This is the seventh letter that Ada Nield Chew sent to the Crewe Chronicle on the 14th July 1894.
I propose today to sum up, review and comment on further where necessary, what I have already said on the above subject, and to submit the only practicable form of remedy from the evils from which we suffer which presents itself to me. Before proceeding to do this may I say that I have in my mind an ideal of what life in a factory could and might be, but I am bound to confess that at present my ideal, though not fanciful, is yet impracticable and somewhat beside the point, and therefore for the present useless. Perhaps at some future time, if you, sir, will so far indulge me, I may sketch out my ideal and the means of its realisation in your columns. Now for my summary.
First — I began by showing you that we are not paid fair — in short, value for the great bulk of the work done by us, in short that we find it utterly impossible to realise a Living Wage. I wish to return to this point presently, for herein I recognise the root of all the evils from which we suffer; and in my opinion no substantial benefit could accrue to us — indeed, until this root is plucked up and destroyed, I do not see how any practical reforms in any other direction can be attempted for the evils of other kinds which exist in a great measure originate in, and are part and parcel of that root, and it were therefore almost impossible to attack the one without the other — in destroying the root we shall necessarily affect its offspring, which if not resulting in the like destruction of the offspring, will at any rate render the ultimate destruction of such easier of accomplishment.
Second — I tried to show you that we are unable to live rational human lives — that one half of our time we live the ‘life of a slave or beast of burden, and the other half a comparatively idle, dependent life. This is a result of the root of all the evils, and I do not see how we can attempt to alter it till we pluck up the root.
Third — I next, as well as I was able, made a sketch of the factory girl herself as I know her to be; and tried to show that many of the faults of which she is accused are the natural result of the influences of her life. That point we may now leave, I think.
Fourth — That an evil of ‘favouritism’ exists to a fearful degree amongst us, not only in the factory in which I work, but at least one other factory in Crewe, as I know for a fact.
Fifth — That married women are admitted into our arena. On that l will speak further.
Sixth — That the present system — or rather lack of system — in dealing out such work as there is, is unjust and unfair one. This to a great degree is a result of the root of the evils, and in attacking and destroying the root we shall probably destroy this evil also.
Seventh — That materials for the due performance of our work are bought by us out of our living wage. I have comments to make on this presently.
Eighth — That the sum of two-pence per week or 8s 6d per year is extracted from us, in some cases, for absolutely no return at all. On that, too, I have further comments to make.
Ninth — Minor oppressions of various kinds I have shown you which are easily traceable to the root and will probably cease to exist when the root is destroyed — at any rate if we can destroy the root we shall have a chance with these.
To sum up then in a very few words: The general conditions of our life from wages downwards are bad — rotten throughout. This is a summary of the account with which I have from time to time supplied you, and as it has never in the slightest degree been contradicted, I take it that it stands proved a faithful account. That being so, I think you will agree with me that reforms are badly and urgently needed. Let me now comment on some of the points which I have just enumerated, and suggest what means of improvement I can wherever possible.
With your permission, sir, I will leave the first and most important point — the root of the evils, till the last, and will begin with the fourth — ‘favouritism’. This is a very real evil, and I say should not exist at all, It is a pernicious, debasing practice, alike to the favoured and the unfavoured. It fosters the bad in the nature of the favoured one, for if she be already of an unhealthy disposition it adds to and makes worse what already exists; and if she be of a naturally healthy disposition, it also debases, for she knows and feels that in a manner she is robbing others of their rights, and this can never be satisfactory or influence for good, a girl of good heart. Of its effects on the unfavoured it is needless to speak. I say then that this practice of making favourites should in the best interests of all be entirely done away with. It may be said that this would be unfair, in that the good workers would be placed on a level with the bad, I say, no. The favourites are in many cases by no means the best workers. Skill and execution are not necessary qualifications for the rank of ‘favourite’. Then place all on an equal footing, so that we can first respect ourselves, and secondly can respect our fellow workers. I say without hesitation that the good workers would soon be found in their proper position viz. the front ranks, not because they are ‘ favoured’ — a degrading thought! — but because by their abilities they merit that position. As it is, no encouragement is given to girls who have [a] sense of honour to excel in their work, and this can only have a lowering effect. The only way of bringing about a change in this respect is the one I shall presently propose as a means of attempting the destruction of the root of the evil.
Point 5. Married Women. These chiefly constitute the ‘favourites’. Now I think it unjust that women who have husbands working should be allowed to come, and in a manner take their means of subsistence from girls who are dependent for a livelihood on their earnings. Without going into the obvious neglect of these wives and mothers of other duties and solemn responsibilities — and how much might be said on the evils arising from that not only to themselves and families, but in an indirect manner to the community at large! — which in case might be considered somewhat personal, it is manifestly unfair that married women in receipt of a husband’s wages, for no valid reason, should be allowed to come and in .some cases actually take precedence of girls who in many cases exceed them in ability and capability. You will understand, sir, that I am here not necessarily referring peculiarly to myself. What, then, shall we say about them?’ I do not say ‘Make a clean sweep of them!’ — though I confess to a leaning that way — even if we had power, because conscience tells me that we in turn should be a little unfair. But I do say this, and will maintain it in face of any opposition — Place them side by side with these girls in fair, open, above-board competition; give them an equal chance with these girls and no more. And only way to effect this that I can see is the same which I shall propose for the plucking up of the root.
