Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-06
WOMEN AS WORKERS
CAN THEY WELD THE SCEPTER
OF AUTHoRITYP
The Old Charge That Gentler Sex
Lacks Genius and Orig
inality.
From the London Chronicle.

FROM tHe LONDON chronicle.
Disciples of Schopenhauer remind US that
the most eminent of our sex have never
accomplished anything in the fine arts that
Is really great, genuine and original, or
given to the world any kind of work or
permanent value" But it is not SO much
in the fine arts that the dearth of feni-
nine ability is noticeable; indeed Handicapped
as the Englishwornan has been by cor
vention and relationship to a non-artistic
nation, with so little exemplary incentive
and such a comparatively barren inhaii-
lance from her foremothers, it is a mat
ter for surprise that our modern woman
has artistically created so much that is
promising, and still more wonderful that
her influence is working to mold England
into an artistic and art-loving country. IN
commerce, however, We as nation have
long held, and in spite OF Mr.. Chamber
lain's alarmist reports still continue to hold,
position OF supremacy; and It is in the
commercial world which has flung it's gates
open to women that we find evidence of
female mediOcrity which sets us tniuking
Is it not fact among the thousands OF
business women in this country the pro-
portion of those who hold any responsible
appointments to those who fill subordinate
positions is enthusiastically small? Why is
it that the business woman so seldom rises
to a position of authority? Is she by ma
ture incapable of exercising control, or is
SIG lNG Victim OF an lrreSlStlDle force OF
circumstances in which convention tradi-
ton and tyranny combine?
Women in Business.
One of the chief causes of the dearth
of ability among business women is the in
fictitious diesase of voluntary incompetence
which saps their vitality, letters their
imagination. and breeds with alarming
rapdity recruits for their overcrowded
ranks Possibly it will be argued that it
is owing to the fact that girls are asked
to discharge unimportant duties, of which
mechanically accuracy is the salient fea-
ture, that so few women rise to any re-
sponsible position in the commercial world
but in the main it is not the demand for
medioCrity that creates the supply in this
case, but the supply which regulates the
demand.
The foundation of a successful CONNER
cial career, especially in the case of wo-
men, who have been prevented by circum-
stances from inheriting the business in
stinct, is a good general education supple
mented by a course of commercial training,
and 1t is for the lack of such an outfit that
most girls are condemned to pursue
mOnOtonously uninteresting career, in which
addressing envelopes, attaching stamps
and sorting paper play a conspicuous
part. The surprise that may be evinced
at this wholesale accusation Of ignorance
will disappear when it is remembered
from what classes of society the girl clerk
recruits Is enlisted. Either she comes from
the board schools in which case she has a
certain amount of general knowledge, but
her special training consists of merely
learning to tap the keys OF typewriter;
or she is the product of a private, select
seminary for young ladies, in which case
she has practically no useful general
knowledge to increase the value of the
shorthand and typewriting proficiency ac-
quired during course at some commercial
institute. What becomes of the high school
type of girl? Only small minority Of this
class at present take up secretarial ap-
pontments, and a large proportion of this
little band find their way into the civil
service, of which more anon, while the
mainder after a suitable course of special
training, are competed for by busy celebri-
ties and the various firms whose require
ments cannot be summed up in the honest
phraseology, "Office girl wanted; one able
TO work a typewriter preferred" That the
incompetent business woman does not rise
to a position of authority is not to be Won
dered at, but that the well-trained we'll
educated woman should so seldom hold the
reins is a problem which can only . be
solved by a psychological study of the sex
Feminine Defects.
1t is generally admitted that the gulf
which separates woman and fame in the
artistic world is a lack Of imagination, and
1T is this same gulf which cuts off the
really efficient business woman from au-
thority in the commercial world That this
gulf is not natural impeachment has yet
to be proved but it is only in recent years
that anything like fair conditions have
been allowed for the test. At present, how
ever, the business woman. even more than
her artistic sister, is haunted by the paren-
tai refrain, Don't think, do as you're
told" and when face to face with an idea
she is a coward who fears a snub and runs
away from herself instead of submitting
that self to the test of public criticism.
The most valuable institution which could
be founded for women workers would be
school of ideas, where they would be en-
couraged to dream and scheme in a practi-
cal manner.
But suppose women could be induced to
take their work more seriously as con-
crete whole rather than as detailed sim
plicities of something quite beyond their
comprehension, two questions arise with
regard to any Improvement of their status
quo In the labor market. First, given eff
cheney and originality, has woman the
other qualities which go to make a good
commander-liberal-min judgmant tact,
strict impartiality, a sense of proportion.
the ability to rapidly grasp a situation.
firmness and self-control? Second, is 1t
wise to encourage an ambition that seems
at first sight to initiate against desire to
ha INT nf tha