The Washington times., 1894-03-18
labor, the ages Of these children ranging rrom

families. not dependent upon Sweaters, !"
confirmation of what said in the early part
Of this address. 1t Is not the subcontract
system that is the root Of the trouble, but the
anarchy Of composition, under which the
weaker and less skillful are crowded into con-
ditions absolutely fatal to healthful and de-
cent living and full of peril. as 1t ought to be,
to the whole community that suffers such an
injustice aud inhumanity to exist.
The specific evils then fostered by existing
| methods Of conducting the clothing industry
are:
First-Permanent injury to the health and
productive power Of all persons working un-
der or living in such conditions.
Second-The inevitable mental crippling
and moral degradation ofthe children exposed
| to their influence.
Third-The danger to the whole community
of infection from diseases carried in clothing
made in these dens of filth and contagion.
| The latter consideration seems to me the least
of all the one on which we should need to de-
| pend to secure action in this matter. No
people making any claim to decency or hu-
manity should suffer such fellow-beings to live
for one day In such conditions as hundreds
of thousands in our large cities are now sub
| iected to without making some serious and
concerted effort to afford relief, even If the
conditions of filth and misery involved moth
ing Of peril or injury to the general body.
Our humanity may, the more common feel
ing that desires to see even dogs
and horses comfortably housed and
decently provided for should move US to ac-
| ton in this matter. But l am sorry to say
that not even this nation, to say nothing of
christendom at large. has not yet arrived at
the point where considerations of this sort
have any great weight when they involve
any high degree of self-denying and self
| sacrificing endeavor. even though this denial
and sacrifice be only OF the lower self and
fy,f tt,t. . l..k rhar thar.
fore make our chief appeal to the lower and
more obvious interests of men their per-
sonal and general safety and health. And
the argument from this point Is cogent and
ample.
As the Congressional report shows nearly,
IL not quite. one-half of all the clothing
worn by the majority of our people is made
under conditions not merely revolving to
humanity and decency, but such as to endan-
ger the health of the wearer. Not merely is
this work so largely apportioned to all grades
of clothing that none can be considered as
exempt, but the use OF ready-made goods has
become so universal that no community and
scarcely any family is free from danger. The
contagion thus spread is not merely of gen.
eral conditions of uncleannesS and miscella-
neous disease germs, but of whooping cough,
diphtheria, scarlet fever, and typhus, from
the very quarters where at once they are
most continuously epidemic, and where are
developing tie centers OF the manufacture
We have Investigated. The report goes on to
point out that no other material 80 invites the
use during manufacture that will bring il into
contact with sickness and disease. and no
other Is so well fitted TO shelter and transport
the germs when once they have found a lodg-
ment.
That the danger is not merely theoretical
nor confined to the lower classes is abnnd-
antly proven. The daughter of Sir Robert
trn. IF pi "a
made at the hcme of the workman. 4 small
pox case developed in Dayton, o.. from
clothing infected in Cincinnati. Numerous
scarlet fever cases were directly traced from
home tenement work IN New York.
The committee in the course OF its Investi-
cation was startled TO find the manufacture
OF clothing going on 1T these very houses
where were signs warning the corners OF the
presence OF scarlet fever
The danger. then. is imminent. Doubtless
thousands o: cases have already occurred
where parties have had no suspicion OF the
cause. and the doctor had 10 knowledge that
wonld enable him TO divine it.
1t is claimed by many thai the process OF
pr ssing with u hot iron is a suiIc ent safe
guard. as they say this is sure to destroy all
the germs. But the testimony OF men expe-
reAccd in this line did not bear out this
claim. On the contrary. il was shown that
IL many cases it would only afford the nee,.ed
warmth to encourage development. The
danger. then. is real AID the necessity of pre-
ventioE evident.
Third-What are the remedies for these
evils! How shall We remove or lessen theml
Let us take the last question first. How shall
We cheek or lessen them! / pat it this way.
for do hot think tle public is ripe for any
acton more raulcjl than this. There is no
rea! remedy, IN my uIgmens. under the pres
ent system OF Industrial comp iition.
Me must have Il system OF industrial and
practica! adm .nistra;Ion in city. state. and
nation that viii care more Cor men than for
property. and that will accumulate and use
property cniy for ENDS OF manhood.
But We cannot wait for ;hls. We must do
what We can under the present regime to
lessen and. as IA. as possible. remove the evils
o. which We nave spoken. Attempts have al
really been made 10 remedy taess evils by
State action. but they have proved abortive.
They have only resulted in driving the manu-
featuring business out of the State enacting
such laws into other States where they do not
exist. The experience OF Massachusetts proves
conc!usively the utter iIadequacy OF local or
State legislation. Ii has only resulted in
driving large part OF the business out OF the
State and SO 10 robbing its own workmen OF
employment. Doubtless some good has been
accomplished. but the results on the whole.
are lar from what is needed.
Nothing short of national legislation will
mt cl lNt ufceEl utctcsiticS Oh tue case
The right of regulation has already been
admitted and affirmed by the passage of State
enactmeats. If the smaller State nav reeu-
late individual action in matters of this sort
in the Z neral interest, why may not the larger
State-Ihe nation? Is it not the province OF
the nation to DO those things which the gen.
erat Interests demand. and which can not be
done. so well done, by the more local ad-
ministrative body? This is the plain verdict
Of common sense and the conclusion reached
by the Congressional committee. and the re-
port of the committee closes with Il recon-
ncnda;ion that such legislation be had by
Congress. as. with least Interference with the
business of the citizen and least exercise OF
Federal jurisdiction, will eiTectualIy prevent
interstate commerce in articles of clothing or
personal wear made under unhealthy condi-
tions of maauidcture.
Legislation that Will effectually accomplish
this will be Il great boon to all Glasses of peo-
pie. We trust it will be had. The need for
It is growing more and more imperative, as
the evils to be remedied are rapidly
increasing. The labor bureau OF Massachu-
sets testiiies that the amount of work sent to
New York appears to be increasing, while
that now sent them would under conditions
formerly prevailing. have been done in Bos-
ton. And the report continues, under the
pressure OF New York competition the ten
dency seems to be toward the industrial con-
ditions obtaining there. The wholesaler or
contractor i'll Boston is subjected by the sani-
tary laws of his own State to an unequal COM
petition with New York contractors and they
get the business. The annual output of forty
three establishments in Boston has a quoted
money value of S1S,020,950. OF this amount
49, 81 per cent. is made under the contract sys-
TEN and is free to go wherever it can be
made at lowest cost. 1t can be made at low
est money cost where social conditions are
lowest and where humanity is most imbruited
ard degraded.
The business which most concerns the bod
lily comfort and health of the whole people of
the land is more and more tending to the very
centers of degradation and of physical and