The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-05-01

society Is teaching women the cruel 70 l\
, OF wearing birds on their hats, and s,
the preservation of birds is accom-
p ishcd.
Inc stores are very sensitive to the
demands of the buyers They keep in
STOCK what you ask for. If, then, the
merchant is 50 kecnly alive to the whims
or every class of buyers, would he not
} oe more SO to the insistent intelligent
demands of an educated public? And
80 me League purposes TO educate this
puullc, these every day consumers by
meetings, by lectures, by leaf is, and by
systematic investigation 1t must be
made plain that the consumers hope to
move on, very slowly At first, from sweat
snop conditions to such factory indus
tllcs as exist under the humane laws OF
some Northern States 1t must also be
maue plain TO all classes that factory
made products are not more expc ,sjyc
thah sweat shop goods The League is
hot movement against Chcapness as
cheapncSs. The modern factory, with
| l@oor SAVING appliances, can produce
cheaper articles, even with higher wages
ana shorter hours, than come from tenc
ment industries. A great variety of
Sooas can be traced dircC to the best
paio workers Would not such prices
as ncmstltchcd handkGrChicfs for cents
|
| trimmed corset covers for = cents satisfy
even the most persistent bargain seeker
| in town?
Inc next question is do we need the
League In South Carolina Are we ready
| 'or such an organization, or can this
Work DC carried on with our Club work
as 1t Is in other places In this State
we DO no. lind such extremes of wealth
ana ana poverty as We see in other States
mere arc no sweat shops. Our mcr.
chants, as general rule, all live up To
the standard Of Fair House 1t seems
10 me that primarily. in this State, the
movement which | have attempted to
uescrloc must take the form of a co
operative educational movement
Two years ago, when Maikham's won
ucrlul poem The Man with the Hoc,n
was first published, | heard it most cf
icctiVcly recitcd in u sermon to teachers
ny DIT hcrshaw, Of Charleston His |
sympathetic rendition brought out all |
.ne points or the poem. and the patience
the pathos, the hopelcssness of it all |
made me very uncomfortable. NV sum |
mef vacation was not all rest, and SO |
went TO very wise friend, who can al |
ways help me, and said, Il wish MIR, |
hcrshaw had left that poem alone. | |
can forget it and yet, what is there
That can do?" He answered, PAY |
your cook more monty That's about
inc only point at which the problem |
touches you. And this is the essence |
OF lhe spirit of the League 1t is the |
Golden Rule as applied to social cconom
les.
In this education we must teach our
selves to want" right th!ngs, rightly
madc. we must learn when and how to |
ouy, SO that the Song of the Shirt " |
VII become mere memory OF a sad |
picture of by gone days We must learn |
Ia very hard lesson for us women of fru
gal mindsl to avoid the bargain table |
which is, as we all know, a mere adver
Using scheme, and is filled generally
with sweat shop goods made specially
Tor this clearance sale
While we are learning these tbinos
ourselves we must teach our merchants
the objects Of the League Teach them
"hat Fair House is, teach them the
use o! the label and call pcrsistcntly for
labeled goods. Pa,ronizc those h0uscs
which pay the highest wages and which
thlnk that work well done by woman
Is worth just as much as if done by a
man support them in the early closing
movement, and urge the observance Of
all holidays. You will find in these
shops the best service and the best
" chcapncss."
Aud next | come to a class OF which
l know not how to speak 1t is by far
the largest class Of toilcrs i'm this State
that needs our help. | refer to the cbll
drcn OF the cotton mills | know il is
not popular subject. We scarcely
dare alludc to it in our club, there are
SO many NIL presidents in Spartanburr
aud they have 50 many relatives I
reailHe That there arc many sides to the
question, ana the answers cannot be
found in day know the evils of IN
Dor l&ws. In fact, / have not very much
faith in lcgisat ,res COMP Loscd OF mere |
men "hcn IL comes to sOciaistic oucs-
tons, But the children are in the mills
working eleven hours day These
childrcn are growing into men and wo
men just rs our Chi drcn are, and they
cannot write their names In iury OF |
Twelve men, drawn from one Of our CITY |
mills last month, nine Of the Jurors had |
10 MAKE thclr mark. These are Amcri. |
can citlHcns, grown up under this won.
dcrful civilization, which, having ac.
compDshed such wonderful things for
It's own, IS seeking TO en- tighten the ut |
termost parts of the earth In a few !
years thcy will cease to be citizens. for
the tlpe IS rapidly approaching when |
the ballot box will be denied all Hitter
atcs
How can The Consumers League
toucn thls class? The same answer ia |
given BY education. Commence at the |
top, and educate the mill presidents If
all presidents were like your own Ellison
Smyth, James L. Orr, Lewis Parker and |
Mrs. NJ. L. Gridlcy, the task were not so
diilicult. They have made inc beRinn.
ing, in establishing free kndcrgartcns
and fine schools, and in many wavs
showing themselves the children's
TREND. Inc comprom. sc effected by the
mlll presidents and the Legislature of
North Carolina was Il step in the right
direction Let the presidents of south
Carolina mi Is unite with them in a
Presidents League, If you will, and let
thcm decide that they will not employ
child under fourteen, they will not en-
ploy child that cannot read and write
and that furthermore they will, with
"hat help they can get from the State
malntain good schools, the question will
for time at least be kept from the
politicians. Above all things keep the
question from our legislators until YOU
educate them
You may not be able to educate ali the
presidents at once, rather think it will
require time but in the meanwhile YOU
are moulding public opinion, which after
all Is the primary condition Of all effcc-
tive social legislation And the last