New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-04-09
SOME WAYS OF THE WORLD
THE KIND OF WOMEN WHO HAVE MORE
RIGHTS" THAN SUFFRAGISTS CLAIM.
THEY BELONG TO TIE ERA OF LITTLE DoRR1r
But CANNOT BE IMPRISONED FOR DEBT
THE UNION HELPLESS

THE UNION HELPLESS
Woman has made such strides in equality be
fore the law that il apt be a surprise 10 find
that there is any particular except The franchise in
which she IL still regarded irresponsible
being The law has high IDEAL Of woman-some-
times
For instance. It declines TO recognize the posi-
nifty Of being greedy dishonest en-
ployer. wufuly cheating her workwomen out or
their wages. IN other respects to be sure, the
law Is not quite chivarous There's a good deal
lef, OF the Old English common law notion which
assumed that altogether irrational
creatures something like children but more likely
10 he wicked. her father her husband must
therefore be responsible for her.
AS an employer. 10 be she is such an uP-to-
date incident that the lawmakers not yet certain
how 10 take her Evidently in New-York they are
perfectly satisfied % thing. namely, that she
wears the same pretty manners when she bosses
q shopful OF girls that she does when she bosses
a drawing-room full Of men. As for cheating or
grinding down the workers-impossibe.
mere man who holds back the wages Of
woman or girl in his employ will be promptly sent
10 jail until he is ready To pay UP. woman en-
ployer under similar conditions snaps her fingers
and tells the defrauded sister 10 get her money
when she Women employers are exempted
from imprisonment in such cases. The law has be-
fore its eye always woman who has a large
family of small children suffering at home because
of her confinement in jail. And possibly because
Justice is blind she does not that as matter
OF fact the offender is most frequently
prosperous dressmaker whose children have long
since grown up. or she is the wife OF a.sweatshop
proprietor who does business In her name.
And she is numerous than it is pleasant to
contemplate The Working Women's Protective
Union up against her every day, and finds her
sdamant alike TO appeals to her sense Of justice or
TO her sympathy.
The unicn has on its books long list of women
employers who defraud their workwomen Of hard
earned wages. Against OF them the judg
ments have become numerous and the hope OF
ever getting anything is so slight that the society
refuses TO take any cases against them. 1t is
a waste Of time and money prosecuting them. The
evidence of intention to defraud is complete and
there lie such gleefu satisfaction in being able 10
escape through the wonan's loophole in the law
that 1t makes one sigh for the recent decision Of
the Colorado courts the status Of women. Colo
RADIO women being ful-fedged citizens may not
have laws made for them which shall give them
advantages over other citizens. On the other
hand Of course. the Colorado decision would
take away all the advantages which the clients
Of the Working Women's Protective Union have
Imprisonment for debt has been most unpopular
,nss ne days days Of s p Sgn and The laws I'M
year one OF the last vestises OF IL disappeared
when the nstalment men we're deprived OF the
privilege OF imprisonng the unfortunates who had
Yeoed 10 the persuasive wiles Of the agent and
which they could not possibly manage TO pay.
ONE OLD LAW REMAINS.
The section of the law which provides mprison-
naent for the male employer who refuses 10 pay the
wages OF a female empioye Is the sole survival. II
was passed shortly after the Civil War a result
OF the efforts of a number OF philanthropic indi-
viduals whose attention had been called 10 the
frequent impostons upon sewing women. Most of
these women had been employed in making SOL
dters' uniforms. and the contractors who hired
tnem refused 10 pay their wages. The women ap-
NJ al n hQ md eCfta finN
was the result that the law passed and the
Working Women's Protective Union was formed:
employers. Every Wednesday during the thirty
odd years OF Its existence lawyer has spent that
afternoon al the unions rooms arranging the cases
Al sor,s OF claims for wages are taken. except
DREssMAKERs THE OFFENDERS.
TO this day the most frequent sufferers from this
form OF hard luck the sewing women, and tho
fashionable dressmakers are the offenders.
Agains; one woman the union has secured four
teen judgments. and against another twenty-five.
II has never been able collect a cent on any Of
them. and has long since ceased 10 take claims
against either Of these women. One Of these dress
makers makes only the most expensive garments
for very wealthy patrons She lives in handsomely
furnished apartments and owns valua bic dog.
Confronted with judgment she declares that
everything belongs 10 her mother. her brother or
her friend. Her method is to pay girl little
every week. promising 70 pay IN full next payday.
When the next payday Genes the story is repeated.
and the next and The next. until the sum held back
aggregates $40 500 This her method but
her success in defying the efforts OF the girls TO
collect their wages withheld has emboldened her.
and she pays nothing at all When the week
is up the girl IL told she Will have wait until
next week and IL goes on. until the girl tires
and seeks another place. She turns deaf ear 10
all stories Of need
The most surprising feature Of the whole thing is
the slowness Of The girls TO believe that their en-
ployer is anything but honest II. as Il is said the
best evidence of good blood and breeding Is not 10
be suspicious these sewing girls must be really
truly ladies'" One girl who had received only SIS
for her services from February TO May refused o
believe that her employer would not pay her every
cent II was not until her brother refused TO pay
her board any longer. and insisted that she either
get her wages look for work elsewhere. that she
brought her 10 the Protective Union. Here
she found that her employer such a hopeless
cheat more claims against her would be taken |
She was one Of several hundred among the dress
makers victims and there wasn't a ghost Of a |
chance Of collecting anything