The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-03-06

gate IL the history and statistics oT the en-
ployment % women IN Americss. especially
~ the professional Woman and the woman
commercially employed. who are almost
exclusively characteristic Of the present
day. the woman in industry be1nG oldSr
than the factory system itself. NJ late
a. 1855 the employment of women 80 clerks
was unusual. Hat IL is essential that line
determination be drsl wn bet Wesn questions
concerning the employment OF professional
women and thasa relating tn the employ
ment of women IN industry.
Our author begins her review with the
Colonial period and the survey IN confined
practically 10 New England. mor~ cape
cially to Massachusetts,. since that ~
where cotton mills and shoe factories first
arose The provincial governments seem
90 have hem Increasingly haunted by a
fear that poor children would h allowed
to live IDLY and misspsnd their time In
lOiterinE- unless legally compelled 70
industry. The laws % Massachusetts,
provided that poor girls and boys were
"a BE- bound Out. in which case the boys
were Co he taught to rad and write. the
girls to read a. they should prove capable.
while both sexe- were To he taught %
spin. and be made to spin. knit or weave
tape while tending the cattle. lest satan
should find mischief for their idle hands.
/ In short. the Colonial attitude toward
women's work was OF rigid insistencs ON
their being employed and made self
supporting.
Next comes the period Of transition
and the establishment % the factory
system, and Mis-. Abbott remarks that the
tenement workers in the "sweated trades
to-day are the direct descendants OF the
women who were employed in weaving
to order or IN making wool cards for the
-manufactory- Of the eighteenth cen
tury By 1922 women were engaged
in moro than one hundred occupations
instead OF merely the seven TO which
Harriet Martineau. who ~ frequently
misquoted. made casual allusion. One
OF them Was the manufacture OF straw
braid for hats and bonnets. which was
started in I7es by a twelve-year-old girl.
Another was the making Of cigars. which
began early in the nineteenth century
a. a by employment for farmers wives.
| BY 1900 women were in roc of the sos am
plOyments enumerated by the census.
| A. late az IsaO a weaver h uniformly TO
I
| ferred % as she and a man weaver was
held up To public ridicule Tor holding
-WomAn's job at nearly as late date.
Another large industry In which women
have held their places we'll u the manu-
facture 81 boots and shoes. but printing IL
not an encouraging Held of endcavor'
though they have been engaged IN u since
/ they started with typesetting early IN the
eighteenth century. The local unions
admit women tn full membership and
try 70 secure everywhere IN" sam" scale
81 payment AZ for men by way OF self
protection. hut the women are handi-
capped by having no way Ia learn the
| trade properly. a. although apprentice
ships are nominally open 20 women no
employer wants the trouble 81 a girl
apprentice wheu he can get 80 many
more odd jobs out Of hoy They are
not ~ efficient ~ the men and at present
there IL NO direct path To efficiency open
To them.
| Miss Abbott makes an extended study
of the problem Of women's wages She
says that sufficient data for history ct
the subject IN this country are not avail
able. and II - doubtful II any will bs dis
covered which will render possible a com
/
lated itsuls throughout tho centuries are
given. however. and here and there a
humorous statement from tho staId
chronicIers CROPS up. such as one OF i1lO
from Philadeiphla. where women's work
was very dear OWING Co the scarcity OF
workers. hecause even the meanest sin
gle women marry well there. asd being
above want are above work
The numerous statistical tables which
hear upon the problem Of wages and the
facts available prove that for ehe most
Dart women not only 10 the how paid hut
the un-Silful work. and are poorly paid. in
part at least. because of their lack 81 skill
and their ineficiency. A. for the Theory
that women arc new element In indus
trial life. that they are doing mems work.
or that they hav" driven out tho men"
u - unsupported 10y facts. In the cotton
industry and the clothing trades men are
Vngr dining the NnFl. "A hiah vrn. fgrVu.arlw-