The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-09-11

popular with some, lat wha. have to
say 1 hope may be heard patiently and
with profit.
The world, by every lay of justice,
owes every man, woman and child liv-
ing, If they are ready to work for it.
But God never intended for some people
to work for a living in certain ways any
more than he intended a colt six months
old to do the work Of a well developed
draft horse. He never intended young
boys and girls to leave school before
their time, or wives and daughters to
labor as farm hands in the fields, when
there are sturdy fathers and brothers
physically able to bear the brunt of the
work under the noontide sun. Yet every
where we see strong men, able-bodied
men who want to work and yet who are
, unable to find employment because the
work that they should do is being done
by women who ought to be at home car
ing for the household. This condition Is
a menace not only to the American labor
market, but to the American home and
family. Both must suffer by the substi-
tuition of women and girls for men and
boys in the factories and stores of our
land. The natural place for woman is
the home 1t Is there that the qualities
with which God has endowed her find
thcis proper exercise To be the wife and
mother, to make the house home by
her sweet and refined influence, to train
the children to be GOOD and wise men
and virtuous women by a mothers love
and oare-these arc the services she alone
can render, and If she deserts that duty
it will go undone. and this country will
lose its moral tone. There Is no compen-
sation known to man FOR the lack of
mothers benefcent influence on her
children.
The Work. =, Woman.
yield to no man in my admiration for
the girl who, being left fatherless and
having no brothers capable of earning
livelihood for the bereaved family, goes
forth to toll for the support of her wild
! owed mother and --er fatnerless brothers
! and sisters. Many noble girl is doing
| that and deserves to be honored for her
conduct. Many a girl. unsought In mar
| rage, seeing her father gradually losing
by age his capacity for work takes up
| the burden of helping to provide for the
family which he is no longer able to bear
| alone All honor to her for the assist
| ance she is rendering, and for the SYM
| pathy and reverence for her parents
which she displays In relieving them of
| care and anxiety. Many @aiwldow, cling
ing to her children and shrinking from
! the pain OF having them scattered In the
! charitable homes of relatives or friends
pert and educate them and fit them for
their duty in life. God bless and help
| all such and give them the strength they
| nee for their arduous lott They should
have our hearty sympathy and our cor
dial help in their self-saerfiicing labor
But the spectacle of what such women
are doing has stirred the ambition of an
other class of women. These are they
who voluntarily and by choice elect to do
a mans work In the world. In order
| that they may escape the drudgery of
domestic service or the WEAKNESS of
school teaching or In order TO obtain
money for extravagant dress and orna-
ment or for Injuries which their fathers
| cannot provide, they thrust themselves
I into business pursuits. dlsplacing some
man who was earning a higher salary,
| and they help 70 depress the market rate
of wages.
| protest against a system which makes
| il impossible for strong able-bodied
man to find wor... forcing him to stay at
! home and live uoon his young daughter s
/ earnings when they themselves should be
at school or helping their mothers at
! home. There are only two ways to recti-
| fy this evil. Employers should hire Their
/ Ell. .ployes i'm two ways First. when an
applicant comes for a place give the pref
! erence to men who are husbands and IA
theirs and the heads Of families. second
| absolutely refuse to employ any young
! girl in store or factory unless that
| young girl is fatherless, brotherless and
| has others dependent upon her for sup
| por. 1t Is high time that some of our
| female clerks who are working in stores
| for little extra spending money should
| go back to their homes and domestieaIly
| help to care for their mothers and ia
] theirs and younger sisters and brothers,
! whore they belong
| Labor Problems of Today.
The Affections of the Industrial work.
ers Of America are very great. Indeed.
| l sometimes think they are about as
badly off in America today as were the
| Israelites in the Egyptian capital over
three thousand years ago. In blunt
way | have tried to present three or
| four Of the difficult labor problems
which confront the laboriug classes of
America at the present time. DO not,
| however, even for a moment, suppose
that / consider these problems and others
| like them Impossible of solution. The