The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-08-27
.GIRLS.AND. SMALL WAGES.
/. az MAARoARE1.E. sANasTER..

one reason why the labor OF young
women is discounted In the market Is
that their tenure of q position is very
uncertain. For example, in a well known
township OF New Jersey 1t has recently
been stated that sixteen Of the teacSl-s
ers. all presumably young ana attrac-
tive girls, are engaged to be married.
and the school board must y therefor
look about to supply the vacancies thus
CREATED. a, TX III n, Y. ss
Nobody cnn fall to rejoice that mar mar,
rage Is popular In the community, ana
IT Is a sign Of. wholesome public morals
and OF growing prosperity. when young
men WOO young maldens, and new house
holds are established. But the er1bnr-s
lnssment and responsibility Of school
boards are doubled. when they must DO
always on the lookout for those who are;
to take the places Of the marrying con-
tingent. 155s
( Equally in other lines than tho one
alluded TO-, this liability to change on the
part Of young women IS 1aotor !! ~
bargain. A firm In New York congra e
ulated itself on having in It's employ
ment young woman OF very marked
ability an ability that was almost &C.
Mus and Of trained technical KNOW
edge SURPRISING that OF most men IN the
niche she occupied, that Of buying goods
OF a certain kind. In Europe or America
this girl was valuable to them, ana they
raised her salary over and over. BUY
one day she handed In her resi- gnn on On
She was engaged to a man In Arizona,
and he carried her off, as was perfectly
right, the only shadow being that after
the firm had given their late enlploye a
beautiful wedding present they 1ouha
Themselves compelled to hire two men
to do what one woman had done
Business ability is not confined to one
sex, But a man Is very apt to remain III
a good place. and when married, !. ne -
not removed from tho sphere Of daily
labor, but has every added Incentive 10
work hard and faithfully to support
those dependent upon him..
i5I]I}. 2N = ats ,t.35 21tt. So -
women complain, often bitterly, that
there is unfair discrimination against
them n in the matter Of Remuneration .fltQ
They work as many hours MS men, ana
they do their work as we'll. they ar
firm and why should they be paid less
than men in4the same berths! WY ny. m
deed? Candor obliges us 70 ADMIT that
this why is very sduarely met BY llttlc
If. If women, taking them as they CONS
not Judging from the exceptions, were as
responsIbe, as steady as certain 70 rem
der smooth equable and efficient ser
vice as men are, they would not long have
so much for. complaint.
8 Women IS cannot free themselves e. from
Limitations that nre, In q, measure, the
hampering conditions OF their pnysical
5llfs They cannot have or at least they
do not often have, the Immunity from
nerves and headaches and backaches3
that men enjoy. 81 -..
Their dress Is against thom,. The cor
set that need not be- an sunhygienlc part
of dress, alas! too often squeeaos in
girls waist and diminlshes her breath
Ing capacity. A silly notion that high
heels and pointed toes belong to an ele-
CANT feminine Shoe leads too many Of
our girls to endure agonizing tortures
when standing for hours on their poor
dcformed feet They sacrifice health and
comfort to false ideal; land In our
stormy winters, multitude Of women
workers nre not warm enough nor ado
ouately protected by useful wraps from
wild wind and frigid weather.
Hence their days off are taken into
account, They cannot be treated pre-
oisely as men are. Sex and nature are
n xninst It, and theories go down before
natural law. ls
And 1t is In the order OF Nature, too
that tho sweetest girls the most win
ming, tho most capable, shall be sought
in marriage. While thoro are thou
sands and tens OF thousands to be fed
the stress Of the labor market will con-
tinue to force women into the ranks that
toll. Strenuous commercial compett-
ton has forced young girls INTO rae
tories and mills and Offices and shops
tho wide world round.gi But not YET mas
It become general that the wages Q,
4Irl are as the wages OF n man, When
they are, It Is because in a particular
girl n marked and peculiar faculty, faell-
ity OF n high order. and a are fidelity
have been discovered,
Nevertheless, I, for one. rejoice when
i hear that In one small borough six
young women teachers are at the same
time engaged to be married, and that IN
a larger one, 10 young mon have court
ed as many girls and persuaded them to
name the happy day. For home. and not
business Is woman's true sphere.
Let nobody Induce you, dear girl, to
thin, that any work on earth can for an
instant compare In worth with the task
OF managing n home, or that any honor
is so great as that of presding, at ones
own hearth, Other Issues dwlndle IN I'M
portance before this,
Our girls do not marry at so early an
ago as their mothers and their grand
mothers did. They are not too easily
pleased, and are sometimes repellsd py
suitors who would mako them excellent
husbands, because of some lack OF polish
or or venesr In tho men,
ANmnn leaves school early and Is at
once Obliged to begin the task OF self
support He Is rehuffed. snupbed,
knocked about more or less among
rough men, He does NOT receive the
gentle consideration accorded to girls,
And so he loses some OF the surface re-
flnement. or he never acquires the sos
i /, III