Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-01-25
NATIONAL sWEAT-sHops.

1t is true that there are certain bureaus
that are veritable sweat shops, and
others which approach very near unto
the condition of penal workshop.
Men and women, especially women,
are forced to labor necessarily for
eight hours as no slave ever labored.
1t is not necessary to go into the
buildings to discover the condition of
affairs. Watch the poor wretches as
they emerge from their prisons. Note
the pinchsd look upon their faces.
See the half-clad forms ofthose women
as they hurry homeward.
But to be specific. The mailbag
repair shop, presided over by one Cen
eral Nelson, who, when taken to
task by representative Of the Wash
ington Times, replied in substance:
Eyes, that is all true, but what are
you going to do about it," is fair
sample.
The Times has charged, and the
charges have not been denied, that
1T is true that women are taken
out of the shop in the afternoon utter
ly exhausted, and that some of them
have had to be taken home by their
friends. 1t is true that they work at
the hardest kind OF labor for eight
hours, and majority of them, per
haps do not make more than fifty
cents per day. It is true that while
their wages were neverhigh, they have
been reduced to the verge of crime
against a working woman, whether or
not she has dependent family, and
many OF them have. 1t is true that
while wages have been cut merciless-
ly, there has been nothing done to
make their surroundings agreeable.
1t is always the same dirt and dust,
and disagreeable odors.
There are other places just as bad.
Go to that great hive of industry, peo-
pied by the brightest minds and most
skilled artisans in the country, the
Government Printing Office. There
one can see tyranny in all its hideous-
ness. There the slave-driver of ante
bellum days thrives in all his glory.
1t is not in one division ordepartment
of that vast establishment, but every
where. Not a man or woman within
those tottering walls dare say their
life is their own. Men who are ex-
perts, who are vastly superior to the
bosses in charge in every particular,
cringe beneath the epithets which are
hurled at them. The task masters
are memorable in their demands. The
slightest error land everybody knows
errors are absolutely UNAVOIDABLE is
treated as crime, and the unlucky
victim at once becomes the target of
abuse and vituperation. Task is piled
upon task. Men and women are hud-
died together until they are almost
one solid mass and required to toll in
cessantly. Spies are continually upon
the lookout, and every complaint,
every moan that wells up from heart
filled with anguish is promptly re-
ported to the powers that be.
Go to the Pension Bureau. While
in some particulars better condition
exists than at the Printing Office;
while its employees are not in mo-
mentary danger of their lives, and
while they are not crowded and jam
med together, a worse state of affairs,
if possible, prevails. There, in order
to comply with the rules formulated
for their guidance, examiners are
daily, hourly required to render de-
cisious which they know to be con-
trary to the law They are forced to
decide against applicants for pensions
when they know to a certainty that
the case is meritorious and that the
old veteran is entitled to the relief
which the law says shall be granted
him In this manner the sense of
right inherent in every honest man is
thwarted, his manhood degraded. and
he is forced to occupy the position of
the unjust Judge
The recent debates in the House of
Representatives upon the pension bill
disclosed much, but not ALL Old
members know these abuses exist, but
few of them are willing to speak of
them because they know of TIE wrath
which will be visited upon their con-
stituents. New members are not as
rule cognizant of the condition of
affairs or are helpless to remedy the
evil.
1t is well known that all of these
people fear an investigation, and
under ordinary circumstances they
would be investigated. With the
present executive it is folly to attempt
to remedy any of these evils. The
offending parties are simply obeying
his behest. They know they are safe
until change comes, and they pro-
pose to make use of their opportunity
while it lasts.
All of the facts given above and
much more will be made known
sometime, and then the people will
blush with shame to think that such
things could be in this country which
boasts Of its liberty and enlighten-
ment.
- . s
THEY ARE NOW BUDDING.
There are those who turn up their