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Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday July 1, 1908
Theresa Malkiel Speaks to “Sisters in Toil”
From The Socialist Woman of July 1908:
MY SISTERS lN TOIL
Theresa Malkiel.
Listen my sisters! I have made up my mind to talk it over with you. I have toiled from morn to night, from week to week, from year to year, without any bright memories of the past or dreams for the, future. Like you, I have lived to work. Each day brought forth the same dull program; the only variation being the time when work was slack, and then the fear of the morrow made matters still worse. We girls of the same workroom often rebelled against our nerve and body tearing tasks, often wished for a glimpse of the clear sky and the bright sunshine, the green fields and shady woods, which very few of us ever got a chance to enjoy. But what was the use of complaining? We saw no remedy for it, and what was more, didn’t care to look for one.
It is true there was the possibility of marriage, but how many of us look forth to married life as a relief from hard burdens, as easier living. What with the housework and small babies, that come soon enough, a few boarders or some homework, or the job of a janitress, there is little time for recreation, or thought for better things.
Toilers live the life of animals—that is work, and sleep, with short intervals for food. Now let us put our heads together and see if this is right; if things ought to, and will, go on for ever in this way.
I know you will say: “What is the use? We’ll not change the world, it’s our fate to work and struggle, and we might as well accept the inevitable. We are too tired to think, or read what others have thought out for us; when bones ache and the head reels, the bed, even if it is a hard one, is more inviting than the most attractive lecture room.”
