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diff --git a/old/53018-0.txt b/old/53018-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8e004dc..0000000 --- a/old/53018-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7203 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Men and Things, by Henry A. Atkinson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Men and Things - -Author: Henry A. Atkinson - -Release Date: September 9, 2016 [EBook #53018] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEN AND THINGS *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: Italics text is enclosed in _underscores_, boldface -in =equals signs=. - - - - -[Illustration: - - Press Illustrating Service. - -CUTTING STEEL FOR SHIPS WITH GIGANTIC SHEARS. - -These workers are the servants of civilization and without them we -would have no such trade as we have to-day.] - - - - - MEN AND THINGS - - - BY - HENRY A. ATKINSON - - SECRETARY, SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES - AND ASSOCIATE SECRETARY OF THE COMMISSION ON THE CHURCHES - AND SOCIAL SERVICE OF THE FEDERAL COUNCIL OF THE - CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN AMERICA - - - NEW YORK - MISSIONARY EDUCATION MOVEMENT - OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA - 1918 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY - MISSIONARY EDUCATION MOVEMENT OF THE - UNITED STATES AND CANADA - - - - -CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING MISSION STUDY - - -Send the proper one of the following blanks to the secretary of your -denominational mission board whose address is in the “List of Mission -Boards and Correspondents” at the end of this book. - - ================================================================= - - We expect to form a mission study class, and desire to have any - suggestions that you can send that will help in organizing and - conducting it. - - Name ............................................................ - - Street and Number ............................................... - - City or Town ..................... State ........................ - - Denomination ..................... Church ....................... - - Text-book to be used ............................................ - - ================================================================= - - We have organized a mission study class and secured our books. - Below is the enrolment. - - Name of City or Town .................... State ................. - - Text-book ......................... Underline auspices under - which class is held: - Denomination ...................... - Church Y. P. Soc. - Church ............................ Men Senior - Women’s Soc. Intermediate - Name of Leader .................... Y. W. Soc. Junior - Sunday School - Address ........................... - - Name of Pastor .................... Date of starting ............ - - State whether Mission Study Class, Frequency of Meetings ....... - Lecture Course, Program Meetings, - or Reading Circle ............... Number of Members ........... - - ................................. Does Leader desire Helps? ... - - Chairman, Missionary Committee, Young People’s Society ........... - - ............................................................ - - Address .................................................... - - Chairman, Missionary Committee, Sunday School .................... - - ............................................................ - - Address .................................................... - - - - -TO MY FATHER - -THE REV. THOMAS A. ATKINSON - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - Foreword xiii - - I The World of Work 1 - - II The World of the Rural Workers 17 - - III The World of the Spinners and Weavers 33 - - IV The World of the Garment Workers 49 - - V The World of the Miners 65 - - VI The World of the Steel Workers 79 - - VII The World of the Transportation Men 95 - - VIII The World of the Makers of Luxuries 113 - - IX The World of Seasonal Labor and the Casual Workers 135 - - X The World of Industrial Women 155 - - XI The World of the Child Workers 173 - - XII The Message and Ministry of the Church 191 - - Bibliography 211 - - Index 215 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - These workers are the servants of civilization _Frontispiece_ - - PAGE - - The work which men do inevitably groups them together 10 - - Not many of us stop to consider the man who made possible the - white bread that we eat 18 - - The worker in these mills is a worker and little or nothing else 42 - - The workers on the sidewalks of Fifth Avenue 50 - - We forget the men who are toiling underground 66 - - The New U. S. Bureau of Mines Rescue Car 74 - - Commerce and transportation are dependent upon the steel workers 82 - - The church must preach from the text “A man is more precious - than a bar of steel” 90 - - Living upon the canal-boats and barges are the families of the - workers 106 - - The cigarmakers carry no moral enthusiasm into their trade 122 - - The casual workers are the true servants of humanity 146 - - In the army of laborers the girl and the woman are drafted 162 - - Thousands of children in America are doing work which they - ought not to do 186 - - A Russian Forum in session in the Church of All Nations, Boston 194 - - The Church of All Nations provided a sleeping place for the - unemployed 202 - - - - - “Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, - Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.” - - - - -FOREWORD - - -A friend said to me this last week, “There are two things that I -instinctively distrust, one is prophecy, the other is statistics. Now -that the war has lengthened into the fourth year and America has taken -her place by the side of the Allies, I find my gorge rising every time -any one attempts a prophecy and quotes statistics. All prophecies have -proved false and statistics are utterly unreliable. Even the clocks -have been made to lie by official decree.” - -Granted that my friend is pessimistic, at the same time we must -all sympathize with him in this feeling. In writing this book, I -have tried to keep out of the realm of prophecy and have used just -as few statistics as possible. Most of the facts were secured by -investigations made prior to August, 1914. I have endeavored to check -up every statement with all the reports I could secure from the -Department of Labor at Washington, through the _Survey_ and the _New -Republic_, and through other sources. I feel reasonably certain that -all the statements concerning conditions will bear investigation and -are substantially correct. If there are discrepancies, it will be found -after making due allowance for the judgment of others, that they are -due to changes brought about by unusual conditions in industry. The -principles are unchanged and it is upon these that I have attempted -to place the most emphasis. Concrete facts are but illustrative of -the principle involved. Conditions affect cases but leave principles -undisturbed. - -I am greatly indebted to the help in research given me by Miss Lucy -Gardner, of Salem, Massachusetts. As far as possible I have given -credit to the proper authorities for material used. If I have failed to -do so I take this opportunity of acknowledging my indebtedness to all -unknown authors and authorities who have contributed in any way. - -This book goes forth to the young people of America in the hope -that they will find in it some small inspiration that will prove -an incentive to them to give themselves to the cause of humanity, -realizing that through service, and through service alone, can any one -make the fullest contribution to his generation. - -“Men and Things,”--a nation is great only in its citizens. The great -task before the church to-day is to help to readjust the conditions -existing in all industries so that men and women may labor and enjoy -the fruits of their labor and profit physically and spiritually in the -wealth which they help to create. - - HENRY A. ATKINSON. - -New York, May, 1918. - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE WORLD OF WORK - - -One of the commonest sights in the city is that of the people going to -work in the early morning; the streets are thronged with men carrying -dinner pails, and girls and women carrying bundles. Many are hurrying -with a worried look on their faces as if fearful of being a minute or -two late. At night the same people are again on the streets with their -faces turned in the opposite direction going home after the day’s work. -A few hours’ rest, then a new day, and the same people may be seen in -the same streets, hurrying to the ever unending tasks. - -The country holds the same urge of work. Nothing is more interesting -than a trip through the country early in the morning. With the first -hint of dawn you see a thin pencil of smoke begin to stream from the -chimneys of the farmhouses. Bobbing lanterns appear by the barn. You -hear the clanking of chains and the rattle of harness as the teams are -being made ready for the day’s toil. As the morning grows older, you -meet the workers out on the road with their faces set sturdily toward -the field of their labor. - -All night long from a thousand centers massive trains are rushing -toward other centers. In each engine two men, with nerves alert and -eyes peering out into the darkness ahead, guide the power that pulls -the train. Every few minutes the door of the firebox is opened and a -gleam of light makes an arc through the darkness of the night as the -fireman mends his fire. - -During the daytime thousands of trackmen have inspected the rails; -other thousands have been at work repairing the ties, putting in new -rails, and improving the grade. Telegraphers are continuously flashing -their messages along the wires; their invisible hands guide these -flying trains. In factories, workshops, mills, mines, forests, on -steamships, on the wharves, wherever there are human beings, there is -work being done. Work is as ceaseless and persistent as life itself. - -=The Song of the World of Work.= You remember, perhaps, the first time -that you visited a big city. From your room in the hotel you could hear -the roar of the streets. That roar is made up of hundreds of separate -sounds. It is the voice of work from the throat of the city. It changes -with each hour of the night. Just before dawn there is a lull and the -voice is almost quiet but only for a short period; then it takes on a -new volume of sound and grows in intensity to the full force of its -noonday chorus. What is this voice saying? It is telling the story, and -pouring out the complaint, and singing the song of the world of work. -The idler or the parasite is the exception. People can live without -working, but such is human nature that the person is rarely found who -is willing to bear the odium of being a member of the class that never -toils. - -=Work and Life.= “What are you going to do when you grow up?” This -is a common question asked of every girl and boy. Very early in our -lives we begin to try to answer this question. Our environment shapes -our attitude toward life, and helps us to choose the type of work to -which we think we are adapted, but, having once settled the question -of the kind of work we are to do, that choice eventually determines, -in a large measure, our character. Work is so much a part of our lives -that it marks us and puts us in groups. All ministers are very much -alike, doctors are alike, lawyers are alike, business men are alike, -business women resemble each other, so do miners and woodsmen. In fact, -the work that we do groups us automatically with the others in the -same profession or trade. Work creates our world for us and also gives -us our vocabulary. A man who made his fortune on a big cattle-ranch -in the West moved with his family to Chicago. His wife and daughter -succeeded in getting into fashionable society and with the money at -their command made quite a stir in the social world. Foolishly they -were ashamed of their old life on the ranch. They had difficulty in -living down their past, and the husband never reached a place where his -family could be sure of him. He carried his old world with him into the -new environment. One of the standing jokes among their friends was the -way in which this man told his cronies at the club how his wife had -“roped a likely critter and had him down to the house for inspection.” -This was his description of a young man who was considered eligible -for his daughter’s hand. The men who have been brought up in mining -communities use the phraseology of the mines. One of the most prominent -preachers in America was a miner until he was past twenty years of age. -His sermons, lectures, and books are filled with the phrases learned in -his early life. A preacher in a fishing village in the northern part -of Scotland, in making his report to the Annual Conference, stated: -“The Lord has blessed us wonderfully this year. In the spring, with the -flood-tide of his grace, there was brought a multitude of souls into -our harbor. We set our nets and many were taken. These we have salted -down for the kingdom of God.” Needless to say, he and his people were -dependent upon the fishing industry for a living. - -=Purpose of Work.= Life is divided into work and play. Work is the -exertion of energy for a given purpose. People accept the claim of -life as they find it with little or no protest because one must work -in order to eat. The compulsion of necessity determines the amount of -work and the amount of play in the average life. Even a casual study of -the industrial life of to-day convinces one that work absorbs a large -part of the time and conscious energy of all the people. The letters -T. B. M. meaning “Tired Business Man” are now used to typify a fact of -modern life. Business takes so much time and effort that it leaves the -individual so worn out at the end of every day that he is not able to -think clearly, or to render much service to himself or to his friends. -He is simply a run-down machine and must be recharged for the next -day’s work. - -In one of the American cities a group of nineteen girls formed -themselves into a Bible study class, and met at the Young Women’s -Christian Association building on Thursday nights. A light, inexpensive -dinner was served and the pastor of one of the churches was asked to -teach the group. All of these girls were members of the church and were -engaged in work in the city. One was in a secretarial position, four -were stenographers, two were saleswomen, and thirteen were employed -in a department store. The hours of work were long for the majority of -the class. On Saturday nights they were forced to work overtime. The -average wage for the group was $7.25 a week. Out of this they had to -buy their food, pay for their rooms, buy their clothes, and pay their -car-fare. Whatever was left they could save or give away just as they -pleased. After the classes had been meeting for about six weeks, it -developed that only four of the girls went to church with any degree -of regularity. Ten of them gave as a reason for not going that they -were so tired on Sunday mornings that they could not do their work -and get up in time to go to church. When they did get up, there were -dozens of hooks and eyes and buttons that had to be sewed on, clothes -which had to be mended, and the week’s washing to be done. In telling -of their experiences one girl said, “Sunday is really my busiest day.” -These girls can be taken as typical of a large number of workers, men -and women. Life to the majority becomes simply the performance of -labor. Work is the whole end of existence. All brightness and cheer is -squeezed out by the compulsion of labor. - -In a Pennsylvania coal town the employees of the company live in a -little village built around the coke ovens. There is not a green thing -in the whole village. A girl from Pittsburgh married one of the men -who was interested in the mines. They moved to this town, and she took -all her wedding presents and finery with her. In three weeks the smoke -had ruined her clothes, had made the inside of her little home grimy, -and the dirt and soot had ground itself into the carpets and floor, -till she said, “I feel that all the beautiful life that Frank and I had -planned to live together has become simply an incidental adjunct to the -coke-ovens.” We often hear it said that the minds of people are stolid, -stodgy, or indifferent, and that they do not appreciate the best things -in life. The wonder is that the masses of the people appreciate them as -much as they do. - -=The Purpose of Life.= A well-known catechism teaches that, “The -chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” Herbert -Spencer says, “The progress of mankind is in one aspect a means of -liberating more and more life from mere toil, and leaving more and -more life available for relaxation, for pleasure, culture, travel, and -for games.” The struggle for existence consumes so much time that it -becomes an end in itself. This ought not to be. The true purpose of -life is not work, nor wealth, nor anything else that can be gained by -human striving, but it is life itself. Therefore, the work that people -do ought to contribute to an enrichment of life. We are indebted to -Henry Churchill King for the splendid phrase, “The fine art of living.” -William Morris said that whatever a man made ought to be a joy to the -maker as well as to the user, so that all the riches created in the -world should enrich the creator as well as those who profit by the use -of the riches. Under the old form of production, where every man did -his own work with his own tools, it was easy for him to take pleasure -in the thing that he was making. The factory system breaks the detail -of production into such small parts that no one worker can take very -much pride in the actual processes of his work. It is not a very -thrilling thing to stand by a machine and feed bars of iron into it -for ten hours a day, and to watch the completed nuts or screws dropping -out at the other end of the machine. The pleasure in the work must be -secured from the conditions under which the work is performed--the -cooperation in the production, and the feeling that the worker is a -part, and is being blessed by being a part, of the modern industrial -system. - -=Specialization in Work.= Specialization has been carried so far that -to-day there are very few skilled workers in the sense in which this -term was used several years ago. Shoemakers very rarely know how to -make shoes, for they now make only some one part of the shoe. The -automobile industry, by methods of standardizing, is organized so that -each worker performs some simple task. He repeats this over and over, -but his task added to that done by the others, produces an automobile. -In the glove factory one set of workers spend their lives making -thumbs; another group stitch the back of the gloves. In the clothing -industry some make buttonholes, others sew on buttons; some put in -the sleeves, and others hem; each has a very small part to do. This -specialization in industry has been carried so far that it is seldom -that a worker knows anything about the finished product. - -A study of the organization of labor shows to what extent -specialization has been carried. One of the chief complaints of the -American manufacturer is that his men and women are not loyal. There is -undoubtedly ground for this complaint, but on the other hand it must be -conceded that it is very difficult for a worker--in the garment trade, -for instance--to be loyal to a long succession of buttonholes; and for -glovemakers to be loyal to a multitude of thumbs. The lack of loyalty -comes largely from the failure of the directors of modern industry to -bring their workers into that relationship with the business which -would give them a feeling that they are an essential part of the -industry. Loyalty grows by what it feeds on. The specialization that -has been going on has been the very force which has made the worker -simply a part of the machine, and as such, detaches him from the -business of which he ought to feel himself an integral part. - -=Unity of the Workers.= The extent to which specialization has been -developed has had another effect. While the process of differentiation -has been carried on at a rapid pace, and the individual worker has -known but little about the finished product, he has come to know a -great deal about the other disintegrated units in the workshop, the -mine, the factory, and the mill. Consequently, with the differentiation -in the work there has been a growing solidarity or feeling of unity -among the workers themselves. Evidence of this is found in the -philosophy that there are only two classes of people in the world, the -people who work and the people who do not work, and which is used by -the revolutionary groups with tremendous force. We do not like to think -of classes in America, but the forces of industrial life have created -classes in spite of ourselves. - -=A World Apart.= The workers live in a world apart. Unconsciously they -drift together. They talk each other’s language; they understand each -other’s point of view. In every town and city we find groups of the -workers living to themselves. The work which men do inevitably groups -them together; and social life centers so completely about their work -that it is really the factory and mill that mark out the lines and -define the limits within which the classes must live. Consequently, -in our American cities we find such designations as these: “Shanty -Town,” “Down by the Gas Works,” “Across the Tracks,” “Murphy’s Hollow,” -“Tin-Can Alley,” “Darktown,” “On the Hill,” “Out by the Slaughter-Pen,” -“Over on the West Side,” and “Down in the Bottoms.” Just think of -your own town, and you probably can add some new phrase that tells -where your laboring group lives. In one Western town the community -was divided by the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks. The boys in the -school on the north side of the tracks were all known as “Sewer Rats.” -On the opposite side of the town they were known as “Depot Buzzards.” -Whenever one group met the other there was always a war. A friend tells -of a similar condition in a Canadian village where the Scotch boys were -banded against the Irish and the Irish against the Scotch. Whenever -the Macks met the Micks, or the Sandys met the Paddys, there was a -row. A large part of this classification is temporary and need not be -considered very seriously. Underlying it, however, is the deeper fact -that we have come to recognize that there is a world of the workers, -and that it is a world apart. In this world of the workers the rewards -and the profits of toil are barely adequate to take care of the needs -of the families of the workers. - -It is assumed that in pre-war times it required from $800 to $900 a -year to support a family in the average American community. Since -1914 the cost of living has increased approximately 60 per cent. It -is estimated that even to-day with the advances that have been made -in the wages by nearly all industries, 61 per cent. of the workers of -America are receiving an average wage of less than $800 a year. “Shanty -Town” and that section “Down by the Gas Works” have been built of poor -material and allowed to become dilapidated not because the people -living there like that sort of thing, but because the returns for the -labor of these people are totally inadequate for their needs. The -housing and living conditions of the people who live in the world of -the workers is determined by the wages which they receive. - -[Illustration: - - McGraw-Hill Company. - -The work which men do inevitably groups them together.] - -=The Interdependence of All.= Now, if we do recognize that the -world of work is a world apart, we must not fail to recognize also -that behind this disintegration that has been going on, there is an -integration of society more comprehensive than we have ever known -before in the history of the world. While the people may be allowed -to live by themselves in a part of the town that is less desirable as -a dwelling-place than other parts, yet we are all dependent one upon -the other. There is an old story which illustrates this point. A boy -complained to his father about being poor and said that he wished that -he had been born in a rich man’s home. The father told him that he -was mistaken, for he really had wealth which he had never considered. -That night the boy had a dream. It seemed to him that there came and -stood at his bed a little fellow dressed like a farmer. The boy asked -him who he was. He replied that he was the soul of all the farmers -that were working to produce the flour that went into bread. Another -little figure appeared beside the first, a black man with a turban on -his head; he was the spirit of the workers in the tea and spice -gardens of India. Another black man dressed in the rough clothes of a -day-laborer joined the others; he was the spirit of the workers on a -Southern plantation who make the cotton and produce the sugar. Other -workers appeared so fast that the boy could hardly keep up with their -approach--the coal-miner, the iron-miner, the woodsman, the carpenter, -and the girl workers in the flax-mills of Dublin, who produce the linen -in the rough, red-checked tablecloths. When they had all gathered -together there was a multitude, and all were in reality the servants of -this one boy. - -Our dependence upon each other was clearly illustrated in the shut-down -of non-essential industries on certain days in the winter of 1917-18. -In order to keep people from starving and freezing, the government of -the United States ordered the suspension of certain industries so that -the conservation of fuel might protect the lives of the people. - -=The Good Neighbor.= We are “members one of another.” The basic -industries provide the necessities of our lives--feeding, housing, -clothing, warmth, means of traveling, and the things which are part -and parcel of our very being. The workers who are engaged in producing -these things are true servants of humanity, and we are all under deep -and abiding obligations to them. Just in the proportion that we produce -something that adds to the wealth and happiness of the world, we are -discharging the obligation which others by their labors have placed -upon us. The division into classes, and the setting off of groups by -themselves, the creating of the world of labor as a world apart, makes -the practise of neighborliness a difficult thing. Now neighborliness -is the very essence of Christianity. To be a friend of man ought to -be the supreme desire of every individual. In the parable of the -Good Samaritan Jesus defined the meaning of Christianity in terms of -neighborliness. The church must answer this question: How can Christian -people be good neighbors in modern industrial society? - -=Neighbor to the Group.= We recognize the call to neighborliness in -individual cases. If a man is knocked down by an automobile when he -is crossing a street, people will run to help him to his feet, will -call a cab or an ambulance, and he will be cared for just as carefully -by the stranger as if he were a near relative. The individual idea -of neighborliness is thoroughly appreciated. We have learned how to -practise it. When it comes to a group, however, we find it difficult. -The same men that would rush into the street to help an individual that -is hurt, will live in a community and not appreciate the needs of the -people living in the same block. The industrial class may be knocked -down by adverse social conditions, and no one will recognize just what -the situation means; or, recognizing it, will know how to apply the -remedy, or even how to offer intelligent assistance. - -In a small city in Ohio there lived an old man and his wife. Their -children had married and moved away, leaving the old people to shift -for themselves. The man was nearly blind and his wife was paralyzed -and unable to take care of herself. The neighbors used to go to see -them once in a while but no one felt any special responsibility for -them and the community knew very little about the conditions under -which they lived. One of the neighbors remarked one day that he had not -seen anybody around the house and no smoke coming from the chimney. -An investigation was made and it was found that the old man had been -dead three days and was lying in bed with his paralyzed wife who could -not help herself, nor could call for assistance. For three days she had -been suffering unspeakable agony beside the form of her dead husband. -The whole community was shocked. No one could believe that such a lack -of neighborliness could exist. No one was particularly to blame; it was -merely one of those things that occur because the man and his wife had -dropped out of the main-traveled path of the city’s life. - -The church is making every effort to meet the needs of the individual, -but when it preaches the need of regeneration, it must meet the group -needs as well, and the minister of a church for a world of labor must -be minister to the group as well as to the individual. The world war -has impressed upon us many facts, none with more insistence than -this--that we are living in a very small world; and that nations, as -well as groups of people everywhere, must learn to appreciate each -other for what they are, and for the contribution which they are making -to the well-being of humanity. Recognizing this, however, does not mean -that we are all to try and think alike, to be alike, or to live alike. -As Americans we are very likely to think that our way of doing things -is entirely right, and that enlightenment comes in proportion to the -degree in which other people copy our example in clothes, methods of -living, and even our manner of speaking. - -=A Specialized Program for Group Needs.= The church’s program for a -world of work must be a specialized program. It must be based upon a -thorough knowledge of the facts incident to the life of the people, an -appreciation of their view-points, and must take into consideration -the ultimate ends to be achieved, the means by which these ends can be -reached, and a willingness to subordinate the program of the church -to the needs of the group. The program of a city church appealing to -well-to-do, middle-class people, will utterly fail in the average rural -community. A program for a mining community must consider the needs as -well as the character of the miners, and the quality of their work. The -church is sharply challenged by the specialization in industry, and by -the fact that there are classes who do not hear, or at least fail to -heed its appeal. In the growing demand for democracy, the church must -not only be the most democratic of all institutions but it must be the -leader in setting before the people the ideals and in keeping before -their minds the great ends of democracy. - -=Approach to the Subject.= In the following chapters are set forth -some of the conditions under which the workers in the basic industries -toil and live; also the great needs of each group and what the church -is doing, what it ought to do, and what it can do. We will consider -each group in relation to the contribution it makes to the life of us -all. Food is a first need of each individual, therefore, we will study -the rural workers first, for they are the ones who feed the world. -Next we will study the makers of our clothing; then the mines, for -they provide for our warmth and shelter; then the steel workers, who -are the real builders of our material civilization. We are a restless -race, and demand the labor of thousands of men and women to move us -from place to place, so we will study the lives of these providers of -transportation. We will also think together of that large group who -amuse us and who labor to produce the luxuries which we enjoy. There -are certain groups that we will find in each of these larger groups, -such as the seasonal workers, the women in industry who toil. We will -take a glimpse at these. - -=Men and Things.= Men produce things, and often the created thing -seems to become greater than its creator. We will hope through these -discussions to show that man is infinitely greater than all the things -which he produces. We will also endeavor to arrive at some decision -as to what constitutes a proper message and ministry for the church -in the midst of a world of work, so that working men and women may -be protected in their toil, and freed from the incessant and always -present danger of becoming slaves to the wealth they create. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE WORLD OF THE RURAL WORKERS - - -There have grown up on the western plains of Canada a number of large -cities and a great many small villages and towns. These are the direct -results of a process of civilization dependent upon the fertile soil -from which vast quantities of wheat are reaped each year. Just before -harvest the sea of grain extends as far as the eye can see. The first -settlers built their little cabins, bought as much seed grain as was -available, and planted it; doing nearly all of the work themselves. -Improved methods of planting and harvesting have added thousands of -acres to the wheat-fields. Railroads have been built to carry the wheat -to the great shipping and milling centers. Cities such as Winnipeg -have grown rich through being the connecting-links between the farmer, -with his field and his wheat, and the breakfast tables all over the -civilized world. - -=Our Daily Bread.= The development of the grain-belt of western Canada -is similar to that which has taken place in Minnesota, the Dakotas, and -other Northwestern states. In California, Oregon, Washington, Oklahoma, -and Kansas we find great areas devoted to the growing of wheat. The -wheat that is put on the market is of two general varieties: what is -known as winter wheat sown in the autumn, and spring wheat that is -sown early in the spring. These great wheat areas have been called the -bread-basket of the Western world. Few of us realized the importance of -wheat to the life of the world until Mr. Hoover began to tell us that -we must save it by having wheatless days and by eating more corn bread -and war-breads of various kinds. The total annual consumption of wheat -is 974,485,000 bushels, and of this amount the United States produced, -in 1917, 678,000,000 bushels. The needs of the world have been figured -as calling for about 20 per cent. advance upon all that is available -under normal conditions. - -Not many of us who live in cities stop to consider the man who made -possible the roll or the piece of white bread that we eat with our -meal. We forget the long day’s work, the painstaking toil, and the -grim struggle of the pioneers who first worked the land. We seldom -think of the planting and reaping year after year, the construction of -transportation, the building of warehouses, the venturing of money in -mill-building, until finally were developed not only the vast farms but -also cities, railroads, wheat-carrying steamship lines, elevators, and -the mills that go to make up the great bread-making industry. Only when -the war interfered with the processes and threatened to cut off the -supply of wheat, did we begin to realize how important the wheat farm -is to the very life of the nation. If bread is the staff of life, wheat -is the chief material out of which that staff is made. Other grains -when used for bread, as we are forced to use them to-day, are all -substitutes for wheat. - -[Illustration: - - Press Illustrating Service. - -Not many of us stop to consider the man who made possible the white -bread that we eat at our daily meals.] - -=The Cane-Sugar Makers.= If we travel in a direction a little east of -south from the wheat-fields of Canada, we come to the great plantations -of Louisiana and Mississippi where sugar-cane is grown. Here we -find people of a different type living under different conditions. -Sugar-cane is grown in fields that have been won from the swamps by -hard toil. In this rich soil, cultivated and ridged by the plow, the -sugar-cane is laid in long parallel rows. After it has been buried a -few days it begins to sprout, and from each one of the joints on the -stalk of cane there grows up a new plant. These are tilled and come to -maturity in October. The stalks grow from eight to fifteen feet high -and at harvest-time are cut down and then stripped of their leaves by -the workers, who take them up in their hands and with a flat knife -slash off the long, bladelike leaves, leaving them clean and smooth. -The stalks are piled in rows to be picked up later and put into wagons, -taken to the siding, loaded into freight-cars, and hauled to the mill, -where they are crushed between rollers, and the juice pressed out. -The liquid so obtained is then put into large vats and evaporated, -leaving brown sugar and molasses. The crude or brown sugar is sent to -the refinery and passed through various processes until we get the -white sugar that comes to our tables. Practically all of the work on -the sugar plantation is done by Negroes. These people live in small -cabins and work for a very small wage, ranging from 75 cents to a $1.25 -a day. Their tiny houses, which are usually whitewashed and surrounded -by a little plot of ground, are the property of the owners of the -plantation. The Negro is expected to buy everything from the company’s -stores. The prices are high and it is rarely that one finds a family -that is not in a perpetual state of debt to the owner of the plantation. - -When the migration of Negroes from the South to the North began some -few years ago, a great concern was felt in many quarters as to what -the result would be. A meeting was held in one of the Southern cities -and the Negroes were invited to be present. One of the Negroes said: -“If you let me tell you what I think, it is about like this. We-all -have been working here for about 75 cents to $1 a day, but we never -see the time when we have any money of our own. It takes more than we -make for the things we use. Folks in Iowa, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and -Massachusetts offer us $15 to $18 a week, tickets for ourselves and our -families, and a free house to live in with two weeks’ rations provided -and in the house. Now none of us wants to leave Louisiana, and if you -want to keep us here just raise our wages to $2 a day. We would a heap -rather stay here than go North.” - -=Sugar from Beets.= Not all the sugar that comes to our tables is made -from the cane; in fact only a small proportion is cane-sugar. Most of -it is produced from the beet which is grown in large quantities in -the West. Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and California are the -extensive sugar-beet producing states. The beets grow to an enormous -size; they are planted in rows and cared for much as the beets that -grow in our vegetable gardens. In California the Japanese are entering -very largely into the sugar-beet culture. - -The beet-fields call whole families to work. Several towns in the -Northwestern states have sections made up entirely of Russians, and -people from other lands, who have been attracted by the opportunities -for employment offered by the beet industry. One family consisting of a -father, mother, thirteen children, and the mother’s sister worked all -last summer in one of the beet-fields. The youngest child was only five -years old but he put in long hours every day. This family is typical of -many. The statistics regarding child labor in the United States show -that the vast majority of children employed in gainful labor are the -children in the rural districts. Thus sugar comes to your table through -two sources: from the workers, including a large number of children, in -the beet-fields and the workers on the Southern plantations. - -=The Corn Belt.= In the Middle states we have the great corn-producing -areas. A great deal of the philosophy of this region is summed up in -the reply of a farmer to the question as to why he was planting more -corn than usual. He said: “So that I can feed more hogs.” - -“What will you do with the hogs?” he was then asked. - -“Sell them and buy more land to plant more corn to raise more hogs to -buy more land.” - -The price of hogs and the price of corn, in normal times, keep on a -level with each other. When corn is high pork is high, and when corn -falls we find that pork falls with it. - -=Food and the Land.= It is impossible within the limits of this book -to give more than a glimpse of a few of the great food-producing -industries of America. The packing-houses and canneries contribute -their share to the feeding of the people; but when all is said and -done, we get back to the fact that even in this age when factory and -city make claims, all values finally rest on the land. The growth of -our cities has emphasized their dependence upon the country. People -in the city must be fed, and the food comes from the soil. It is now -claimed that the gravest mistake made by Kerensky, a leader of the -Russian revolution, was in not giving sufficient attention to the food -question in Russia. After the revolution became a fact Kerensky tried -to spur the army to greater activity, but the people, unused to the new -ways of freedom, failed to keep up the processes that would produce -food. The railroads were congested; fuel was scarce; lacking fuel--the -railroads and boats still further failed in their undertaking. The -result was that the food supply became less and less in Petrograd and -other centers. Behind the lines hungry people grew restless. Leon -Trotzky would not have succeeded in overthrowing Kerensky but for the -hunger of the people. These people were willing to accept any change -of government because there was at least a hope, however desperate it -might be, that the new government would furnish the food which they -needed so badly. One writer dealing with this subject said: “Oratory -and precepts failed to feed the hungry people.” - -We have heard over and over again the phrase, “An army travels on its -stomach.” It is also true that the civilian population of a country -lives and labors on its stomach. Food is the foundation of life. -“Give us this day our daily bread” is the first demand of man upon -God and upon his fellow man. The solution of all our problems depends -finally on the question of bread. “Who shall be king?” The answer to -this question is very likely to be, “The one who will give us bread.” -The peace of the world must finally be based upon an appreciation of -economic values. Justice means that conditions will be such that in -each nation food for all the people will be produced in abundance. - -=The Country and the City.= Much has been said of the freedom and -independence of farm life. The producer of food is a real benefactor of -the race. The farmer works in the open air and lives a simple life, and -so gains an opportunity for developing the very finest traits of human -character. But when we compare the changes that have been taking place -in the rural districts, we find strong reasons for the exodus from the -country to the city. The city offers a more interesting and profitable -life which makes it difficult to maintain the center of attraction on -the farm. The history of humanity began in a garden and ends in a city. -The word “city” comes from the old Latin word which means the citizen, -the place where the citizen lived. - -The city is really the center of authority and governmental power. -It offers the best and at the same time the worst; has the best in -intellect, which it attracts and claims for its own, and it has the -best in amusement and entertainments. We have heard people say: “The -country is a good place in which to rest and work, but the city is -the place to have your fun.” The city has the best and the worst of -morals, and the best and the worst health conditions. Side by side with -the city mansion are the tumble-down hovels and the cramped, narrow -tenements that are a disgrace to our land. The robust, strong man -pushes his weaker fellow to the wall. The worst forms of disease and -the most acute physical suffering are found in the city. In the city -there are many intellectual giants and many half-sane intellectual -weaklings. The man dwelling in the country has a greater independence -than these. He can at least have three meals a day, and knows how to -take care of himself. Hundreds of thousands of people in our cities -have just brains enough and just education enough to do one thing; -if hard times throws one of these out of his job, he is left utterly -helpless--a derelict on the sea of humanity. The culprit is safer in -the city than in the thickest forest. Men without character and women -without principle huddle together in its sordid districts. The tides of -the city wash up queer specimens to the light of day, and reveal to the -passer-by the saddest and most gruesome sights, and the worst types of -humanity. - -The best in the city is matched by the worst. Philanthropy cures, or -tries to cure, what rogues have created. Just as the incentive to -goodness in the city is highest, so the temptations to the opposite -course of life are of the strongest. The artificial life creates new -and unusual wants, and together with the excitement caused by city -conditions, makes temptations hard to resist. The city is the rich -man’s paradise and the poor man’s hell. The lure of the city is strong -upon us all. There are a thousand voices calling us there; and this -is impoverishing our rural districts and making the question of food -a more serious one every year. In the country one can plod along and -with the present prices be independent, but this does not satisfy. The -men of to-day think in thousands where their fathers thought in terms -of hundreds. Hundreds of dollars are made on the farm and millions in -the city. The city calls every young man and young woman. Everybody who -is at all familiar with the small towns knows that one of the hardest -facts which must be faced is that just as soon as the young people -finish school they leave for the city. Church work is made hard by the -continual drain on the best life in the community. - -=The Tenant and the Absentee Landlord.