Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1914-12-03
NATIONS LABOR
PROBLEM
OVER A MILLION AND A HALF
WOMEN WORK AS FARM HANDS
IN THE UNITED STATES.
BY Peter Radford

dormant al the doors OF congress and
the legislatures, and which. when
aroused. viii shake this nation from
center to circumference. and make
civilization hide its face In shame.
mat problem is-women in the field.
The last federal census reports
sho" we now have $4,000 women
working In the field, most of them
south OF the Mason and Dixon line.
There were approximately a million
negro slaves working In the fields
when liberated by the emancipation
proclamation We have freed our
slaves and our women have taken
their places in bondage. We have
broken the shackles on the negroes
and welded them upon our daughters.
The chsInGang 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
gained 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 II 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 20 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 wom-
en- are as surely the final victims OF
industrial warfare as they are the
. burden.bearers in the war between ma
, ,lons. and those who arbitrate and
mediate the differences between capt
tai and labor should not forget that
when the expenses OF any industry are
unnecessarily increased. society foots
the bill by drafting a 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, and
we commend to those who accept the
responsibility OF the distribution of In
dustrial justice, the still small voice o
the woman in the field as she pleads
for mercy, and we beg that they pincf
no crumb from her crust OF bread Of
put another patch upon her ragged
garments.
We beg that they listen to tn
$ scream OF horror from the eagle oil
= every American dollar that is wrun
! from the brow OF toiling women an
: hear the Goddess OF Justice hiss at
,, verdict that increases the want o
woman to satisfy the greed OF man.
The women behind the counter an
in the factory cry aloud for sympath
and the press thunders out in thei
10 defense and the pulpit pleads 10
. mercy, but how about the woman !
{ the field? VIII not these powerfl
- opponents of human rights turn thei
A talent. energies and influence to he
4 relief? VIII the Goddess Of Libert
! enthroned at Washington hold the ca
. loused hand and soothe the feveris
. brow Of her sex who sows and rear
the nations harvest or will she perm
the male OF the species to shov
y women-weak and weary-from II
It bread-line Of industry to the back a
?. leys OF poverty?
Il Women and Children First.
# The census enumerators tell us th'
~ of the $4,000 women who work In II
:. fields as farm hands 100000 are 81
teen years OF age and under. What
e the final destiny OF nation whose I
X ture mothers spend their girlhood da,
J. behind the pillow. pitching hay al
l. hauling manure, and what is to becon
is Of womanly culture and refneme
is that grace the home. charm socie
ot and enthuse man to leap to glory
f. noble achievements II our daushte
II are raised in the society of the OK al
., the companionship Of the plow7
" In that strata between the ages
III sixteen and forty-five are $4,000 wo
at en- working as farm hands and ma
to Of them with sucking babes u
III ging at their breasts, as drench
lg in perspiration. they WELD the soyt
ke and guide the pillow. What II to
ge come of that nation where power
In breaks the crowns of the queens
e. the home; despair hurls q mothe
be love from its throne and hunger driv
N innocent children from the schoolroe
Iss to the hoe?
y The census bureau shows that 10
- 900 Of these women are forty-n
80, 80, years Of age and over. There 10
III more pitiful sight in civilization tn
I.-. x.xl ~ 4. nm