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About The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1896)
4m 'Z: - j .- . FREE TRADE MISERY. Nathaniel McKay Tells of His Tour Through British Manufac turing Centers. PEEP AT POVERTY IN LONDON. Working Women at Masculine Labor Stern Facts for Our Wage Earners. Free-trade slavery still exists in the British empire notwithstanding the re duction of the American tariff, which benefits the English manufacturer, but does not reach the British workman. Eight years ago I visited England for the purpose of studying the condition of ThN "court" as horseshoe pattern and contained J hoiwes IS dwellings 7 on i side and 4 on the other, and these three closets were all there was for tiiis whole "court." Board ami Lodging. These hovels are inspected ,,v ne 1'" Y.i-i'. I found a certificate in the hall of ..ne of them dated March 22. 180:5. and signed "A. T. Wood, chief police suner iiitendeiit." These certificates are signed at his oljice. and probably he never vis its the places. One man told me he had for his break fast bread and butter and tea no meat and for his dinner bread and bacon, but meat was a luxuiy he could not af ford. The tenants Hocked around me by the dost n in Miller's court. I would have been glad to have taken some pho tographs of these scenes and "courts." but the weather was too cloudy for any satisfactory results. I passed from this court to another, and, going to a door. I asked. "What do you do for a living?" The man there answered. "I take in lodgers." "What do you charge:" "Fourpenee (S wnts) per night or sevenpence (14 cents) a couple." (The man saw there were two of us.) Passing on, we came to the largest of its kind, containing "JJJ3 beds. On the llfil CnninmakcM of Cradlev Heath earning from $1 201.53 per week, working ten hours per day. Taken August 2.5. li'X, by X. McKay. the working people and eomoariug their wages with those of Americans. Four years ago 1 made a second visit for the same purpose and on August VI, 1S1H5. I left New York, for the third time, to make another investigation. I arrived in Manchester on August "20 and there began icy investigation, where I found more destitution than I had ever seen in any other city. The Cesspool" of Manchester. Standing, looking np Angel meadow, n graveyard on ihe left and behind one of the worst "courts" in Great Britain, public houses of course, and all around a population struggling in the ocean of moral and social degradation, it has been called the "cesspool of Manches ter." Its history is a history of dirt. Tile crime, drnnkenness. riot, cruelty and robbery. The houses are low and dilapidated, and many arc villainous holes, unrcntilnted. undrained, corrupt, recking with smells, ntterly infamous and sickening both to body and mind all this within a few minutes walk of the Qneen's hotel, the Exchange and railway stations. There are scores of rooms furnished ground floor of this lodginghousc is a large room for the men to sit in. The kitchen ttelow contained a large closed cooking range, which was red hot, and the odor of the cooking going on made it anything but enviable to be in. The lodg ers all cook for themselves and have a variety of things to cook and they are not very particular as to how many dif ferent things are cooked together in the same iwt. We went upstairs and saw 1" beds, which are let at three differ ent prices."!. 8 and 12 cents per night. The 12-cent lodger has a place boarded off to himself no water, no towel. Wealth and Poverty Mixed. Manchester, with her "500,000 popula tion, boasts of her wealth and manufac turing resources aud one would suppose that all of the iieoplc alike lived in pal aces: but to examine into the exact con dition I find iuite the reverse. Thou sands of these cope lire on alcohol. When they earn any money, it goes for alcohol chiefly. Coming back to my hotel, the Queen's, facing one of the finest streets in Man chester, is the Royal infirmary, all along the front of which there are seats which jClAtflTVlT5irr4 flu. :KiiSsBfca Mrs. Elizi Head, age 23, a chain maker of Cradlcy Heath. The background shows on the left the blacksmith shop and on the right the home. She makes S2.1G a week. Taken Augost 26. 