= Over against this question of -the lure of the city there is that of the tenant farmer. The Industrial -Relations Commission, making its study of the rural conditions in -America, finds that there is a very grave danger that America will -produce a peasant class like that of some of the European countries. -The independent landowners are decreasing; in Mississippi 62 per cent. -of the land is tilled by tenants, in Louisiana 58 per cent., and Kansas -36 per cent. So many of the owners of the farms have moved to the -city that the actual production of food has been left to the people -who are known as “birds of passage.” Most of these tenants are here -to-day and gone to-morrow. The retired farmer presents the problem of -the absentee landlord. The tenant farmer suffers under the handicap -of his limitation, and his poverty is often his undoing. The absentee -landlord of the farm enjoys the fruits of the labor of another. We -must not forget, however, that the retired farmer has contributed his -share toward the development of our nation. He has helped to make his -community. The man who actually remains on the soil to produce the food -is producing less, and takes less interest in his community, than the -man who owns the land and who made a success of production in years -gone by. The tenant does not cultivate the land as intensively as it -can be cultivated; he does not attempt soil conservation, and takes but -little interest in the community and its institutions. - -=Study of a Rural Community.= It is interesting to make a study of -the rural community and to compare present conditions with those of -the past. Such a study convinces one that the success of the church -is closely bound up with the economic situation of the community. -An investigation was made in three townships in the central part of -Wisconsin just a few miles from the state capital.[1] The land in this -section is rich, the homes of the people are comfortable, the barns and -sheds substantial, and everything about the farms well kept. Fences -are up and all the buildings are neatly painted. The land produces -anything that can be grown in a temperate climate: peas, grain, barley, -potatoes, oats, hay, cattle, sheep, and hogs. Other parts of Wisconsin -produce more milk and butter; but the large herds of Holstein cows and -the number of creameries and cheese factories found in this part of the -state convince the visitor that no small part of the farmer’s income is -derived from this source. - - [1] Survey made by Social Service Department of Congregational - Churches, 14 Beacon Street, Boston. - -The state university is the Wisconsin farmer’s best friend. Through -its instruction at Madison, its extension department, experimental -stations, and institutes held throughout the state, it shows this -friendship; and the splendid economic conditions found in rural -Wisconsin prove that this friendship is not wasted. The land in these -townships is valued at $100 to $150 an acre, but upon inquiry at a -dozen or more farms it was learned that no one knew of any farm land -that was for sale. - -About 2,500 people live in the three townships described. Sixty -years ago nearly all the people were Americans, many of them having -emigrated from New York State. In later years the Americans have -been supplanted by Germans and Scandinavians. The old settlers now -lie at rest in the beautiful cemeteries which are taken care of by -the communities with the same care and affection that is bestowed -upon private homes and grounds. Many of the descendants of the first -settlers are scattered far and wide throughout the United States. -The Rev. Hubert C. Herring, Secretary of the National Council of the -Congregational Churches of the United States, and one of the best known -among home missionary leaders in America, was born and spent his early -life in this section of Wisconsin. The school he attended is at the -country cross-roads and near the school is the Presbyterian church -which he joined. Dr. Herring’s first efforts at oratory were practised -upon the neighboring boys and girls in the Philomathean Society, a -country debating society, at that time a leading social and literary -organization among the people of the community. Ella Wheeler Wilcox, -one of the most popular and prominent of the magazine and newspaper -writers, and who is well known to every reader in America, was born in -this same township. Twelve other people who are influential nationally -and internationally were born and reared in this community. - -Most of the people hold their own farms and most of them have money -on interest in the bank. The few families who rent farms are working, -planning, and saving so that they can buy land and own their farms. -The school-buildings are adequate and the grounds well kept; the -teachers are efficient and intelligent; and the high school maintains -an advanced standard. The young people go directly from these schools -into the state university. Here, then, we have the material conditions -that would seem to guarantee success in the work of the church. There -is no poverty, and very few people can be said to be living on the -fringe of the community. There is no overcrowding on the part of the -churches, for there are only two American churches and they have a -parish twelve miles wide and fifteen miles long, and the pastor serving -both is the only English-speaking preacher in this whole district. Now -what are the facts? One of these churches was closed for a number of -years and now has services only once in every two weeks; the other was -also closed for a number of years. One church has a Sunday-school with -fifty members and a Christian Endeavor Society of thirty-six members; -the church service is attended by twenty-five to forty people. One of -the men in the community said: “Many of the people are foreign and have -their own churches, of which there are seven in this district; but they -have their troubles, for the children are breaking away from the old -churches as they have broken from the old languages, and are beginning -to come to our Sunday-school.” The community has a good moral record. -There has never been a saloon, except at one point, and the two saloons -that were located there were voted out years ago. The people are -home-loving and law-abiding, but the two churches are not as successful -as they were fifty years ago when they were filled at every service. - -The first minister in the district was a graduate and honor man of -Williams College, and the church was the center of the community -life. People looked to the church, were helped and inspired; it -sent out teachers, preachers, and other men and women trained -in thoughtfulness, to enrich the world. Contributions of such a -range cannot spring from the conditions in which the church finds -itself to-day. What are the reasons? Some of the people blame the -universities. When the young people return from college they seem to -take no interest in the church. But the universities are really not to -blame. The church fills so small a circle in the community that when -the young man has finished his course at the university he cannot fit -himself back into the narrow groove of the church activities. In sixty -years the old methods of farming have changed. Tools and machinery are -of another type. Conditions on the farm are totally different, because -the farmers have recognized that new methods are demanded. When the old -settlers have their picnics and reunions, one of the older men shows -the young men how they used to “cradle” the grain. It is an interesting -thing, but compared to the modern reaper the cradle is simply an -archaic tool, and no man would think of harvesting his crop with it -to-day. The fields of the church life of rural Wisconsin and in other -sections of the country are “white to the harvest,” but the ministers -are forced to use the old-fashioned “cradle” in harvesting the whole -crop. The university is showing the church its opportunity and at the -same time pointing out its failure. In the particular locality under -discussion the churches have no program. Religion is limited to a very -small part of life. The farm demands all the time of the people during -six days of the week. On Sunday the work clothes are changed for Sunday -clothes and part of the day given over to the church. This is religion. -The line of demarkation between the sacred and the secular is much -more clearly drawn in the country than anywhere else. The average -minister of the country church is much more a man apart from the rest -of the community. - -The program of the church must be made a part of the whole life of the -people. The church out in the districts where the people live who are -producing the food for the world is responsible in a large degree for -the pleasures of the people. Country people find it difficult to think -in terms of the community. It is hard for them to cooperate. The church -must shape its program with a clear understanding of the great facts of -the community life, and appeal primarily from this standpoint and not -simply from that of the needs of individuals. - -Another rural study shows a community where 80 per cent. of the people -were living on land owned by somebody else. There were five churches, -and each of them was struggling for a pitiful existence. Less than -20 per cent. of the people had any connection with the church or any -other organization. A minister was sent into this district to make a -study of the situation with a view to possible work by the home mission -board of his church. In his report he stated that the needs there were -just as pressing and demanded just as much statesmanship as any field -in India or China. He was furnished with sufficient money to put up a -good church building, and the plans of the building provided for social -and game rooms. He brought a doctor into the community and attached -him to the church as a lay worker. He promoted an interest in better -farming methods, and began with organized groups a course of lessons -in thrift. Gradually this minister gained the interest of the boys -and girls through baseball, basket-ball, singing school, and other -community exercises and agencies. People began to come to church. They -wanted to hear this preacher, for as one of the farmers said, “A feller -who knows enough to talk about the things that we are interested in -must know something about heaven. I want to hear what he’s got to say.” -The church in this community succeeded, but its success was primarily -dependent upon the program that considered the economic needs of the -people, and studied to find a remedy for the bad, and to build up the -good. - -=Socialism’s Message to the Church.= Socialism has been sneered at -as being a “stomach philosophy.” There is ground for this criticism, -for a great deal of socialism is purely materialistic; but the fact -that it interests itself in the feeding of the people is not a serious -fault. Socialism has emphasized many things that the church has failed -to appreciate. Consideration of the food problems and of the economic -basis of our civilization is something that the church cannot afford -to ignore. The great mass of workers who are producing the food of the -world are truly ministers to the needs of humanity. - -=The World of Rural Workers.= Figures are dull or they would be -marshaled here to show that the producers of the world’s food live in -a world to themselves. There are many divisions in this world, and -many cross-sections of the life of the people. That the rural church -is not succeeding is evident. Its sons and daughters of the past -generation are the leaders in the world of finance, art, commerce, and -letters; but are the conditions within it to-day such that may produce -sons and daughters to fill the places of those who are now occupying -the positions of trust and honor? The call and the opportunity -of the church are urgent in that great part of the world of work -which produces the things that we eat. Shall those who feed others -themselves be denied the bread of life? It is a call for leadership, -for statesmanship, for planning, for devotion, for sacrifice, and for -heroic service. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE WORLD OF THE SPINNERS AND WEAVERS - - -“Now when we cross this bridge, look north and you will see the soul -of our city symbolized in brick and mortar.” These were the words of a -business man who had taken an afternoon off and was showing his friend -the wonders of a New England city that had grown up about the textile -industry. The soul of the city, as he thought of it, lived in the huge -mills lining the banks of the canal which runs through the city. When -his friend looked, he saw more than the mills. He saw a road beside -the canal paved with cobblestones and, on the other side, the company -houses overshadowed by the mills and factories. The towers and huge -smokestacks threw shadows that completely covered the houses where many -of the workers lived. - -So thoroughly is this city dependent upon the mills and their output -that a brilliant writer in a recent work of fiction said of it, that -if there were bridges and a portcullis you could easily think of their -being raised to protect the mills against an invasion from the workers; -just as in medieval times the feudal castles were protected by the moat -and bridge. The bells in the many towers and the siren whistles of the -mills call the people from sleep in the morning, telling them when -to begin work and when to quit. Within the mills are long lines of -machines set in parallel rows down which the workers easily pass. Each -worker tends eight to twenty machines. Here is a broken thread to be -tied, and there a new pattern to be set up. The clatter and roar of the -machinery is unceasing. It is a part of the composite voice of labor -that is sounding around the world. As the shuttles fly the finished -fabric is rolled up ready for inspection, and, when passed, goes to the -market, and later is made into garments. - -It is a huge task to clothe the modern world. No one realizes how much -it means until he looks into the work of the textile-mills which have -grown up in our own and in other countries. Cities like Lawrence, -Lowell, and Fall River, Massachusetts, are what they are because of -their great factories. In these places they produce miles of cloth -every week. - -=Men and Clothes.= Of all the animals in the world man is the only one -that provides himself with artificial covering. All the others have -perfectly fitting coats provided by nature, and these coats are adapted -to the conditions under which the individual animal is forced to live. -Man calls in the help of plant and animal life to supply himself with -clothing for his protection against the cold of winter and the heat of -summer. He also uses clothing as an adornment. We have come to consider -clothing as a badge of civilization and a mark of man’s superiority -to all the other animals. Those races that pay the least attention to -clothing are the lowest in the scale of civilization. Such races are -found in South America, in Central Africa, and on some of the islands -of the South Seas. There is scarcely a trace of civilization to be -found among them. They have a kind of community life, but they live in -a most primitive fashion. Their food consists chiefly of roots, plants, -fish, and game which can be easily secured. They have rude shelters or -crude huts; wear very little clothing; and their religion is a belief -in witches and evil spirits. Where they have idols they are of the -most hideous workmanship, representing in a most grotesque way bad -influences and vicious passions. - -=The Materials.= The first clothing man wore was made from the skins of -animals and from the bark of trees. Later on it was learned that wool -could be spun, and that by using crude needles cloth could be sewed -together. Wool, silk, cotton, linen, paper, and many others materials -have come into common use. All of these are produced by groups of -people of whose working conditions we are in ignorance and whose very -existence is unknown to most of us. Among civilized people the use of -wool has grown to such an extent that the sheep-raising industry has -become one of the biggest businesses in all sections of America. The -sheep-herder lives a lonely life and yet rarely complains, and is never -happier than when out in the fields with his charges. At shearing time -the sheep are brought into a shed, and after a few futile struggles in -an effort to escape the process, they sit quietly head up while the -fleece is taken from them. When they go into the shed they are grimy -gray; after the shearing when they leave it they are a light yellowish -white. Thousands of people are employed in the wool industry; in -securing the product, spinning it, weaving it into cloth, and making it -into garments for our use. - -Silk has been used for many centuries in the manufacture of garments. -A Chinese legend tells of a wife of one of the early emperors of China -who lived more than thirty-five centuries ago and who learned to make -silk from the cocoon of the caterpillar. From this discovery has come a -great industry. The caterpillar lives upon the leaves of the mulberry -tree, and it has to be fed and tended with infinite patience. The -process of gathering the cocoons and of preparing them for spinning is -a business that can be learned only by years of apprenticeship. Caring -for the caterpillar is a task that does not always appeal to people, -and yet it is one that engages the attention of a large number of -workers. - -Cotton was first used in India, but its cultivation and manufacture -developed in three continents at just about the same time. In a Vedic -hymn written fifteen centuries before Christ reference is made to -“the threads in the loom,” which indicates that the manufacture of -cloth was already well advanced. Cotton was used in China one thousand -years before Christ. It was held to be so valuable that a heavy fine -was imposed upon any one who stole a garment or any piece of cotton -cloth. Alexander the Great found cotton in use when he invaded India, -and tradition says that it was he who introduced its use into Europe. -In Persia cotton was exclusively used before the days of Alexander. -Thousands of years before the invention of machinery for the making of -cotton cloth Hindu girls were spinning cotton on wheels, making it into -yarn, and using frail looms for weaving these yarns into textiles. The -beauty of the fabric was so striking that they were known as “Webs of -the Woven Wind.” - -=Cotton and History.= Cotton has played a large part in the history of -the United States. It was just one hundred years after the discovery -of America that the first cotton plant was introduced into the land. -The short-staple cotton plant did not mean much until 1814 when an -enterprising New Englander assembled in one building the several -processes of spinning and weaving. His shop at Waltham was the first -complete cotton factory in the world. The South made the mistake of -turning its attention to the planting of cotton and allowing the North -to do the manufacturing. Cotton became an important factor only when -the cotton-gin was invented. This was in 1833. When cotton became -profitable, Negro slavery took on an added meaning. The value of cotton -was really the factor that led men to demand that slavery should -continue as a national institution. - -=Why Increase Production?= Having secured the material suitable -to be made into cloth the next step was to improve the process of -manufacture. The first wool that was woven was rolled in the hand, made -into threads, and woven in a very crude loom. The task was a tedious -one, and the cloth was produced very slowly. But, as time went on, man -by practise learned more about weaving. He had been weaving linen from -flax in the days when the Pyramids were being built in Egpyt, but it -was not until the power-loom was invented that cloth-making could be -carried on as a profitable industry. Early man had just about all he -could do to provide himself with food, shelter, and the clothes that he -needed. To-day these things are provided in quantities sufficient for -all and with little exertion. Hence, we find the basis for the division -of labor. A machine for spinning cotton can produce enough thread in a -very few hours to make clothes for the families of all the men who are -interested in operating the machine. This thread is then turned over -to the operator of the power-loom; the machinery is started and the -cloth begins to roll itself up into a huge bundle. Very soon enough is -produced to clothe all of those who are interested and occupied with -this operation. The cloth is then turned over to the garment-makers -and the process of fashioning the clothes is carried forward so that -each individual has his or her part to perform; and in a very short -time there are enough garments fashioned and finished so that all the -garment-makers can be provided with clothes. Now comes the question -that is so often asked. If there is plenty of clothing for everybody, -why should some people not have clothes enough? If a man interested in -the production of cloth makes more than enough for him to wear, why -should he go on working? The answer to this is that, in the modern -world, man must trade off his specialized product in order to satisfy -his own needs and those of his family. - -=The Machine.= The enterprise of clothing the world is made possible by -machinery. Man has never produced more marvelous results than in the -development of the intricate, huge, and costly machines which fashion -the fabrics from which we make our clothes. These tools give man a -thousand hands where before he had only two. If each person did only -a moderate amount of labor the people of every country that employed -machinery would be provided with all the necessities of life. A supply -could be insured without overworking any one, and a few hours’ work -each day would be enough. In that time all that is necessary for each -individual would be produced. The machine, then, is the instrument -that increases the possibility for leisure; by the multiplied -productive power it increases the number of things that a man may have, -and at the same time it enlarges his possibilities for leisure. We -accept the machine as we accept the weather. As a matter of fact it -is not at all certain that since the machine has been with us we have -been any happier because of the enormous production of our times. The -machine has carried on the divisions in our industrial life. The new -methods and improved devices save labor, time, and energy. At the same -time they increase the output. A man’s hand is no more mighty than it -was centuries ago, but backed by the tireless energy of machinery he -can with slight effort turn out a production that a story-teller would -not have credited to the mightiest giants of mythology. - -The United States Bureau of Labor tells the story in figures. Five -hundred yards of checked gingham can be made by a machine in 73 hours; -by hand labor it would take 5,844 hours. One hundred pounds of sewing -cotton can be made by a machine in 39 hours; by hand labor it would -take 2,895 hours. The labor costs are proportionate. The increased -effectiveness of a man’s labor aided by the use of machinery, according -to these reports, varies from 150 per cent. all the way up to 2,000 -per cent. Hence, we see that the machine is not so much a labor-saving -device as it is a production-making device. As has been said already, -it is man’s energy and strength multiplied many times. The machine has -become so potent that the question is, “What relation shall the created -thing be to the creator?” The machine sets the pace. The man or woman -working with it must follow. It is exacting, implacable, produces -through long hours; is set up in the midst of high temperatures, and -is utterly indifferent to the fate of the individuals operating it. It -works at night, it works by day and under conditions which are humanly -impossible; but human beings are forced to keep the pace. The textile -cities of America with their rows of tenements are practically built -by the machinery in the mills and factories. The system has grown up, -and men and women are forced to adjust themselves to this system. The -welfare and happiness of the individuals working at the machines are -very likely to be matters of secondary importance to the value of the -production of the machinery itself. - -=The Workers.= At the present time in the United States there are about -1,000,000 people employed in all the textile industries and about -$500,000,000 a year paid in wages. About one and three quarter billions -is the total value of the production. The worker in these mills is a -worker and little or nothing else. The struggle for mere existence -takes so much of his time that he has slight opportunity and but small -inclination to take part in any social or civic affairs. He usually -lives in a tenement or in a barrack type of building provided by the -company for which he works. - -=The Southern Mill Village.= In the Southern mill towns the companies -usually own all the houses in which the people live. These houses -are generally one-story buildings with a porch extending along the -entire front. All of them are alike, and most of them are painted -gray or drab. The streets of the mill village are unpaved and in -most places cut into gullies by the rains. In a few places running -water, bathtubs, electricity, and other modern conveniences have been -provided, but these are the rare exceptions. More often the houses are -barren of all comforts, and living is reduced to the lowest possible -terms. The mill village has ordinarily but one store and this is owned -or controlled by the company. The food eaten by the people is of the -simplest kind; corn bread, pork side-meat, and coffee make up the -staples of diet. Nearly all the members of the family work in the mill. -At an investigation made by a state commission in Atlanta, Georgia, -one of the men testified that he, his wife, five of his children, and -his wife’s sister all worked in the mill; there were three younger -children who stayed at home, the oldest one of the three acting as -housekeeper and nurse. The improvements that most people expect as a -matter of course, such as fire-proofing, sanitary plumbing, lighting, -heating, storage, bathing, and washing facilities are utterly unknown. -If you spent a day in one of these mill villages, you would find one -or two members in almost every family sitting on the porch of the -house and away from work because of sickness. If a neighbor happens -to pass, you would hear some such conversation as this: “Howdy? How -are you feeling?” “Poorly, thank you, I have never felt worse in my -life; my victuals just don’t seem to agree with me, an’ I just feel -like I was of no account.” The vitality of the people is being sapped -by the insanitary conditions under which they live. It was discovered -some years ago that hookworm is the cause of the illness that has been -preying upon these workers for generations. The dangerous worms thrive -in the midst of filth. A clean-up of the village and the building of -better homes almost certainly eliminates the disease and its cause. - -The people of the mill village find most of their recreation in the -near-by city. Nearly all of the principal Southern cities have a number -of these villages contributory to it. In many a home the only piece -of finery is the tawdry dress made up in what is supposed to be the -latest style--certainly the most exaggerated style--and usually in the -most striking colors. This is the Sunday dress of the young lady of -the house. When she is ready for her day off in the city, her costume -will be completed by the addition of a hat of the most marvelous and -striking make and color. - -=The Motion-Picture’s Contribution.= The motion-picture theater has -been a godsend to the people of the mill village. Most of these workers -are very ignorant. Hard living and incessant toil have deprived them -of the opportunity of attending school, and even if there were the -will to get an education, the schools have not been accessible in many -instances; consequently, the people have merely the rudiments of an -education, and many of them can neither read nor write. Hundreds of -homes in these villages have no books except an almanac and a Bible. -The needs of the workers are almost overwhelming, so that one hardly -knows where to begin even to tell about the changes that must be made -in a community before much benefit can be secured in the lives of the -individuals. The motion-picture has brought to these workers scenes -from the outside world and has enlarged their ideas of life. Any one -can understand the lesson a picture teaches. - -[Illustration: - - Copyright, H. C. White Company. - -In the cotton-mills a worker is a worker and little or nothing else.] - -The motion-picture furnishes amusement and recreation, and it gives -a glimpse of larger aims and new motives. The girls who dress up in -their fine clothes and gaudy hats and go to the city whenever they have -a chance are trying to express themselves. Inherently they have fine -traits of character, but out of their ignorance and lack of experience -they are unable properly to balance the proportion of color and style -and make these to fit in with the facts of every-day life. There is no -one to teach them; they are unable to go to dressmakers for advice, and -the people with whom they associate admire the kind of finery that they -wear. But when they see these pictures presented on the screen they get -a chance to know how people in other places really live and act. As one -girl said: “I only learned how to be a lady when I got to see ladies’ -pictures at the movies.” - -=Improvements.= Some of the mills have built model villages, have -furnished good schools, churches, playgrounds, and other recreational -features. There have been discouraging failures made in attempting -to lead the people to accept the better things; but the failures are -insignificant when compared to the successes that have been achieved by -the companies that have really had the welfare of the workers at heart. -One mill owner has put in the finest kind of equipment in the homes -of the people. The hours of labor have been materially reduced: first -they began with eight, now they have seven, and this reformer says that -he believes that they will be able to reduce the hours still further -and make the six-hour day the standard. He intends to put on four -shifts of workers for each twenty-four hours and believes that he will -get a better result than could be achieved even with the eight-hour -day. It is interesting to note that this man, by paying higher wages -than others and by reducing the hours of labor, has been able to -secure permanence among his workers; and at this period when other -mills are shorthanded, he has all the labor that he needs. “It is not -philanthropy but good sense” is his way of defining the splendid work -he is doing. - -=Workers in the Northern Textile Cities.= In the Northern textile -cities we find a different situation, for most of the workers live in -tenements. The stores, shops, and theaters are built and operated with -the demands of the workers, rather than their needs in view. In one of -these textile cities the average wage is $11.25 a week. Consider the -case of just one family living in this city under these conditions. -The family lives in a tenement with barely room enough for the father, -mother, two daughters, and a son. The mother is devoted to the home; -the father is a loom-fixer in the mill and a member of the union. All -attend the Congregational church on Sundays. This man has been able -to send his children through grammar school. His wages are above the -average for the kind of work he is doing. The two girls started work -just as soon as they finished school. The son also went to work, but he -was so tired of the town where he had always lived that he went to New -York and secured a position there. Everything went well for many years, -and the prospects, while not bright for the future, were not especially -dark. Then trouble came. First, the father was sick, and his illness -dragged on through the whole winter, but by spring he was able to go -back to work. It was the beginning of the slack season, however, when -he applied for his old position. He went to work, but the wages were -not as good as they had been when he left. The daughters found that in -order to have any society they had to spend more money for clothes. -“You can’t expect us to dress in a dowdy fashion, for if we do we -never will have any friends,” was their assertion. Ten dollars was the -wage of one of the girls and eight dollars the wage of the other girl. -This amount did not go very far toward supporting them and buying the -necessary clothes, and gave but little chance for a good time. Nothing -was left to help the family fund. Before the winter was over a strike -was called and the father lost his position. The family now became -dependent upon the funds of the union to which the father belonged and -the small amount the girls could squeeze out of their wages. - -The winter passed as do all other mundane things and the strike came to -an end. Those who were members of the union were not allowed to come -back. The managers of the mill proclaimed that they had won a great -victory for democracy and that the mill should be operated strictly -as an “open shop.” The father found that “open shop” meant a closed -shop to him until he tore up his union card and promised not to join -any other labor organization. This he did in order to go back to work. -He was forced to it, but he never quite gained the confidence of the -foreman, for he was a marked man. Added to the hard struggle for -existence with its attendant worries there is an increasing feeling of -bitterness in the heart of this man, because he knows that he is being -discriminated against for his former membership in the trade union. The -family lives on, as thousands of others in the neighborhood are doing, -but there is hostility toward the factory and all it represents. Not -all the workers in the mill have this experience. Some have managed -to save, and by good fortune have been able to save enough so that -they are fairly comfortable and independent, owning their homes and -living in comparative ease, although very simply. We must not think -for a moment that there is only one side to this life and that always -a disheartening one. The challenging thing, however, is that the men -and women who are actually operating the machines are nearly all living -harassed lives, with a heavy burden of trouble and worry, and are not -finding the pleasure that should come from work well done. - -=The Machine and Human Happiness.= The machine has been hailed as a -savior from trouble and want. It promised happiness and well-being -to all mankind. This promise has not been fulfilled, for instead of -the prophecy of the future being one of cheer growing out of the -development of the machine, it is rather one of warning. The machine -has subordinated the man; thrust him aside and denied him a fair share -of the things he has helped to create. As one of our keen-minded -writers has said, “The machine has developed a new kind of slave and -doomed him to produce through long and weary hours a senseless glut of -things; and then forced him to suffer for lack of the very things he -has produced.” - -=The Church and the Factory.= What about the church in the midst of the -factory city? The minister is no longer the most important personage in -town. The business man dominates the life of the community. The mill -has pushed itself into the place of influence once held by the church. -In one of the New England cities a factory has been built around three -sides of one of the oldest established churches. The church still -remains, embraced by this factory. It is a fit parable of the present -situation in the mill town. The church has a place but industry holds -the outstanding position. - -One of the most interesting pieces of work undertaken in recent years -was that of a pastor in one of the mill villages in Georgia. He built -the church; put in club rooms and provided features that would appeal -to the people. At first the cotton-mill owners were favorably disposed -toward the undertaking. They supplied a portion of the money toward -erecting the building, and made a regular contribution for the support -of the enterprise. The rector of the church soon found that the young -people did not attend the social functions as much as he had hoped that -they would, and they were conspicuous by their absence from the Sunday -services. Upon inquiry, in addition to the usual reasons given by -people for not attending church, he found that it was principally the -economic factor that was at work against the church. Low wages and long -hours left the people without energy enough to take part in anything -that had to do with their culture or spiritual welfare. The sad thing -about it was that the minister soon found to his deep sorrow that even -his questioning of the people was resented by the authorities, who -began to refer to him as a trouble-maker and a busybody, and eventually -he was forced to resign his church and leave the community. - -How is the church going to meet this situation? The church must -continue its helpful agencies, open its club rooms, offer opportunity -for play, for service, and for worship. But it must do more than -that, for it must be the champion of the people, help them to secure -a fair degree of leisure, and then direct them in a wise spending of -their leisure hours. Unless the church can do this, it can never be the -instrument for leading men and women in these communities to accept -Jesus as a personal Savior from sin. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE WORLD OF THE GARMENT MAKERS - - -Fifth Avenue in New York is one of the world’s great thoroughfares. -Years ago it was devoted exclusively to residential purposes. The -wealthy people built their homes along the lower end of the street. -As the city grew, these people followed the avenue north until at -the present time the finest homes in the city are located in the -neighborhood of Central Park in the upper reaches of the street. -Between Fourteenth Street and Washington Square there are now a number -of business houses, two fine old churches, and a portion of the city -that still retains the residential quality of dignity and worth. From -Fourteenth Street to Fiftieth Street the avenue is given over almost -exclusively to business. From Thirtieth Street to Fifty-seventh Street -are found the finest shops and stores in New York City. Below Thirtieth -Street this stately avenue, and the numbered cross streets for many -blocks running east and west have been invaded by great skyscrapers -known as loft buildings in which is being carried on the greatest -garment-making industry in the world. - -The workers in the garment trade in New York are nearly all Jews and -Italians. At any time of the summer and winter thousands of these -workers will be Found spending their leisure on the street between -twelve and one o’clock. When the workers are free it is almost -impossible to pass along the sidewalks of Fifth Avenue from Fourteenth -to Twenty-third Street. This solid mass of men and women, all speaking -a tongue that is unintelligible to American ears, pass round and round, -back and forth, up and down, a resistless tide typifying the steady -resistless rise of labor to a position in society where it must be -considered. - -These big loft buildings occupied by the garment-making industry -have been constructed in recent years, and so rapidly have they been -erected that the storekeepers and business men of upper Fifth Avenue -have formed an organization and are exerting every effort “to save the -avenue from this advancing tide of foreign workers.” - -[Illustration: - - Press Illustrating Service. - -When the workers are free it is almost impossible to pass along the -sidewalks of Fifth Avenue from Fourteenth to Twenty-third Street.] - -Many shops and department stores have been forced to give way before -the onward sweep of this enterprise. The area in New York occupied -most exclusively by the garment workers is about a mile long and about -one-half mile wide; in this district there are thousands of workers -employed exclusively in making garments of one kind and another. The -Garment Makers’ Union has a membership of 60,000. How much do we know -about these workers? When the Triangle Shirt Waist Company’s loft -caught fire and scores of girls were burned to death or killed by -jumping from the building, the country was shocked, but up to that time -we had not known that thousands of girls work every day behind closed -and locked doors. We have almost forgotten the incident. Where was the -factory? What was done about it? The girls were, however, our servants -working at the task of furnishing us with clothes! - -=Fashion and Clothes.= In the last chapter we considered the workers -who produce the material from which clothes are made. The question that -is still of vital significance to most of us is, how shall we make our -clothes? “I have not a thing to wear,” is a very common statement, yet -it does not mean what it says, for the people that use this complaint -most frequently are the ones who have literally trunks full of clothes. -What they mean is that they have nothing in the latest fashion. Fashion -is a hard taskmaster. Some one has said that the length of the stay of -a society woman at any hotel can be determined by the number of gowns -she brings with her to the hotel. “She would no more think of wearing -the same gown twice to the same place than she would think of insulting -her best friends,” was a woman’s description of her companion to prove -that she was a “real lady.” The frequent changes in style bring rich -returns to the manufacturers of clothing and call for a ceaseless outgo -by people who feel that they are obliged to follow the dictates of -fashion. “I hate rich people,” said a little shop-girl. “For every time -I see a woman wearing a fine dress I cannot help thinking how hard I -work and how useless the dress is for any practical purpose.” - -=Dressmaking in the Home.= Dressmaking was at one time carried on -entirely within the family. It was a domestic employment. The only -garments that were made outside of the home were men’s clothes, and the -journeyman tailor was a skilled mechanic. He made the entire garment -himself; but even in this industry very often the work was carried on -in his home and all the members of the family assisted more or less. - -=The Sweat-Shop.= The sweat-shop, in most cases, is a home that -has been turned into a factory. The father or mother goes to the -manufacturer of clothing and agrees to furnish so many pairs of pants -or waists or shirts for so much money. The worker carries these -garments to the home and all the family go to work upon the job. Many -of these homes are one-room affairs, so that in many instances the work -is carried on in the room where the cooking is done; where the meals -are eaten and where the family sleeps. Legislation has done much to -eliminate the sweat-shops, and sweating as a system is under the ban. -Every church and every individual in the church ought to know all about -the work of the National Consumers’ League. This organization inspects -factories and workshops and issues a stamp or label that is attached to -all garments made under clean, humane, healthful, and fair conditions. -Information can be secured by writing to Mrs. Florence Kelly, 289 -Fourth Avenue, New York. Look for this label when you buy any garment. - -Low wages make possible the continuation of the sweat-shop system. -In a family where the wage-earner receives less than enough for its -subsistence, or for some reason or other the earnings are decreased -to a rate at which the family cannot live, it becomes necessary to -supplement the family income. Wife and children go to work, boarders -and lodgers are taken into the home, and the standardization of living -is so lowered that normal conditions of home life are impossible. In a -study made of the garment trades it was found that in the homes where -work is being done for a profit only about 11 per cent. of the husbands -in these families earned $500 or more a year, while more than one half -of them earned $300 or less a year. - -=The Task System.= A study of conditions in the dressmaking industry -was made by the United States government. The results of this study -showed that we never can get back to the old state of affairs. We have -entered into a new period of production and this must continue. The -task system prevails in a large number of the garment-making shops. -By the task system is meant that the work on a garment is done by a -team of three persons consisting of a machine-operator, a baster, and -a finisher. Every three teams have two pressers and several girls to -sew on the pockets and buttons that are necessary for the completion of -the garment. There is essentially a fine adjustment within the team, -so that each one completes his work in time to pass it on to the next -one as soon as the latter is ready to receive it. A certain amount of -work is called a task, and this amount is supposed to be done within a -day. Forced competition has gradually increased the amount of the task, -until frequently even with the most strenuous activity the task cannot -be completed without working twelve and fourteen hours a day. The wages -paid are based upon the utmost that the best individual in the team can -do in a day. - -This system came in with the influx of the Jews into New York in the -early eighties. These workers, with their intense desire to accumulate -money, get on in the world, and then be emancipated from hard work, -are peculiarly adapted to the system. Just as soon as a few of the -workers save enough money they become proprietors of small factories. -Another thing that enters into the situation is the characteristics of -the people themselves. Jews are a restless race and resent the rigid -routine and supervision of the factory, but the comparative freedom in -a small shop under the task system appeals to their desires to get on -in the world and gives them a degree of freedom which they cannot have -under the factory system. The task system lends full opportunity for -the cupidity of worker and owner to exploit other workers, and in the -end every man in the shop comes to be looked upon as an opportunity for -more profits. - -=The Modern Factory.