Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1883-10-11
Wilmington, Thursday, Oct. Il, 1888
Equa, Wages Tor Equal work

Equat Wages Tor Equal Work.
In a declaration Of principles adopted |
by a recent lab,r convention in St. Louis
was a rssolution demanding for wo men
equal pay with men for equal work.
THIS sounds line and gallant, but we
doubt whether it will bsar practical tests,
save to 3 very limited extent. Perhaps
the strongest argument urged against
the attitude Of that necessary and power
full defense OF the laboring masses, trader
organizations, ia that such unions de-
msnd equal pay for every laborer of
given trade, allowing no play for individ-
uality and offering no premium for
strength, skill application, intelligence
and whatever other qualities tend to
mark the efficient from the inefficient
workman.
OF course the object of this demand for
equal wages for women with men is to do
away with the injurious Effect upon
mems wages arising from the cheapness
of women's work. In the present cOndi-
tions of the wealth distributing system
workmen fancy it cheaper to exclude
women from employment and support
them in comparative idleness than to
submit to such reduction OF wages
as 1t Ia believed would result
should the mass OF women
enter into competition with men in the
worlds labor markets. But the fallscy of
the argument that leads up to this de.
mand for equal wages for the sexes, lies in
the wrong assumption that in many EN-
Payments the average woman can do the
work OF the average man, and that in
all piece work unit OF measure
can easily be established. Every one
knows that in employments demanding
considerable physical strength women
must give up the idea of competing with
men, simply because women can not do
in given time the same amount of
work, but it Is assumed that in lighter
employments women are at least the
equal OF man.
mere Is the ialiacy. women are paid
io"er wages as Telegraph operators toan
men' s'mpiy oeoause the hlshly strung
nervous organism of women makes them
iesS aoie 70 pear she strain required for
the highest efficiency in that employment.
" misn' oe supposed az nrsI sight that In
'ne rna''ei VI Se''ing type ny the "em
'hefe could Do no injustice IN giving
"omen equai wages WIN men, But let
10 LUX AZ he supJec' iof one moment
me oonpoSi'or IN a newspaper oihce is
usually pa'a certain sum Tor certain
AmOun' Vi Vpe se', the unit OF measure
peins 'he letter m When the mat
Ter se' Is READ from the proof, in most
omces' 'here is distinction between
errors 'nat are the eompositor's own and
those ths' srlse from following copy, "
the FORMER pelng corrected by the com
Positor himself al his own loss, the latter
py person hired at the publishers cost.
1t might appear from this that exact
justice would be reached all round if al
eompositors were paid an equal sum pei
Thousand ems, the strength, skill and in
telligence OF the compositor being re
warded by the increased amount of matter
that ne ID enabled to set. But an i'm
portant element has been lost sight OF
1t is vital matter with daily news
paper that its compositors be in tn
highest state of efficiency, able t
bear long and severe strait
without finching and be prepared
for emergencies and here the nan
superiority is evident. Again a man, b.
his superior knowledge Of current events
with which newspapers SO largely deal
is often enabled to decipher manuscrip
that woman would puzzle over in vain
In such case the woman must eithe
make mistake that later may requir
precious minutes in it's correction 0
lose the time at once in inquiring as t
the vexatious passage. But time lost t
her is time lost TO the publisher, an
hence the average woman is wort
slightly less per thousand ems to he
employer than is the average man.
Perhaps the difference we are dis
cussing is as little seen in the case c
compositors as Of any other kinds
-. = o'0'' 0APioy NHeH'' 'nere Il
- o-..Iln y P'u 'He Uef'S'n'y WIN
"HAOn "orkmen may Do depende