The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-11-28

ing equa1 pay Tor equal work, with
out distinction Of sex. in the public
schools Of New York city, is an event
of such ~far-reaching significance that
the immensely Of it's Importance can
hardly be measured at this time. It
is the greatest single achievement ever
won by q body OF women in the long
fight for social. political and economic
justice. !
The fact that the taxpayers Of New
York must now pay about four mill
lion dollars a year more in order to
make economic equality between the
sexes a fact is q small matter COM
pared with h grandeur and exem-
plary character Of the victory.
A thunderciap Of applause followed
the election in which the State Of
California recently endowed women
fought battle is still being celebrated
throughout the country. But the
splendid thing accomplished by the
fifteen thousand organized women
school teachers here on the shore Of
the Atlantic is mightier than the deed
away on the shore Of the Pacific.
One was a political victory. The
other was an economic triumph.
What the right to vote may do for
women is still a matter in the domain
of doubt. Women vote in several OF
the States, and there is no conclusive
evidence that they have in any way
bettered b condition OF their daily
slVes. The most cruel side Of the
sex issue is that a woman has to work
as hard as a man in any particular
calling and must be content to re-
ceiye less pay-not because the quail
tty Of her work is inferior. but be-
cause h is a Oman
The fight Of the fifteen thousand
n
men Teachers Association, under the
skillful leadership Of their president,
Miss Grace S~trachan, a district super
i%ntendent in the public schools, has
lasted for six years. Again and again
they have apparently een within
feated. Three times have they pass
ed the bill through the Legislature,
and twice has the measure been We
toed. These fifteen thousand women
have had to fight without the right
to vote. They have continued the
struggle In the face Of discourage
ment and against obstacles that might
have proved insurmountable to men.
Their efforts have been hampered by
the rules restricting the efforts OF
public employees in carrying on an
agitation Of such a character. Yet
ter each defeat they have returned
to the battle with renewed enthu-
siasm. Nothing like it has been cen
tn the history Of WoImanhOod.
It is not alone the leadership dis
played by Miss Strachan that compels
attention. The more significant and
suggestive thing is that fifteen thou
sand women could nav held together
In such circumstances without a break
for six long years. True, they were
women highly trained in a profession
that Of all others is a woman's par
HA --~
In the face of that fact the evidence
displayed by these fifteen thousand
women of their ability to wiring JUS
tic from society is none the less re-
markable and ~portentOus.
The disability placed upon the earn
ing power Of women by an arbitrary
rule Of the Board Of Education pre-
scented on a grand scale and in un-
mistakable terms the most substan-
tal grievance which collective Wo-
man had to present to the commun-
ity. It touched the rightof a wo-
man to have her work rewarded
justly. It touched her right to earn
her livelihood. It was a purely
economic question, having nothing to
do with woman's physical inability to
serve in the army or navy, Tor IN
stance. It grappled centrally with
conditions that must be settled before
1t will be possible for women to
achieve such individual independence
that they may live their lives singly
II they so prefer, and not be driven
into marriage merely for the sake OF
a home.
The passage of the equal pay bill
is the threshold of a transformed
future for the self-suDporting Wo-
man.
This tremendous change in n at
utude Of New York as q whole COM
lnunity toward the question OF eco
nomlc equality between men ana Wo-
men occupying the same positions and
doing the same work must presently
have a profound sociological result:
And the fact that the equal pay Dill
was enacted through the efforts oI
women. using decent, orderly and rea-
sonable methods Of advocacy and per-
suasion, must add greatly to the
moral weight of the event.