The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1908-07-16
TOLD EVILS
OF SyyEATSHOP
W. 5. WiSner to Barre Lab
oring Men Last Night
PLEADS FOR UNION LABEL
He Related the Hardships Of Child Labor
and Also the Disease-breeding
Shops Where They Work
What He Said.

w II. Wisner OF New York, national
! organizer Of the United Garment Work.
ers of America, and label promoter,
gave a strong and interesting address
last evening at City park. A fair-sized
audience was present and listened with
interest to the remarks of the speaker,
which were in part as follows
The trades union movement has done
more to elevate the working class than
all other agencies combined. This may
seem like broad statement, but it is
an incontroyertible fact, nevertheless.
make the exchange OF railroad tranpor.
| We have established higher standard
OF living by increasing the wages OF the
workmen. We have given him the op.
lportunity OF intellectual development by
shortening the hours OF labor. BY the
passage OF laws relating to child labor
we have given the children an opportun.
lity TO secure mental and physical devel,
opment far superior to that of the pre-
yious generation. | might add right
here that ii the child labor laws now er.
isting were more strictly enforced the
condition OF the rising generation would
be far better than it is. To make my
meaning clear, let me say that in prohi.
bitiorI Maine they have one or more
rum deputies in each town, to enforce
the prohibition law. And ONE inspee-
tor in the entire state to enforce the
factory laws. As result of these CON
ditions, the child labor laws are being
violated in every state except those |
which have none. / have seen little |
children under six years OF age working
in the tobacco factories of the South, I
little tots OF eight years working in the I
textile mills of the same section and in I
one case / have found boys eight years
OF age working 1879 hours OF night
work. In this particular silk mill, a
husky, able bodied creature calling him
self man, walks up and down the
aisIes between the machinery with
pail OF ice water on his arm; not to
give those poor little wretches cooling
drink, but to dash a dippertu of water
into the faces of the child slaves. when
ever he saw one of them getting Just
a little drowsy. And that condition is
not confined to any one section OF the
country. Little children six years of .
age are working in the sardine Gamer.
les OF Eastport, Me. Little child slaves
who ught to be in school or out in Gods
bright sunshine and pure air are im- :
muned i'll sweat shops, factories and
mines from one end of this country to /,
the other.
Female Workers.
Another class who need and deserve !
our aid is the constantly increasing i
army of female workers. In many in.
stances the woman worker is compelled
% work for mere pittance just be-
,alise she is woman. | know Of cases !,
where women have received the mnnifi-
,ent sum Of 24c per dozen for making
'hirts, and ! have known women who
worked from 5 in the morning until IL A
1t night, six days of the week, and then d.
lnly received SIS for their weeks pay v
These unfortunate women were com. ol
'eled to compete with convict labor on X
he one hand and their own offspring in al
he slave pens of the manufacturers on %
he other Hi
The product of these wretched eondi- II
ions are not sold to the consumer any
heaper than the product Of fairly paid
sbor. have gone into stores where
knew convict made shirts were being
old and found that the same price was in
eing charged for them as for the same bu
uality made under fair conditions. ot
ompare the conditions OF these unfor- I,
lnate women with the conditions of.Io,
lose who are working in our union u;
,ilor shops, cigar factories or printing ~
ftices. In these union shops we take e
ride in pointing out the male and fe- ~
ale workers sitting side by side and u;
'ceiying equal pay for equal work, NJ,
hch is as it should be.
THE system OF discriminating against
lie female worker is not confined to
lie shop, but extends to the department
ores, to the schools and to the Offices
ow frequently do we hear the com
amt that women teachers, of greater tel
,ilty than some of the men, are CON- G.
lied to accept smaller wages than the
an who is her inferior receives! And Ne
the educated woman has TO put up a.,
th these conditions, what then must of
the position of her uneducated sis s..
r? Contrast the conditions of these
or female workers, whom | have men.
,ned, with the conditions Of the fairly eve
i'd, we'll dressed and sunny faced girls Bo'
'rking in our union factories at Leba- low
n and Keene, n. H., and at Brattle Ba
70. Burlington and Newport in this k'
ate. We ask for your aid in continu-
I the hapyp condition of our union
is, men, and ask for your aid in ex.
lding these same conditions to others.
The Sweat Shop.
Another source OF danger TO the en-
2 community lies in the sweat shop, d
ich exists in all our large centers OF ]
lpIation. This same pesthole is some
les dignifed by the name Of home -