Milford chronicle., 1914-12-04
NATIONS LABOR
PROBLEM
OVER A MILLION AND A HALF
WOMEN WORK AS FARM HANDS
IN THE UNITED STATES.
BY Peter Radford

center to circumference, and max
civilization hide its face in sham
That problem is-women In the fiel,
The last federal census report
show we now have 1,514,O00 wome
working in the field. most Of theT
south Of the Mason and Dixon line
There were approximately a milliol
negro slaves working in the field
when liberated by the emancipation
proclamation. We have freed ou
slaves and our women have takeI
their places in bondage. We have
broken the shackles of the negroes
and welded them upon our daughters
The chaln-eang Of Civilization.
A million women in bondage in the
southern fields form the chain-gang OF
civilization - the Industrial tragedy
of the age. There is no overseer quite
so cruel as that Of unrestrained greed.
no whip that stings like the lash OF
suborned destiny, and no auctioneer's
block quite so revolving as that Of or
ganized avarice.
The president Of the United States
was recently lauded by the press, and
very properly so. for suggesting medi-
alton between the engineers and rail
road managers In adjusting their
schedule Of time and pay. The engi-
neers threatened to strike If their
wages were not increased from ap-
proXimately ten to eleven dollars per
day and service reduced from ten to
eight hours and a similar readjust-
ment Of the overtime schedule. Our
women are working in the field, many
Of them barefooted for less than so
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 whom
shall they threaten a strike?
Congress has listened approvingly
to those who toll at the forge and be-
hind the counter, and many Of our
statesmen have smiled at the threats
and have famed the fame of unrest
among industrial laborers. But won.
en- are as surely the final victims OF
Industrial warfare as they are the
in the war between ma
ions, and those who arbitrate and
Mediate the differences between capi-
al and labor should not forget that
When the expenses OF any industry are
increased. society foots
he bill by drafting a new consignment
II women from the home to the field.
finch no crumb From Women's Crust
Of Bread.
No financial award can be made
'ithout someone footing the bill, and
'e commend to those who accept the J
esponsibllity of the distribution of in
ustrial justice, the still small voice Of
le woman in the field as she pleads !
II mercy, and We beg that they pinch j
o crumb from her crust Of bread or
ut another patch upon her ragged 1
lrments.
We beg that they listen to the
'ream Of horror from the eagle on o
'ery American dollar that is wrung y
ON the brow of toiling women and u
,ar the Goddess of Justice hiss at "
rdict that increases the want OF el
oman to satisfy the greed Of man. It
The women behind the counter and
the factory cry aloud for sympathy %
d the press thunders out in their
felse and the pulpit pleads for 10
srcy' but how about the woman in pi
e field? Will not these powerful OF
ponents Of human rights turn their en-
ent, energies and influence to her at
ief? Will the Goddess of Liberty
throned at Washington hold the cal lei
sed hand and soothe the feverish WI
wv OF her sex who sows and reaps no
} nations harvest or will she permit inl
male Of the species to shove ra
men-weak and weary-from the wi
ad-line of industry to the back al. no
s Of poverty? ira
Women and Children First. est
he census enumerators tell us that sui
he 1,514,000 women who work in the inv
ds as farm hands 100000 are six tiol
years Of age and under. What is
final destiny OF a nation whose fu-
mothers spend their girlhood days
ind the plow. pitching hay and
ling manure, and what is to become "A
womanly culture and refinement to-,
grace the home. charm society 80 80
enthuse man to leap to glory in n
Ie achievements If our daughters ing
raised in the society Of the OK and M
ccmpanionship Of the plow? OF
that strata between the ages Of with
zen and forty-flve are 95O, 900 wom- NJ
as farm hands and many sper
hem with sucking babes tug Fral
at their breasts. MS drenched SI
respiration, they WELD the scythe '0i NJ
guide the plow. What is to be- Sadi
of that nation where poverty MISS HI
ks the crowns OF the queens Of I'll u
home; despair hurls a mothers weel
from its throne ana hunger drives Mi
cent children from the schoolroom end
10 hoe? II.
g census bureau shows that 1885, CUES
OF these women are forty-fve saIes ne.
OF age and over There is no ,.;s.,,
-Na-n.n l..