The Snowflake herald., 1914-12-04
NATIONS LABOR
PROBLEM
OVER A MILLION AND A FALF
WOMEN WORK AS FARM HANDS
IN THE UNITED STATES.
BY Peter Radford

m0uuOuS pTODIOm as tHdt uOW FluS
dormant at the doors of congressand
the legislatures, and which, vhen
aroused, will shake this nation rom
center to circumference, and make
civilization hide its face in shane.
That problem is-women in the field.
The last federal census reprts
show we now have 1,514,000 woaen
working in the field, most of tlem
south of the Mason and Dixon Inc.
There were approximately a million
negro slaves working in the filds
when liberated by the emancipation
proclamation. We have freed our
slaves and our women have taken
their places in bondage. We hve
broken the shackles off the negpes
and welded them upon our daughtrs
The chaln-Gang Of Civilization.
A million women in bondage in he
southern fields form the chain-gangof
civilization - the industrial tragdy
of the age. There is no overseer quite
so cruel as that of unrestrained CRED,
no whip that stings like the lash of
suborned destiny, and no auctionee's
block quite so revolving as that of ,r-
ganized avarice.
The president of the United Stats
was recently lauded by the press, aid
very properly so, for suggesting NEIL
alton between the engineers and ral-
road managers in adjusting thir
schedule of time and pay. The enyi-
neers threatened to strike If thir
wages were not increased from ;p-
proximately ten to eleven dollars Ier
day and service reduced from ten to
eight hours and similar readjwt-
ment of the overtime schedule. Our
women are working In the field, maiy
Of them barefooted, for less than 20
cents per day, and their schedule Is
the rising sun and the evening star,
and after the days work is over they
milk the cows, slop the hogs and rock
the baby to sleep Is anyone mediat-
ing over their problems, and to wfom
shall they threaten a strike?
Congress has listened approvirgly
hind the counter, and many Of Dur
statesmen have smiled at the threats
and have famed the fame of unrest
among industrial laborers But wsm-
en- are as surely the final victims Of
industrial warfare as they are The
burden-bearers in the war between ma
tions, and those who arbitrate and
mediate the differences between crri-
tai and labor should not forget that
when the expenses of any industry are
unnecessarily increased. society foo's
the bill by drafting new consignment
Of women from the home to the field
Pinch no crumb From Women's Crust
Of Bread.
No financial award can be made
without someone footing the bill, ard
we commend to those who accept the
responsibility of the distribution Of in
dustrial justice, the still small voice Of
the woman in the field as she pleads
for mercy, and we beg that they pinch
no crumb from her crust of bread or
put another patch upon her ragged
garments.
We beg that they listen to the
scream of horror from the eagle OF
every American dollar that is wrung
from the brow of toiling women and
hear the Goddess Of Justice hiss at a
verdict that increases the want of
woman to satisfy the greed of man.
The women behind the counter and
in the factory cry aloud for sympathy
and the press thunders out in their
defense and the pulpit pleads for
mercy, but how about the woman in
the field? Will not these powerful
exponents of human rights turn their
talent, energies and influence to her
relief? Will the Goddess of Liberty
enthroned at Washington hold the cal
loused hand and soothe the feverish
brow of her sex who sows and reaps
the nations harvest or will she permit
the male of the species to shove
women-weak and weary-from the
bread-line of industry to the back al
leys of poverty?
Women and Children First.
The census enumerators tell us that
Of the 1,514,000 women who work in the
fields as farm har DIS 100000 are six
teen years of age and under. What is
the final destiny of nation whose fu-
ture mothers spend their girlhood days
behind the plow, pitching hay and
hauling manure, and what is to become
of womanly culture and refinement
that grace the home, charm society
and enthuse man to leap to glory in
noble achievements If our daughters
are raised in the society of the OK and
the companionship of the plow?
In that strata between the ages of
sixteen and forty-five are $50 900 wom-
en- working as farm hands and many
of them with sucking babes tug
ging at their breasts, as drenched
In perspiration. they WELD the scythe
and guide the plow. What is to be
come of that nation where poverty
breaks the crowns Of the queens Of
the home; despair hurls a mothers