Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-05-04
INFLUX OF WOMAN
LABOR LOWERS PAY
Conditions Have Thrown Men
Out of Competition
in Austria
UNDERBIDDINC STOPPED
Feminine Workers Are Not to Blame
for Situation That
Has Arisen

correspondent who signs himself IN r."
contributed the following interesting diecpe-
sion Of womens wages in Austria 70 thp
Neues Wiener journal:
zone OK the maxims which hold good be-
cause never subjected to repeated examinA-
ton is that which is embodied in the notion
that woman labor reduces wages The notion
ls true in so far as the fact of lower wages
comes about through the large and cheaper
supply of women for work. Away With
woman labor that is running us--this 4e-
came the slogan Of struggle for exlstence.
though It never achieved any success
women have worked calmly for the
lower wages because they would have found
no other employment; and the struggle be-
tween the seNes--there is nothing ugiief than
the struggle between man and woman, be-
cause by nature they should love and com
plement each other-this struggle. I say, be-
came conflict in the field OF pay instead Iof
competition in respect OF ability.
The extraordinary conditions which hct3
now been going on for years have throNn
the man. not the woman, out OF the coruve
tition. and II now appears that the blame
Tor the general reduction Of wages and enl-
aries does not fall upon women as such. nut
at most upon the flooding of the labor mar
ket by the influx of women.
Entirely apart from the deprecationnof
money, womens incomes have risen conald-
erably since women longer feel that
necessity of undertaking which men Imposed
upon them as by right hereditary 10 males
THE change becomes most obvious wilen
we take the men who have remained in their
| positions and compare their salaries--In-
creased, to be sure but only account Of
the general increase of the cost of living
with the increased incomes Of many women.
This change has come about not only
| through the lack of working people; an op-
| portunity has at last been given to women
| to develop and TO reap the money value OF
oh L., gaIl ,l,t
| ly closed to them
Pay New Workers More II
Changes for the better which amount 10
| several thousand crowns year are MOTTO
| he set aside lightly, and managers who re-
! leased their old capable women workers on
account of slow accommodation to the new
! valuation of female labor had to pay the
new, inexperienced workers the same amo1nts
! that they were unwilling to give the old en-
| ployes. ExtraoGd narily high the salaries
! paid now to capable women stenograpli0rs
| who, by the way, are not nearly so common
as people think. NJ
1T has also happened-we cannot 4sl
| whether by chance or as result OF the
| trend of tho times-that those women ia
| public offices whose training equals thattof
| their male colleagues are on absolutely the
| same footing with the men in regard TO both
salary and promotion. woman who teacileo
in a middle school can attain to salary ,of'
10000 crowns (f20OO) year. and this ealHry
| can be brought up by private tutoring 20
| very respectable annual income. A woman 81
academic training who Is engaged In the
| office of some ministry has the way open to
| her theoretically TO the rank and perQusifcs
! of court councillor. And in the professiona|
| thef consultations are stll more favorable.
| At the present time Vienna has women doe-
| tors who earn O. annual income OF 30.000
10 10000 crowns SGOOO to $soOo).
Living Costs Climb
Employees in exclusively feminine occuha-
tions enjoying the benefits Of the present
| juncture only in so far as they are receiYinE
| wages that are higher in proportion to the
| general increase in the cost of living. Tho
| servant girl can hardly buy with her wages
| of sixty crowns ($12) what she formerly
| obtained for her monthly income OF tweltH'
| or thirty crowns ga So. And the ca
| pable seamstress who formerly earned Eve
crowns ($1) a day does not profit from Che
| fact that she is now getting nine crowns
| ($ISO). But there are women tailors who
now do so-called mems work ana WHO earn,
indeed, disproportonately more than they
| used to earn.
1T looks very much as II the future-xp9t
| too far distant, we hope-will see wolnen
complaining because the competition OF iieu'
is reducing wages and salaries. But per-
haps the men will be so proud as to despias
! this one-time eNpedlent OF the womer and
| let ability alone decide the competition.. IN
| this case, that which exceptional circun-
stances have created might become the MORE
| NAL namely. that those who are capables tn
| accomplishment will earn much and the less
useful will earn little. Whether one happene'
| TO be a man or a woman ought not to affetd|
| Ia of discrimination" ="