The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-26

blamed for honesty doubling his
profits when he can.
with regard to the low moral and
social standard met with in certain
places, 1 find, as a general rule, that
the morality and social habits of the
women are largely regulated by the
wages they receive. Speaking gen
orally, where wages are good, social
habits are on a correSpondingly high
level, where wages are low the re-
verse is to be found This statement
suggests the true solution Of great
social problems in relation to women.
Their lnferiority and alleged weakness
dc not arise so much from any physi-
cal, mental or Industrial shortcomings
as from pecuniary disabilities. AS Il
rule, men hold the purse-strings. Man
made laws restrict the power of women
over property in ways which do not
apply to themselves. Men have en-
deavored to obstruct equal wages for
equal work where the sex is con-
cerned Every advance of women to
wider spheres of employment or to
higher remuneration for their services,
has been regarded as an attack upG.l
male privileges. Thus able women are
Stlll boycOtted from many walks Of
life. The aggregate result Of all this
Is political desuetude and social de-
moralization.
Take Mill No. 81 worslted SPIN
ming factory in the classic town of AYR.
IN whose vicinity Scotland's national
poet was born and his heaven-born
gift developed. Here a large number
Of women are employed at wages from
SLIP to $2.12 per week About one
third Of the workers make SLIP per
week. In her report Of Oct %. 1888
the lady assistant commissioner writes:
About three years ago the girls struck
rot an increase of wages, resulting in
an advance of rs cents per week. Thei,,
appearance is for the most part very
miserable, the majority being male.
faced, en1aciated creatures. Their
clothes are ragged and dirty, and the
larger number are bare-footed.' What
q sad picture this presents us of
Scotla's frank and winsome peasant
daughters.
"Or take the girls of the collieries.
as at Blantyre, engaged from mornins
to night in picking stones and ruhhis6
from the coal as it comes from the
nine. No accommodation of any kind
IS provided for Them says Miss Irwin
beyond the ricketty sheds at the nit,s
mouth, where they work in all wealth
ers. These sheds, which are neither
"lnd-tlght nor water-ttght, are set on a
sort OF scaffolding, and are approaches
by precipitous ladder-stairs. The Girls
work from a. m. to D. M, with
one hour and forty minutes off, which
IS ulVlded between breakfast and din.
ner. The wages begin at g cents and
rise to 81 cents per day, and they work
hve Gays in the week The work is
quite unsk1lled, and, although con-
SAINT, is not particularly heavy. IT is
however, extremely rough and 5ir+12
and the surroundings make it most
unsuitable for women, especiallv for
young girls. There is no sunervision
OF any kind, and the women workers
are, as a rule, exposed to rough ana
very Objectionable COMPREHENSIVE. The
ar was laoen with smoke and dust.
ana the persons and the clothes of tbe
girls were exceedingly dirty and m
seemly.' "iiu ul-
All trades offer varieties Of good
and bad employers but for s6er1,
practices, hard dealing, low wages
and high pressure, with utter disregsrS
TOT sanitation, the contractors in the
"a Iaiiollns trade take the premier place.
In some workshops the EMPLOYERS
mount guard SO that not a. monent,s
cessation OF work may take place. Nv
thelr diversion Of the labor system tho
trade Is Hooded with inferior worlers
VINO are useless in any other branc;,
than one, because they never learn III
trade as q whole. Women are kent
w Years et mourning else but stitching
pockets, or making sleeves, or tecl<inn
Innings. Girls are often EMPLOYED for
three months as apprentices without
wages, and then dismissed ,x,itbo,,t
cause, other apprentices taking their
place The employers make large
profits, although the women are unahia
under this division system to make a
fair wage or to know what thev carr
and garments are made for Ok cents
each, where the regular price is s1.T
or 49, W."
I'VE can go no farther through the
sad and sordid list, although there is a
host OF other branches Of women's in
dustry which we have not touched
Rich capitalists have small reason io
be proud of their great wealth when
the road is thus watered by the sweat
OF the hungry and def1led by the misery
and Generalization Of women and
young girls. Women are disfranchised
and are therefore unable to enforce the
necessary changes themselves. At nres-
emit Mammon and ferocious greed are
enthroneq in high quarters and An
pear to be almighty But the moral
forces which stir the souls OF noh}a
men and women are silently arowina
deepening and widening with increas,
Ing years Women must Organize ana
consoltdahe their strength, each intelli-
gent member resolutelv determined to
become factor great or small, In the
publication Of society and the exalta-
Tennessee Claflin Cooks