USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Fifty years of Boston; a memorial volume issued in commemoration of the tercentenary of 1930; 1880-1930, Pt. 1 > Part 29
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* In 1931 the Legislature changed the name of the Massachusetts Agricultural College to the Massachusetts State College.
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221
LABOR
England. Others in the group were Professor G. Nasmyth, Professor Harry Dana, R. F. A. Hoernle and H. M. Kallen.
The matter was taken up with the reconstruction committee of the Boston Central Labor Union and the Women's Trade Union League. Miss Mabel Gillespie, at that time secretary of the Women's Trade Union League, was active in the organization of the college. She was keenly interested in workers' education, and was connected with other movements of the kind, as the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Working Girls.
Michael A. Murphy of the Stablemen's Union was the first president of the College. Others associated in the work included Sylvester J. McBride of the Typographical Union; Frank Fenton of the Coal Teamsters' Union; Nettie Silverbrook and Maud Foley of the Waist Makers' Union and Henry Wise of tlie Stenographers' and Bookkeepers' Union. Professor Sheffield of Wellesley, Professor Dana, formerly of Columbia, and Professor Skinner of Tufts College were also associated in the work.
The aim of the Trade Union College was given in the announcement as follows:
"The Boston Trade Union College was organized by the Boston Central Labor Union in January, 1919, in order that the men and women of the labor movement might have a college of their own in which to train themselves under expert guidance in the various fields of higher education. It is based on the conviction that organized labor must develop its intellectual resources if it is to realize its hopes in the coming social and industrial order. Its methods of learning are co-operative, the instructors contributing their specialized knowl- edge and the students their practical experience. Its aim is that wage- earners may in this way better prepare themselves in their progress towards freedom and self-government."
It is said that the Boston Trade Union College is probably the first col- legiate enterprise in America under the operation and control of a central labor union .* Membership in the college was open to all trade unionists and their families, and to other workers upon approval of a subcommittee on admission. Courses were offered in English, Economics, Government, Law, Literature, Science, Public Discussion, Parties and Politics, Co-operative Movement, Economics of Industry and Labor Statistics.
Professors from nearby colleges, Harvard, Wellesley, Tufts, Simmons, formed the teaching staff of the College. Their services were virtually given. In some instances there was a small honorarium. A nominal fee, a few dollars a term, was charged the students of the College. Trade Union workers, both men and women, constituted the student body.
During the spring and fall terms of 1919 and the winter term of 1920 the classes met in the evening in the High School of Practical Arts in Roxbury. Then the work was conducted in the Abraham Lincoln School in Boston. Later on private offices were secured.
* Circular regarding the Trade Union College issued by the Boston Central Labor Union.
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222
FIFTY YEARS OF BOSTON
Among the educators who have given instruction at the College are Dean Pound and Professor Sayre of Harvard University Law School; Professor Sheffield of the English Department of Wellesley; Professor Henry W. L. Dana; Professor Stites of Simmons College; Professor Skinner of Tufts College.
CONTRIBUTION MADE BY BOSTON TO LABOR PROGRESS
What is the outstanding contribution that Boston has made to labor's progress during the past half-century? Assistance in securing the enactment of laws that have placed Massachusetts among the foremost states in the coun- try in labor and social welfare legislation? Leadership in progressive measures and movements for social betterment? The development of exceptional oppor- tunities for education and training for working men and women and for their children? Or is, perhaps, the greatest contribution the men and women Boston has furnished who have devoted their abilities to securing better conditions of life and work for their fellow citizens?
There was George E. McNeill, the Nestor of the local labor movement, a man whose work and influence was far more than state-wide in scope. By nature a pioneer, a leader with vision, he looked beyond the immediate gain to a future goal of social justice. While his contemporaries were struggling for a ten-hour day, he organized the fight for an eight-hour day. To him is largely due the establishment of a factory inspection system in Massachusetts.
