Fifty percent of school leavers were entering the cotton industry in 1930, although they would have preferred clerical work if any had been available. Large numbers of children had only casual jobs, with no training, and spells of unemployment between.
The Headmaster of the boys centre was Mr. F. Morley, who, although near retiring age, was regarded as the best person to get the building equipped and courses started. He resigned once this had been achieved, and his successor was Mr. W. Bradley from February 28, 1931. The boys were taught English, practical mathematics, drawing, woodwork and metalwork, with singing and physical training as recreational subjects. At first there were also classes in textiles and engineering at the Technical College, but these had to be abandoned.
There were thirty cotton mills closed, and 24,137 unemployed, and by 1931 the unemployment situation was getting out of the Government's control. Speaking in January, George Burke of the Chamber of Commerce said that the Labour Government “had not made a single constructive effort of any magnitude towards the relief of unemployment". In June 1931 Blackburn Corporation were forced to pay back large sums of rate money to the owners of cotton mills as a result of appeals against assessments. 1,000 houses and 166 shops in the town were empty.
Early in 1931, the manufacturers in an attempt to reduce costs worked out a new system of loom management whereby the weavers worked up to 8 looms, with some assistance in such tasks as carrying cuts of cloth, and other non-weaving duties. As the 8-loom system threatened to reduce the number of jobs at a time of unemployment, it was opposed by the Weavers. This resulted in a lock-out, which ended on February 14, 1931.
The road programme having been completed, the Corporation tried placing men on allotments in order to supplement their income and improve diet. On January 20, 1931, the following advert appeared in the local paper: “The Town Council have under consideration a scheme for the provision of allotment gardens for unemployed persons. In approved cases, assistance may be given with purchase of seeds, fertilisers, and equipment". Linked with this was a course of lectures on the management of allotments at the Technical College. Land was utilised at Teak Street, Lammack, and Feniscliffe, with a special Committee of the Town Council formed to supervise the work. The plots were rent free for the first year, after which 5s. 6d. was charged. The Blackburn Society of Friends also helped with the running of allotments, and several private owners of land released portions for the same purpose.
There was a sharp financial crisis later in the year, with a National Government being formed. The Lancashire Cotton Corporation, which had been formed in 1928, bought up several mills in the town, in most cases closing them down and scrapping the machinery.
The National Government confirmed in office by a landslide General Election, abandoned free trade. Sir Walter Smiles, M.P. for Blackburn, speaking at the Old Blackburnian's meeting on December 19, 1931, said that prosperity would only come back by means of tariffs. The new policy did not assist Blackburn, as India had increased import duties in 1930. Because of the crisis, the Government cut unemployment pay and brought in a system where after six months further payments were only made after an exhaustive inquiry into the finances of the recipient, in which the earnings of children and relatives staying in the same house could disqualify a man from receiving any money. The Public Assistance Committee carried out the test. This hit Blackburn particularly hard, as most of the men affected had been out of work since 1930 and some since the dhoti market collapsed in the mid 1920's. George Hindle, speaking in January 1932 said “There are admittedly men and women who have hardly done a day's work since leaving school… some would have risen to positions of importance, but have never had an opportunity to develop their ability", adding “we have to recognise that the cotton industry has now been introduced in very many countries which we were formerly able to claim as our markets.
Early in 1932, the National Council of Social Service was reorganised with the Prince of Wales as President. He said that the solution to economic difficulties was by personal service by the more fortunate towards those who were suffering from distress and unemployment, an indication from the highest level that the Government was not willing to offer much help to distressed areas.
The official policy of the Ministry of Labour was to transfer workers away from this region, not to bring work in. Some engineers were moved under the scheme, many more moved to the South on their own initiative.
The Town Clerk’s Department sent a letter to all of the Committees of the Corporation asking them to review their departments, to see what work schemes they could offer for the relief on unemployment. The only large-scale work resulting was a new sewage pipeline to Samlesbury, which provided employment in digging and preparing the line, and in concrete mixing. Most Committees could offer no help, while ones with unused land released this for more allotments. The Parks Committee freed land at Knuzden, the Public Assistance Committee a site between Queen’s Park and Old Bank Lane. The Allotments Committee fenced off the holdings and laid on standpipes and water meters.
