Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-11-01

I'VE are feeding about 1.500 people
Ia day at our soup houses. We find the
Ichildren very hungry, and destitute Of
shoes and other necessary wearing APP
iparel. We are unable TO help many
who appeal TO us. Even with all thai
has been supplied, we still find it in
adequate TO the crying needs of q
large number of people. The workmer
have used up their savings and theiI
many tales of poverty are heart rend
ing. If this strike does not end be
fore the cold winter sets in, the suf
fering will be intense"
The average wage of the cotton mil
operative. prior to the strike. was
about S6.75 a week. The cut of 121h
per cent, such as was decided upon last
summer, would have made the amount
less than Sc.
Instances might be indefinitely multi
piled of hardships and distress from
the very low wages which have been
paid here. An understood man, with
the unmistakable pallor of the weaver
is standing by a tenament house gate,
tenderIy handling his sick baby. His
wife tells you this father went to work
| III llC Hills III MIlCh IS W dS
| Z years old. Prior to the melancholy
July 26 he said he was earning SS.75 a
week. Pride in their earning capacity,
too, makes many of these people say
that their wages are very much higher
than they were, in fact.
Great numbers of these families are
consumptives. One girl of 16, coming
from a family of weavers, is now sick
in the hospital with the throat
trouble Sucking the shuttles" in
threading them, is terrible source of
contagion, the young girl often putting
the shuttle to her mouth directly after
cOnsumptive woman.
No one knows all that these poor
people are suffering. They feel abso-
lutely sure that to accept the reduced
wages which are offered them, would
mean slow and inevitable suicide. They
are not disorderly. 1t is not a question
of unionism or nOn-uniOnism. 1t is a
question of life and death. The most
conservative and wisest of them feel
that surely there must be injustice
somewhere in a condition of affairs
which forces them into such a plight
as this.
Significance of the strike.
To one inquiring for the underlying
! causes and for the lesson of the strike,
there is much to be found which may
we'll give the American nation pause.
For example. the cotton mills of Fall
River are far removed from the coal
fields of Pennsylvania and West Vir-
ginia. The coal mines of Nova Scotia
are near at hand. In the course of a
year these mills use 2S7.950 tons of
coal. Yet upon every pound of it a
tribute must be paid to the coal trust
in addition to the increased freight,
and yet the coal which is near at hand
remains unavailable for use except at
the prohibitive prices.
These mill use very large amount
of dye stuffs. cotton yarns, machin cry,
and various other articles which go
into the production of cotton goods. Yet
upon every one of these things the
equivalent of the duty must be paid,
which in the long run finds it's way,
not to the government, but to some
ltariff-protected trust which generally
| is seeking to pay large dividends upon
'watered" stock.
Granting that the manufacturers are
| right in saying that they are unable to
pay more wages than those provided in
! the schedule which they now offer to
the operatives, it is perfectly evident
| that were it not for the tributes which
mus be paid by the mill owners to the
| trusts who are sheltered by the tariff.
| it would be possible to add materially
to the wages of the workers without
further increasing expenses.
On the other hand in the face of the
constantly ascending prices which are
being eXacted under the shelter of the
tariff for the necessities of life, it is
no wonder that these operatives are
unable to subsist upon the small scale
of wages which they received a few
years ago.
William L. Douglas. who is running
for governor of Massachusetts on the
democratic ticket. and who is himself
large manufacturer of shoes. states
that it would be a great benefit to his
business. as we'll as a material saving
to consumers. If no tariff was levied up
on either hides or leather. This is a
typical instance. The people here are
unable to get beef shipped from Cana
da without paying a tribute to the trust
in Chicago. They are unable to buy
cheap wooden goods, which might be