The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-10-14 00:00:00

ON THE SOCIAL POSITION OF WOMEN.

At the Social Science Congress held at Leeds, a
paper was read in the Department of Education and
Trade, by Mrs. Marsh Phillips, on "Some of the
Evils Arising from the present Training and Social
Position of Women and their Remedies." It was
urged that while modern civilization greatly changed
the circumstances and conditions of women's lives,
their education and social status had not changed. To
remedy the defects in existence in the training and
education of women, Mrs. Phillips suggested the for-
mation of a national league, with a threefold object :
first, to make a stand against false luxuries and
false standards of life, of 'happiness, and of merit,
which prevail at the present day, by refusing com-
pliance with them, and by seeking to establinh a better
civilisation in their place. Second, to supply such in-
formation and protection to young women and others
who ought to be assisting to support their families or
earning their own living away from home as may put
them in a fair position of equality with their circum-
stances. Third, to supply the necessary domestic and
industrial training to those girls who for want of it have
not skill enough to earn an honest livelihood. The
reading of Mrs. Phillips's paper was followed by an
animated discussion, the audience being a large one.
Miss Emily Faithfull fully approved of the sugges-
tion made in the paper for the establishment of a
National League o the kind described, and said that
she was constantly receiving applications from young
ladies who were suddenly thrown upon their own re-
sources, sod who desired to know bow they might
obtain employment. So numerous indeed were the
letters received that during one year they averaged fin
per day. The applications were chiefly from the
daughters of officers, doctors, and clergymen, and the
great difficulty was that in consequence of their defec-
tive tiaiuing they were really not qualified to under-
take important engagements.
Mrs Butler referred to the advantage that was
likely to follow from the increased co-operation of men
and women in the various engagements of every-day
life. It had been suggested that women needed to
have the truth spoken to bhem in reference to the per-
form:owe of their duties. She thought it was not less
the ease that men required to have the truth spoken
to them.

--liii-ss--Todd gave in her full adherence to the proposal
of Mrs. Phillips, and mentioned that at the Queen's
Institute, Dublin, instructions to fit them to take situa•
tinoolvarii ins kinds was given to a lame number of young
ladies. It was remarkable that out of all who attended
the classes at that institution, there was scarcely one
who a year or two before anticipated having to earn her
own living.
Bli,s Biggs informed the section that an institution
for training ladies, similar to that proposed by Mrs.
Phillins, had already been established in London. The
difficulty experienced was, that parents would not
take so min h trouble in connection with the training
of their daughters as they did with the training of their
sons.