The Washington herald., 1915-02-05
SOCIALIST Wants
CHARITY AT Home
Rockefeller Foundation Put
on Grill by Morris
Hilquitt. .
BREAD LINES GROWING"
Pollock Laborer Makes Interesting
Witness Before Industrial Re
lations Commission.
BREAD LINES GROWING"

Special to The Washington Herald.
/ New York Feb. 4-"Within one mile
of 26 Broadway there are tens Of thou
sands suffering from hunger as much,
If not more than the Belgians TO whom
ships loaded with wheat. corn and other
foodstuns are being sent" said Morris
Hilquitt, the Socialist leader criticising
the Rockefeller Foundation at the Fed
eraI industrial investigation today.
The bread lines are growing longer
every day and many OF the men in those
dreadful lines" continued the witness.
probably have at some time been work
ing in one or the other Of the numerous
industries in which Mr.. Rockefeller has
INFESTED. and have helped to augment
his great fortune"
In scathing tones Hilquitt referred to
the hookworm researches pursued by
the Rockefeller institute, calling atten-
tion to the fact that great work has been
done in the Malay Islands, China, etc,
while hundreds Of thousands of sufferers
from tuberculosis in this country have
been neglected by the foundation. While
Hilquitt was still reading, a recess was
taken until tomorrow morning, and be-
fore the witness had left the stand.
Jerome d. Greene. secretary OF the
Rockefeller Foundation climbed upon the
platform and in earnest tones said to
the witness:
VIII Repair Overnight.
81 feel that I must call your at
tention to the fact that more than
100000 cases of hookworm were
treated in this country of which you
make no mention before we put the
cure at the service of the rest of the
world and in justice l think you should
repair this oversight"
Hilquitt, nonplussed for the moment,
replied that he would do so when he
resumed his testimony tomorrow.
One of the most interesting wit
nesses the commission has called is
Antonio Water. a Pollock residing at
Chrome, n. j., where he was employed
by the Liebig Company, part of the
fertilizer trust, up to the time the
employees of the concern started the
strike at Roosevelt, n. J. Water is
stocky. thrifty citizen, neat in ap-
pearance, but with that haggard,
haunted look betokening, as Mother
Jones puts it, "one of the men who
hasn't had enough to eat for seevral
geenrations."
Up to three months before the Roose-
welt strike, Water worked for a cop
per concern, and. by dint Of plugging at
it Sundays, holidays, and all other days,
and doing a little overtime now and
then" he made sometimes as high as
81 a week, on which he was able, he
declared, to support his wife and five
children and sometimes save a dollar or
two a week. e. So thrifty was he that
when the war came on and the out
put of copper was restricted and VIA
ter lost his job. he had amassed SS5
against the rainy day that was now upon
him.
Wages Were Reduced.
Tony took a job with the Liebig
Company at s. a day. handling pick and
shovel" But again the war inter-
fered The Chemical Trust reduced that
wage to S1.6O a day. AS A Barton Hep
president of the Chemical Company said
they had lots OF application for work.
and they thought the men would soon
come around. The strike followed, how
ever, and Water was again out OF
job.
1t is the intensely human document
which Tony's list OF necessary expenses
as compared with his income furnishes,
however, that is of chief interest. These
are the facts he laid before the commits
sion, producing his bills as vouchers:
His wages at S1.60 per day for twenty
seven days before the strike was de-
clared totaled $500 Against this charge:
Rent, for a three-rOom house, for a wife
and five children, $3.50; groceries, SO;
butcher, 3107O; baker, $3.50; coal, $50;
wood $50; life insurance for all five
members, $3.50. or a total for housing,
warmth and food of $4S.10. leaving a de-
felt already Of $3.50.
Chairman Walsh asked about clothing.
Tony pointed not without pardonable
pride to the suit of clothes he was wear
ing.
Il got it nine years" he declared.
AS to shoes, he said the acid in the
chemical works was so strong that he
wore out a pair of shoes sometimes in
two weeks. Walsh added so for clothes,
and brought in total absolutely necessary
expenditures per month of the Water
family up to SEQ. The answer is that
Tony Water is-in debt, despite the fact
that Mrs. Water takes in washing and
helps to piece out for the children.
Flour Prices Scars in England.