WOMEN AND WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2984, 23 January 1917, Page 3

WOMEN AND WAR

A REMARKABLE RECORD

OFFICIAL RECOGNITION

' "Womon's War Work" is tho title of J a remarkable publication issued a few ■weeks ago by the Imperial War Office. ', The work is a record of what British women have done in maintaining the industries and export trade of the ' United Kingdom during tho war period, 1 and tho information it contains has been compiled officially "for tho use of I recruiting officers, military representa- ' tives, and tribunals," in dealing with ' applications for the exemption of men 1 under the "essential industries" 3 heading. 5 "It is considered that a more wide--5 spread knowledge of l the success which 5 has been achieved by women in nearly 3 all branches of men's work is most fc desirable, and will lead to tho reloaso ■ of large numbers of men to the colours I who have hitherto been regarded as in--5 dispensable," runs an introductory b- paragraph. "Employers who have met - the new conditions with patience and foresight readily admit that the results attained by the temporary employment of women far exceed their original estimates, and even so are capable of much extension. . ._. The necessity of replacing wastage- in our armies will eventually compel the release of all men who can be replaced by women, and it is therefore in the interests of employers to secure and train temporary substitutes as early as possible, in order to avoid any falling off in production. Military_ representatives and chairmen of tribunals will, it is hoped, find 1 the list of examples in this work of seryico in dealing with claims for exemption put forward on grounds of indispensability, while employers may find now ws.ys or increasing their output in spito of the shortage of male labour. The Vacant Place. "In some parts of tho country most effective substitution has been achieved by getting one of the womenfolk of the soldier's own family to replace him in civil life. Thus wives have taken up their husband's work, sisters their brothers', daughters their fathers', even mothers their sons'. Substitution of this kind has much to recommend it. It helps to avoid domestic disturbance and the breaking up of homos. "Women of Great Britain and employers of labour,,remember this: "No man who is eligible _ for military service, should bo retained ' in civil employment if his place can be tempo'rarijy filled by a woman or by a man wk> is ineligible for military service. "No man who is ineligible _ for military service should be retained 1 on work which can be performed by a woiruin (for the duration of the war) if the man himself can be utilised to release to the . colours one who is eligible for military service and who cannot be satisfactorily replaced, by a woman." The Gall from the Firing Line. The Adjutant-General of the Forccß, in commending the work to the notice of recruiting authorities and the community generally, emphasises the continued need for men. The extent of the drain upon the human resources of the Empire, he says, cannot he gauged until the day of victory is known, and in the meantime every effort must bo made to replace in civil life tho men required for the fighting forces. "Since the outbreak of war," says the Ad-jutant-General, "tho women of Britain have shown themselves ready and anxious to undertake every form of work where their services can be accepted, and this book is intended not only sis a proof that women hare shown , themselves capable of successfully replacing tho stronger sex in practically every branch of industry, but also as a tribute to their effective contribution to the service of the Empiro in this hour of need. , ' The more list of industries and processes in which women are now engaged in the United Kingdom fills a score or more pages in tho book. The women are performing farm work in all its they aro replacing men in all the unskilled and seniiskilled trades, and they aro ascending successfully into the higher branches of the skilled trades, where they liandlo complicated machinery and engage in delicate and difficult processes, involving strength and endurance as well as technical ability. The most interesting and perhaps the most convincing portion of the book from the point of view of the general reader is a collection of pictures, showing the women of Britain at work in their new occupations. The women aro shown harrowing, harvesting, tending horses, sacking and delivering coal, stoking.engines, taking tickets, moving luggage, washing and cleaning engines and railway carriages, browing, baking ; delivering goods, boiler-making, driving traction engines, road-sweeping, motor-driving, flourmilling, glass-manufacturing, and using engineering tools of many kinds. Then the women are engaged in every branch of munition manufacture, including tho casting, machining, anS loading of shells, the manufacture of big guns, and the finishing of rifles. In fact, a list of the industries into which women have penetrated, with, satisfaction to their employers and advantage to the nation during the time of trial, would' be very nearly a complete list of Britain's industrial activities.