Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-04-09
HAS APPEALED
TO WOMEN FOR ASSISTANCE

no WOMEN FOR ASSISTANCE
lu France, too. Millcranh has APP
ycllcd 30 the women for assistance.
and ;hc workers arc everywhere under
sraic control. and subjcc. 70 military
lass in case ,hcg refuse 10 work. The
other bclligcrcut countries have fol
loved this example. and All these things
have completely rcvolut!onizcd the
position OF nil tho workers in Europe.
Ii,rc In Great Britain n draEn"t Of
organization "a tn" form az national
registration has cumcshcd the entire
people
Wh., arc 10 hc the consequences 70
me workers OF all these things
Tho Nrst consequence undoubtedly
viii oc that /, VIII prove almost i'm
POSSIBLE everywhere TO do away with
tho enormous number of national fac
tories ana workshops. In other words.
Nc shall soc a ncw bureaucratic era
for the workers. for - bureaucracy
ma. he democratic rs we'll as capt.
'alstic.
II the people should not provo strong
enough after the war 10 take over and
run tho new national machinery Of pro-
auction. they viii be cuslaved FOR one
ncrhaps for two generations. The IRON
bound military law. the registration Of
every adult worker, tho very habit Of
WORKING under national bureau
cracy--and habit is one Of tho strong
est forces In The lives OF tho English
PEOPLE. who are conservative TO u de-
:rcc--will perhaps paralyze tho people
aud Nh their desire for cooperation;
but cooperation viii then come. never
tnclcss. under tho guidance OF ser
rcant
All tho labor organizations ana trade
unions Of Europe have now become so
completely amalgamated with tho mill
tary organizations of the states that
thcy have lost their Individuality ana
identity completcly.
The question Of tho relation between
the cost OF living and wages is one OF
tho many paradoXcs OF the war. i:a
cause OF tho abnormal circumstances
and the great shortage OF labor. the
workers have become accustomed TO
very high wages. Gnsklled work crs
arc making three times as much as
they ever did before. Many munition
workers In Birmingham for instance,
are making $50 a week This fact
alone has revolutionizcd the ideas OF
the European worker, who will never
again he satisfied TO return to his old
wages of from 81 10 $3.50 a week. and
thc question is then. Will tho employer
hc able 10 force him 10 do so?
ON the other side war has forced
~ the prices % the neccssarics OF
living. and social economists in all
countries predict further increase
Is there any hope for the European
worker that his wages will keep step
with the inccca scd cost OF living:
Even before the war the English
statistician. sidney Webb. showed that
turing the last twenty years the
workers Of Europe have been forced
10 reduce their standard of living be-
cause wages remained comparatively
stationary, while the prices OF food
went UP from IL To 40 per cent What
Will happen then after the war. in the
course Of which tho increase has
reached in many cases fully 100 pcr
cent:
TO this comes the greatest OF all
iabor problems enEendcred by the war
the problem of what 10 do with the
female war workers. As the members
Of the labor unions volunteered for
military service or were conscriptcd
into the trenches an army Of women
numbering millions filled their places
and now British labor leaders fear they
will be helpless against this invasion
unless women arc forbidden by law to
do anything which was formerly looked
upon as n mans work
Two results OF this invasion of
women seem inevitable after tho war.
In the first place. the standard OF liv-
Continued on Ejchth Pacc)