The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1897-01-18
THE SWEET
SHOP EVIL
Report of New YOrk's State Factory
Inspector.
CONGRESS- CAN SOLVE The PROBLEM
Inspector o'Leary Calls Attention to the
Violations of Law in Families, Against
Which There is no Law-How Ready
Made Clothing is Manufactured.

ALBANY, Jan. 18.-"Congress can to a
very large degree solve the problem of alb.
clifton of the sweating system by passing
more stringent emigration laws and by q
tax that woUld force the workers out Of
the tenements into shop buildings, where
state legislation can reach them
That is the most important paragraph
I'm the eleventh annual report of New
York State Factory Inspector O'Leary,
and he alleges that the greatest evil labor
is bored with is no more prevalent i'm New
York city than it is in Buffalo, Rochester,
Syracuse, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago,
San Francisco, Hartford, Newark, ST. Paul,
st. Louis and every other large center OF
population, and especially in cities or To-
c~alities where the manufacture Of cloth
ing is carried on to any extent. In his
report Inspector O'Leary says:
with Knee pants bringing from fifty
to s~eventy-ive cents per dozen, vests from
81 TO 50 per dozen, trousers from twelve
and a half to seventy-hve cents per pair,
and coats from thirty-two cents to S1.50
each, with a percentage off these prices
for the boss sweaters and another reduc-
ton off for cost of carting-which the
workman is obliged to pay-we cannot ex-
pect to find anything but restitution, suf-
fering, intellectual and moral depression
existing amongst the unfortunate victims
Of this pernicious system.
"In New York city alone we have about
400 wholesale clothing manufacturers or
jobbers, and nearly all Of these utilize this
kind Of labor. There are nearly $50 whole
sale cloak houses in the same city, and
only a few Of them have suitable shops
and worLrooms Of their own in which to
do the work.
Nearly all ready made clothing is now
made up in places of this kind. The con-
tractors who operate fairly good shops as
a rule do not complete the garments, but
parcel out the minor parts to s~ub-contrac-
tors or families who do the work in tone
ment or dwelling houses at prices which,
after long hours of toll, will produce only
a few cents. The condition of the clothing
trade in New York is worse today than
ever before. We find men going to the
employers and offering to work two or
three hours extra If only given u chance to
work, thus voluntarily subjecting them
selves to a condition Of slavery, and right
here is where all the evils Of the sweating
system come in, for all complaints are
based upon the amount Of wages earned,
and the laws Of the state prescribe no rem
edy which can be applied at this point.
"The power of the officers of the bureau
Is limited and their duties prescribed by
law. The department can abate the evil
Of oyercrowding factory work rooms, but
it cannot prevent the overcrowding of
rooms in tenements which are used as
work rooms by members of the family.
"The officers of the department can
force the child under "A years of age and
the illiterate child out Of the workshop or
factory, but are powerless to MODEST them
when they are found employed in their
own home circle. The department. can
oause the reduction Of excessive hours of
labor required of women under 2l and
youths under IS years of age, when en-
ployed in shops, but it cannot prevent
such long hours of tolls being imposed on
persons of the same age when employed
at hOme.n