The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1910-04-09
MI. VVAUkEE BREWER|ES
HOLD GIRLS AS SLAVES
By MOTHER JONES.

It is the same old story, as ,pitiful
| as old, as true as pitiful::,;-.
When the whistle blows In the
morning, 1t calls the girl slaves of the
bottle washing department of: :: the
! breweries to don their wet shoes: and
rags and hustle to the Bastile to- serve
out their sentences. .:...s 49,
! For they are, indeed sentenced to
| hard, brutal labor; labor that gives
no cheer, brings no recompense:~ Con-
demned for life to slave daily, in the
wash room in wet shoes and wet
clothes, surrounded with foul-mouth-
| 60, brutal foremen, whose language
would not, look. we'll in print, and
would be a shock to over-sensitive
ears or delicate nerves! And their
crime? Involuntary poverty. -. ~.
Is hereditary. They are no more
60 blame. for 1t than is a horse for
having the CHAMBERS. It is the ACCT
cent OF birth. This accident. that
! ehrows them into the surging, seething
mass known as the, working ;.class-
That forces them out of the cradle
! into servitude-to be- slaves of the
MILL factory. department store, or
bottling shop in Milwaukee's colossal
breweri es-tos create wealth for~the
! brewery barons that they may own
palaces, theaters, automobiles, blood
ed stock, farms, banks and heaven
knows what all, while the poor girls
slave on, all day, in the vile. smell
OF sour beer; lifting cases of bottles
weighing from so to IS. pounds, in
their wet shoes and rags.
nhe constituencies rich see no rea-
son why thei slave should not be con-
/ Tent on a crust Of bread for its share
OF all the wealth created. That these
slaves of the brewers should contract
| rheumatism, is foregone conclusion.
rheumatism is one of the chronic
ailments; and it is closely followed
by consumption. Consumption is we'll
known as disease of poverty. So
The Milwaukee lawmakers; of
course, enacted an anti-spit ordinance
! TO protect the public health, and the
| brewers contributed to the: Red Cross
Society to make war on tuberculosis,
and all the while the big capitalists
are setting the incubators to hatch
out germs among the poor workers
with which to destroy the nation.
Should one of these poor girl slaves
spit on the sidewalk, it would cost
her more than she can make in. two
| weeks work. Such is the fine sys-
tenn of the present day affairs;
| Many of the girls have no home or
parents, and are forced to feed and
clothe and shelter themselves, and ali
this on an average of SO per: week:
What a horrible nightmare! What
hope is there for decency, when un-
scrupulous wealth may exploit it's
producers so shamelessly?
No matter how cold, how stormy,
how inclement the weather, many of
these poor slaves must walk from
their sf1acks to their work, 6or their
miserable stipend precludes any pos
sibtlity OF squeezing street, car ride
out of It, And this is civilization? If
so, what. please, is barbartsm? =
| While the wage paid is Is to IS
cents'a day, the poor slaves are not
permitted to work more than three
or four days a week, and the contin-
ua1 threat OF idle days makes the
slave much more tractable and SUBJ
rndssive than would otherwise obtain.
Often when their days work is done,
they are put to washing off the tables
and the lunch room floor, and the
other odd jobs, for which there is
not even the suggestion of compensa-
! ton. OF course, abuse always fol-
lows power, and nowhere is it more
in evidence than in this miserable
treatment which brewers and their
hirelings accord their girl slaves.
/ The foreman uses his influence to
neutralize any effort, having in view
the organization of these poor, help
less victims Of an unholy and brutal
profit system, and threats of discharge
were made should these girls attend
my meetings. p. - r..
| One of these foremen actually car
ried union card, but the writer of
this article reported him to the union
and had him deprived of it for. using
such foul language to the girls under
him. I learned of him venting his
spite by discharging several girls I
went to the superintendent and told
him the character of the foreman.
On the strength of my charges he was
! called to. the office, and when . in
| formed Of the nature Of the visit, he
patted the superintendent Familiarity
on the back and w1Mned out his 10y
atty to. the superintendent
y The brewers. themselves were al
ways courteous when / called on
them, but their underlings were not
So tactful,, evidently. working unde r
instructions The only brewer who
treated me fudely or denied me: ad-
mtttance was Mr.. Blatz; who brusque;
| ly told me The Brewers. Association
Of Milwaukee met when you first
came to town, and decided not to
permit these girls to- organize s s1: =:
This Brewers association is a<strong
union OF all the brewery plutocrats,
composed Of the schlttz. Pabst, Miller
and Blatz breweriee. which are the
| -:=-==: -
there fingered within him an instdtous
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