whole
trade. One who was present, describing the tense dramatic moment that
followed, writes: "The audience unanimously endorsed it. 'Do you mean
faith?' said the chairman. 'Will you take the old Jewish oath,' And
up came 2,000 Jewish hands with the prayer, 'If I turn traitor to the
cause I now pledge, may this hand wither and drop off at the wrist
from this arm I now raise.'" The girl was Clara Lemlich, from the
Leiserson factory. She did not complain for herself, for she was a
fairly well-paid worker, making up to fifteen dollars in the rush
season, but for her much poorer sisters.

The response within that hall typified the response next day outside.
I quote the words of an onlooker:

From every waist-making factory in New York and Brooklyn, the
girls poured forth, filling the narrow streets of the East Side,
crowding the headquarters at Clinton Hall, and overflowing into
twenty-four smaller halls in the vicinity. It was like a mighty
army, rising in the night, and demanding to be heard. But it was
an undisciplined army. Without previous knowledge of organization,
without means of expression, these young workers, mostly under
twenty, poured into the Union. For the first two weeks from 1,000
to 1,500 joined each day. The clerical work alone, involved in,
registering and placing recruits was almost overwhelming. Then
halls had to be rented and managed, and speakers to be procured.
And not for one nationality alone. Each hall, and there were
twenty-four, had to have speakers in Yiddish, Italian and English.
Every member of the League was pressed into service. Still small
halls were not enough. Lipzin's Theatre was offered to the
strikers, and mass meetings were held there five afternoons a
week.

Meanwhile committees were appointed from each shop to settle upon
a price list. As the quality of work differed in different shops,
a uniform wage was impossible and had to be settled by each shop
individually. When the hundreds of price lists were at last
complete, meetings were arranged for each shop committee and their
employers. Again the price list was discussed, and a compromise
usually effected. In almost every shop, however, an increase of
from 15 to 20 per cent. was granted.

Apart from wages, the contract insured significant improvements.
Besides calling for recognition of the union it demanded full pay for
legal