As the 8-loom system was not working, the employers, anxious to quote lower prices, started to cut wages at individual mills, in breach of the agreement, which gave the same rate of pay in all parts of the weaving area. The Northern Counties Textile Federation gave notice of strike from August 27, 1932, in an attempt to enforce the proper pay scales. The dispute was settled on September 24, in spite of which, wage reductions at some mills continued.
Conditions were very bad in the winter of 1932, and a Christmas meal was arranged for the children paid for by a private collection and organised by the Northern Daily Telegraph “Santa Claus” Fund.
All the different welfare interests were brought together on March 22, 1933, when the Blackburn Council of Social Service was formed. They took over responsibility for the supervision of allotments and paid for tools, seeds and fertiliser, in some cases also paying the rent. More and more land was brought into cultivation. Sites included: Green Lane, Lammack; Colenso Road, Whitebirk, Park Lee Road and Shorrock Lane, while more land was made available at Teak Street, and later on Broadfold and Sunny Bower at Little Harwood were made into smallholdings. In April 1933, a book of poems made by unemployed men was sold from door to door as a means of raising funds.
The Rishton Weavers Report for September 1933 stated, “Unemployment has long been a national affair, but those in power appear to have failed to realise their responsibility in such matters and are taking no steps”.
The same year saw a series of investigations into the way of life among the unemployed in Blackburn, and as in studies by temperance workers in the 1880’s, the families were referred to by an initial letter, or by their occupation, but, unlike the temperance workers, the researchers were unable to show how they could have managed their affairs differently:
Mr. A had been out of work for five years, and until recently his income had been 10/- a week, but in 1933 he got a job as night watchmen at 36/-.
Mr. B a thin man lived with his wife and 2 children. Out of work five years, his total income was 29/3 a week.
A young married woman, former weaver with two children said, “I don’t know how it is, but these last few years since I’ve been out of the mill I don’t seem able to take the trouble somehow”. She was apologising for the untidy state of her home. Most of the food in the house went to the children.
An unemployed engineer of 28, unmarried said, “I feel hurt at my failure to secure work. Months of unemployment drove me desperate. I feel sometimes like a hunted animal whose bolt holes have been stopped up”.
A childless middle-aged couple, both weavers, without work three years said their main diet was fried potatoes, bread, and margarine.
This inadequate diet was revealed in the 1932/33 Report of the School Medical Officer, Dr. Thierens. 504 necessitous children had been provided with meals, and 165 others who were considered to be in need. 76.5 percent of the children were regarded as having normal nutrition, which was a worse figure than that for the height of the First World War in 1917/18, when 79.3 percent of children had normal nutrition.
The figure meant that a quarter of all children in Blackburn were suffering from malnutrition. Clothing by contrast with diet was satisfactory in 92 percent of children, and footwear in 99 percent. There was a reservoir of hand-down clothing, which was available for the children, and the mothers could alter them when necessary.
There was also a clog fund, which provided new clogs or boots, and kept footwear in repair.
The diet was deficient in protein and vitamins, as the poorest families could barely afford fresh meat and fruit, and, as early as 1920, 212 out of 844 families interviewed could not afford fresh milk, using tinned condensed milk instead. This situation would have got much worse in the depressed conditions of the early 1930’s. The cheap available sources of protein were sheep’s heads, which provided three meals –the meat of the cheeks, the brain made up into a meat paste, and the bones boiled to make soup- , and rabbits, which could be purchased for a few pence as the market closed for the day. However, it is doubtful whether there would have been enough of either, and most families subsisted on bread and jam, with chips for the main meal.
The contrast between the relative ease with which clothing could be obtained, and the difficulty in maintaining an adequate diet was highlighted in a talk given by an unemployed man on March 3rd, 1936, entitled “How do I stand?” “The coat and vest I wear come from a friend; my trousers and boots were given by a relative – also my shirt and collar. The bootlaces I have bought myself”. A few shillings a week for food meant bread and margarine, with tinned sardines an occasional luxury. The large amount of clothing being distributed meant that a generation was growing up who had never had a new suit of clothing or a new pair of shoes in their lives. Mrs. John Yates, observing that her maid was wearing an old, battered pair of shoes, wanted to buy her a new pair, and asked what size she took. The girl looked at her uncomprehendingly – she had never had a pair that had not been handed down and knew nothing about sizes of footwear.