As first deputy chief of the newly created Bureau of Statistics of Labor of Massachusetts, he did mnuch to stimulate public interest in the need for labor and social welfare legislation. His work in the Bureau has been described as a labor elassie. In 1891, in co-operation with prominent Boston men and women, he founded the Anti-Tenement-House League to fight against sweat- shop conditions. Four years later he was appointed by the Boston Central Labor Union on a committee to support labor's interest in having the fund left by Benjamin Franklin to the Town of Boston used in founding an insti- tution for working men. As the result of his efforts Franklin Union was established.
Mr. MeNeill is one of the outstanding men in the early years of the labor movement. Perhaps more than any other he contributed to labor's progress in city and state.
There was Frank K. Foster, for many years connected with the Boston Central Labor Union, a brilliant writer and speaker and pamphleteer, remem- bered for his debate with President Eliot on the question of the worker's right to strike. There was Henry Abrahams, eigarmaker, friend and co-worker of Samuel Gompers; the man who built up the Boston Central Labor Union and who had a part in every forward-looking movement of his day. There was Henry Sterling of the Boston Typographieal Union, who served for many years as legislative agent for the Massachusetts Federation of Labor. Keen-minded, able, fair, he was responsible through his efforts for much important labor legislation.
Outstanding among the Boston women who have served the labor move- ment was Mabel Gillespie. A college woman who became interested in indus- trial problems, she worked in shops and factories to gain first-hand acquaintance
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223
LABOR
with the lives of working men and women and the conditions of their employ- ment. Through joining the Stenographers Union she allied herself with the labor movement. For many years she was secretary of the Women's Trade Union League. She was the first woman to be elected vice-president of the Massachusetts Federation of Labor. From its establishment in 1913 until the consolidation of the state departments in 1919 she was a member of the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission. Fearless, tireless and self- . effacing, she literally gave her life to working for improved conditions and better legislative protection for women and children in industry.
Outside the ranks of organized labor are educators, public officials and social workers who, seeing the economic background of many of the social problems that confronted them, sought to remove one of the causes of these problems by the improvement of industrial conditions. This group includes men and women like Professor Emily Balch; Professor Ellen Hayes; Professor Vida Scudder; Miss Helena S. Dudley; Miss Rose Lamb; Miss Hannah P. Kim- ball; Edith Abbot; Ida Mason; Miss L. M. Perkins; Mrs. Charles G. Ames, the first woman factory inspector in the state; Mrs. William Z. Ripley; Robert A. Woods; John Graham Brooks; Philip Davis; Dr. Richard C. Cabot; Larue Brown, and Professor Holcombe.
There are others that deserve mention. Mrs. Mary Morton Kehew was a Boston woman who through her work and leadership contributed largely to labor and social welfare. A wealthy society woman, with brilliant mind and social charm, combined with rare executive ability, she chose to devote her activities to civic and industrial betterment. As president of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, she was active in legislative work and in every movement for the social, educational and industrial welfare of women. Through the organizations with which she was associated and through her own individual efforts, Mrs. Kehew contributed much to labor's progress. Perhaps her greatest contribution was the assistance she gave in securing machinery for the administration of the labor laws.
Then there was a brilliant young Boston lawyer of the 80's, who was not a labor man and who does not belong in the ranks of the "allies," yet whose work was of inestimable value not only in Boston and in Massachusetts, but through- out the country. This was Carroll D. Wright, who built up the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics, organized the United States Bureau of Statistics of Labor, and served as the first commissioner of that Bureau.
There was another brilliant young lawyer in Boston in the 80's whose services to labor and social welfare have become nation-wide in their scope. This is Louis D. Brandeis, now one of the Justices of the United States Supreme Court. To him is due the establishment of savings bank life insurance in Massachusetts as a means of affording financial protection at cost to working inen and women. He gave his services without charge in protecting labor legislation before the courts and in safeguarding the rights of the public against the encroachments of selfish interests. His work and life have meant much to labor's progress.
