Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-08-15
PLIGHT OF WORKING GIRL
Mrs. Robbins Compares the Condi
tions in East and West.
WAGES ALTOGETHER TOO Low
Only Remedy is Trades UniOnism, the
Ballot and Teaching Women to
Think and Act for Them
selves.

NEW YORK, Aug. 14-(Special Tele-
gram. )--The condition of the working girl
in the west is much better than that OF
her sister in tho east so said Mrs. Ray
mond Robbins. president of the Woman's
National Trades Union league who has an
intimate knowledge of the subject on which
she speaks, through her long study OF In
dnstrial problems and a broad sympathy
for her less fortunate sisters.
Few OF the girls in the west start to
work at the ages Of IL and 1S years, as
they do here she said, -
I'VE hsve cur child labor problems, but
none IKE you have. The girl workers OF
your city belong to the second and third
gereratlon-a generation of which the
mothers have been ground down by ma
chine labor. In the west the sapplng pro
cess has not got beyond the first genera
tion. In consequence the women workers
Of the west have more vitality.
"If immigration to this country should
be shut Off suddenly" she continued, at
would only be short time before we would
feel our great physical loss The strong
peasant women comes over here and trans
mits her strength to her children and that
is why our girl workers have more vi
that the peasantry Of Europe SETTLES. But
! believe we are at the turn of the tide !
think better times are coming for our
women workers, The question is whether
the intelligent women OF our country viii
join with us to make the tide rise higher
and hurryon that better day"
wealthy shoppers.
Mrs. Robbins said of the wealthy women
who trade in the shopss
''They are stupid. don't mean naturally
stupid. They are surrounded by a high
wall over which they cannot look and to
the top OF which they cannot climb. It Is
theEe women we want to teach. It isn't
that they have a lack OF sympathy or that
they wouldn't help IL they knew. for
think they would"
Mrs. Robbins said that in Europe more
was done for the girl workers than In this
country. In several foreign countries, she
declared, the hours of labor were properly
apportioned so that there were eleven hours
OF rest between working days and greater
attention was paid to such matters as
sanitation.
The average wage of the woman worker
is $40 a year" she said, "and you must
remember that average means below, as
we'll as above. In the textile industry
something like two-thirds of the workers
are getting Sc a week. Deduct room rent
and the price OF meals from 50 week and
what have you left?
''Is It not very difficult for girl to lead
an honest life under such conditioner" Mrs.
Robbins was asked.
yes. and the marvel is that so many
thousands OF them are good women, as
know they are" replied Mrs. Robbins.
why, l have known girls to live on
nothing but rye bread and olive oil in
order to scrape together enough money ia
buy new hat or new dress"
What is the remedy for such a condl-
ton of affairs3"
"one remedy is trades unionism Organ
ize the women and teach them to think and
act. Another is the ballot am an ardent
suffragtst. Everybody Is who ever tried
to do anything for women workers"