Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-02-13
british Girls Who Assumed Duties
Of Men In Wartime De-
pressed.
PROBLEM IS TROUBLING ONE
with Return to Normal Conditions,
however, II Is Expected That Old
Pursuits Will BE Welcome to Old
Followers.
ny III. u. CUMMINGS.

WIN inc peainE OF the peace bells
~ seemed Tor the moment as If The mil
tehium had come. and in the minds Of
,hcsc Girls matters which in o,d,-
nary times assumed vast imuortance
"E'ndlcd into Significance o. were en-
Nrcly forgotten.
but from every dream there is the
awakening and the process Of simmer
ing down Is depressing. Under exist
ihE conditions. 1t is not possible for
ionT to sht-h the facing Of facts. and
EEcFe Is no question that 10 many thou
sands to whom the war has brourh;
work and money the peace bells came
AZ q kncll
one Or the problems e rise Amos,
simultaneously with the cessation of
no5tilitica is tina. OF the dcmobilizat:on
OF paid women war workers.: the cs-
aolishmcnt. for example. In new AMI
suitable Jobs OF those cmploycd iE
munit!on factorics-an easier task
'nan some. as these workers may be
niVldcd roughly into two classes: ~
married women who viii be encour-
AGED TO return 20 keep their homes
and ca old factory hands" who viii
DC needed TO help again in thc many
industries that have been depressed or
even stopped by war
MANY GOVERNMENT JOBS
BECOME NOAESSESTIAL
But the case OF the government cir!
clerks Is no; as simple. though their
ochooi!l2aton Is lust as sure. Tn.
emergency Of war brought various min
istrica into existence. for which peace
has no need The near future viii.
therefore. sec some OF these closed
down altogether working with a
much -dimin ishcd STAFF. Other govern
ment DEPARTMENTS. which have cm-
rloycd female clerks since 1914 did 50
oh+y under the stress OF necessity IL
mean TO them the breaking Of a ira
dtllOE. proCc.sy which II !,
them. AS any one viii know who has
iho slightest experience in British gov
ernmcnt-ofiicc methods. and thcv only
awal. the opportunity. that Will no: be
Eng In coming now. OF rep!a cling their
present workers bv returned soldiers
who will DC. in many cases. Old civil
servants. and have earned the RICH; to
consideration from the country for
which they have fouEhr
But these changes portend labor
market hooded with women. who are
20 very large extent. limited 10 one
kind OF work. and no, easily adaptable
10 any other. while at the same time
individual EMPLOYERS Will be practical
!Y INDEPENDENT OF female labor They
Tili IND no difficulty iii rcstafIinE thci.
ofices once again with men. and their
sense OF patriotism will! encourage
lhcm TO do so.
What thcn is TO be the future OF the
GHl clerk? The term .supcrfuous" as
hpplied 10 woman is on; of date. In
world in need OF wholesale recon.
struciion and poorer in it's Population
by millions. either killed In battle or
struck off the working roll by pcrrna-
ncnt d!sablcmcnt. nobody having
heath and strength and the will 10
work can be called supcrfuous Be-
sides, one of the cries OF the prcscn,
reduires " merry o r. MGTs t9T az az ~
hourcca on the part OF the authori-
ticnce, on the par; OF the ind:vidua.s
and tho activities bent for four years
on degt-uction. can be turned 10 the
more, profitable and happier task OF
building again that which has been
destroyed.
THOUSANDS RETURN HOME
LEAVING: JOBS FOR OTHERS
Nevertheless. the plans for rcns;at-
ing this particular class OF woman
worker Will have 10 DC very wisely
made II confusion and anxiety on the
part OF those vitality concerned is to
DO avoided When the war brides, who
have worked in these last four years
20 kill time" and who are now anti
cipatns 4 new life in II new home, are
put out OF the present reckoning it
still leaves many thousands of women
between the ages OF seventeen and
forty TO be employed in some occupa-
iion usofu! TO the state. and with a
wage-carninE advantage TO the work
CT. OF these. small percentage are
.-aincd. perhaps. as linguists or score
,aries or organizers and for such posts
viii undoubtedly open in the CONNER
cial world for qualified help there is
seldom at discount. and If an after
tho-war' boom in trade does happen az
is likely business firms viii require n
proportionatc amount of extra labor 10
meet H. Decentralization 20 trained
women may mean. therefore, change of
place, but not of position.
Hut there is the residue for which re-
settlement is no less imperative. OF
This residue there is large number
of women who left their previous oc-
cupations 10 become government
clerks, and Of al! the professions
that OF teaching has suffered the most
Despite the fact that acknowledgements
were especially urged to remain at
their work. which was rightly con-
sdcrcd essential to the weil-being Of
the country, many disobcycd. eniiced
sometimes by larger salary and more
often by the restessness enEendered
by war and the desire for change.
= carefully studied effort should be
made TO encourage every one of these
to resume her former duties. In most
eases their training was an expense TO
tho state. and their neglect Of the
work they we're fitted for is it's direct
loss Moreover. there is room and 10
spare. for them in the nations schools
which always have been inadcquatcly
stated and during the war have suf-
fercd an enormous depletion in their
teaching numbers that offers an oppor-
tunity. not only for disorders to re-
purn, but also for the government TO
include in it's reconstruction scheme,
The training of some OF the youngest
girls 1t has used as its clerks TO be
como teachers in it's schools. thereby
Kidding Itself OF some OF the burden of
unemployment amongst women and
providing for the efficient education Of
us children.
MANI WILL RETURN
no DOMESTIC EMPLOYMENT
For the rest. many arc dcscrtcrs
also from other ranks of labor House
hoid workers domestic servants, no
less than school-tcachcrs. were inspired
10 help their King and country. and,
accordingly. renowned the broom for
the pen. Girls whose Office duties have
comprised nothing more than tho
routine work OF indcXins and Gling
will lind themselves on q loose end"
presently when they jostc shoulders
in the labor market with hundreds OF
others whose business experience is
confined TO these elementary tasks and
whose previous education gives them
small chance IN a competition with
those more mighty trained.
Here again rcadjustmcnt Is ncccs-
sary. The end of the war should solve
ut least ono predetermined OF the do