Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/648

 634 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

An ambitious person is anxious to earn as much, and as much more than his fellow-workers, as possible. This anxiety and hurry involve severe nervous strain, and the lack of laws restrict- ing the hours of labor makes the abuse in the shops possible. The task system 1 combines the evils of piece work and home work.

A fourth set of causes arises in the attitude of manufacturer, contractor, landlord, and consumer. They all, to a greater or less degree, have a happy, or rather unhappy, feeling of irre- sponsibility and often a sordid desire for individual profit. The manufacturer says : " I give out my work to the contractors who come here anxious to do it ; it is no affair of mine where or how it is done." The contractor says : " I have this work to finish in a given time. I must do it in that time or I can get no more. I am obliged to have my workers come early in the morning and stay late at night. I cannot give them more work when I have none. I cannot help the rush of work nor the lack of work. As for the home finishers, they are glad to get the work, and the condition of their home does not concern me." The landlord says : "Yes, I own the property, to be sure, and I rent it, or my agents rent it, to whoever will pay the most rent the most promptly. It is unsanitary, is it, and out of repair? Oh well, I I have not time to see to that. I can't afford to fix it up now." The consumer says : "Where is the Sunday paper ? Let me look at the bargains for tomorrow. I must surely go to the city to look at those knee-pants, 25 and 50 cents a pair; and night dresses, fine quality, for $i ; fine linen handkerchiefs, hem- stitched and embroidered by hand, 12^ cents each. Yes, I must surely have some of these things."

It is the old story of Cain unwilling to acknowledge himself his brother's keeper, an illustration of the proverb that what is everybody's business or rather, perhaps, nobody's business will never be done ; and, as a result, the worker says : " Yes, I must keep on working, even though my back is breaking and my eyes will scarcely stay open, for wife and little ones must have bread, and I must work now if it kills me, for soon there will be no work to do." And the young woman^says : "Three dollars, four

'See p. 605.