The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1907-05-03
THE QUESTION AT ISSUE.

have not strengthened the cului"i ~"
t;ons that should exist between them
and the benefciaries by the statement
they issued last week in answer to the
charge that discrimination was shown
in the distribution OF the money. when
the trustees undertake. to make people
believe that personal animus is behind
nil the trouble and that "hundreds oil
worthy and deserving women have been
induced to lend their support to the
action against the trustees by mlSrep'
resontatiop" they simply try to becloud
the real issue by intimating that the III
tenigence of the majority of the oene'
fciaries in this town is of such low
order that they can be easily be delud'
ed
eve hold" say the trustees, "that
II was the intention of the donor OF
the fund not to create a system Oh
pauperage among deserving women VINO
earned their own living by the needle
in the town of Brattleboro, but on the
other hand to aid and assist them when
through sickness or injury they become
incapacitated for earning their NV
ing" "System of pauperage Is
good. but the use of the phrase does
not add one iota to the enlightenment
of the situation. The sewing women
Of Brattleboro are no such fools as to
hold for one moment the belief that
they can all retire from active work
and be supported by the Thompson
fund. They agree with the trustees
that the money should be spent to AID
them in practical manner when
through sickness or injury they become
incapacitated for earning their living,
and because aid has repeatedly been
refused under such circumstances is
the main reason why action against
the trustees has been taken.
The trustees make as an excuse for
limiting the number of women to whom
the fund should apply the assertion
that "women and girls from all sec
tions of the state and outside were ar
irving in Brattleboro seeking work IN
the shops, and all convinced that the
Thompson fund would be applicable to
all contingencies. - Facts do not seem
TO bear out the truth of any such state
ment and even if they did the state
ment would not be justified Is Brat
+lehoro flooded with women seeking EN-
nlovment for the purpose of becoming
Thompson fund benefciarles7 Only
last week a member of the Hooker,
corser & Mitchell overall company
stated that his concern was thinking
Of establishing a branch factory IN
come other town because it was apso-
utely impossible to get any more helP
here. At the present time there are
in this factory nearl y lOo machlhes
which have no girls to operate the'n
When Brattleboro is making every Ell
fort to increase its population ana III
dustrial activity by inducing ne" III
dustries to locate here people dlsllNe
70 see an already well established con,
oarp Obliged to establish prancn
oIsovbere because conditions here APP
narentlv will not permit its expansion
IF Girls would accept employment III
pnott1oboro more readily because of the
assurance that in case illness OF ms
fortune cut off their means OF llVell,
hood thev would be cared for until
aoain able to earn their living, no"
many people in this town would opJe'S
to having such assurance made pupllc'
Surely no one who is interested IN ln'
commercial welfare of the community
There is no good reason for the leei-
ing on the part of any woman VINO n''
benefited from the fund that the lao'
sbould not be published Nor can we
understand why the trustees then'
selves should be unwilling to renoei
On itemized account of their stewart
shin What the seamstresses, heeolo
women and shop girls OF bra1VleooiO
want is the assurance that Ill c"'o
thew are in need from any OF the
causes named in the Thompson Will
their applications for aid Will not oe
turned down on some fimsy excuse
such as that which is found in the hne
distinction between the meaning Oh
the words seamstress and power stitch
or. The trustees may be assured, too,
that the movement is not "systematlc
crusade set on foot by parties with
nersonal end to serve' but rather one
in which the Brattleboro public is very
much interested and DESTROYS of fair
play. When an elderly woman who has
been a dressmaker all her life is re-
fused aid because she happens to own
the home in which she lives with her
feeble husband and young grandson,
and is told that the only way in which
she can get help is by signing an agree
ment to turn over what little property
she owns to the Thompson fund trus-