The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1918-11-04
Old Age on Its Knees SCrubbing
Do You Think That Any SURFACE Reforms Will
Straighten Those Tired Old Backs and
Give the Worker Relief

At o'clock in the morning the elevators move only
rarely in the big office and Government buildings few
late workers go about preparing to end long day.
At this hour the elevator stops and delivers to her
work old woman past sixty
She wears heavy black veil plain black dress Her
shoulders are bent and her face tired
She removes her bonnet and her vel, puts scrub
bing skirt over her black dress.
Then gets her pail, soap and brush.
For many hours while others sleeping and later
the sun is rising, SHE Is ON HER KNEES sCRUBBING.
She goes home in time to get late breakfast for some
children she is taking care Of
She sleeps just as few hours as she can then works
through the day. without pay, waiting for the hour when
she must work. through the most dismal lonesome hours
Of the night for the smallest that DID, defenSeles
woman can be made to accept
While this old woman scrubs on her knees high up in
the Office building older woman sits little stool
the cold corner at the street below selling newspapers
This old woman in the street is bent almost double
= A thin shawl covers her back.
She stoops so much that when you buy a newspaper
from her. put your hand her shoulder and give
her enough money take her of the street. she must turn
her head sideways to look up and see who it is.
If that old woman with the black VEIL coming every
morning to scrub, were AN OLD SOLDIER IN HIS UNI
FoRM-WHAT INDIGNATION WOULD BE AROUSED!
Everybody would say: "It is dreadful that an old
knees and Scrub
Well, is it not MORE dreadful that an old woman
should be submitted to hardship and hard labor that would
Is not the black bonnet and the black veil of the scrub
woman just as truly the uniform of brave soldier any
uniform in the world?
That woman has borne children She has suffered for
hours as the soldier suffers only for minutes
She has worried sickbeds put children in their
graves worked for family and for husband put the
husband in his gavegving her pful savings in the ef
fort to express loyalty through the undertaken.
Does SHE not deserve respect or pity at the very
least? Is it not worse to her in the cold winter
ing going to her work at o'clock and scrubbng her
knees for hours wretchedy paid receiving for this painful
labor barely enough money keep the roof her head
And that DID, bent woman on the street, with her
hands wrinkled and yellow is not her life dreadful
Election upon the hearessness of what call civilization?
You may say that charity would take Of her But
she knows only too well that your charity is colder than
the wind that blows around her street corner.
She would rather stand there with an occasional kind
word from some man or woman who treats her human
being than to live your CHARITY, tcketed labeled
like piece of human furniture that can do nothing
more except to oblge the community by dying
It is easy to help either of these two women or
both of them.
But what are you going to do FOR THE THOU
SANDS OF OTHERS AS BADLY OFF OR WORSE
OFF?
You say to them: 'You shall not earn your liv
ing in that way, unless you prepared to give them
better living of another kind
you give them money today that does not provide
for the years that stretch ahead AND THEY Do NOT
DARE GIVE UP THE DAILY CERTAINTY, WITH ITS
HARD LABOR.
These two old women present one of the real prob
lens, ONE OF THE DEEP PROBLEMS
The world has great deal of work to do before it
VII be able to treat these women and the millions of other
human beings just unfortunate they should be treated
Our children must be better educated and better op
portunities must be given to them
The savings of the poor must be protected against the
vampires that prey upon them through the life insurance
companies and the other companies upon which our
nous fortunes and our horrible poverty based
The intelligence Of men must solve THE RENT PROB
LEM as it has solved other problems
The intelligence of mankind which enables the pros
porous to cross the in floating palace at cost
that is almost nominal to the rich man must enable this
old woman, with her bent back and hard life at least to
have decent shelter, and decent food without grinding
out her last spark Of vitality in the effort to get them
The trouble with this world is that its laws are made
BY THE POWERFUL for the SUPPOSED BENEFIT
or THE WEAK.