United labor bulletin., 1910-01-14

/ 2-That the legislature return to bien-
nial sessions
3+That laws be changed so that is
sues of murder. and insanity, when the
latter is the plea of the defense, be tried
separately.
4-That burglary at night time be
made a capital felony.
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Try La Exploridad clear Havana.
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WOMEN WHO WORK.
r
There are 100000 wage earning wom-
en- in the United States, working not only
| for less wages than men in the same in
dustries, but very frequently they work
longer hours and under less satisfactory
sanitary conditions than men. Statistics
of the bureau of labor show that the
percentage of women workers is steadily
growing, and this is attributed to the in
crease in cost of living, which is per
manent condition, as well as to t"e
growth of the city population, women IN
cities being deprived of the opportunity
to do dairy, garden and other congenial
work, which her country sister enjoys,
and therefore forced, where she must
help maintain herself or the family, to
take up work that in the majority of
cases bring her into direct competition
with men, to the disadvantage of both
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HELP FOR THE GIRL STRIKERS.
The strike of the New York girl shirt
waist makers is developing features new
in the history of strikes.
The latest is that the lawyers for the
Associated Waist and Dress Manufac-
turers have asked for warrants for the
arrest of Mrs. o. H. P. Belmont, Miss
Anne Morgan and other wealthy women,
on the ground of conspiracy with intent
to incite riots.
OF course conspiracy is a serious of
fense but if it be held that it is con
spiracy to help the poor little shirtwaist
makers to secure a little better pay and
little better conditions then it is a
credit instead of a crime.
Rose Pastor Stokes, the noted social
list worker, succeeded in interesting girls
with the result that not only Mrs. Bel
mont but the Colony club has been
aroused. The Colony club is the most
exclusive woman's club in New York,
and is composed of women.of the highest
social and financial standing. Those
women have come to see in the strike
great human problem. This is not sud-
den outburst of sentiment AS Mary Nc
Dowell says in the New York Call, This
is not an emotional affair, nor philan-
thropic affair. II is just looking at
things as they are, in a sensible way"
The moral and substantial help that
those women are giving means much to
the poor girls. They have been paid so
poorly that they cannot have anything
have existed Besides striking girls have
frightful obstacles in their way.
In the first case as with every strike,
every effort has been made to break up
their picketing. Anyone at all acquaint-
ed with the practices of unionism knows
that picketing is merely telling the per-
sons who are brought in to break the
strike that the regular workers are strik-
ing. But the cry goes up ''picketing is
Illegal" In effect this is to say, you
may strike, but you must not tell you
are striking" How a strike ever could
be effective if the workers are forbidden
to make known the fact that they are
on strike, is difficult to tell. 1t is about
on par with going out to swim without
going near the water
But the measures taken to overawe
and terrify the picketing girls are un-
speakable. In the first two weeks of the
strike SO girls were arrested and brought
into police court on flimsiest charges.
And they continue bringing them in on
the merest pretexts. The manufacturers
did not hesitate even to bring up the
wretched white slave women from the
brothels to abuse the girl strikers and
then take that as pretext for arresting
the latter. Once in jail, their cases have
been needlessly delayed. The girls have
been fined, heavily bonded and even
given workhouse sentences.
Mrs. Belmont has gone their bail, she
has paid their fines, she has sat with
them through the long, tiresone hours
at the Jefferson Market night court.
More than this, she has been voice for
them, and her wealth and influence are
turning the welcome tide of public senti-
ment in their favor.