The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-04-28
TENEMENT HOUSE CIGARS.
SOMETHING THAT WILL INTEREST
SMOKERS.
How They Are Made-FiIthy Rooms,
High Rents-A Disgrace to Civil
Iization-The Blue Label.

Mr.. Theodore Roosevelt, while 8
member of the New York legislature.
/ speaking of bill to prohibit the man
ufacture of cigars in tenement houses.
/ said: 81 have visited these pest holes
/ personally, and I can assure you, il
smokers could only see how these CT
CARS are made, we would not need any
] legislative action against this system
at ALL
And the New York Sun, under the
caption of THE Cigars of Death" has
the following to say: THE tenement
house inspectors, now making their
rounds, have found nothing in any
quarter of New York more dangerous
to public health, family virtue, and
common decency, than the huge tene-
ment house cigar factories which have
frequently, during the past few years,
been forced upon the notice of the
board of health, but which. for some
reasons, through some means, are
still allowed to exist"
In view of the above facts, which in
no wise are overdraWn, from an eco
nomic, sanitary, health and, last but
not least. a moral standpoint, the
whole pestiferouS system should be
abolished.
There can be no privacy in a home
cast in such surroundings; the teach
ings and horrible examples held out to
the young children are frightful to con-
template and is such that society can
not afford to ignore it.
The organized labor movement has
been bitterly fighting against this
monStrouS evil for years, and asks the
general public if. in view of the facts
set forth, we are. not entitled to its
support? If the law-making powers
will not stop this disgrace-and thus
far they have not-labor unions will
do what they can 10 protect the public
against this octopus.
The Cigar-Makers international
Union OF America has a blue label,
which is placed upon all cigars made
by members of the union, which is OPP
posed to the tenement house system,
and will, under no circumstances, al
low its members to work IN them.
If the public will call for a cigar
bearing the blue label of the c. NJ. 1.
U. of A, it will protect itself against
the tenement-house cigar.
The same may be said of the cloth
ing industry, and many other trades
that are affected and cursed with this,
the greatest of modern industrial
evils.
The tenement-house-wor system is
one of the vilest and most inhuman
devices Of the modern captains of
industry, through which they can
fleece their victims, who are legion.
The system is combination Of the
"sweat-shop," the truck store, the
'tpick-me'' and other vicious systems,
and combines all the vicious grinding
features of all systems that are bad
for the unfortunate victim who works
in tenement-house factory.
The plan of operation can be briefly
explained as follows:
A dealer in or manufacturer Of CT
CARS will buy a row of tenement
houses, containing little, stingy
rooms, which are divided up into al
legged living apartments; these rooms
are let to the unfortunate victims for
an exorbitant rental-usually twice the
amount asked for the same quarters
in buildings not used for this purpose.
The tenants then go to the landlord
observation-disclosures; take the tobacco,
in its raw state, to the so-called nome,
where it is made into cigars and re-
turned to the master. The victim, I'M
der this system, is bled at both ends,
and in the middle as well. The dealer
gets his shop-rent free-he gets an
enormous rent for the building. This
process, in the end, forces the victim
to work for practically nothing, no
matter what wages ne was 10 receive
it all comes back to the firm in the
shape of rent and free shop-rent,
which he squeezes out of the working
man-tenant.
The alleged home of a tenement
house worker consists usually of two
small rooms, poorly lighted, the sani-
tary condition of which is mockery
and disgrace to our modern civiliza-
ton. The family live. eat, sleep and
make cigars in these pest holes, called
"home;" little children are compelled |
to exc out an existence in the midst !
of such surroundings, living in an at
mosphere reeking with foul air and
the fumes of tobacco in its various
stages of preparation. and moral at
that appeals to humanity
for redress. G. w. PERKINS,
Int Prest. c. NJ. l. u. Of A.
Chicago. April. 1895.