The contractor or sweater in our cities is an
organizer and employer of immigrants. His success depends upon getting
the cheapest help, and life is of no account to him, nor apparently to
the man above him. The clothing may be made in foul and damp and
consumption or fever-infested cellars and tenement-styes, by men, women
and children sick or uncleanly, but the only care of the sweater is that
it be made cheaply and thus his returns be secured. It is a standing
reproach to our Christian civilization that the sweating system and the
slums are still existing sores in American centers of population. So far
the law has been unable to control or check greed, and the plague spots
grow worse. Here is a typical case, taken from the report of the
Industrial Commission:
[Sidenote: A Striking Example]
"A Polish Jew in Chicago, at a time when very few of the Poles were
tailors, opened a shop in a Polish neighborhood. He lost money during
the time he was teaching the people the trade, but finally was a gainer.
Before he opened the shop he studied the neighborhood; he found the
very poorest quarters where most of the immigrant Poles lived. He took
no one to work except the newly arrived Polish women and girls.
Pages:
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215