Point 7. The system of selling us materials. Now I say that as we are compelled to buy these materials, we have an undeniable right to know the exact, original cost of such, and any percentage which may be allowed on the wholesale buying of the same is ours by right, and ours only. In my opinion anyone who buys these materials for us and not only does not sell them to us at cost price but who also does not give us the full benefit of any and all reductions, is robbing us, neither more nor less. Now I do not say, sir, that anybody is doing this, but I do say that we have no certain knowledge to the contrary. And I say that we ought to have — that it should be made perfectly clear to us that we are getting full value for the hard-earned money we pay. This might be done without much trouble by posting up in a conspicuous place the bills for these materials, so that we could see for ourselves that we are paying only what is just and right. If we are, there can be no objection to this suggestion.
Point 8. The tea-money. Out of this money a tea-woman is paid, I understand, 18 shillings a week. How many factory hands earn that? Does the work done by them not require so much skill? Gas has to be provided, and of course the tea, sugar and milk. I do not know the exact number of hands employed in this factory, but I believe it is upward of 400 girls, and something like 100 men and boys, who also pay two-pence a week for their tea. Now, sir, we all pay two-pence a week, and those of us (a considerable number) who also require hot water at lunch or dinner pay an additional penny. Does it take the whole of the tax levied on us for the providing of these things? I personally — quite recently and quite voluntarily — have been solemnly assured that it does. Let us now consider those who pay this two-pence who do not take the tea. Suppose we allow for the moment that the assertion just quoted be true. It is clear that the tea for which we pay, if made at all, as we are now supposing, is either consumed by others, or is thrown away. Now is it fair, just or in any sense right that we should be obliged to pay for tea for others to drink, or to pay for tea to be wasted?
And now we will suppose that the tea for which we pay, but never take, is never made, which is far the most likely and reasonable supposition. Where, then, do our contributions go? Whom do they benefit? Have we not a right to know?
I consider that if somebody obliges me to pay 8s 6d a year , that somebody is equally obliged to not only show me what equivalent for the same he may consider I get, but to give me some equivalent which I myself can appreciate substantially. In short, sir, I do consider, have always considered, and shall always consider, so long as we continue to pay it, that I and others are being robbed of two-pence every Monday morning. And now as to those who pay the two-pence and drink the tea. I do not consider these fairly treated, and neither do they. I say in this case, as I said of the materials, that if we are obliged to pay this money nobody has a fraction of right to one farthing over what it costs to provide us with the tea. And, here again, I make no assertion that anybody is making any profit out of our money. Still, here again, we are not clear that it is otherwise. And we ought to be clear. The suggestion made in the other case will do equally well here; an exact account of the income and expenditure might from time to time be posted up where we can see it. I can see no possible objection to this. If those who manage for us have a right to get this money from us, nobody will deny that we have an equal right to know for ourselves, to our own satisfaction, exactly how our money goes.
But I do not recognise the right of the employer, or those who represent the employer; to demand this money from us at All, I say that we should have liberty to say whether we will have tea or not. It is a custom, I know, in some factories, simply to provide hot water at a charge of half-pence per week (and we pay a penny for exactly the same luxury — why?). This seems quite fair to me, and I do not see why it might not be applied in the factory about which I speak.
