How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New YorkRiis, Jacob A. (Jacob August)
History
How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York
Riis, Jacob A. (Jacob August)
Poor -- New York (State) -- New York; Tenement houses -- New York (State) -- New York
driving an even closer bargain than his rival tyrant, thus reducing his
profits.
The sweater knows well that the isolation of the workman in his
helpless ignorance is his sure foundation, and he has done what he
could--with merciless severity where he could--to smother every symptom
of awakening intelligence in his slaves. In this effort to perpetuate
his despotism he has had the effectual assistance of his own system and
the sharp competition that keep the men on starvation wages; of their
constitutional greed, that will not permit the sacrifice of temporary
advantage, however slight, for permanent good, and above all, of the
hungry hordes of immigrants to whom no argument appeals save the cry
for bread. Within very recent times he has, however, been forced to
partial surrender by the organization of the men to a considerable
extent into trades unions, and by experiments in co-operation, under
intelligent leadership, that presage the sweater's doom. But as long as
the ignorant crowds continue to come and to herd in these tenements,
his grip can never be shaken off. And the supply across the seas is
apparently inexhaustible. Every fresh persecution of the Russian or
Polish Jew on his native soil starts greater hordes hitherward to
confound economical problems, and recruit the sweater's phalanx. The
curse of bigotry and ignorance reaches halfway across the world, to sow
its bitter seed in fertile soil in the East Side tenements. If the Jew
himself was to blame for the resentment he aroused over there, he is
amply punished. He gathers the first-fruits of the harvest here.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account