The gulf between what science could achieve, and the way people were forced to live was pointed out by a local speaker in 1933: “We are living in a time that is unprecedented. We have materials and goods beyond the dreams of people living a few years ago – and yet we have such a large number of people in poverty and distress”.
An attempt to provide a centre where the unemployed could find warmth, a friendly atmosphere, and recreational activities, was started by the Blackburn Council of Social Service soon after its formation. Part of Maudsley Street School was used, and the Warden F. Singleton organised classes in woodwork and singing, also providing facilities for shoe repairs. The main leisure activity was table tennis. The Blackburn Council of Social Service paid the Warden’s salary, also that of an instructor in woodwork, who managed to get counter fittings from shops, which were being modernised, and offcuts from a local sawmill. The counter fittings were converted into workbenches, while the men used the wood to make desks, children’s toys, railway engines and toy motor cars, which were then brightly painted.
The Blackburn Diocesan Leaflet for November 1933 said: “Since we are largely dependent on the Indian and China markets it is hard to see how our situation can greatly improve in the near future…. As month succeeds month without improvement, people become more disheartened and suffering increases, while every few months thousands more children leave school without any prospect of securing work. Clearly the Church ought to be doing whatever is possible to organise and maintain such efforts for the unemployed as will help”.
One form that the help took was a distribution of warm clothing and food parcels by the Cathedral authorities, organised by the provost, at Christmas 1933. There was also a Christmas meal for the children, provided by the Santa Claus Fund.
On February 22, 1934, the Warden of the Unemployed Centre, which had been named Community House, left Blackburn to take up a similar post at Birkenhead. He was given a smoking cabinet made by the unemployed members of Community House, and his successor was Mr. A. Venables.
Mr. William Birtwistle made twenty acres of land available as smallholdings for unemployed men on April 20 at Balderstone. Smallholdings did not prove as successful locally as allotments, as tenancy disqualified the holder from receiving unemployment pay on the grounds that he was not available for work, being employed full time on the land. This decision by the Ministry of Labour Referees was typical of the narrow-minded unsympathetic approach of the national authorities to Lancashire’s plight and meant that unless a man could find a backer to finance him over the first months of settlement, the smallholding was no solution to his problem.
Allotments continued to flourish. The Blackburn Allotment Holders Association was formed to give advice, and arrange bulk purchases of fertiliser, lime and seed potatoes, which were then distributed among the members. Nationally, by 1932 there were a hundred and thirty-four million acres of allotments, many of whom competed in the National Allotment Holders Cup competition, between different towns.
Blackburn Corporation capital spending was the lowest for a generation, the only relief works undertaken being resurfacing of Clinton Street, Mount Pleasant and Brandy House Brow.
The National Council of Social Service (Northern Area) met local welfare groups in the Town Hall on February 28, 1934, to discuss what was being done in the town, the problem of organising welfare work, and “helping hundreds of unemployed men and women spend their hours of enforced idleness usefully”. The case of the women was not considered so urgent, as they always had work about the home. They were concerned at the inadequacy of the Community House building, and a fresh site was sought. About this time the B.B.C started broadcasting special talks on subjects of interest to the unemployed.
Locally, one problem was finding speakers to give talks to unemployed men. These tended to be either inflammatory denunciations of the social order, or irrelevant to the needs of the men, with such titles as “The Blackburn Corporation Regalia” and “How Britain became great”. A more popular form of entertainment was gramophone recitals. With the advent of electrical record players, enough volume of sound could be generated to make public concerts in large rooms possible.
A new Labour Exchange was built at Darwen in 1934, as there were 5,000 on the Register, and a new building was needed to “cope with a position that has assumed a permanency”. The clerks in the Labour Exchange tended to become very arrogant in their dealings with the unemployed, on one occasion in 1934 compelling them to wait outside the Blackburn Labour Exchange in the rain until a sympathetic policeman insisted on the doors being opened so that the men could shelter inside.
By 1934 the market in India was improving, but sales of cotton goods were becoming conditional upon the purchase of Indian raw cotton in exchange. Here Japan gained an advantage, as her spinning and weaving plant had been designed to use Indian cotton, whereas very few Lancashire firms tackled the problem of adaptation to Indian cotton. Canada was starting to take a proportion of English cotton goods. The weavers were opposed to plans for raising the school leaving age to 15. When the father was out of work, it was essential to get a son or daughter at work as quickly as possible, and many boys left grammar school before matriculating. The author’s nephew had to leave Queen Elizabeth’s to become a boy entrant in the Royal Navy to ease the financial burden at home.
