The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-06-22
BRITISH WOMAN TALKS
ON AMERICAS DELAY.
Says Worldngmen Of this Country
Are Behind Their English
Brothers.
Tells Of Success of Unions in
Securing Legislation Across
the Water.

Tells Of Success Of Unions in
Securing Legislation Across
the Water.
In an interview before returning to
England after a six weeks visit to
this country. Miss Mary R. Mac
arthur. secretary of the women's
Trades Union League of Great Brit
ain, stated that she considered Amer
lea about thirty years behind Great
Britain in matters pertaining to. the
labor question. She said further: .
In some respects the Women's
Trade Union League of Great Britain
Is without counterpart in this coun-
try. The organization which bears
| the same name will probably in time
occupy the same relative position. but
1t certainly does not do SO at present.
Our league Is labor unioI as it Is
called, but to be strictly accurate one
should speak Of 1t as federation Of
unions. 1t Is not as yet self-support-
Ing, as we depend on voluntary con-
trlbutions to certain extent, which
| with the per capita tax Of 60 cents a
year for every ESQ women workers
helps us maintain permanent head
quarters in London with four sala-@s
| ried officers, who are under nv direc-
ton, and one sa:aried organizer, who
does outside work in sys1ematizinP
and arranging new branches. Besides
! these We have number of what we
call temporary organizers who are
appointed as local conditions or re-
qulrements may suggest their need.
IN addition to the organization of
the wage earning women and the as
s1stance that We sive them when they
strike for better wages and for i'm
proved conditions the league main
talns as we'll lsgal advice depart
| ment for the women workers who are
| the victims of accidents in factories.
Whenever an infracting Of a factory
law is discovered this department
! takes up and prosecutes. Last year.
with few exceptions, we won our
cases, some of them peacea bly,, others
| through the courts.
1T is not only the men in the labor
party in parliament that help us but
| a great deal of our success is due to
the support thai we receive from the
unions of men. I have found out in
| this short first trip here that our Brit
| 1sh untonists seem to treat the women
unionists quite differently from the
way your: men Of the same class treat
| the women; IL the United States who
tshaNass 0E9Anized So far Is rs
learned seer1s that the WornsnW W
T Trade Union League IA the nifad
| States Is. looked upon either with In
d1Herence or at least with good .na-
! tured tolerance. In Chicago they say
tnat 1t is fad and the fact that a
good many women who are affiliated
with 1t are not active wage earners
| mas not tended to improve this view.
| point. Everywhere the men complain
that they are being supplanted bv
women who are satisfied to work for
! less wages, but they make no effort
apparently to help the women organ
| 1ze or to assist them after they have
organized and place them on an eo,,al
! footing. =
In Great Britain the u;,ion men not
only lend their active support to the
Women's unions, but they do more
| than that-they contribute largely
| from their treasures to help the
work. The result Is that we have
10000 women workers at home or
ganized for mutual benefit, while I am
told that you have not half that num-
Der here. where opportunities are so
much greater.
THAT 100000 represents a certain
| small percentage of the 5000, ,oo0
| women wage earners who, roughly
speaking, exist in Great Britain to-
day; but when you consider that OF
that large number many are in do
| mestlc service and in other avoca.
tlons where organization Is not at
present necessary Or practicable, the
percentage Is not so small as 1t would
seem at first sight. We have ~ahout
100000 male workers and onlv a.
100000 Of these, approximately speak,
ing, are organized. The men have
been organized for a hundred wear.
while this same problem has onlv
confronted the woman worker with.
in the last generation ,S
Concerning the different trades rep
resented Miss Macarthur rectted a
long list ending with those in the city
OF London, which includes telephone
girls, clerks, assistants, typists. stem
ographers, milliners. tailoresses
dressmakers, bookbinders, box max !.
ers, cigar makers cigarette makers.
cap makers and tea packers. ut
would be impossible at a moments
notice to enumerate the hundreds of
miscellaneous trades. like upholster.
Ing, pen making. the many allied with
the manufacture of textile fabrics.
ETC., which are represented in the
100000 women organized.
And great as the work is that has (.
been done by the trade unions In the
way Of improving general conditions
Of wages, time, in giving legal advice,
In rendering mutual aid to the mem-
bers, q greater work Is accomplished
and they perform an even more force
full function as schools Of social ana
economic education
Miss Macarthur spoke Of parlia- &
ment as the registering machine of :
the matured thought Of the people"
and REGARDING tho 4nffny,n M ~ >,