And now, sir, to come to the root. This living wage of ours! I intended, and would have liked to have spoken on this at some length, to have traced it to its origin, its subsequent growth as affecting all branches of the trade, and other trades as well, but have already said so much, and so much still remains that is important to say, that I think to make myself sufficiently clear, I must confine my remarks to the factory in which I work. In doing so I shall probably answer my purpose quite as well, and you, sir, and your readers, will easily apply what I shall say to whatever else it may fit for yourselves. Now the work done in this tory not of the civilian class. It is chiefly Government work — orders for army and police clothing. Railway orders also, but those are recognised by us as being generally of a better paying class than those of the Government. Now I wonder if the Government of this country know (or care) that those on whom the real business of executing their orders falls are ‘sweated’ thereby? And is the Government so frightfully poor that it cannot afford to pay a living wage to those who make the clothing of our soldiers and policemen? I have told you before that one class of garment (even of Government work) will pay so much better than another. Now if the Government — or anybody else who gives orders for any class of work — (this will apply all round) can afford to pay a decent price for one class of work, it follows that they can for another. And if, as the employers tell us, these orders arc in so many cases contracted for, and executed for such ridiculously small sums, who has the benefit? The Government? And through the Government the tax-payers? If so, it is clear that the few suffer for the apparent benefit of the many, which is manifestly unfair. But in undertaking these badly-paying orders does the employer reduce his percentage of profit in proportion to the price he pays his hands? Or does he first take what he considers right, and then give what remains to the workers? Now I believe under the present social system — in an employer taking his fair and proportionate — I emphasise both these words — percentage of profit on the capital he expends, and no more. To anything further than that I do not recognise his right. It is clear then in this case either that the Government, or whoever else may give orders of an inadequately paying class, is robbing — what else can we call it? — the employer and his hands, or else that the employment himself is the — robber. And may I say here that thinking over these things at different times, one form of remedy rather of alleviation — for one’s sufferings has been – I confess that I have not much hope of ever seeing it come operation — that when these wretchedly-paying order’ undertaken, first the employer in his percentage; next the manager, assistant manager, and all the ladies and gentlemen under them who get a living wage all the year round, no matter what kind of orders may be in process of execution, should have their wages reduced in exact proportion to the price paid the factory girl, and of the saving effected thereby the factory girl should receive her due share. What is there unfair in this? The labourer of whatever class is worthy of his hire. If it is fair for one class of workers to be reduced it surely is for another. Now how shall we set about plucking up this root? Ask the employers to kindly consider it? Utterly useless! As things are at present, at least. We might as well look up beseechingly at the moon, and expect it to come down to our aid. We are now in an entirely disunited, disorganised state, and are consequently entirely at the mercy of the employers; and while we remain so, we shall, in my opinion, never get the slightest alleviation of this grievance. I propose then, as an ultimate, and not necessarily remote, means of remedy, that we, that is the factory girls of Crewe, and any other class of female workers who may like to join us, first organise ourselves into one strong united body, and further, that we affiliate with some already existing union of workers, and thus, when the time is ripe, shall we not only speak with an effective voice ourselves, but shall also have the help of other workers in the redress of our grievances, and on our part shall in turn be able to help others. I am of the opinion that a merely local union of factory girls alone would be of little or no use. We should never be sufficiently strong either to speak for ourselves or to maintain ourselves in case of need. Personally I look with favour on the Tailors’’ Union (I am not sure if that is its proper name) as peculiarly suitable for the admission of tailoresses; but I understand that tailors, as a body, absolutely refuse in this way to hold out helping hand to their suffering sisters, their reason, I believe, being that women have no business to be in their trade at all. I must say that I think this a very short-sighted, not to say selfish, view; and I am rather surprised that such an intelligent body of men as I know tailors to be should take such a view as they do. However, there is no help for it, and we must make the best of such means as we have, and affiliate ourselves with a union of workers who are not so exclusive. I know the Independent Labour Party have interested themselves in this question: and through their good offices it is now possible for us to organise ourselves and to affiliate ourselves with another body of workers — I am sorry that I forget the name of the union — and for anything I know to the contrary this will answer as well as anything else. When we are thoroughly organised, and not till then, I propose that we unitedly earnestly and determinedly set about the redress — or at any rate alleviation — of our grievances; that we try every means which will then be at our disposal to get these things righted.
And now let me say that I strongly deprecate a strike as means to this end. I would resort to a strike only as a very last resource, when all other means had failed; in such a case only, in my opinion, would a strike be justifiable. And until we are organised thoroughly, and independent of charity, such a course as a strike would be the height of folly.
Will you now, sir, if you can possibly spare me sufficient space, allow me to address my fellow-workers. I know they read my articles, sir; I have seen them in the act. My fellow-workers, then — you all know, and most of you acknowledge that what I have been telling the public is true — every word of it. You know that we cannot earn enough from eight in the morning till six at night to keep us in independence the year round, Now I tell you that we have an absolute right to a living wage; and the reason why we do not get it is that somebody who has money and power is taking advantage of our weak, unorganised, dependent state to rob us of our right. It is also well known to you that the prices paid for our work grow visibly less and less, and I tell you that this will continue, and things will grow worse and worse, unless we take steps to alter them. Now nobody can do this for us. Many people can help — are helping; through the powerful aid of Mr. Editor we have already enlisted the sympathy, and shall have the help of all sensible and right-thinking men and women. But this is of no avail unless we first help ourselves. Each one of you has apart to play. Do each your own part, not only for your own good but the good of others.
In one of my letters I likened this great grievance of ours — low prices for our work — to a stone wall. Now I alone may butt at this wall till I smash my head, and it will never move an inch; but if you individually, and all of you collectively, come with me, and we go at it with one or more if necessary strong, united, persistent ‘butt’ , in all probability the wall will fall. Each one of you then bravely do your own part.
I now beg, sir, to express my deep gratitude to you for the help you are affording the factory girls. I respectfully submit to you and Chronicle readers these the only practical suggestions of which I can think for the improvement of the condition of my class. I hope that you and my readers will give me the benefit of anything else, or anything better which may have suggested itself to you. In conclusion will you, sir, allow me to say that any influence I can in any way and at any time use for the furtherance of the above object with both voice and pen I shall use unhesitatingly and gladly.