= Another stage in the evolution of the clothing -industry is found in the factory itself. Just as the task system was -an improvement over the sweat-shop in the home, so the factory is a -big advance over the task system. The factory has grown very rapidly -owing to the demand for tailor-made clothes, to the continual change -in the styles, and to the large supply of cheap labor always at hand. -In recent years the demand for men’s and women’s ready-made clothes -has so increased that now large department stores which formerly sold -only cheap grades of ready-made clothes are stocking up with expensive -garments in order to cater to the class of customers who used to order -their clothes directly from the custom tailor. - -This movement toward standardizing the clothing industry aids the -factory in overcoming the competition of the smaller shops. There is -going on a sure but slow movement toward the elimination of the bad -conditions in the garment trades, and the factories are increasing -because people of even moderate means are demanding higher-priced and -better-grade garments. “I got such a wonderful bargain to-day, you -just ought to see the shirt-waists that are being sold for one dollar -and seventy-five cents. Why, you couldn’t even buy the material for -that price, to say nothing of the work and trouble of making it.” This -is an accurate report of a conversation overheard on a street-car one -evening. It sounds familiar to you, now, doesn’t it? When you got your -bargain, did you ever consider the girls who work to make you that -waist? The manufacturer is not alone responsible for bad conditions. It -is impossible for him to pay good wages and continue in business unless -he can sell his goods at a decent profit. If you force him to compete -with the sweat-shop, you drive him out of business and subsidize the -sweat-shop at the same time. - -Our selfishness in desiring to get the best possible bargains makes us -thoughtless partners of the exploiters of the men and women who are -working to make our clothes. Progress costs money, time, and thought. -We are all bound together and go forward or backward with the group. -Next time you buy a dress or a suit, try to picture the girls and men -who worked on it. Consider the hours of labor which they spent and the -responsibilities that rest upon them; then figure against the price -which you are paying a fair proportion of the cost for wages to these -workers, and ask yourself would you be willing to make the garment for -that price? If you would not, providing, of course, that you had the -skill, you are not playing fair with your sister and brother who live -somewhere and are being cheated out of a decent wage. - -=Groups by Races.= The workers in the garment industries in New York -live in groups made up not by industrial conditions or interests -so much as by racial interests. The Jews tend to live in certain -quarters of the city confined to themselves, and the Italians have -their quarters also. As a family accumulates a little money, plans are -made to move out of these sections in lower New York and to settle in -different surroundings in the upper part of the city, on Lexington -Avenue or in the Bronx. - -=Seasonal Work in the Garment Trade.= In spite of the tremendous -advance made in late years in these industries in matters relating to -conditions of work, such as the eliminating of excessive overtime, -shortening of the regular hours of labor, and raising rates or -earnings, the matter of unemployment is still a serious problem. The -garment trades are affected by seasonal demands. Everybody wants a new -suit at just about the same time. “If I cannot have my spring suit by -Easter, I would just as soon not have it at all,” was the complaint -of a young girl whose family was trying to make retrenchments during -war time. The improvement in conditions has been marked; but in no way -has it been found practicable to lengthen the work season. And since -payment by the piece is widely prevalent in the clothing industries, in -the case of home workers a record of the time and the payment is not -strictly kept, and statistics are not available. - -=Health Conditions.= The health conditions among the workers in the -garment industries show an interesting relationship to the wages paid -and the method of payment. The United States Public Health Service, -reporting on conditions among the garment-workers in New York City, -states that the strain was more prevalent where wages were paid on the -piece basis than by the week or other time basis. With the increased -use of machinery another series of health hazards appears, according -to this report. These are the result of fatigue and overstrain caused -by the close application to the same process through long hours. The -monotony of the work contributes to the bad industrial conditions. At -its best the wage of the garment-worker is pitiably small. Among the -girls, especially, there is keen competition. They cut one another -down, and they underbid and undersell each other. The average wage -paid barely affords a living. One little Italian girl in a recent -shirt-waist strike in New York said, “Me no live verra much on -forta-nine cent a day.” This wage of forty-nine cents it must be said -is not usual, and is largely the result of the ignorance of the girl, -but there are others like her who are forced to go to work unprepared -and therefore are unable to earn a better wage. - -In many communities there still lingers the employment of the women and -children in home trades, making garments under sweat-shop conditions. -The contractor who formerly depended for his living upon letting out -his work to the sweat-shops has largely disappeared; but there are -still many homes in which work is done and no serious attempt has been -made as yet to reach the evils incident to it. Here the workers are -driven by the pressure of poverty to labor under conditions and for -wages that destroy life, and to work their children in the same manner. -Here disease breeds and is passed on to the consumer. - -A recent study of the home conditions shows that the worst abuses of -child labor linger in this remnant of family work. No child labor law -that has been passed in the United States seems to be adequate to the -situation. To control this there must be a special provision made in -the factory laws of each state regarding the work done by families in -their own homes. Several of the states do provide in their laws that -no work for pay shall be done in the homes except by the members of -the families themselves. Other states provide that this work shall -be done under certain conditions, and standards are required of the -factory. Massachusetts issues a license to the family to do work in -the home, and like New York, requires a “tenement made” tag attached -to the article; also holding the owners of the property responsible -for any violation of the law. At the Chicago Industrial Exhibition a -picture was shown entitled “Sacred Motherhood.” It was that of a woman -nursing her child and driving a sewing-machine at the same time. It was -a terrible portrayal of unchecked, unregulated industry, which does not -stop to reckon the effect upon the future, but imperils the well-being -of both the mother and the child. - -=Labor Disturbances.= The fundamental cause of the troubles in the -clothing industry in Boston prior to the spring of 1913, was similar -to that in the same industry in New York before their abolition by -concerted action of the employers and employees in the spring of the -same year. There have been serious disturbances in the garment trade -in Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and other cities. The -difficulty was right in the trade itself and many of the causes of -discord will continue for some time to come. - -Among these causes of disturbances are long hours, low wages, poor -sanitary conditions, sub-contracting, unequal distribution of the -work, work in tenement-houses, failure to state the standard price for -piece-work, playing of favorites in the giving out of the work, lack of -cooperation between the employers and the employees, prevalence of the -piece-work system, and the difficulty of determining what shall be paid -or what constitutes a just basis for computing hours and wages. - -For instance, three girls work in one factory and are put upon work -that is to be a test upon which a new wage is to be based. One of the -girls is put to work upon a certain task in shirt-waists. They are made -of thin material; the thread used is very fine and the stuff shirrs -easily, so that it is almost impossible to make any speed. The second -girl is put to work upon a pile of plain waists. The third girl has -a still different task. Each girl at the beginning of the day has an -equal amount of work to do. They all put in the same number of hours -and expend approximately the same amount of energy; but at the end of -the day one of the girls has finished her task, the other has probably -two hours’ work to do on the day following, while the third girl, the -one who was working upon the thin waists, has more than a day’s work -ahead of her. It will be readily seen that it is almost impossible -to determine what pay would be a fair price for making shirt-waists, -or for doing any part of the work connected with the making of these -garments unless a different and more equitable basis of reckoning is -established. - -=Cost and Selling Price.= Another matter that enters into the situation -and complicates it is the fact that there is a different selling -price put on each garment. Of course, we must all recognize that -wages cannot be made except in proportion to the selling price of the -garment. No business can be run unless it is able to make enough on -its products to pay a decent wage. The cost of production, including -the cost of materials, a fair price for the superintendent, and a -proportion of the general overhead cost of the factory must be charged -against each garment, together with a proportion of the interest on -the investment and the approximate cost of the wear and tear on the -machinery. Add to this the cost for advertising and marketing the -garment. All of these things have to enter into consideration, and -the wages must be determined by the amount of money that will be -received for the finished garment. Now, how are we to bring about -a just settlement of this vexed question? There is only one way in -which it can be done, that is, by bringing the workers themselves into -partnership with the firm. Just as long as the destiny of the worker is -in the hands of the foreman and there is no chance for these workers to -be heard, or to have any voice in the decisions that are made, so long -there will be fruitful cause for trouble. - -=Arbitration.= The experience of the Massachusetts Board of Arbitration -warrants the conclusion that there is a proper and very useful sphere -of activity for a permanent State Board of Arbitration. A number -of questions arise from time to time in almost all trades which do -not require a detailed knowledge of the industry on the part of the -arbitrating body. There are, for example, questions of discharge in -alleged violation of a clause in an agreement covering discharges. -There are certain other controversies which both sides are willing to -have decided by the application of standards which are matters of fact -ascertainable upon investigation. For instance, in many piece-price -controversies, both sides are willing to have the questions decided on -the basis of what competing manufacturers pay for the same operations -under similar working conditions; but each is unwilling to accept the -figures presented by the other side in support of its contention. This -has been done by the Massachusetts Board in the boot and shoe industry, -and recently in a textile case. The Arbitration Board should be given -all the powers in the way of compelling the attendance of witnesses and -testimony under oath, and the production of books and papers, which it -requires to secure the information necessary to reach a decision. - -=The Religious and Social Problems.= Twenty-five per cent. of all the -effort put into the processes of industry and commerce is concerned -with the supply of clothing. Most of the clothing is made under -conditions which determine the life and welfare of such a large -proportion of the people that we find in the garment-making industries -themselves a distinct and definite challenge to the religious and -social agencies. There are some fundamental considerations which must -be borne in mind and which will help us to see the problem as it -affects the workers. Most of those in the garment trades are foreigners -unused to our way of thinking. At noon on Fifth Avenue and again at -night as the workers leave for their homes, the newsboys sell papers -printed in Yiddish characters almost exclusively, and only a few -English papers are sold for several blocks below Twenty-third Street. -In religious matters the garment-workers represent three groups: those -who are devoted to the faith of their fathers and who are Jews in -the truest sense of the word; those who have drifted away from the -old faith in the rush of life in America, and, antagonistic to the -domination of the Roman Catholic faith, have not been attracted or won -by the Protestant faith; and a third class composed of those who are -bitterly hostile to all religions because of the corruption of the -church as they view it, because of the social injustice of which they -are the subjects, and which is identified in their own minds with the -church and religious leaders. - -It is an interesting thing to visit a social center in either Boston -or New York. Ford Hall or Cooper Union serves as a good illustration. -Here the majority of the people are Jews, radical through and through. -They are intelligently awake and thoroughly skeptical. The Bible is -not an open book to many of these people, and they have not learned to -read history or current events with an open mind. Social conditions -and economic pressure make it almost impossible for them to render -a straight and just judgment. They have monstrous misconceptions of -Protestants and the Protestant religion, for they see for the most part -only the worst side. America means to them, instead of freedom, hope, -and independence, only extortionate profiteering. - -=The Gospel for the Garment-workers.= How can we overcome this -prejudice? How can we give these people an adequate and intelligible -interpretation of the gospel? We must respect their faith. It will -not solve the problem to make proselytes of a large number of our new -Jewish citizens. We need to be definite, concrete, and practical, and -to leave controversial matters and philosophical discussions out of -the situation. We need to cultivate more reverence in our American -churches, and a finer regard for the associations and experiences of -the past of these people. As these words are being written, I can see -from my window the tower of a church surmounted by a cross. It is the -Judson Memorial Baptist Church on Washington Square. Sunday after -Sunday there are gathered together large groups of people. Most of them -live under sordid, cramped conditions, but they find in this church a -ministry that appeals to them. The church is more interested in making -good Americans out of these people, and in interpreting America to -them than in securing their membership in the church. And rightly this -church is justified in its attitude. By ministering to the people it is -gaining their allegiance to the principles of Christianity as it could -in no other way. - -To sum up the chapter, the making of garments, like other industries we -have considered, is highly specialized. It has been taken out of the -hands of the American group. The old-fashioned dressmaking and tailor -shops have given way to the huge lofts where many factories are turning -out clothing for men, women, boys and girls in large quantities. The -workers are all city dwellers. They are all foreigners, most of them -Jews, with a large intermingling of Italians. To meet their needs and -to interpret the gospel to them the church must first of all come to -know the conditions under which they live. It must create a public -opinion that will demand an adjustment of the difficulties in the trade -itself and then in the homes of the people. In the community in which -they live it must show that the members of the Protestant churches are -the best of friends and neighbors. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE WORLD OF THE MINERS - - -According to the old Greek story Prometheus stole fire from heaven -and thus drew upon himself the anger of the gods, because with fire -he was able to work miracles and do wonders that rivaled the gods -themselves. The metals of the earth are the instruments in the hands -of man for accomplishing the material wonders that mark our time. Our -age has been rightly termed the steel age, but, as we shall see in -subsequent chapters, this period has its important and unique character -only because man knows how to use fire, and because he has coal at his -command. - -=The Riches of the Earth for Man.= It is not surprising that the -ancient Hebrews taught that God made everything for the benefit of the -human race, and that man was the child of his supreme favor, for in -every place over the entire earth are found the things essential to -man’s happiness and comfort. Even in the most desolate regions, with -very few exceptions, a man is able to make his way against adverse -elements. The most valuable minerals are coal, iron, copper, zinc, -lead, gold, and silver. Of course there are many others that are -mined and used extensively. The supply of coal produced for 1916 in -the United States alone was 67,376,364 tons of anthracite coal and -502,518,545 tons of bituminous coal. During the first nine months of -1917 the mines produced 57,778,097 tons of anthracite coal, which is -an increase of 7,847,681 tons over a similar period in 1916, or an -increase of about 16 per cent. - -In the United States the absolute necessity for coal was never felt so -keenly as during the winter of 1917-18, when the Fuel Administrator -shut down all the business places for five days and declared workless -Mondays as a measure of relief. The war has demanded extraordinary -measures, and these have been taken with a vigor and decision that have -been really startling. The call for metals made by the warring nations -has been so great that mining is now carried on at a furious rate. -One of the Western mining papers uses as a slogan, “Get the ore while -the prices are high.” The reason that the Germans hold so stubbornly -to northern France is because of the rich coal and iron mines in the -region. For years following the war there will be an extraordinary -demand for an increased output of coal, iron, copper, and zinc, in -fact, for all of the metals. The task of rebuilding the areas will -demand not only ingenuity, but all the resources of all the nations -combined. - -[Illustration: - - Copyright, Underwood and Underwood. - -We forget the men who are toiling underground.] - -=The Producers of Coal.= You have no doubt seen the women and children -with their baskets picking up coal along the railroad tracks on the -edge of the city. That small basket of coal will probably be all the -fuel that many of them have. It is a common sight to see the little -foreign boys bringing home packing-boxes and the lids of boxes that -they have begged from the stores to take the place of the coal they -cannot get. Those among us who live in steam-heated apartments, or in -communities near the coal-fields or wooded areas, do not realize what -a constant struggle is required on the part of the poor people in -the cities to keep coal enough in the stove to prevent the family from -freezing. “The only times I was really warm enough last winter,” said -a Slovenian woman in Chicago, “was when I went to church, and then I -had to keep my head muffled up.” It was said of a group of Italians in -Boston, “The men go to the saloon, the women to the church, both for -the same purpose,--to get good and warm.” - -Just as we sometimes fail to realize how many people are working for us -to make our clothes or to produce our food, so we forget the men who -are toiling underground to dig the coal and mine the iron upon which we -are so dependent for our every-day living. The city dweller especially -is dependent upon the supply of coal that comes to him through retail -sources, but in order to bring that coal to the city there has been -a long line of workers, each one putting his hand to the task of -producing the necessity. - -=Where the Coal Is Mined.= If you should visit the coal-mining -community, you would first of all be impressed with the desolation -of the place. The village is an ugly, straggling affair with nothing -to add to its beauty or hide its deformities. Nearly all the houses -are built alike, two and three rooms being the average size. In all -probability not one painted house is to be found in the whole town, -unless possibly it is the front of a saloon on the main street. In many -of the old-time mining communities the fronts of the saloons were all -painted blue. Whether or not this was done to match the color of the -patrons’ noses, no one seems to know. The fences are of rough pickets -and so broken and out of repair that, as one person visiting the coal -town for the first time said, “The pickets look like broken teeth in -an old, dried-up skull.” There are very few flowers or gardens, and the -deep black mud of the winter-time, the black smoke, and the dust of the -dry season during the summer deepen the sense of desolation one feels -in the midst of these villages. The schoolhouse is a poor one-room -affair; and if there is a church, it has a weak organization and is -housed in a building that is little if any better than the average in -the community. Very few coal-mining towns in Colorado have a church of -any kind. The Home Missions Council looked into this matter some years -ago and reported extensively its investigations. - -The Cœur d’Alene mining district of northern Idaho is rich in ores, -but poor in cultural and religious opportunities for the people. In a -region lying along the north fork of the Cœur d’Alene river there are -half a dozen small towns where there is not a church, and it is rarely -that a minister visits the region. - -=The Mining Areas.= Never before have the common necessities of life -seemed so important as they do now. Canada produces large quantities of -minerals, the chief of which is copper. The production for 1916 of all -the minerals was valued at $177,417,574. The coal and principal metals -produced in Canada, with their respective amounts for the year named, -are as follows: - - Copper 119,770,814 tons - Nickel 82,958,564 ” - Lead 41,593,680 ” - Zinc 23,315,030 ” - Silver 25,669,172 ” - Coal 14,461,678 ” - -To transport this amount of coal (the smallest tonnage of all) there -would be required 482,056 freight-cars. This would make a train almost -4,000 miles long, a distance greater than from Nova Scotia to British -Columbia. - -The mining areas in the United States are fairly well defined. -Practically all of the anthracite coal comes from central and -northern Pennsylvania, only a little being mined in Colorado. The -largest bituminous coal-fields are found in Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, -Tennessee, southeastern Kansas, southwestern Missouri, Colorado, -Alabama, and some in the west-central part of Pennsylvania. Iron is -mined in the northeastern part of Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin, -upper peninsula of Michigan, Tennessee, Georgia, western Pennsylvania, -and in southeastern Kansas. The copper regions are in the upper -peninsula of Michigan, Arizona, and northern Idaho. The chief lead -district is the Joplin district of southwestern Missouri. This region -is matched in large measure by the Cœur d’Alene of northern Idaho. Lead -and zinc are almost always found together. Gold and silver are mined on -the Pacific Coast, and in Colorado, and northern Idaho. Some gold is -found in all of the Rocky Mountain states and small amounts in Georgia. -There is scarcely a state in the Union but what produces to a greater -or less amount all of the metals that go to make up the mineral wealth -of the United States. - -=The Miners of King Coal.= Coal is mined in three ways: by sinking a -shaft and then running tunnels out from it following the vein of the -coal; by driving a tunnel straight into the heart of the mountain; or -by scooping it up with a steam shovel and loading it into cars. The -first two methods are used in all the mines of Colorado; the latter -method is used in the mines in southeastern Kansas and southwestern -Missouri. In a mine where the shaft is sunk the hoist is directly over -the mouth of the pit. The cages are just like elevators and drop to -the bottom of the pit; there the loaded cars are pushed upon them and -at a signal the car is brought to the top of the superstructure above -the mine known as the tipple. The car is unloaded automatically and -runs back upon the cage, and is lowered into the mine as the second car -is brought up to the surface very rapidly. At the bottom of the mine -and following it out along the vein of coal there are little railway -tracks. The cars on these tracks are pulled by mules. Some mines have -electric cars, but the mule is still the motive power in general use. -These mules are sentenced to the mines for life. Stables are made for -them by digging a cave in one side of the main shaft or tunnel, and -here in the underground mine the mule lives, moves, and has his being. -Sometimes the animals are brought to the surface and turned out to -pasture. It is really pathetic to see with what joy they accept the -light, air, and freedom of God’s good world above ground. - -The only light in most of the mines is that given off from the little -lamps carried on the caps of the miners. It is a weird sight to -walk through a mine and see the bobbing lights; to catch the sound -of pick and shovel in the tunnels that cross and recross each other -at intervals; to hear the creak of the wheels, the slamming of the -doors; and to see the mules as they strain at their task like phantom -engines hauling the loaded cars of coal. When the men go to work in -the morning, they are checked in and let down in the cage; when they -come up they are checked out. In the morning when they check in they -are white; at night they are black. Thus the color line is completely -eliminated by working in a mine. The work is done in little rooms or -pockets. Each miner has to work out his own room. He drills the hole, -puts in the charge of powder; and when he has everything in readiness, -fires the charge that brings down the coal; then he and his partner -(for two men work together, one is called the miner, the other is known -as the buddy) shovel the coal into the cars, and push them out into the -main line of the mine tramway track. The miner and his buddy may be -both white men, or the miner may be a white man and the buddy a Negro. -They look alike as they work in the semi-darkness and the common tasks -eventually make them appreciate each other for what they are and what -they do. - -The miner has to follow the vein. He must put in the braces to protect -himself against the falling roof, must remove all the stone and slate, -and mine only clean coal. This he shovels into his car. It is weighed -and tagged, tally is kept, and at the end of the day he is credited -with so many tons and is paid accordingly. When the vein is thick and -the miner can stand upright, his work is hard and monotonous enough; -but when the vein is thin, it is necessary for him to stoop or to -lie down in order to get the coal. This makes the work hard almost -beyond human endurance. It is no wonder that mining greatly affects -the character of the men involved in it. No one can spend eight or ten -hours underground every day doing that kind of work without having the -place and the work stamp itself upon his mind and his character. Life -underground spoils even the temper of a mule! - -=Accidents.= Mining develops the spirit of adventure. There is always -a risk. Mining is a dangerous operation and is classified as extra -hazardous. There is continual danger from falling stones, and the miner -is always gambling with fate. A study of the coroner’s report in any -country where mining is carried on supplies concrete evidence that a -large number of men are killed in the mines from one cause and another. -There is the danger from the deadly carbon-monoxide gas and another -danger from the explosion of the coal-dust. As the coal is mined a -certain proportion of it is ground into powder, and this fills the air -and becomes a powerful explosive. Precautions are taken in most cases. -The mines are sprinkled and state and national governments have done -much to make mining safe, but at the best the occupation claims an -unusually heavy toll in life and limb. - -According to statistics regarding deaths of miners during the years -1907 to 1912, it is shown that 23.2 out of every hundred died from -accidents; and among the metalliferous miners 24.7 per cent. of all -deaths were caused by accidents. A great many industrial accidents are -due to failure on the part of the management to make proper provision -against accident, and to keep abreast with the increase in efficiency -of the machinery and output in the matter of precautionary measures. -Also it is now known that industrial accidents are caused by excessive -fatigue, carelessness, and ignorance on the part of the workers -themselves. Taking all of these things into consideration, however, we -must realize that a large proportion of the accidents and fatalities -in the coal-mines are inherent in the business itself. - -=Returns for Labor Received by the Miners.= Coal has to be dug where -nature put it. Therefore, the mining village is almost certain to be -located in a desolate region, and thus the miner and his family will be -denied many of the good things that other people enjoy, because of the -conditions under which they are compelled to live. We hear a great deal -about the enormously large wages paid to the miner. Unfortunately this -condition is not true; for the stories we hear of the big wages the -miners receive are very largely fictitious. In the Colorado mines it is -shown by actual study of the statistics taken at the time of the last -great strike in 1914, that the average wage for the miner when actually -employed was $4.58 a day; but other figures given at the same period -show that other miners were paid an average wage of only $2.61 a day. -It is impossible to get at the facts as to wages. - -The miner is forced to buy his powder, oil, pay doctor’s fee, -blacksmithing charges, union dues, and other expenses. These are -deducted, so that the wage is reduced to the point where perhaps -not more than one per cent. of the entire number of workers receive -as much as $25 a week. In fact, the wage is so small compared to -the difficulties of the work and the hardships of living, that the -miner finds it almost impossible to move freely in order to better -his condition. The result of this situation has been that, whereas -formerly nearly all the miners were English-speaking men, they are now -practically all non-English-speaking immigrants. In the camp at Ludlow, -where the miners lived after they and their families were driven -out of their homes in Colorado during the strike of 1914, there were -twenty-two nationalities, and they were living together in some sort of -amity. - -=Workers in the Metal Mines.= The workers in the metal mines have a -problem different from that of the workers in the coal-mines. The -copper country of Michigan located on Lake Superior in the upper -peninsula is the most famous metal-producing region of the United -States. These mines have been operated for half a century; and for the -most part a humane policy has been followed and, consequently, the -cities and towns in the region have developed some civic pride, and -have an unusually high reputation for orderliness and morality. There -are very few of the bad features which one is accustomed to find in -such communities. The district has approximately forty-two mines and -the products from these mines amount to fifty million dollars a year. -The shafts of these copper mines are the deepest holes that have ever -been dug in the earth as far as we know. The “Red Jacket” mine is -almost a mile and a quarter deep. The shaft of a copper mine is pierced -every one hundred feet by levels or tunnels. The trams run in these -levels to the chambers where the rock is cut and are known as stopes. -Drills are operated by compressed air; the miner bores the holes, -places the dynamite charge in readiness, and touches off the charge as -he leaves his work at the end of the shift. The broken rock is picked -up during the next shift, loaded into the tram-cars by the trammer, and -then dumped into the skip or little car by means of which it is raised -to the surface. - -[Illustration: - - Press Illustrating Service. - -The new U. S. Bureau of Mines Rescue Car is manned by a mining -engineer, a mine surgeon, a foreman miner, a first aid miner, and a -clerk.] - -In the Cœur d’Alene field the process of mining in the lead and -zinc mines is very much the same as that in the copper mines of -Michigan. The Cœur d’Alene region of northern Idaho is a district in -itself. It might almost be called a province, it is so extensive. The -drills that are used by the miners are protected in some cases by a -stream of water which pours off the end of its point as it comes in -contact with the rock. This prevents the dust from flying and being -breathed by the worker. These drills are just now being introduced. The -old-fashioned drill had no such protection and is called by the miner -the widow-maker, because of the gruesome effect on the worker. - -=Wages.= The wages in the Calumet district as well as in the Cœur -d’Alene section are not, and never have been, adequate to the needs of -the men, nor are they proportionate to the returns received from the -work that these men have been doing. Wages must be considered on the -basis of comparative value. The type of the worker, however, and the -risks incurred, and the opportunity for improving the worker himself -must all be taken into account. When we remember the enormous profits -made on the metals, especially within the last few years, we will find -that the increase in the wages of the men has not been enough to meet -the increased cost of living. Wages have advanced about 20 per cent. -and living expenses 140 per cent. Some welfare work is being undertaken -in almost all of the mining communities. But welfare work cannot -supplement poor wages, nor does it do away with the feeling of unrest -always present in the community and which threatens to break out in -rebellion and throw the whole district into disorder. - -=The Church and the Miner.= The pastor of the miners’ church told the -story of the desolation in the life of his people. He said: “There -are no chances for cultural work. When I talk about the higher life -the people listen to me as if I were giving a lecture on Mars. It is -something that is more or less interesting because I am able to make -it interesting, but there is no special personal interest in it. All -of my people live in this desolate and isolated village. There is -nothing attractive anywhere around. The superintendent and a few of the -English-speaking workers live five miles away in a place that calls -itself a city. There are five other villages like mine; no one from the -other places ever comes here except on business. Every Saturday night -most of the men go to the ‘city.’ On Saturday, or pay-day evening, the -stores, amusement places, saloons, and the principal streets of that -center are filled with a heterogeneous mass of people of all races and -there is a regular babel of tongues. The destroying forces work havoc -with my people. Now what can I do to meet the conditions?” Listening -to him I wondered and went away still wondering. In these places where -men are working to produce the coal for us, and the metals that form -the foundation-stone of our civilization, there must be something more -than merely the touch of charity; there must be worked out a plan by -which true brotherhood may become a reality. We are accepting the -gift of these men, the things that they produce at such risk, and we -are forgetting the men themselves. They are serving our interests and -we have a responsibility for them, but what are we doing to meet the -situation? - -At the close of the Colorado coal strike a plan was inaugurated for -bettering conditions throughout the state. This plan has much to -commend it to the public favor. It is not wholly democratic and it has -many features that can be criticized. Even viewed in the best light it -fails to solve the fundamental difficulties in the situation--but it is -a long step ahead of anything that has ever been done before. One of -the miners, while discussing the plan, said: “It is all right as far as -it goes. The best thing about it is that the company promises to allow -us to join our union. When we get the district organized 100 per cent. -we will put some real democracy into the plan.” - -The features of the plan may be stated broadly in these four -propositions: - -First of all, the men working the mines are to be recognized as -partners in the enterprise and are to have a voice in the management -of the mines. They elect their representatives who meet with the -representatives of the company and together they work out their own -problems. - -Second, the bad conditions which are chronic in the mines and which -have disturbed the peace are to be corrected as far as possible. - -Third, the physical conditions in the village are to be improved. -Better houses are to be built and they are to be painted. Provisions -are made so that the miners can have gardens. - -Fourth, special arrangements are made for the establishment of better -schools, Young Men’s Christian Association with club privileges, -and help is given in organizing and maintaining churches and other -religious agencies. - -All of these things point to a better day that is coming, and is a -great advance over the attitude taken by the old-time mine owner who -replied to a committee which warned him of impending trouble, “Let them -start something if they want to find out who is boss.” - -The battle has not been won, and will not be won, until the church -makes a demand for industrial justice its chief object, and makes -democracy really applicable in every mining district and community -throughout the whole nation. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE WORLD OF THE STEEL WORKERS - - -“The sky-line of your cities is the monument of your civilization.” -These words summed up the impression of an Oriental visiting America -for the first time. He had seen everything of America that could be -shown during his two months’ visit. Boards of trades in the various -cities entertained him. Figures concerning miles of pavements, hundreds -of miles of trolley lines, millions of dollars in the various banks, -thousands of bales of cotton, millions of tons of coal, iron, steel, -potatoes, rice, wheat, corn, and all the rest of the things that go to -make America great had been quoted to him. He was apparently impressed -by what he saw but did not become enthusiastic, and accepted every -statement with becoming politeness. No one could tell what moved -him most. When he summed up his total impressions and expressed his -opinion, it showed that he had really formed a most exact judgment of -that which makes the true material basis of our national life. The -skyscraper building is the only important contribution that America has -made to the art of architecture. This structural development, which is -so truly American, has been made possible only because we have learned -how to use steel for the framework of the gigantic construction. - -=The Steel Industry.= Interesting statistics as to the extent of -the steel industry have been compiled. The United States and Canada -together produce about half of the world’s output. According to the -last figures, there are employed in the iron and steel industry of this -country 1,426,014 workers. At the present time the capacity of all the -shops is taxed to the utmost and hundreds of new factories have been -erected. Canada and the United States are cooperating in the production -of ships. The huge bridge works are giving over all of their machinery -and time to the building of new boats to carry men and food in support -of the Allied armies in France. - -=The Use of Steel.= Steel is made by melting iron and combining it with -a certain proportion of carbon. The softest grade of steel contains -less than one per cent. of carbon, the hardest contains about thirty -per cent. Iron furnishes almost every useful thing that is necessary to -our life in the community. When we have food and clothes, we are then -ready to take up the routine of living a part of the common life of our -city or town. Iron is used extensively in building our homes. The house -is held together with nails made of iron; its plumbing, its lighting, -its heating are all made possible by the use of steel. - -Possibly the building in which we work is a steel building, if not, -it may be made of reenforced concrete and this form of construction -is dependent upon the use of iron. The product toward which we are -contributing our industry, whatever it may be, is dependent upon -commerce, transportation, and communication; and these great branches -of activity are dependent upon steel. Iron can be melted and cast -into a thousand different shapes. It is used to make the most simple -kitchen utensil and the largest and most complicated machinery. Again, -it is melted in larger quantity, combined with carbon, and put through -the rolling-mills. By this process it may become steel rails, or be -made into plates and huge sheets that form the protective outer skin of -the great ships of war. It is rolled out thin and corrugated to be used -as sheeting for houses, and sides of freight-cars, and roofs of houses; -or it may issue in things as delicate as knitting-needles or the finest -springs which form the adjustment and motive power in the most costly -watches. It is used in the construction of buildings that tower up -hundreds of feet above the level of the street, and is the only thing -that has been found so far that can be used successfully for such a -purpose. At the same time this most necessary substance is formed into -pliable rope and used to draw the miner and the minerals he mines from -the depths of the earth, and to keep the elevators running up and down -in hotels, office buildings, and apartment houses. The finest cambric -needles are first cousins to the great guns with which the Germans were -able to shell Paris from a distance of seventy-five miles. - -The advance in recent years in invention and new processes as applied -to the manufacture of steel has brought about more changes in the -industrial life of the world than any other thing. The cities of the -future will all be steel cities. We have already built our cities -twice--once of wood and once of brick--and we are now building them -of steel. An advertisement in a hotel in a Middle-Western city reads: -“This hotel is built without a stick of wood. We could roast an ox in -the room next to yours and never disturb you.” Steel mesh is replacing -lath in ceilings, and ornamental steel ceilings are replacing plaster. -In subway systems quantities of steel have been used for tunnels; the -elevated railroads are prolonged bridges. Williamsburg Bridge between -New York and Brooklyn cost $20,000,000, and 45,000 tons of steel were -used in its construction. One pound in every ten of all the steel -manufactured is made into wire. The Brooklyn Bridge cables have each -6,400 strands of wire. Other wires made of steel have approximately -a dimension of one tenth the thickness of a hair. A carpet tack is -an insignificant sort of thing, but one factory in Chicago produced -3,000,000 pounds of these tacks in a year. Steel goes into furniture, -is made into barrels; utilized in art work, so that the value of common -iron when refined and drawn out to the highest possible utility makes -steel the most precious of all metals to-day. Watch-screws cost $1,600 -a pound and hair springs twice this amount. - -[Illustration: - - McGraw-Hill Company. - -Commerce and transportation are dependent upon steel, and to-day there -are employed in the iron and steel industry of this country, 1,426,014 -workers.] - -=The Making of Steel.