It is due to the devotion of public-spirited citizens like those just men- tioned, to the efforts of the workers themselves and to the ability of their
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224
FIFTY YEARS OF BOSTON
leaders, that the improvements in the condition of labor during the past fifty years have been brought about. It has not been an easy achievement. Cour- age, determination and perseverance have been required. It is because the working men and women of Boston have possessed these qualities that the result of their efforts has been successful. Boston has been fortunate in this respect. The material progress of the city and its contribution to the for- ward-looking movements of the day have been in large measure dependent upon the skill, the character and the intelligence of its wage-earning popula- tion, and upon the social vision and devotion of individual men and women interested in economic justice and in civic betterment.
SOME OF THE THINGS REMAINING
Gratifying as has been the progress of labor during the last half-century, there are many problems that await solution. Hours of labor have been lessened, but the speed and tension of industrial employment have greatly increased. The age for entering employment has, through the enactment of child labor legislation, been raised. The age for leaving, however, is con- stantly being lowered. The older worker, the middle aged, the younger middle aged, are finding it increasingly difficult to secure employment. Scientific invention, machinery and mass production have brought with them higher wages and a more adequate standard of living. They have also brought with them displacement of workers and unemployment. In the face of all of the efforts being made to cope with it, unemployment remains the major problem of industry today.
Much has been done to assure protection to employees from the hazards of industry. The industrial accident rate, however, is still high, especially in building construction. Industrial health work is in its infancy. Despite the advances that have been made, there are gaps and weaknesses in the child labor laws. Many children leave school at an early age and with little prepara- tion for becoming wage-earners. Admirable as is the educational system in the public schools, it fails to meet the needs of some of these children. Although wages for skilled and organized workers have advanced markedly, the wages of unorganized workers, and especially of women workers, are in many instances close to the margin.
These are some of the major problems of labor that remain in Boston, as elsewhere in the state and nation. Perhaps the next fifty years will point the way to their solution.
1-1
INTERIOR OF THE BIRD HOUSE, FRANKLIN PARK
POND FOR AQUATIC BIRDS, FRANKLIN PARK
226
FIFTY YEARS OF BOSTON
TABLES ILLUSTRATING TEXT TABLE IA
GAINFUL WORKERS, TEN YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, ENGAGED IN SELECTED OCCUPATIONS IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, FOR THE YEARS 1880 AND 1930. AGGREGATE.
OCCUPATION
1880 *
1930 +
Increase (Per Cent)
All Industries.
149,194
355,352
138.1
Agriculture.
1,042
1,469
41.0
Forestry and Fishing.
1,927
Extraction of Minerals.
202
Manufacturing and Mechanical.
53,900
119,920
122.5
Building.
9,587
26,706
178.5
Clothing
11,246
11,207
.31
Food ..
1,646
10,0S6
512.8
Iron and Steel.
1,192
14,667
1,130.5
Shoe.
1,517
6,671
339.7
Printing.
178
1,326
644.9
Paper. .
S86
4,202
374.3
Others not specified.
25,163
37,078
47.4
Transportation.
Steam and Street Railroads
2,913
11,129
282.0
Telegraph and Telephone.
466
6,804
1,360.1
Others not specified.
7,257
22,781
213.9
Trade.
30,151
78,268
159.6
Banking and Insurance.
1,182
14,307
1,110.4
Wholesale and Retail Trade
24,652
58,472
137.2
Others not specified.
4,317
5,489
27.1
Publie Serviee.
5,971
14,211
138.0
Professional .
4,680
33,599
617.9
Domestic and Personal Serviee.
23,159
51,225
121.2
Hotels and Restaurants.
4,419
20,675
367.9
Laundries. .
1,584
4,562
1SS.0
Domestie Service.
17,156
25,988
51.4
Laborers
15,854
Others.
3,797
Industry not specified.
13,817
Total Population for Boston.
362,S39
781,188
* Figures taken from United States Census, ISSO.
t Figures taken from United States Census, 1930.
