Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-04
IN THE SWEAT SHOPS
Effect Of the Division of
Labor.
A COAT FOR 19 CENTS
INTENSE SPEED DEVELOPED By
THE TASK SYSTEM.
Mr.. Stanley B. Smith Tells Of His OBJ
servations in the New York
Tenements.
A COAT FOR 10 CENTS

Mr.. Stanley 3. SnltH u "OoiiSoSASe'
r. l., has been spending few days IN
Washington, and his impressions OF the
beauties of the capital, its general appear
ance of healthy prosperity and the happy
condition of the population seem TO nave
been enhanced after a thorough investlga-
ton Of the conditions under which many
articles are produced in the crowded parts
of other cities. In speaking to Star re-
porter of the lockout in the great cotton
mills of Lowell, Mass. Mr.. Smith called
particular attention to the cleanliness under
which these immense factories were con-
Quoted and laid particular stress upon the
difference between them and the tenement
house wor!. of New York.
The Sweat-Shop System.
1.-The 'sweat-shop system of work tells
story of want and inhuman task masters
beyond the comprehension of those Wfo
happen to belong to more fortunate class
of society,"" said Mr.. Smith This system
was introduced in New York from 1876 to
1852, during the great immigration move
ment of the Jews at that time, and pro
duces at the present time about one-half
the coats made in New York city, TO which
place it is peculiar. and it is in the hands
entirely of the foreign-born Jews. l visited
many of the establishments which carry on
this system and learned that 1t has a
double characteristic: 1t is division or
labor where wages are paid by the piece
and where a set Of workmen do the work
On one garment. There are three Workmen
in set, the machine operator, the baster
and the finisher, the pressing being done
by a man who is not a member OF the team.
With such nicely has this system been ad-
justed through the pressure of competition
that it has been found that one preSser can
press more coats than team can finish IN
a day; and, on the other hand, two teams
can furnish more work than preSSer can
attend to. AS consequence of this nicely
of calculation the shops in which four
fifths of the task work is done are those
known as 'three-ma chine shops, these hav-
ing three teams and two pressers Buttons
are sewed on and pockets tackled by a girl
working by the week. In these shops the
contractor is the bushelman or filter.
when the task system originated with
the Jewish immigrants it took the place
of the German tailor in ready-made work.
The coat for which the tailor received s. or
So as custom work, and for which he re-
ceived So 80 and 50 in the dull season as
ready-made work, was made In these task
shops for $1.50 and So. At this price the
immigrants earned much or more money
than the merchant tailors The latter made
very little use of the sewing machine, most
of his work being done by hand. When the
division was introduced in these sweat
shops each particular division became a
not know how to do pressing, and the
presser could not do basting, and so on.
The machine operator became an 1mpor-
tant factor in the trade. He was able to
do many parts of the work by machine that
were formerly done by hand, with the
suit that the coat was made much quicker,
and the men who were engaged In basting
were able to do more and better work than
under the old regime, the same being true
of the pressers and finiShers.
The Weekly Wages.
"In addition to the division of labor, the
special characteristic Of the task system as
distinguished from the piece system con-
sists in the fiction that the workmen earn
a standard wage per week. The scale now
adhered to Is SIS for the operator, SIG for
the baster and 81 to 50 for the girl edge
baster or finisher to $11 and $12 for the
man edge-baster who has latterly taken
the girls place. Twenty years ago 1t was
found that on this basis team could COM
plete eight or nine cheviot coats day, the
price per coat per team being about SO
cents. The present price is from % to 80
cents. The process by which the price of
labor was reduced Is instructive in the
ways of these keen business people. The
contractor would offer to make coats for
the manufacturer cheaper than they were
being made by other teams. Going home,
he would inform his help that work was
slack. and since he did not want to lose
any he had had to take a contract at a
less rate than formerly. Not wishing to
reduce their wages he would tell them all
they would have to do would be to make
one more coat in the days task. From one
additional coat they We're successfully
raised one at time until they are now
making many as twenty coats day. In
this way intense speed was developed but
even with thirteen hours constant work a
day the men say that only in very rare
cases can a team complete a task in a
la,, G,,1 IL I1t,,
in former years seven and eight tasks were
the rule. The increased number of coats
per task explains the reason why women
and girls can no longer hold their own
been driven out of the trade by the men,
simply because the former are physically
unable to perform the tasks.
Advantages Of the Task System.
1.-THE task system has two advantages;
the men work substa ntially by piece work
and have a personal inducement to per-
form their work as quickly as they can,
and since they are in a team each has to
keep up with the other. SO that higher
speed by any one induces higher speed by
the other two. So nicely are the members
of these teams adjusted to each other that
frequently baster or an operator Is out
of work because. for the time being, he cam
not find the other two members whose speed
is entirely suited to his. BY this queer CO.
operative production in the form of team
work. combined with the personal interest
of piece work. the Hebrew tailors in New
York have devised what is. perhaps, the
most ingenious and effective engine of over
eXertion known to modern history.
Zone reason why high speed and piece
work have become the frame work of the
contractors shops Is because these immi-
grants are eager to earn a big days wages,
no matter at what sacrifice. The Jewish
workman does not want to have 1t said
that there Is limit to his earning capacity
Usually he Is anxious to accumulate money
and open a contractors shop for himself,
so it is not for the love of hard work that
he is willing to labor hard, but to
eventually get rid of work. It is true Of all
green immigrants that they are stimulated
by the conditions Of strange land to the
hottest exertion of which they are capable,
the Jewish immigrant being peculiar only
In that he is not by nature a wage-earner
and he keeps before him continually the
goal of emancipation from hard work.
Coat Made for Nineteen Cents.
THE cheapest lined coat In the world is
made in New York city, in the borough of
Brooklyn. The contractor is a Jew, and he
employs Jews, Poles and Italians-ffty in
all, the weekly salary roll being s4s4. the
output 5000 coats per week and the total
weekly number of hours of labor being
siXtysix. At this establishment a COM