1SSC, by X. McKav. with a table, a chair, a thing called a lied and a few pots. These rooms are sublet for 18 cents a night for two ize 12 by 10 where people cat, cook and sleep. I entered some of these houses if such a name could be given to the hovels 1 saw and in one 1 asked of a woman: "Do you rent this;" "Yes," was the reply. "What do yon pay for it?" "Four and six $1.0S) a week." "Have vou the whole house?" "Xo. sir: only this room." (Size 12 by 10.) "Do you sleep in here?" "Yes. sir: we sleeps, eats, cooks aud everything here." "Yon have a room above up the stairs?" "No, sir; that's another par ty's." Can I go up?" "Yes, 1 dare say he will let you." "Before I go up I would like to ask. What do you do for a living? My husband sells sandstone, sand and blue mole, or he gives the stone and gets rags, bottles, bones or old iron for them." "What does he earn in a week?" At this question the woman smiled. "Well, it depends sometimes more, sometimes less. One day perhaps a shil ling (24 cents), another day 1 and U (30 cents) and so on." I should say here that the agent finds the pots, pans, bed and fire, such as they are, for I will not attempt to de scribe them. This I will say no dog of mine should ever be allowed to sleep on what is called a bed in those places. The whole outfit was not worth 10 cents. "Hare yon a back yard?" "Xo. sir." "Where is yonr closet. then.' There, sir." pointing to three closets in the street. are occupied by poor people from the slums. I was informed that many sat there the whole night, so I arose early the next morning and went across to the seats and found that o0, 12 of whom were women, one with a child, had sat there all night lecause they had not the necessary G cents for a Inrd. The trade of Manchester is very much depressed at present awaiting the pres idential election in the Fnited Suites. The merchants of the United States are making very small purchase now, lie cause they fear a new tariff bill and because American consumption is less ened through the idleness of the people and their inability to buy. The manu facturers and shippers here do not want any change in the present American tariff. But they say they would rather have McKinley for President than Bry an, for if Bryan is elected and a silver standard declared in the United States, they cannot sell their goods at all to America. Yet they despise McKinley for. as the London Times stated a few days ago. "his infamous tariff bill." Trade FaralysU in Bradford. Leaving Manchester. I visited Brad ford, which is the largest woolen and shoddy manufatcuring district in the world. Trade is paralyzed there as far as United States shipments are con cerned at present. The manufacturers are awaiting the election of the Presi dent of the United States, to know whetherhe will be a free trader or a pro tectionist. The merchants are very much agitated on this account for they can get but few orders from the United States. I said to one of them: "Yon have now the whole British empire (in cluding India I. with a population of al most 350.OUO.000 controlled by her majes ty, to supply; why are you not satisfied to manufacture your goods and supply your own people?" His answer was: "We want the Amer ican market. It is the greatest market in the world and during the time the McKinley bill was a law our manufac turers were quite paralyzed." There was exported from Bradford dining the last nine mouths of the ex istc:if of the McKinley law $4,478,000 worth of good. This was from January 1. IS','4, to September ."50. 1S!M. During the corresponding period of the following year I from Jauuarv I. 18'C. to Septem ber CIO. 18&1.). under the Wilson bill, tin exports from Bradford amounted to X21.171.000. Five times as much under the Wilson bill as under the McKinley bill. The total exports for the year 1SJ" from Bradford amounted to $27.74.".000. These exiiorts include thirty-seven items, but consist chiefly of card clothing, cot ton goods, iron and steel, machinery, hosiery, stuffed goods, worsted goods, yarns, silks, etc. Mr. Meeker, United States consul at Bradford, furnished me these statistics, which were taken from his reports to the state department. Wv manufacture similar goods in America, but on account of the Wilson tariff bill we have been deprived of the chance to manufacture them, aud the money which should have been paid to our own working jn-ople has been paid to the laboring people of IS rent Britain. Our chimneys have ceased smoking, while theirs are in full blast. Our working people are idle and deprived of a living on account of this iniquitous, free trade, Wilson tariff. Dnsiness Thrives in Iiiriuinghani. I left Bradford on August 24 for Bir mingham, passing through Leeds and Sheffield, whose iron aud steel works are in full blast. Xot only in these places, but all over England, this line of in dustry is prospering. And the factories are running full time, and the greater part of their product is shipped to the United States." Aud while their works two) and he told me it was his wife, who was very sick. All arouud were signs of poverty. It was not fit for hu man beings. It made me chill with pity as I looked on this terrible scene. Going through a little court about 10s 10 feet, in the