Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-02-06
wAeE-gARNlNe WOMEN.
heir Own Sex Responsible fer the Low
Wages Paid for Female Labor.

WAGE-EARNiNG WOMEN.
Their Own Sex Responsible for the Low
Wages Paid for Female Labor.
Ii meeting is called, the object of which
Is to arouse interest in behalf of wage-earn-,
ing women, how many of the speakers win
know practically any thing about wage
earning women, their lives or their needsi
Usually, pertinently remarks a writer in
the Christian Union, the speakers are cler-
gymen, and perhaps no men IN the COM
munity know less Of the great body of wage
earning women than clergymen. These
speakers usually have In mind some extreme
case OF des6tution and inefficiency-they
rarely come in contact with any other class
OF wage earning women. Full of sympathy
with the particular case or cases in mind,
the speaker, according to his ability, gives
the audience picture Of garret with one
window near the roof, the ceiling stained,
with cobwebs in corners, broken stove;
usually the fire is out, but if the fire is burn
ing the last piece of coal is in the hod. There
is candle ourning-the time is always near
midnight. Three or four children are hud-
died under some old bed-clothes At least
one is an invalid whose fevered cheeks are
the cause of increased anxiety to the mother
sewing in an old coat on some peculiarly dis
agreeable garments. This woman never
earns more than fifty cents per day. 1t is
Hoods ''Song Of the Shirt" in prose- The
tears we have shed over that poem should
be tribute to our hearts, if not to our
neads. Think of the economics in this verse:
20 men with sisters dssri
o men with mothers and wivesi
Ills not linen you're wearing out, but human
creatures livesr
1t would be very muddled wage-ea
who protested against the consumption of
articles the manufacture of which was her
means OF support Yet this picture. with
slight variations, has been presented for
ages, and is accepted almost without cues
ton There is one picture that alternates with
the garret picture. 1t is stormy night sleet
ana ram make walking almost impossible
thin, shrinking figure of woman at
tracts the attention of the speaker Then
follows report OF a conversation, ending
with the rescue of the woman from moral
death by the gift of money. The audience
Is fearful and Spellbound. Hundreds, yes,
thousands, of dollars testify to the chords
that have been touched. The speaker told
the truth as he sees it, but the men and
women who know the wage-earninp
women as whole thank God that the
picture presented represent but a small
class of that great body.
j little thought will prove that these
| pictures are not representative. A wage
earning woman known to the writer lives
III more than comfortable apartments, IN
one of the best neighborhoods She keeps
trained servant, she dresses with due re-
gard to the prevailing mode, she has no
more to do with the making of her clothes
than man, she commands all the social
| opportunities that she can enjoy without
| deprlvlng her Of vital force necessary In
her work. What would be thought of the
man who gave that woman's wages and en-
| vronments as representative of the condi-
ton of wage-earnlng women in America.
Yet 1t would be as truthful as the garret or
street picture presented. Her condition
| IKE that OF the unfortunates presented. is
! representative OF a class. The last does
not represent the highest position. financial.
ly, of wage-earning women. There are
women in professions, whose incomes en-.
able them to take and hold leading posi-
tons socially, using the word in it's highest
sense, whose position places them
| among the foremost In art, in science
in literature; and the individual and en-
yironment are always representative of
class. This shows how narrow how ig
norant, 1t is to mass this great body Of
Wage-earning women as holding but one
position In the community. What keeps
the woman in the garret! Ignorance, in
efficiency or i'll health. Conditions abnormal
and to be treated as abnormal Is she re
sponsiblea Probably not. She is the vic
tim Of limitations Can she be helpedi
Yes, as an individual. not as class
The mistake, the discouragement in deal
ing with this question is the failure tc
recognize the need of individual effort in
dealing with the individual There are
women suffering cruelty because Of the in
| justice OF employers, but half of their suf
fering is because of the ignorance which
makes them easy victims. If by magic
every employer could be made the soul OF
justice and honor, would suffering disap
pear? No; the workers would stin be the
victims Of limitations, the result of ig
norance, ineficiency and lack of character
The remedy lies in the development of the
individual.
There are hundreds Of thousands of WON
en- N tins country who are earning wages
not from necessity, but choice, in stores, al
home, in offices. These women wish te
dress better, live better, than their natural
protectors and bread-earners can afford tc
live or to dress them. These women car
afford to work, and offer to work, at less
wages than the women who are entirely
self-dependent. Yet it is their favorable
conditions that control wages and impose 9
large percentage of the suffering on the
self-dependent woman, BOT only 90 they
impose this burden OF low wages, but they
are responsible in the main for the charge
of immortality against wage-earning women
Being able to use all they earn for disnlay
the world, not knowing the facts of theiI
liyes, but knowing the purchasing power OF
dollar, says: 'fThis can not be done by
wages; it is the result of SIM,
There is one remedy la the power OF
every woman earning money who does moi
need it for self lfsupport: " Leave a vacancy
in the labor market for the woman wne
does need it."