Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/650

 636 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

for a garment factory will have large, light, well-ventilated, sani- tary rooms for separate parts of the process. Electric power may displace steam- or gas- or foot-power. There will be sepa- rate toilet-rooms for men and women in different parts of the building, with large pleasant dressing-rooms for the women instead of one foul closet for both men and women.

In such a factory the wages may not be much higher than in some of those that were visited. Indeed, it is often true, unless the labor is organized as among the Swedes, that the wages are a little lower in the steam shops than in the better class of con- tractors' shops near by ; but the hours are shorter, never more than ten, and there is not the strain of piece work. The mere abolition of piece work would go far toward destroying the sweating system. Work would be paid for by the week, and could be done at a reasonable rate of speed. The construction of large factories would do much, too, toward overcoming the seasonal difficulty, since the fixed plant of the factory would make for comparative regularity and steadiness of employment. Moreover, home work would be done away, and this would help to destroy the parasitic character of the industry.

Another thing to be desired is a higher standard of life among the workers themselves. Many of them have no idea of cleanliness, and no desire for it. More know nothing whatever of ventilation and sanitation. Education along these lines is, for such people, more practical and of more immediate impor- tance than education along academic lines, at least for the older generation. Efforts to educate foreigners are sometimes dis- couraging, especially when the result is like that in an experi- ment with some Italians. They were put into four- or five-room flats, of which each family was expected to occupy one ; but before the experimenters knew it, there was a family in every room.

Organization of the workers is another part of the ideal con- ditions which one hopes may soon be brought about. Some progress has already been made in this direction, and one of the Swedish unions has already been mentioned. Attempts to form unions with members from different nationalities have not been