The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1906-08-17
The Women Workers

eve for details. and they are learning
how to obey orders But they are
rather priyatss in the ranks than lead
ers and commanders
Ne.nraliy the absorption Of scores
Of women N hs,ds OF employment ont
side the home tends in some places
to lessen interest IN home life. sineu-
larly. however, IN towns where womeip
are largely employed In mills and fac
tories, there is large proportion Of
early marriages
Not infrequeutly a girl who has had
a very short childhood, Stepping at the
earliest moment allowable by law from
the schoolroom TO the shop or mill,
marries in her early teens a young man
with no prospects beyond bis days
wages. Neither of the parties to this
hasty marriage has saved penny for
the rainy day, and after the wedding
both 90 on working az usual BY and
by bgby arrives. usually drifting into
the wcrld to be cared for by a moth
er who has not the faintest notion Of
what maternity means, and who has
no nourishment to give the little life
When the mother is able she goes back
to the mill. leaving the infant to be
cared for by a relative. molSer or
an aunt who has grown too old 70
work. Children born OF such marriages
are seldom rosy and strong. The NOR
tality among them IL large, and they
survive at all only by the law Of the
survival OF the fittest This Is the
gloomiest side OF the picture, sivaled
only by that which Is the burning
shame and disgrace Of American life.
the inenaeeable stigma brought upon
us By the commercial greed in the toll
Grafton Of child labor Motherhood
and factory life should be divorced.
Whether women work by the day
or by the piece their earnings are very
seldom on SO large scale as the earn
ings OF men, Why this should be IS
accounted for by those who believe in
the tallot for women on the theory
that women cannot vote, and that al
though they preponderate in the la-
Dor market they have no direct infn-
ence in politics.
Another explanation Is that they sre
somewhat less thorough and respon-
sible than men in carrying out what
they undertake. This Is slur on the
working woman which is undeserved
and mean. II must be admitted, ! re-
gret g say. that women have less re-
gard for the validity OF contract
than men, and that they are much
more likoly to drop their work and
change a situation on impulse than
men are. Marriage. too. often takes
them. as It should, out Of the ranks
of competition and places them In the
shelter OF home life.
This is evident in the higher depart
ments, rather than in'Ihe lower Sales
women and teachers are less likely 20
desire continuance In their places as
wage-earners than are the girls who
paste labels. make boxes, stitch gloves
and stand at looms. As we rise So
cially in the scale. have greater intelii-
gence and more liberal education, mar
riage is on higher plane and Is
founded on a basis Of nobler quali-
ties.
Women are in the labor market 10
stay. They cannot be eliminated.
They belong to the vanguard Of mod
ern civilization than which nothing Is
so complex and nothing more interest
ing They bring 10 their task the
subtle sympathy. the quick perception
and tho enthusiasm that belong to
their sex. They earn every dollar cf
their wages or their salaries.
In the finer grades OF commerce,
women do good service as buyers for
importing houses and the departments
OF dressmaking millinery embroidery,
homo decoration and kindred lines are
very largely in their hands. Mother
Eve is the first seamstress on record;
her daughters ever since have been
busy in carrying out what she began
the making of clothing for the race
Copyright 1906 by Joseph y. sowlerl