Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-06-14
Women in Industry.

Several of the most interesting pages IN
the work of DR.. Mary Putnam jacob are
devoted to statistics of the employment of
women, at various eras and in different
countries, In industrial pursuits. Leroy
Beaulieu affirms, with good proof, in his
prize essay on Woman's Work in the
Nineteenth Century, that domestic occu
patiOns have never absorbed the existence
of women in the working classes.
The workshop" he asserts, '.existed in
Europe long before the tenth century, un-
der the name Of gynecee-sometimes at
| tached to the house of the lord of the
| manor, and under the direction of his
wife; sometimes belonging to abbeys, and
controlled by a superintendent. in con-
vents the nuns manufactured everything
| needed for their own use, then for sale in
the world. Spinning and dyeing of wool
occupied a large part Of their days. In
the registers of trades and merchandise
OF Depping is proof that the trades-cor-
porations, contrary to prevalent opin-
ion, were arranged to include women.
We find mentioned work women in silk
cloths, lk-spinners, weavers of kerchiefs,
embroideresses, combers of wool, silk
hatters, and many other trades where the
women were not only admitted as aids,
but might have become mistresses, or even
be eligible for the dignities of the corpora
ton. The history of female labor in
epOchs nearer to us would be the history
Of industry itself. The more civilization
is developed and refined, the more women
participate in production; and this par
ticipation, constantly greater and more
active, is re garded by women themselves
as an advantage. ,zE-.sz
Although, in the old regime, women
had large share in the work. of the out
side world, it was still insufficient for
their necessities, and in 1889 they apr realed
to the King for control Of the, trades for
sewing, spinning and knitting. In 1851
the CitY-o Paris contained IL, ,1S9 work
ing women, go, ,00G of whom were engaged
in needle-work. In 1878 there were about
100000 or 450, 900 women employed in the
cotton, wool, linen and silk manufactures
of France. In 1864 there were TAT ,261
women engaged in the industrial estab-
lishments Of Great Britain. In 1862,
Lord Brougham stated, before the Social
Science Association, that '' three-quarters
Of adult unmarried women, tWo-thlrds of
the widows, and a seventh of married
women, are occupied in Great Britain in
independent or Isolated lators, without
counting the multitude of wives, daugh-
ters and sisters who share in the work of
their relatives at the counter, in the dairy,
or by the needle.'' z-rz
In Germany, women are employed in
great variety of trades and manufact-
ures. In the United States, according to
the census Of 1870, out of 9,75O,000
women, 1 ,594.70 women and girls above
the age of ten, or on an average of one in
every six of the whole female population,
are represented in the tables of Occupa-
ton. Leaving out of the account 373 ,S32
who, in the number stated, are registered
as agricultural labOrers, and are mainly
colored, there are still left 1 .221 AL white
women engaged in the industries of the
country. OF these, %, ,661 are efarmers and
planters; 353 $50 are engaged in manu-
features; Is, ,699 in trade and commerce;
"a, 047 in teaching; 1000 in keeping
boarding houses; 867, ,354 in domestic
service; 1,179 are BARRIERS and hair-dress-
ers; / 1856 are midwives, and from 500 to
900 are physicians.
On the Continent of Europe, marriage
interrupts the industrial employment of
women far less than in Great Britain, and
far less than in America. " 1t is unfortu-
nately evident" says M. Simon, In
LOurriere, "that if the average wages of
workman aretwo francs a day, and that
the SUM neeueu IOF the support OF his
family is three francs, the best advice that
can be given to the mother is to learn
trade and earn the requisite twenty SOUS.
This conclusion is inexorable, and there
is neither theory nor eloquence nor senti-
ment which can resist demonstration of
this kind The q pri0ri character of the
family organization, as derived from the
unequal distribution Of strength between
the men and the women, is far from being
realized in actual life. ''-Chicgg0 Tribune.