The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-25
MOVE OF CONSUMERS
COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO CON-
SIDER THE LEAGUES EXTEN-
SION TO ST. PAUL
A VERY INTERESTING TALK

ID,
the National Secretary, Addresses
"a Meeting of Women's OrEnnIzn-
lions at the Commercial Club
Outlines Clearly the Objects of
the Organization She Represents.
1t was oil intensely interesting, the
talk Mrs. Florence Kelly gave concerning
the work of the Consumers league, but
1t was also disqueting. The $50 or more
women who gathered at the Commercial
club yesterday afternoon doubtless felt
shivers Of apprehension steal over them
as they read between the lecturers lines
and thought Of possible bacteria perils to
which new winter coats and the latest
thing In hats might have been exposed In
the course of their construction.
Mrs. Kelleys complete grasp of her sub
ject, her rich knowledge of the form of
evil she Is seeking to put down and her
terse way Of presenting her theme made
her address unusually interesting Mrs.
Condo Hamlin presided at yesterdays
meeting and introduced Mrs Kelley, who
said:
The simplest way to make clear what
the Consumers league is doing and Is
trying to do Is to state what it already
mas accomplished. A few years ago it
occurred to Mrs. Charles Russell Lowell,
a woman deeply interested in civic reform,
to make careful survey of the large
retail stores in New York city and find
out the ones whose proprietors showed
humane consideration for their employees.
intention fO a
standard and then endeavor to bring the
others up to the prescribed mark. In all
New York city just two stores were found
up to the standard. Mrs. Lowell associated
with her Mrs. Nathan, and with the two
propr1etors. the first Consumers league
was formed. The league wrote letters to
all the retail merchants on Manhattan
lslend calling their attention to the stand
ard set by the two stores and asking
them if they would like to conform and
have their names appear on white
list Two out of the 1,400 merchants ad-
dressed answered the letter. Since that
time forty-eight names have been added
to the white list"
Mrs. Kelley said that the requirements
were: No child under fourteen years
should be employed; employees between
fourteen and sixteen should receive at
least $3.50 a week; at least enc seat should
store and they should be permitted to
SIT down when not busy; that a lunch
room should be reserved for them with
at least three-quarters Of an hours time
to eat it, and those who had worked in
the store a year should have two weeks
paid vacation
me value of being on the white list. of
course said Mrs. Kelley, was at first
problematical. 1t was question of in
r~.,l,,
make pledge. People might ask their
friends to patronize merchants whose
names were on the white list, but they
could go no further"
Mrs. Kelley told Of the Consumers
leagues experience in Boston 1t was
found that the cultured city was su,
perior to New York In this respect The
retail merchants were found to treat their
employees like human beings and nearly
all had adopted the eight-hour period for
a working day. If, however, the Bosto-
mans found their shops all right thew
had a grievance and 1t was the sweating
system. They had taken some steps to
obliterate these. Manufacturers were
compelled to give list of the places to
Which goods were sent to be made I'D.
These places were visited by the health
officers and every case Of infectious dis
ease was reported. But the process
competed and the Bostonians, Of course,
could not be sure whether the goods
made in the other state had been exposed
to contagious diseases or not.
Henceforth a broader scope was offered
the Consumers league. New York and
Massachusetts representatives of the
league held a conference, with the result
that the national league was formed.
Mrs. Kelley was appointed secretary Just
as the league had sought for model re-
tail merchants so it was now seeking for
model manufacturers. Two model manu-
factories were found, one at Waterville,
in Eastern Maine, an aesthetic institu-
ton, spick and span, where In nice
weather the girls rode wheels to their
work and were dismissed in time to take
an afternoon spin.
The other was in Worcester, Mass,
where the temperature was never allowed
to rise above 76, and where dining
room, reading room, drawing room and
hospital contributed to the comfort of the
employees. But no model manufacturers
were found in New York There the
sweating system was VIGOROUSLY ram
pant, and Mrs Kelley stated that the
manufacturers she interviewed invariably
said: I'VE don't give herring what
Boston or any other city does. We are
in this business to make money! Four
New England factories have joined the
Consumers league. Mrs. Kelley stated
that the buyers conscience must be ap-
pealed to. 1t was a fact, she said, that
where women were the chief buyers the
employees seemed to be treated more in
humanely.
The price the consumer pays for gar
ment, she said, had no relation to the
wages paid the employee. Some of the
most expensive garments were made by
t-4o
tennements reeking with disease. The
lecturer gave same facts that had come
to her attention during her residence at
Hull house in Chicago. In 1894 during an
epidemic of smallpox g tailor was found
working on an expensive overcoat, to be
sent to n customer in Helena, Mont, and
in the same room with him was case OF
smallpox. During a recent epidemic Of
scarlet fever there 1t was not an upcom-
mon occurrence to find women sewing on
childrens clothing with cases of the con-
tageous disease in the same room
Mrs. Kelley earnestly begged that the
women of st. Paul Investigate this matter
for themselves that they might take steps
to prevent local factories from following
the course of those in larger cities.
At the conclusion Of her lecture, Mrs
Kelley was asked number of questions
by the women present. She stated that
the league issued label to be attached
to the neck straps Of garments sold,
showing to customers that they had been
made under perfect sanitary condit ons
Jos. McIIibbin said, after expressing his
appreciation of the address, "In st. Paul
we have not much of q sweating process.
The goods are nearly always made in
large buildings" He admitted that the
factories themselves might be improved,
and said that employers as a rule foJnd
the employees apathetic and 1t was some