Daily inter mountain., 1900-11-24
AMONG Till CLUB # II
"a j. j. WOMEN OF BUTTE

coming Independent of men. What then?
Social instincts will remain, but there
will be radical changes in the social
system. 1t is impossible to foretell what
will be the result of the evolution. 1t
can only be guessed. The substitution
of girls for men has certainly not been
prompted by desire to assist in the
great purpose of making the female
portion of the population self-sustaining,
but rather to secure cheaper labor than
competitors. 1t is an experiment not
to be commended.
"One of the proud boasts of Ameri-
cans has been that in this country
woman commands greater respect than
in any other country on earth. Occu-
pations in which women can with per-
feet propriety be employed, and for
which they are better fitted than men.
are steadily increasing. Any advantage
gained by thus employing female la
Dor. would only he temporary. as other
manufacturers would be forced to do
the same thing in order to reduce costs
to the same extent.
'"rhe degradation of American women
would proceed rapidly. while those who
began it would derive no particular
benefit. There is nothing degrading
about machinist's work, and the door
is open for women to enter upon work
in machine shops, precisely it is open
for them in every trade and profess
s3ion.''
DR.. Harris went on giving the results
of statistical table study. showing the
number of persons engaged in special
occupations in each state, those of wo-
men being surprisingly varied. She
stated that there are 100000 of self
supporting women engaged in this coun-
try, the proportion of women to men
working being nearly II per cent. From
this she drew the deduction that there
was little danger of women crowding
out the men. She quoted from an ar
ticle in the Engineering magazine on
Emancipation of Labor by Machin-
cry" c'oslng with the words: Throw
the doors wide open to all women"
DR.. Harris asserted that whether or
not the economists are prepared to ad-
init that the entrance of women into
the business world has increased the
wage earning capacity of the community
as whole. as individuals they are a
pronounced success. The determination
born of necessity finds no deterrent in
any array of figures, be they ever so
convincing. The woman whose own
need is pressing, or whose children look
to her for bread, has not leisure for
abstract discussion. Stern reality and
facts that stand disclosed without the
thinnest veil of romance are what she
recognizes. IL it is sometimes claimed
she is lacking in philosophical insight
and failure to view the question from
the standpoint of the greatest good for
the greatest number she has at least
earned the right II be held competent in
keenness with which she has sought out
of recognition
DR. Harris drew attention to the fact
that it is not the young girl of today
who has some special gift or talent de-
veloped, but the mature woman who was
reared to hold her home her sacred place,
who meets with the problem that only
saEacity combined with pluck can solve
DR.. Harris thought that this was the age
of novelty and of continual catering to
the love for the new.
"She who is bold and fearless; who
strikes out on a fresh line may look
for laurels not too hardly won. She who
plods along the old familiar line will,
in all probability. be left in the race.
Looking over the entire field and study
ing the situation as a whole, one is forced
to the conclusion that the limit of pos
siblities is difficult either to foresee or
to reach.
"One law and one only, seems always to
hold good. The higher the social stat
us, the greater the cultivation of the in
oividual the more independent is her
choice of vocation when the III Of need
is heard. 1t would seem that only those
uncertain of their own footing hesitate
to enter the field for which they are best
fitted. Sure of herself. confident of her
own rank among her fellow men, many
a woman reared in wealth and exclus-
ion has boldly undertaken a task from
which her lowlier sister shrnks as un-
becoming or lacking in proper dignity.
By means of clubs and societies, women
have of late years endeavored to secure
fuller social life and enlarged orportuni-
ties for study and usefulness. These or
ganizations in the beginning We're sim
pie in form and usually literary or purely
charitable in character, such subjects as
religion, suffrage and political economy
being carefully summed Friendly in
tercourse and self-improvement were the
objects sought.
| DR.. Harris spoke OF the field the clubs
| in small communities covered then 5ass-
| Gu " Tie W Ol tue NlUUS III the large
cities and how all We're forced to enlarge
the scope of study and how the depart
ment club came into being.
| ''The attempt to solve problems of one
| sort brought the women face to face with
! other questions equally vital ana 1ar-
reaching. The larger clubs have plunged
| into many forms of public activity and
| become great power for good in theil
respective communities, instituting some
reforms. indorsing others, and by direc,
and indirect influence championing bet.
! ter methods"
She spoke of the great good done by
the 'women's clubs in the line of tena.
ment house reform, public parks anG
! Fairgrounds, sanitation, cleanliness anG
| abolition Of the sweating system. She
! spoke Of the circular letter sent to al
| the wom11's clubs by the commissions,
of labor. with a schedule OF inquiries
/ regarding special study in social .non.