Show WHAT THEY ARE STRIKING AGAINST In Iii a 11 sense that of the shIrt shIrtwaIst shirtwaist waIst makers of New York ls is a 11 matter of publIc con concern ern In every part of the In one of the New cw York clubs lubs n a few ew evenIngs ago a 11 rich ma man l protested agaInst the interference of wealthy in the interest of the tho striking gIrls because he said it was none of the rich peoplEs affair But ho he is mis mistaken taken It Is more the affaIr of the rich evert cven than of the poor Here Is one reason In the course of the strike thIs case became known A girl gid came to the fac factory factory tory from the mIddle west She had grown to womanhood without the de debilitating effect ot of hard toll inadequate inadequate quate nutrition and unhealthful sur surroundings fhe I he was stronger and had Chore thore reserve of force She was capa capable ble bh ot of very fast work and earned four fourteen fourteen teen dollars a week Then her employer cut down the prIce per pIece and she sh had to work harder to make the wage to whIch she had become accustomed and whIch she felt a sort of obligation to herself to continue earning Again the reduction and again the increased the ultimate result that the girl broke down physIcallY and mentally The doctors say it is hardly I possible she ever agaIn can support I herself Consequently the people who pay taxes will have to support her That is the lowest plane of argument argument ment that can be imagined and it is the only one whIch you can hopefully address to the man who thInks theat fairs of the poor are none of hIs con concern concern cern Whether in asylums or in hospitals or in the dependent are the charge of the community and the com community community has an interest in preventing methods whIch the population in either of those places But there is a bigger population out outside outside side of either or of those places whose ea tate of mind and of body Is even more moreth th the concern of the whole nation That working population has an interest tn In reasonable hours and reasonable pay But the community which does not have to fight fear for each days food Is even more interested Be Because CRuse cause the deterioration of the working las class lowers the value of the whole It penis the class which considers itself immune to such conditions It adds to the burden and decreases de the effective effectiveness ness of f the whole commonwealth Those girls are strikIng not so much for better wages as against a worse condition for themselves and for all their sisters And aU all the nation Is In Interested Interested In their wInnIng the strIke Dab Laborin orIn tire the United States at least must have enough for a decent livIng |