New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-04-01
By Arthur Gleason

cur in certain processes in woollen textiles;
severe muscular action, as in the lifting OF
heavy weight. and by poisoning, as N GER
tain OF the processes in she'll filling. In NUM-
ton work, there has been a nervous strain
connected with certain Of the processes, ana
the dangers of fire and explosion. In add
ton, certain factories are in Zeppelin areas
and, on a telephone warning, all lights 90
out and the women lie fiat on the floor until
the danger is past. When the word comes to
them to rise one or two in department are
found in a faint.
To offset this the government has maze
the most determined effort in the history OF
anv public institution to enforce proper
conditions of work, to fight against over
time. to establish ceanl Tess, sanitation and
rourishment. The Welfare Department,
under the Ministry of Munitions. conducted
bv perhaps the best known social worker in
the English speaking world, Seebohm Rown-
tree has literally labored day and night to
guard the girls and women of Britain. 1t
has sought to preserve 100000 women from
results of war pressure which would have
been disastrous. As a peace measure, well
fare work is still an open question when
conducted by private enterprise, unless 1t IS
clearly an addition to a living wage. and
not a clever substitute for it. But as a
government measure in a time OF the Sc
verest crisis in the history Of the world II
deserves nothing but praise.
OF the 100000 women who have trans
ferred themselves into new work, how many
are going to stay? No one knows. An or
ganization TO combine women in certain
trades sent out recently form of questions
with the inquiry, "Do you wish, after the
war. to return to your former work OF 10
stay in what you are doing nowT of 3'oUo
answers $500 replied that they wished to re-
main in the new work. That is, iive-siXths.
On the other hand an investigator who mas
made study Of social conditions among
the Coventry workers tells me that the ma
iority OF the women say they will leave IN
dustry and take up home life after the war
Jobs for All?
Will there be work for all? No one
knows. Coventry has already received or
ders for 1918, and it is probable that m
dustry there will run on at full capacity LOT
year or two, at least, after the war. In
Sheffield, the employers plan swift con-
version to the trades Of peace. The great
steel firms anticipate an undminished de-
mand for their product. What made shells
will be turned into railway supplies, Tor IN
stance. Already they have orders which
guarantee the immediate future orders
from Great Britain and from Russia. They
state that they will continue the women at
work and will at the same time mt IN the
men But such a report is unusual.
There are mems trade unions, as IN GER
tain Of the transport workers, who stood
by the Job until the women received the
same rate of pay as they possessed. One or
two other mems unions have promised to
make the same fight for the women. But
these instances of rendering the work OF re-
construction easy are rare, and the women
must probably make their own fight. unaided
by the government, By the mems trade
unicns and BY the employers. Unorganized
and unenfranchised they will be the centre
of unrest and sufering-a running sore IN
industry. imperillng the standard Of living
established by the mems Organizations
scabbing wages and weakening the trade
union movement. With votes and wide
spread unions they would become a vital
element in the emancipation.
Il rests with the women, by agitation and
pressure. to establish for themselves
standard of living and to hold fast 70 the
undoubted immense gains they have made
during the war. The task is probably not
one primarily OF creating work. The re-
building OF Belgium and northern France
the deterioration of plant in Great Britain,
the closer Industrial association OF England