New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-17
Iured by Loyalty Plea
They Take Places of
Strikers
Wages Pitifully Small
,,ou;ry Reveals Deplorable
Condition of Patriotic
Little Ones

The pstriotism of young American
.;,,, and boys ia being exploited by the
.,L.rs Of army and navy uniforms, an
,,vs..ivation now being conducted by
-. War Department discloses. The
r.s,rsl Investigators found children
=, working on these uniforms, some
~ them boys in Boy Scout uniforms,
.,d some of them as young as twelve
years.
In one small New Jersey town not
q, from this city the Federal investi-
Gators found that about 40 per cent Of
a., eight hundred employees working on
uniforms were children and young
women.
Children Answer Appeal
This clothing manufacturer, like
many others, found himself with q
strike on his hands when he got the
government contract. He denounced
N. strikers as un-American and ap-
pesled to the patriotism of the coun-
,ryside. His appeal met with a hearty
,eponse. Schoolboys, many of them
In the uniforms Of Boy Scouts, and
their sisters made application for work,
SAYING they wanted to do their bit. In
this mans factory a boy of fourteen
was put to work on a cutting machine,
and received Sc week for the work.
The man who had the job before the
strike was called made from S28 TO $50
.veek.) Incidentally, the boy had his
v-ist cut by the machine, several
irehes of flesh being torn out, last
week, after he had been doing his bit
for the better part Of q month.
boy eleven years OF age, wearing
knee pants, was put TO work as a
cleaner in the same shop. He was paid
BY the piece. According to the in
formation now at the disposal of the
Secretary Of War, this boy earned Sl.25
for a weeks work.
A young woman, a daughter of a
clergyman, VINO had never worked be-
fore, and who was lured by the appeal
to patriotism, was put TO work on ma
chine, and she received SO a week. Out
Of this she spent 60 cents carfare. The
young woman out on strike had earned
81 10 SIS at the same machine.
Jacob 5. Potofsky, general secretary
Of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers
OF America, whose members are on
strike against some of the makers of
uniforms, and whose charges resulted
In The government investigation, said
yesterday:
little Ones Faint From Heat
Thelped in the investigation of some
Of the out of town factories. One Of
them reminded me more Of school
asuse than a factory when the whistle
Hgnded the closing hour. Little boys
ard girls rushed out shouting gleefully.
Bat some of the older girls took the
hing more seriously. 1t had been a
bot day and many Of them felt il, some
Of them fainting from the heat"
In New York City there was not an
appeal 70 patriotism when the makers
q uniforms refused to meet the
strikers demands. They hired the
cheapest labor they could find, the gov
eminent Investigators learned. They
also resorted 10 the old system Of
"swsating out work 10 be
zone in tenement houses.
A photographer who accompanied the
Investigators took pictures showing the
bundles Of cut uniforms carried away
from the lofts occupied by the gov
eminent contractors TO East Side tene-
-snt houses. where the sweatshops
were located. Photographs showing
ths finished produc. leaving these
houses were also taken.
There was a note Of sadness in the
second batch of pictures. One showed
Two little girls, Of nine and eleven,
puihing a baby carriage piled with the
ri6e.up uniforms a foot higher than
heir heads. Another showed a boy Of
heui thirteen resting beside a pedler's
rIheart laden with the finished khaki.