= The workshop of civilization is now on the west -side of the Atlantic because of the vast manufacturing establishments -producing steel on this side of the ocean. The so-called Bessemer -process in making steel has brought about a change that is almost -as revolutionary in its far-reaching results as any of the great -revolutions in the past. Within thirty years American resources have -been developed, and American methods have been reorganized with such -amazing rapidity that the United States has to-day, together with -the natural advantage, the means at hand for utilizing its almost -inexhaustible supplies of fuel and iron. The world needs these supplies -and America is glad that she is able to do her part in supplying -them. - -Steel has been made for centuries, but until a few years ago, the -process was slow and costly, and the tools with which the men worked -were really treasures. In those days a pocket-knife was a thing of -great value. The railroads used iron rails but these soon wore out. If -it had been suggested that steel be used a protest would have been made -on the grounds that steel is too expensive. Trains had to be shortened; -coaches and locomotives built of light material because iron rails and -bridges could not stand the strain. As land in the cities became more -valuable and taller buildings were needed, stone and brick not proving -adaptable and too expensive, the Bessemer process, which manufactured -steel cheaply and in great quantities, came to meet a long-felt need. -Iron was plentiful but the process of converting it into steel had not -been mastered. The great difficulty in manufacturing steel is to get -just the right proportion of carbon mixed with the iron. The Bessemer -system takes all the carbon out and then puts back into it the quantity -that is needed. Tons of molten iron are run into an immense pear-shaped -vessel called a converter. Blasts of air are forced in from below. -These unite with the carbon and the impurities such as sulphur and -silicon are destroyed. There is a roar and clatter and a terrific din. -A great bolt of red flame shoots forth many feet from the mouth of the -converter. Its color changes from red to yellow and then to white. When -the flame becomes white the workers know that the carbon and other -impurities are all gone; and this is the signal for the blast of air -to be turned off. Then a quantity of special iron ore in melted form, -containing the right amount of carbon to convert the whole into steel -of the desired degree of hardness, is poured into the purified molten -iron in the converter. This huge converter is perfectly poised upon -pivots so that it can be moved with very little effort. The molten -steel at the next stage is poured from the converter into square molds -and the blocks resulting from it are called blooms. These are then -started through the mill, passed under and between rollers of different -shapes and kinds, and drawn out into plates, rails, or beams. - -=The Steel Factory or Rolling-mill.= One of the foremost pictures -in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is a picture of a -steel-mill. It seems to be a prosaic subject but it makes an appealing -picture, and one typical of our modern world. Some one has described -a steel-mill as a modern materialization of Dante’s Inferno. The sky -above Pittsburgh, Birmingham, and other steel centers is aflame at -night as the process of manufacturing is carried on in the miles of -buildings that contain the workers and the machinery. To step into one -of these steel factories even in broad daylight is to step out of the -world of reality into the semi-reality of a new and unknown world. -Most of the men work stripped to the waist. The long ribbons of red -hot steel writhe and twist about the length of the room. The jangle of -chains mingles with the creaking of the machinery above our heads. The -sparks are flying and a bluish haze hovers about the heads of the men -like some unholy halo as they move back and forth appearing as gnomes -in the unnatural light of the place. There is a peculiar odor that we -instinctively associate with the blacksmith shop that used to stand at -the side of the street on the way between our house and the butcher -shop where we used to be sent every day for the meat for dinner. -Everything moves with feverish haste. No one lags. Every man knows his -task and does it. He must keep up. - -The days are unusually long in the steel-mills. It used to be that -the men worked twelve hours a day and seven days a week. This has -been changed now in most of the mills, but even yet there is a great -deal of twelve-hour work and a great deal of Sunday labor. The rumble -of the cranes above the heads of the gnome-like men at work in the -building fills our ears with an unearthly sound. The peculiar glare of -the gigantic open hearth changes at frequent intervals as the white -cascade of molten metal announces the beginning of the shaping process -of the new rail or the new plate for some new man-of-war, or the beam -that is to live for centuries in some skyscraper. These men working in -this mill are kneading the metal into shape, for as it goes under the -rollers it is pressed and twisted until the final process is completed. - -=Accidents.= If it was a lucky day when we visited the steel-mill there -were no serious accidents. Men are being continually hurt in the works. -A report concerning one says: “John Schwobboda and Joseph Mikelliffyky -were standing near one of the hearths. Something went wrong, and -instead of the steel coming out in an orderly stream it broke out and -before these two could get away they were caught in the midst of the -stream and absorbed by the burning metal.” This thing has happened many -times. The percentage of deaths due to accidents and injuries during -the last ten years among soldiers and sailors of the United States has -been about twelve to the thousand; in the same period with the workers -in the steel-mills it has been about sixteen to the thousand. - -=Wages and Conditions of Labor.= The toil is strenuous and the hazards -great; the hours are long and the product is of almost incalculable -value. What do men get out of it? They are the servants of civilization -and without them we would have no such trade as we have to-day, we -would have no commerce and no progress. Steel is king. When the price -of steel is up to normal, times are good; when the price of steel is -down, times are bad. A Pittsburgh man said that steel is the elevator -which carries civilization, “The world goes up or goes down with the -price of steel rails.” The workers are the subjects and the slaves of -this king. They are giving their lives as well as their time in fealty -to him. Yet how little the average person knows of the lives of these -men. - -A genius for mathematics has estimated that if the 587 rolling-mills -in the United States were set end to end in a circle around Pittsburgh -it would be 100 miles in diameter. Inside of this circle can be formed -another circle three quarters as large if we set end to end the 532 -smaller steel-mills and 3,161 puddling furnaces, where the iron is -first melted and made into bars called pigs. There are 577 open-hearth -works, or factories that manufacture steel by another process much -slower than the Bessemer, but having certain advantages because the -process does not have to be carried on so rapidly. These works would -make a third circle 50 miles across. The 410 other furnaces of various -kinds would form a fourth circle 35 miles in diameter. If all the -Bessemer converters were made into one great big converter and put in -the center, it would be a mile in circumference and would pour a river -of molten steel every hour. - -The furnaces are fed literally mountains of ore every year. The -families dependent upon the iron and steel trade for their living, if -gathered together, would form a state more populous than Illinois. The -steel business thinks its own thoughts, prints its own literature, and -very largely makes its own laws. There is no trade on the face of the -earth equal to it. The results of the present world war hang in the -balance. The needs come back definitely to the steel industry. If we -can get more workers we can get more steel. If we get more steel, we -can build more ships, and if we can get more ships, we can get more -soldiers, more ammunition, and more food with which to fight the war -for democracy. - -The year 1916 was the most prosperous one which the American steel -trade has ever known; manufacturers especially were driven to the limit -of their capacity. The purchases amounted to startling proportions. -Wages were increased so that the workman shared in a measure in the -general prosperity. Three advances were made, each time approximating -10 per cent. The workmen are paid on a sliding schedule thus benefiting -by the rise in the value of the product they make. Never have workmen -received such wages as are now being paid to the workmen of America. -But over against this increase in wages must be considered the increase -in the cost of living, and also the base line, or average wage in days -before the war upon which these increases are figured. Hours are still -very long and no process has been devised for making the work very much -easier or less wearing upon the individual worker. Investigators who -made their report in 1912 said that during the year 1910, the period -covered by their investigation, 29 per cent. of the employees in the -blast furnaces and steel works and rolling-mills ordinarily worked -seven days a week; 24 per cent. worked eighty-four hours or more a -week. This means a twelve-hour day seven days a week. - -These long hours were not confined to the men in the blast-furnace -department, where there is a real necessity for continual toil, but -to a large extent to the other departments, where no such necessity -existed, except the necessity of making all the profits possible -from the workers. When the shift was made from day to night work or -from night to day work, the employees making the shift were required -to remain on duty without relief for periods of from eighteen to -twenty-four hours consecutively. No one can visit a steel-mill and not -feel that there is something merciless in the way the workers are being -goaded by invisible forces to keep their speed at the topmost notch. -The very nature of the work is such that men are forced to labor at -high tension. The mill stops for nothing either day or night. “You must -draw or be dragged to death,” said one of the workers. - -A steel employee in South Chicago made good wages but was a hard -drinker and with his companions spent most of the evenings in the -saloons so that there was rarely a night that he went to bed sober. A -friend of the family had a chance to talk with him about the situation -and tried to argue with him to show him the folly of drinking. His -reply was, “Why, who cares? The mill drives me all the day long and -dries me all up. I have to draw, draw, draw, or be dragged. By the end -of the day there is only one thing that I want and that is beer.” - -A large proportion of the workers in the steel-mills are immigrants. -There are Magyars, Poles, Slovaks, Croatians, Italians, as well as -Austro-Hungarians, and all the other races mixed in. Many of the men -are single, or if they are married they have left their wives in the -old country. The wage is very largely based on the needs of a single -man. Nearly all the families take boarders. This reduces the cost of -living and in some of these families, the “boarding boss” as he is -known, is the head of the household consisting of himself, his wife, -his children, and anywhere from four to sixteen boarders or lodgers. -Each lodger pays the boarding boss a fixed sum, usually two or three -dollars a month for lodging, cooking, and washing. The food is bought -by the boss and its cost shared individually by the members of the -group. A study was made of a community in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and -it was found that the food consumed was cheap beef, bread, and coffee. -Some of the people used vegetables sparingly. The Italians ate only -a small quantity of meat, but used large quantities of vegetables, -spaghetti, bread, and olive oil. The Austro-Hungarians used vast -quantities of meat. - -=Houses and Homes.= The housing conditions among the poorly paid steel -workers are invariably bad. In a part of Pittsburgh known as the -“strip” the living conditions are bad almost beyond belief. The reason -given for this situation is that the wages are so low no better is -possible. The standard of living among all the steel workers is low. -Comfort or ordinary provisions for decency are almost entirely lacking -in nearly every steel-producing district. The housing conditions are -congested, the children play in the streets, and only the cheapest -and most dangerous forms of recreation are open to the young people. -A large proportion of the workers are members of the Roman Catholic -Church. The men, however, for the most part have no use for the church -and rarely if ever attend. The women cling to it, since they are -naturally more devout. - -The children suffer from the hard circumstances in the laboring -communities. The mothers have generally gone to work too early in life -to give proper vitality to the child. The lack of conditions that -make for decent home life brought about through inadequate incomes of -the fathers and the overcrowded housing conditions taxes life heavily -by infant mortality, and mortgages the future health and morals of -the children, thus threatening the future efficiency of the state. -Investigations conducted by the Children’s Bureau in Washington show -that the chances of life for a baby grow appallingly small as the -father’s earnings grow less. For instance, the cases of one thousand -babies in eight representative cities were studied. The returns show -that in families where the father earns less than $550 a year every -sixth baby dies; while in families where the father’s income is $1,050 -or more a year only one baby in sixteen dies.[2] - - [2] See “Infant Mortality,” a pamphlet issued by the Children’s - Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, Washington, D. C. - -[Illustration: The church in this age of steel must preach from the -text, which interpreted in modern times will be, “A man is more -precious than a bar of steel.”] - -=The Church and the Homes of the Workers.= The disorganizing influence -on the social and industrial life incident to the war accentuates the -importance of protecting mothers and children. The churches have a -remarkable opportunity here, for it is to the homes that the church -makes its first and strongest appeal. Jesus set a little child at the -very center of his system for regenerating humanity and saving the -world. - -The church must produce and train skilled leaders who can direct -affairs; it must set in motion forces that will counteract the evil in -these industrial communities; and must help to create public sentiment -so that the city that allows bad housing to exist and the industry -that forces it will be looked upon as murderers of little children. -Playgrounds, recreation centers, and the strict enforcement of all the -laws that protect the home must be urged upon the church as a part of -its program. Without these the gospel fails. - -=The Church and the Workers.= Another feature incident to the life in -the steel-mills is the apathy that develops in the workers themselves. -Their attitude toward life is characterized by a dumb, brutish -fatalism. The editor of a paper in one of the steel cities when -discussing this attitude of mind remarked: “A Finlander cares less -about being killed in the mill than I do about having my tooth pulled.” -It is almost impossible to enforce the necessary precautions. Life -becomes of little value to the worker pressed as he is for production. -This thing called steel looms big and human; life looks small in -proportion. Jesus, appealing to the rural-minded people of his day, -said that man is more precious than a sheep. The church in our great -steel centers must often and persistently preach the gospel from this -text which interpreted in modern times will be, “Man is more precious -than a bar of steel.” - -=Progress Toward Justice.= The process of adjustment between -manufacturing, the cost of labor, and the selling price of the -material is a difficult one. Labor conditions have been such, and -competition so keen, that it has been very difficult to safeguard -the men employed in this industry. Union labor has had a hard time -to establish itself. Nearly all of the mills and factories are run -as open shops. Of late years, however, it has been found that there -must be closer cooperation between the management, the owners, and the -workers; and certain concessions have been made and new elements have -been introduced into the system which are bettering conditions. It is -now possible for the workers to have shares of the common stock of the -United States Steel Corporation. The workers are suspicious of this -scheme as well as of all other forms of profit-sharing and welfare work -because they believe that it leads to a deepening of the dependence of -the worker upon the concern for which he works, and thus hinders the -coming of industrial democracy. It must be said, however, for a plan -which makes it possible for the employees to buy stock in the concern, -that it is a step toward democracy if it is democratically carried out. -The difficulty at present is that only the better paid, higher class -of laborers in the steel-mills can or will take the stock. Until the -wages of all the laborers are increased to the place where each one -can have a decent home located in a desirable part of the city, and a -degree of leisure so that he can give some time and attention to other -things than the mere process of making steel, the distributing of stock -will not go far toward settling the labor difficulties that so often -embarrass the great steel companies. - -=A Successful Experiment.= Democracy means that each worker shall -have a voice and a vote in determining the conditions under which he -works as well as some share in the ownership of the business. The only -answer to the argument against democracy is a successful experiment in -democracy. A manufacturing plant in a democratic country must recognize -in these days that the only scheme that will succeed must make for -a larger control of the business by a larger number of the people -employed. The Baker Manufacturing Company, of Evansville, Wisconsin, -has carried out a stock-owning, profit-sharing plan with great success. -Since 1899 the lowest additional wage paid to the employees has been 60 -per cent. and the highest 120 per cent. based on average wages. Every -employee has a vote in the company, and the annual meetings are held -in the town hall. The stock issued each year represents real value, -for every dollar of it is put into material improvements in the shop -and its equipment. I visited Mr. Baker some years ago and he told me -of the success of his plans. Just before I left I said: “Mr. Baker, -do you think that you have been wise in putting so much effort into -the creation of this new form of industrial organization?” He replied: -“Well, I am past seventy years of age and have all the money I can use -conveniently. I enjoy life and have the friendship of my workmen. I do -not need to station detectives about my home to protect me while I am -asleep; and another thing, we never have had a strike in this town. We -are all friends and fellow workers.” Surely these are the things that -accumulations of money cannot produce and their possession is beyond -value. What has been done in this factory connected with the steel -trade ought to be possible everywhere. - -=The Church and Its Approach.= The scheme of adjustment is a difficult -one, and the church is not meeting the situation in any adequate way. -Its task is before it and must be attacked with persistence, with -skill, and with patience. This means, first of all, that the church -in the communities where the steel workers live must find a method of -approach through the home and the school to the heart and the life of -the people. Until this is done, it will be futile for the church to -even attempt to minister to the people in the deeper things of life. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE WORLD OF THE TRANSPORTATION MEN - - -“Here, boss, jes’ take fo’ dollars’ worth of ride out of this here -bill.” This was the response of an old Negro riding on a Southern -train when asked for his ticket by the conductor. Without a word the -conductor gave him the change from a ten dollar bill and a ticket to -tuck into his hat and which allowed him to ride to a town approximately -two hundred miles distant. When the train reached its destination -the old Negro began to fumble in his pockets and then he picked up -his bundles and slowly got off. Three hours later, as a train coming -in the opposite direction stopped at the station, the same Negro got -aboard, paid his fare back to the starting-point and arrived early in -the morning. Going up the street he met the judge of the district, who -said to him, “Hello, John, what are you doing out so early? Where have -you been?” “I ain’t been nowhere, Judge; I jes’ been doing a little -traveling.” This is not an isolated case by any means. I told this -story as I had heard it to a conductor on another road and he said it -was a very common thing to have fifteen or twenty white people as well -as Negroes “ride out” the mileage covered by a five dollar bill. - -The American is the most restless person in the world. We are always on -the move and a large amount of our traveling is purposeless. We simply -travel because we like to be going somewhere. This trait in us is a -survival from a long past age in man’s development. This primitive love -of change is strengthened by the economic pressure under which most of -us live. Early man wandered from place to place in search of his food. -Modern man does the same, the only difference being that he does not -now look for his food ready to his hand, but looks for a place to work, -so that he can earn money with which to buy his food. “We have been -married twelve years,” said a vivacious little lady, “and I have lived -in six states. It seems that my husband is always getting a chance to -better our condition, and we both have come to look forward to a move -about every two years. If we just live long enough, we will have lived -in every state in the Union.” - -But transportation as we understand it to-day refers to the moving -of freight, express, and mail, as well as to the moving of men and -women. Man himself was the original burden-bearer and became the first -transportation system, carrying combined freight and express. He simply -took his bundle on his shoulders and used his legs as the means of -moving from one place to another. Then he used other men to help carry -his loads. There has been much speculation as to how the stones used in -the building of the Great Pyramids were brought to the desert and put -into place. Many theories have been advanced. One of the latest is that -the Pyramids are made of concrete and that they were poured rather than -quarried. However the material was secured, or in whatever way the work -was accomplished, we can be sure of one thing and that is that all of -the material was carried by men. They were the slaves of Pharaoh and -this was the usual form of the transportation system of Egypt. There -were auxiliary lines which employed camels, asses, and some horses; but -the slave was the principal carrier just as he is in Africa to-day. The -rivers and the oceans were used as highways of travel, but the boats -were very crude affairs and the slaves chained to the seats and pulling -on heavy oars formed the motive power. The oars were made in graduated -lengths, one bank above another. The three-tiered Roman boat was known -as the trireme and it was the great-grandfather of the ocean liners -with their triple screws. It is a long development from the primitive -methods of travel and burden-bearing in the early days of Egypt to the -great transcontinental railway lines and the ocean steamships of our -day! - -=Progress and Transportation.= The word progress carries within it the -implication that there is a road over which the race of men is passing. -The roadmaker has always been the pioneer of civilization. The advent -of steam and the perfecting of railroads marks a period of development -throughout civilization itself. Some one has said that it would be -far more interesting and informing concerning the facts that will -transpire in the next one hundred years, if we could see the railroad -map showing all the transportation lines in the different continents to -be published in the year 2018, than if we could have a map that would -simply show the national boundaries. A nation may be compared to a -human body. The railroad lines are the arteries along which flows the -life-blood of the nation. Industry is the center of a nation’s life, -and it pumps commerce over the rails and thus keeps the body growing -and in a healthful state. - -=Age of the Engineer.= The great world war has been characterized in -many ways, but perhaps the best characterization of all is that it -is an engineers’ war. Eliminate the work of the engineers, civil and -mechanical, from this war and it could not have been fought. For that -matter the last seventy-five years of the world’s history has belonged -to the engineers. Ninety per cent. of all our comforts, conveniences, -and practical achievements is due to their work, and what wonders -have been wrought in this time! The engineer has accomplished more in -the field of transportation than in any other realm. Transportation, -represented by the railroads, the steamships, the automobiles, and the -better roads that have been built to accommodate them, makes up the -chief differences between our age and all those ages preceding. - -=The Railway Systems.= There is being operated in the United States at -the present time 230,000 miles of railroads. The mileage which they -cover if stretched about the earth would belt the globe nine times. -The total mileage for the whole world is about 700,000; all of Europe -has 215,140 miles. The United States and Canada together have almost -half the total mileage of the world and as much as all of Europe and -Asia combined. In 1915 the railroads of the United States carried -976,303,602 passengers and moved 1,802,018,177 tons of freight. The -railway companies employed 1,654,075 men and women. The average hourly -pay for these workers, figured on the basis of the eight-hour day, -is twenty-six cents. Railroading is a most difficult and dangerous -occupation, and yet there is something in the work itself that appeals -to the worker. “Once a railroad man, always a railroad man,” as one -brakeman put it. - -There was a railroad wreck on the Southern Pacific line just south of -Livermore, California, some years ago. The engine fell over into a -creek and the engineer was caught underneath, and pressed down into -the soft sand. It was eighteen hours before he was rescued; his chest -was crushed and he was horribly burned but by some miracle he lived. -The railway company gave him a pension in recognition of his faithful -services of about twelve years, and he was able to live on the income -without working. This invalided engineer was idle for almost ten -months; he then went back to the company and asked to be put on an -engine again. He was not considered strong enough to run a passenger -engine, but was supremely happy when put in charge of a switch engine -in the train-yards of Sacramento. He said, “It was the happiest day of -my life when I pulled the throttle, and again felt the engine begin to -move out under my touch and control.” - -=Casualty Lists.= In the year 1916, the steam railways of the United -States injured 196,722 people and killed 10,001. The electric railways -for the same period injured 4,606 and killed 518. Of these persons, -4,928 were killed while riding as passengers, or while at work in the -performance of their tasks. The remainder were killed while walking -upon the railway tracks or in other ways trespassing. - -One bitter cold day a Lackawanna train from New York going to Buffalo -was nearing a little village near Binghamton when the brakeman, -muffling up his ears, stepped out on the rear platform to be ready to -signal as the train stopped at the near-by crossing. The train stopped -and then gave four blasts on the whistle calling in the brakeman. There -was a delay and the conductor went back to find out why the brakeman -did not come, but could not see him anywhere down the line. The train -was late and running badly, so instead of backing up to look for the -brakeman, the conductor gave orders for the train to go ahead and -reported the fact at the next station. Two stations beyond word reached -him that the body of the brakeman had been found beside the track. He -had stepped out on the rear platform just as the train rounded a curve -and the platform being slippery he lost his footing and was thrown off -and killed instantly. The brakeman’s family was protected because he -was engaged in interstate commerce, but one more human being was lost -in the performance of his daily task. The inventions such as patent -coupling devices, block signals, and the vestibule cars, have done -away with a great many accidents, but in the very nature of the case, -there will always be danger in the work done by the men who operate our -trains. - -=The Human Factor.= The railroads of the country are made as safe as -possible by installing wonderful devices which work automatically. -The tracks are inspected, old ties replaced by new ones; bolts are -tested, yet in spite of all the excellent devices to secure safety, -accidents occur in sickening succession. An entire circus company was -recently wiped out by an accident on the Michigan Central Railroad. The -members of the circus were nearly all asleep when a train from the rear -plunged through their cars killing nearly one hundred and injuring -over one hundred others. The wreckage caught fire and many of the -bodies were cremated. Reports would indicate that this accident was one -of those unavoidable things that happen so often in railroading. - -Experiences in speaking before groups of railroad men prove that the -question of danger is always before the minds of the workers. These men -literally carry their lives in their hands. For after all, no matter -how perfectly the track may be laid, and in spite of the fact that -the signals are all set, there is always the human factor to be taken -into consideration. The flagman may not go back far enough from the -train that is stopped so that the one following can be brought to a -halt before crashing into the train ahead. Another thing that enters -into the situation is the fact that men who are working surrounded -by constant perils are likely to become careless. “I carry with me a -sense of responsibility for the life of every man, woman, and child who -rides on my train.” This was the statement of a conscientious railroad -engineer. “But,” he continued, “I am in constant fear that my train -will be wrecked through the carelessness of somebody else.” This man -recognized a need that is essential in securing safety in traveling -on our railroads, that is, a sense of corporate responsibility; by -this we mean, that the entire group of men, all the workers and all of -those who are responsible for the operation of the roads should feel -the same sense of responsibility that the individual engineer feels. -To secure this condition the railroad companies must realize that they -are dealing with human beings; and that the men who furnish the human -element in the railroad equation are entitled to a voice and a share -in the management of the line. - -=Wages and Hours of Work.= When the railroad employees threatened to -strike in 1917 and asked for an eight-hour day and an increase of -wages, there was a great deal of discussion as to whether the companies -or the men were in the right. Most people sided with the companies -against the men, because there is an idea among the people that the -railroad men are the best paid employees in any of our industries. -Contrary to the general understanding, the railroad employees for the -most part are not well paid. The government has recognized the need for -increased wages and has made advances to nearly all classes of railway -employees since federal control went into effect. The average rate for -a normal day’s work for engineers in the freight service throughout the -eastern territory is $4.85, conductors $4, brakemen $2.67, and firemen -$3.25. These are the best paid of all the railroad employees. Tower -men, who have in their care the lives of millions of passengers as they -protect crossings, receive from $40 to $50 a month. Telegraphers, train -dispatchers, track inspectors, and other employees, outside of the four -great brotherhoods, made up of the engineers, conductors, brakemen, and -firemen, are very poorly paid. And even the wages for the best paid and -most skilful operators, the brakeman and the fireman, for instance, are -so low that it means that in order to earn a living wage they must make -a great deal through overtime. - -The effect of this low wage is shown in the number of employees who are -changed every year. In the first nine months of 1917 in the eastern -territory three men were employed for every one job filled. This is -known as the turn-over in employment and it is unusually high because -the wages are below standard, the hours long, and the work hard and -dangerous. There is a continual change in the operating forces and a -consequent lack of efficiency. Another consideration to be taken into -account in studying the wages and lives of railway workers is that of -the effect of the work upon the workers. An engineer must put in years -as a fireman before he can secure the right to run an engine, and then -a dozen or fifteen years is about the length of time that he can depend -on keeping his job. He is fortunate indeed if he earns a good wage for -this length of time. The wear and tear on muscles, nerves, eyes, ears, -kidneys, and heart is almost certain to break down the strongest body -in a few years. Some few men stand the strain and hold on for twenty -years but these are the rare exceptions. - -=Fictitious Values and the Railways.= The railroad business deals in -a commodity that may be termed public service. Almost more than any -other business it is dependent for success upon the good-will of the -public. The earnings of the railroads have been enormous and even if -their operating expenses are high, there have been big profits made, -and these profits have been taken up to a large extent in paying -dividends upon fictitious values. This is the most serious situation -that threatens the railroad system of the United States. For instance, -a road is built and a certain amount of money put into the equipment -and rolling stock, such as engines, coaches, and freight-cars. The -employees are hired and the road begins to do business as a regular -passenger and freight carrier. Out of its total receipts it must pay a -fixed amount for up-keep, for new equipment, and for wages, besides the -interest on the money it has borrowed. The balance that is left from -the amount of money received by the road and the amount it must pay out -marks its own profits. This is given to the owners of the road. - -For many years the railroads felt that they needed special legislation; -and money was spent in buying up legislators, in corrupting city -councils, and in gaining the influence of noted men who would agree -to return certain favors to the road for certain concessions given. A -common practise in connection with this was the giving of free passes -to all statesmen and newspaper men. In addition to this the railroad -property became valuable as a factor in the stock market, and new stock -was continually being issued. This stock would be sold and in many -cases no new equipment put into the road, so that at the present time -some of the railroads of the United States have three or four times as -much stock as they have actual physical value for their stock. - -A good illustration of this business situation would be that you -as owner of a house worth $4,000 should make or form a cooperative -housekeeping company and sell shares in this new company, basing the -value of the total amount of shares upon the $4,000 that the house -is worth. You could sell forty shares each for $100. This would be -perfectly legitimate and a good business transaction, because at any -time every share would have back of it one-fortieth of the total value -of the house. But suppose instead of selling forty shares, you should -capitalize your house at $40,000 and sell 400 shares at $100 a piece, -instead of the forty shares. The extra valuation would be known as -watered stock, because there would be no real value attached to it. You -would be selling something that neither you nor anybody else possessed. - -It is said that the term watered stock came from the practise of one -of the early financiers who brought cattle from the West to sell in -the New York market when New York was a very small city. He drove the -cattle a long distance on the last day, and then gave them salt the -night before arrival, so that they were inordinately thirsty. Just -before they were sold and weighed he would let them drink all the water -they wanted, so that the man who bought them was paying for a great -deal of water in addition to the actual amount of beef he received. -The result of this financial device known as watered stock has been -disastrous for many of our railway companies, and the plight of the -United States railroads has been a scandal for years. - -=Regulating the Railroads.= The legislature of nearly every state -has tried to remedy the railway situation. The commissions in the -various states have frequently found themselves in each other’s way. -The Interstate Commerce Commission appointed by the United States -government for the purpose of regulating railroads is one of the most -efficient bodies in the entire government and has rendered remarkable -services. The citizens of the United States are individualists and -believe strongly in letting each business adjust its own difficulties -as best it can. With the growth of the world commerce without, and -the development of the country’s trade within, however, many men are -coming to believe that the only way out of difficulties is through a -larger degree of government control, tending finally to government -ownership of all the means of transportation. The strongest argument in -favor of government ownership is the success of the Interstate Commerce -Commission. During the last ten years there has come about a very -radical change in the relations existing between the various railways -and the general public. During the period between 1850 and 1900 the -railways were masters of the situation; and the financiers who built -and operated them were despots, more or less benevolent or the opposite -according to their personal temperaments. The railway presidents -during that period really regarded their roads as private property -to be managed as they saw fit. This theory built up a great railroad -system in the country, but the theory is not big enough to meet the new -national demands that are put upon the common carriers of the day. The -railroads are now pleading with the public to recognize them as public -institutions primarily interested in serving the people. - -[Illustration: - - Press Illustrating Service. - -In New York harbor and on other waterways, living upon the canal-boats -and barges, are the families of the workers.] - -=Railroads and Churches.= The railroad situation is too complicated -for us to attempt a solution of it in a church study class. It will -demand years of experimentation and a degree of personal service on -the part of the best and ablest men of our nation. What the church can -and must do is to try to estimate the value of the principles that are -involved in the railroad development and management. This can be done -by following the story of the railroad as told by the writers in the -public magazines of the last ten years. The history of our railroad -legislation is also available for us in the records of the Interstate -Commerce Commission. Each study group should write to Washington and -get the literature issued by this commission. Much of it will be -found to be dry reading, being largely a compilation of statistics; -and these statistics dealing in figures so large that they mean very -little to us. The recommendations, however, and the conclusions are of -practical value and will be found to be extremely helpful in the wise -and just conclusion regarding our attitude toward the railroad as a -national institution. - -=Other Means of Transportation.= The work of the men engaged in -transportation is not by any means confined to the workers on the -railroads. In our cities there are thousands of men employed on the -street-cars, elevated railroads, and subway railways. The interurban -traction lines employ hundreds of thousands of men. A careful study has -been made of the situation affecting these workers by the Department -of Labor of the United States, and its report is based upon facts -ascertained from actual conditions found in all the principal cities -of the country. Without exception the street-car men, including -conductors, motormen, linesmen, and ticket-sellers, are poorly paid. -Many of the cities are paying the men much less than a living wage. -What do you know about the conditions in the street-cars in your own -city? Where do the men who operate these cars live? What about their -families? A motorman on one of the elevated railway lines of Chicago -shot himself a few years ago. The note he left said: “I have four -children and it is impossible with the rising cost of living for me -to maintain my home on $2.12 a day. I have a Life Insurance policy -for $2,000 and this is worth more to my wife and children than I earn -at present.” The street-car lines in most of our cities are owned and -controlled by capitalists living in some other city, and they are -operated, not for the benefit of the city, but simply for profits. The -frequent strikes on the street-car lines are the direct result of this -foolish policy of our cities of allowing themselves to be exploited -by groups of business men who have no interest in the city, but hold -toward it, its citizens, and its own workers, the attitude of a set -of political and social freebooters. A few places only have attempted -municipal ownership, and in these cases it has met with a large -measure of success. The lines owned and operated by the San Francisco -municipality have proved so successful that the business men are all -enthusiastic over the policy. - -Another group that aids in providing transportation is made up of -the men on boats on the lakes, rivers, and canals; those who come to -our shores from other nations traveling by sea in foreign boats; the -sailors on our merchant marine; and the thousands of workers on the -docks and lighters in our harbors. In connection with this great work, -Andrew Furuseth, president of the International Seamen’s Union, stands -out as a remarkable figure. He is a Scandinavian by birth, and worked -his way up from the simple life of a sailor before the mast until he is -now the best known sailor in all the world. Mr. Furuseth has a great -heart, and has fought long and hard for his fellow workers; he might -be rich to-day, but as head of the union he accepts only the pay of a -first-class seaman and is literally giving his life for others. At a -meeting of the City Club in Rochester which he addressed some years -ago, one of the gentlemen present turned to his companion and said: -“Just look at Furuseth. In every line of his face there is written a -chapter of the tragedy and pathos of the men who go down to the sea in -ships.” - -The sailor has been practically a prisoner always. When he signed his -work papers he put himself under the control of an absolute autocrat. -Until recently the master of a ship at sea recognized no authority -greater than himself, and when the boat landed at any port, no matter -what the treatment might have been, the seaman could not desert, -otherwise he would be arrested and imprisoned. Furuseth protested -against this inhuman treatment, and through a long period of years kept -demanding that seamen, “the last slaves” as he called them, be made -free. Finally his efforts were successful and on March, 1915, there was -approved by the Congress of the United States an Act which promotes the -welfare of the American seaman in the merchant marine. It abolishes -arrest and imprisonment for desertion, and it secured the abrogation -of treaty provisions between the different nations which guaranteed -that American sailors would be treated as felons if they deserted in a -foreign port. It also provided additional safety at sea for all persons -upon a boat; one of its provisions being that there shall be carried on -every passenger-carrying steamer or sailing vessel enough life-boats -so that each passenger and each man of the crew will have a seat and -a chance for escape in case of an accident. It is interesting to note -that this Act was passed as a direct result of the sinking of the -_Titanic_. - -=The World of the Transportation Men.