Norwich bulletin., 1917-05-19
ATToRNEYs-AT-LAW EDWIN w. HIGGINS
 Attorney-at-Law Corner Main and Shetueket Streets
TO SAFEGUARD THE
 MANY WOMEN WORKERS
National League Issues Statement On
 Reduction of Hours.

Tn view of the introduction in some
 state legislatures of measures to per
 init increasing the working hours of
 women and minors in the alleged in
 teregt of increasing productivity, the
 National League for Women's Service
 has issued a statement urging the
 necessity of maintaining the existing
 safeguards of the health and welfare
 of women wage earners. The state
 ment follows:
 ITO safeguard the great number of
 women that are being added to the
 ranks of industrial workers is one of
 the chief purposes of The National
 League for Women's Service. The leagues position on the question. of
 lowering standards in order to meet
 the emergency demand for increased
 production is that modification of ex-
 isting laws to promote the health,
 safety and efficiency of the workers
 should be made only upon the specific request of the National Council of De- fense- This body has already public ly announced that existing safeguards should be vigorously maintained and that no departure from present stand ards should be taken. It is essential for the national defense
 Now that the league has established It's Bureau of InforTna ton and Regis tration at Washington in co operation
 with the Department of Labor and oth- CT government bureaus, bu which the woman power of the nation is being rapidly rnobilized, it is felt that atten- ton must be given to protecting and conserving the health and strength of the thousands of women workers and conserving the health and strength of the thousands Of women workers in the national service, many of whom are working more from patriotic motives than for material recompense.
 Moreover. experience seems to in Htcate that increased production can kr- ~-T w1a6 hours of labor than by lengthening them. Three shifts of eight hours each has been found in numerous ex- perfments to give better results than two shifts of twelve hours each In England. for example. early in the war i the legal safeguards for women work FITS were relaxed with a view to in creasing the production of the muni- i elonS factories; the working time was | aer<thened and little attention was paid to . sanitary and recrea tional | condition. The result in many cas- es. according to the committees on | health of intuition workers appointed | by the minister of munitions was in l stead of an increase in production a | distinct decrease The committee re- l ported that the efficiency of the work l CTS in many cases had been lowered | by overwork. and that from the point | of view of a maximum production | alone excessive hours did not pay It | IS said that in some of the munition | pants haStlly throW1. up 1p this coun- | try to fill war orders little attention | was paid to the comfort and sanitation 1 o1 the large numbers of workers en- ployed and the consequence was a | lowering of the efficiency and there fore lessening of output.
 The working standards now en- Joyed by labor are obtained after years of study and struggle and 1t would be 1 dangerous to the entire welfare move ment to permit any wholesale relaxa- aion at this time. Moreover, both European and our own experiences lee into indicate that hig-speed pro- suction can be obtained better by up- folding these standards than by re- iaxing them It is probable, however, that exemption will have to be recom- nended in some particular cases, as indeed they have been already and it Is no more than justice to the patriot ism of our workers to say that the Y vorkers themselves, both men and wo- men, will willingly work day and night, | seven days a week, if necessary to up- hold the honor and safety of our coun- try.