The labor world., 1909-12-11
Man WORKER SHOULD |.
treat WOMAN WAGE
Garner AS C0-EQUAl
Women Make Up q Large Part Of
Labor Ranks and Must be Rec
ognized as Factor in Trades.
Union Advancement. @s=s~

AS rule the attitude of the man
Wage-earner, has been hostile toward
the woman or girl he found at his
side In shop or factory, and even in
store and office. He has looked with
unfr1endly eye upon the female with
the little parcel Of lunch who in in
increasing numbers has shared the
crowded car with him of mornings.
This has been his point of view on
the question of woman labor in tho
abstract though his personal relation
with such of the sex he came in
contact with at his place Of employ
ment may have been kindly.
Woman's invasion Of the industrial
ranks has been regarded as meaning
cheap labor and the displacement of
the male wage Garner and was re-
garded as the natural enemy Of the
men.
She may have been in many in
stances the instrument by which he
was beat down in his earnings or cast
adrift from his means of livelihood.
There are always victims of any new
industrial factor, whether human or
mechanical.
But She Kept Coming.
She accepted the popular denun-
citation Of her meekly, perhaps with
not a very clear understanding of it,
but she kept on coming. Today she
Is here in such a multitude, in store.
office and factory that were she to be
suddenly withdrawn business would
be paralyzed. That not every fear in
regard to her was justified is shown
by the fact that not all the idle men
In the country twice over would be
sufficient In numbers to take hAr
place were she to vacate the field.
| This disproves the old-time theory
that every time woman goes into q
job man is forced out to make room
for her.
In large measure the woman wage
Garner has shown herself open to
those principles of fair play and sac
rifice for the common good which are
the basis Of trades uniOnism
Has Made Wonderful Progress.
For the comparatively short length
of time she has been in the industrial
field in large enough numbers to
make her a force she has made re-
markable progress. -
We may insist that woman's place
Is In the home, but thousands upon
thousands of the sex, under the i'm
pulse of necessity, ambition, love of
independence, or other cause, take
themselves as being exceptions to this
rule. .. ::
There are many evils connected
with the presence Of -vast=numbers <of
women in the wage-earning ranks. On
the other hand there must be, many
blessings to the individual woman III
| being permitted to enjoy comforts
which she would be- forced to do
Without IT they were not provided b,
her own hands. r.. -:
! Must Rank as Co-Laborer.
Regardless of the merits of the case
one way or the other, man is con-
| fronted with the fact that she is a
co-laborer with him in great num-
! Der of occupations He could not ban.
1sh her If he would. Modern indus.
trial life could not spare her. Since
she is here and seems destined to stay
mans attitude towards her should be
one OF helpfulness. He should moi
forget that she Is still woman, en-.
titled to the protection Of his stronger
arm and his greater force as a socia
unit.
The action of the last national con.
ventton of the Retail Clerks Union
in appointing a committee to repor
on plans for bettering the conditions
of female employees in stores is to be
commended. A similar spirit is being
shown among other trades organiza
tions. The cause of the working
woman is one that ought to appea
to every. wage-earning man, whethe,
or not she may be found in his own