Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/647

 SOME PHASES OF SWEATING SYSTEM IN CHICAGO 633

and ten women and girls. His firm sends him 800 to be made in a given week. He must, then, to finish the work, employ one more man and two more women, or else lengthen the working day. After a week or two the amount of work falls off and he receives but 500 vests. He may keep the sixteen workers with- out keeping them busy the usual number of hours, but he is more likely to dismiss one of the men and three or four of the girls. In a factory supplied with power there cannot be these sudden and frequent changes in the labor force without too great a loss to the employer.

Very closely connected with this is another reason, the inex- pensiveness of such a "plant." A small room, a few sewing machines, and people are all that a contractor needs to set up shop. Fifty or one hundred dollars will do very well for a start, and his workers are in his opinion worthy of little more consideration than his foot-power machines. To open a factory, however, he must have a steam engine with its connection to the improved machines. When he has gone to the expense of putting in power, he cannot afford to let any machines stand idle, and his employes have steady work.

The third set of causes is due to the method of work. To a large degree the clothing trade is a belated industry, through the non-application of improved machinery and through the failure to adopt factory methods.

Home work is another cause of much trouble. Herein lies the danger to the public health, because so many homes cannot be kept under constant inspection. In withdrawing the workers from the protection of the factory acts and in rendering trade combination impossible, home work becomes part of the reason, too, for the long hours and low wages. The wages are kept low because the workers are scattered in their homes, do not know what other people are earning, and sometimes have other means of support, so that they are willing to work for a pittance. There is no law limiting the hours in this state, but in ordinary indus- tries they are limited by custom to eight or ten. The hours in the home are often fifteen or sixteen.

Another stronghold of sweating is the system of piece work.