An exposition, as painful as it is real, of the life of the workers "in a well-known working district on the outskirts of Beirut." Its aim, as the writer says, is "neither condemnation nor judgment — we condemn no one — but to draw the attention of the responsible, and the responsible are all of us," to one of the most prominent of our social problems.

Woman in our country to this day does not "vote." Yet her voice may reach ears and hearts and consciences as the clamor of the "voters" never does. And that is what moved me to answer the request when I was asked for a report on the condition of the workers in a well-known working district on the outskirts of Beirut.

It is a report. And a report carries figures, sketches directions, and is content with that. As for the figures, I gathered them from "inquiries" I made among the workers' families with complete fidelity and with what exactness I could. As for the directions, I shall not go into them; perhaps the figures will suggest something of them.

1 - Housing conditions

Of 206 families gathered in a single parish, only 31 families live in more than one room — 6 of them in three rooms and the rest in two — bearing in mind that 7 families of this latter group number between 8 and 14 persons each. As for the remaining hundred and seventy-five families, each of them lives in a single room.

And of 63 families distributed among three different parishes, 22 families live in more than one room, 8 of these being the property of their occupants.

* These 206 families number 1,062 persons, and the 63 families 461 — that is, an average of 5 and of 7 persons to a

family: from which you see that they are broods rich in blessing!.. while families beneath them in "blessing" enjoy spacious houses and vacant rooms.

* The rent of a single room runs between 20 and 25 Lebanese lira a month. They are built of "lin" (concrete block); damp seeps through the best-built of them in winter, and the heat and humidity of summer make of them human "fermenting-vats." He who built them cared nothing for art or beautification, nor for the neces-sary sanitary precautions, nor for making repairs when the need arises: his one care is what these rooms bring in, and that the rent be collected on time.

* Here is "Jamil," living in an underground room that would not do as a coop for the landlady's hens — three meters long and a meter and a half wide. Its walls are unwhitewashed, and it sees the sun neither at its rising nor at its setting. He pays ten liras a month for it. Visiting him one day, I noticed on the face of his small child (they are four in the coop!) the marks of raised bites, which I learned were the bites of rats. No doubt it vexed the rats that a strange tenant should move in upon them, so they took to attacking them, stealing their vengeful bites from the little child.

* Mr. M. has a building in the district housing 28 families in two rows of rooms — you would take it for a military barracks. The building is without electricity, so the tenants rose up and demanded of Mr. M. light for their rooms, and he refused. They offered him many solutions, among them that they should share in the costs of installing the electricity, or that they should install it at their own expense against a permission from the owner of the property; but he would accept none of it

— he turned his back, repeating: Without electricity you came in, and without electricity you will go out. They gave him rough words, and he said of them that they were a crowd without breeding or manners, and with no fear of God in them!

* But what have we to do with such matters now. Let us return to the figures.

63 families sleep on 348 mattresses — that is, an average of 5 mattresses for every seven persons. Bearing in mind that the distribution is not equitable. For you will find families made up of nine members with no more than five mattresses, and others of fourteen persons with only eight mattresses. Eight mattresses laid out on the floor of the room so close that you cannot find a space between them to set your foot.

What, then, can health be in these families, and what can morals be? And what rest can the night laborer taste in a room that is workshop and kitchen and dining table and sleeping place and receiving room? The district abounds in factories, and there is more than one factory in it working night and day. My inquiries among a number of the workers have taught me that they do not usually enjoy more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep against 9 and 10 and 12 hours of work!

2 - Hours of work and wages

I said 9 and 10 and 12 hours, because the hours of work fixed by law find, in reality, no measure but the will of the employer and the need of the workers. Work grows plentiful, and so the employer is "compelled" to lengthen the hours of work. And if it does not please you, go butt the wall if you like — and beyond the wall, the factory gate. For at the gate stands one to take your place before your spot has grown cold!..

And the price of labor falls — it has in fact fallen to where there is no further room for falling — so the worker is compelled to work extra hours. And the extra hours are hours like any others, and no hour has any distinction over another. The