rear of this house, I came to the shop -where one of his daughters makes chain" with another woman. I asked her name and she told me Clara Boxley. Her age is 22 years. She has been making chain for five years and receives from $l.i to $1.10 a week for her work. She makes three eighths inch chain and is paid ;-1.02 for 112 iKiunds. For breakfast she has bread and butter and tea and sometimes a piece of bacon. She told me she worked from 7 o'clock in the morning until 7 in the evening: that the only rea son she staid there was because she could not save enough money to pay her fare away from the town. The buildings look as if they had stood for centuries, and as 1 passed through the little court leading into the house ni'd which is walled on every side by luiusts I counted fifteen little children from 2 to 0 years of age playing to gether in all the filth that could sur louud a blacksmith shop in this district. Across the alley was another shop where another daughter was making chain. She is married, has one child and makes $2.1 per week." She has been making chain for twenty years, having commenced when she was 12 years old. Her husband, a chain maker also, earns from $3 to $4.50 a week. Mrs. Polly Fowkes has four daugh ters making chain. She is 54 years old and has made chain since she was 1 years of age, but is now too old to work at it any more. Each of the daughters makes from ?1.20 to $1.50 per week. They live in a little old house, with stone llooriug. Here they cook and cat and live in the same room all huddled together. The girls are very smart at the forge. I set live girls to work in C LARK. KsrtPV Emily Parsons, age ::2. Crodlev Heath, Eng.. 20 years a cbaimnakcr. Works ten hours per day and earns 12.10 a week. The building is her blacksmith shop. Taken Aug. 26. 1890, by N. McKay. are running full time our people are idle. Today the goods that are being made in Leeds and in Sheffield would, were it not for the Wilson bill, be made in the United States. I spent a day in Birmingham, which is another thriving and prosierous manu facturing center. Here also the people are very desirous that no change Im made iu the present American tariff schedule which would result in depriving them of our market for their goods. The British Chain Gang. After leaving here I went to Cradley Heath among the women chainmakers and women blacksmiths to witness the misery there which I had visited iu Shoe Worn by Wigan Women. 1SSS and in 1S.92. There are women there by the thousands who make chain for a living in old, low buildings adjoin ing their houses. One man. William Boxley. said he was 50 years old and earned CO cents a day as a laborer, when he could work, lie has five daughters and five sons. Three of this daughters are chainmakers and one works iu a brickyard, carrying brick. I went into his house. On the lower Moor was a room with a stone the blacksmith shop. They worked 30 minutes and made me 14 iwtiuds of three-eighths chaiu. Each piece was over two feet long, and they worked like lieavers to sec who could make the long est piece. They work ten hours a day. I gave them n shilling apiece when they nil came into the room, and I asked them how long it would take to earn that amount. They replied. "It would take more than a day" (to earn 25 ceuts). I thought. "Miserable England!" Women Coal Miners. I did not visit Wigan thw time (as I have done twice before), but there Is no change in labor there; the poorhouses which I descrilied aud reproduced in 1S02 still stand. It is a pitiful sight to wit ness the poor women there, half starved and half clad, wheeling coal on the top of the pits for the small pittance of 40 to 50 cents for ten hours work. I reproduce here a cut of the shoes that are worn by the women in these dis; tricts, heavy clogs with big nails iu the bottom. The situation has not changed yet. As long as there is coal in the pit there will be women to wheel it. At one time this class lived and had their families In the coal mines, but Parliament prohibited this, and now they do the wheeling on the top of the pits. With this cheap labor no wonder coal is cheap iu this country This coal is used on the very steamers and vessels which carry Eng land's free trade labor product to Ameri ca to compete with our labor and manu factures. Charles L. Snowden of Brownsville. Pa., writes me: "We pay our miners 70 cents per ton. or $2.00 per 100 bushels (70 pounds to the bushel). One man can put from 150 to 200 bushels per day and can earn from ?3 to $4 daily. There mpxi --. UlllliK Jji I ma: s fm s r wmmf iyi m ir i i r n i ana- ii mm 11 r - A snap shot taken in Whltechapel. showing how the poor get their rest. Taken Aujust 2S, 1896, by X. McKay. floor and an old-fashioned fireplace with ovens on each side and a place for coal in the middle. Back of this was a little space for a washroom where there is room for only one person. In the front room all the cooking is done and it is also used for a living room and dining room. Upstairs is a room 8x12 feet. As I entered here I noticed a woman lying oa one of the beds (there were are no poorhouses in Brownsville staring these working people in the face. They make from six to eisrht times the wages of the poor people at Wigan. and there are no women at work wheeling coal in the United States. Fanners in the Britiah Ftnpire. Population of Great Britain and mMtnfH Ireland. .............. 