New-York tribune., 1918-07-13
u. S. Board Acts to
Conserve Vitality
OF Women Workers
New Regulations Will Be
Enforced by the Depart
ment Of Labor
By Ralph Block

WASHINGTON. July 12.-The sud-
den tide Of thousands Of women into
industrial fields all over the United
States has; forced the government to
take action to conserve the vitality of
the new workers and to define their
position in industry.
The War Labor Policies Board to-day
made public resolution clnbodying the
principles On which women will labor
during .hc war, and probably after.
The resolution is meant to stimulate
the use OF women in clerical and n.er-
camille positions, to bar the employ
ment OF women under unfit moral con-
ditions or where they are not phy-
slcally adequate, and set out standards
for the employment Of women in occu-
pations such as street railway or public
messenger service. it will DC enforced
by all the power the Department of
Labor has now over industries turning
out war products.
Ihe new provision Tor women in in
oustry comes g little late. Actually it
Is the result OF the governments fnd-
ing its hand forced by the flood of
women, as much as the result of real
plan to care for this new factor in war
time production. The usual procedure
IN government circles is to make a
survey first and later turn out plan
based on the investigation. But the
government has been rather lackadai-
Sical about the woman question since
the beginning of Americas part in the
war, and the present situation finds no
actual comprehension at Washington
Of the magnitude Of the problem and
temporary inability 20 arrive at COM
prehension because If its rapidly
changing stages.
England as Moocl
Without thc intervention OF the
Labor Department through its newest
Instruments, the War Policies Board,
the woman problem might still be run
nlng around Washington begging for q
hearing.
The Women's Division Of the Council
OF National Defence hopefully started
out TO prepare for the extensive ap-
pearance OF women in industry eariv
last fail. England was more or less
the model then, because the women be-
gan to see that sooner or later industry
in the United States would be stripped
OF It's man power, as had happened in
England, and that the women would
have 70 step in to keep the wheels
turning.
But the Women's Division OF the
Council Of National Defence had to
work without money or power and
wasn't able to accomplish great deal
Efforts really TO prepare for what
seemed to loom ahead were blocked, not
only by the Department of Labor. which
wasn't ready, but by the Department of
Agriculture as we'll. which had diff
Guilty in visualizing the woman worker
in the field.
The persistent turning OF the
draft machinery has suddenly trans.
formed prophecy into reality. Thou
SANDS OF women are entering in
plants. and are even finding their
way into all phases of manufact-
urlng where heretofore men have been
exclusively employed. The necessity of
some kind Of standardizing Of woman's
work was so immediate that the War
Labor Policies Board had to take :c-
ton without anything more than a
vague knowledge Of the numbers in
vowed. Accordingly, the investigation
OF the problem and the actual llumina-
ZION OF Its various corners are still to
be undertaken.
Only $4,000 for Work
Inc work of application OF the prin-
c'pies enunciated BY the board win be
under the direction Of Miss Mary Van
Meek, head OF the Division of Women
IN Industry OF the Department of
labor. member of the policies board.
aha formerly head Of the Division Of
~ ~ aus,riai Studies OF the Tussell Sage
Foundation. The work OF Girection e
handicapped at the start, however bv
the meagre appropriation reade for Il
$4o' 200. The Division OF Women in
Industry plans in time to have a re-
search section o. its own. but for the
present it will have to work throuch
the investigators OF the Department Of
Labor, and through the community