THE FUTURE OF WOMEN IN INDUSTRY.

White Ribbon, Volume 25, Issue 292, 19 October 1919, Page 7

THE FUTURE OF WOMEN IN INDUSTRY.

(Abstract of an Address delivered at Whitefield's Men’s Own, on Sunday Afternoon, June ”nd, i«.>i<». In Miss A. Maude Koyden.)

Before proceeding to discuss what the lecturer declared to l>e the sorest point in the industrial problem of home, viz., the cheap labour <»t women, Miss Koyden laid down certain general principles, the recognition of which was necessary to understand and grapple with the social and industiial problems of to-dav, just as in the phv sit al world it was only when scientists began to formulate the laws under which the l ’niverse operates that they wen* able to understand something of its mysteries and wrest from it its secrets. These general principles she summarised thus; It is not the worker, but the idler, that is a burden on the' community. It is best alike for the community and for the indi vidual that each should do the best work that be is capable of, and that work should be done In those who can do it best. Women aie not all alike, nor ought they to be all alike. Not all women naturally understand or love children, but one who dins not is not necessarily a wrong sort of woman, for there are more varieties in human natuie than society has usually admitted. Ihe broad differences that exist between the sexes do not always imply inferiority on the woman s side. Thus if, .ts seems to be the case, in certain kinds of work women are quicker than men, but exhaust them selves sooner, that does not, of necessity imply inferiority, but rather that the condition* under which they work must be somewhat different. Women ought to have the same freedom of choice in their work as men have; to every child, tn fact, should be given a much greater freedom of choice than is the case at present. Unwilling work is nearly always inefficient work, then the community suffers. Women have been taught, on the one hand, that if they belong to the richer class they ought not to work lest they take work away from somebody that needs it; and on the* other, that if they belong to the poorer they must work, and this at work that men do not want to do. Whereas, given freedom of choice, the very differences, physically, between the sexes, and the

differences in the* ways of living, would sort out the work they can do best, and the- community would be the gainer. Hitherto men have judged what son of work women should do, and b\ confession of the War Cabinet Committee on Women m Industry, their judgment has not been altogether wise. I hey have excluded women from work the\ were quite competent fo do, and have* allowed them to do that for which they were not suited, till the war came ai'd broke down all these lalsc standards and ban ni s. Women have shown that they have more public spirit to re-

pond to the public need than people imagine; tand that in taking up a new line of woik the\ have more adapta bilu\ and initiative than wa< stippos ed. With better conditions in the way of fresh air and good food, they have* shown a remarkable degree of physical and muscular strength, and have proved that they can do the work of men, though it may be necessary for ilu* conditions of work to be some what different. Now that peace has come, we want the new powers reveal cd by the* war to be* used to enrich and dignify life and give it leisure, while at the same time ine teasing produc - tion. I he Restoration of Pre-War Practice's Bill, recently presented, ha- for its object to testore the conditions of organised industry ~s they were be fore the war. The result would be that nearly Xoo.ooo women would be turned out of their work, women that have learned a trade, and thereby have learned their own powers. Arc- the\ to be sent home, and told not to work ? Are they to be told to get married? Very many of them cannot get married owing to the' war. But when a woman is denied marriage ' the channel into which she would naturally have poured her creative forces, her energy as a human being she* needs all the more some work in which to use her powers, or she becomes a maimed and discontented being. And while' it is that the men who gave up their positions to go to the war should be restored to them as far as possible, it is not just that the door should be closed permanently against the women that have proved their capacity for a new industry. How are we to get over the snuggle between the* expensive man and the cheap labour of women? To legislate against women engaging »n a certain industry will only create a

bitter feeling. Ihe solution ot the difficulty lies in the direction of giving equal pay for equal work, whether done by a man or a woman. Then by a process ot natural selection, the right people will go into the right work, i.c., that for which they arc* the best fitted, and which, therefore, they will do the- best. Two objections offer themselves to this pro|x>sai: fust, that the- w<»man will be driven out as effectively by legislation; second, that it would 1m- .m injustice to the man who has a wife and family to support. As to the lust, it is quite likely that the* woman will be driven out, but it will be so because the work is really done better by men, and therefore it is best for all, men and women alike, that the men should do

it. The proce-s of natural selection will ensure that the women do those kinds of work for which they arc best fitted, and though in some cases it may cause hardship, in the end it "ill work out right. The second objection can l>e met only by some sc heme for the endowment of motherhood. There arc' not wanting signs th.it this is coming before long, c.g., Widows’ Pensions and the War Cabinet s proposal for paying children’s allowances to married men. Onlv in ibis latici

c ase- we must use more common sriisc, and sec' that the person who does the work the woman gets the recogm tion of the* State for the work that has done.

B\ granting to women in the home equal economic independence you will remove a fruitful cause- of bitterness, you will equalise men and women in the labour market, and make marriage a real partnership, the man bringing to the home what he has earned, and the woman bringing what she* has earned. The rearing of children is the most important work in the world, it is a “service rendered to the- State in connection with the continuance of the race,” and this burden does fall, on the whole, more on the woman in the home than on the man.

* The se problems cannot be solved in a spirit of sex antagonism or suspi cion, but by considering them from the woman’s point of view as well as from the man’s, and by bringing to their solution the earnest desire for truth, honesty, and justice*. Women have not been slow to make sacrifices for the good of the community, and when appealed to on grounds of justice and loyalty for the good of all, they will be ready to respond,