First Special Report of the Factory Inspectors of Illinois on Small-Pox in the Tenement House Sweat-Shops of Chicago, 1894 (Classic Reprint) - Tapa blanda

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Excerpt from First Special Report of the Factory Inspectors of Illinois on Small-Pox in the Tenement House Sweat-Shops of Chicago, 1894

The work of the State Factory Inspectors during the smallpox epidemic of 1894 in the sweat-shops of Chicago has consisted in the enforcement of Sections 1 and 2 of the factories and workshops law, which are as follows:

Section 1. Be it enacted, by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That no room or rooms, apartment or apartments, in any tenement or dwelling house used for eating or sleeping purposes, shall be used for the manufacture, in whole or in part, of coats, vests, trousers, knee-pants, overalls, cloaks, shirts, ladies' waists, purses, feathers, artificial flowers or cigars, except by the immediate members of the family living therein. Every such work-shop shall be kept in a cleanly state and shall he subject to the provisions of this act; and each of said articles made, altered, repaired or finished in any of such work-shops shall he subject to inspection and examination, as hereinafter provided, for the purpose of ascertaining whether said articles, or any of them, or any part thereof, are in a cleanly condition and free from vermin and any matter of an infectious and contagious nature; and every person so occupying or having control of any work-shop as aforesaid shall within fourteen days from the taking effect of this act, or from the time of beginning of work in any work-shop as aforesaid, notify the board of health of the location of such work-shop, the nature of the work there carried on, and the number of persons therein employed.

2. If the board of health of any city or said State Inspector finds evidence of infectious or contagious diseases present in any work-shop or in goods manufactured or in process of manufacture therein, and if said board or inspector shall find said shop in an unhealthy condition, or the clothing and materials used therein to be unfit for use, said board or inspector shall issue such order or orders as the public health may require, and the board of health are hereby enjoined to condemn and destroy all such infectious and contagious articles.

As there are in Chicago between 950 and 1,000 licensed shops and about 25,000 other rooms in which garments are manufactured, it would be a hopeless task for any body of inspectors to attempt to enforce these provisions in all of them, and we can make no claim that this has been done. On the contrary the following record demonstrates the impossibility of guaranteeing safety for the purchasing public so long as tenement house manufacture is permitted.

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