New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-10
CONGRESS MAY PROBE
CANNING INDUSTRY
Fruits and Vegetables Preserved
Filthy Factories by Diseased
Workers. 1t Is Said.
KILLING HOURS FOR WOMEN
New York Factory Commission
Preparing Laws to Aid Them
Hard Tasks for Child
Match Makers.

washington Dec. "a general Con
gressional investigation Of the canning in
Systry was proposed in a resolution to-
dav by Representative Allen. of Ohio. 20
,~oyide for committee of FIVE 10 hold
nublic hearings and TO compel the at
tendance of witnesses.
II is set forth in the resolution that 1T
q charged that in certain canner1es Of
tho United States fruits and vegetables
intended for consumption are prepared
and canned among filthy conditions. by
workers who are diseased and who live
and work I'm an environment that makes
cleanliness and health impossible" and
that women and children of tender years
are employed under these conditions for
long hours and for inadequate pay
Buffalo. Dec e-The State Factory Com
mission held a hearing to-day on pro-
posed legislation to ameliorate the condi-
tons under which labor is employed In
factories. Manufacturers OF Buffalo and
surrounding territory were represented at
the hearing to express objections to de-
tails in proposed bills.
JOIN " dD <hAltlAf itiA NSfAAAliAS hiuAAA-
fscturers and department stores. said tho
problem surrounding the conditions under
which labor should be employed was one
10 be handled by a commission. The vol
ume Of legislation now on the statute
books and coming forward from various
sources, he said. was confusing. Senator
Robert 7. Wagner said the commission
had a bill under consideration embodying
that view.
DR.. Francis z. Fronczak, Health Com
missioner OF Buffalo. discussing cases
that had come 10 his attention, said:
II is a blot on our civilization that con-
ditions such as exist in canning factories
near Buffalo are allowed 70 continue after
once being exposed.
There we have the spectacle of children
as young as four years old working from
eight 10 ten or eleven hours q day under
conditions that are far from sanitary.
have LEANED that women have worked
IN these canneries 10 hours in one week.
and IN one specific instance ! know OF a
woman who worked III hours and received
only 81 =. A woman working like that,
twenfy-One out of twenty~four hours,
world be a physical wreck in two months.
These wages were so small that the
children were forced into the canneries
10 add g or 3 a week to the families
support for working hours almost as
long as those put in by matured women.
Surroundings in which these slaves
work are such as to breed immortality.
Often large numbers OF women. girls.
boys and men are housed together in
such way that there has been great
increase in the number OF young girls
who 20 astray.
The working hours Of women and
children certainly should not be longer
than the law allows a dumb animal TO
be worked" DR.. Fronczak continued. III
those who drove horses showed no more
regard for the welfare OF the beasts than
many Of the Gamers do for the women
and children who work for them they
would promptly be arrested"
The commission will sit in Rochester
Tomorrow.
Oshkosh. Wis. Dec. e.-Prosecution I'M
der the child labor laws was Instituted
to-day by the State of Wisconsin against
the Diamond Match Company. Viola
tons to the number OF 224 are alleged,
and lay the company liable to fines ag-
gregating 80 400 This is the maximum
possible under the statute.
With the complaint in the states action
a LOtice Is served demanding that the
company produce at the trial all its
books. records and time cards relating 70
the employment Of children.
According 10 the complaint. children
between the ages Of fourteen and sixteen
years were permitted 10 work more than
the maximum limit of forty-eight hours
a week, before o'clock in the morning
or after 6 O'clock IN the evening. The