# Decrease.
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2,485
7,977
221.0
Cotton, Wool and Silk
10,636
40,714
282.7
227
LABOR
TABLE IB
PERSONS TEN YEARS OF AGE AND OVER IN SELECTED OCCUPATIONS IN BOSTON, BY SEX (Based on Figures from United States Census, 1880 and 1930)
MALE
FEMALE
OCCUPATION
1880
1930
Increase Per Cent
1880
1930
Increase Per Cent
All Occupations.
110,313
246,651
123.5
38,751
108,701
108.5
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing.
1,023
3,344
226.9
19
52
173.7
Extraetion of Minerals
186
16
Manufacturing and Meehanieal ..
40,694
92,799
128.0
13,206
27,121
105.3
Building
9,587
26,192
173.2
514
100.0
Clothing
2,006
6,133
205.71
9,240
5,074
+ 45.1
Food ...
1,571
6,890
338.5
75
3,196
4,161.3
Iron and Steel ..
1,191
12,626
960.1
1
2,041
20,400.0
Shoes
1,278
4,571
257.7
239
2,100
778.7
Printing.
2,230
5,898
164.5
255
2,079
715.3
Paper. .
129
783
507.0
19
543
1,008.2
Cotton, Wool and Silk.
351
2,295
553.8
535
1,907
256.4
Other Oeeupations*
22,351
27,411
22.6
2,812
9,667
243.S
Transportation.
10,580
35,242
233.1
56
5,472
9,671.4
Telegraph.
427
2,464
477.0
39
4,340
11,028.2
Steam and Street Railway.
2,897
10,53S
263.8
16
591
3,693.8
Other Transportation ..
7,256
22,240
206.5
1
541
54,000.0
Trade.
24,135
55,734
103.9
2,800
22,543
704.8
Banking and Insurance.
1,175
S,855
653.6
7
5,452
77,785.7
Wholesale and Retail Trade. .. Other Trade.
21,882
42,529
94.4
2,700
15,943
490.5
1,078
4,350
303.5
23
1,139
4,852.2
All Others in Trade and Trans- portation.
3,030
56
Professional and Publie Serviee.
8,060
27,911
246.3
2,595
19,899
66.8
Publie Service ..
5,190
12,619
143.1
785
1,592
102.8
Professional Service.
2,870
15,292
432.8
1,810
18,307
911.4
Domestie Service.
22,791
30,019
31.7
20,019
33,576
67.7
Hotels and Boarding Houses .. Laundries.
2,552
11,321
343.6
1,867
9,354
401.0
149
2,374
1493.3
1,435
2,188
52.5
Other Domestic, ineluding Laborers and Others
20,090
17,740
$ 11.7
16,717
22,065
32.0
* Includes miscellaneous industries.
t Decrease.
228
FIFTY YEARS OF BOSTON
TABLE II
RATES OF WAGES. BOSTON, 1880-1930 *
OCCUPATION
1880 Ten-Hour Day
1930 Eight-Hour Day
Percentage of Increase Per Day
Building Trades
Bricklayers:
January and July, 1880, average.
Bricklayers' Helpers:
January, 1880, January, 1881, average
1 813
Foremen, Bricklayers:
January and July, 1880
3 50
Foremen, Mason8:
Jannary and July, 1880
4 00
Masons:
January and July, 1880, average
2 421
12 00
395.8
Masons' Helpers:
1 53}
7 20
370.5
Carpenters:
January and July, 1880, average.
1 74
11 00
532.1
Carpenters' Helpers:
1 21
Foremen, Carpenters:
January and July, 1880
3 25
Foremen, Painters:
January and July, 1880.
2 50
Painters:
January and July, 1880, average.
1 85
11 00
494.5
Steam and Gas Fitters:
12 48
12 00
419.4
Steam and Gas Fitters' Helpers:
January and July, 1880, average
83}
8 32
902.4
Painters, House:
January and July, 1880, average.
2 28}
11 00
382.4
City Public Works
Foremen, Laborers:
January, 1880, average ..
1 75
5 50
253.4
Laborers:
January, 1880, average
1 024
5 00
442.4
Masons:
July, 1880
3 50
7 00
200.0
Teamsters:
January and July, 1880.
