Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-20
EXPERT SCORES DOUBLE
WAGESTANDARD; CALLS
IT UNJUST TO WOMEN
Miss Theodore Butcher Says
Female Labor, When as Sat-
isfactory as Mems Deserves
Same Compensation
MARRIAGE VITAL FACTOR

Do YOU believe that nrst.cass woman
stenographer. or any other kind Of business
woman. is as good and capable In her
particular line of work as a man? DO you
think that she Is as accurate and as pune
tual and as efficient as the man who occu.
pies the same place in another office? II
you do, you are willing to pay her the same
salary that n man would get. But do you
do Il?
There's the rub" In most offices, for
although all the foregoing questions may
be answered In the acknowledgements
may believe In woman's abilty-facts
prove that they are not able to answer the
last question that way. Men are paid
higher wages than women though their
work may be just the same and their OPP
portunities just as many.
AS NEW YORKER SEES IT.
Which is just as It should be. according
to one John Martins beliefs Mr., Martin,
who is n member OF the Board OF Educa-
tlon in the city of New York, believes In
this double standard of remuneration.
"A man should be paid higher salary
than a woman because he is the father
of family; his Is n family wage. wom.
an has seldom more than one person de-
pendent upon her. Her salary Is her
own Therefore, II should be cut down."
ia the substance of his declaration In a
current magazine.
Miss Theodore Butcher, who Is known to
Philadelphia's professional and working
women as the head of the Bureau Of Occu-
patton for Trained Women at 18th and
Spruce streets, declares unequlvocally that
payment should depend entirely upon the
individuals value as an asset to his or her
employer,
AGAINST DOUBLE STANDARD.
There Is no rule for man or woman in
this matter OF money" Miss Butcher says,
ut depends upon the person employed. II
a woman makes herself Indispensable to
certain firm, n stenographer, for In
stance, II she works conscientiously and ac-
curately, no one can deny that she Is just as
valuable as man. and deserving of the
same salary as man. But, nevertheless, l
have seen hundreds of trained women talk
ing jobs of this sort, and filling them to
their employers satisfaction--but they
don't get n mans salary. Strange as this
may seem. 1t is so. And any one in the
commercial world can prove 1t to you.
MANY employers are unwilling to take
women because they are not regarded as
permanent And good many of them
aren't. A woman under 35 Is likely to
marry, and they do 1t at the very period
when their usefulness is at its highest point.
OF course, this is discouraglng to employers.
They naturally employ men because they
know that a married man Is not likely to
stop working. but, on the contrary to work
all the harder If he has n home and family
W SuDpOIlH
II think that Mr.. Martin refers to the in
dustria class Of workers rather than the
trained workers. | have read some of his
series of articles which have been running
in the Survey and ! think in some respects
he is taking a protective attitude toward
women.
"He says that women should not take
up any kind of employment that is known to
bo injurious to their health, which Is, of
course. the health of future generations.
Now, girls who have been working in a
factory for 8 hours day will go home and
indulge In some sort of amusement that is
not beneficial to their health This Is prob
ably what Mr.. Martin means, but what is
to be done about it?
But even in the Industrial word-if a
girl only gets Sc week she works for 1t
and she is entitled to 1t. There is no rea-
son to discriminate on account of the peo.
pie who are dependent upon her. She may
be supporting a whole family and fire.
quently is. And a man gets n higher wage
simply because he Is man, whether he is
married or not-and no matter how he
spends IT, Really, the personal side of the
employees existence is nobodys business but
his own"