The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1907-08-10

is not likely that they will be inspired
by noble thoughts or be moved to per-
form heroic deeds. Walt Whitman
summed it all up: "A great city is
that which has the greatest men and
women; if it be a few ragged huts
it is still the greatest city in the
world.'
It will be asked how can we distin-
guish between tainted and wholesome
bargains? Many women, realizing the
evils that underlie the bargain sys-
tenn, have satisfied their consciences
by refusing to purchase goods that
are sold below the market price. They
delude themselves into believing that
if they pay high price for their pur-
chases they are supplying their wants
according to high ethical standard.
The fallacy Of this line of action is
costly garments have been wrought
out of the most tragic elements in
life; some of the very cheapest have
been made from start to finish under
the very best possible conditions.
High-priced handmade lace made at
the cost of the eyesight of some
wretched, underpaid woman is faint
ed bargain to be spurned by all self
respecting women, while cheap Not
tingham lace, machine-made in model
factories, under the most wholesome
conditions, could, if viewed in the
proper light, be worn with pride by a
duchess.
The purchaser must demand a
| guaranty that the article offered for
sale has been made under proper
conditions. We do not buy real es-
tate without searching the title; we
do not buy cutlery without looking
for the name of the manufacturer as
pledge that the steel is well tenn
| pered. When we buy china we look
for the mark to guide us in selecting
the ware. Let us take the same means
of ascertaining whether the garments
we buy are made in bright, Well-ven-
tilated sanitary factories or in dark,
dirty, disease-infected novels. There
are a considerable number Of manu-
facturers of women's white underwear
using the label of the National Con-
sumers' league, a label that is only
given to those manufacturers who have
all their work done on their own prem
Uses and given after the factories have
been inspected and the executive COM
mittee of the league is convinced that
the conditions are perfectly satisfac-
tory.
Merchants are beginning to realize
that their customers are demanding in
goods something more than quantity or
quality, or even style, and it is inter-
esting to note the recent change in
the character of advertisements, due
to this gradual awakening of the con-
sumers' conscience in regard to bar
gains.
A few years ago the merchants con-
tended that it was not the business OF
the purchasers to inquire into the con-
ditions of manufacture under which
their garments were made and that 1t
was a piece Of >impertinence on their
part to endeavor to acquaint them
selves with the true nature of their
purchases. They therefore advertised
merely the quality of goods or the style
of garments they placed on their
counters. But consumers, having
learned to demand proper conditions
in slaughter houses, bakeries and
diaries, are at last beginning to be
aroused to look into the conditions sur
rounding the manufacture of clothing.
To-day we find such advertisements as
! the following:
made by clean, contented and we'll
paid people with plenty of time. No
Song of the Shirt horrors are stitched
into our garments
"Baby clothes safe to wear It is a
well-known fact that many garments
offered for sale at low prices and sOme-
times even the better grades are manu-
featured in tenements or other un-
wholesome places under conditions
that make it hazardous to wear them,
especially for infants and small chill
dren. We cannot tell where these
goods are to be found, but we can tell
you about the other kind-made in
light, clean workroOms."
Sensible women all over this coun-
try are combining and organizing in an
effort to put an end to the sale Of
sweatshop, nonsanitary under and
outer clothing. These women are
looking for a label-the one that we
show above. It is a guaranty that the
garment which bears it is made under
clean and healthful conditions
Do not such advertisements suggest
that the public conscience is awaken
ing?
There is never supply of anything
until there is a demand. The consum-
ers, who make the demand for articles,
actually create the supply. Every one
who purchases garment that has
been made in a sweatshop is helping
to swell the output of such goods. The
sweatshop system Of work is most
degrading and has dragged the gar
nominating industry down to shock