The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-05-07
SEN ECONOMIC STATUS or
Al sTRfAN WOMEN.

+ =. T. contributed the following in
torestinE discussion Of wouen-s wages
~ Austria "a the February : issue Of
the Neues Wiener journal
= One az the maxims which hold coed
. because never subjected 80 repeated
eXsrninsftou ~ that which is embodied
~ the notion that female labor re-
dgees wages The notion is true in
So far as the fact % 1opcr wages
comes about throueh rhc large and
: cheaper %up33v 81 women for work
ttwav with female IA Dor that IS ruin
ia1 GS-th's became tho slogan OF a
~treESis fer s4tstence, though IT never
achieved anv success Women have
~osS@o on calmly FOR fhr lower wages
eecsQss they would have found no
ether employment. and the struggle
between 1Ne seNes---there is nothing
asjier than the struggle between man
and woman because by nature they
should love and complement each
otrer-thjs struggle, { say, became
conflict IN the field Of pay instead OF
--t com r. tttioe in respect Of ability.
TIE extraordinary conditions which
have now been going on for years
have thrown the man. not the woman
9Gs of the competition and 1t now APP
pears that thu blame for the general
reduction Of wages and salaries does
rot fall upon women as such. but at
most upon the aoodlng Of the labor
market by the influx OF women.
Entirely apart from the deprecia-
. ton Of money, women's incomes have
risen considerably since women no
longer feel that necessity OF under
bidding which men imposed upon them
as by a right hereditary to males The
change becomes most obvious when
we take the men who have remained
in their positions and compare their
salaries-increased. to be sure. but
| only on account Of the general increase
/ of the cost OF livtng-with the in
| creased incomes of many women. This
change has come about not only
| through the lack 81 working people;
| an opportunity has at last been given
| to women TO develop and 10 reap the
| money value of their ability in many
| felds that were formerly closed to
| them.
TN this respect all women employed
| by mercantile firms have had the hap
/ pest experiences. Formerly they were
/ engaged In subordinate Office work al
most exclusively and without any re-
gard for their abilities Now many
capable women occupy positions which
! require independent judgment. often
| even administrative ability. The ar
IDENTIFY desired change In the employ
| nent OF women Ia AT last fact and
a salary OF 500 to 500 crown $500 to
$500 month In nowadays no rarity
for woman who before the war
| earned about tso crowns seG and
! who BY now, under normal conditions.
might have been raised to $50 crowns
| $500. 1t is indeed, interesting that
| hardly a single wman could, in her
former position. have attained such "A
tdisproportionate increase in wages as
IL now the case. Women often used
/ to be put into positions that only a
| man had held. but without CORE .
spending wage But the time came
| when all tho sentimental considera-
tions of tradition and custom had to
| be thrown overheard,
Changes for the better which
am ount to several thousand crowns a
year are not to be set aside lightly.
and managers who released their old
capable women workers on account OF
slow accomm dalton to the new vafua =
ton Of female labor had 10 pay the
new inexperienced workers the san
amounts that they were unwilling to
give TO the old employees. Extraordi-
ma rily high are the salaries paid now
to capable women stenographers who.
by the way are not nearly so comm on
as people think The intelligent ste
nographer who can take dictation and
! etat Il through a typewriter rapidtX
has become the most popular kind of
a private secretary. She must dis
charge a lot OF business requiring in
telligence; stenography and typewrit-
ing are only a part of the activity OF
/ these women who earn 500 crowns
$1,000 a month
1T has hso happen ed-ue can OF
saw whether by chance or as a result
Of the trend OF the times-that those
women in public offices whose. training
equals that OF their male colleagues
are on absolutely the same footing
with the men in regard to both salary
and promotion. A woman who teaches
in a middle school can attain to a
salary OF 10. 900 crowns t2,0o0) a
year and this salary can be brought
up by private tutoring to- very re-
spectacle annual income, A woman
of academic training who is engaged
in the Office of some ministry has the
way open TO her theoretically to the
rank and peruuisites OF u court coun-
ciior And in fhe professions the
consultations are still more fsxora--
BILE At the present time Vienna has
WON en- doctors who earn an annual
income of 10000 to 10000 crowns
tf$eeee to $4,000.
"p.m ployees in exclusively feminine
! occupations are enjoying the benefits
| of the present juncture only in SO far
| AS they are receiving wages that are
higher in proportion to the general in
| crease in the cost of living. The SER
| want girl can hardly buy with her
wages OF sixty crowns (Sla) what she
formerly obtained for her monthly in
| come or twenty or thirty crowns ga
| or s6l. And the capable seamstress
who form rly earned five crowns fs1)
A day does not profit from the fact
that she is now getting nine crowns
$3.50. But there arc women tai1ors
who now do SO called mems work
and who earn. indeed. disproportion-
| ately more than they use to earn.
1T looks very much As If the fu-
ture---not too far distant, we hope
will see women complaining because
, the competition of men is reducing
. wages and salaries But perhaps the
men will be so proud as TO despise this
| one time expedlent of the women and
let ability alone decide the competi-
| ton In this case. that which ex-
ceptional circumstances have created
might become the normal, namely.
! that those who are capable in accom-
/, useful will earn little. Whether one
useful will earn little. Whittier one
happens TO be a man or woman
ought not to afford a basis Of discri-
mination."
,