At the beginning of July 1934, a fortnight’s pilgrimage to the Cathedral to pray for the unemployed was organised. By the time it closed on July 15, two thousand had attended.
Peel mill was purchased by the Blackburn Council of Social Service, and was decorated by the men, fitted out with workbenches, sports room, showers, lecture room and reading room. The building was opened as the new Community House by Lady Maureen Stanley on November 5, 1934.
In November 1934, Sir Walter Smiles, local M.P said in a speech “Blackburn was one of the few towns which had not benefitted much from the Government’s policy”. As a town dependent on the cotton industry, the lowering of the number of unemployed was due to migration south. The home market was protected, but that was not large in comparison with the export trade. There were ten million spindles which had to be scrapped. Sir Walter did not quote the number of unemployed, which had dropped in Blackburn to 18,524, while the number of looms in the town had halved in the ten years from 1924-1934, and spindles declined by fifty-five percent.
Mr. A.C.P. Hughes, secretary of the Gamecock Club for unemployed men gave a talk on November 29, 1934, to the Rotary Club on the subject of “The unemployed Man”. He said that the effects were progressive in their nature, optimism giving way to pessimism, which in turn became fatalism. One young man stated, “Fits of depression were the hardest thing I had to fight. I attended gymnastic classes in the morning”.
The speaker thought there should be different scales of relief for summer and winter, and some relief could be given in direct payments of rent, and coal and provision vouchers. Compulsory courses of training were a vital necessity, and all recipients of benefit should attend classes of physical training and handicrafts.
The President of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce gave a lecture on November 27, 1934, to the Blackburn Chamber. While the policy of protection to which we had been driven had a most beneficial effect on the general level of unemployment, things had not worked out so well for Lancashire. Old markets were restricted and there was intense competition from the Far East. The days of the merchant were over – the principal of the firm should visit the country whose market he wished to secure to find out the detailed requirements of that market.
Food parcels were once again organised by the Cathedral at Christmas, and the Santa Claus fund used once more to provide a Christmas breakfast for the poor children.
At the beginning of January 1935, the Bishop said in his New Year letter that there should be “a determination to make national efforts to relieve areas where unemployment on a big and permanent scale has brought untold suffering…. In Blackburn, figures of unemployment have remained stationary at a dreadfully high level for a long time. The patience and courage of the people has been wonderful, and occupational centres of all kinds have been a real boon”.
Early in 1935, a work scheme organised by the Parks Department was worked out, to start as soon as weather conditions made outdoor work possible. The paddling pool at Queen’s Park was to be extended, while £1560 was to be spent on resurfacing roads and pathways in the Cemetery.
It had been decided that the Silver Jubilee of the accession of King George and Queen Mary would be the occasion of a national celebration. The actual Jubilee-day was May 6 1935, when the children had a holiday from school and most of the firms in town and the Corporation got a day’s holiday. There was a royal salute fired by the East Lancashire Regiment in Corporation Park, which was floodlit, as was the Cathedral. The streets in town were decorated with bunting, pictures of the King and Queen, and decorations of all kinds. The Boy Scouts lit a Jubilee beacon on Longshaw Playing Fields, while the Guides had a Jubilee Camp Fire in Corporation Park. The events concluded with a tattoo and firework display in Corporation Park on the evening of May 11, and a thanksgiving Service in the Cathedral on Sunday, May 12.
About this time, residents of the poorest class of houses in Blackburn in such areas as Crook Street, Grimshaw Park, Cleaver Street, Nab Lane and Brunswick Street were being rehoused under the provisions of the 1930 Housing Act. Initially a site along Brothers Street was used for new houses for tenants from clearance areas. It was found that they had either very little, or only substandard furniture, and a grant of £18 was made available for the purchase of new chairs and bedding.
The land behind the houses was used for allotments, while more land at Livesey, Teak Street and Sunny Bower was also cultivated, and seven acres at Ravenswood Farm at Little Harwood was purchased from the Trustees of Micah Birtwistle. Blackburn was entered for the National Allotments Competition, coming joint third with Bolton. The militant Unemployed Workers Group wanted free travel on the Corporation buses for allotment holders travelling to their plots, and total rent rebate, but both requests were turned down.
