Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-05-15
Incredible
lspceinl correspondence.l

4 r ONDON, May 5.-Whitc slavery
\ in some of it's worst forms eX-
4 lists in England among tho
(! clerks OF the great dry goods
establishments. Rev. r. j. Campbell
the Phillips Brooks of yIngland--has
denounced the .'living-in" system to
which these women are subjected as a
! species of moral eprosy, and the recent
/ issue of a government report dealing
With the subject has more than justi-
| fled his scathing Indictment. Herdcd
| together in great barrack rooms. and
| fed like prisoners in compounds, these
| shop aSSiStantS--as they are called-not
| only are deprived Of almost every form
| of personal liberty, but their meager
! wages are reduced by a system of fines
| and penalties. which make existence all
| most intolerable. From the purely
| moral standpoint, the lives led by
| open to the greatest temptation. Those
unwilling to avail themselves of the
so-called advantages of their position
are condemned to an existence of
wretchedness almost inconceivable I'M
dor modern civilization.
Shop assistants in England occupy
entirely different positions from the COR
responding class of dry goods clerks in
America. In the first place, $4,000 of
the 100000 shop assistants in England
are subject to the living-in system,
which means that the clerks, whether
men or women, must literally belong to
their respective shops in the fullest
great dormitorfes. eat in refectories pro-.
vided for them and be charged board
and lodging at rates which in America
would not be tolerated for moment.
SALARIES ARE SMALL.
clerks are below what the commonest
day laborer would command in the
United States. Some women clerks
start in ut $l.50 a week, which, in
Guiding their board and lodging, is sup
posed 70 be equivalent To about 81. As
a matter of fact, their food and hous-5
ing are so wrctched that they get Moth
ing like value for their services. Out
of the pittance which most of these
young, men and women receive they are
expected to dress we'll and to keep up
an appearance in accordance with the
tone OF the elite establishment to which
they happen To belong.
In the making of this appearance is
one of the crying slianes Of the system.
Many women, starting in life as shop
assistants. find it necessary to make
sacrifices which include pretty nearly
everything which a woman holds dear;
that is, il they wish to rise to positions
Of Importance with fair wages. 1t is
owing TO this last phase of the subjccr
that various religious authorities have |
taken up the question, and have begun
an active crusade against the immoral |
tiles and tyrannies of the entire living |
in system. That these abuses exist there
is no shadow of doubt, despite the
sweeping denlals made by many m- |
portant shopkeepers who have felt il /
necessary to defend their regulations.
The Drapers' Chamber of Trade recent I
" started to institute legal proceedings
against the Rev. r. j. Campbell anu
others who exposed some of the worst
phases of the living-in system, but
litter going into the matter they were
advised by their legal caunsel.s Lloyd
,seorge. Roberts & Co. that they had
10 case.
CONTENTION PROVEN
Finding that the Rev. r.. - Gamp-