Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-09-04
EARNINGS OF CLERKS.
Eight Dollars for Ninety Hours a
Week Good Pay in London.
LADY CASHIERS AT So A WEEK.
Evils Of the Indoor Apprenticeship and
Character Systems.
WORKING 100 HOURS IN SEVEN DAYS
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE p1srArcH. ]

| Dno snS OouuIefi ~ IatucE Suitably
title for book. 1t was written by Mr.
Thomas Sutherst, an English barriste
whose penchant for reform had made hin
President of the Shop Hours Labo
League, and as its title would suggest, i
deals with the general condition, and par
ticularly with the hours of toll, Of tina
numerous and eminently respectable clas
known here as shop assistants, but know
to US as clerks in stores.
In the first chapter the author says "I be
lieve I am within the mark in stating tha
the majority of shop assistants in this coun
try work from rs to 80 hours in every week
OF that majority one-fourth work the full
30 hours per week, two-fourth 80 hours, and
the remaining fourth rs hours per week.
Contrasting the hours of shop assistant.
with those of mechanics and artizans, be
says: "The system I am endeavoring tc
expose ilches from young men and women
behind the counter 21 weeks of overwork In
every year-without, believe, any of the
overtime being paid for"
The Book Has Done Some Good.
Beyond this bare allusion to the matter
the author, was sorry to find, had scarcely
anything to say In regard to the wages paid
this class of workers. His sole plea was
| for reduction of hours and for an allow
ance to these oppressed and suffering toilers
| of sufficient time, ON at least one day in the
week for healthful recreation and for the
inhaling into sinking chests of a good
breath of pure air. The need for such re-
form as this is urged in q most startling
manner and l do not wonder that the pub
lication has done good Not only has popu-
lar interest been awakened, but in few
instances concessions have been made by
some of the larger employers and the move
ment has been accorded q little help even at
| the hands of Parliament.
But the lot Of the English shop assistant
is anything but happy one even yet. In
| London there are about 100000 of these,
| and to find out exactly what their wages
and hours are at the present time I con-
| cluded to supplement personal observation
by visit to the Shop Assistants Union.
My appointment was with the Acting Sec
retary, Mr.. A. G. Arnold, but that gentle
man had arranged to have me taken in
hand by one of the leading platform men of
the union, an unusually bright fellow, Mr..
J. Turner, and, If the play upon words may
be pardoned, it turned out better than was
that, for I met and conversed altogether
with ten or dozen of these young fellows
The Indoor System in England.
In this country very large proportion of
those engaged in retail stores live on the
premises, their board and lodging, with
what little home life they may enjoy. being
afforded them by their employers. In small
establishments they associate more or less
with the family, but in larger concerns
their domestic life is modelled, to use the
same word which is often used here, upon
the, Barracks" principle. Scores and even
hundreds of young men, or young women,
as the case may be, will be boarded and
lodged in single building, and of course
their accommodation and Keep will form
large element in their pay. This "indoor"
system Is exceedingly popular with En-
glish shopkeepers, and the reasons, as the
employees state them, are that it keeps the
workman more fully under his masters
thumb and makes his labor less costly.
One of the most lamentable of its effects
from moral point of view is that it puts
premium on single blessedness. am cred
IDLY assured that some of the largest retail
merchants in London make it point to get
rid of men after they enter the welded
state, and what the Shop Assistants Union
says of this is that it leads to numerous
secret marriages and to some proceedings
which are much worse.
Years Wasted in Apprenticeship.
The system of apprenticeship Is another
English institution which affects shop as
sistants 1t is held over here that before a
girl can sell goods to advantage behind the |
counter she must pass a long period as |
learner. In the drapery and millinery lines |
two or three years are required, and what |
m anf Irv
to the shop keeper is that these
girls will work long hours during all this
time for nothing beyond their board and
lodging. Let it be noted, too, that at the |
end they will not know how to trim hats O,
to make dresses. I am speaking now only of |
what is necessary to become a waiter behind
the counter. This apprenticeship is not q
legal one; it is simply mutual agreement
which either party can terminate at will.
But custom may be just as oppressive as
law. and this custom, am assured, is all
but universal Upon males, however, it
bears less heavily than upon females, for
the former, while learning, not only get
their keep, but receive little pocket
money, which increases from year to year.
Another very rigid and really oppressive
custom in this country is that which e1acts
from every applicant for a position as shop
assistant written character" from his
last employer. Here custom is at variance
with law, for there is no compulsion in the
matter of giving character, and yet, with
out one there is no chance of employment
The Requirement OF Characters.
So rigidly is this rule enforced that have
heard of numerous instances in which it has
,een brought to bear against persons apply
ng for place under firms in whose service
hey had been for years. As, however they
lad been working elsewhere for a few
months, the reply was-''Yes, We will en-
age you if you bring a character from your
asst place" This custom places the shop |
ssistants completely at the mercy of those
n whose service they may happen to be.
sometimes character extending over ten
ears is e1acted, and that the effect upon
hose interested is oppressive is shown by
he fact that various attempts have been
made to cure the evil by legislation. In the
ook already quoted MI: sutherst says Of
his system that it initiates against the
ssertion of manly qualities, and, as result,
servile spirit is engendered, which tends
0 make the assistant complaisant nonen-
ity, ready to submit to anything because
here seems no way of escape"
Where SO much is required you would
expect much to be given. But
hat is 1t to which these aspiring young
eople, after long period of virtual ap-
enticeship, and after the sacrifice on the
art of SO many of them of all home life,
ith the exchange, as Mr.. Sutherst puts it,
much that is manly for that which Is
.rvile-after all this, to what sort of
osition do they fall heir7
A Half Holiday That's Mockery.
As to hours, about the only change since
lie publication of "Death and Disease Be-
md the Counter Is that in more instances
IAN before the shops close and the assist
Its get of little earlier than usual one