The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-04-30
whv Man e Better Worker.

,ite Y ~ q q Il
Why. Man 10 Better Worker.
There are any number Of reasons ne as g
why man is tho better worker. Pro % =. oiy .ne
great and prime reason for this As tilee
woman is out OF her element as wase earn y
ar. Her place has been from the Deginl'n11ln'1s s
in the home. Man has always been cen sne Ply
Wider. When she leaves her proper "ea1y1fo on
ment for the business life she IL aeonoe ct a
dl.a avantare. The qualities that,make her
!, f,tted as a power in the homo are 9 hindrance
Il q her ia business n The nature that Is q
shining light to husband, OF to children, IS
ali at sea when 1t begins to grapple With the
problems OF money making # sSSS
X" That this is a fact is shown by the way
the = new woman, who is supposed to be q
creature altogether different from the oLd
does not make good business Unit BOZ az
the talk about women replacing mendn office
work is wrong. There were a few years OF
II experiments Many firms, delighted at the
= way in which women accomplished their
duties as stenographers, went to work and
Installed many other women as clerks. 3 at
& the experiments are over now. w hen YOU
hear now OF firm asserting that they7'are
4 n,4ti In women clerks in their offices you
) can depend upon it that that Arm As content
4 70 have. and wants to have, cheap class help.
lsjg "5Wome en- can work cheaper than naeli.
That Is about all that can be said for them
\ in a business way. w lille they may be able
to fill So or $40 positt ons quite as well as most
men would fill them, they are utterly In
capable OF developing into good business
mer, worthy. or possible. OF promotion x
positions of power and responsibility. No;
women are not ousting men from their posi-
lions in the good Offices. RI Il
Women Not Favored3in Offices.
A canvass Of the larger ofnces In almost
every city In the country would show this
to be true. With the great packin g Arms OF
Chicago, whose Offices are among tho largest,
IL not the largest. in the world. the wo,nau
as an Office worker in any other position
than that OF stenographer does not And IA
yor.s She Is employed to some extent in mi
NOR positions. but In the places where respon-j
ssbillty Is placed upon an employees work
only men are eligible. The general offices
ofrailroads pursue the same system tn choos-
ing clerks and In many Of these the woman
Is tabooed even as a stenographer. Hard
work Is the motto in this class OF on3ces, and
woman is not adapted to hard office work.
In most OF these places the pay IS good
6ixty-flve dollars a month is not far away
from the average minimum maintained In
many OF them, except among the younger
classes Of employees. This might b. taken as
substantiauon OF the theory that woman is
responsible for wage reduction, for In the
offices where she Is on anything like equal
numbers with the meni It must DO admitted
that the pay is much lower than that quoted.
But this argument 10 unfeastble. The
higher pay in the offices where women are
scarce means simply that the work Is OF a
higher grade ora more arduous nature, and
economical conditions invariably regulate
that the pay for such work shall be higher,
Men draw this higher pay here simply be-
cause the work Is such that only they are
compatible with It. There are positions In
these larger offices, especially in the pack
Ing house offices and those OF the railroads,
where It Is necessary that a clerk shall work
at top speed day after day with little or no
cessation. A woman in one OF these posi-
lions may do excellent work for period,
but a breakdown Is the Inevitable end. Be-
cause these positions are OF utmost impor-
lance to an ofilce's routine there is always
trouble and woe In the wake OF a breakdown
In the person holding them 1t taken time
to "break In a new worker and occasions
much disorder in a well regulated office,
Also women go away to get married. AS a
consequence employers Will not have women
In these positions. They want some one
whom they can rely upon, not only as far
as the accuracy of work Is concerned but
also In the matter OF Staying with it,'
Women cannot be depended upon to do this,
Women No Good In Rush Season.
Then there Is the position where. during
seasons. the clerk is = rushed to DEATH" In,
such q position a woman Is lost. There are
women who can keep a cool head when work
is being showed at them so fast that 1t piles
up In a pile In front Of one which no amount
OF effort seems to reduce, but they are few.
Most women clerks. so soon as they see that
they are getting behind In their work. 60 at
1t with such feyerish energy that 1t Is soon a
hopeless mass OF tangles and mistakes. or
else they sit down with their hands In their
laps and weep, Neither course OF conduct Is
compatible with the best sort Of work. These
are few of the things that have helped to
keep women from superseding men in office
work. There Is little or no prejudice against
her because she Is a woman. Such preju-
dice as there is is based on the facts men
toned. g54