Evening star., 1952-02-03
Poverty Amid Plenty
Once Prosperous Textile City
lFuces / hreot Of Extinction

|dlmcult enough time Supp0rGlMg
his wife and three young children
even when working full time at
$35 q week. He had worked very
little since last spring, but the
neighbors have been wonderful. Z
Things are rotten around
here" " said . 34-year-old mill
truck driver who was out Of work
a week. "But they are going I'd
get tougher, especially If they
(the mills) go South"
A well-dressed woman, 36, said
both she and her husband had
been laid of by a mill which had
run out of orders. Neither was
able to find another job.
. A '.first aid girl" 40, had been
out Of a job since November. She
had recently married q small dairy
farmer of nearby New Hampshire
whose is cows help see us
through" She was discouraged
about the job outlook because
they don't want women around
here after you are 40"
None Of those interviewed
blamed the employers for the
situation. They seemed to ac-
|cept unemployment as a matter
|of course in New England's "feast
or famine" textile industry.
Few Cases of Distress.
Despite the high unemployment
there are few instances Of dis
tress among the people of Law
renee. There were $50 families
on relief. compared to $40 a year
ago when there were only about
half as many jobless.
Another paradox was that busi-
ness in the city was surprisingly
good. as gauged by the usual ba-
lrometers. Savings deposits dropped
10 per cent the past year: goods
tcarried off by train and trucks was
down 20 per cent; retail sales were
of 2 or 3 per cent; delinquencie.
on time sales were less than one.
fourth per cent.
But city officials said all of thi
could change quickly for the Wors.
unless things picked up at the wor'
sted mills. and a pickup wasn't IL
sight. There were about l0,30l
persons receiving weekly "unem.
lployment" checks, and new claims
were running about 1900 a week
A total Of nearly 5000 had ex.
hausted compensation. This mum.
Der is increasing because the pres.
|ent depression" in Lawrence be-
gan last May, the end Of the Post.
Korean boom in textiles
Work Divided Up.
Both business and union officials
said that share -the-work clauses
in union contracts with the mills
had done much to prevent real
hardship in Lawrence. Whatever
work the mills get is divided
among what is called the normal
work force - generally about SIS
per cent Of capacity employment,
These are workers Of 10 years or
more seniority. This results in the
regulars" getting somewhat less
than a weeks work out Of every
two. They get unemployment COM
.pensation for the week they are
out.
This plan has been the saliva
.tion Of Lawrence" said Philip
Salem, vice president Of the AFL
United Textile Workers.
1T has prevented people from
choking up on their spending, :
commented Jack Berry Of the
Chamber of Commerce. Most
workers here are making about
$3.50 a month. They get $50 a week
for the two weeks they work and
|$25 a week compensation the
other two"
One Weeks Work in 10.
William DuChessi of the CIC
Textile Workers said that despit,
the share-the-wofk plan some O
their members were getting only ,
weeks work out of each 10.
"The employment situation her
became acute last July and peopl
are running out of compensation
now" he said. "The picture vii
get very dark the next month O
so unless the mills pick up"
/ Lawrence inaugurated a ney
mayor this month, John j. Buck
LEY, IS, a graduate of Georgetown
University. Running on platform
built around immediate actor
on unemployment. he unseated
in Q non-partisan election, a maj
who had held the job for 10 years
Both are Democrats.
1 Mayor Buckley admits construc
tive fulfillment of his campaign
promise will be very difficult. H
plans to offer full co.operation