New-York tribune., 1903-04-05

-husnth-or,c people who come in daily per-
sonsl contact with the submerged tenth" The
task seems hopeless TO most persons but every
now an6 then one more hopeful than the
rest comes forward with plan for Its
solution. The latest plan is set out in THE Pail
Mall Magazine by means of an interview with
its inventor. Thomas Holmes. a police court
missionary OF London, who is backed by the
English Police Court Mission Fund.
The conversation between Mr.. Holmes and
The Pail Mall Magazine writer starts with
the great Improvements which have recently
been made in the conditions of organized labor.
Mr.. Holmes Acknowledges them: but he asks,
who will organize the women and children toll
ing over matchboxes toothbrushes. shirts.
blouses babies clothing. fur jackets. mantles,
artificial fowers-and your West End tailors
clothes? Who viii be bothered 10 organize fami-
lies who from 10 10 shilngs a week?
What profit is TO be got OF this shoddy
human material for the expense of the organtz-
ers? Mo- And this is the problem of civiliza- |
ton Not capital and labor; but the home
worker-the Door
II thought q great deal had been done for
the raatchmakers?" says the interviewer.
The public shares your confusion Of thought
most unfortunately. You remember there was
an outcry some years ago against the dangers
10 health incurred by the matchmakers? Well,
the outraged shareholders now visit their
factory. and so away with pride and beneyo-
ienoe in their kind hearts. They viii find every
thing In an admirable condition-cleanliness
fresh air healthy materials TO work on, fair
wages and reasonable hours But-who make
the nlatchboxes? The firm quite safe We
DO not make them ourselves they reply; we
buy them from a contractor The shareholders
thank God. and pocket their dividends with a
clean conscience. But the Tnatchboxes are made
by women and children. who find their own
paste. fetch and return their work and receive
21.d. a gross-in some cases it is less"
What is the remedy"
You remember that a religious enthusiast
asked the public for a million pounds. and
promised TO save the submerged tenth? He took
over the freehold Of muddy humanity; and the
other half Of the world was glad to buy off its
responsibility so cheaply. Well what has hap
pened? There is much destitution and as
much injustice in London to-day there was
when respectability put down its money. AS
many children die Of starvation, and many
women curse God and die under the heel Of
the sweater. Then your municipal authorities, in
spired with the same naoti0uings of benevolence,
buy g few rookeries, pu, down, and build
up hats-for worknen earning high wages! All
the way through this sorry business you will
find that il is We'll of and organized labor that
IS cared for: the lean and haggard army Of
houeworkers IS pressed nearer and nearer the
river Inc most C6IT1OCTdllC IESHlbeI u anna
ment. for all his humane speeches. is only the
representative Of organized labor. Poverty and
starvation are rotten boroughs-unrepresente
rs there no hope for them?"
Y believe there is he exclaimed, the tired
eyes hardening 'and am devoting my energies
10 its fulflment That fulfilment is the dream
Of my life Il keeps me going. have seen
enough SORROW. depravity and ruin to make me
think Of throwing Up the sponge; but this ray Of
v-s-s1 H1c a1v me
fully 10 go on pegging away. To be honest I'm
IN love with it. and-Im a bit Of fighter when
I see the goal I cannot tell you the whole
scheme. because I working with one who
desires neither publicity nor sound Of trumpets
till the dream is something Of a fact But 1
can tell you little And first Of all, let me tell
you the genesis Of the dream; for it is very
interesting, and shows how God may work by
the tiniest means TO e great end
"A little girl appeared before the magistrate
charged with stealing food. She had stolen
she was a thief IN the eyes OF the lawn order
tha: her brothers might not die OF starvation
The case led ne TO seek out the child's mother.
1 found her in a pitifuI dog nole Of a place
e widow, keeping body and soul together by
making cheap blouses. As talked TO her, and
my eyes ranged over the miserable home. es-
pied scrap of dirty paper on the table 1t was
an account Of how she had spent her last shil-
garine. Id: oil, Id; frewood I'D; and q bit Of
bacon The case appeared in the papers, and
attracted q great deal Of attention II made me
acquainted with hard headed philanthropist-
the man Of whom have spoken 10 you. Do you
know he said 10 me- what strikes NE most
about that Widows Housekeeping account" The
roverry?- Not at ALL he answered. its the hor-
rlble and senseless waste of It! Do you suppose
she gets full halfpennyworth of tea or sugar
or a full pennyworth Of margarine? No She
loses on every purchase; she is bound To- The
shopkeeper can'1 lose, so she must. Multiply the
loss on that shilling by the number Of shillIngs
spent in the year Why. it is frightful" You ap-
preciate the point Of view? The more abJect the
poverty Of the poor. the greater the price they
pay for the neanest necessaries OF daily exist
ence~'
Who can fail to see it, and feel it?
From that little scrap Of paper came my
dream. I saw the possibility Of combining the
hon-eworkers irto one corporate body; buying
their food not by the boarded halfpennies ana
farthings Of their wages, but by the pounds OF
their aggregated earnings. DO you see what
mean? one woman earning 10 shillings week
lives below the poverty line, ana her chiiuieii
sink with her either 70 death or to moral
chaos. But a thousand women earning tiie
same wages produce 200 a week: ana 1o'o d
week viii provide a thousand famllles al ieaSl
win healthv fare the means Of sanitation,
and the chances Of health. All me necessailes
Of life you see, could be bought wholesale anu
50 nav dream is to organize the hoIneWo1heIS'
not for strikes and lOckOuts, Dut ADi het1i1-''
zf-+f,a and h2uDiness / want 10 transplant them
from their dogholes and garrets-cleah OUT OF
LondOn-to some place IN the country. 80 " ~
not villages OF homeworkers, WIN an 81 sdtLa
non of their labor-roon7s lighted by electricity,
,.ct,ir,ae driven hv il the fetching and carrying