The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-07-22
LABOUERS CRUSHED.
Contractor and Pad
rome Grind Them
Fine.
ARE OVERCHARGED ALL ROUND.
How Clinton Feels in the
Unseating of Judge John
W. Corcoran.
ARE OVERCHARGED ALL ROUND.

Clinton, July 21.-In the everlasting
contest that has for it's result the sur.
yival Of the fittest, the contractors, the
shanty bosses and the ignorant italian
iaborers take an insignificant part
waglng their little contest on the por.
ton Of the earth's surface described as
the Wschusett reservoir.
In consideration of being permitted tc
board them, the shenty boss, or pad
rome, purveys laborers to the contrac-
tor. just ss he purveys groceries to the
laborers.
The contractor and the padrone are
two mill wheels between which the la
borer. financially speaking, is ground
as fine as you please.
He works for the contractor for less
Than the market price Of such work as
he performs, then the padrone takes a
large chunk of his slender wage by
overcharging him for what he eats.
The story is up to groceries. The rep
resentative of The Spy has procured the
latest quotations on groceries from one
OF the wholesalers in the basin. Meats
are also included. 1t is fair to this pad
rome to say that in comparison with
some Of his competitors he is conducts
tng a price slaughtering contest and
selling at less than the cost of manufac-
ture.
The prices are not marked in plain
figures, but this is the list by the
pound:
Rice, 10 cents; thennette, spag-
hetini, and macaroni s cents; beans, 6
cents; pork, IL cents; cheese, 49 centsi
tea, 26 cents; coffee, 30 cents; bologna
sausage, "a cents; sausage, Is cents;
sugar, cents; beer cents; tomatoes
Quart CAM, IL cents.
The rice is second grade, the kind that
the ordinary retailer sells for six or
seven cents. Thennette, spaghetini and
macaroni are cheap substitutes for the
stuff known to American purchasers as
macaroni. There is mere than 100 per
cent profit in each pound. The beans at
cents pound cost by the bushel
about $1.25 end they yield the shanty
boss something like $780,
The pork is the kind that comes from
the underside of the animal. 1t is salt
ed dry. 1t sells in town for about 8
cents at retail There is a tidy profit
in selling it at IL. The Is cent sausage
is an indescribable mixture Of odds and
ends of meats. Most of 1t is made in
this country. 1t will sell at wholesale
for about 6 cents pound. The i'm
ported would cost more. The sausage
described as bologna is not the article
commonly known as bologna, and is far
inferior to the bologna sold at retail
for 10 cents a pound, or less, in any
market in Massachusetts.
The tea comes under another cate
CORY. 1t is so cheap there is no telling
what it is made Of. At 26 cents it costs
less than coffee. Whether the 26 cent
tea or the 80 cent coffee makes the
worst beverage, is question that each
person who tries them must settle for
himself. Anybody who has taste for
chicory will pronounce the coffee best.
The sugar is the ordinary trust sugar
Of commerce. The shanty boss gets
nearly two cents more a pound for ii
than the ordinary retailer does.
The less said about the cheese, the
better. At 10 cents a pound it is a lux
ury, and to be avoided at any price.
The laborer who buys 1t is not consid-
cred q spendthrift, however. Some of
the shanty bosses keep better cheese
at 40 cents a pound. 1t will not COM
pare favorably with an American
cheese at 16 cents
There is little fault to be found with
the beer, except the overcbarge. 1t is
the ordinary beer of commerce. It is
the biggest revenue producer in the
commissary. Each laborer, with few
exceptions, who boards with the par
THESE
figures were obtained, uses from two
to three bottles a day. The average
will be nearer three than two
The average cost to the men is some
thing more than SO a week for the
food they consume, including shanty
rent Of 81 month. They could board
themselves better for $3.50. if they
bought in the cheapest market. The
laborers do in fact board themselves
because they cook their own stuff, with
utensils furnished by themselves.
One of the things maintained by the
metropolitan water board is a system
by which the fleeing of ignorant la
borers has been brought to a fine point
There is only one opinion in Clinton
about the unseating Of John w. Cor
coran from the national democratic
committee 1t is that Corcoran cal
stand it If the party can. Stories hav'
been printed that Judge Corcoran mad
contest in the committee. This is no
true. From the time that resolution
were passed in the state convention un
til the vote confirming the action of tn
convention was taken in Chicago, tn
friend and lieutenant Of the late Gov
Russell has never offered opposition, di
rectly or indirectly.
1t is perfectly well known here tina
Judge Corcoran would never fill an.
place IN the democratic party where n
was obliged to meet George Fred viii
liams. On Mr. Williams side there
hatred and on Judge Corcoran's sid
contempt.
1t is to be expected that this tow
will be partial to Judge Corcoran, blu
the unanimity of the feeling of indigna
ton at the action of the national com
nittee Is most unexpected. 1t woul
find expression in mass meeting un
doubtedly, except that such an ex
preston would be repugnant to the mai
whom they would desire to honor by il
There is probably since the death o
Gov. Russell no democrat in the stat
who has more friends or more admirer
than John W. Corcoran. Some are at
tached to him because they admire hi
brilliant personality, and many becaus
they remember the wisdom and the JUS
tice with which he distributed a Iarg
part of the federal patronage for tn
state, following Cleveland's last cleo
ton,
David /. Walsh, chairman Of the dem
ocratic town committee, believes Their
will be no chance Of democratic success
In Massachusetts SO long as Georg
Fred Williams Is at the helm. Thi
opinion is shared in substance by mos
OF the other members Of the town com
rnittee. Judge Corcoran is himself