The Van Buren press., 1875-04-27
WORK FOR WOMEN.
Faults in the Education Of Our Girls-A
Suggestion to the Board Of Education.
From the New York Herald. ]

points accords with our actual experience
among the working classes that ! am led
to ask space for some further considera
ton of that important question. II
honor coul,l be rendered back to labor,
a cure would speedily result for the dry
rot of voluntary Incidence which is con-
suming the vitals Of our social prosperity
The unwarrantable stigma which false
pride casts upon manual labor withholds
from its highways many who would
crowd into them were they not so deter.
red and an unjustihable ambition to at.
tain higher social standing without the
means Of maintaining it give birth to the
twin curses Of idleness and infamy. To
speak to the points with which | am most
iamiliar-viz, the labor Of women and
the women who follow it, | could cite
thousand instances from personal knowl-
edge of girls who prefer to safe domes-
tic occupation the following of the preca
rious pursuits of sewing machine work
and store tending, simply because socie-
ty regards the latter occupation as more
genteel than household labor. The maxi
mum of wages seldom exceeds 81 per
week. and when board and washing have
been paid and clothing bought there re-
mains no balance for use when the dull
season comes The consideration OF
health Is a very important one in this
connection. That the constant use OF the
sewing machine is injurious to women,
both morally and physically, Is fact
conceded BY eminent medical authorities,
| .>ct ~ alnos N IN, nj n n nj ~
generally depends upon her ability to
stand or walk about all day long On
the other hand, while domestic labor is
necessarily active it involves a variety OF
occupation, and a constant change OF po'
sition and, above all, to the frugal wo-
man it gives sum clear at the end oil
her monthly work, while she knows that
constant employment depends only on
herself. As rule the inmates OF work
houses and houses of i'll fame are not re-
cruited from the ranks Of those women
who have been domestics. They come
rather from among those girls whose life
began in i'll conditioned homes, where
labor with the hands was regarded as o
thing to be avoided, and where specious
appearances rather than solid wQgtleEaNe
esteemed. The remedy in !
rests solely with the mother otv6e 40. =
hold. II she be not endowed witl @
ness and sense there can be neither much
prosperity or peace in her surroundings
I do not advance any defence for the
shortcomings Of men when | say that
their mothers are their first teachers, and
that their characters are based upon their
early influences And so with the daugh.
tcrs of the family. A girl Of the middle
class passes from the public school into
tie shop or factory without any domestic
training she naturally marrics a man OF
her own rank, while she possesses not
the first essential for making a home
comfortable. she is extravagant from ig
norance; she does not know how to
cconomize her husbands wages; her
prettness fades with familiarity /; her hus.
band grows disgusted with her dcfcen.
ces and in nine cases out Of ten his sol
ace lies in the dramshop. Finally, he de-
vclops into hrunkard and she into u
slattern and scold. From such union
. what product must accrue to society
There are thousands Of such in this city.
II girl begins domestic work instead Of
the more gentecl pursuits she cannot fail
to acquire some degree Of discipline and
training in thrifty household ways. IL
the Importance of this labor could be
properly recognized women would not as
now shrink from entering upon it, and
the most valuable of all branches Of fc-
male industry would rise above the stain
Of mentality and degradation.
i The happiness and health ofa family
depend more upon skillful home admin
istration than upon any other condition
! believe that am justified by experience
in saying that the deterioration of phys.
cal health among women il owing main.
~ to the unhcathfulness OF their occupa-
tons. Crowded factories and shops, and
the temptations and side issues INSOFAR
able from them, are largely answerable
for this result. am persuaded that were
the question thoroughly discussed and
understood, combination of forces
would arise ts remedy it; for every one
Of those unfortunate girls now floating
with the Of population where "honor is
not rendered back to labor, uncon.
sciously revenges the wrong done to her
by society by producing anew the pests
which act as its scourge and its shame.
Multitudes Of paupers sap the social pab
ulum Of capital, and they are born Of the
sources above spoken Of. In the ma.
jority Of cases it is not the want of work
which afiliets, but the choice Of il. 1t is
the lack Of inclination to perform any
work that actuatcs two-thirds Of the av.
erage beggars Of the times Among the
thousands Of cases sent here for relief,
the irritating cause has not been the want
Of work but the unwillingness or the in.
ability to perform it. We have, to day.
on file and open for inspection, more
than three hundred applications for fe.
male workers in various house. hold ca.
pacitics, but in many families in our
midst which are the daily recipients of
the charity of generous citizens, and
where starvation is supposed to reign,
not one of the daughters can be induced
to earn good wages by filing those stua
tions. Let me present one case which
will stand as specimen of the rest; the
mother of large family applied to us
for relief; she was offered work at the
rate Of "a 20 a week; she declined. al.
though she represented herself to he in
extreme distress. because she would have
to keep u large child out Of school TO