Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-05

Yet the women are not to be blamed for
taxing the work when they need 1t. The
employers are not always to be blamed
Tor securing their help at the lowest pos
sible expenditure. but the wage-earning
woman has brought about many complex
problems yet to be solved.
Inc invention of labor-saving ma
chinery has had a great influence in the
substitution Of feminine for masculine
labor. In many factories women en-
ployed at half the wages paid to men
generation ago by the aid of new ma
chimes are able to produce several times
the amount Of work. After the first in
stallment the cost of running the ma
chinery is small The saving TO the man
ufacturer In the difference between wom-
ems wages and the wages he formerly
paid to men is so much clear profit. but
1t should not all be credited to women
readiness to work for low wages. In a
small town in Pennsylvania there is a
Factory which twenty years ago employed
over q hundred men. who lived with their
families in comfortable cottages near
their work. Now that factory has less
than fifty men upon its pay roll but has
force of nearly two hundred women and
girls who, with the aid of the new ma
chinery. are turning out fully ten times
as much work as did the hundred men
twenty years ago. Yet the present pay
roll for men and women amounts to little
more than did the former one consisting
or mems names only. ..
The greatest. hardship of such a con-
dition is that the large number of men.
thrown out of
Forced to Leave their expected
Their Native Towns. e m ? ,oymen, T.
forced to leave their native towns and
seek work elsewhere. Some of them have
found ii, but large number have drifted
into the 'hobo'' class. although by nat
ural inclination they would be regularly
employed. The increasingly large army
Of unemployed men which gives the social
workers SO many difficulties must not be
entirely credited to the entrance of the
woman wage Garner. but there is an in
disputabie connection between them.
The labor unions have recognized this
connection and for years have been
working to secure equal pay for equal
work, whether performed by man or
woman A number of strikes have been
based upon this issue. although the fact
that in most industries the wages were
not sufficient to provide decent living
conditions for either men or women has
been the more frequent cause of labor
troubles. Until recently women have been
slow to recognize the value Of organiza-
ton, and this has been responsible for
their low wages in many industries.
With the awakening now demonstrated
in many localities the subject of wom-
en- wages in the future bids fair to re-
ceive proper consideration.
The loyalty with which women adhere
to organizations when once, they have
united. with them has been demonstrated
thoroughly in the garment makers
strikes which have been in progress dur
ing the past few months. In all of these
the women made a heroic stand for the
union, which aimed to secure living
wage for all. They We're thoroughly or
ganiZed. and during the singing cold,
subjected to the insulting remarks of po-
lice officers and men interested in. the
triumph of the manufacturer, they brave
ly defended their position with an ear
nestness equal to any band OF man
strikers
The killing of Ida Brennan, the girl
striker. in Rochester last month only
added to the
Killing Of Girl earnestness of
Adds to Earnestness. women - Go.
cure the wages due them. Ida Brennan
fell from the bullet OF her tailor employ
er and is already canonized in the hearts
of her fellow-workers, who believe that
her death will influence public sentiment
in their favor And this in spite of the
fact that the shooting may not have been
To their credit it must be
said that the present methods of the
women striking for higher wages are
far more peaceable than those of earlier
labor agitators.
A study has been made of the numer-
Gus industries in which women are en-
GO Ond a u-o Oac
The New England shoe industry is one
Of those paying the best wages to its
woman workers. In commenting upon
the effect of ine-dollar-a-week mimi
mum wage law in Massachusetts upon
his employees a member of one of the
largest shoemaking firms in tho world
said that in his belief a firm that could
not afford to pay hat sum ~ its work
ers had no righ % exist The average
weekly wage il his own establishment
exceeded So T, each OF the hundreds
of women e: loved. even allowing for
the two or Il ee weeks of enforced idle
ness for the annual stock taking which
with this firri was equivalent to the usu-
al vacation period in other industries. |
This plant is in advance OF many others
in equipment. machinery and provision
for the comfort and recreation ofits en- |
,loyes but the high degree of organiza-
ion in most shoemaking establishments |
permits a higher wage to both men and |
women than In many other industries.
a study of the conditions of woman
mattresses has been made in Boston, Chi |
cago, Minneapolis.
Average Wage st. Paul. New
of the Waitress, a no5k' = ph'iads, n',,s
which shows the average wages Of wom