= The transportation men live in a -world apart. How many sailors do you know? How many street-car men? How -many railroaders? Have you ever wondered where the conductor on the -street-car upon which you ride so often lives? “Yes, we have a little -church, but it is over across the tracks where the railroad men live, -and I always attend the Presbyterian Church here.” This was the excuse -given by a gentleman for not attending the church of the denomination -to which he had belonged before he moved into a new community near -Chicago. We do not want a church to be known as the Railroad Men’s -Church or the Sailors’ Church or the Street-Car Workers’ Church. This -is not the way to be the best kind of a neighbor. What we do want is -for the church everywhere to take an interest in these men who are -providing for our transportation and also carrying the necessities -of life for all the world. We come into personal relationships with -many of them in a business way, and they all do much to add to our -wealth, our happiness, and our comfort. We in turn as individuals and -as members of the church should acquaint ourselves with the conditions -surrounding them. - -For instance, in the waters of the New York harbor, living upon the -canal-boats which move in and out carrying coal, hay, and other rough -freight, are the families of the workers, and in these families there -are approximately 5,000 children. They are at one place to-day and -another place to-morrow. These people have no citizenship in the best -sense of the word. Many of the men do not vote because they live in -no locality long enough to register. The questions of schooling, of -church privileges, and of all social contact are serious ones. Yet how -many people in New York City, or for that matter in any of the smaller -towns and villages where these boats land, have ever once thought of -the status and social conditions of these men, and women, and their -children? Things we know. The things which the boats and the railroads -carry and that other thing that looms so large, the profits that are -made from transportation, are regarded as very important; but we have -paid scant attention to the men who produce things and carry them from -place to place. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE WORLD OF THE MAKERS OF LUXURIES - - -“I would not like to work in a candy store,” said a young lad, “because -then I could not have the fun of buying candy.” A visitor to Atlantic -City stepped into one of the shops to make a purchase. She said to the -little girl in charge, “It must be delightful to be able to live in -Atlantic City and work right here on the boardwalk.” “You may think -so,” replied the girl. “But I guess if you put in all your time in this -store, and had to come to work at eight in the morning and work until -nine at night every day; and all the time saw these thousands of people -passing along outside, going up and down, with nothing to do but just -enjoy themselves, you would not think it is such a snap.” Two boys -were playing the game of “wish.” When the turn of the youngest came, -he said, “I wish that I worked in a chocolate factory, then I could -have all the chocolate I wanted to eat.” When we become acquainted with -the people who are at work producing the luxuries, we find a common -and far-reaching disillusionment. The hardest work in the world is to -work when other people are playing, or work hard ourselves just for the -purpose of giving other people enjoyment. And yet there are literally -hundreds of thousands of people who spend their lives in producing -luxuries. - -Oliver Wendell Holmes used to say that if he could just have the -luxuries, he would not care anything about the necessities of life. -This was a whimsical way of stating a fact that is common to all -experience, that is, that life is enriched by the luxuries we enjoy. I -asked a man of the typographical union what he considered the one thing -that had done most for the advancement of printers. He replied, “Pianos -in their parlors.” By this he meant that when hours were decreased and -wages increased, printers began to have something to hope for; and -with a margin of money they bought luxuries, and in the margin of time -enjoyed them. Thus they laid the foundation for future development. - -=Luxuries.= What constitutes a luxury? This is a difficult question -to answer. Some people think that it is a luxury to take a bath. In -fact, many of the monastic orders put special virtue on foregoing the -use of soap and water. An old gentleman living in a little town near -Chicago who owned a great deal of the property in the town, fought -every effort to put in water-works and a sewer system. As the climax of -an impassioned speech at a public meeting in which he had denounced the -extravagances of the present time, he said: “These new notions of our -young people are going to ruin us. My daughter made such a fuss that -nine years ago I put a bathtub in our house, but I never use it and I -guess I am about as healthy as any man in town.” One of the religious -sects forbids its members the use of buttons on their clothes, as they -are regarded as useless luxuries. They fasten their clothes together -with hooks and eyes. Cutting the hair, shaving the beard, wearing gold -and silver, adorning the person in any way, all of these things are -considered luxuries by some persons. Luxury is really a thing that we -can get along without. But at best it is a relative term, for what one -person would consider a luxury another would consider a necessity. - -=Growth by Wants, Not Needs.= A merchant in Memphis had a carload of -supplies arrive early one Saturday morning. He was very anxious to -get the goods unloaded so that he could release the car. He started -out to get help, but every Negro on the street had some good excuse -why he could not help. Meeting an old fellow on the corner he said to -him, “Look here, Bob, what is the trouble with all these Negroes? Not -one of them wants to work and yet they all seem to have plenty of time -and nothing to do.” “It’s just like this, Boss,” replied old Bob. “All -the worth-while niggers is out working, ’cause you see they’s got to -support their Fords. These here fellers ain’t no good; don’t want cyars -and won’t work nohow when the sun shines on both sides of the street at -de same time.” In this statement we have summed up the philosophy of -all workers. It is only when we desire something better than we have -and are willing to work for the thing desired that we begin to advance. -Luxuries are the things that are not essential for mere existence, but -they are the things that are of infinite value in enriching and adding -to the meaning of life. - -=Classes of Luxuries.= Luxuries can be roughly divided into two -classes, those that are harmless and those that are hurtful. The extra -dress, the piece of cake, the sugar in our coffee, the coffee itself, -and in fact a great many of the things we wear, eat, and drink are -luxuries. The line between these things and necessities is such a thin -one that it is hard to know just when a thing ceases to be a necessity -and becomes a luxury. Most things are harmless in and of themselves, -and it must be acknowledged, luxuries have the effect of increasing -the value and meaning of life. There are, however, luxuries such as -beer, wine, whisky, brandy, and other alcoholic stimulants used as -beverages, also tobacco used as snuff, for chewing or for smoking, -which add nothing to life; but on the contrary must be classed with -the habit-forming drugs so injurious to the race. In this chapter we -are considering luxuries from the standpoint of production, and not -the moral value involved in their use. Therefore, we must think of -the workers in the brewery, the cigar and cigaret makers, the makers -of artificial flowers and willow plumes as all belonging to the same -class. They are the ones who are making the things that are not -absolutely necessary for our existence. Were the production of bread to -stop we could not live. Iron, steel, coal, and transportation are all -part and parcel of our very existence, but we could get along very well -if not another artificial flower, cigar, or fancy dress were made. - -=The Cigarmakers.= The cigarmakers living in Tampa and Key West form -the most complete compact group of workers to be found anywhere in -the United States who are interested solely in producing luxuries. -Tampa is known as “The city that furnishes the world’s smoke.” Last -year this city shipped (in round numbers) 300,000,000 cigars! Havana -and Key West have always been considered the principal cigar cities, -but the production in these latter places has been declining for a -number of years, while it has been increasing in Tampa. It was a clash -between the Cuban and Spanish workers at Key West which led the first -manufacturer to move from that city and build his factory at Tampa. -To-day there are 15,000 Cuban and Spanish workers employed in Tampa in -making cigars. A person could live in the city, and by restricting his -business to certain districts, from one year’s beginning to the end -would never hear a word spoken in any language except Spanish. The city -is a foreign city, and a city of workers producing a luxury that all -the world demands. Since the time that Columbus sent his men to explore -the island of Cuba in November, 1492, and found the natives “carrying -and smoking firebrands” made from loosely rolled leaves of a weed which -grew extensively on the island, until the present time men everywhere -have found enjoyment and pleasure in the narcotic value of tobacco. - -=The Making of a Cigar.= In its manufacture a cigar goes through a -process dependent upon the knowledge and skill gained from years of -practise on the part of the worker. The tobacco that is used in making -the best cigars still comes from the island of Cuba. It is grown very -carefully, cured, baled, and shipped under bond to the United States -government. The bales as they are received at the tobacco factory weigh -from 80 to 120 pounds. The tobacco is of two qualities, that to be used -as a filler (which makes up the body of the cigar), and that which is -known as the wrapper or the outside covering. From the time that the -tobacco begins to grow until the cigars are packed in the boxes ready -for shipment the weed requires special care and attention. As the bales -of tobacco are brought into the factory they have to be piled in a -certain way. Some of them are piled high, some of them low, some on -their sides, and some on their ends; all depending upon the quality and -conditions of the leaves. - -The tobacco is cured by a process which adds to its value; and the -curing must be carried on with precision, for a faulty method will -spoil the best tobacco that can be grown. Any one who has visited Tampa -is impressed with the humidity of the atmosphere. The climate of Cuba -is more nearly reproduced there than in any other city in America, and -because of its equable temperature, it being neither too hot nor too -cold, the city has become famous as the manufacturing center for cigars. - -The cigarmakers sit at long tables in parallel rows throughout the -room. In one room in a large factory eight hundred workers sit as close -together as possible. The tools of the trade are a flat, broad-bladed -knife, a hard block, a gage, and a rule. This gage is simply a hole -bored through a piece of board and as the worker makes up the cigar, -from time to time he puts it through the hole in the board to see that -it is the proper size and places it against the rule to see that it is -the proper length. Should it be too large it must be rolled tighter, -if too small it must be loosened up a bit. Much depends upon the way -a cigar is rolled. “I learned to make a cigar in three months,” said -a Cuban cigarmaker, “but it took me two years to learn how to put an -end on it.” This is the real test, and until a machine is invented -which can turn this trick, the hand-made cigars, rolled, and finished -according to the old Spanish method, will hold first place. - -=The Reader in the Factory.= The Tampa cigarmakers are all either -Spanish or Cuban, and in conversation they gesticulate with their -hands to such an extent that it is impossible for them to talk and work -at the same time. Hence, the manufacturers are very sympathetic with -the old custom of maintaining a reader in the factory. This reader has -a little balcony from which he reads to the employees while they are at -work, making his selections from current magazines, newspapers, novels, -telegrams, dispatches from abroad, and extracts from books on national -history. It is an interesting sight to see a factory of four or five -hundred workers busily engaged in plying their trade, and listening -at the same time to a story read by the paid reader, who, with coat -off and suspenders hanging, gesticulates and shouts at the top of his -voice. One of the readers in a Tampa factory has held his position for -twenty years. He reads daily from the New York _Herald_, translating -the news articles into Spanish as he reads them. The reader is well -paid, for each worker gives him twenty-five cents a week; and it is -reported that some of these men receive as high as $300 a month. The -workers decide what shall be read. Some years ago there was a strike -in one of the factories occasioned by a protest on the part of the -women workers against the reading of an especially vulgar novel. The -management ordered the reading of this novel stopped. The men then laid -down their tools and refused to go back to work until they were assured -that the story would be continued. Among the cigarmakers the tradition -is that the custom of reading grew out of the desire of the early -workers for a more liberal education than was offered by the church and -its schools. - -=Wages and Unions.= The wages of the cigarmakers are based on the -piece-work system. An expert may make as high as $35 a week; the -average is a little higher than in other employments using the same -grade of labor. Some years ago, when a bitter strike was conducted -in Tampa, the question of wages was one of the grievances of the men -but was not the real trouble, for the problem in Tampa now as well -as then is racial and psychological rather than economic. The strike -was settled on the basis of an agreement called the “equalization -agreement.” This provided for the appointment of a board to be composed -of three manufacturers and three cigarmakers who would meet regularly, -hear complaints, and make adjustments. Most of the workers belong to -the union, and under this agreement there is a fair degree of peace in -the industry. - -One great difficulty is that the workers in the cigar industry carry -into their trade no moral enthusiasm. They are doing something that -is not absolutely requisite for human welfare, and while they make -good money, they have no commanding purpose to impel them to carry on -their work. The people live simple lives for the most part. On Saturday -nights the streets of the city are filled with people, and every one -is in a holiday mood. The majority of the cigar workers in Tampa are -communicants in the Roman Catholic Church and it is the finest building -in the city. It is constructed of marble and decorated with magnificent -windows. The church takes little interest, however, in social or -economic matters. One of the workers said to me the last time I was in -the city, “When the business men forced us back to work, and through -their private army guarded the city with sawed-off shotguns, the -church was back of them. All the priests want is our money.” To the -cigarmakers a church is a church whether it be Catholic or Protestant. -They remember the days in Cuba under the domination of Spain when the -priests held them in a kind of bondage of fear, and made it easy for -the political forces to exploit them. In America they do not intend to -give the church a chance at them. - -The Cuban is easily pleased; very emotional, and more inclined to be -fickle than the American or Englishman. A few years ago the butchers of -Tampa raised the price of meat. Just at that time there happened to be -a representative of the Industrial Workers of the World in the city. -He gathered some of the people together in East Tampa, harangued them -regarding their wrongs, and called a second meeting. He aroused so much -enthusiasm that nearly two thousand of the cigar workers quit their -jobs; procured sticks, and bought beefsteaks and stuck them on the end -of the sticks. Carrying these over their shoulders as though they were -banners, the whole mob marched through the streets to the City Hall, -where they demanded of the startled mayor, that he force the butchers -to reduce the price of beef. The mayor gave the necessary order and -the people then dispersed and went quietly back to their homes. Union -organizers complain that it is very difficult to maintain a union -of any strength among the cigar workers in Tampa. “They are very -enthusiastic for a time, but it is difficult for them to persistently -and constantly follow the union rules,” said one of the leaders. - -The city of the cigarmakers swarms with children, many of these -youngsters play in the street, and as the climate is warm most of the -year, during the summer they wear very little clothing. Until recently -there was no provision made for organized play among the children of -the city. Even now the provision is totally inadequate. - -=The Protestant Churches.= The Protestant churches have attempted to -do what they could among the cigarmakers; but the needs have been so -great and the equipment so inadequate that the best results have not -been secured. In West Tampa there is a very interesting piece of work -being conducted by the Methodist, the Baptist, and the Congregational -churches. One of the churches has a plant consisting of a church, a -school, and a house that is used as a social center for the entire -community. For many years two homes were operated by this church; -one for boys and one for girls. Some seven hundred children attend -the school in connection with the church. The services on Sunday -are in Spanish, and while it has not been possible always to secure -a large attendance from among the people, still there is usually -a representative and interesting group present. A man who served -as pastor of the Cuban church was for a number of years a regular -worker in one of the big cigar factories. This gave him a peculiar -relationship to the community. He was accepted as a friend and equal; -and was listened to with reverence and respect where another man would -not have secured a hearing. - -[Illustration: - - Photo from National Child Labor Committee. - -The workers in the cigar industry carry into their trade no moral -enthusiasm, for they are doing something that is not absolutely -requisite for human welfare.] - -=Some Results of the Work.= A little girl in the community where one -of the church homes is situated was arrested for being a vagrant. Her -face was dirty; she was barefooted and wore a torn, buttonless, brown -gingham dress that was positively filthy and which was held in place -by a safety-pin fastened in such a way as to give the whole dress a -weird, elfish look. The child’s picture was taken on the day that -she was arrested and committed to the care of the church. This picture -is a typical portrayal of childish rebellion against life and all -that it holds in store for the human race. Her mother was a worthless -woman, and the child had never known a father. All her life she had -really lived on the streets of the city. Her case was brought before -the Juvenile Court; she was put on probation and given into the care of -the workers in one of the little Protestant churches. She objected to -having her hair combed and refused to wash her face. Those in charge of -the home were almost in despair of being able to do anything with her. -However, they won her confidence by allowing her to go to a party where -they had a phonograph and motion pictures. They told her she could have -all the cake and lemonade she wanted; so once in her life under happier -conditions she had a chance for simple enjoyment and to be her natural -self. From that time on she began to take an interest in herself and -to gain in intelligence. Two years later she had her picture taken -and it was exhibited as the picture of the typical Cuban girl, for -she had developed into a perfect little beauty and showed capability. -This story illustrates better than almost anything else the infinite -possibilities in the Cuban people. - -Some one said of the cigarmakers in Tampa that they were not Americans -and never could be, and further stated: “They are interested only in -their theaters, their clubs, their cock-fights, their coffee-houses, -and their gambling rooms.” It is true that they are interested in -these things; because they are by temperament a pleasure-loving, -happy-go-lucky sort of people and these resources are the expression -of their idea of life. If the church would meet the needs of these -people, it must be able to appreciate them, and sympathetically to -interpret life for them. They can all become, as indeed most of them -are now, good American citizens, but they will never be like the -Americans in our Northern cities. We must allow them to develop along -the lines of their own racial interests. How can we ever expect to be -friends with Latin America if we cannot learn how to be good neighbors -to the Latin Americans living in our own land? - -=The Challenge of Conditions in the Factories.= The conditions in the -factories are not ideal by any means, nor is the nature of the business -such as to promote the highest type of character. The work is hard, -and it is performed in a heavy atmosphere poisoned with the breath of -many individuals, and vitiated by the odors of human bodies and damp -tobacco. The rooms where cigars are made have to be kept closed to save -the weed; and every window is down, and no matter how hot the weather, -not a breath of fresh air is allowed to enter the place. The atmosphere -is so bad that it gives one a headache even to pass through; imagine -what it would mean to spend your life working in such a place. - -Tuberculosis makes deep inroads in the ranks of the workers. Statistics -show that the proportion of mortality among the cigar workers -from tuberculosis of the lungs is higher than in almost any other -occupation. Between the ages of 15 and 24 the proportionate mortality -from tuberculosis is 48.5 per cent. of the total deaths as compared -with 33.8 per cent. for all occupations.[3] The reason for this is that -the workers must sit for long hours at a table in a bad atmosphere and -surrounded by others, many of whom are suffering from tuberculosis. -There are nearly 50,000 members of the union and these men have been -fighting for years for a betterment of conditions. However, just as -in other trades, the employers claim that it is impossible to make -cigars without sacrifice of the working men and women. The workers -have accepted it there, as other workers have accepted it in other -occupations, with the stoic attitude that marks so many of the laborers -of our country. - - [3] U. S. Bulletin of Labor, 1917. - -One of the most noted social workers in America, a woman with strength -and charm of character, who is a leader in every radical movement, -began her life in a cigar factory. Later on she married a man of -wealth and has lived a life of ease ever since. She says of her early -experiences: “For twelve years I was a cigar worker in Cleveland. I -was ill-nourished and poorly clad. I worked at night as well as by -day to help piece out my family’s existence. I never had anything I -wanted.” This might be said of a great many of the cigar workers and -their families. The only difference would be that she did not tell all -of her story. In addition to the long hours there is an undermining -of the health that goes with it. Now all these people are working for -some one’s pleasure. They are making luxuries. The most radical person -I ever knew in my life was an eighteen-year-old girl whose parents -had lost their money. She was forced to go to work in a cigar factory -when she was twelve years old. She was bitter toward life and had no -faith or confidence in anything or in any person. Said she, “When I -look around and see people who have all the money and all the clothes -and all the good things that I want and can never have, I know that -conditions are unjust and must be changed. I don’t care what it costs; -I am going to do my part in fighting and agitating until there is a -change.” This is an attitude that is now growing very common. There are -deep-seated forces at work perpetuating these ideas. By valuing things -more than men these conditions are made a permanent part of our life. - -=Furs.= “Why do you want to wear furs in the summer-time?” I asked a -young lady. It was an extremely hot day and she was wearing a white -dress with very short sleeves and cut low in the neck, but she had a -fox fur around her neck; there was quite a margin between the lower -edge of her fur and the upper edge of her dress. “Why,” she replied, -“I think it is pretty, don’t you?” This fur had come on a long journey -and gone through many processes before it came into her hands. Many -men and women had labored to produce it. The man who had caught the -fox probably had a line of traps stretched over nine or ten miles of -some stream in the northern part of Canada or Alaska. All through the -bitter cold of the winter he had lived alone in a cabin, and day after -day had tramped that line to take out the animals that had been caught. -Bringing them back to his cabin he skinned them; turned the hide over a -piece of board and stood it behind the stove to cure. Later the pelts -were brought out of the wilderness and sold into the hands of a group -of fur workers. They were then more fully cured, and passed on to the -makers of scarfs. All of these workers were producing a luxury. - -=The Trappers’ Community.= In one of the regions of the Northwest where -trapping is carried on through the winter there are three little -settlements. There are only three white people and one white family in -two of them, and the third settlement, which is a trading post, has -about half a dozen white families. From the time that the snow falls -in the autumn until late in May of the following spring, no one comes -into these communities except the man carrying the mail who comes -once in about ten days. No one goes out from the community unless it -is absolutely necessary. The only ministers that ever visit there -are those who come in the summer to enjoy the fishing in the near-by -streams. The wife of a trapper in this region said to a minister: -“Our oldest girl is nearly thirteen years old. She has never been to -Sunday-school and never heard a sermon. She has never seen a church -and you are the only preacher to whom she has ever talked. When I was -married fifteen years ago in Missouri and we started for this country, -I had no idea that a girl who had been brought up in the church and was -a teacher in the Sunday-school could live so long in a community where -there is no church or religious service of any kind.” When we learn of -places like this where there are no churches, and then hear of some -small community that has six or eight churches and only about five or -six hundred people, we wonder if there is not a call for a new kind of -missionary effort and zeal. The church is not alone to blame nor is -any one wholly responsible for this condition, and yet we are all to -blame, for if it is necessary that a man should live on the outpost of -civilization it should be made possible for some of the good things of -civilization to be taken to him. In the foreign missionary work we have -crossed oceans, traversed mountains, translated the Bible into new -languages, and made every effort to reach new groups of people. In our -own land we have neglected people just because they seemingly live in a -world outside of our own. While they are producing the things we demand -and use, we have forgotten the men who have brought these things to us. - -=The Theater.= People have always been interested in seeing life -presented in a play. The theater has had a large place in the history -of every nation. It has furnished the means of recreation and -amusement, and in a large measure it has been a great educator of the -people. Religion was once taught through the theater. In fact, much -of our church ritual is taken from performances that were meant to -symbolize great facts and emotions of human life. The modern theater -has become highly commercialized, and those who attend the performances -continually demand more magnificent scenery, more elaborate costumes, -and more thrills. What of the performers? Have you ever wondered, as -you looked at the play, just how the people who are taking part would -look if you saw them off the stage? For instance, there is a girl that -is playing the part of an old woman. She is dressed in a plain black, -close-fitting gown, and hobbles across the stage leaning heavily upon a -stick. In actual life she is a young woman under twenty-five years of -age, has bright red hair, a charming smile, a figure that her friends -describe as willowy, and walks with a springy step like that of a high -school girl. Another character in the play is a woman who plays the -part of the vampire. At home surrounded by her three children, she is a -demure, domestic little body. - -A few years ago one of our theatrical critics said that a glimpse -behind the scenes would cure almost any girl of the desire to become an -actress. The glamor is all in front of the curtain. Behind the scenes -we come face to face with a hard-working group of men and women who are -doing their best to furnish amusement. One of the leading actresses, -in writing the history of her life, said that the only opportunity for -success on the stage was for the person who comprehends fully that the -theater offers but one thing--a chance for long hours of drudgery and -the uncertain rewards that come from the hands of a fickle public. She -described vividly the actors’ boarding-house, with its narrow cramped -bedrooms; its dimly-lit halls, with the faded and worn carpet; the -smell of cooking that permeated the whole place “like the ghost of a -thousand dead dinners;” the bitter loneliness, the jealousies, the -misunderstandings, and she added, “my whole being revolts against all -the petty details of the life.” Then there is the traveling; nights on -the train and days spent in the hotels until time to go to the opera -house; then the feverish excitement of dressing; the play; and back to -the hotel for a few hours’ sleep and away again to another town. - -The trouble is that most of the young people who think that they -would like to go on the stage think only of the theaters in New York, -Chicago, Boston, or in one of the other large cities. The great -majority of the actor-folk spend most of their time traveling from -place to place. There are comparatively few plays that enjoy long -runs. Nowadays in one-night stands there are few places where special -rates at the hotels are secured for actors. Usually the worst rooms -in the house are assigned to them. In fact, the rooms that are given -to the actors and actresses are known in a great many hotels as the -Soubrette Row. The best rooms are saved for the regular patrons of the -house, such as traveling salesmen, while anything is “good enough for -the actor.” In China the player folk live to themselves. They have no -other companions but form a class of their own. We have not recognized -the caste system in this country, and we do not officially ostracise -the players, but in effect this is what we do. Their world is a world -apart, yet they are the ones that help to amuse us. Each year we pay -millions of dollars into the coffers of the theaters to see plays that -are produced by these men and women who work hard, and who receive but -little for their toil. - -Once in a while the newspapers tell the story of some old actor, who -has just died poor, broken down, and forgotten by the public. One of -the most pathetic figures of these modern days was that of an old actor -in Brooklyn, who had to be buried at the expense of his friends. They -took up a collection to buy the casket in which he now rests; otherwise -he would have been buried in the potter’s field although thirty years -ago he was one of the most popular men on Broadway. There are thousands -of actors and actresses and they live for the most part to themselves. -The Actors’ Church Alliance was formed some years ago and has branches -in many of our cities. There is, too, an organization known as the -Actors’ Fund, which provides relief for the poor found among these -hard-working men and women who give so much pleasure to millions of -people. - -=The Motion Pictures.= The motion-picture business has become one of -the greatest enterprises of our day. In 1914 there were over 20,000 -motion-picture theaters in the United States. The year before that -three hundred million dollars was spent for films, and over five -billion paid admissions were recorded throughout the country. The -motion-picture has made possible the reproduction of the best plays, -and they are offered to the people at a very low price. Five and -ten cents will permit any one to be amused for a whole evening. The -motion-picture theater possesses great educational possibilities. It -has revolutionized our ideas of entertainment. The best books have been -put into films and more people than ever before are having a chance -to read. This is having a profound effect upon our lives, for as has -been said, “the thing we see impresses us more than what we hear.” We -often say, “it went in one ear and out the other” but no one ever says, -“it went in one eye and out the other.” The making of films requires -the work of thousands of actors; besides carpenters, masons, machine -operators, directors, and managers. It is a huge business! - -A crowd gathered in New York at Thirty-fourth Street and Second Avenue -one Saturday afternoon. A man was beating a boy when a disheveled woman -ran out from the side entrance of a saloon and threw herself upon this -beast. He grasped her by the throat and was just about to strangle her, -when the boy, released from the clutches of the man, stabbed him in the -back with a knife and thus freed his mother. It happened so quickly -that many of the crowd thought that they were looking upon a real -tragedy. It proved to be simply a “movie” being enacted upon the street. - -In a Florida city an automobile dashed into town; a young girl was in -the back seat, while in the front was a young man driving the machine -with one hand and holding a preacher down with the other. They stopped -in front of a church; went inside, and there they were met by two other -men, accomplices of the young fellow, and who stood one on either side -of the minister with revolvers at his head and forced him to perform -the marriage ceremony. An outrage in real life, but really played for -the movies. - -In the West there are cities devoted entirely to the motion-picture -industry. In some of the elaborate plays hundreds of thousands of -dollars are expended in getting the scenic effects. Cities have been -built and then burned to give the effect of a sacked town being -destroyed by the enemy. Shipwrecks have been shown where real ships -have been purchased, and then run upon the rocks and deliberately -wrecked to get the proper setting for the pictures and the necessary -thrills for the people. What of these people who follow the -motion-picture industry for a living? Their lives are apart from the -rest of the community. It seems fascinating, but it is one filled with -hard labor, uncertain hours, and affords rather scanty pay. The pastor -of one of the Los Angeles churches attempted to reach the people living -in the near-by “movie-city” but he failed. A plan should be devised -whereby a sympathetic understanding might bring these hard-working -people into relationship with the church. The influence of such a tie -would be far-reaching in results. - -=The Makers of Other Luxuries.= Another group of workers are those -who make jewelry; others are at work making fancy costumes, special -designs in millinery, and artificial flowers. In fact, when we take -a census of all of the people who are at work serving the demands of -this age, which loves the extraordinary and insists upon luxuries as -a right, you find that there are in reality hundreds of thousands of -these workers who are in every sense of the word serving humanity. -Whether they are serving in the highest and best way is not the -question we are discussing. As long as we tolerate an age of luxury -and draft an army of thousands of men, women, and children to help -produce these luxuries, so long must we consider the needs of the men, -women, and children so drafted. The church, if its appeal is to reach -all the groups, must reach all the workers who are making possible the -abundance of things that minister to an age of luxury. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE WORLD OF SEASONAL LABOR AND THE CASUAL WORKERS - - -“Why is it that those who produce food are hungry, and that those who -make clothes are ragged? Why, moreover, is it that those who build -palaces are homeless, and that those who do the nation’s work are -forced to choose between beggary, crime, or suicide in a nation that -has fertile soil enough to feed and clothe the world; material enough -to build homes to house all peoples, an enormous productive capacity -through labor-saving machinery of forty thousand million man-power; -and where there are only sixty-five million souls to feed, clothe, and -shelter?” - -The foregoing questions were put into the platform and issued by the -Industrial Army of 1894 which was known as Coxey’s army. That year was -one of great depression all over the United States. The causes for the -depression were discussed very widely at the time. It was the year -following the great World’s Fair in Chicago and hundreds of thousands -of men were out of employment. There was suffering and deprivation in -all the cities of the United States. Charitable institutions were taxed -to their limit by the new responsibilities put upon them. The idea of -having all the unemployed form themselves into a great army of peace, -and march to Washington for the purpose of presenting to the President -and Congress a petition for the right to labor, developed in the mind -of a man named Coxey who lived at Masillon, Ohio. He gathered together -the first army numbering several thousand men. These men were organized -into companies, and officers were appointed after the fashion of the -regular military customs. - -Similar armies mobilized in other parts of the country. One at Los -Angeles, another at San Francisco, one in Boston, and one in the -Northwest, started towards Washington at one time. There were about -10,000 men on the march. They were ridiculed, persecuted, and feared. -When the army that started from San Francisco reached Sacramento, it -encamped outside the city. On Sunday night this curious army marched -down into the center of the town, halted before the first church it -came to, then the men filed in and in an orderly fashion filled up -every pew. The remainder of the army marched on to the next church and -did the same thing. This was repeated until every church in the city -was filled to its capacity. This was the first and probably the last -time in the history of that city when church pews were at a premium on -Sunday night. - -The men of this army were harmless for the most part. A great many -of them were worthless fellows, but the vast majority were honest -workingmen who had been thrown out of employment, and owing to the -circumstances of the times were unable to find anything to do, and, -consequently, were in despair. Their plan was to go quietly across the -country and when they arrived in Washington simply to fold their arms -and ask the government what it was going to do for them. Only a few of -the men of Coxey’s army reached Washington and the spectacular scheme -failed. It, however, emphasized the need of the time and showed up the -extreme danger in the situation. - -=The Unemployed.= The unemployed man presents a real problem to -society. Carlyle said, “A man willing to work, and unable to find work -is, perhaps, the saddest sight that fortune’s inequality exhibits under -the sun.” Many well-to-do people living in comfortable circumstances, -with position and income assured, assert that if a man wants work he -can always find it, and that the only men unemployed are the shiftless -and the lazy. Right now the war has absorbed all the surplus labor, -and a condition exists different from any that we have previously -known in the history of America. Immigration has been cut off and the -demands for new enterprises have called for hundreds of thousands of -new workers, so that at the present time there is no reason why any -man should be out of work. In fact, so serious has the need for men -become that the latest interpretation put upon the draft law amounts -practically to a conscription of labor for all men of draft age. - -=The Banana Boat.= A whistle sounded on the Mississippi river just -below New Orleans early one afternoon last summer. It was a dismal, -rainy day, and as the long screech died away the sound seemed almost -prophetic of some coming disaster. Soon a huge steamship painted -drab-gray, with a red diamond upon its smoke-stack, nosed its way from -out of the mist and crowded in close to the pier. Scarcely were the -ropes fast when there began to appear on the dock men black and white, -ragged, unkempt fellows who had hurried from the near-by saloons, -poolrooms, and other lounging places. This boat was just in from -Central America loaded down with bananas. Two enormous unloaders were -set up alongside of the vessel. The machinery of these started and an -endless belt, which traveled to the bottom of the hold and out again, -came up loaded with bunches of bananas. The fruit was brought down and -thrown upon a table. Here two men, standing one on either side of the -traveling belt, would take hold of a bunch of bananas and place it upon -the shoulders of a third man, who in turn carried it off to the waiting -freight-car. Fifty men went to work almost immediately; twenty an hour -later in the afternoon; and at nine o’clock that night, under the glare -of the electric lights, ninety-two men were busily engaged in carrying -the fruit and storing it in the freight-cars. - -All night long the men worked at a feverish pace. They were organized -so that they formed an endless chain. The first two continuously placed -the fruit upon the third man’s shoulder, and he in turn stepped along -as fast as those ahead of him would allow. When he was relieved of his -bunch of bananas at the car door by two men on the inside who stowed -the fruit away, he would take his place in the line of men returning -for more fruit. Round after round this group of men passed, until in -less than seventeen hours of constant work every banana was taken off -the boat. When we realize that this boat carried nearly ten thousand -tons, we get some idea of the activity of the workers. - -I said to one of the men in the line, “How often do you get a job of -this kind?” - -“That depends,” he replied. “A banana boat comes in about every three -weeks and then I have about two days’ work.” - -“What do you do between times?” I asked. - -“Well, not much of anything. Sometimes one thing, sometimes another. -Just kind of live along between the trips of these boats.” - -=Millinery and Dresses.= A little girl in Chicago wanted to learn the -millinery business. She easily found a position. It only paid four -dollars a week, but she was learning, so she was willing to begin at -that price. Just before Easter the shop where she worked was crowded -with orders, and she was forced to work from early in the morning -until late at night. When Easter was over she said, “All I know about -making hats is how to sew wire together and line frames.” The girls in -this shop who had been so busy were now thrown out of employment. They -either had to find other employment or else live on what little money -had been saved during the rush time. “I can never get ahead,” said one -of the workers in the shop. “Last year I was able to make just enough -to carry me through the dull season.” What is true of the millinery -trade is also true of some lines of garment trades, especially the -makers of evening gowns. At one period they are rushed to the limit of -their endurance: at another there is nothing to do. Business demands -cannot be regulated perfectly. The clerks in the stores at Christmas -time must expect to do extra work. - -=The Vagabond Workers.