The sun., 1903-11-01

One of the morbidy interesting points OF
interest to the sightseer in New YORK Is
rapidly being obliterated. The sweatshop
IA disappearing, and with it goes the squalor
Of the sluIns
When the stranger from the country
reached town a few years ago he or she
visited me theatres, the churches, the
parks, the museums, the department stores
and then often sought a glimpse OF the
sweatshops, where 30 large part OF the
sother half strained human endurance
to the last point, where body and soul were
almost divorced in the struggle for eS-
istence, amid nauseating conditions. Inc
siphtseer in New York could walk into
almost any building on the streets branch
ing of from the Bowery, and even lower
In the city, three years ago and see these
things.
The same workers with little better pay
and amid much better and more sanitary
surroundings can be found to-day in the
very heart of the wealth, progress and
prosperity Of New York Men finishing
"pants" for 80 cents the dozen, old men,
and bows doing the machine work on gar
ments and earning less than so cents day
and women sewing on l44 buttons for hTe
cents. And this on Fifth and Madison
avenues and the streets crossing them
between Twentieth and Fiftieth.
This change has been brought about by
the Tenement House Commission and
factory inspectors. The newest tenement
laws throw the responsibility and liability
for violations OF them not upon the workers.
but upon the manufacturer. he who buys
the material and gives out the work, and
who. to the officials and workers is known
rs the sweater"
No manufacturer has now a legal right to
give work out to men or women who nave
not a Labor Department license. which Is
granted In all cases where the workrooms
are sanitary and not overcrowded. In
spectors finding work in unlicensed rooms
tag 1t, notify the manufacturer and insist
upon compliance with the law. II be fails
10 heed, the manufacturer Ia taken to court
for violation Of the factors laws.
This action is direct in effect and revela-
ton in it's result. Where missionary socie-
ties. charitable institutions and the Health
Department regulations failed to bring
about results, the enforcement OF this FAC
tory law has done much to amenorate
deplorable conditions In the sweatshops
In some of tho largest buildings In Fifth
avenue there are to be found to-day what
might be termed IN the technical sense
sthe sweatshops" of New York. Accord
ing to John p Bealin, superintendent OF
tho State Free Employment Bureau, Few
people know the real meaning OF "sweat-
shoR;s s.,. CAVIAR. .unnlviDr their own
machines work In the shop OF contractor
1t a certain rate per dozen garments, Is the
definition given by the Factory Depart
pnent The contractor gets from 5ot &c per
cent. Of the profits, ano suprlies notiinG
but the workshop and material, wtiu.i lsst
he gets from the manufacturer TEAS the
worker receives 80 cents dozen fol stitching
trousers, while tho factory pays tho con-
tractor 90 or 85 cents dozen.
The now tenement laws having driven
these contractors from the novels In the
lower part Of the city, have IN great
numbers rented the otherwise unavailable
parts Of offices and store buildings further
up town. In one Office building where the
front room used by a well known DOOR
concern costs 5000 year, the rear attic
is utilized for a sweatshop, and only sZo
month rent is charged.
This removal of the sweatshops up town
has brought with 1t an exodus of -fmshers
women and young girls and some old
men who make button holes, sew on but
tons, hem and binC. Many OF them for
merly earned less than 80 cents day
Being licensed they now make nearly 80 per
cent. more.
ain five years there won't be sweat
shop in the lower section Of the city, said
Inspector Hanlon to Sun reporter THAT
part OF town will be cleaned up, the tene-
ments remodelled. and those people made
into good. honest, intelligent and con-
tented citizens With all their narrowing
poverty they try to obey the law, and their
sense of honor is high"
In the Easements, attics and aIeawaY
rooms in the great buildings, where the
man in front Of the house counts his eX-
penditures and winnings by the thousands
of dollars and has all the luxuries Of wealth,
the Italian, Hungarian or Bohemian sits
silently at his machine stitching, all day
long and in =, m, places succeeded by others
who stitch far into the night, earning their
existence by pennies, counting their com
forts in one cent purchases,
Il is probable that the two extremes of
life were never brought so close together
In their laDOT as tIlS, yet tIie HuluDlti
worker is content, and even more than
that in many cases. The memory Of the
old sweatshop in the dingy room down
in Mott or Elizabeth or Grand street is
still fresh in his mind. The nice, clean
walls and floor, the light room, demanded
by the labor department; the fresh, pure
air coming in, and on cold days the warmth
from the wonderful steam pipes-all these
things make the new workshop delight.
In contrast with the old conditions, the
sewers forget to compare their own sphere
with that of their near neighbors On the
whole, they seem to be happy. contented
army of workers
In one place in Madison avenue, where
the coat makers stitch from early morn
ing till late at night. in a room clean and
well lighted, there are two cripples among
the others. They say they make six coats
In a day. The pay is 80 cents. They live
down in Mott street.
We move uptown after two month,
said the worker. And then he explained
that his family would have three rooms
in new tenement with great big bathtub
In It. 1t was wealth in his eyes.
The improvement in the sweatshop con-
ditions has had a remarkable influence
~, 90 tIn ,arl.a