Year: 1874

| Miss Jennie Collins has written I


letter to the Boston Advertiser il


defense of the sewing women Of tina


city, and giving reasons why they dc


not bestow more attention to genera


house-work when there is such sur


plus Of labor in the shops and such q


dcarth of labor in the households


She says every day demonstrates the


advantage gained by the wealth pro


ducing women of Boston, from the


fact that their cause" was never


managed by local politicians, although


persistent, yet unsuccessful, effort


had been made for the controll of that


important army Of workingpeople


She infers that from the very nature


of their social life and their varied in


terssts, tastes and habits, politicians


would be the most unfit persons to med


die with them. In order to remove


some of the erroneous impressions


that prevail in reference to the shop


girls. Miss Collins deems it necessary


to state in the first place this position
since the great fire. Twenty wholesale
clothing houses were burned down
at that time, each of which had given
employment to from 200 to 600 wo-
men. That number added to the


vast custom trade, drawing its GUS
tom from all parts Of New England,
will count $4,000 females employed
on clothing alone, representing every
grade of intelligence and taste, yet
mingling together with aperfect dem
ocratic spirit There side by side,
may be seen the child who formerly
begged it's bread, but who is now an
exrcrt in the business, and the child


no was carried to school in the arms
Of a servant, but who escaping the
slavery Of fashionable life, is now


working out happier destiny, rem
dered easier, perhaps, by her happy
childhood. Still no one of them is
obliged to mingle with disagreeable
persons; yet, on the other hand, firm
friendships are formed among the
several classes, especially among
those who are well paid


The wages of the women range
from 81 to $40 a week, and Miss Col
Inns instances the case Of a girl in a
Chauney street shop who has made
S35, and once her check was $40 for
ten days. These must be retained
at any cost, and those who work for
smaller wages are less valuable be.
cause they take up as much room
and are more care than three times
the number of women who know their
business. There is great pressure
brought to bear upon employers to
take little girls OF say, ten years of
age, who thus have early instilled in
to ther minds habits Of punctuality,
economy, and industry. Out of 400
women tailoresses, 200 live at home,
very much to the advantage Of all
parties concerned and the public gen.
orally; thirteen of every hundred are
the entire support of somebody else.
and twenty-five out Of every hundred
are assisted by relatives. The wri-
ter Indignantly denies that employ
ers encourage bad habits among their
female help by making improper sug-
gestions when they offer low wages
she very properly considering such a
charge unjust to honorable men and
exceedingly damaging to the girls.
To show the protection that's accord
ed to them, she says that the employ
ers never had any direct commnni-
cation with their help, but always
through the person in charge, who
ever they may be, men or women.
During the dull seasons, custom
hands are retained and given sale
work at custom prices, the employ
ers knowing that their places can not
be easily filled. Responsibility is a
great point with these women
They can forego pleasure, work hard,
put up with any Inconvenience, but
good company or none' is the mot
to for them, and to prove that they
have no trouble in finding it, it is
only necessary to give the statement
of the foreman, who AYERS that in q
space of fou teen years, in which he
has never had charge of less than
from 200 to 420 hands, only three
cases of intemperance came under
his observation. He further main
tanned that discreet and decorous con-
duct is the rule, not the exception,
and not better proof of this can be
given than the fact that the girls are
sought by most estimable husbands,
and they make frugal, thrifty wives
in nearly all cases. Tailoresses only
are described in this connection, but
there is a sad picture on the other
side of this question; yet with all the
darkness, misery, and blight, in a
fair and impartial investigation the
shop girls of Boston will rank high
in the scale of New England intelli-
gence, thrift. purity, and faithfulness
to duty. They are not s,upefed
with rum and tobacco, and, therefore,
have too much individuality to fall
into the wake of the cheap politicians.
BY the unqualified support their
cause" has received from the most
able and impartial minds for years
past, the future is safe. There is
one method left open, namely. to
help them to be able to earn good
wages, and then 10 practice the econ
omy that is so natural TO all classes
who are well skilled, as waste and
ignorance are inseperable. That is
the education that is needed, and the
public mind should be brought up
to it.


Our Grandfather Newspaper.