= One night in Seattle I saw a large group of men -gathered on a street corner and singing at the top of their voices. -The strange chorus was led by a young fellow who was standing on a -soap box. The song he was teaching was mere doggerel; the refrain of -it being “Oh, Mr. Block, you take the cake. You make me ache.” The -leader would pronounce a line, then say, “Now, fellow workingmen, all -sing and sing with all your might. Let us show them what we can do.” -And the motley crowd shouted out the words of the song which told the -story of a poor “blanket stiff”--a fellow who has to carry his blankets -when he goes looking for a job--who got through work in one place, went -into an employment agency to ask for a new job and was told that if he -would put up the money he could get the job. He paid two dollars and -was sent out into the woods. When he got off the train there was no -job in sight. He came back and made his complaint, but nothing could -be done because that was the method by which the employment agency -made its money. He then applied to Samuel Gompers of the Federation -of Labor, but all he got from Gompers was “sympathy.” This man’s name -was “Block,” and to accentuate the significance of the name the leader -would hold up his hand, stop the crowd from singing, and then tapping -on his head would say, “What was his name?” and they would reply -“Block.” “What was it made of?” and they shouted “wood.” - -It was amusing to listen to this crowd but in the midst of the -grotesquery of the leader and the raucous howling of the song there -was a moral quality and a spiritual earnestness that even a casual -listener could feel. These men had just come in from the woods. They -were laborers who had been lumbering all through the winter, and now -at the end of the season were thrown on the city with nothing to do. -The Industrial Workers of the World, that revolutionary organization -that was formed in Colorado early in this century, had found a fertile -soil in the minds of these men and had not been slow to sow the seed. I -stood with one of the group and listened. My friend was an elderly man -who had just reached the city from the mines in Alaska. In his youth he -had been a miner in Wales. Said he, “This carries me back to the days -of my boyhood. The Welsh sang as these men do, and the discontent of -the miners in our district gathered headway under the leadership of the -local Methodist preacher. The men sang and from their singing began an -enthusiasm that rolled throughout the whole region in a wave of protest -against the bitter conditions under which we were forced to work. We -got results. If these men keep on singing, some day they are going to -make their message heard.” The main reason for the I. W. W. and similar -organizations is that nothing has been done for the laborer who is at -the bottom of the industrial ladder. He is considered a tramp, pushed -into the out-of-the-way places, forced to do the hardest, most perilous -work, and society forgets him. He is a bum, a tramp, or hobo. No one -has a good word for him. Every effort to improve his condition is -looked upon with disfavor. This little poem expresses the feeling of -many of these men: - - “The world is housed, and homed, and wived, - It takes no note as I pass by. - Nobody shared in the life I lived, - Nobody’ll share in the death I die. - - “East, west, north, and south I’ve hiked, - Seen more things than I’d care to tell; - Part of the world that I’ve seen I liked-- - None of it liked me overwell. - - “I cheated once--or twice--in my time, - But the joy of crime I never could see, - So I never went the way of crime-- - No pull-and-haul with the cops for me. - - “I never was low like the hobo crew, - Though I’ve begged my bread on many a day, - But I always worked when they asked me to, - To pay for a meal or a bed in the hay.” - -There has never been any great success in the attempts to organize -the vagabond workers. The membership in the I. W. W. and similar -organizations rises or declines so rapidly that it is almost impossible -to quote any figures that are dependable. Professor Parker reported -the results of a careful study made in California in 1915 and which -showed that there were at that time 4,500 affiliated members in that -state. The membership fluctuates, however, because when trouble arises -in any industry in the West the membership in the I. W. W. always -doubles or trebles. In one strike in Washington the organization -claimed membership of 3,000, but there were about 7,000 on strike. -The organization of these workers and the explosive quality of their -teachings form a real menace to society. The philosophy of the I. W. W. -is expressed in the words of one of the leaders who explained that -according to their code there is no such thing as right or wrong. He -said, “We know what people mean when they discuss these questions but -they have no significance in our lives. The only principle that we -acknowledge is the principle of expediency. It is better not to break -windows because it will get us into trouble with the authorities, but -the abstract principle of breaking windows and destroying property -being wrong makes no appeal to us whatever.” The man who gave utterance -to this statement was formerly a Presbyterian minister. He was in -charge of a church in a steel city and his contact with the workers -gained for him a clear understanding of the poverty and despair that -grow out of their conditions. This vision and the sight of the people -on the other side of the social gulf, who were living most recklessly -in the midst of their luxuries, led him to become one of the leading -radicals in the labor world. The philosophy of the I. W. W., and the -power of this organization are increasing just in proportion as we fail -to correct the abuses that now destroy the lives of men. - -=Causes.= In this country we have made little effort to prevent the -consequences which are certain to follow the operation of the law of -supply and demand. We have acted upon the theory that all we need -to do is to allow natural law to have a chance for its operation. -Individualism is praised as being the means of saving the worker. The -result is that there is a shockingly large amount of labor turn-over -each year--that is, each job has two or three men working on it. We -have presented to us also the spectacle of thousands of men who form an -army of migratory laborers. In one part of the United States there will -be a labor shortage and in another there will be a shortage of work to -be done. - -If we would know what makes the tramp and the vagabond we must become -acquainted with some man who tramps the highway with his pack on his -back. His wife and his children were left years ago in some Eastern -city when he went out West to find a job. The job which he secured did -not keep him long enough for him to become a resident or even to feel -settled in the community. The place in which he slept and lived was a -bunk-house, dirty, filthy, and filled with vermin; and the food he had -to eat was of such poor quality and so wretchedly cooked that he would -not have eaten it at all except that he was almost famished and it was -all that he could get. - -The communities in which this wanderer of the road finds himself have -always been against him. The children in the homes are told that if -they are not good the tramps will get them. He looks upon the law as -being framed especially to cause him inconvenience, and the officers -of the law are his special enemies. The only places that are open to -him are the saloons, the low dives, and the cheap rooming house. The -work he does pays him fairly good wages for a short period; but when -he is paid off, with the money in his pocket, there is nothing for -him to do but to get drunk, and this he proceeds to do; nor does he -sober up until every cent is gone. Then he turns to another job if he -can find one. Of course, if he would save his money and try to live a -decent life he might be able to get on. But as the pastor of a church -in southern Washington said: “Down in my parish, which is in the woods, -I have in the winter-time about 1,500 men to look after. They are a -rough, hard set who have been gathered together through the employment -agencies in Seattle and Tacoma. They believe in nothing and in no one. -They are made victims of every possible tyranny. All that they have is -their job, and their roll of blankets. The bunk-houses in which they -live are so bad that a self-respecting dog would not stay in them. The -food they eat is absolutely rotten. They are treated like cattle, with -the exception that a valuable steer will receive greater protection, -for it is not as easy to get another good working steer as it is to -get another hobo to take the place of the worker that is lost. When -these drifters are paid off the forces that ruin men get hold of them -immediately, and for the next few days they spend their time carousing -and getting drunk. The lumber companies in our community are making -money fast, but they are destroying men, and scattering dynamite all -over the Northwest that threatens to explode in a social upheaval that -will shake the whole western part of the United States.” These are the -words of a sober-minded Presbyterian pastor and one who has no sympathy -for dangerous social doctrines. He is simply speaking out of his heart -and from his experience. - -In another district one of the officials of a mining company said in -his annual report: “This last year was one of unprecedented success. We -were able to work continuously and with little difficulty because we -had at all times an average of three men available for each job. This -gave us workers always ready to our hand.” As was said before, the war -changed this situation very largely, and for the time being the old -causes which operated to increase the number of the unemployed have -been removed. There is more work than possibly can be done, and every -worker has his job cut out for him. In a letter I have just received -the writer says, “The war offers the right-minded people of America -the greatest opportunity in history. We can correct ancient wrongs -and right old abuses if we will only put our minds to this task.” But -there are certain considerations that must be taken into account if we -would remove the causes which make for unemployment and discontent that -accompany it. The community’s responsibility for the man out of work -does not end with securing a job for him, nor with the regularizing of -industry, nor in supporting labor exchanges. We are all creatures of -circumstances and influenced strongly by our environment. Therefore, -every community ought to provide adequate means for recreation, and -decent places where men and women can gather under wholesome conditions. - -[Illustration: The casual workers are the true servants of humanity.] - -=A Man and His Job.= One of the slogans of the French Revolution was -“The right to work.” Man has a proprietary right in his job and it is -the only property that most men possess; when he loses it he is losing -everything. Some years ago the Idaho legislature passed a law which -guarantees to every citizen resident in the state for six months, -ninety days public work a year at ninety per cent. of the usual wage -if married or having a dependent, and seventy-five per cent. of the -usual wage if he is single. Industry has never been organized so as -to include the best interests of the worker. There are hundreds of -thousands more workers needed in the good years than in the bad years. -In every business special calls arise for more workers to be used for -a few weeks or a few days at a time. The reserves of labor necessary -to meet these seasonal or casual demands can be reduced to a minimum, -providing that industry is regularized. As it is, the individual worker -suffers in the machine, or system, that he has helped to create. The -modern plan of organization provides for managers, superintendents, -foremen, clerks, and skilled men--all dependent for their position -upon the group of unskilled men or semi-skilled workers at the bottom. - -It is obvious that we cannot legislate so that lumber can be taken out -of the forests all the year round, nor can the casual workers--farm -laborers, fruit-, and hop-pickers and others--have continual -employment. What we can do, however, is to mobilize the labor forces of -the country with the same care and ability that we have mobilized our -national army. Through a chain of labor exchanges extending throughout -the whole nation we can bring the man and the job together. When the -lumber employees in the woods of Washington finish with their season -they could be brought down into California to work on the farms and in -the fields; and then farther down as the fruit ripens, following on -straight through the state. In the autumn they could be brought back -again to take their places in the woods. - -Another thing that will be required is a changed attitude toward the -men at work. Just as long as we assume that the workers employed at -these tasks are worthless, just so long will they try to live down to -their reputation. A Methodist minister in Seattle believed that the -average “blanket stiff” had enough good in him to respond to right -treatment. He formed a cooperative company and bought up a number of -mills in the state. He hired a lot of the commonest workers and sent -them out to the woods to work in these mills. Instead of attempting to -make a big profit on the labor of the men, he allowed the men to share -in the management and profits of the concern. The result was that when -all the other mills were having labor troubles he was able to work -right straight along, and where others failed he made a big success. -The reason was that he faced the issues squarely and fairly, and -treated the men as he would himself like to be treated. - -=Sin and Inefficiency.= If every individual was normal you could lay -the full responsibility upon him and feel that when he failed it was -perfectly just that he should suffer, and we would not need to worry -about the conditions under which people labor. But sin enters in and -with depravity comes inefficiency. Business cannot be conducted as a -benevolent enterprise. A man or woman’s wage must be earned by the -worker or else it cannot be continued. When a man by drink or other -excesses destroys his efficiency it is impossible for him to maintain -himself in a position that pays a large wage and which offers steady -employment; so he drifts into the ranks of the casual workers. He is -unfit for regular work by temperament and habit; but he is willing to -work for a short time, even though he works extremely hard. In dealing -with the problem of the casual worker then, we have two things to take -into account: First, we must regularize industry as far as possible, -doing away with the extraordinary demands for certain periods that are -always followed by long periods of idleness. In the second place, we -must in some way lay hold of the individual man, and by surrounding him -with the best influences, make it possible for him to live a life of -righteousness and sobriety. In other words, we must reduce the amount -of seasonal work to the minimum and increase the efficiency of the -worker to the maximum. - -We should never lose sight of the fact that personal qualities enter -in to complicate this question and make its solution more difficult. -The drunkenness and vice of the individual man keep him in a position -where it is almost impossible for him to be helped or for him to help -himself. The man out of work degenerates. His moral fiber is weakened; -he becomes susceptible to every evil. The process by which many a -criminal has been made was begun in the hour that the man found himself -thrown out of employment. Perhaps it was not his own fault in the first -place, but having once been faced with the grim alternative of seeing -his family suffer or of yielding to some criminal act, he accepted the -latter as the easiest solution of the problem and a way out of his -difficulties. - -As long as a person is able to provide the necessities of life and to -keep himself and his family in a fair degree of efficiency through the -use of an adequate amount of food, shelter, and clothing, the chances -are that he will develop a new and stronger interest in the things that -have to do with the moral and social side of his life. On the other -hand, when the means of livelihood are taken away, and a man finds -himself denied the opportunity of work--which means that the things -that are necessary to satisfy the most fundamental needs of himself -and his family cannot be secured--the moral effect on this man, his -family, and society can hardly be exaggerated. The whole structure of -our life is dependent upon and presupposes regularity of employment. -Not only does the fact of being out of a job cut off a man’s means -of livelihood, but the psychological effect of being forced to live -without working, taken together with the breaking of habits acquired by -years of industry, puts a severe strain on the standards of morality -which have been built up by long and painful processes. The unemployed -man may react in one of two ways: he will become an anarchist and spend -himself in fighting the system under whose injustice he suffers, or he -will give up the struggle and become a drifter upon the tides of life, -a social outcast. - -=The Jungle.= The best thing in Upton Sinclair’s story of the -conditions in the stock-yards in Chicago is the little picture he gives -of the man who finally in despair gave up the struggle for a living, -got on a train, and went out as far west as the train would carry him. -When he left the railroad track he wandered into a field and lay down -beside a stream. Feeling hungry after a while he arose and went to a -near-by house and asked for something to eat. This was the first time -he had ever begged but the woman at the door was considerate of him and -he got his food. Then he returned and lay down again in the rich grass -and went to sleep. When he awoke he took off his clothes and had a bath -in the creek, then getting out of the water he dressed himself and -again lay down; put his hands behind his head and looked up into the -blue sky. All of a sudden it occurred to him that he was now getting -more out of life than he ever had before. He had worked and worried and -all he ever got was just barely enough to eat. Now he had all he wanted -to eat, a good place to lie and dream, the pure air of heaven fanning -his face, the blue sky over his head, and no work to do. “Why should a -man work, anyway? What’s the use?” he said. This philosophy made him a -tramp. - -Unemployment must be recognized as an evil in and of itself. For the -man out of work meals and lodging should be secured. The church has -done much in this regard. The soup-kitchens have been so much an -adjunct of so many churches that some of our evangelists have come to -refer to the soup-kitchen type of Christianity as being a recognized -type. The church knows the methods for charity and relief. We must go -further than this. The church’s program for the casual laborer should -include the education of the community regarding the necessity of -regularized industry, bringing it about so that, for instance, hats -will be made not only when hats are needed but ahead of time. And, too, -there should be public exchanges for employment covering the country -and a systematized distribution of public work. - -The forming of a comprehensive plan for unemployment insurance is -another step forward. Other countries have found this kind of insurance -a wise provision. Insurance against every form of disaster is common. -We insure a perfect day for a parade. We insure the ships and their -cargoes. We insure our lives. Why not insure men against the greatest -of all disasters that can befall them, the loss of their jobs? We -need not worry about the probability that unemployment insurance is -likely to take away the initiative of the men. The danger of moral -deterioration in such a case is much less than that which actually -grows out of the periods of unemployment. - -The church is involved in the whole situation. The men dependent on -their wages for a living find their means of livelihood cut off and -they naturally turn to the church. A year before the war broke out the -unemployed in several cities marched into the churches and demanded -help. Some of the churches felt that they were being encroached upon. -A committee in one church forced the janitor to sweep the entire -building with a solution of formaldehyde, for, as the chairman of -the committee said, “You never know what diseases these dreadful -people have.” It is undoubtedly true that the churches are always -expected to do more than it is possible for them to do. At the same -time the unemployed man has the right to feel that if the church is -a fundamental institution for the salvation of individuals, for the -remaking of society, and the reconstruction of industrial life, it -cannot evade the issue nor fail to shoulder its responsibility. To open -the church as a sleeping place and to feed the hungry is not enough. - -=The War and the Future.= The world war has brought us face to face -with a new task. The United States and Canada are at present the -producing nations of the world. The Anti-Loafer laws now being carried -through are cleaning out the cabarets, the poolrooms, the theaters, -and other places where idle men congregate. It will be years before -we are faced with the same serious situation that has faced us in -the past. However, when our huge armies are demobilized and “Johnny -comes marching home,” there will be a new problem which will have to -be considered. How can these men be fitted back into industrial life -without increasing the number of unskilled and semi-skilled workers -to such a degree that we will again be faced with a huge army of -unemployed? - -In periods of unemployment it is the common laborer who suffers most. -We have failed to realize this. And yet he makes a big contribution -to all progress. You cannot build a bridge without him and, in fact, -he is used in every enterprise. Because of his lack of skill, and -also because of his too common habits of living, we call these men -tramps and hobos, and refer to them in the mass as common laborers. -As a matter of fact no man who does any work is a common man. They -are ignorant for the most part; vicious in many cases; some are lazy, -drunken, shiftless--all of these things; but at the same time they are -the men who are cutting down the trees, sawing up the logs, forming -them into rafts, floating them down the river, and putting them through -the mills. They are the men who are loading the ships at our docks, the -men who pick hops and work in the harvest fields; pick the fruit and -do the thousand other things that have to be done when the season is -right. Besides these, there are the thousands of women who are driven -at top speed at certain periods of the year through the unusual demands -of industry, and then are thrown out of employment for long periods. -Ignorant, unknown, friendless, and made the victims of industrial -conditions over which they have no control, they seem of so little -importance in the vast system--as merely the lesser cogs in the lesser -wheels--that very few know of their existence except when something -goes wrong with the cogs, and the whole machine is shut down because of -the break. But without them the machine could not run at all. - -The casual workers are the true servants of humanity, and yet they are -the ones that are passed by unnoticed; the ones that rarely if ever are -influenced by the church. They constitute a great army of neglected men -and women, a challenge to the church, a menace to society, and a danger -to our commonwealth; and all because they are neglected and unknown. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE WORLD OF INDUSTRIAL WOMEN - - -Any one who reads history with his eyes open will be impressed with the -fact that this world has always been considered a man’s world. At one -period woman was denied every right; she was the slave of man. Rome -and Greece treated her as a child. Medieval ages found her working in -the fields and supporting large families, while her husband and son -fought for rights that could never be hers. The familiar figure of a -woman and an ox yoked together and driven by a man well represents the -spirit of the past. The Hebrew rabbis made many proverbs relating to -woman’s condition: “When Jehovah was angry, he made woman.” “Woman is -an afterthought of God.” “A man of straw is worth more than a woman of -gold.” The statement has been made and repeated times out of number -that woman’s sphere is the home. This statement is true, but not -unqualifiedly so; in fact, home is no more a woman’s place than it is a -man’s. Home is based upon mutual responsibility, consideration, and the -willingness to share mutual burdens. There is no sense in the old saw, -“Woman should leave her home but three times--when she is christened, -when she is married, and when she is buried.” This is on a par with -another old proverb: “Woman, the cat, and the chimney should never -leave the house.” We have outlived these archaic notions, and to-day, -while we recognize as never before that home is woman’s true sphere, we -realize that home is the man’s true sphere also. - -The home is the foundation-stone of our civilization. It is the -strength and safety of society. Rome fell when her homes were -destroyed. Public morals are gaged by the morals of the home. In the -face of the divorce court, with its incessant grind of business, it -is time to raise a voice of protest against the spirit of careless -indifference which views the home as a mere boarding-house, and “a -place to stay away from.” Who is the chief offender, man or woman? -The woman’s club, the woman’s place in politics, woman’s interest in -industry and in reform have all been cited as being the potent forces -at work destroying the home. As a matter of fact it is the man who is -chiefly responsible. The strength, the vigor, and the purity of the -American home, which show to-day in the splendid type of soldiers that -are being sent across the seas to fight in the battle for democracy, -speak well for the work of woman. The average man knows where he lives, -the number of the house, and the name of the street on which it stands. -He is able to recognize his children usually when he meets them. He -pays the bills and takes a general interest in the appearance and -up-keep of the establishment; but when it comes to bearing his share of -the heavy burdens, he is a poor partner in the concern. The wife and -mother is the home-maker. We know how well she has done her part. - -=Woman and Necessity.= Women have chosen their work because of -necessity as well as because of opportunity. A mother of two boys -was left a widow with no money. Her people were all poor. If she went -back home, the added burden would be an injustice to her parents and -would work hardship upon her brothers and sisters. She had too much -self-respect to take this course. She knew little about business and -had no trade, but she found work in a store and by hard study at night -and close application became an expert saleswoman. She sent her boys -through college. One of them to-day is a successful lawyer and has -served as senator in the state legislature. The other is a practising -physician in one of the large cities of the Middle West. Both of these -men are eminently successful. This woman contributed more than her -share to society and was cheerful and happy in her work. In speaking of -her one of the partners in the firm where she was employed said, “There -is no person connected with this firm who has created such a wholesome -atmosphere as she has done.” - -A little black-eyed boy was arrested in the north end of Boston and -sent to the reform school. He was eleven years old and had become the -leader of a gang of boys who had been robbing show-windows. His mother -was a Jewess; his father had deserted her and left three children, one -just a baby in arms. This woman could find nothing to do that would -pay her enough to enable her to provide actual necessities for her -children. The baby died and in the distress of the hour the mother -appealed to a neighbor. She helped her financially and found a position -for her in one of the millinery shops of the city. This woman, in -reality a widow, had been able to struggle along but was not very -capable. She fought her battle as bravely as she could and was always -cheerful, but it was almost too much for her to do the earning that was -necessary. Her little boy, without proper guardianship, with no place -to play but the streets, got into trouble. It was not only because the -mother was at work and thus unable to train her boy, that this new -trouble came, but because there is no proper and adequate provision -made for women left in her position. - -The woman of the family is always the most overburdened member. She -has serious responsibilities and the heaviest tasks. When she is left -with the care of children, it is inevitable that she should turn to -industry for her own and her children’s support. Another group of -workers are the young girls who go into work for a few years until they -are married. Still another are the young women who feel that there is -no reason why women should not have the same chance to make a place -for themselves in the world of industry that is accorded to men. We -must come to believe in the independence of both men and women and -grant to each the right to choose his or her own place and work in -life. A newspaper woman in Cincinnati said: “I determined that I had -qualifications necessary for success as a writer. I went to school and -studied hard with the intention of becoming a reporter. When I received -my diploma, I was as proud as any member of the class, but not half -as happy on that day as I was a week later when I received my first -assignment from the city editor of a paper that had employed me ‘on -trial.’ I have succeeded and am happy in my work.” Why should any one -attempt to limit this woman in her vocation? She has chosen and chosen -well. She is making her contribution and it is just as important as -that made by thousands of the best men in similar positions. - -=In War Time.= Since the war began nearly a million and a quarter -additional women have been brought into the industries of Great -Britain. This is an increase of nearly forty per cent. of the number -employed in July, 1914. Moreover, the percentage of the increase is -rising. In France we find the same situation. In the United States -as the war goes on larger numbers of women are taking places as -wage-earners. Women are replacing men in running elevators in all -public buildings, working in hotels, as conductors on street-car lines, -guards on subway trains, ticket sellers, baggage agents, and crossing -tenders in the railroad service. Thousands more are going into the -different forms of agricultural work. Besides these new pursuits, women -are running the lathes in the shops and factories, while thousands are -employed in the making of munitions. Probably it is safe to say that -for every man who has gone to the front at the present time there is a -woman in America who is doing the man’s work. - -A study of the conditions shows that nearly all the work done by women -in the warring nations is unskilled or semi-skilled. There are not very -many opportunities for advancement and most of the women feel that -they are simply working in an emergency; hence there is not a chance -of their becoming efficient as skilled workers. The ability of these -workers is remarkable, especially when we take into consideration -the fact that most of the women had no training before the war. In -the working of automatic machines where technical skill is of less -value than carefulness, attention, and dexterity, women are much -more efficient than men. In a report made upon the conditions in the -employment of women in Great Britain during the war, is this statement -concerning the efficiency of women: “In regularity, application, -accuracy, and finish women have proved very satisfactory.” - -=Quality of Work.= In the work that women are able to do, they learn -quickly, more so than the men employed in the same places; and they -increase the output above what was usual with the men workers. The -experience in the United States in pre-war times proves the efficiency -of the women workers. The treasury department employs women for the -detecting of counterfeits in paper money. After a bad bill has gone -through half a dozen banks, and has been subjected to the closest -scrutiny, and yet has not been detected, these experienced women can -detect it by its “feel.” According to statistics color-blindness is -much more prominent in men than in women. A noted educator is authority -for the statement that in the public schools four per cent. of all the -boys are color-blind, while only one tenth of one per cent. of the -girls are color-blind. It is now generally conceded that the sight is -the most intelligent of all the senses. The average woman, no matter -what she undertakes, will work harder to make herself proficient -than will the average man. One result of so many women entering into -industry is to raise the grade of employment and make the workers more -competent. It may not seem that this would be the result at first, but -that rather the reverse would be true. It was the entering of women -into the ranks of the physicians that changed the meager ten or eleven -months’ course of the medical college into the four years’ course that -is required to-day. - -There never has been a time when women were not in industry. When the -loom left the home, women followed it into the factory. More than eight -million women and girls were employed in gainful occupations outside -the home in the United States just before the war began. This number -has been increased, yet it is not out of proportion to the number of -women in the country. It is logical that women should continue in -industry. A woman must live, and for her living a certain amount of -money is required. This money must be given to her or she must earn it; -not only that, but the women of to-day will demand the right to do some -constructive work in the midst of the new conditions under which we -live. - -=The Field of Women’s Activity.= Certain vocations are closed to women. -All those occupations which demand great physical strength belong of -right to man. The heavy work in the steel-mills, much of the work in -constructural iron trades, wood-work, bridge-building, stone masonry, -heavy carpentry, mining, smelting, refining minerals, and the heavy -work of shoveling and lifting are men’s tasks. Many of the trades are -also closed to women, because in these trades it takes at least five -years’ apprenticeship before a man is able to earn a salary. Women do -not care to enter into such a long apprenticeship. They will not give -five years to non-productive work, for the great majority of women -have not accepted industrial work in preference to married life. If -the right man comes along, the average woman would feel that as a -home-maker cooperating with her husband she could accomplish more than -by continuing alone as an industrial unit. Of this attitude Miss Alice -Henry says, “Give her fairer wages, shorten her hours of toil, let her -have a chance of a good time, of a happy girlhood, and an independent, -normal woman will be free to make a real choice of the best man. She -will not be tempted to accept passively any man who offers himself, -just in order to escape from a life of unbearable toil, monotony, and -deprivation.”[4] - - [4] Alice Henry, _The Trade Union Woman_. - -[Illustration: - - Press Illustrating Service. - -In the army of laborers the girl and the woman are drafted as well as -the boy and the man.] - -=A Woman’s Chances in a Man’s World.= Woman is an organic part -of society. This means that she is a part of every one of the -organizations that enter into modern society. She has always had a -part in literature. Julia Ward Howe in writing the “Battle Hymn of -the Republic,” contributed not only to our wealth of song, but made a -direct contribution toward the winning of the freedom of the slaves. -Harriet Beecher Stowe also gave her remarkable aid to the same cause. -George Eliot was one of the great novelists. In the field of reform -Frances E. Willard takes first place. Maud Ballington Booth, the -“little mother” of thousands of prisoners, is making a new world for -the men into which they may enter when they leave the penitentiary -door. It is the Pilgrim mothers rather than the Pilgrim fathers who -ought to be given the credit for New England’s contribution to national -history. All other attempts to colonize failed because the adventurers -in their quest for gold and fortunes did not bring their women with -them. Anna the prophetess of old in the temple and Susan B. Anthony in -the suffrage cause each represent an age and an enthusiasm and an -ability to persist until results are achieved. - -Now we have a new situation. Many people view with concern the -increasing numbers of women that are employed in gainful occupations -in the United States and Canada at the present time. The employment of -women presents not one question but many. The problem that is familiar -to nearly all housekeepers--that of securing domestic service--presses -upon our attention the number of women employed in this kind of work. -Domestic service engages the largest number of women outside of the -home. Women are now doing everything that men have done, and in most -cases are doing the work just as well, while in many occupations they -show an efficiency that men have never achieved. Charles Kingsley’s -phrase, “For men must work and women must weep,” did very well in -that age, but under the economic conditions under which we are living -to-day, the contrast he makes is absolutely inappropriate. The question -of work and workers has been settled. In the army of laborers the girl -and the woman are drafted as well as the boy and man. - -Before the great war began there was in the United States about -one woman worker for every five men. This number has been greatly -increased. Of the three hundred specific occupations the census of -1900 enumerated there were only two occupations in which women were -not engaged in some capacity. The census of 1910 gives a larger number -of occupations, and not one in which women are not employed. Women are -on the street-car lines and are line women and telegraphers, riveters, -blacksmiths, steam-boiler makers, brass workers, and foundry workers. -In fact, no work seems too hard or too heavy for some woman to make -a success of it. From the time of the invention of the cotton-gin, -which brought more women into the world of industry than any other one -machine, to the present day we have the story of women and men gaining -larger visions, receiving better wages, and together making the world a -more habitable place for us all. - -=Justice to Women Workers.= It would be impossible for us to manage -business as we do to-day without the efficient help of secretaries, -stenographers, telegraph-operators, and other office assistants, nearly -all of whom are women. The question arises as to what treatment a woman -should receive. For some reason, when a woman does a piece of work, no -matter how well it is done, or howsoever efficient she becomes, we have -a feeling that she should receive less pay for the same work than a man -would receive. There are many reasons why women are suffering from this -injustice. One arises from the conditions which bring a large number of -women into industry. - -A number of salesgirls, some stenographers, and a great many helpers -in different industrial firms live at home and work for what is known -as pin-money. They are not primarily dependent upon their wage. The -money comes in handy and they can use it to good advantage. They are -not forced to work, hence, they can and will accept a lower wage than -if they were absolutely dependent upon what they earn. “I receive $3.50 -a week for clerking in this store,” said a bright girl in Chicago, “and -I don’t take anything from the floor-walkers. Whenever they try to -order me around, they have got another guess coming. I don’t have to -work, and I let them know it. They are mighty lucky to get me.” This -was all right for this girl, but the fact that she was situated so that -a salary of $3.50 a week satisfied her made it possible for the firm -to set that as a standard wage, and other girls who did have to take -bossing from the floor-walkers, and were dependent upon their wages, -were forced to accept what the firm offered. A friend of mine who has -an interest in a dry-goods store holds that the average girl is not -worth more than $6 a week because she works simply to tide her over -a few years until she gets married. He said, “I cannot afford to pay -more than $6 because my competitors pay this same rate to their clerks; -and if I am going to sell goods I have to take into consideration the -conditions in the trade.” - -Another thing that enters into the situation is the fact that women -workers have never been as well organized as men. The points upon which -the trade-union movement concentrates are the raising of wages, the -shortening of hours, the diminution of seasonal work, the regulation -of piece-work (with its resultant speeding up), the maintaining of -sanitary conditions, the guarding of unsafe machinery, the making of -laws against child labor which can be enforced, the abolition of taxes -for power and for working materials (such as thread and needles), -and of unfair fines for petty or unproved offenses. Miss Henry tells -of a case in a non-union trade which suggests the reasons which make -organization a necessity. “Twenty-one years ago in the bag and hemp -factories of St. Louis, girl experts turned out 460 yards of material -in a twelve-hour day, the pay being 24 cents per bolt, measuring from -60 to 66 yards. These girls earned $1.84 per day. Four years ago a girl -could not hold her job under 1,000 yards in a ten-hour day. The fastest -possible worker can turn out only 1,200 yards, and the price has -dropped to 15 cents a hundred yards. The old rate of 24 cents per bolt -used to net $1.80 to a very quick worker. The new rate to one equally -competent is but $1.50. - -“The workers have to fill a shuttle every minute and a half or two -minutes. This necessitates the strain of constant vigilance, as -the breaking of the thread causes unevenness, and for this mishap -operators are laid off for two or three days. The operators are at -such a tension that they not only stand all day, but may not even bend -their knees. The air is thick with lint which the workers inhale. The -throat and eyes are terribly affected, and it is necessary to work -with the head bound up, and to comb the lint from the eyebrows. The -proprietors have to retain a physician to attend the workers every -morning, and medicine is supplied free, as an accepted need for every -one so engaged. One year is spent in learning the trade; and the girls -last at it only from three to four years afterward. Some of them enter -marriage, but many of them are thrown on the human waste-heap. One -company employs nearly 1,000 women, so that a large number are affected -by these vile, inhuman conditions. The girls in the trade are mostly -Slovaks, Poles, and Bohemians, who have not been long in America. In -their inexperience they count $1.50 as good wages, although gained -at ever so great a physical cost.”[5] These wretched conditions are -not uncommon. Thousands of women who are forced to earn their living -and are contributing their full share toward making America the great -commercial power she is to-day are laboring under just such injustice. - - [5] Alice Henry, _The Trade Union Woman_. - -=Women and Unions.= Most of the union leaders have viewed with alarm -the increasing number of women that are being drafted into industry -each year. The reasons for this are clear to all who know the history -of trade unionism and know how the workmen greet the coming into -industry of any new group of available workers. The war has made -labor conditions chaotic; and the shortage in certain lines has given -opportunity for the employers to substitute women for men, because -women for the most part are economically defenseless and, therefore, -can be secured for a lower wage than men. Women are more easily -exploited than men because they have not been so long in the industrial -struggle with its keen competition. They are less able to appreciate -the value of cooperation for mutual protection. One union leader said, -“I look upon the large number of women who are being drafted into -industry as a real menace to the women themselves, to society, and to -labor.” The situation presents itself something like this: Organized -labor has a very close relation in its feeling to all labor and to -all the different groups of workingmen organized and unorganized; and -it regards an injustice to an unorganized worker as being indirectly -an injustice to itself. The reason for this sympathy is of course -primarily selfish, for the union man knows that if his fellow laborers -in another trade are unprotected, and an injustice is practised upon -them, it will be only a short time until the same thing will be -attempted upon the organized worker. If women go into competition with -men under present conditions they will be employed rather than men -because they can be secured for a lower wage. Look, for instance, at -some of the cotton-mills in the South, where the whole family, father, -mother, and two or three children all work, and the total wage of the -family group amounts to just about what is considered a living wage. - -The attitude of organized labor toward women workers is about the -same as its attitude toward cheap foreign labor, and the reason for -the feeling is due wholly to the fear that the women brought into the -industry will lower wages and bring down the standard of living of the -entire group. The attitude is dictated as a defense measure in behalf -of the standard of living for all. The attitude of union labor is -indefensible except as a measure of self-defense. It should be said, -however, that union labor is not a unit in this attitude. There are a -large number of broad-minded men in the ranks of the organized workers -who recognize present conditions, and see that it is inevitable that -larger numbers of women shall be employed in gainful occupations in the -future. Instead of putting up the bars and attempting to keep women -out, those who have given the matter most thought are putting forth -their efforts to organize the workers. The Women’s National Trade Union -League, of which Mrs. Raymond Robbins is the president, has rendered -great service for the women workers of the nation. Legislation has -been secured and minimum wages established in some places. But best of -all this movement has been teaching the women workers the necessity -of organization in order that they and other women may be protected, -and that the women drafted into industry may not become a menace to -the American standard of living which has been built up at such great -pains and through such toilsome efforts. This league voices the protest -of American working women against the notoriously bad conditions -surrounding the work of women and children. - -Women have always been taken into some of the men’s unions, but the -growth of certain trades--such as glove-making, coat- and suit-making, -shirt, collar, and shirt-waist manufacturing--employing women almost -exclusively made such cooperation impossible. These trades were -organized after much effort on the part of the leaders of the Women’s -National Trade Union League. This organization has conducted several -strikes in big cities in the last ten years, and in nearly every case -has won. Girls strike just as hard as men. They have more persistence; -are more willing to sacrifice and suffer and generally show more -intelligence in conducting their affairs. They make good pickets -and because of their aggressive, earnest work are successful. Their -resources are not so great and when they are out of work they have more -difficulty in getting temporary jobs. Another important feature of -their problems is that the supply of non-union workers to take their -places is almost unlimited. - -=Women and the Church.