The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-06-04

The women will have to solve the in
dustrial problem. The men have failed
to do anything with it and as it must
be solved it is now up to the women.
The club women admit it. -
Mrs. Rheta Childe Dorr of New York,
chairman of the Industrial committee
addressed the biennial convention of the
General Federation of Women's clubs
in the st. Paul armory today and told
the club women very frankly that they
get underneath this biggest question
of the time.' Mrs. DORIS enthusiasm
is larger than herself, for she is little
woman, but her. report was based on
personal study, for she lives in a New
York East Side tenement, and is con-
nected with the settlement clubs and
classes
"Women are wage earners from ne
cessity, not within. They belong per-
manently in the great class Of toilers..
the men workmen will not acknowledge
it. and the employers are too ready and
willing to disregard it.: Because of this
ignorance the w oman wage Garner has
been and is still an actual menace to
society. When we consider that in al
most every community where's Women2s
work enters largely into local indus
tries, the men are practically driven
out, this menace is made clear. New
burg and Tory, two New York towns,
where overalls and collars and cuffs are
made, are practically cities Of Amazons.
There is SO little there for men to do
that they leave. "a
"For uncounted years men have
struggled with this labor question and
the struggle has become more and more
desperate every year. 1t is bitterer
now than it, was ten years ago. The
social unrest is increasing. In nay part
man or a thinking woman. who is not
an avowed socialist or anarchist. This
does not apply to the working people.
| The University Settlement men are near
" all out-spoken socialists; many of
! them describe themselves as philosophi-
cal anarchists. All feel vaguely, or
very clearly that the present state of
| affairs is unbearable:
GAS I conceive it, the reason why
men have failed to solve the labor cues.
ton is because they have not been
able to look at it from any other than
commercial point Of view. When
| their conscience pricks they established
some form of paternalism in the way
of what is called welfare work. In
the drygoods shops they have gone on
paying wages which no girl could live
on and retain her responsibility, and
have squared it with themselves by pro-
viding rest rooms and free lunches.
"When employers are forced to pay
| fore. No one ever heard of any class
of employers voluntarily raising wages
or improving conditions. How then
are conditions to be bettered9 The en-
ployers and the employed must be
brought together in a spirit of fairness
and good will, and labor conditions
agreed between them. The employer is
still tenacious of the supposed right tc
run his business to- suit himself and he
exploits helpless woman and child la
Dor to force man labor to- accept lower
wages and a lower standard of living.
"The employers have been obliged tt
combine against each other. They agree
that organization is good thing fol
them, but they will not permit the
workers to combine If they can hell
it. I know garment workers. shoI
where the employees are all organized
The boss used to be profane and
abusive. but whenever, ne began tt
swear all hands stopped work until a.
last the boss stopped swearing, as thai
was easier than replacing his force Of
| 1--WE cannot keep out of this. W.
must first know and then act. Ever
club in the country should have {
strong industrial committee who's
duty It shall be to investigate the con
ditions Of women and child labor il
its own neighborhood. Have industrial
programs in which workers will speal
and get them to talk about condition
in their own trades, for we have. go
to take hold of this problem and d,
what we can to solve it, - concluded
Mrs Dorr, earnestly.
A more intimate picture of trad
life was given by two workers, Mis-
Agnes Nestor and Miss Fitzgerald o
Chicago. Miss Nestor is a glovemake
and Miss Fitzgerald boot and shoe
maker, and they told some of the con
ditions Of their trades.
s'N''l'o sas
PROTECT TIE CHILDREN