The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1919-03-04
THE WOMAN LABOR PROBLEM

s"Ob lk0 iNnob VI AAO PAO0lOhc tnttt |
follows the war is the question of
what the women industrial workers,
thrown out by the return of the men,
will do under the conditions brought
by peace.
Hundreds OF thousands of women
took up Industrial life as a patriotic
duty. They did wonderful work in
support Of the common cause and
the great majority of them found that |
they liked It, Particularly they liked
the increased wages and greater free.
dom which their new life conferred.
They object to returning to the ranks
OF purely feminine labor.
Not only do they wish to continue
In their new field OF effort but they
demand the privilege and must be
reckoned with as a force hitherto
negligible except in a few lines OF
work. The Rutland News discussej
the subject as follows:
The reason for the former English
servant girls refusal to return to
their old duties is not hard to find
They have tasted bit of freedom
and they enjoy the flavor.
1t has been the habit of some
Americans who in their hearts are
still slave-drivers, to speak of the
English maids as the most superior
type Of workmen belonging to this
department OF labor. They frankly
stated that from housekeeper to
scully maid they worked harder,
better, longer hours, with more will
ingness and with less pay than sery-
ants in any other part of the world"
The strange part of it all is that
these same people, who want so
much for so little, are the people who
can best afford to bestow wealth on
those who need the coin Of the realm
TO exist. TIL "a Nv
Well. the war scame along and us a
patriotic duty the English servant
girls went into ,nunition factories
that the men might be released for
lighting service These women, re
ceived good wag- and had. .compai
atively short horrs and when their
work was DOR tiloy we're free to
play with flio.r. friends instead Of
stayinv + hours ard hours to answer
a door & CT a Telephone that might
possibly ring. or course convention
would not allow the owners of the
house to RESPOND TO so mental a duty
Now that the war is over, these
maids are not returning to their ole
posts. Americans who had gone tC
England that they might be serveC
like royalty of feudal days are re
turning home because today they can
not find people to minister to theiI
pampered tastes
1t is predicted that in time Tn,
girls will be Obliged to take up thei
old line of work. Many OF them arr
now living on the $4.75 provided b,
the government for thirteen week
after their discharge from war work
Employment agencies state tina
when that resource is gone the girl
VIII again enter domestic service
The spokeswoman for the girls state
fatty that they will not. She cite
the conditions under which hote
chambermaids worked She recent
said:
.s.s...ssT They. receive. 80 thirteen shilling
o week for a working day of fror
thirteen. to fifteen hours Once
week. they are allowed off from
O'clock in the afternoon until 1913
at night; alternate Sundays from |
m, until 1890 and they are given
full day off once a month"
"The girls viii probably continu
at factory work, taking the places {
men killed or crippled In the wa
Thousands driven by restlessness wi
emigrate-it Is believed to Americ
and to the dominion-to seek indu
trial employment not available
them at home, Other thousands wi
marry soldiers when the army is d
mobilized.
The drift Of the day reminds on
Of the. saying that a girl is willing
be second maid II the woman OF Il
'.f'a.s' ~ ~. .'i-as.sas' 80. sff.f'