37, .922 Taupers 1,018.028 One pauper to every 37 persons. Twenty eight paupers to every 1000 persons. Cost to maintain these paupers annually. .................... .$57,825,475 Cost to maintain the queen and the royal family. 92,903,770 Cost to maintain the president and his secretaries $85,000 The population of the British empire, including India aud the colonies, is 340. 000.000. There are 5t colonies and 40 distinct governments. Life in London. I arrived in London August 2S. and made a visit to Whltechapel. I visited a lodging house on Osborne street. I asked for the proprietor and was intro duce.! to him. They call him "the gov ernor" to distinguish him from other There are 510 friendly societies off trades unions in Great Britain vital m membership of 1,013.000 (taken from im port or tiouse ox commons), set of these societies are located in and include some of the trades ated in the Booth table. The control the wages of their various i and were it not for the stand they their wages would be reduced by manufacturer to a lower standard I they are at present, which is less tkam. oue-half of what is paid in America. Higher Wages In America. Our last census report of 1S90 faw ns 4.712.022 people employed in nuuw facturing. the average yearly earning C each person being $4SS. The average iav ftBKaUnam m tfca aaa 1 Daughtcrs of Mrs. Fowkes, chainmakers of Cradley Heath, earn tl.CO 1.C0 a week. Work tea hi a day. Taken August CG, 1896, by N McKay. men. nis name is Wildemouth. Tie lodges IMU persons in his house every night. His rooms are 0 by G feet and he receives 12 ceuts per uight for each of these rooms. 1 went from there to Commercial street (in W'hitechaiiel) where I saw a place called the Victoria home (kept in the same manner as the one on Osborne street), where the roomers pay from 0 to 12 cents ier night. Then I went through the thickest part of Whitcchapel an alley called Petticoat lane. The meat hanging iu the stores and on the sidewalks was so filthy that it sickened me and I could not tarry long enough to even ask the price of it. 1 asked the price of herrings 1 cent each. Bread was 1 cent a loaf, and it was hard look ing bread: potatoes one-half cent n pound; onions one-half cent a pound; 3 pounds of carrots for 2 cents. Such a filthy trading market would disgust a stoic. They live in tilth, breed in filth aud die in filth, knowing nothing else. The "Casual Ward." Then I went to a public institution known as a casual ward, the same one I visited eight years ago. I found it just as it was iu 18SS. The keeiier. or guardian, told me this ward had been iu existence for more than thirty years and that there were thirty such places in London at present. These institutions are kept as public vlaces and are really poorhouses. If a man has no money, he can go there and apply for admittance, which heets if the place is not already filled. When received, they are kept in confinement for two nights and one day, England for each person (taken froar reports published by Parliament) is aboat $280. a difference in favor of America; of $208 per capita. Xow there are taea sands of people in England who do Hat receive one-half this $280. We pay oar angle iron smiths K iht cent, mure taaat they are paid iu England: our black smiths. 102 per cent, more: our boil5 makers, 47 per cent, more; our brjck layers. 125 per cent, more: our boiler-: shop helpers. 05 ier cent, more; ear cariientcrs. 105 per cent, more: our cob-; ductors (on express trains). '.'AM per crab.' more; our locomotive engineers. 191 per cent, more; our police. 200 ier cent.' more; our telegraph operators. 103 Br cent, more; our train dispatchers, SIS per cent, more, and our common labor ers, 158 ier cent. more. The difFereacc in all classes of labor is the same ant these examples I mention. , The engineers who run the fastest ex press trains on the road iu England gfffj hut $10.80 irt week for ten hours per, day. The firemen get &V.2 per week ar, J8" cents ier day. The guards (waav correspond witli our conductors) get. from $4.80 to $0.72 icr week. The Bar-! ters (we call them brakemen) get ?