Essays on the street re-alignment, reconstruction, and sanitation of central London, and on the re-housing of the poorer classes to which prizes offered by William Westgarth were awarded by the Society of Arts.

Date:: 1886

Credit: Essays on the street re-alignment, reconstruction, and sanitation of central London, and on the re-housing of the poorer classes to which prizes offered by William Westgarth were awarded by the Society of Arts. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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$What has been said above appHes only to the honest needle- woman. There is a way by which she can escjape poverty and hunger, and it is, alas ! followed by the majority. Life in the streets, provided the girl has any personal attractiveness, is more remunerative; it pays so well that finery can be bought instead of rags, and idleness and ease may take the place of toil and worry. No wonder they fall; the temptations are strong. Here, for in- stance, is a little low room. A sewing machine stands before the window. In front of it sits a tall, pale girl, with large, beautiful eyes, full of brilliant light. The girl is in a decline. By her side sits an old woman, also busy with her needle. She cannot always do the machine-sewing now, she faints away so often, the old woman says, looking at her companion. She goes to the hospital, and they say she must have nourishing food; but all last week we had nothing but bread. How can we buy nourishing food? she adds, with a humble smile. There is one way of supplying that need, but the girl would rather die. It is no phrase, but a stern reality. She is dying now, one among unnumbered examples of the silent heroism of the East-end, the unnoticed martyrdom of the abject poor. I have said before that their work never ceases. There is, how- ever, one exception. When the shops are taking stock —which happens twice a year—work is slack, and it fares hard with the workers; otherwise good needle-women have not many difficulties in obtaining work. Of trade unions they know nothing, and even if they did they would not dare to join them, partly from fear of exciting the ill-will of the employers, or rather of the sweaters, and also because there would be plenty of people willing to take the work for as low and even lower wages, should they attempt to strike. They are hungry and they cannot wait, but must take what they can get. The introduction of sewing machines is greatly lamented in the East-end. Before their time pay was incomparably better; the women could earn a living by their wages then, now they barely exist. Work which cannot be done by machine is by no means better paid because it is done by hand. In one case— anybody willing to go to the East-end is free to inquire about the correctness of this statement—two women are sewing soldiers' kits; it cannot be done by machine, and by eighteen hours of labour the women are enabled to earn each \ \\d. a day. Why, I ask, in the name of wonder are there still so many women engaged$