Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-03-31

tryman's ignorance. the boss does not
hesitate to ~overcharge for transporta-
ton. When moving a considerable
body of men he secures reduced rates,
but charges a full first-class fare.
Quite commonly he is permitted TO
board the men while they are at work.
sometimes buying this privilege from
TIE contractor at so much per head.
monthly. The boarders are threatened
with heavy penalties for purchasing
elsewhere food or any other articles
kept for sale at the ~shanty." Notices
to this effect are posted. In some in
stances the boarderss are compelled to
buy food to a fixed daily amount. under
threat of discharge. The food fur
nished by the boss is uncooked and of
inferior quality. often unfit for con-
sumption.
The prices charged at the padrone's
shanty are uniformly a swindle. Bread
worth -four cents a loaf is sold for ten
cents: macaroni worth three cents a
pound fetches ten cents lard worth six
cents a pound brings wenty cents: veg
tables worth one-third of a cent a pound
are sold for ten cents; meat worth five
cents a pound brings fifteen cents: and
Goldfish. olive oil and tobacco are dis
posed of at an advance of 100 per cent
- 'ftA X Ut pbSS > I'll
prepare to supply other useful things
needed by the men. such as undercloth-
ing. shoes and overills. at fancy prices.
A ive-cent postage stamp costs ten cents
at the shanty. and an envelope five cents;
Tor writing a letter a charge of ten to
twenty-five cents Is made. and for bring
ing a letter from the postofice a similar
amount. The boss eXacts from 81 to s.
per head for the huts in which the la
borer sleeps. although they may have
been furnished gratis by the contractor.
IypvyIHr tAnG nrn - rod nlrn Co.. ..~1s
cal service, drugs and accident insurance.
The insurance Is never taken out, and
the case must indeed be serious If a ply
stefan is called in. In some camps week
~ or monthly taxes are levied under the
mead of contributions to the Holy Vir-
gin"
The Italian laborer submits to these
eNtortions because he has no other alter
native; he must work for the bosses or
starVe. Complaints are useless. for to
whom could he complain? He knows
Tor discharging him. and thus have the
opportunity OF exacting new ~"bossatura''
from ms successor. In out-of-the-way
places the employees are sometimes paid
in scrip. which is accepted by tr~adespeor
pie only. at a big discount. There are
long periods of idleness,. and the laborer
may face the winter with empty pockets.
Yet he need not fear starvation: the boss
is ready to tide him over until spring
comes the charges being a lien on his
future wages. Large enement-houses
owned by bosses can be pointed out on
Mott and other New York streets, that
serve as winter quarters for Italian la
borers. There they are huddled together.
a dozen or twenty in one room. in viola
ton of all sanitary regulations.
sometimes a gang Of men is sent to a
remote country district in charge of a pa
and foreman of the job. Then cruel
Treatment of the hands is mot
Guffs and kicks have to be endured. and
mems wages at the end of several
months hard work. leaving them to shift
Tor themselves. Such happenings are by
telligence restrain the the victims from
prosecuting the thief. The mining re-
gions OF pennsylvania and West Virginia
rave, ha rts many Of the worst pa
uroni: The latter are said to have ac-
complices in each working gang, >who
snare the spoils in returns for protection
given when threats of violence are made
worst OF the padroni are the small bosses, |
or "bossachi." who make a regular bust.
ness of extorting money from the victims |
small groups.
There are said to be about two thou
sand bosses Of all grades in New York
only unskilled labor to metropolitan con.
tractors. Few Italians have Joined the
unions. The so,ealled Italian Marble
Eutters' Union Of New York Is dominated
by the bosses. For work in the country
and small! towns the bosses are ready 70
supply all manner of skilled workmen.
such as masons, carpenters. stonecutters, |
drove very profitable bargains with the
street-cleaning. department of New YORK.
Wnen proof OF citizenship was required
made the same papers do service for |
many individuals. or else presented
fraudulent documents. So far all efforts |
made in New York to exterminate the ma.
drone system have failed. so firmly is It
rooted. Within a few years the bosses
nave prevented legislation at Albany aim
ing at amelioration of the lot of the Ital-
ian laborer: The experts of the depart
ment of labor assert that two-thirds of
the Italians In New York and adjoining
municipalities are subject in greater OF
less degree to the padrone system. The
census of 1890 gives New York 80, 951 Ital-
Newark 293l-a total of So. $3.50.
the Italian colony of philadelphia Is
estimated at over twenty thousand. In
borers OF this nationality seem to have