-6 per week. This is a sample of the BByj of English labor. Our engineers iar America on the express trains recexr $.1.50 per week, our conductors 20 and our brakeman $!.:. We nay aaers than double the wages paid in England, where railroad fare is higher and taa coal cheaper than in America. The following table of wages answers all the free-trade fallacies of the Deaao cratic party and cannot be disputed: Mrs. Fowkes' daughters work ten hours per dar. earn from $1.20 l.oO per week. Taken at Cradley Heath, August "-G, 1S9C. at the expiration of which time they are discharged. Nobody is allowed to come to these places more than once a month, aud he can stay no longer than the time pre scribed. The ward I visited accom modated fifty-five men and thirty-two women. The beds consist of a narrow strin of canvas stretched like a hammock between two iron rods about a foot from the floor. The applicants are admitted after 0 p. in. in the summer time and after 4 p. in. in the winter time. As soon as thev are admitted they arc given a bath in one of the six baths iu the ward and their clothes are fumigated and disinfected. After the bath they have their supper of six ounces of bread and a pint of gruel. For their bed they are given three blankets. For breakfast they receive the same food as for sup perl For dinner, in addition to the bread aud gruel, they are given lfc ounces of cheese. The total cost for caring for these people during the period of their confinement, including the five meals, is 9 cents each. AilTice to Americans. Mv advice to every American working man is, as I have said before, to pro tect his own rights and the rights and privileges of his family and not to fol low the whims, cries and falsehoods of the free-trade politician who seeks to have goods imported into the tinted States which are made by cheap pauper 1-ilior because he thinks the goods can be sold cheaper than if they were made in America. ... . , . If the wages of the American working men are not reduced to the standard of those in England, and the goods arc not made in America, he has no money to purchase these cheap goods with. Be in" deprived of work, where are they to "et their money to make their purchases with? , w Labor in London. The following statistics are taken from Booth's "Life and Labor of the People of London," showing the number of peo ple employed in the various lines in the city of London: Tailors Xi2JV ISoot sad shoemakers y,i4 ifatters.. .... ................ .,.o Iiressmakers and milliners IM!'! miirtinakcrs. . Ji..J Machinists V"i Drapers and hosiers ,riA Clerks . ....- ......"......... JSl.ooJ Cabmen, coachmen, busmen, etc.... SH.g6 Hallway service, labor, etc 02.82$ St?! 111011 Jo bock service. labor, coal heavers. porters, gasworkers. etc. 8S.J01 Oemral labor, factory labor -- Engine drivers and artisans 4j.330 TAKEN FROM OFFICIAL SOURCES. Per Week. "5" B or E3 On o Total. ....." All other classified labor not .in eluded above. ....... .1.201.241 " ,711.240 Grand total In London L912.49C Angle iron smiths ISuilenuaker. Hiacksuilths I'rlcklayers Itoilershop lielix-rs f '-iIL-mt -"'. . ................ Carpenters, house. ...... Carpenters, ship Conductors, express Car drivers, Eng. Cs. 12 hrs.. Ainer. ?2 Kuulneers, London and Northwestern and N". V. Central Firemen, express Htxlcarrlers Holders on. boiler shops. Joiners, house. Liverpool Laborers in streets, Lou- 'Longshoremen. N. Y. docks 22 to 40c per Iir London docks 12c per J 1 1 Machinists. 1st class.... Jlncliinlsts. IM class.. . Masons, H hours Molders. iron l'ainters Plasterers Plumbers.. J 11 1 v Printers, job Policemen Pavers Itivcters Riggers Stage drivers (same as hore car drivers!.... Telegraph operators... .. .. England- Average first year's scrv-j 1 Ct? i Average ten years serv 1 C fjm Train dispatcher. Common laborer. Mortar makers ?i::..V) $8.16! 14..r'I !.! 1H.02 27.00 7.02 r...o 21.00 21.00 20.40 14.00 Sl-V) 17.10 ICW) wjan 10.50 10.50 1.02 12.00 27.00 i::.50 12.00 24.00 21.00 12.00 18.no 25.00 27.01 1 i:.50J 10.02 t.'.K 12.) ..GO 8.10 7.yj 8.40 5.88 10.08 10.S01 5.!R! 4.50 5.01 7.02 -.20 C 6.72 11.401 8.16 7.91 11.40 8.64 8.88 7.02 (LUC 0.72 9.72 7.08 14.00; 10.08 KM) 20.00 21.00 10.50 10.S0 1.88 7.48 5.04 4.08 7. i JSX .47 1.02 LTi .95 1JX 1.65 L5t 3.4U 1.91 1.88 2JCT 1.0S lJXt .7! 1.3T JSt .51 1.11 1.4.1 .35 1.21 2.60 1.77 .39 .41 J 1.CK 1.54 3.1(1 L English stage drivers work 12 to 15 I a day; American, 10. Cheapness will be still more dearly bought by the American wage-earner it we continue a Iree-traue policy in ica. I nrcscnt this statement to the lican national committee, free of chance. and trust tney win attend io we tribution of it. . Nathaniel McKay--London, Sept. 4, 1896.
