The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1909-12-24
DELEGATES
AWAKENED
BY the Powerful Plea of
Mrs. Raymond Rob-
bins in Behalf of Her
Sex.

Great Indignation is being expressed
by the people of these United States
over the alarming reports of the spread
of the white slave traffic" The GOV
ernment of the United States has been
gathering Il lot of statistics concerning
this in famous practice of selling the
souls and bodies of women into slavery
and is preparing to stamp the evil out
if such thing is possible. Every de-
cent citizen will join with the govern
ment in the effort to eradicate this evil
from our national life.
But how about the women and girls,
yes, even children, that are sold into in
dustrial slavery every day in the year
to satiate the greed for gold of the in
dustrial pirates of this country? Isn't
it true that there are hundreds of thou
sands of women and children in our
land who are compelled by our indus
trial conditions to go into the mills
and factories and toll long hours for a
pitiful wage? Isn't it time that the
people of our country began to bend
their energies toward ameliorating the
conditions of these white slaves of
our industrial life?
1t is true that there are some of our
people who are giving their time and
money to aid these working women but
they are so pitifully few as compared to
our population. Labor organizations and
their allied societies are doing the ma
ior portion of the work of arousing pub
lie sentiment and organizing the work
ing women so that they may help them
selves. OF all the able addresses de-
lvered at the Toronto convention of the
American Federation of Labor none so
stirred the hearts of the delegates as
that delivered by Mrs. Raymond Rob
bins, of Chicago, president of the Ma
tional Women's Trade Union League.
The work that this grand woman and
her associates are doing for the workers
of their sex, should inspire every mem
Der of organized labor to give them all
the aid within their power.
We urge that every reader of The
Journal read Mrs. Robbins address to
the convention, which we are glad to
be able to reproduce in these columns:
Mr.. President and Brothers:-We
have been listening to reports of con-
ventions. The National Women's Trade
Union League does not want to be out
done by the American Federation of
Labor, and although we are only six
years old, at the recent second biennial
convention, held in Chicago, we had two
fraternal delegates. All arrangements
were made to have one of the women
unionists of Sweden come to our con-
vention when that great and tremendous
strike and lockout, of which you have
heard such heroic account, brought an
end to our plans; but we are looking
forward to having Swedish woman
fraternal delegate at our next biennial
convention. We had one fraternal dele
gate from Great Britain and one from
Germany. The fraternal delegate from
Great Britain was Miss Mary Nc
Arthur, secretary of the British Trade
Union League, representing 2OO,000 or
ganized women workers of Great Brit
ain. The fratenral delegate from Ger
many represented local of stenograph-
ers, typists, business office and depart
ment store clerks She was with us as
n representative of her local of 25,OOO
German women unionists. Her organi'
cation is especially interested in run
ming an employment agency for its
members, and during the year 1908,
5000 members were placed in positions
at one.t third higher rate of wages
than was received by any other women
outside tho organization in those trades
represented.
| never come to the convention of the
American Federation of Labor and wit
ness the great craftsmanship and lead
ership represented, but Think how diff
fsrent is the story of the womens
unions. The women's unions do not
mean women only, they mean women
aud young girls and children. BY way
of thought and contrast, let me illus
trate: The great seaman's strike going
on in Sweden today and the great
steel strike going on in the United
States, so splendidly led by Officers
and so heroically lived up to by the
rank and file OF. the mem-these strikes
are of grown men. Almost invariably
in our women's strikes we have not only
young girls but children as we'll There
is going on at the present time in New
York City a strike of garment workers,
employees of the Triangle Shirt Fac.
tory, Out of 600 employees. $50 or
ganized themselves into union, ant
the minute that was known the em
ployers dismissed the whole l50 girl
workers. They dismissed them because