The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-10-22
STOCKYARD STILL
same AS IN The
PRE-JUNCLE DAYS
Saloons Flourish With
Bosses Protection
by a Worker Correspondent

CHICAGO, H., (By MaiD.-Un-
der the whip of economic necessity
I recently entered the Swift and
Company meat-packing plant in
Chicago. I joined the long line OF
slaves waiting at the employment
bureau door and was duly taken on,
given my number to identify me in
case, | got mangled, and assigned to
he Illinois Cold Storage Plant. I'm
der an equally desperate urge of
MISREPRESENTATION l managed to es-
ape after three weeks and beat it
out5of Chicago as fast as my feet
andyra freight on the Nickel Plate
RAILROAD line could take me. During
the brief period of time I was there
managed to make the following
observations:
Same as in Pre-" jungle" Period.
Except for the installing of United
States meat inspectors, conditions
in the stockyards are exactly as they
were twenty years ago, about the
time of Sinclair's Jungle" The
meat is inspected before it is
shipped out but the condition of the
working man has not improved. His
wages have gone up but in proper
tom as they are raised the price of
living goes up and he is no better
off than before.
The majority of the workers are
Poles, Negroes, Bohemians, Mexi-
cans, Poor Whites and Yankees
whose farms have failed and who
have come to the city to make
enough money to live. After a few
months in the stockyards they all
1egin to look the same. Each man
'oses any characteristics he hap
lened to have before he came to the
ltockyards and became one of the
nerd. They all have the same gem
cral appearance, the same dull, I'M
eomprehending stare. Every morn
ing at the same time they come
shuffling down the street, a long
grey line of slowly moving forms.
Back to the same job, the same posi-
ion in front of the same machine
where they have been working for
weeks, months, years.
Seek Escape in Drink.
Only once a week, every payday
does the slaughterhouse slave look
for any sign of escape. He finds it
n the rows of saloons that flank
he stockyards. He gets drunk and
wants to kill somebody. This is the
My way he can find to air the
ent-up wrong fostering in his soul.
lie fights, sings, makes love and
aises hell in ways too numerous to
e here mentioned. Then when his
little spree is over he shuffles back
30 the yards, to go over once more
he same motions he has made god
f5nows how many thusands of times.
Small wonder his soul is dead! Il
The head of the plant is much too
wise a business man to allow the
government to close up the saloons.
The brain-inflaming rot-gut is an
effective deadener to protests of
he stockyard workers. If this were
taken away from him he might seek
other ways of Kidding himself of
he burden of oppression that is al
ways. weighing him down. He might
become class conscious. He might
wen strike, who knows?
Hovels and Rotten Meat.
The stockyards are dotted with
little-board shanties where the rot
ZEN beef and pork condemned by the
Inspectors is doled out to hungry
workers at five cents cut. Chicory
is three cents mug. Nothing over
five cents in the place. 1t is called
a restaurant" and it is run by the
company. This is a very profitable
way of getting rid of bad meat.
Instead of sending it to the fer
rilizer field they boil it up and sell
it. One more trip to Europe for
he Swift family!
WALLACE ROGERS.