The record-union., 1894-01-03
TEE UNEMPLOYED.
Startling Condition of Affairs in New
York.
Accurate Figures in Regard to the
Unemployed of the Industrial
Classes-The Future.

the poor, poverty among the working
men, strict and enforced economy among
the usually well-to-do, and retrenchment
among the rich-these are the panIc-born
Christmas gifts to New York OF the panic
of 1898. Charity is the only Santa Claus,
and charity never blesses the visited with
merriment: all the metropolis expects or
will find in its stocking tomorrow morn
ing will be temporary comfort, satlsfac-
ton OF all the needs Of only one day. But
that, if found by all, will mark the day
out for distinction from all the others OF
the last two months and make 1t truly a
beautiful if not merry day.
Never in the history Of New York
City" said the Secretary of the Charity
Organization Society yesterday, "has
there been such suffering and want
among the worthy. People must know
in a general way that starvation is in our
midst, for the flood of charity is as unex-
ampled as the need of it. But no one
who has not been among the destitute
knows the awfulness OF the conditions on
the great East Side, where the outward
signs of suffering are enough to make the
hearts of men bleed pity"
the East Side, seeking TO measure the
population OF the poor and the extent OF
their want, trying to get the details OF the
situation, to trace the causes and to ma
the tangible characteristics of the whole
dread picture, in order safely ana ac-
curatelv to make known to the less needy
the necessity of the mass of humber
victims of the financial crisis Of the sum-
mer. Some of the results of that lnvesti-
CATION may suggest to the compassionate
Imagination the actualities Of distress in
one city, and may help TO emDody with
facts the walls of woe that other cities
have raised. But lest the picture give
false impression, it should be promised
with the comforting assurance that New
York is able TO, and, in fact, Is caring for
its own distress and in splendid and
systematic way. How this is done, and
the exceptions of crude and injurious
beDeyolence, will be made the subject OF
another letter.
The proportion of unemployed was the
first figure sought for, and to get this L
visited all, or all that l knew, OF the labor
unions and leaders. Samuel Gompers
said I would find about % per cent. OF the
men in trades represented in the Fedora
ton of Labor, of which he is President.
His estimate proved to be not, as was eX-
Dected. excessive. No union had on its
list of unemployed less than % per cent,
and some had as high as 80 per cent. This
was a rather startling disclosure, es-
pecially as it furnished ground for ac-
cepting as literally true Gompers' state
ment that his estimate held good for all
parts of the United States where his
organization had any source OF lntorma-
ton.
The Bureau for Labor Statistics here
corroborated the results Of the direct in
quiry of labor unions and placed the
total of unemployed IN this city at bO.000.
In this figure is included only men
usually at work-men who have been
thrown out of work. But later esti-
mate, made in another way, raises the
probable total to 10000. This is the
figure of the Health Department,
and is more reliable because more
direct. The department has sys-
tenn of tenement-houses inspection,
by which the whole city is covered once
month. These inspectors usually go over
houses in their thirty-four districts only
for sanitary evils. which they report for
immediate correction, but, az my request,
President Wilson ordered his men TO ask
questions calculated TO show how many
men were idle and in what trades the de-
preston felt most heavily. The two weeks
report was submitted last Wednesday
and specified 1850 tenement houses, in
which lived 13,5l3 adult males, 1908
adult females and s, ,476 children OF both
sexes between the ages Of II and q. OF
these ,920 adults were found to be out Of
employment. The proportion Of this
number in tho 100000 inhabitants of.
tenement houses (supposing the same
relative conditions to be generaD gives
for the city over 1900 Of both sexes out
of work. While the most common
guess" is 100000, it would seem to be
more accurate and sufficiently terrible to
saw 0Oo0 as the correct humber.
How terrible it is as total is appre-
ciated when l say, as l know, that these
people have been idle since July or
August, and have exhausted savings and
credit absolutely. Pawn-shops in the
East Side are filled with articles OF house
hold use, and the statements of the
"bankers'' and the sight of few auction
sales sufficiently prove the tinality of this
last resort But L went further and made
inquiries at the savings banks on the
Bowery and on Chambers and BIeecker
streets, where the poor and the industrial
classes are depositors. hundreds OF &C,
counts are wiped outo was the repeated
answer. Figures were obtained from
several banks, but l found them useless
because of the cooperative effects OF the
August run" on those banks.
Then. too, to make the 10000 a living
figure, one must multiply il by three for
a conservative estimate and by five for
fair East Side conception OF the families
the individuals represent. This gives
100000, or $4,000 as the total number of
persons in distress.
AS for the trades most effected it is
nearest the truth TO say that none suffers
more than another. Walters are deepest
in despair, because the Worlds Fair
brought thousands of foreigners of that
occupation TO Chicago, and driven thence
they are returned and stranded here.
m = ho,r (ofl
III consequence from $50 and S33 month
TO SIS and S25, lower than before the strike
in May and June, and tips" have de-
creased in proportion. But all trades
have suffered from an inflow of uneln-
ployed from elsewhere, and though none
has been injured so badly as the waiter
in this way, this element adds very greatly
to the difficulties of the situation. Among
the trades, cloth workers of both sexes
are idle in the greatest proportion, but
that is because this line of work is most
common here.
1t is significant too, that cigarmakers,
bartenders and other trades depending IN
q way on the demand for luxuries, are
suffering with the rest. Most seriously
indicative of depression, however, is the
large proportion of bakers, butchers and
cheap tailors forced into idleness.
Other phenomena OF melancholy mean
ing are the increase of suicides and of
eviction cases. Suicides in the second
quarter of 1892 and 1888, ending June
30th, were respectively II and T2, or nearly.
equal. at the close of the third quarter
ito October lst) 1893 had 80 cases, against
only II in 1892. And in the last quarter,
the figures of which cannot all be at
tained, the excess in this year will be
still more. In October of this year there
were 80, more than twice as many as in
that month last year, when only 10 cases
were reported.
Evietions for non-payment of rent have
increased from the average of 450 last
wear to 100 per month for the last half of
fhis wear. (The figures are even because
the cases are taken up in patches of So