1 53}
§ 5 25
243.1
* 1880 figures, taken from the Aldrich Report, are presumably for Boston.
1930 Boston figures are taken
from Massachusetts Department of Labor Bulletin No. 161 and are the union rates for all the year round.
t January.
# July.
§ Chauffeurs.
TABLE III
AVERAGE YEARLY WAGES IN SPECIFIED MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES IN BOSTON, 1880 AND 1929
INDUSTRY
WAGES PAID DURING YEAR
AVERAGE YEARLY WAGES PAIN TOTAL NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
1880
1929
1880
1929
Boston Total.
$23,715,140
$106,626,515
$417 42
$1,392 66
Boot and Shoe.
638,443
7,578,722
351 95
1,382 96
('lothing.
4,206,768
11,546,060
332 22
1,260 62
Cotton Goods.
74,200
256 74
Food Preparations.
1,061,585
3,718,072
435 61
1,275 93
Machines and Machinery
1,867,207
7,617,591
541 53
1,500 41
l'aper ..
93,845
428 49
Printing and Publishing.
2,522,322
14,143,093
545 72
Rubber Goods. Silk.
106,845
281 17
Straw Goods.
51,227
314 27
Woolen Goods.
101,275
66 76
Leather Goods.
513,249
422 64
2,069 51
362,106
392 31
i
Figures taken from United States Census of Manufacturers, 1880, and Massachusetts Statistics of Manu- factures, 1929.
.
$2 81
$12 00
327.0
January, 1880, January, 1881, average
January and July, 1880, average.
January and July, 1880, average
12 15}
July, 1880, average.
2 62
July, 1880, average.
1 25
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LABOR
TABLE IV THE WORKING GIRLS OF BOSTON: 1883 and 1930 Actual Weekly Earnings
1883
1930
OCCUPATIONS
Actual Weekly Earnings
Occupation
Earnings (Weekly)
.
PERSONAL SERVICE:
Carpet sewers.
$8 45
Same
$28 80
Laundry employees.
6 46
Same
26 25
Matrons and nurses
7 80
Restaurant employees
4 06
Cooks (Female)
Telephone operators
8 46
Same (Female)
35 00 17 50 to 24 00
Average.
$6 13
TRADE :
Bookkeepers.
$6 12
Clerks.
5 02
Cashiers
6 47
Errand girls.
2 73
Saleswomen
6 20
Average.
$5 71
MANUFACTURES:
Bookbinderies
$5 72
Folding (Female)
$22 20 (46} hours)
Boots and shoes
5 48
Clothing, Men's:
Tailoresses
6 49
Same
26 50
Coats. .
6 59
Same
49 50
Pantaloons.
7 74
Same
35 00 to 44 00
Vests. .
6 61
5 14
Same
30 00 to 44 00
Overalls, jumpers and eolored shirts. Clothing, Women's:
4 93
Same
17 50 to 45 00
Dressmakers, in business for them- selves.
10 38
Dressmakers, at work for others.
6 90
Milliners ..
10 36
Seamstresses .
6 21
Cloaks, sacks and suits.
7 02
Same
Printing and publishing.
6 61
Same
49 50 36 00 to 48 50
Average.
$6 47
Figures from Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, 1884, and Annual Report of Statistics of Labor, 1930. Union rates for same operation are same for men and women.
229
Hats and eaps.
FIFTY YEARS OF BOSTON FINANCE, 1880=1930
By FREDERIC H. CURTISS
The year 1880 found Boston well organized financially to take advantage of the prosperity which was beginning to be in evidence in the United States. The banks and bankers and business men of Boston had weathered the trying periods since the close of the Civil War, more especially those of 1873-78, quite as well as those in other sections of the country. "These five years (1873-78)," said James F. Rhodes in his "History of the United States," "are a long, dismal tale of declining markets, exhaustion of capital, a lowering in value of all kinds of property, including real estate, constant bankruptcies, close economy in business and grinding frugality in living, idle mills, furnaces and factories, former profit-earning iron mills reduced to the value of the scrap- heap, laborers out of employment, reduction of wages, strikes and lockouts, the great railroad riots of 1877, suffering of the unemployed, depression and despair." The trade revival that came in 1879 was one of the most remark- able in the history of the United States. In that year the crops were the largest on record, coincident with crop failures throughout most of Europe. This, together with the oil development in Pennsylvania and a great tide of immigration from Europe, brought this country a prosperity that was real and on a sound basis. An impetus was given to industry and finance so far- reaching and permanent that it lasted for several years, and in this revival of prosperity Boston participated.
