Buchanan County bulletin and guardian. (Independence, Iowa) 1866-1869, 1869-03-12


One Of the most hsinous outrages indict>
ed upon woman by the customs and laws Of
society and Of the country, Is the discrini>
nation made against her in the matter Of
wages. There can be nothing more sslf-evi.
dent than that woman who does precisely
the same work ~ man all otSr AiMgs
being eQsal- should receive precisely he
same psy. Dis inctions are ftequeutly joss
y made, - they ere between man ssd oaa.
For instance, wouaa spends few noaths
in learning single branch Of . trsde. Il
would hardly Be just to give her The saas
wages for performing that partial vosk ot
the trade that the jour receives who has
spent several ysars to acquire thoroagL
knowledge Of the business. But, On he
other hand, should both spend an eqsal tine
in learning the trad. and perform their du>
ties equally well, il would simply be taking
advantage Of woman's wekaness to make
distinction against her in wages.
This certainly would be- bad enough In
individuals but Il becomes thousands simes
more represensible in government which
profssses to be republican. Yet this dis
tincsion has existed for several years in the
remuneration Of the Clerks 10 the several
departments Il Washington. Female clerks
have uniformly hsd to content themselves
with much les pay than male cleshs for the
same work demanding The came preparation
and pssfosmed equally we'll.
The appropriation bill beisg under con.
siderasios, . few days since, NJ. Holman, Of
Indiana, moved y smssd The clause r.la.
.ise 10 clerks in The Treasury department ~
follows:
"The compensation # tie female CLERKS
authorised By this section shall Be the sane
o clerks Of class fusr, and vhess employsd
On work performed By ths CLERKS Of ths high.
e Glasses they shall receive like eoupsssa.
tioa With .hs othss slssks of sseh classes.
This snsadasst bsossAs - % is.ssiss.
iag dshaas, persioa q wAieA - givs b.
lov. II b dse;as1ly i.possans, y showing
IL sspidity With vAieA sdvasesd iasas spea
IL voeas qsssGisa ass gaiaisg gsosnd 10
Coagsess. Al viii b sssa Bsa. Dsslss pso>
noancss sgasst eqsal compensation.
Mr. HOLMAN, Mr.. Chairman, I bslievs
have never votsd fee tAs increase Of any
salasy siacs I hAvs bsss upoe this Aoor.
On tie contrary hass gsaenlly deemed il
ny duty to vote for . dscfsass Of the COM
peasasioa Of persons employed b. this Gov
ernment.
Indeed, know Of bat vsry few salaries
paid By Tie GovsrnDest thAs ought not to
b somewhas reduced. should be very
willing to vote fer the reduction Of almost
every salsfy nov paid TO persous employed
Il ~ evil sssvice of The 0overnmest. 1
believe there viii b no severe system Of
ecoaomy adopssd By ths strong enough to
eompsl . general reduction Of the salaries
Of employes il ell ol its Departments. But
sir, Ian sos willing y ~ this body % far
6oeRet il nanhood - 10 make sex gzou- 4
of discsiminatios IN fxiag H. compsasatios
A womaa-I like Ibis Cd Saxon voed-ii
she performs - clerk IL aas ssrvice los
ths 0ovssnnsnt - nas il - psdosms
The same lahoe, makes ths records asd
same calculations, dsss IL tame copying,
works the sams su0hee Of hoars, shs 10 in
jaseies entitlsd ae ~ saos compsasaaioa
- the Government allows . male clerk for
similar service.
do not propose to discuss the question
whether ii was the part of wisdom 10 employ
female CLERKS 10 tie various Dspaxsmeats.
That is not ths question. They ars and
have been employed in the Departments in
great number; they will Be 90 enploysd iu
the future. This bill centemplaies their
employment The question i whether they
shall receive from the Government fos their
labor the sa,ns compensation that you pay
men for exactly the same services. That
i The question, and the only questiou. he
hisAsst salAsy yos pay ths foaale elssks 10
$500 per ysas, and he lovess salasy you
pay 70 mals CLERKS . 100 pr year. ] pro.
pose to 6x the eompsasatioa cfthsao lb9als
clerks q that nov paid b The Cessmnsat
70 male clerks of he lowsse clssa. Ths q.
feet Of ny proposition " that he fenals
clerks shall receive instead of $500 per.
anuun $1,000, and the sams compensation
- oths: clerks whers doing Tie work Of
clerhs in ths higher elasses. If env Of thsss
WOosSo PSStOs y ~ OusASS W eScOoOS b0u0p
and fourth class clerks let them receive the
same compensation - male clerks Of those
classes. And Why not, sir? II she does the
same work is she not entitled to the same
pay ! have seldom known measure 10 bers-
csived With more favor BY the whole country
- evidence Of solid and substantial prosrsas
il the social science Of the ags thar ~
measure brought forward few weeks ago
By the seatlsaan froa Kentucky, NJ.
JoxEs, and % promptly adopted b. this
House. That proposition embodied pein.
ciple, The denial Of which shosA naks aay
man blush, that woman we're jcsl - much
entitled - nss 70 The jest vAlus Of thssr ~
Dor. whss . wonan Is employed BY ~
0ovesnment and perfoens the aaue aaosns
and kind Of labor for ths 0overnasnt = .
man, vs forget or manhood Il ~ say that
shs shall not receive the sane eompsasa-
hon.
The proposition y too clear Soe aE4umsat.
Il will not do to say ~ en- employ vonen
u lsss wages" We eas snpley nea q -
wages. Ths widow q o. e yesr dsad sol>
diess employed = clerk n oae It yoer D.
partments and supporting by her indastsy
Aes littls family Of orphan childrsa certainly
nay dsaand jastics q yoar Aasds Il neth'ag
more. Caa you inAgips, sir, vhy ~
ahosh receive lss vssss ihss ths yosas
gest3eoas u the sans Depastoea vAsa
lhe performs just = much and Just The kind
of work tha1 = perGoemss Can gsntlsasn
esn 70 nisd virAo.e blash hat shs sow