The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1923-07-12


ings OF more than $1,000.
When one stops to think of the
immense amount of money these for
eign-born workers are in the habit of
sending to their relatives in the old
country, and then learns of the
amounts they have accumulated in
Lawrence savings banks and trust
companies, one somehow gets the idea
that mill workers are well paid
class of industrial workers.
But surely, all mill workers are
not as prosperous as these?
Il could sit here by the hour" said
the state official, telling you of cases
of wages and thrift among the mill
workers that would equal If not sur
pass those l have shown YOU"
How do they live to save SO much
money! he was asked.
THE same as you and l live, ne
answered. IAN agent for popular
make of sewing machine was in mere
the other day. Say he said to me.
If | could have the money value OF
the sewing machines in homes within
radius of half a mile from this Of
fee, | could retire in luxury for the
rest of my life.
One sees so many automobiles in
and about Lawrence, curiosity to
learn something about the ownership
OF these cars impels one to query
the local agents. Come to the office
of the local agents for the most pop
ular make of small cars. This agen-
cy sells thousands of these cars every
year.
THE majority of our customers are
mill workers." said the agent. Il
won't tell you how many cars we
sell yearly for that Is business Sc
cret. But l will tell you that so long
as we have mill employees for custom
ers, we wouldn't sell this agency
short of a good part of $1.0OO,0OO.
Mill employees with thousands OF
dollars in banks, riding to and from
their work In their own automobiles,
living in homes furnished with sew
ing machines, Photographs and brass
beds-that doesn't sound like the stor-
les of workers being ground down by
employers.
Yet the millennium had not arrived
and certainly there was some desti-
tuition, some suffering hidden away
in this populous city of whirring
spindles. How about the records of
the charity organizations? They GER
tainly knew of instances of want and
deprivation.
1t was but few steps to the office
of the Catholic Center on Essex street
AS the majority of the mill workers
profess the Catholic faith, this center
should prove good barometer by
which need and want could be mea-
sured.
The first impression one gets from
entering the rooms of the Center Is
their emptiness. The office furni-
ture, desks, chairs, etc. was there.
But where was the long line of ap-
plicants for aid? There wasn't any.
In the hour the writer spent talking
with the two gracious, kindly women
in charge, one little boy came in on
an errand.
Lawrence is a city Of 100000 pop
ulation," the senior director of the
bureau said. 'Its residents comprise
So nationalities. Forty-six per cent
of them are foreign born.
"Yet I dare say there is no city in
New England where the standards OF
morality are higher. We have an
unusually small list of hayward girls
to handle. There are no immoral
houses, no street walkers, no fiaunt-
ing of vice in public.
"The girls earn exceptionally high
wages in the mills. Their hours are
reasonable. The working conditions
are pleasant They are allowed
freedom while working that makes for
happiness. The mills are well light
ed, we'll ventilated and equipped with
the latest labor saving devices. Every
precaution is taken to protect them
against injury.
"Some of the girls and young wo-
men earn from $25 to $40 a week.
Some even more. The girls prefer
the mill work with its shorter hours
and higher wages to store work. Ii
is practically impossible to get wo-
men enough in Lawrence to go out
doing housework by the day.
1.-THE male mill workers earn high
er wages than the women and girls
Members get from $35 to $40 a week
Weavers are paid from $45 to $50.
know of some families where the IA
Their, mother and adult children all
work in the mills, not from necessity
but through choice.
Their combined income brings
more than 5000 weekly into these
homes. These people have become
skilled workers and skilled workers
are not only handsomely paid but
alarmingly scarce.
"Such families are owners OF auto
mobiles. camps in the country or at
the neighboring Hampton and Sails
bury beaches where they live during
the summer months and drive to and
from their work daily.
even the lowest grade of unskilled
labor in the mills are UNNECESSARILY
better off than they were in the coun-
tries they came from. They are apt
to hive in colonies. Ignorant of the
language and slow to accept American
customs. they become easy prey to
the professional agitator.
"But welfare workers OF the Ameri-
can Wooden Company and the Pacific
Mills are attempting to broaden these
,olopiete Tho state aids with its