The mere statistics of Boston in 1880- its population of three hundred and sixty-three thousand, its tax valuation of six hundred and thirty-nine million- did not reflect either the size or the importance of the city as a financial center. There were 54 national banks in Boston at that time, with total capital funds of $63,000,000 and deposits of $107,000,000, the Maverick National Bank, with capital funds of $892,000 and total deposits of $8,774,000, being the largest. These banks constituted the membership of the Boston Clearing House. There were three trust companies,- the Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company, incorporated in 1867, the New England Trust Company, incorporated in 1869, and the Massachusetts Loan and Trust Company, incor- porated in 1873. These three trust companies, which did largely a fiduciary and non-commercial business, had total capital funds of about $1,000,000 and total deposits of $9,000,000, the New England Trust Company, with a capital of $881,000 and deposits of $6,729,000, leading in size. There were fifteen mutual savings banks, with a surplus of $2,000,000 and deposits of $68,000,000, the largest of which was the Provident Institution for Savings, with a surplus of $207,000 and total deposits of $23,322,000.
Also in 1880 there were several investment banking houses of established reputation, as well as numerous Stock Exchange houses, for a Boston Stock Exchange, the most important outside of New York City, had been organized
(230)
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231
FINANCE
as far back as 1834. Of the investment houses the outstanding ones were Lee, Higginson and Company and Kidder, Peabody and Company. The former consisted of John C. Lee, George Higginson, Henry Lee, George C. Lee, Francis L. Higginson and the well-known Major Henry L. Higginson, who remained an outstanding figure in financial and musical circles and in almost every civic activity in and around Boston until his death in 1919. This firm, through its successful adventures in western railroads and real estate, and in mining, especially the Calumet and Hecla of Michigan, had built up a large and wealthy clientele. Kidder, Peabody and Company were noted for their large investment and foreign exchange business, having taken over, when their partnership was formed in 1865, the long-established exchange and invest- ment business of John E. Thayer and Brothers. Henry P. Kidder, Francis H. Peabody and Colonel Oliver P. Peabody were members of this firm.
From the foregoing it will be seen that Boston occupied the position of one of the most important financial centers in the United States. For many years previous to this time, New England capital and New England energy centering in Boston had been prominent factors in the great development that had occurred, more especially since the Civil War, in the vast and sparsely settled but fertile sections of the Middle West, and during the succeeding years this trend continued unabated.
In September, 1880, there began the most remarkable boom in securities ever witnessed in this country, lasting until the assassination of President Garfield on July 2, 1881. After that date there was an almost continuously increasing reaction for three years, culminating in the panic which broke on May 14, 1884.
The reaction in the security market in July, 1881, was felt in Boston, and in November of that year two Boston banks, the Pacific National Bank and the Central National Bank, became embarrassed. Both banks were obliged to assess their stockholders 100 per cent and, while the Central National Bank continued business for a number of years, the Pacific finally closed in the following May, its condition being so weakened by fraudulent management, depreciation in securities, and heavy investments in real estate loans and mortgages that the Comptroller of the Currency found it necessary to appoint a receiver. While there were one or two failures of Stock Exchange houses during the stock market decline of the period preceding the 1884 panic, Boston banks were in such a strong position when the storm broke that they passed through the crisis without recourse to clearing house certificates, whereas the New York banks were forced to issue them. In fact, the Boston banks were little affected, their general business being transacted on a more conservative basis and careful preparation having been made in anticipation of financial trouble, which had for months appeared inevitable.
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