Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1925-03-06
WAGE REFORMS
WON BY LABOR
HELP TOILERS
Be Intern.

b. international Labor News Sc lee.
New York City. March 5.-Evi nee
Is piling up that workers, especially
those in this city whose slums were
once a stencil in the nostrils. are a.
vancing fast TO a higher an better
standard of life. A recent .poI. -
the Association for the In 1vement
of the Condition of the P is par
| ticularly disconcerting To 0Se VINO
pfedio,ed increasing misery of the
masses in the Machine Age.
Protective measures, fought for and
established in the main by labor and
the enlightened public are bringing
nearer the good life" yearned for
since the days of Socrates, when
workers were but slaves. ParticularlN
effective in wiping out mis- ~ haNs
been the workmen's compensation law
and the restriction of immigration
this report of the parent charity OF
ganiZation shows. A greatly reduced
death and disease rate and increasing
ability of families 10 earn wages ade-
| quate for better life are also big
factors.
Worse Evil Grows Less
The result is that the worst enemy
of society-poverty-is declining, And
not the least of the blows at unfair
wages are those dealt by the growing
labor movement of the city with over
100000 organized workers in garment
building, printing and hundreds oi
other callings.
Two great evils still exist in other
parts of the United States it is point
ed out in connection with the improve
ment of city life. These blots are the
100000 child workers in backward
States, fully 100000 women engaged
in the harsh toll of the farm and
nearly as many more in heavy factory
employment. The attack on these
defects is being continued relentlessly
to be wiped out before long by an
awakened public.
AccideM Compensation
As the result of large social move
ments engendefed by labor, the char
ity organization finds the need for
emergency relief work Is steadily de
elining.
The report says, in part:
an 1914 the A. |. C. p. participated
with other social organizations in a
successful endeavor to secure compen-
sation for deaths and injuries in in
dustfy. 1t did this because it believed
that this was a proper charge upon
| industry and should not be left to the
uncertainty of reference OF such cases
| TO public or private relief organiza-
tions. Ii also believed that the devel-
opment of wofkmeus compensation
would tend to stimulate the reduction
of the total volume of accidents IN
industry.
"Ten years results of the operation
of the workmen's compensation act
have amply justified the effect. Acel
| dents are now compensated tor with
certainty. Hospitals and medical
care are provided, insuring maxi
mum of possibility of early recovery
and return to industry and a consld.
cradle groun of families are removed
from the necessity of applying for re-
| lief to any organization.
Furthermore, the experience of the
past ten years has demonstrated that
the volume of dependency created
| from this source was too great to be
readily met as a relief problem by
either public or private organizations.
Evidence seems to indicate also that
| the operation of this law is tending
to reduce the total volume of distress
due to accidents in industry.
Less Cheap Labor
immigration is closely related tol
dependency, it is pointed out. Reduc-
tion of immigration if sustained over
period of years will have very
direct effect in reducing poverty, the
report states, as follows:
at has been obvious to social
workers that the problem OF depend
ency is very closely related to the
problem of immigration. Slgnlheant
with reference TO this correlation .s
the fact that in ~ per cent OF the
families under care of the A. |. I. +.
in 1924, the head of the family Is Tor
eipn born. The largest nationality
group among the foreign born cared
for bv the A. |. C. p. is Italian, which
represent 34.9 per cent of the total
foreign born dependent families. Thls
reduction in the volume of immlgra-
tion represented by the immigration
law which went into effect July IL
1924. will undoubtedly have, If sus-
tanned over a period of years, very
direct effect upon the total volume Of
denendencv in New York City.
f1tlp Ipf thf -
at has become increasingly clear |
that it is as economical for commu-
nity to care for many old age Situa- !
tions by allowing them to continue IN
their individual homes as 1t Is to pro pro
vide institutional relief for them. Inc
| tenacity with which elderly people
cling to their little meager homes be
ing willing in many instances to at
tempt to live with starvation wage
and under seemingly impossible condl7
ions rather than to 90 to the dreaded
| aJmsbouse or old age institution, car
not be ignored. To assume the atti-
tude that nothing constructive can be
done for this group and that all Of our
constructive effort must be devoted TO
children is an increasingly untenaole
position" -.
immigration regulation and work
mne's compensation have been MAJOR
blanks of the legislative program OF
the American Federation OF LABOR.