The Blackburn Council of Social Service held their half-yearly meeting on June 29 in no.2 Committee Room of the Town Hall. They heard a report on the work and considered new ways of raising funds. The principal source of income was from voluntary contributions, and a flag day each autumn, but it was now decided to make house-to-house collections, seeking gifts of money or saleable items.
In October, the Ministry of Transport grant for the second carriageway of the Arterial Road was approved, and conveyancing of the land to the Corporation, where they did not already own it, started. On November 25, the Unemployment Special Subcommittee of the Corporation decided to ask the other Committees to consider what schemes they could undertake to relieve unemployment. £34,360 was borrowed for the Spring Lane improvement, while in December; the Ministry of Transport wanted to know a definite starting date for the Arterial Road.
Late in the year, an Industrial Development Sub Committee of the Corporation was formed to attract new industries into the town and give advice and assistance to firms thinking of starting. It was announced that new industries in Blackburn included domestic appliances, paper felts, dog food, clothing, soap and chemicals, Bakelite, and wallpaper, the number of new jobs resulting being around 600. Unemployment was down to 16,825 while 5.4 percent of the population had migrated south.
In December, a survey of overcrowding in Blackburn was begun. Forms were left with each householder, who had to give particulars of the number of rooms and occupants, and details of any sub-letting. Fifteen enumerators worked from rooms in Victoria Street.
Another meeting of the Blackburn Council of Social Service took place on December 4. The bishop addressed the audience, saying, “The work being done for unemployed men at Community House is work of which Blackburn has every right to be proud”. There were unemployed centres at the YMCA, the Friends Meeting House and Community House.
The Blackburn Trades Council was considering forming an Unemployed Association, whose aims would be to assist generally in combatting the evils arising from unemployment; to impress upon the Government and local authorities the need for increasing employment; to obtain for unemployed persons as high a standard of living as possible; to provide educational, recreational and other facilities; and to encourage members to join a trade union upon securing employment.
Two New Year messages came on January 1, 1936, from Mr. E. Hamer and Capt. Elliston, M.P. Mr. Hamer said, “One of the wonders of 1935 has been the patience, steadfastness and spirit of the Blackburn operatives who have been without employment”. Capt. Elliston said, “In Blackburn we have been much indebted to those who have provided various comforts and occupations for the unemployed”. The same day there was a New Year party for married members of Community House and their wives. After the meal, the Chorley Council of Social Service Harmonica Band entertained them.
Details of the Arterial Road works from Yew Tree to Brownhill were announced. The road was to be a dual carriageway with cycle tracks and would find work for a hundred unemployed men for two years. In order to relieve as many as possible, a six-month rota was worked out. Spring Lane would also find work, while other unemployed men were working at Mill Hill. A lodge was filled in, the site levelled, paths laid, and under the supervision of the Parks Department, lawns and shrubs planted. The result was Mill Hill Gardens, which opened on May 28, 1936.
People were becoming concerned about the effects on a man’s character that resulted from being unemployed for a period of years. In the Blackburn Times of January 11, 1936, Alex Littler wrote, “Behind many a closed door a tragedy is being enacted daily. When on the dole, should one be badly in need of clothes, one can only get them by evading payment of rent… Employers too readily assume that if out of work for a long period, demoralisation has set in”.
In his talk at Community House on March 3, the unemployed man who had given details of his life added that social centres were diverting the thoughts of the unemployed, and the community at large from finding a proper remedy to the problem. They did not want charity, which was at best selective, and did not reach the most deserving cases, nor did it get down to the real cause of unemployment.
Another difficulty, which the unemployed faced, was in affording dental treatment. Robert F. Mottershead gave a talk on “Dentistry” at Community House on January 14. At the end of the talk, when he offered to give a set of teeth, there were over a hundred applicants, and it was noted that all the men’s teeth were in poor condition, and they could not afford treatment.
At last, a social centre for unemployed women was started. It arose out of the “Keep Fit” movement of 1935, and was a social and fitness club, with no occupational side. 220 attended the Club House in Weir Street on January 14, 1936, and had a meal of hotpot, cakes and tea, followed by a concert. The club was organised by the mayor’s daughter and took the name “New Sunshine Club”. The musical director was Joan Stirrup.
