Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-02-18
The Facts Are Enough,


For over a year the New York State
factory investigating commission has
been investigating wages in four low
paid ndustries-confectione shirts,
paper boxes, and retail stores. The re-
suits of this study have just been pub
iished in the report of the commission
and on the data collected recommends
tons regarding minimum wage legis-
lation will be submitted to the legis,a-
/ ture.
| The reports Of the investigators
bring out phases of life in the Empire
State that are quite probably dupli-
Gated In many Of our states, particu-
larly those having very large cities.
! Some Of these things are almost unbe-
ilevable to people in the middle walks
OF life. and they bring home to us some
OF the problems which civilization
must face. and solve, if We are to at
tain that degree Of progress Of which
we are inclined optimistically to boast.
Picture. if you can conditions such
as those found by Esther Packard and
reported in The Survey. She tells how
girls manage to live on a wage Of Sc
per week, by sacrificing all recreation.
One girl answered by saying:
"Oh. l just sit at home in the eve
ming and worry about what will be-
come OF the family if l can't earn more
than 50 week" replied a Polish fac
tory girl when asked what pleasure
her wage allowed her. Her father is
plumber by trade and when all goes
well can earn 50 or SO a week. but
many are the weeks when all does not
go well. Last year, when this eighteen
year-oid girl was sick with typhoid
| fever and out of work for four months,
the Charity Organization Society had
to aid the family.
And oh. how hated that" she said
Five dollars doesn't seem very much
When I'm feeding $4,000 boxes to a
machine every day-but when I don't
get 1t at all, it seems like fortune"
Such cases Of total sacrifice Of any
legitimate pleasure seem especially
disastrous because. like the case Of this
girl, they were carrying heavy burdens
OF anxiety. in addition to their work,
and needed wholesome amusement.
Another girl said: When I paw
seven cents for lunch, I'm extrava.
CANT" She was clerk in large de-
partment store in Buffalo. How many
OF our readers can imagine what II
would mean to them to live day after
day. month after month. and year upon
year. on five. six or seven-cent lunch
"a sandwich perhaps, washed down by
a cup Of coffee.
Another girl said: Sometimes I Just
long for a good thirty cent meal. but I
never have the price Of 1t in my pocket
| book"
The most pitiful part Of it all, re-
marked upon by these investigators, it
seems to US. was the hopeless attitude
towards life-the feeling that expendi-
tuer must forever be hedged about by
petty saving. But there is another side
OF II, and a very grievous one. It was
remarked upon in the argument of
Louis D. Brandeis before the Federal
Supreme Court to uphold the constitu-
tionality of the Oregon minimum wage
law. In The Survey, Mr.. Brandeis
said:
;, The first thing the people of Oregon
oio was TO ascertain to what extent as a
matter OF fact. women in industry in
that state were working for a wage
less than the necessary cost of decent
oregon, whatever might be the case else
where, majority of the women to whom
| the investigation extended, were work
n ing I9r "a a wage smaller than that re-
The next inquiry was what happened
70 women who worked for wages srna Ter
than the minimum cost Of decent living.
II was found that in Oregon a large
number of such women were running
their health because they were not eating
enough That was the commonest result.
| order to live decently in other respects
or in order to dress and hold their Jobs
Inose that ate enough. roomed under
t Gbonoit IONS that, tnat were unwholesome, or
| those who lacked these ordinary neces-
saries Of life. the investigators found an
other class OF women whose wages were
with the necessities BIZ a sacrifice Of
morality.
Such are the results which the Legts-
lature found would flow in Oregon from
women working at Less than living wages.
results which affect vitality not only the
present but also future generations
Hence, the Legislature was confronted
with this alternatives; either to seek, and
possibly to find. remedy; or to fold
their arms in despair and say: The re-
sulting unhappiness OF our people and the
ruin Of the commonwealth must be &C
cepted as one Of the crosses that man
and states must bear The Legislature
did not adopt this second alternative;
and it therefore looked about for a
remedy"
Elizabeth c. Watson takes US a little
farther on the question. when she
painted this picture. as a result Of her
look into the life Of the underpaid:
Maria was standing by her cell door
when we passed down the corridor OF |
the prison. We stopped to speak with |
her. "Yes. got twenty -oue days" said