Evening star., 1901-11-09
THE "FOOTING" CUSTOM.
Cause of the Evil of unLenness in
England.
From the London Telegraph.

FROM lne Lonuon Telegraph.
There exists in the Manchester and other
North Country mills a custom known as
footing" which compels the girls en-
ployed to furnished wine and liquors on
holidays and festival occasions for them
selves and the men workers. Public atten-
ton has just been directed to this custom
by Canon Hicks of Stafford, who in his
capacity of chaplain to the Stafford Hos
pital has seen the many evils to which it
has led.
For the first year, perhaps, after a girl
has entered her mill or factory she will
not be asked or expected to join with her
elders in one of these 'footings' Temper
ance has been strongly advocated among
the young in Manchester, as the rolls of
Bands of Hope and church and non-con-
formist schools can show, and numbers
make their working start in life as pledg-
ed abstainers. But with the first promo
ton, a birthday or wedding in the fam
iiy the unfortunate girl is reminded by
those who ought to know better that the
footing will be expected to celebrate the
event. Her wages at these early stages
cannot be large, and to provide the bottle
Of whisky, the bottle of port and the sub
stantial plum cake which is the orthodox
form for this useless imposition to take
she must either deny herself for weeks
some infinitely more desired article of
dress, and save patiently, or lay upon her
poor little shoulders a miserable burden
of debt or borrowing.
II - pau eHouSH When Sne alone has to
supply her coworkers with drink for in
such case the quantity available will not be
followed by serious after-conseouences
The worse occasions are at Whitsuntide
all the women furnish their footing upon
the same scale, and much drunkenness is
the result. regrettable feature of the
evil is that men should be so dead to all
manly feelings as to countenance and en-
courage it, as they do, by participating in
the drink. Indeed, when the footing is
bought the idea is that the whisky or rum
is for the men who share in it and the wina
Tor the women, though now it is not un-
common to purchase spirits only
Miss Ruth Chamberlain, in charge of St.
Philips Girls Club has interested herself
in the matter, as in the six years of her
work in the club she has witnessed a de-
cided increase, and has heard her own girls
constantly speaking of the more numerous
of the greater quantities of drink con-
sumed Promising young women have been
compelled to break their temperance
pledges or consume what was really dis
tasteful to them in obedience to the in
exorabie custom, which Individually they
were unable to fight against, Those who
ventured to decline have had to face ali
sorts Of petty prosecutions, were taunted
Coventry" by their fellows. In some of
the mills and factories efforts have heeu
made to suppress ''footings'' by forbiddng
them absolutely upon the premises Prac
tically, however, this attempt at remedy
has proved almost worse than the disease
as the only result has been that the ca,
rouse in such case Is transferred to a nuh
lie house, where even greater excess is in
dulged in. The more respectable women
themselves would hail a deIfverance with
gladness, but at present the system seems
too strong for them. 'S
About eighteen months ago the first out.
side attempt to break down the habit was
made, when an "anti-footing league" was
formed. Its rules were simple. and ito
members pledged themselves: First to
take no Intoxicating drink In connectton
with 'footings,' birthdays and other or-
casions in the mill Or elsewhere: second
to try to exclude intoxicating drinks from
all such occasions, and, third, to try to In
duce others to join this league. Efforts on
behalf OF the sex are very we'll orga nizei
and united In Manchester, through the dis
trict branch Of the National Union of Wn-
men Workers, and this movement was
readily supported by the various clubs and
societies soc & &befriending the class. Among 9TH
ers which took it up was the Girls In
stNute, an immense non-sectarian estah--
hshment, where hundreds Of hot dinners
are served daily at the lowest possible cost
which has its lodging houses, evening
classes and host of other endeayors al
Ancoats, In the very heart of the mann.
factories, as we'll as holiday and conva.
lescent homes elsewhere