The Mayor of Blackburn, W. Coupe, J.P. called a meeting at the Town Hall, Blackburn of all the Mayors of Lancashire on February 25 to plan concerted action aimed at forcing the Government to assist the cotton industry. Mr. Coupe said we had suffered greatly in this part of Lancashire by the action of the Indian Government. Something like twenty years ago, they had started with a tax of 3 percent, and that had grown to 25 percent, thus effectively blocking the bulk trade we formerly had. Our engineers being short of work here were steadily drifting to the South and Midlands, where standard were four shillings a week higher, and the prospect of bonus and overtime much greater. The young men were leaving Lancashire and so extending the decline in our population. These men ought to be our future good citizens. The Government had protected sugar beet and could do something for cotton. A full meeting of Mayors was arranged for March 20, to consider in detail points to be put to the Board of Trade.
In March, one disturbing item of news was brought back to the town by Mr. Frank Longworth, Blackburn’s representative on the Lancashire deputation to India – the Indian Tariff Board had not yet completed its report, so they could not say whether a tariff reduction was planned, or not. “Lancashire is very disappointed,” added Mr. Longworth. “Any delay in recommending a reduction is bound to have a bad effect on Lancashire, towns, particularly Blackburn which is so dependent on the Indian trade. The uncertainty has been very detrimental to our trade with India, and business has only been possible in a hand-to-mouth sort of way”.
This news weakened the case that Blackburn was going to put to the Board of Trade. J.A. Ormerod of the Chamber of Commerce said that Lancashire was using three times as much Indian cotton in 1936 as in 1931.
On April 28, the deputation of Lancashire Mayors met Dr. Burgin, President of the Board of Trade, who received them sympathetically. Mr. Coupe, who led the delegates, and prepared a 1200-word statement setting out their position: North East Lancashire had made a considerable contribution to the export drive, and had done her best to utilise Indian cotton, but without India in her purchase of Lancashire goods completing her side of the bargain. Blackburn had 32.6 percent unemployment and should receive her share of the Defence contracts. Mr. Coupe wanted a ten percent subsidy on cotton exports. While at the House of Commons, a telegram was received from James Ward of the Friends Meeting House, “eagerly watching your endeavours to improve Blackburn trade”.
When Dr. Burgin’s reply was digested, it amounted to “Work out your own solution”. He ruled out a subsidy, could not promise anything definite on defence contracts, and made no offer of financial help in re-equipping cotton mills.
Figures released by the Health Department in March showed that unemployed men were slower in recovering from minor illnesses than men in work, and the hard winter which had started early, with frosts in September, and continuing cold until February 1936 had been a particularly difficult time for them. Another set of figures indicated that Blackburn was losing all her skilled men, and many young men were going south.
In a letter to the Blackburn Times on March 14 1936, appealing for volunteers to sell flags on March 20 and 21, and for others to be generous in support, Mr. E. Hamer said “The unemployment centres have a large membership of unemployed men, women and children, who are developing latent qualities of craftsmanship, finding friendship, and letting a little sunshine into their lives”. 260 flag sellers turned out, raising in all £301. One of the latent qualities being developed was skill in archery. There was a contest between Blackburn and Chorley Social Centres on February 29, while Bob Hacking of Community House gave a demonstration on television on October 19, in a contest with John Yates. The members made their own bows and arrows, and Bob Hacking made a strong rival to John Yates, who was President of the Pendle Bowmen, so presumably with equipment of professional standard.
The allotment movement continued to grow, now having 18 sites, and with nine tons of seed potatoes and ten tons of lime distributed. There were thirteen entries for the Mayor’s Cup, which was competed for between the different allotments in the town, and was won by Hamilton Street. The housing boom meant that some allotments had to be given up, as at Shorrock Lane and Colenso Road, but most holders were given enough time to harvest their crops, and fresh plots found for them.
Rishton Weavers issued a leaflet in March, commenting on the recent Wage Census, which had given an average weekly wage of £1. 11s. 5d. for Lancashire weavers, with many earning less than this, and describing life in 1936: “When people outside the industry ask about the cotton operatives, they usually ask “How do they manage to live?” The answer to that question is that for many weavers and their families, life has been shorn of the trimmings and has developed into a struggle for existence. Pleasures have been reduced to a minimum, luxuries have become a thing of the past, household requisites cannot be replaced, and households… have become havens of brood and despair”. In other words, a pay increase was vitally needed.
