But suppose that we widen the thought a little. At this very moment, the
iron monopoly of this country is raising a fund to head off a tariff
revision, or to bring about an increased duty. What can be said of the
Iron Monopoly? This, as one fact; that in Pennsylvania, it employs
miners at _fourteen_ dollars a month, charges them _five_
dollars a month each for a tenement in which to live, and charges them
exorbitant prices for the food and provisions which, in spite of a law
prohibiting the system, _must_ be purchased at the Monopoly's
stores. At the end of the month, many of these miners have not only
consumed every dollar of their wages but are actually in debt. It is
stated, further, as an incontestable fact that, "a miner who objects to
the amount of work or wages given to him gets no more of either, for he
is at once dropped from the rolls, and his name is sent to the
neighboring mines as that of a man unlit for employment." These people
subsist--miraculously--on scanty and unwholesome food, and frequently
are subjected to the greatest hardships.
Pages:
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211