= Women in all the Christian ages have recognized -the church as their friend and in appreciation of what it has done they -have worked unceasingly for its success. There is a big task before -the church in behalf of women, and especially in the interests of the -women laborers in industry. There is the opportunity for the church -groups to influence the individual employer to improve conditions -pending regulation by the community. In addition to the question of -wages and hours the demands of the churches must involve the abolition -of the speeding-up process by which, under the piece-work system, the -amount of work required for a specified task is constantly increased. -The fastest worker is used as the pace-maker, so that the wage of the -slower worker continually drops, and the amount of work done by the -fastest workers continually increases. The law may specify a minimum -wage, but it cannot specify the amount of work to be done in each -particular trade. - -Here is where the church groups must cooperate with the working women -themselves, and must assist them to secure some voice in determining -the conditions under which they shall work. Legislation alone can never -achieve the standards now demanded in common by the church and social -workers; nor can they be realized by the benevolence of employers. -If the health and morals of the community are not to suffer from the -employment of women in industry, it can be accomplished only by the -cooperation of working women to this end. The church must educate -its community to think in terms of the greatest good to the greatest -number. And this means that we must come to realize more than ever -that the strength of the childhood of the nation is dependent upon -the home; and that the strength of the home is dependent upon the -physical, intellectual, and moral welfare of the women of the nation. -It is possible for the church to accomplish much by arousing purchasers -to the necessity of using their conscience in their shopping. Local -white-lists of stores and factories which meet the Consumers’ League -conditions can be made by representative groups. The Consumers’ League -label and the labels of the organizations affiliated in the Women’s -Trade Union League should be demanded. They will protect the conscience -of the buyer and assure him that his comfort is not being secured at -the cost of strain upon the health and morals of the women of his city -or nation. It is for the churches to make this fight for the working -women a community issue. It is a religious issue, and the pulpit may -help to realize these religious values in the lives of the working -women. - -When we pray “God save the people,” it would be well for us to use our -heads in our prayers, and to remember that the people will perish if we -do not protect the womanhood which is the foundation of the home. God -cannot save the people if we destroy the mothers of men. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE WORLD OF THE CHILD WORKERS - - -“No, we can’t go to school, much as we’d like to. You see, school holds -only a few weeks each year and we have to help with the tobacco.” - -This was the reply of a twelve-year-old girl to a question regarding -her school work. She also informed the visitor that helping with the -tobacco meant doing everything that was necessary to be done from the -time the plants are set out until the leaves are finally cured. While -the conversation was going on, this girl’s eight-year-old sister came -out of the barn, and the visitor said: - -“Do you help with the tobacco, too?” - -“Yep,” was her reply, “I jest now been out wormin’ it.” - -When asked what she meant by that she was utterly amazed that any one -could be so ignorant as not to know that tobacco had to be wormed. To -display her efficiency, she showed a tomato-can nearly full of worms -that she had just brought in from the tobacco-field. To prove the -quality of her catch, she held up a nice fat one and even offered to -let the visitor take it if he so desired. - -The Burley tobacco is made into plugs for chewing and is used in pipes. -It is grown very extensively in central Kentucky. It was on one of -these tobacco farms that this conversation took place. The worm that -infests the plant looks like a caterpillar with a smooth skin. A small -boy described it as a “bald-headed caterpillar.” It has huge eyes and -is twice the size of the woolly caterpillar. These creatures crawl -all over the plants, and, because of their size and their voracious -appetite, unless they are closely looked after, soon destroy all the -leaves. The plants cannot be sprayed with poison for obvious reasons. -The only prevention is to have the worms picked off by hand. This work -falls to the lot of the boys and girls in the district. It is not a -very congenial task, and it is hard work for the children stooping and -raising the leaves as they toil all day in the burning sun. The little -girls wore their sunbonnets tied under their chins but pushed back on -their necks. They were barefooted and carried a tin can in one hand to -hold the worms. They followed down each row peering under the leaves -and picking off the worms. “Wormin’ time” came just at the period when -they ought to have been in school, but the tobacco had to be saved. - -=The Beet-Fields.= There is a settlement of Russians near Billings, -Montana. The fathers, mothers, and all the children work in the -beet-fields. The work commences early in the spring when the beets have -to be thinned out. Apparently no child is too young to pull beets. I -saw boys in the beet-fields hoeing and the hoe-handle was almost as big -as their little bare legs. When the crop is ready to harvest, the dirt -is loosened about the beets and then they are pulled out by hand. The -dirt is knocked off the roots and they are thrown to one side so that -when a row of beets has been pulled they look like hay in a windrow. -This work is heavy and hard, for a beet will average from seven to -eight pounds, and by the time a person has lifted them all day long -from five in the morning to seven at night, he has lifted several tons. -After the beets are laid in rows they have to be topped with a strong, -broad-bladed knife with a hook at the end. The beet is held against -the knee of the worker, and with one stroke of the knife the top is -severed from the root. In the beet-fields the beauties of nature are -reduced to a dull round of production. According to a report made by -the National Labor Committee there are five thousand children working -in the beet-fields. “Money and not children is evidently the chief -concern of these families” is the testimony given in the report made -by Miss Ruth McIntire. She says: “An eleven-year-old girl was found, -who with her sister aged seven, was kept out of school to work in the -beet-field, although her family boasted that they had made ten thousand -dollars last year from their farm. A certain parent declared to a -school principal that his boy was worth $1,000 for work during the beet -season. If he went to school he was nothing but an expense.”[6] - - [6] “Children in Agriculture,” by Ruth McIntire, a pamphlet - published by the National Child Labor Committee. - -=Mills, Factories, and Workshops.= With the development of the -cotton-mill there was opened up a wide field for the exploitation of -childhood. The spools full of thread have to be put on the machine and -the empty spools removed. Boys and girls of six and eight years can do -this work even better than a grown man or woman. One worker in a mill -can take care of several machines, and if there is a child to care for -the spools the machines can be run very economically, and the profits -will be large. Children are used in works and on the breakers in the -coal-mines. In one of the silver-mills in the Cœur d’Alene mining -district boys stand on the platform alongside the incline down which -the ore rushes in a ceaseless stream going into the breakers. As it -passes down their quick eyes detect the rocks, and especially the hard -round stones that get mixed up with ore. These they pick out and throw -to one side. This is a boy’s job. He can do it better than a man. Thus -all modern processes of industry seem to be at work to make easy the -utilization of the immature and the unskilled. - -=Why Child Labor.= Because the machine produces so much it is possible -to pay the child worker a wage that seems large in comparison to what -a man would receive. The father of a boy who worked in one of the -cotton-mills said, “I can make a dollar and seventy-five cents a day; -but my nine-year-old kid makes anywhere from eighty cents to one dollar -a day.” The quick returns from child labor appeal to the selfishness -of the manufacturer as well as to the greed of the father and mother. -It is not good business to have a man do anything that a machine can -do; nor is it good business to put a man to work on a job that a -boy can do just as well as a man. This is the dictate of business. -Children are an expense, and with the increased cost of living there is -always a temptation to utilize the children in the family as economic -assets. “I have three children,” said a father in an Indiana town, -“and all of them are working. We are about as happy a family as you -want to find anywhere. Every month we are able to put a tidy sum in -the savings-bank. Every member of the family is doing his or her -full share. But now on the other hand, my brother has four children -and not one of them is earning a cent. The oldest girl had to have a -college education and that is just a drain on the family. Poor George -has never known a moment’s ease or peace all of his life, what with an -extravagant wife and four children eating their heads off!” - -“Children are a blessing from the Lord,” says an old writer. But the -modern interpretation is that they are industrial units that can be -utilized to advantage. Another reason for child labor, however, is -found in the stress of poverty. Here is the story told by another -father: “I love my children just as much as anybody in the city and -I would like to see them have a good time. Joe is selling papers on -the street, May working as cash-girl in a dry-goods store, Frankie -clerking in a five-and-ten-cent store, and William working in a pencil -factory--but not just because I do not care to provide for them. You -see it is this way. My folks were poor and there were nine of us -children. When I was eight years old I had to go to work. To begin with -I got good wages for a boy, and until I was eighteen or nineteen years -old I got along all right. Just about that time other fellows came in -that had more than twelve dollars a week. I began at six dollars. Now I -am nearly fifty, and am already considered an old man, and I am getting -forty dollars a month. How can I support my children and give them -an education such as they ought to have?” This indicates the vicious -circle that is formed between poverty and childhood. Poverty forces -children into industry. They help out for the time being but it is not -very long before they have used up all their initiative, and have gone -just as far as they can go; and as they grow older their wages are -reduced, and in turn their children have to go into the mills to help -them out. - -=Poverty and the Cost of Living.= Poverty is the chief enemy of -humanity. It is the parent of nearly all of our ills. This is the -demon that drives bad bargains. For the present the high wages that -are being paid for labor everywhere has done away with a great deal of -poverty; but even yet wages have not been advanced in proportion to -the increased cost of living. Last fall in Scranton a gentleman whom I -met was bitterly complaining of the high price of coal. “If it is so -high now what in the world will the poor people of the city do when the -cold weather really comes?” Scranton is built on the largest anthracite -coal deposit in the world. It is said that in some places the vein is -seventy-five feet thick. It is estimated that at the present rate of -production the supply will last for one hundred years. If, therefore, -the poor people of Scranton suffer for lack of coal what about the -people in other places? We learned last winter how essential coal is to -the life of the people. Combinations all tend to keep the prices high; -our foodstuffs, our fuel, our clothes are high, not because of the law -of supply and demand, for we have learned how to circumvent that law, -but we are all “jobbed by the jobbers.” - -Cold storage enables vast quantities of goods to be brought together -and kept for a rise in the market. James E. Wetz, the so-called -egg-king of Chicago, boasted early last winter that he had six million -dozen eggs in storage, and in defiance of the Federal Prosecutor said, -“All the investigation, legislative or otherwise, will not bring the -price of eggs down this year. This is a broker’s year and as for me I -am going to sit tight, watch the prices climb up, and the public can -pay. Nobody can do anything to me.” In the French Revolution the queen -appealed to one of the superintendents of finance and urged him to -bring about a change, for the people were starving. He was obdurate, -however, and in despair she said to him, “What will the people eat?” -The contemptuous statement of the French official was, “Let the people -eat grass.” With the increased cost of living, and the manipulation -of the market so as to keep prices always above a certain level, the -present rise in wages is not as great as under ordinary circumstances. -As long as there is poverty there will always be a strong incentive for -the piratical industrial agent and the greedy conscienceless father to -join hands in exploiting childhood. - -=Effect of Child Labor.= The children of the nations at war have been -called the second line of national defense. The men in the front line -are the soldiers and the children growing up will take their places. If -the childhood of the nations at war is destroyed, there is no chance -for men to take the places of the ones who fall at the front. It is -perfectly clear then that in times of war the nations are dependent -upon the growing boys. If, however, the children in times of war form -the second line of defense, in times of peace they form the first line -of defense. The future of a nation is in the hands of the boys and -girls of the present generation. They are the men and women that will -take the places of the business men, the workers in the factories and -workshops, and the tillers of the soil. They must become the future -people who will be responsible for transportation, producers of the -raw materials of civilization, and those who with cunning hands and -ingenious brains work these raw materials into finished fabrics that go -to make up the wonders of civilization and of the age. We are robbing -the nation when we set children to work and make producers out of them. - -=Physical Evils.= The effects of child labor are so bad and so well -known that there is no need of entering into a formal discussion of -the question. I taught a class of boys in a settlement in Chicago some -years ago. One of the little fellows had hands that were as black as a -Negro’s, and he always held his hand in a certain position. One night -after class I asked him to wait for a few minutes. I said, “Just a -minute, Fred. I notice that you always hold your hand in a peculiar -way.” “Gee, it is the only way I can hold it,” he replied. Then he -showed me that his fingers were all pressed out of shape and that the -black stain was ink that had been ground into his hand and into his -very flesh. This boy looked to be about twelve years old but he was -nearly nineteen. For almost nine years he had been working in a box -factory. His job was to stencil the ends of boxes. He would lay the -stencil on the wooden end of the boxes, then hold a brush resembling a -shaving brush in his hand and this he would dip into the pot of black -and rub it across the stencil. This constant work for ten hours a day -for nine years had blackened his hands so that they would never be -white again; and the constant pressure from the brush had deformed his -right hand so that it was good for nothing else than to hold a stencil -brush. - -Nearly all the unemployable men who gather in our cities, who sleep on -the park benches in good weather, eat wherever they can, and in cold -weather fill up the municipal lodging houses or sleep upon the floors -of the police stations, are physically unfit because they were forced -to go to work at too early an age. The number of these men who are the -victims of child labor is remarkable. A student of social conditions, -who made a study of the problem of unemployment in this country in the -winter of 1913-14 said, “We are coming to see the rank folly of putting -children in at one end of the industrial hopper, grinding them up, -and taking inefficient, no-account men out at the other end. We have -thousands of children in the country doing work that they ought not -to do, and hundreds of thousands of men who can get nothing to do. We -are not only faced with the problem to-day, but we are projecting the -problem into to-morrow.” - -An accurate study of the life of the cotton-mill operators shows that -the death-rate is so high that the inference is justified that work -in the mill has an unfortunate influence upon those who follow it. -Approximately half of the deaths of the operatives between fifteen and -forty-five years of age are due to tuberculosis. Some years ago a book -was published in defense of child labor in the South. The contention -was that the workers in the cotton-mill were the most healthful of any -people in the community. A report made by the United States government -on the conditions in the mills shows that beyond any doubt the mill -is a hazardous place for an adult, to say nothing of the child. In -Massachusetts, according to reports quoted by Florence I. Taylor of -the National Committee on Child Labor, it was found that the average -fourteen-year-old mill boy was decidedly below standard in weight and -height; and that the sixteen-year-old boys did not show a normal gain -in height over the fifteen-year-old boys, and actually decreased two -and a half pounds in average weight. “It was evident from the physical -examination alone,” said the report, “that there were boys whose -interests from the point of view of physical welfare called for further -attention after being permitted to go to work, whatever the work for -which an employment certificate might be issued.” - -In the printing trades, in the paint shops, in glass works, in -coal-mines, in fact, in every place where children are employed, we -find the physical effects all bad. The undeveloped boy or girl is more -susceptible to diseases that are inherent in the several businesses -themselves. For instance, lead attacks a child worker more quickly -than it would an adult. The fumes inhaled and the substances breathed -in affect the child, and owing to the demands put upon his physical -strength by his growing body it is difficult for nature to throw off -the bad effects of these poisons. - -=Child Labor and Education.= Another evil is the loss of educational -opportunities. “There is plenty of time for the children to go to -school,” is a common saying among fathers and mothers. “I will send -Mary to school next year,” said a farmer in Oklahoma. “She wants to -go on with her class. I cannot see that it makes any great difference -whether she gets her learning this year or next.” Mary was fourteen -years old and we have no record of Mary’s career, but it is quite -probable that she never got a chance to go back to school. The school -promised to boys and girls who are being used in gainful occupations -is like the promise that St. Patrick made to the snakes in Ireland -after he had put them all into a box. He promised that he would let -them out to-morrow, but to-morrow never came, according to the old -Irish legend. - -A returning visitor from Russia tells us that the cause of Russia’s -collapse is to be found in the ignorance of the people. Only one per -cent. of the people are able to read and write. In the midst of this -dense ignorance the peasant groups believe everything and nothing; are -easily influenced by anything no matter how unsubstantial, passionate, -cruel, brutish. No wonder that Russia presents one of the most pitiable -spectacles of any nation in the world’s history. There is serious -danger that in America we will produce a rural peasantry that is -ignorant, and if such should be the case, there will grow up with this -ignorance a narrow-minded prejudice against everything that we think is -worth while in life. Education is the hope of this nation as well as -that of every other nation. - -=What of Disposition and Character?= Child labor has a bad effect on -the disposition. It crushes initiative from the group, and while it -will develop a type of leadership in the future, the leadership is not -that of free, broad-minded Americans, but is self-assertive cheap, -tricky, and clannishly shrewd. For instance, I was told that the -children attending school in an Arkansas city who came from the mill -district were the leaders in all the sports. I asked some of the boys -about this, and named to them several who I had been told were leaders. -The reply was that these fellows were not leaders but were bullies. “No -matter what we play, they want to run everything, and if we do not -do what they want us to do, we have a fuss.” The struggle in the mill -and the bearing of responsibilities had led the mill boys to rely upon -themselves. They knew that they could never get anything unless they -got it for themselves and by the most direct and brutal means. In an -age when a new emphasis is being put upon cooperation any power that -warps the disposition and creates wrong ideals is a real menace. - -=Robbers of Childhood.= “Ketch,” cried a small lad as he turned with -the ball in his hand just as he was entering the mill door at the end -of the thirty minute noon period of freedom. The boy to whom he had -called, and who had been playing ball with him during this period -raised his hands preparatory to catching the ball. Then he dropped them -to his side and said, “Naw, don’t throw it, else we’ll get fined for -not comin’ in on time after the whistle blew.” No time for play! Thirty -minutes for lunch and out of that thirty minutes these boys had taken -as much as possible for a game of ball. By night they would be so tired -that there would be no inclination to play. They would stand around -and talk a little, or sit on the front porch for an hour after supper, -and then crawl into bed and sleep until aroused by the whistle of the -factory early in the morning. This was the life of these children. The -only period in their lives when they might have been free was taken -away from them and they were made to work in the mills of industry, -grinding out the raw materials of civilization which go into the very -foundation of our society, and grinding out at the same time the joy -of life and the possibilities of ever being able to gain the best that -life holds in store for them. - -=A National Evil.= East, west, north, and south we have been robbing -children on every hand. California canners deplore the conditions -among the child workers in Massachusetts. In Massachusetts those who -employ children find excuses for themselves in the laws of the state, -and in the traditions of New England, but they have no good thing to -say about conditions in the mills of the South. In the South it is -easy to find men who are responsible for the children working who see -nothing but good evolution of the family from bad rural conditions to -a condition of comparative opulence in their mill cities, but who can -see nothing good in the child labor as it is found in the coal-mines -in Pennsylvania and the beet-fields of the Northwest. In Montana and -Nebraska the farmer everywhere will tell you that “Nothing is so good -for a child as to work in the beet-fields. It makes a man of him -quicker than anything else.” - -=The Unfinished Task.= When the Federal Child Labor Law was passed -which prohibited the shipping of any goods in interstate commerce -that had been manufactured by child labor, a great many people -foolishly thought that the last trench was taken and the final victory -won in behalf of the children. Now that this law has been declared -unconstitutional we will have to begin the fight for its reenactment -in terms that will be in accord with the constitution of the United -States. This law was a great advance over anything we have ever had -before. While it held, it released thousands of children from toil, -but there were still employed in small towns, in villages, and in the -rural communities boys and girls in domestic service, as bootblacks, as -newsboys, as messenger boys, and at work in stores and local shops. -According to the last census in the United States, 1,990,225 children -under fifteen years of age are at work at some gainful occupation and -895,976 of these children are thirteen or under. Advanced legislation -has been taken in most of the states, but as the standards of such -legislation rise in the different states it becomes clear that with the -reenactment of the child labor law further steps must be taken for the -protection of children against exploitation. For instance, the child -labor law can be administered effectively and for the best good of the -child only in connection with compulsory education laws. It is futile, -and dangerous as well, to take the children out of the mills and leave -them in idleness upon the streets. Higher and better health standards -must be raised and safeguards thrown about the home and school life of -the children. Owen Lovejoy says, “The physical development of children -securing employment is quite as important as their age.” - -[Illustration: - - Photo from National Child Labor Committee. - -We have thousands of children in America doing work which they ought -not to do.] - -=The War and Childhood.= The war has put a new emphasis upon the value -of children as industrial assets, and many states attempted to rescind -the laws protecting children so that they might be allowed to work in -the munition factories as a war measure. England had her experience. -Schools suffered, juvenile delinquency grew, and chaos resulted from -the short-sighted policy of those who wanted children to help out in -a time of need. An English periodical is quoted as saying, “When the -farmers clamored for boys and girls at the outbreak of the war, it was -‘for a few weeks only,’ and ‘to save the harvest.’ The few weeks have -spread out to a few years; and a few years cover all the brief period -‘’twixt boy and man’ when character is molded, education completed, -and skill of hand and eye and intellect acquired. Even in the time of -peace one of our statesmen said that one of the most urgent national -problems was how to check the evils by which too many of our bright, -clean, clever boys leaving school at the ages of thirteen or fourteen, -had become ignorant and worthless hooligans at seventeen or eighteen. -Much has been done in recent years by patient, skilful endeavor to -stanch this wound in the body politic; but now all is reversed and -the hooligan harvest promises to be truly plenteous. The victims -are of two classes. First, the little children taken from school at -illegal ages for a few weeks under promises that their interrupted -school time should be completed later on--a ‘later on’ which was -never really practicable, and is now frankly abandoned. Secondly, the -boys and girls, who, having completed their legal school attendance, -would normally have gone to learn a trade, and would by a few years -of patient training and industry at small wages have made themselves -skilled workers and worthy citizens. But training for any future -efficiency, either industrial, social, or moral, has been brushed aside -by the necessities or the hysteria of war time.” It remains to be seen -whether we will learn the lesson from Britain’s experience. - -=The Church’s Part.= There is no one thing in which the church should -be so much interested as in the welfare of the children. When Jesus was -asked who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, he took a little -child and set him in the midst of the disciples. If any one offends a -child, he said, it were better for him that “a millstone were hanged -about his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.” Entrance into his -kingdom was dependent upon a childlike attitude, and the measure of -rewards and punishments was to be meted out according to the treatment -of children by the individual man and woman. - -“Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst?” is the question which -we must ask. “Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye -did it not unto me,” is the promised reply. The program of the church -relating to the children is perfectly simple and plain. Each church -should keep in close touch with the work of the National Committee on -Child Labor. Information can be secured by writing to the Secretary, -Owen R. Lovejoy, 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York. One Sunday in -each year, the fourth Sunday in January, is set aside as Child Labor -Sunday. Every church should take pains to observe this day and make -it a time when the members of the church will be made acquainted with -the work being done by the Child Labor Committee; and should strive to -understand the conditions concerning the child laborers of America, and -the plans and purposes that are being devised for meeting needs and for -protecting our nation’s greatest asset. Child Labor Sunday was observed -in nearly 10,000 churches last year. - -The child laborer suffers because we do not know about him. His life -is lived in a world apart. While he is producing the things that we -accept, we have forgotten or passed over lightly the needs of the -producer himself. The war puts a new responsibility upon us. Its agony -and suffering have made us seemingly callous to suffering and we stand -in grave danger of losing our power to sympathize. It is during such -periods as these that the hard won gains of generations may be lost. -We have gone far in our legislation for the protection of children -since the days when the Earl of Shaftsbury first began his work for the -poor boys of London. Much remains to be done. The church cannot slacken -its efforts nor clear its skirts of responsibility if it does not exert -every effort and put forth all its strength to pass new legislation, -and steadfastly to set its face against every effort to break down -existing laws or set them aside even as a temporary measure. - -The battle for democracy cannot be won, and will not be won, even with -the destruction of German autocracy if we allow the bulwark that has -been built up for the protection of the children of democracy to be -torn down. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE MESSAGE AND MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH TO A WORLD OF WORK - - -“He has never given me a mouthful of bread nor means to gain it. What -have I to do with your God?” This was the answer of an immigrant woman -to an appeal made by the church visitor, and it strikes nearer the -heart of our modern life than it appears upon first thought. Why indeed -should a person acknowledge kinship to a God who allows suffering, -sorrow, and want in the world? It is not enough to answer such a -question by pointing to the ultimate ends God has in view, for with -hunger gnawing at the very vitals it is difficult to be philosophical -or to meet the problems of existence in a quiet frame of mind. It is -undoubtedly true that a large part of the misery and suffering of this -world is caused by the sins and incompetency of the individual; but it -does not help one to bear misfortune to know that he is to blame for -his own condition. Is it any easier for the mother to teach her hungry -little children to say their prayers asking the heavenly Father to feed -them when she knows that her husband has brought the suffering and -want through his evil conduct? But suppose she knows that her husband -has tried as hard as possible, and in spite of all his efforts and all -her care there is not enough bread for the little ones. She is very -likely to grow impatient with the religion that talks about love, and -yet allows bad social conditions to exist in the community that robs -children of their childhood, destroys manhood, and makes women slaves -in their own homes. - -We have studied certain groups of the workers, and great as is the -contribution made by these workers, it is only a small part of the -story. The world of the workers is a very large world. Within this -world things are produced that enrich mankind to a degree that has -never even been dreamed of in any other age of the world’s history. The -men who are producing these things are the true servants of the world. - -=Social Salvation and the Wage-Earners.= The church, in order to retain -its ascendency in national life, must lay increasing emphasis upon the -importance of social salvation. The importance of social salvation as -contrasted with individual salvation was seen by the great spiritual -teachers of the past; but modern civilization, with its marvels of -intercommunication, has placed a new emphasis upon mutual dependence of -associated human beings, and has made self-realization a possibility -only in connection with the salvation of the social group. The social -group consists mainly of wage-earners, two thirds of those gainfully -employed in the nation being dependent for food, shelter, and clothing -upon a daily, weekly, or monthly wage. Therefore, social salvation is -largely a question of the salvation of the wage-earner. The problem -is a dual one. It is material and spiritual. It is material, because -the higher purposes of the Eternal cannot be attained in an atmosphere -of inefficiency, disease, unemployment, vice, crime, and general -destitution. It is spiritual, because the elimination of inefficiency, -disease, unemployment, vice, crime, and general destitution will not -regenerate character. The salvation of the wage-earner must, therefore, -be achieved by the combined efforts of three important agencies of -social reconstruction: religion, education, and government. Religion -furnishes the motive, education the method, and government the -mechanism of social reconstruction; each of these three is impotent -without the other two. - -Religion from this view-point must be personal and social in order -that regenerated individuals may work for the material and spiritual -regeneration of national life. Education from this view-point must -be technical, scientific, moral, and universal so that all may have -the opportunity to become skilled workers, progressive thinkers, and -efficient citizens. Government from this view-point must be controlled -by the religious element of the community and equipped with a program -of economic and social reform based on scientific investigation. -Scientific studies of the wage-earners’ communities show that a family -of five in a large American city requires a minimum income of $900 in -order to maintain its physical equilibrium, and that three out of every -four adult males, and nineteen out of every twenty adult females in -the United States, receive less than $600 a year. No one can longer -doubt that the hardships and depravity of the poor are more economic -and social than personal; and that the responsibility for human misery -is put squarely upon the more fortunate members of society. The way of -salvation for the poor and helpless lies along the path of the educated -conscience of the rich and powerful. - -=Workers and the Church.= Much has been written and said in criticism -of the church. Many statistics have been given to prove that the -workers are not members of the church. For the most part the figures -quoted are mere guesses. It is sheer folly to assume that the working -people of our nation are not religious. Religion is as natural to all -people as is breathing. The belief in God is well-nigh universal. It is -a fact, however, that comparatively few of the mass of workers of our -country are connected in any way with the church, or have any part in -carrying on the functions of organized religion. There are a great many -working people in the churches, but in proportion to the large number -of wage-earners in each community there are comparatively few of the -actual producers in the churches. - -[Illustration: - - Board of Home Missions, Church Extension. Methodist Episcopal Church. - -A Russian Forum in session in the Church of All Nations, Morgan -Memorial, Boston.] - -A study made in city after city shows that the churches are largely -made up of the well-to-do, middle-class people. In one typical city -of 75,000 people there were found to be approximately 30,000 members -of all the religious organizations, Protestant, Catholic, and Jews. -Of this total number approximately 1,000 were wage-earners, that -is, men and women working in shops and factories; 500 of these were -members of the Catholic Church, and the other 500 were distributed -among the sixteen Protestant churches. There were a great many -persons in these churches who were dependent upon their wages; such -as clerks, stenographers, bookkeepers, and others who should be -classed as belonging to the industrial group. But as some one has -said, the distinction between people who are in the churches and those -untouched by the church can be drawn in this way: those who refer to -the remuneration received for their work as a salary, and their work -as a position, are in one group and they attend church; the other -group is made up of those who refer to their work as a job, and the -remuneration received as wages, and but few of these go to church. The -conditions found in that instance are the same that would be found in -most cities of the same size in America. The total membership was a -little larger, perhaps, for in most places only about one third of the -people are connected with the churches. - -=The Makers of Things Outside the Churches.= Communities in which -the church has failed are the communities where may be found most of -the workers who are the actual producers of the things that go to -make up our life. The men who run the lathes and other machines, the -day-laborers on the street, in the factory, and on the railroads; -these men and their families are the ones untouched by the church. The -foremen, the better class of skilled mechanics, and those workers who -are doing the more congenial kinds of work are the ones found in the -churches. I asked one of the leading labor leaders of the country why -it is that the laboring man is opposed to the church. “Opposed?” he -answered. “He is not opposed. The average laboring man living under -average conditions does not know that there is a church in town.” In -other words, the church moves in an orbit that is totally removed from -the life of the mass of the workers. - -=When Nineteen Men Last Went to Church.= During the last year I took -occasion to ask different men that I met at various times what they -thought of the church. I have the record of the conversation of -nineteen men on this subject. Not one of these men had been to church -with any degree of regularity during the past five years; three of -them had attended the Billy Sunday meetings in the various cities. They -went to see the evangelist, however, just as they would visit Barnum -& Bailey’s circus, and they professed to having come away from the -meetings in the same frame of mind as if they had been attending such -an entertainment. Five of the men were Jews, nine were Roman Catholics, -and five were Protestants. They gave various reasons for not going to -church, but all agreed on three things: they had no especial criticism -or complaint to make regarding the church; it was easier to stay at -home on Sundays than it was to go to church; the church had very little -to do with the things that they were interested in. One of the men -said, “The minister stands in a pulpit over my head and talks down to -me about things that I am not interested in.” They also agreed that -they could see no special reason why they should be influenced or moved -to live according to the requirements of the church. - -The church has no especial authority and a life of piety did not appeal -to these men. My conclusion was that the church had lost its grip upon -these men because of the innate selfishness of the individual and the -unwillingness on his part to pay the price demanded of a true follower -of any religion. These men were living under false impressions as -to what the church required and knew nothing of the quality of the -church’s message. The fact remained, however, that the church failed -to reach them, and if we define religion as the giving of one’s self -to the group, these men had no religion, for they were each living -their own lives in their own selfish way. Of these nineteen men three -were skilled mechanics, five worked in a cottonseed mill, four were -traveling salesmen, and the remaining seven were business men. This -would seem to prove that the church has failed to reach other groups in -the community as well as the groups of laboring men. - -=The Church and the Age.= The new social order must be based upon -righteousness, and the church must furnish the power that will carry -forth the plans of reconstruction to ultimate victory. It must supply -the regenerating social influences for our generation in order to live -up to its privilege and fulfil its function in the world. It is the -will rather than the intellect of men that is primarily influenced -by religion. The doctrine of the church attracts only a few people; -speculation on theological questions, and arguments regarding life and -its problems are futile in the face of the bitter experiences that lead -the majority of the working people to view life from the standpoint -of the pessimist. What men want to know about the church is, does it -make people better neighbors? Is there more kindness in the community -because of the church? These are the things that are of paramount -importance. A boy passed by three churches on his way to attend a -certain Sunday-school. A neighbor said to him, “Why do you go so far? -why don’t you come to my Sunday-school?” “I do not care how far it is,” -he replied; “they like me down at the other church.” This is the secret -of the success of much that is being done to-day by different churches. - -A prominent pastor desiring to discover how his preaching would affect -different classes of people had a friend invite some persons from -different parts of the city; and then after the service these people -were invited to meet with others in one of the classrooms to discuss -the sermon. It was almost impossible to draw any expressions of opinion -from them as to the value of the service, but they agreed that they did -not feel at home in the church. Yet none of these visitors could tell -what he meant by “feeling at home.” The fact is, however, more people -go to church to-day because of the friendships that they find within -the institution than because of their desire for religious instruction. -A large proportion of the people who are outside of the church are -outside because to them the institution seems cold, narrow, and -unattractive, and fits the description given by Robert Louis Stevenson -of many churches that he had known, “A fire at which no man ever warms -his hands.” - -=A Ministry to All.= The Morgan Memorial Church of Boston touches -a wide community and is carrying on a very extensive work. It has -enlarged its plant from time to time until it occupies almost a -solid block. There has recently been erected a new building to be -operated in connection with this institution known as the Church of -all Nations. Here is the gathering place of the multitude from every -land who now live in the south end of Boston. In addition to the -regular religious services there is a rescue mission for the “down -and outs,” and dormitories for men and women where clean beds can -be secured at a reasonable price. There are workshops, employment -bureaus, a restaurant, a reading-room and, in fact, under one roof this -church houses a community of interests, economic, industrial, social, -educational, and religious. On the front of the building there is a -lighted cross, and to all of the south end of Boston this cross means -hope. - -=Story of Twenty-five Years.