, sd, where, in our day, he only
earns Sd. Free trade shines no luxury to
him; does not give him the promised big
! loaf, because, whereas, he could have af
| forded two shillings for loaf in the dear
! est days, he has more difficulty in muster
ing six pence. If at one time he made
his miserable cottage tolerably comfortable
with good cheer in the cupboard, plenty
of clothes, and certain amount of hug
germugger amusement. now his cupboard
! is bare; the neighborhood has become
| l !. i
ed, and while his misery has constantly in
creased he has been made doubly aware of
it by the light of day which has been
thrown in upon his con 1ition."
Take Mr.. Bright's testimony, so often
published, as to Scotland, where, as he
said, in a public speech: In the city of
Glasgow alone Al 900 families live in
homes having one ROOM and that in
Scotland nearly one-third of the whole
people dwell in homes of opl Y one room. y"
Mr.. Bright said of that horrid condition
of things:
IN fact, looking at the part-to me it is
melancholy thing to look at-there is
much of it which exites in me not aston
| ishment only but horror The fact is there
passes before me visions of millions of fami-
fies-not individuals, but families father
stricken. in never ending procession from
the cradle to their grave
OF FEMALE LABOR IN BELGIUM.
This is English testimony: The labor
of dragging and pushing the coal trucks
along the viaduct from top Of the shaft to
the top of the furnace was performed by
women. etc ITO debar them
it would deprive many strong and able
! bodied women from livelihood and tend
to raise the cost of production of limiting
the supply of laborers. In the Charlevoi
district little girls go into the pits AND
take their share of rough work with the
boys"
The following, from the same English
source. or official statement, the London
Iron and Coal Trade Review, reveals a
state of things may God long avert from
this country: ''Creches are institutions
which are common in the manufacturing
districts of France and Belgium, and are
also found in Seraing. They are nurser-
les for young children, generally managed
by sisters, who tend and manage the
children for a normal sum while the
mothers are at work The children are
taken at a very early age, In fact often as
soon as their mothers are able to work
after their confinement In most instances
a mother will leave her babe at a creche as
early as ) clock IN the morning. 1t will
be taken from her arms by one of the
sisters and the mother will call for it again
on her way home from work In the even
ing. The creches are furnished with
cradles, small beds, and cots on the floor,
to suit the needs of the children
To the shocking condition of things in
England, that free-trade organ, the Chi
A
1884: "A hundred fine steel steamers
tied no useless along the banks of the Tyne,
swarms of stalwarth British sailors wan
dering in the streets, taking their chances
of living on tie bounty of the the soap
kitchens; children quarrelIing with dogs
In the alleys for a bite of garbage; lines OF
not rag to cover them during these wild
nights of November, not bed to lie on,
not place to rest save on the rickety
floor. not coverlid to wrap the new born
baby in-this is to-day one of the sights OF
Merrie England
Want of space neutrality-suspicious. from
The Bitter Cry of Outcast London,
THE Cry of the Crofters, " ETC., that would
!, reveal the horrors of English labor under
free-trade and the misery and ruin
which the prime minister of England says
is its result. 1t is this condition that con-
forms England and in which her danger
lies. The threats of advice of Lord
Brougham no longer avail: The peace
of America has produced somewhat of the
same effect, though | am very far from
placing the vast exports which is occasion
ed upon the same footing with those of the
European market the year before, both be-
cause ultimately the Americans will pay
W hich the exhausted state of the continent
renders very unlikely, and because it was
we'll worth while to incur a loss upon the
, first expectation in order by the glut t
stihe in the cradle those rising manufac
turers in the United States which the wal
has forced into existence contrary to the
natural course of things.
AMERICAS STRENGTH IN HER HOMES.
tenented and owned by her mechanics anC
Iaborers, a right, as Lord Coleridge said
t he never expected to see in his dear ole
England. Our statesmen know that
; moral degradation is indissoIuby united
J with physic:l squalor. The depression
, and discomfort of the howell produce anC
| foster obtuseness of mind, hardness O.
heart, selfish and sensual indulgence. VIC
| lence and crime. 1t is the distinction an(
the curse of barbarism that it is without
e home; it is the distinction and blessing O
D civilization that it pr pares a home IL
A which Christianity may abide and guild
/ and govern.
: No greater truth was ever uttered thai
4 this: The true gain of every country /:
~ ample wages to the labOrer. The laborins
. classes are the nation. They are the pro
, dncprs and they are moreover. the great