New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-05-05
A PRO BLEM or THE SPRING.

There arc other subjects brought up for con-
sderatiOn by the opening May less cheerful
than rOse-pink arbutus or even the Spring
fashions. The pressure Of the last two years
upon men in their business relations has driven
this Spring On unprecedented number OF
women out of the seolusion Of home, to earn
their own living. We do not mean women OF
the labOrng classes alone, although many
means of support are closed to these by the
long depressed condition of the manufacturers.
There is no necessity for them to starve as
long as domestic service il open TO them. Ana
we have but little patience or respect Tor the
miserable vanity that keeps them out OF
business which il better paid, in proportion to
the capita of education and time invested,
than any other accessible to wOme1.
There is large class however, of women
much more deserving of sympathy than these
the daughters of professional men o. merchants,
who are compelled this Spring, by the crcum-
stances of their households, to find trade or
occupation, such as was given to their brothers.
and was not given to them. There is no q'les-
ton involved here of womans rights or wo-
mans spheres. These women are In no huInor
to discuss one or the other Most OF them are,
indeed. domestic girls. who have possibly heard
or thought nothing OF social reforms. They are
concerned alone with the fact that stares them
broadly in the face that they must work or starve
What are these girls to do? 1t Ii of no use to
tell them TO sew or teach. The proportion OF
girls and bows Of seventeen or twenty who are
really oualified to teach, or who could receive
a salary for so doing, is about equal--not one
in hundred. The girl may or may not have
exceptional skill aud taste in sewing; IL she
have, it will insure her a comfortable sup
port-nO more; if she have not, it will yield
starvation prices There is an opening IN some
of the cities for thousands of grls ~ clerks or
saleswomen, but the wages paid range from
So TO SIS per week in the largest houses.
When her board il subtracted from this, how
does it compare with the wages OF chamber
maid or cOOkT
The history OF our social life this Winter
and Spring should teach every mother to leave
the interminable jangle about sex and vocation
to those who ore not mothers, and to bestir
herself quietly to give her daughter as we'll as
her SOD O trade OF handicraft. II she is com
PEELED to earn her bread and clothes. let her
be p vided with decent means of earning
them; if not, let her thank Heaven and de-
vote herself to her home duties and to her
husband and children, if God gives them to
her. There are ayocatOns open which pay
woman equally with a man. and according to
her skill, but they require two or three years
application TO make them remunerative. Among
these are designing, and wood engraving, and,
let us add. the culture and arrangement
of flowers or trees. A yOung writer
in one Of the magazines this month
inveghs against outdoor work for woman
as reducing her mentally to the level OF q
brute and destrS9ing her physical health ; he
selects the Russian serf to point his moral
IL he had taken the trouble to look at home,
at the white women in Pennsylvania or
North Carolina who plOw and reap he would
have found them incOmparably superior in
both body and mind to women ia cities of
their own social rank. There Is no reason why
the higher grades of outdoor work should not
be undertaken by educated women; they are
more healthful, give wider exercise for taste
and Judgment, tax the body less severely, and
pay better than the few occupations possible
to them in cities.