Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1915-07-16
BRITAIN To TAKE
BACK TRAINMEM
Those Who Serve in Army
VIII Regain Their
Jobs.
THE WOMAN QUESTION
Labor Leaders Apprehen-
sive of Outcome Of EX-
pertinent.

Correspondence Of the Associated Pressl
LONDON. July 1.-THE British
ministry has promised the National
Union Of Railway men that at the end
of hostiltes the railway men serving
with the armed forces will obtain jobs
equal to those they gave up At tho
same time, j. H. Thomas, NJ, T., Sec
rotary Of the union, says he is eX-
tremely uneasy over the problem Of
women railway workers. In a speech
at "A meeting Of the men in Noting
ham, he said:
81 am profoundly convinced that
you have to face the fact that female
labor has come to stay. Therefore we
have got to make up our minds upon
one or two things First, what grades
would 1t be dangerous for female
labor to be engaged in; second, what
ever grades they work in, they must
not be used as a means for reducing
the prices that we have secured for
particular grades by years Of agitation.
What we have to say is that no wom-
ans labor is to be made the means Of
reducing the status of any grade in
the railway service"
According to the speaker, there are
certain classes Of railway work which
women are unable to perform, and
women are not proving satisfactory in
all the positions that have been
opened for them.
In short there were two courses
open to the unions-either to refuse
to allow the experiment of women
workers altogether, as has been done
In some places by the streetcar men,
or to devote the unions energies to In
ssting upon the maintenance of the
standard of wages. Most of the speak
ers favored the latter procedure, urg-
ing that while the trade unionist can
not, without stultifying his own prin-
ciples protest against female labor,
he has every right TO protest against
female labor which is merely cheap
labor under an alias, and IL is in the
interest Of the country that he should
so protest"
The only government department
which has made any wholesale effort
TO avail itself Of the large amount of
female labor at it's disposal to take the
place Of men in military service, is
the postoffice. This department now
has 5000 new women employees i'm the
various branches Of its work through
out the country.
or the 10000 men employed by the
postoffice before the war, 81 900 have
Joined the army In the rural districts
women have been employed in q linz
tied way as letter carriers for some
years past; they have now been intro
duced into some Of the small towns
and cities. Other places which are
being opened to women are those Of
the mail sorters and messengers. Girl
tele graph messengers, mounted on
bicycles, are gradually taking the
places of the boy messengers, and u
great deal Of the postoffice's telegraph
work Is being done by young women.
Women clerks and accountants have
been introduced for the first time into
the London general postoffice.
on the authority Of high postal
official it is stated that the reports
from all quarters are to the effect that
the work of the women who have been
engaged to replace men has been eX-
tremely well done "They work
quickly and accurately, and they are
very conscientious" says one report.
Women letter carriers will be seen
in the suburban districts Of London
within a few weeks. Candidates for
these posts have already been called
for from the government labor eX-
changes.
Women are as common a sight in
English fields now as in the CONT.
mental countries. over one hundred
and fifty thousand male farm laborers
have enlisted in the army and caused
a grave shortage. Farmers complain
Of the scarcity Of labor and say that
! they have suffered from recruiting all
| they can bear. AS the local food sup
| ply was never so important as now,
! they have been asked for the release
I Of soldiers for farm work. This re-
qeust has been granted by the war
office for the harvesting of the grain
crops but for that only.