White Slaves; or, the Oppression of the Worthy PoorBanks, Louis Albert
History
White Slaves; or, the Oppression of the Worthy Poor
Banks, Louis Albert
Poor -- Massachusetts -- Boston; Sweatshops; Working class -- Massachusetts -- Boston
With the manager I went through the culinary department. They make
ice-cream now every day, and sell large plates to the girls for three
cents. A careful account is kept of the cost, and the manager said he
thought he should be able to reduce the cream to two cents a plate. I
looked through the reading-room and over the carefully selected lists
of papers. The manager said that among the girls were some excellent
musicians, and others with good literary abilities, and told me, I
thought with a pardonable degree of pride, that a few months since,
when some desirable positions in the Newark Public Library were open to
competition, the two young ladies from the Ferris Brothers' factory who
were successful, scored ninety-five points out of a possible hundred in
their literary examination. No employee works more than nine and
one-quarter hours a day, and Saturday afternoon is free. The average
wages, including beginners and help girls, is seven dollars a week, and
a good worker makes twelve dollars.
You may say that many of these things that I have mentioned are
insignificant and only trifles, but, after all, it is such things as
these that in a large degree make or unmake our human lives; and a
human life is no trifle. But lest some hard-headed business man shall
shake his head and say, "The fools will bankrupt themselves," I must
add, that aside from the beauty and grace of this thoughtful business
philanthropy, the enterprise has been entirely satisfactory from a
commercial stand-point, the firm agreeing that not only have their
employees done more, but better, work than ever before. One of the firm
assured me that, while there were, of course, many discouraging things
and occasionally an employee who showed little appreciation, on the
whole there had been a steady improvement during their three years'
experience in this factory, and under no circumstances would they be
willing to go back to the old factory _regime_.
To contrast a factory like this with some of the sweat-shops I have
visited, is like contrasting heaven with hell. There may be, and I
doubt not are, many other factories where the same Christian
thoughtfulness is exercised in the treatment of employees, as here.
Upon all such may the benediction of Heaven rest! May their numbers be
multiplied!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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