Little Falls herald., 1903-11-06


fWitAT UNION SHAvf h DONE Z, \ !.
Valuable Facts That Every
!. I. body J Ought g . +.
+ Know. e. =. "a
Herbert Casssn has the followino
very valuable article In the Minneaots
Union Advocate -. =. :.------. -
Let us hrstlook at few of the thinee
that have been done by organised Ia
DOE: Very few people know the half
We are apt to forget that 100 Years
ego men, women and children toiled
from q to 81 hours a week Is and
IA day. This was the average. but
many employers ground 16 hours a
day out OF their jaded wage slaves.
In 1900 every laboring man and me-
chan1c was at work at 4 q. m. At 10
they had an hour for lunch, at 8 an
hour for dinner, and then on till dark.
AS late as 1885 women and children
Degan work in some factories at 4 80
a. m. and In Eng land 1t was the GUS
tom to light lamp and work an hour
before dawn, as we'll as an hour after.
thus stealing two hours a day from
rest.
The average laborer 100 years ago had
fewer comforts and less consideration
tnan horse or a dog today. The -
was no Society for the Prevention Ut
Cruelty to Wage Workers.
The laborer lived in q house Of ur-
painted board; he had sand on the
floor instead of carpets, and his
aisnes were made of pewter instead
OF china. If he had fresh meat once
q week he thought himself lucky.
A good share Of his wages were paid
Tor RUIN and gin: then, when he got
drunk, his employer had him ar
rested.
:: : In 177e the bricklayers of New Jer.
sey were worked IA hours q day, and
housed worse than the pigs which at
that time rosmed freely through the
streets Of every American city. A
young man named Michael Mention
wrote letter to q paper. describing
their condition and, although ell his
charges were found TO be true, he
was arrested for libel and sentenc ed
to go days in jail. To speak q word
In defense Of wage workers !. az thus
rated as q crime IN Revolutionary
times.
The first American factories were
governed by the most oppressive regu-
lations. The workers were taxed to
support churches and fined if habitu-
ally absent from religious worship.
The factory windows were nailed
down for fear the operatives might
look outside and waste time. Proper
ventilation was unknown. Worst Of
all, 1t has been clearly proved, that in
some factories women and children
were threshed with a cowhide If the
overseer caught them snatching q mo-
ment's rest. One 11-year old girl had
her leg broken by ''billet Of wood
hurled at her by q savage foreman.
Such were the "good old times,
After the war Of Independence work
and wages remained the same. The
Revolution did not mean two cents q
DAY more to any worker in the coun-
try. As McMaster says: ''In the
general advance made by the society
In hfty years (1775 to 1835) the work.
ingman had shared but little. Many
grievances no longer troubled him, but
new ones, more numerous ssand CALLING
than the old, were pressing him sore
~. Wages had risen but dot in the
proportion to the cost Of uving.''
With few exceptions the ''7athers''
Of the republic were by no means
deeirous Of bettering the wage.work-
er's condition. In 1854 Gov. John jay,
OF New York, grumbed that ''the
wages Of the mechanics and laborers
are very extravagant," though tho
average wages ct the time amounted
to dfty cents:s day.. :::~.,~.:.
Jefferson tells % that the topic Of
conversation st:a large dinner party
given BY President Adams was 1.-THE
enormous price Of labor - President
Adams declared that he had hired men
ten years before for $50 q year and
board, while now he was obliged to
pay the enormous sum- of $3.50 q yaer.
The city Of Washington was built by
workers who got no more than so
cents q day. The d1ggers, choppers,
hod- carriers, etc., got SO q year, and
worked. as all laborers did. from sum
rise to sunset.
When this century began, wages
In New York were 40 cents a day, and
in Baltimore, SO cents. The average
rate all over the country was $65 q
yoar. with board and perhaps lodging.
As late as 1886, the the weavers
were working IL hours day for 65
cents. At Great Falls, N. H., in 1874
the factory girls labored from 5 q. M,
until Z p M, with only Is minutes
for breakfast and 80 minutes for din
ner. What they earned we do not
know. but all they received was 81. rs
to 50 q week.
The success Of trade unions in rails
Ing wages may be shown by the fol-
lowing facts: In 1860 the average
factory wages were $s47 q year; In
1890, $446. Wages in cotton factories
in 1880 were A cents q day; 1873.
81. 40. Therefore, if it had not been
for trade unions. workingmen might
be working for 50 cent q day, and
business might be az dull and sluggish