The Washington herald., 1913-03-17
LOW WAGES PULL
WOMEN DOWNWARD
Takes Supreme Moral Heroine to
Live on Five Dollars
Week.
BY FRANCES sHAFFER.

1t seems strange. this conflict of opinion
regarding the relation of woman
morals.
In Chicago, investigators are declaring
hat it is pretty close, and that living
wage very frequently marks the dividing
line between those who live on the
heights and those who sink to the depths.
And from New York comes the state
ment that the argument is disgusting.
Magistrate Herbert, VINO night after
night sits on the bench OF the women S
Night Court. declares that it is libel
on the American woman to assert that
her morals rise or fall with her wages.
He. and others who argue like him. say.
in effect. that it rests with the woman
TO determine the manner of life she
shall lead: that if her standards point
upward. nothing on earth can keep her
from abiding by them. and if they go
downward. she will drop with them.
Surely. the magistrate ought to be in
4 position to Judge. brought face to face
IS he is with the whole surging tide of
errant wOmanhOOd. Surely. too, in a
very large way il does remain for the
woman to say what her choice shall be-
And yet
seldom Have square Meal.
According to reports made to lieuten-
ant Coy. Barrett OHara of Illinois.
NOR. than 1000 women in Chicago are
receiving less than s. as their weekly
wage. The figures may or may not be
accurate, but they are CLEANED by inves-
tiCators in their work of sitting the
whole sorry story of the woman gone
wrong. And il scarcely needs the COM
ment OF the Lieutenant Governor to
show that many of those women. living
N ,lp9 shpd know
what full meal means. 1t is all
matter OF the simplest arithmetic to
prove where the trouble begins
MagiS:rat" Herbert calls il a libel
upon woman to assume that d low
wage ran possibly pull her down from
nor high estate if she wills it other
wise; and. in way. the whole world
knows that he is right. But when g.
I week is tho wage at stake. il is only
mother way Of calling her a supreme
moral hcrOn" if she wins. For il means
but who that has not tried it can faint
ly guess what 1t means to keep
within the borderland of right with
that paltry sum standing between her
and the quagmre that would draw her
jown?
We talk of the living wage. but the
very word living has an ironical
sound in such a connection. For these
women. many OF them. Young and
~ nature attuned to joy and the pur-
suits of pleasure, but the door is shut
lard and fast in their face. unless it is
rpened at the price Of their standards
and if they are old. as many more
're-then the world need pity them.
And the trouble is here
Give Up Unequal Struggle.
We hav. oTr n oral heroines who will
axe that ptiable wage and live as they
must while life endures. But. alas we
also have the other kind. who will ac-
'ept it for awhile. and then give up the
ncQual struggle and drift where money
'omeS easier.
In Illinois. where the minimum wage
question Is being worked out. they are
talking Of IS A week as living wage
and heads of some OF the big department
stores are declaring that any girl can
live deccntlN on that. if she will. One
# them was asked to figure il out, and
- his Cal"ula tions nc allowed her 10
'"nts q day for lunch 81 week for
-rothcs of every variety. from head to
'ooI. y cents week for laundry and
=. cents A week for "emergencies,
imusemcnts. annual vacation. and sun
irics. The amCsemcnts. vacation. SUM-
1ries. and all have very merry sound.
lave they not"
Women can and do live on that wage.
and some are thankful enough to get
It. but theater tickets. restful vacations,
eloquent "sundries'' and inelouuent
emergencies cannot loom very large
n their lives. else where will the neces- |
<itics come in? |
Is q Dra vback.
Much is said. too. about the Young |
women who live home and who nav
nothing or next to nothing for boar |
and the like: but it seems that |
4 business. that cannot afford to paw |
It's employees enough to LIVED on. without |
.rawing upon the resources of parents |
)r others, is a drawback rather than
a help to any community.
For the services of a wman during |
The hours of working day ought to be |
worth enough to any employer to enable |
him TO pay her a living wage: and II |
nc cannot do it. it is time to quit Some |
body is bound to make up the shortage,
and If there is no home to fall back |
upon. and the woman discouraged and |
Unequal to the hard struggle. goes where |
the way looks easier. society pays in
The end-society and the woman.
This question of the low wage-scale
FOR women would be big enough and
pad enough to handle il all women were
strong and brave to the very end. But
L takes endless courage to hold out
when the wage is away down and when
influences. enforcement and all help
pull them down to the pitiful standard
If the wage.
For what kind of living is possible
IN 5000 a year? Yet they tell us that
,ne-ffth OF the working women of the
United States earn less than 500 a year
Zach. Verify. there is work a-plenty for
minimum wage-boards. and abundant