= The church has not accomplished all that -might have been accomplished, but when we study the history of the -last twenty-five years and take stock of the results that have been -achieved, we find that there are countless things that indicate a real -life interest, and a purpose toward achievement in the church. - -Twenty-five years ago the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign -Missions was just beginning, and a Social Service Commission for the -churches would have been considered as something having no part in the -churches’ work. In fact, at that time the men who were the prophets -of the new social order were looked upon as dangerous leaders. There -were only a few books that dealt with the social aspects of the -teachings of Jesus, and these were theological and theoretical rather -than practical. At that time institutional churches were novelties, -and the efforts that were being directed toward the solution of the -social questions by the church were very often efforts in the wrong -direction. The institutional church was not a complete success because -it attempted to do for people instead of inspiring people to do for -themselves. The institutional church and the modern socialized church -have the same relationship to each other as the old alms-giving -societies have to the modern charitable organizations. Legislation in -the interests of women and children was considered totally out of the -realm of Christian interests. “The church was put in the world to save -souls and not to dabble in politics,” was a favorite definition of the -church’s sphere. There was little church unity or coordination of -effort. The churches were more busy fighting each other than they were -fighting the common foes of the community. There were only one or two -professors in our theological seminaries who were teaching sociology, -and of one of these men an eminent authority in the church of that -time said: “He ruined a lot of good ministers and made a lot of poor -socialists by turning the attention of the young men who came under his -teaching to merely humanitarian interests.” The church leaders knew -nothing about the labor movement; in fact, at that time, the modern -labor movement as represented in the American Federation of Labor was -just beginning to gain strength. The church made no special efforts to -interpret the spirit of Christ in terms of international relationship. - -=The Present Situation.= Now, when we compare the present situation -with these facts, there is every reason to be encouraged. Never in -the history of the world was there a time when organized religion -was more efficient. When was there ever such interest in religious -education? so much cooperative effort among Protestant bodies? such an -eagerness to discuss ways in which men of widely different views may -work together? The money given for missions and social reconstruction -reaches proportions that were never dreamed of before. Jesus Christ -is recognized to-day as the friend of all men and his salvation -is recognized as applying to social, industrial, and educational -relationships as well as to individual needs. He is the Savior of the -individual and also the Savior of the world in which the individual -lives. It is true that the individual cannot enter the kingdom of God -unless he is born again, but it is equally true that the whole social -fabric must be recast and social relationships regenerated, else the -kingdom of God cannot come in this world. - -Nearly all the parables of Jesus have to do with the idea of mutual -helpfulness. The parable of the Good. Samaritan will always stand first -as the exemplification of the life that bears another’s burdens. The -teachings of Jesus sums itself up in supreme love for God and for one’s -fellow man. At the marriage feast the multitude were invited and they -came from the highways and the hedges. According to Jesus’ teachings -all material possessions are to be counted as nothing when compared to -the use and helpfulness of these possessions. His bitter denunciation -and burning wrath were turned against the hypocrites who made long -prayers, took the widow’s mite, paid their church dues, forgot mercy, -and used harsh measures against the defenseless. In every instance -where Jesus referred to future punishment, it was to be visited upon -the individual because he failed to live according to the law of love -and was making burdens harder to be borne rather than helping men to -bear them. His law was the law of cooperation. - -The early church began among the very poor; and all through the -Apostolic Age the slave and the owner, the poor man and the rich man, -met on the plane of equality. There was only one interest for all and -that was the life of the Master. It is said that Napoleon and several -of his aides were one day walking along the country road. They met -a peasant carrying a load of fagots who did not get out of the path -as quickly as one of the emperor’s companions thought he should, so -stepping up to the rustic he took him by the shoulders and started -to push him out of the way. “Stop,” said Napoleon, motioning to his -companions to step out of the road while he did the same. “Messieurs, -let us respect the burden, even if you do not respect the man.” In the -community there are a multitude of burden bearers. The church must be -filled with the desire to do what it can to improve the conditions in -the community life, and to add to the good of all the people, so that -the community relationships will no longer be regarded as matters of -indifference to be taken up or laid aside without faithfulness to the -gospel. The success of the church must be measured in terms of the -community life. - -[Illustration: - - Board of Home Missions. Church Extension. Methodist Episcopal Church. - -The Church of All Nations, Boston, provided a sleeping place in its -hall for over five hundred of the unemployed in the winter of 1915.] - -=Inspiration for Social Effort.= The church is not merely a reform -agency. It is not primarily interested in housing, ventilation, -sanitation, and labor questions, but is completely interested in the -moral aspects of these questions, and their effect upon the life of the -community and the life of the individuals in the community. Any church -which fails to educate its members to look at all such matters from -the moral point of view, and fails to make effective the principles -of Jesus in relation to the social life of the community, is falling -far short of its duty. It is no wonder that the men and women who are -struggling with the evils of society grow impatient with the churches -that do not undertake to help humanity. One worker expresses it thus: -“The trouble with all social effort is that we have no inspiration for -the task. The churches that should be helping us by supplying this -inspiration are apparently afraid to take hold of the job.” This is too -sweeping a criticism, for there are hundreds of churches that are doing -just this thing. - -=The Church and Other Organizations.= Instead of institutional -churches, however, we are substituting the socialized church, and it is -not what the church is doing as an institution but what it is inspiring -others to do in the community that counts most. When the church cannot -get any one else to do a certain task, then the church must shoulder -the responsibility itself. The church ought to cooperate with the -united charities of the community. It will not be enough for it to -have merely a member or two on the boards of these organizations; the -church as an organization must be in close touch with them, furnishing -money and workers, and helping to plan and carry out the plans of the -organization. Above all, it must supply the proper spirit of love which -will offset that professionalism which is to-day a growing evil in all -charitable effort. - -=The Church and the Outcasts.= The church ought to be organized so -that the sick and the poor, the unfortunate and the people out of -work, would find it a friend and champion. There was a preacher in -one of our churches in a certain city who was greatly disliked by -all the so-called “respectable” people who knew him. As one man put -it, “He has long hair, a long tongue, and is a trouble-maker.” But -among the outcasts in the city he was known as the “Chaplain for the -nobody-knows-who.” By this term those who loved him meant that he was -a friend of the neglected people of the great city. After he died men -who had no use for him before began to tell of little illuminating -incidents in his life, and thousands of people testified to the fact -that he had been an inspiration and a help. - -The early Christians were not a very respectable lot of people nor -would they have been very congenial. Probably some of our modern -churches are so fine that these people would have been considered out -of place; but it was to these people that Jesus preached his gospel in -the first place, and from them the influence of Christianity spread -until the whole life of the Roman world was brought under the control -of the new gospel. Now, of course, all the laboring groups that we -have been considering are not made up of the poorest people in the -community. The heart of the great mass of the people is sound to the -core; their principles are strong and their morals are uncorrupted. -We are very likely to measure morals by social customs. Just because -a man shaves every day and wears a white collar is no sign that he is -a gentleman; while the man who wears blue overalls, who shaves once -a week, whose face and hands are grimy with toil, is not by these -things made an uncouth barbarian. The reverse is very often true. The -unions have been educating their members; and the men gathered in these -organizations have a fund of common sense and a breadth of judgment -that would put to shame men who have had much larger experiences and -wider opportunities both for education and travel. The son of a man -with a salary of twelve to fifteen thousand a year was expelled from -one of our universities a few years ago; and in the same year the -honor man in the class was the son of a blacksmith who worked for one -of the Western coal-mining companies. This boy was one of a family -of six children. With the help and efforts of no one but himself he -was able to go through the university and graduate at the head of his -class. All the forces of our time are at work leveling the fictitious -and mischievous barriers that have been raised between men, and which -divide society into groups and classes. - -=Wider Use of the Church Plant.= The church building can be used for -very much wider service than at present. The church is usually one of -the best-equipped buildings in the community. It has light, air, and -heating facilities and can take care of a large number of people. In -the Maverick Church, East Boston, they are using the church for club -purposes. Just at present plans are being devised whereby this property -will be used much more extensively for meeting the new needs put upon -the community by the old ship-building industry that has just been -revived. Plymouth Church, Oakland, California, is a veritable beehive -of industry. Every night different groups gather in the social clubs, -sewing classes, cooking classes, and other organizations. The community -looks upon this church as the natural meeting-place to discuss vital -problems. During the past winter in one of the Baptist churches on the -east side of New York different nationalities met night after night and -were instructed concerning patriotism and the moral issues of the war -by men who spoke the tongues of the men attending. - -A Presbyterian church in Du Page County, Illinois, became famous -because it made its buildings available for all social activities -and interests of the community. A report of this work says: “The -older people often attend and engage in play with the young people. -Refreshments are served free at these gatherings. Special attention is -given to strangers and to the backward boys and girls, and a few of the -leaders have always upon their hearts those who are not of the fold of -Christ. The people become well acquainted, and such fellowship, such -friendships, such companionships are created--all centering around -the church!” The writer, telling of the work in another progressive -church, says: “This church has learned the value of the inspirational -meetings. Two principal ones are held each year. One takes place on New -Year’s eve when the whole community, old and young, gather at church as -one family to watch the old year out and to welcome in the new. This -is no common watch service. The evening is filled to overflowing with -good and interesting things. The other great inspirational meeting is -held at the close of the church year. It is an all day meeting, and -the whole countryside turns out to help round up the year’s work. The -ladies serve a banquet at noon free of charge. There is always good -music on this occasion and two or three talented participants from -outside supplement the home talent. These big meetings are of benefit -to the country people. They promote friendship and good fellowship, and -the dead level gait always receives a big jolt.” These are just a few -of the churches that are making good use of their buildings, and there -are hundreds of others all over the country. Whenever you feel that -the church is failing, just turn to the record of some church that is -really doing what it ought to do. You can easily find some such church, -and what is being done in one place can be done in another. People are -the same the world over, and all groups can be brought together upon a -common level of interests and good fellowship. - -=A Program of Action.= The war has emphasized the necessity of making -our communities 100 per cent. American. We are thinking in terms of -nationalities and races now because of the present world crisis. We -need each community to be not only 100 per cent. American, but 100 -per cent. democratic and neighborly. This involves the study of the -questions of the relation of the foreigner and of his Americanization; -the problems of the housing of the community, and the questions of -the eight-hour day and union labor. The charge that the church speaks -for the employer rather than for the workingman must be completely -answered, so that every workingman in every community will come to -realize from practical contact with the churches that he knows that -they are not capitalistic institutions. He must learn that they stand -for all men; and that they speak fairly and unreservedly for the cause -of humanity and champion the rights of men against the encroachment of -everything that would crush the spirit of man. The church must interest -itself in the problem of recreation. People used to work for a living; -now they work for profit. Playtime was formerly not such a problem as -it is to-day, for industry was not geared up to the same high pitch of -efficiency. To-day the margin of play is about the only margin of an -individual’s life when he is really himself. In our cities especially -the problem of play is a real problem. The questionable forms of -amusement are patronized, not because young men and young women are -inherently bad, but because they are the only means of recreation -offered. The motion-picture theater is popular because the best of the -drama has been put within reach of the average person. Public health -should be a vital consideration of the church. In fact, every line of -effort that involves the welfare and happiness of human beings is of -interest to the Christian church. - -No church ought to have at first too intricate a program. More can be -accomplished by an active pro-virtue program than by one that is all -anti-vice, but the church must also be a fighting organization. We must -fight evil of every kind. The great struggle of the church against the -liquor traffic and against vice has resulted in a vast amount of good. -The thing to remember, however, is that the church must not stop simply -with its protest and its fight. - -=The Ultimate End of All Effort.= Nothing material or physical is -final. We are not to provide social rooms, good healthful surroundings, -playgrounds, and other social good things just for themselves, but -because these things are essential to the best and highest moral -development of individuals. In the last analysis the work of the church -is the salvation of men and women. Its work, as has been said, is to -put a sky over men’s heads. You cannot save individuals by giving them -good physical surroundings, healthful conditions, and by supplying all -their physical needs. These are merely the steps to the temple of the -spirit. The weakness of most of our schemes for social betterment is -found in the fact that many of them would put a man in a fine room, -with good light, splendid furnishings, serve a sumptuous meal to him -and then start a force-pump and pump all the air out of the room. A man -may die in the midst of the finest things with which we can surround -him. People must grow, and growth demands atmosphere, and if we give -everything else and fail to create the right kind of atmosphere we are -failing. “Seek ye first his [God’s] kingdom, and his righteousness; -and all the other things shall be added unto you.” By this Jesus did -not mean that we were to put less emphasis on right conditions, but -that if we get conditions right, then we can work for the things that -really are of greatest interest. Above all, he was warning of the -danger that faces us to-day, of becoming so much interested in a man’s -social welfare that we lose sight of the emphasis which the great -Teacher would put upon the qualities which make up humanity. - -We must recognize man as a spiritual being, and everything that goes to -make him better physically ought to make him better spiritually. The -best work of the church, and the work which God alone can do for the -community, is to carry humanity beyond physical betterment into the -realm of spiritual idealism. This is our task. This is the church’s -goal. When this is realized in all society then the kingdom of God will -be realized on earth; and the things that men create will be set in -right relationship to the men themselves; that is, they will become the -adjuncts of every man’s life and will minister to all human happiness. - - - - -BIBLIOGRAPHY - -A BRIEF READING LIST - - -_The Rural Problem_ - - Bailey, L. H. _The Country Life Movement in the United States._ - 1911. Macmillan Company, New York. 75 cents. - - Brunner, Edmund de S. _Cooperation in Coopersburg._ 1917. - Missionary Education Movement, New York. 50 cents. - - Brunner, Edmund de S. _The New Country Church Building._ 1917. - Missionary Education Movement, New York. 75 cents. - - Earp, Edwin L. _The Rural Church Movement._ 1914. Methodist Book - Concern, New York. 75 cents. - - Mills, Harlow S. _The Making of a Country Parish._ 1914. Missionary - Education Movement, New York. 50 cents. - - Morse, Richard. _Fear God in Your Own Village._ 1918. Henry Holt & - Co., New York. $1.30. - - Vogt, Paul. _The Church and Country Life._ 1916. Missionary - Education Movement, New York. $1.25. - - Wilson, Warren H. _The Church at the Center._ 1914. Missionary - Education Movement, New York. 50 cents. - - Wilson, Warren H. _The Church of the Open Country._ 1911. - Missionary Education Movement, New York. 40 cents. - - -_Industrial Relations_ - - Abbott, Grace. _The Immigrant and the Community._ 1917. Century - Company, New York. $1.50. - - Antin, Mary. _The Promised Land._ 1912. Houghton, Mifflin Company, - Boston. $1.75. - - Burritt, Arthur W. _Profit Sharing._ 1918. Harper & Brothers, New - York. $2.50. - - Carlton, Frank T. _History and Problems of Organised Labor._ 1911. - D. C. Heath & Co., Boston. $2.00. - - Cole, G. D. H. _Self Government in Industry._ 1918. Macmillan - Company, New York. $1.75. - - Fitch, John A. _The Steel Workers_ (Pittsburgh Survey). 1910. - Charities Publication Committee, New York. $1.50. - - Goldmark, Josephine, _Fatigue and Efficiency._ 1912. Russell Sage - Foundation, New York. $2.00. - - Haynes, George E. _Negro New-Comers in Detroit, Michigan._ 1918. - Home Missions Council, New York. 20 cents. - - Kelley, Florence. _Modern Industry in Relation to the Family._ - 1914. Longmans, Green & Co. New York. $1.00. - - Mangano, Antonio. _The Sons of Italy._ 1917. Missionary Education - Movement, New York. 60 cents. - - Redfield, William C. _The New Industrial Day._ 1912. Century - Company, New York. $1.25. - - Ross, J. E. _The Right to Work._ 1917. Devin-Adair Company, New - York. $1.00. - - Ryan, John A. _A Living Wage._ 1906. Macmillan Company, New York. - $1.25. - - Shriver, William P. _Immigrant Forces._ 1913. Missionary Education - Movement, New York. 60 cents. - - Symposium by seven well-known authors, _The Path of Labor_. 1918. - Council of Women for Home Missions, New York. 57 cents. - - Ward, Harry F. _The Gospel for a Working World._ 1918. Missionary - Education Movement, New York. 60 cents. - - Ward, Harry F. _The Labor Movement._ 1917. Sturgis & Walton. New - York. $1.25. - - Ward, Harry F. _Poverty and Wealth._ 1915. Methodist Book Concern, - New York. 50 cents. - - Ward, Harry F. _Social Evangelism._ 1915. Missionary Education - Movement, New York. 50 cents. - - Warne, Frank J. _The Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers._ 1904. - J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia. $1.00. - - -_Women and Children_ - - Abbott, Edith. _Women in Industry._ 1916. Daniel Appleton & - Company, New York. $2.50. - - Addams, Jane. _The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets._ 1909. - Macmillan Company, New York. 50 cents. - - Henry, Alice. _The Trade Union Woman._ 1915. Daniel Appleton & Co., - New York. $1.50. - - Fraser, Helen. _Woman and War Work._ 1918. G. Arnold Shaw, New - York. $1.50. - - MacLean, Annie M. _Wage-Earning Women._ 1910. Macmillan Company, - New York. $1.25. - - MacLean, Annie M. _Women Workers and Society._ 1916. A. C. McClurg, - Chicago. 50 cents. - - Mangold, George B. _Child Problems._ 1917. Macmillan Company, New - York. $1.25. - - Schreiner, Olive. _Woman and Labor._ 1911. Frederick A. Stokes - Company, New York. $1.25. - - -_The Church and Social Conditions_ - - Atkinson, Henry A. _The Church and the People’s Play._ 1915. - Pilgrim Press, Boston. $1.25. - - Cutting, R. Fulton. _The Church and Society._ 1912. Macmillan - Company, New York. $1.25. - - Felton, Ralph A. _A Study of a Rural Parish._ 1915. Missionary - Education Movement, New York. 50 cents. - - Gates, Herbert W. _Recreation and the Church._ 1917. University - Press, Chicago. $1.00. - - Harrison, Shelby M.; Tippy, Worth M.; Ward, Harry F.; and Atkinson, - Henry A. _What Every Church Should Know about Its Community._ - Federal Council of Churches, New York. 10 cents. - - Hughan, Jessie W. _The Facts of Socialism._ 1913. John Lane - Company, New York. 75 cents. - - Mangold, George B. _The Challenge of St. Louis._ 1917. Missionary - Education Movement, New York. 60 cents. - - Marsh, Daniel L. _The Challenge of Pittsburgh._ 1917. Missionary - Education Movement, New York. 60 cents. - - Mathews, Shailer. _The Individual and the Social Gospel._ 1914. - Missionary Education Movement, New York. 25 cents. - - Rauschenbusch, Walter. _Christianity and the Social Crisis._ 1907. - Macmillan Company, New York. 50 cents. - - Rauschenbusch, Walter. _The Social Principles of Jesus._ 1916. - Association Press, New York. 50 cents. - - Roberts, Richard. _The Church in the Commonwealth._ 1918. Frederick - A. Stokes Company, New York. $1.00. - - Spargo, John. _The Spiritual Significance of Socialism._ 1912. - B. W. Huebsch, New York. 50 cents. - - Vedder, Henry C. _The Gospel of Jesus and the Problem of - Democracy._ 1914. Macmillan Company, New York. $1.50. - - White, Charles L. _The Churches at Work._ 1915. Missionary - Education Movement, New York. 60 cents. - - - - -INDEX - - - A - - Accidents, in mining, 72, 73; - in steel-mills, 85, 86; - on railroads, 99-101 - - Actors, Church Alliance and Fund, 130; - off the stage, 128 - - Anthony, Susan B., referred to, 162 - - Anthracite coal areas, 69 - - Anti-loafer laws, 152 - - Apathy of mill workers, 91 - - Arbitration in clothing industry, 60, 61 - - Architecture and present use of steel, 79-81 - - Artificial flowers, 132 - - - B - - Bag and hemp factory conditions, 165 - - Baker Manufacturing Company, 93 - - Banana boat and rush unloading, 137 - - Baptist East Side churches in New York City, 205 - - Bargains in ready-made clothing, 55 - - Bathtubs and buttons, 114 - - Beet, culture, 20, 174, 175; - sugar, 20; - use of child labor, 20, 21, 174, 175, 185 - - Bessemer steel, 82-84 - - Bible, study class members, Y. W. C. A., 4, 5; - unopened to Jewish radicals, 62 - - Billy Sunday meetings, 195 - - Bituminous coal-fields, 69 - - Booth, Maud Ballington, referred to, 162 - - Brakeman, accident to a, 100 - - Brick and mortar not the soul of the city, 33 - - Bridge cables, steel, 82 - - Burley tobacco, 173 - - - C - - Canada, western grain-belt, 17 - - Cane-sugar makers, 18, 19 - - Casual workers and the common man, 153 - - Casualty lists. See _Accidents_ - - Catholics, 90, 120, 194, 196 - - Cemeteries, well-tended Western, 27 - - Chaplain beloved, a, 203 - - Chicago, Industrial Exhibition, picture of a mother, 58; - stock-yards, 150 - - Child labor, in agriculture, 174-185; - in home work, 58; - reasons for, 176; - task of the church, 187-189 - - Child Labor Law, Federal, very helpful but unconstitutional, 185 - - Child Labor, National Committee on, 188; - Sunday, 188 - - “Children in Agriculture,” quoted, 175 - - Children’s Bureau in Washington, D. C., 90 - - China, actors in, 130 - - Christ. See _Jesus Christ_ - - Christmas-time work, 139 - - Church, duty of, 197; - responsibility, 151, 152; - statistics - of per cent. of working people, 194; - work, past and present, 28, 191-209; - with country people, 27-32; - with factory folks, 46-48; - with garment-makers, 62, 63; - with miners, 75-78; - with rail and vessel forces, 109-111; - with steel workers, 91-94; - with Tampa cigarmakers, 122, 123; - with theater people, 130; - with transient classes, 150-153; - with women and children, 169-171, 187-189 - - Churches, criticism of, 194; - faulty distribution of, 127; - indifference to, 195 - - Cigarmakers, 116-120; - social worker’s story, 125 - - City and country life depicted and distinguished, 1, 23, 24 - - City church statistics, 194 - - Clothes and civilization, 34 - - Clothing industry, 54; - labor troubles in, 58-61; - materials, 34-36 - - Coal, importance of, 65, 66; - mining methods and miners, 67-74 - - Cœur d’Alene district, Idaho, 68, 75 - - Cold storage, 178 - - Conservation, of fuel, 11; - of wheat, 18 - - Consumers’ League, 52, 171 - - Cooper Union, New York City, a social center, 62 - - Cooperation, 170, 184; - among the churches, 200 - - Copper, 68, 69, 74 - - Corn and hogs, price of, 21 - - Corn belt, 21 - - Cost of living, 9, 178 - - Cotton, 36, 37; - importance increased by the invention of the cotton-gin, 37 - - Cotton-mills and workers, in Northern cities, 34, 44-46; - in - Southern towns and villages, 40-43, 47 - - Coxey’s army, 135-137 - - Cuban traits, 121 - - - D - - Dressmaking industry, 53 - - Du Page County, Illinois, Presbyterian Church, 206 - - Duty of the church, the, 197 - - - E - - Early ambitions, 3 - - Early Christians, influence of, 203 - - Effects of specialization in work, 7 - - Efficient women in war and other work, 159-165 - - Eliot, George, referred to, 162 - - Engineer, the, and the world war, 98-101; - wish to renew service, 99 - - Evansville, Wisconsin, Manufacturing Company, 93 - - - F - - Factory system, 7 - - Fall River factories, 34 - - Farm life, 23 - - Fashion and clothes, a shop-girl’s comment, 51 - - Fatalism of steel-mill workers, 91 - - Feudal castles and modern mills compared, 33 - - Fictitious barriers in society, 204, 205 - - Fifth Avenue, New York City, 49, 61 - - Film making, 43, 131, 132 - - “Fine art of living, the,” 6 - - Fire and coal, 65 - - Fishing village preacher’s report, 3, 4 - - Food-producing industries, 21 - - Ford Hall, Boston, a social center, 62 - - Foreign element on Western farms, 27 - - Formaldehyde used in a church, 151, 152 - - French Revolution conditions, 179 - - Fuel administrator, 66 - - Furs, 126 - - Furuseth, Andrew, work for the sailors, 108, 109 - - - G - - Garment makers, 51-53, 57-63 - - Garment Makers’ Union, New York City, 50 - - Garment workers in New York City, 49, 50, 53, 55-58, 61-63 - - Gentleman, deeper than outward marks, 204 - - Girl clerks’ wages affected by “pin-money” competitors, 164, 165 - - God, question of an immigrant woman, 191; - work for the community, 209 - - Gold and silver mining, 69 - - Government ownership of railroads, 106 - - Grain belts of Canada and the United States, 17 - - Group needs and the church, 13, 14 - - - H - - Havana and Key West, 116 - - Health of garment workers, 56 - - Henry, Miss Alice, quoted, 162, 165, 166 - - Herring, Rev. Hubert C., referred to, 27 - - Home, importance of, 156; - work conditions, 57 - - Home mission work, pressing need for, 30 - - Hookworm, 41 - - Hoover, Mr., 18 - - Housing conditions and the cost of living, 9 - - Howe, Julia Ward, referred to, 162 - - - I - - Idaho, labor legislation in, 146 - - Immigrant, mill workers, 89; - woman and God, 191; - women in Saint Louis, 166 - - I. W. W., code, 142; - efforts in East Tampa, 121; - street song in Seattle, 141, 142 - - Industrial, army, questions raised, 135; - classes created, 8 - - Inefficiency, causes of, 148 - - “Infant Mortality” statistics, 90 - - Institutional churches, 203 - - Interdependence, 10 - - International Seamen’s Union, 108 - - Interstate Commerce Commission, 105 - - Iron, 69, 80-83 - - Italians, 49, 56, 57, 63, 67 - - - J - - Jesus Christ, 12, 187, 200-202, 204, 209 - - Jewelry industry, 132 - - Jewish characteristics, 54 - - Jews, 49, 53-56, 62, 63, 194 - - Johnstown, Pennsylvania, mill workers, 89 - - Judson Memorial Baptist Church, New York City, 63 - - Juvenile court case in Tampa, Florida, 122 - - - K - - Kelly, Mrs. Florence, referred to, 52 - - Kerensky, mistake of, 22 - - King, Henry Churchill, quoted, 6 - - - L - - Landlord and tenant, 25 - - Lawrence, Massachusetts, cotton-mills, 34 - - Lead and zinc, 68, 69 - - Life in the Southern mill village, 40-44, 47 - - Livermore, California, railroad wreck, 99 - - Loom, contrast between earlier and later, 36-38 - - Lovejoy, Owen R., quoted, 186; - referred to, 188 - - Lowell, Massachusetts, cotton-mills, 34 - - Loyalty, labor’s lack of, 7 - - Lumber companies of the Northwest, bad conditions for laborers, - 144, 145 - - Luxuries, defined, 114, 115; - examples of producers of, 116-134; - harmless and hurtful, 115 - - - M - - Machinery, 37; - has subordinated man, 46 - - McIntire, Miss Ruth, quoted, 175 - - Manufacture of clothing materials, 35, 36 - - Maverick Church in East Boston, 205 - - Men, as users of clothes, 34; - as creators of things, 15 - - Metal mine workers, 74; - wages, 75 - - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, picture referred to, 84 - - Michigan Central Railroad accident, 100 - - Migratory workers, 143 - - Millinery, 132, 139 - - Mills and workers, 33-47; - experience of a family, 44, 45 - - Mine workers, accidents, 72; - forgotten, 67; - wages, 73, 75 - - Minerals, valuable, 65, 68 - - Mining town, life in a, 5, 6 - - Missionary work at home, 127 - - Morgan Memorial Church, Boston, 198 - - Morris, William, demand for joy in work, 6 - - Motion-pictures, 43; - theater statistics, 130-132 - - Motorman a suicide, 107 - - Municipal ownership, San Francisco, 108 - - - N - - Napoleon, anecdote of, 201 - - National Child Labor Committee, 175, 181 - - National Consumers’ League, 52 - - Negro philosophy of work, 115; - work and wages on sugar plantation, 19, 20 - - Neighborliness, 11, 12 - - New York _Herald_, referred to, 119 - - Nickel, of Canada, 68 - - Northern textile workers, 44; - Southern groups, 40 - - - O - - “Open shop,” 45; - in steel mills, 42 - - Organization, of labor, 7; - of men questioning women’s admission to labor unions, 167-169; - of women workers, 165 - - Oriental visitor’s comment on American civilization, 79 - - - P - - Peace of the world and the bread question, 22 - - Philanthropy, city, 24 - - Pilgrim mothers, 162 - - “Pin-money” workers affecting regular wages, 164 - - Pioneers in the West and their descendants, 27, 31 - - Pittsburgh has bad housing conditions for steel workers, 89 - - Play and relaxation, 6, 207 - - Plymouth Church, Oakland, California, 205 - - Professor Parker’s report of I. W. W. in California, 142 - - Profit-sharing, 92, 93 - - - R - - Racial and residential phrases used by rival boy groups, 9; - more general racial groups, 55, 56 - - Railroads, casualty lists, 99; - churches and, 106; - expenses and profits, 103, 104; - government ownership, 106; - system statistics, 98; - work and workers, 99, 102 - - Ranch life, 3 - - Reader in Tampa, Florida, cigar factory, 119 - - Ready-made clothing bargains, 54, 55 - - “Red Jacket” mine, 74 - - Restless Americans, 95 - - “Riding out a bill,” 95 - - Right to work a just demand, 146; - helping agencies, 147 - - Robbins, Mrs. Raymond, referred to, 168 - - Rochester, New York, address at the City Club, 108 - - Rolling-mill, 84; - statistics, 86 - - Rural community study, 26-28, 30. - - Russian, labor, 21; - revolution and the food question, 22; - unexpected collapse, 183 - - - S - - “Sacred Motherhood,” 58 - - Safety devices for railroad trains, 100 - - Saint Louis, factory conditions and women workers in, 165, 166 - - Saint Patrick and the Irish snakes, 183 - - Salvation of the individual the ultimate aim, 208 - - Scranton, Pennsylvania, coal famine in, 178 - - Seattle, song of the vagabond workers, 139; - success of minister’s experiment with “blanket stiffs,” 147 - - Selfishness and greed back of child labor, 176 - - Serving humanity, 133 - - Silk, 35 - - Sinclair, Upton, story referred to, 150 - - Skyscraper significant of America, 79 - - Social, centers formed by the churches, 205-209; - salvation and the wage-earners, 192 - - Social Service, Commission, 199; - Department of Congregational churches, 26 - - Socialism and the church, 31 - - Socialized church as an inspiring force, 202, 203 - - Song of the world of work heard in the city’s roar, 2 - - Soubrette Row, 130 - - Soul of the city, 33 - - Soup kitchens, 151 - - Southern mill village, life in, 40-47 - - Spencer, Herbert, quoted, 6 - - State laws for home work, special provision needed, 58 - - State University rural work in Wisconsin, 26 - - Steel production, 80-89; - manufacture, 80-83; - statistics, 79, 80; - uses, 80-82; - workers and working conditions, 86-89 - - Stencil work deforming a hand, 180 - - Stock-owning, 92, 93 - - Stock-yards of Chicago, 150 - - Stowe, Mrs. Harriet Beecher, referred to, 162 - - Street-car men’s wages, 107 - - Strikes: on street-car lines, 108; - one striker’s case, 45 - - Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, 199 - - Sugar-beet culture, 20; - child workers in, 174 - - Sugar-cane fields, processes and workers, 19 - - Summer use of furs, 126 - - Sweat-shop system, 52, 57 - - - T - - Tampa, Florida, churches, 121-123; - cigar factory, 119; - conditions, 120, 124; - statistics, 116 - - Task system, 53 - - Taylor, Florence I., effect of mill work on boys, 181 - - Tenant farmer, 25 - - Textile industries, Northern and Southern wages and workers, 40, 44 - - Theater as a medium of luxury, 128-130 - - Theories concerning the Pyramids, 96 - - “Tired Business Man,” the, 4 - - Tobacco, for cigars, 117, 118; - for the Burley demands, 173; - “worming” done by children, 173, 174 - - _Trade Union Woman, The_, quoted, 162, 166 - - Tramp as a product of labor conditions, 143-150 - - Transportation, 96; - and progress, 97; - other than railways, 107; - workers largely unknown to us, 109-111 - - Trappers, 126 - - Triangle Shirt Waist Company fire, 50 - - Trotzky’s success turned on supplying food, 22 - - Tuberculosis statistics, 124 - - Typical life of busy women illustrated, 5 - - - U - - Unemployed, problem of, 56, 137; - regulation of industry, 146; - war changes, 145, 152 - - Union Garment Makers’, 50 - - United States, Bulletin of Labor, quoted, 124; - Bureau of Labor, statistics from, 39; - coal-mine statistics, 65, 66; - Public Health Service, report quoted, 56; - Steel Corporation, concessions, 92 - - Urge of work, the, 1 - - - V - - Vagabond workers, in Seattle, 139; - poem, 141 - - Valuable non-essentials, 115 - - - W - - Wales, singing by miners a means of progress, 141 - - War, asking the employment of childhood, 186, 187; - requirements in communities, 207; - talks in New York City churches, 205 - - Washington state, a parish in, 144 - - Watered stock, 105 - - Welfare of the American seaman cared for by Act of Congress, 109 - - Welfare work in mining communities, 75, 76; - plan for Colorado, 77 - - Wetz, James E., Chicago egg-king, 178 - - Wheat, 17 - - Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, referred to, 27 - - Willard, Frances E., referred to, 162 - - Williamsburg Bridge, cost and materials, 82 - - Winnipeg, prosperity of, 17 - - Wisconsin townships, survey of three, 26 - - Woman, former disadvantages, 155, 156; - present opportunities, 156-164 - - Women, needed service of the church for, 169-171; - organization of, 165-169 - - Women’s National Trade Union League, the, 168, 171 - - Wool, production and manufacture of, 35 - - Work, vocabulary of, 3 - - “Wormin’ time,” 174 - - - Y - - Young Men’s Christian Association, 77 - - - - -LIST OF MISSION BOARDS AND CORRESPONDENTS - - -The Missionary Education Movement is conducted in behalf of the Foreign -and Home Mission Boards and Societies of the United States and Canada. - -Orders for literature on foreign and home missions should be addressed -to the secretaries representing those organizations, who are prepared -to furnish special helps to leaders of mission study classes and to -other missionary workers. - -If the address of the secretary of the Foreign or Home Mission Board -or Society of your denomination is unknown, orders may be sent to the -Missionary Education Movement. All persons ordering from the Missionary -Education Movement are requested to indicate their denominations when -ordering. - - ADVENT CHRISTIAN--American Advent Mission Society, Rev. George E. - Tyler, 160 Warren Street, Boston, Mass. - - ASSOCIATE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN--Young People’s Christian Union and - Sabbath School Work, Rev. J. W. Carson, Newberry, S. C. - - BAPTIST (NORTH)--Department of Missionary Education of the - Cooperating Organizations of the Northern Baptist Convention, - 23 East 26th Street, New York City. - - BAPTIST (SOUTH)--Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist - Convention, Rev. T. B. Ray, 1103 Main Street, Richmond, Va. - (Correspondence concerning both foreign and home missions.) - - BAPTIST (COLORED)--Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist - Convention, Rev. L. G. Jordan, 701 South Nineteenth Street, - Philadelphia, Pa. - - CHRISTIAN--The Mission Board of the Christian Church: Foreign - Missions, Rev. M. T. Morrill; Home Missions, Rev. Omer S. - Thomas, C. P. A. Building, Dayton, Ohio. - - CHRISTIAN REFORMED--Board of Heathen Missions, Rev. Henry Beets, - 2050 Francis Avenue, S. E., Grand Rapids, Mich. - - CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN--General Mission Board of the Church of the - Brethren, Rev. Galen B. Royer, Elgin, Ill. - - CONGREGATIONAL--American Board of Commissioners for Foreign - Missions, Rev. D. Brewer Eddy, 14 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass. - - American Missionary Association, Rev. C. J. Ryder, 287 Fourth - Avenue, New York City. - - Congregational Education Society, Rev. Miles B. Fisher, 14 - Beacon St., Boston, Mass. - - The Congregational Home Missionary Society, Rev. William S. - Beard, 287 Fourth Avenue, New York City. - - DISCIPLES OF CHRIST--Foreign Christian Missionary Society, Rev. - Stephen J. Corey, Box 884, Cincinnati, Ohio. - - The American Christian Missionary Society, Mr. R. M. Hopkins, - Carew Building, Cincinnati, Ohio. - - EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION--Missionary Society of the Evangelical - Association, Rev. George Johnson, 1903 Woodland Avenue, S. E., - Cleveland, Ohio. - - EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN--Board of Foreign Missions of the General - Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in N. A., Rev. George - Drach, Trappe, Pa. - - Board of Home Missions of the General Council of the - Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America, 805-807 - Drexel Building, Philadelphia, Pa. - - Board of Foreign Missions of the General Synod of the - Evangelical Lutheran Church in the U. S. A., Rev. L. B. - Wolff, 21 West Saratoga Street, Baltimore, Md. - - Board of Home Missions and Church Extension of the Evangelical - Lutheran Church, Rev. H. H. Weber, York, Pa. - - Board of Foreign Missions of the United Synod of the - Evangelical Lutheran Church in the South, Rev. C. L. Brown, - Columbia, S. C. - - FRIENDS--American Friends Board of Foreign Missions, Mr. Ross A. - Hadley, Richmond, Ind. - - Evangelistic and Church Extension Board of the Friends Five - Years’ Meeting, Mr. Harry R. Keates, 1314 Lyon Street, Des - Moines, Iowa. - - GERMAN EVANGELICAL--Foreign Mission Board, German Evangelical Synod - of North America, Rev. E. Schmidt, 1377 Main Street, Buffalo, - N. Y. - - METHODIST EPISCOPAL--For Mission Study, Miss Inez Traxier, - Department of Mission Study and Christian Stewardship of - the Epworth League, 740 Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois. For - Missionary Education in the Sunday School, Rev. Gilbert - Loveland, Department of Missionary Education of the Board of - Sunday Schools, 58 East Washington Street, Chicago, Illinois. - - METHODIST EPISCOPAL (SOUTH)--The Educational Department of - the Board of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, - South, Rev. C. G. Hounshell, 810 Broadway, Nashville, Tenn. - (Correspondence concerning both foreign and home missions.) - - METHODIST PROTESTANT--Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist - Protestant Church, Rev. Fred C. Klein, 316 North Charles - Street, Baltimore, Md. - - Board of Home Missions of the Methodist Protestant Church, Rev. - Charles H. Beck, 507 Pittsburgh Life Building, Pittsburgh, - Pa. - - MORAVIAN--The Department of Missionary Education of the Moravian - Church in America, Northern Province, Rev. F. W. Stengel, - Lititz, Pa. - - PRESBYTERIAN (U. S. A.)--The Board of Foreign Missions of the - Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A., Mr. B. Carter Millikin, - Educational Secretary, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City. - - Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the - U. S. A., Mr. Ralph A. Felton, Director of Educational - Work, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City. - - PRESBYTERIAN (U. S.)--Executive Committee of Foreign Missions of - the Presbyterian Church in the U. S., Mr. John I. Armstrong, - 210 Union Street, Nashville, Tenn. - - General Assembly’s Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in - the U. S., Rev. S. L. Morris, 1522 Hurt Building, Atlanta, - Ga. - - PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL--The Domestic and Foreign. Missionary Society - of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U. S. A., Mr. W. C. - Sturgis, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York City. - - REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA--Board of Foreign Missions, Rev. L. J. - Shafer; Board of Home Missions, Rev. W. T. Demarest; Board of - Publication and Bible School Work, Rev. T. F. Bayles, 25 East - Twenty-second Street, New York City. - - REFORMED CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES--Mission Study Department. - Representing the Boards of Home and Foreign Missions, Mr. John - H. Poorman, 304 Reformed Church Building, Fifteenth and Race - Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. - - UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST--Foreign Missionary Society, Rev. S. S. - Hough, Otterbein Press Building, Dayton, Ohio. - - Home Missionary Society, Miss Lyda B. Wiggim, United Brethren - Building, Dayton, Ohio. - - Young People’s Work, Rev. O. T. Deever, Otterbein Press - Building, Dayton, Ohio. - - UNITED EVANGELICAL--Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the - United Evangelical Church and Board of Church Extension, Rev. - B. H. Niebel, Penbrook, Pa. - - UNITED NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN--Board of Foreign Missions United - Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, Rev. M. Saterlie, 425-429 - South Fourth Street, Minneapolis, Minn. - - Board of Home Missions, United Norwegian Lutheran Church of - America, Rev. Olaf Guldseth, 425 South Fourth Street, - Minneapolis, Minn. - - UNITED PRESBYTERIAN--Mission Study Department of the Board of - Foreign Missions of the United Presbyterian Church of North - America, Miss Anna A. Milligan, 200 North Fifteenth Street, - Philadelphia, Pa. - - Board of Home Missions of the United Presbyterian Church of - North America, Rev. R. A. Hutchison, 209 Ninth Street, - Pittsburgh, Pa. - - UNIVERSALIST--Department of Missionary Education of the General - Sunday School Association, Rev. A. Gertrude Earle, Methuen, - Mass. - - Send all orders for literature to Universalist Publishing - House, 359 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass. - - -CANADIAN BOARDS - - BAPTIST--The Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission Board, Rev. J. G. - Brown, 223 Church Street, Toronto, Ontario. - - CHURCH OF ENGLAND--The Missionary Society of the Church of England - in Canada, Rev. Canon S. Gould, 131 Confederation life - Building, Toronto, Ontario. - - CONGREGATIONAL--Canada Congregational Foreign Missionary Society, - Miss Effie Jamieson, 23 Woodlawn Avenue, East, Toronto, Ontario. - - METHODIST--Young People’s Forward Movement Department of the - Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, Canada, Rev. F. C. - Stephenson, 299 Queen Street, West, Toronto, Ontario. - - PRESBYTERIAN--Presbyterian Church in Canada, Board of Foreign - Missions, Rev. A. E. Armstrong, 439 Confederation Life - Building, Toronto, Ontario. - - -REVISED TO 1917 - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a -predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not -changed. - -Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced -quotation marks retained. - -Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. - -Index not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references. - -On the Form near the beginning of the book, “Helps” was printed that -way, with the “s”. - -Page 189: “Earl of Shaftsbury” was printed that way. - -Page 192: “ascendency” was printed that way. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Men and Things, by Henry A. 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