The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-03-15

the legislation itself, but of the condl-
tons of women in industry.
The advocates of the eight-hour Day
declare that the strain Of the. sneed
and the monotony of piece work demand
shorter hours. The constant concen-
tration of the mind upon one process is
deadening, they say. When the laborer
worked by hand she could relax at
times; now she must work Wnile the
machine works. Human muscle and
nerve can not compete With steel I'M
less it has time to recuperate..
1t is further pointed out that the
modern organization of industry divides
labor more and more into repetitions OF
single processes, SO that 10 people are
now employed in the making of one
corset, II people in the making of one
shirt q on one vest, and so people in
the making of one shoe One girl
makes one buttonhole every three
fourths of minute. One girl dips 72O
pieces of chocolate every hour. one
girl packs 100 pounds Of candy every
day. One girl pastes 1000 paper boxes
every day.
The speed of machinery Is constantly
being increased by modern inventive
genius. Every improvement in the ma
chine must be matched with greater
speeding up of the worker. In mills
where women formerly tended two
looms they now are expected to tend
II or 16, In canneries women are ex-
pected to cap from 81 to so cans every
minute. Girls in the sewing trades sit
for long hours in a room roaring with
machinery, watching a machine that
carries 10 needles, or one that sets
1000 stitches minute. When work Is
carried on at such speed, long hours
result in nervous disability, cumulative
fatigue, disease and accidents.
when the health of women has been
injured by long hours, not only is the
working efficiency of the community
impaired, but the deterioration is hand
ed down to succeeding generations"
according to a, well known authority on
economies. Infant mortality rises,
while the children of married working
women who survive, are injured by
inevitable neglect. The overwork of
future mothers thus directly attacks
the welfare of the nation"
The Equal Opportunity League seems
to fear however, that if the eight hour
day is obtained for women in factories
and stores, that 1t will somehow be
| forced upon them upawareS. NeWSpa-
per women are trffle wary of 1t for
| fear it may yet be extended so as to
| cut off their night shifts; women law
! yers say that with. such reform legis-
| lation gaining Roadway they may at
| any time be interrupted in the prepara-
| ton OF their briefs. and women doc
! tors say that If the law is ever ex-
| tended to cover them they will natural
| ly have to quit the medical profession
shirts. The most recent agitation
against the eighthour day. moreover,
! has come from the hotel women's con-
| tingent Of the league, which claims that
| hundreds of women will be released by
the hotels as soon as the eight-hour
day begins.
| while / am willing to concede that
the Albany welfare bills snowy lovely
spirit on the part of society ladies and
| other gentle souls" said a hotel woman
the other day, "the. eight-hour law, II
| enacted, will undoubtedly end in throw
| ing many women out Of work. Women
hotel workers are employed mostly at
tasks that must be attended beyond 10
o'clock at night If there is any inter-
ference in the present shifts women
! win be fired and men put in their
| places
Women in the hotel industry work
/ in shifts. of one day II hours and one
/ day six hours, with one day week
! off. On one day they go to work at
| z o'clock in the morning, work until
poon, and then are off until o'clock
| At & o'clock they go on duty again
| and work until midnight. This Is their
long day They are satisfied with it,
they say, The eight-hour law. would
| mean that great many women would
be thrown out Of work-and that, at a
| time when ali employers are protesting
that they cannot get enough labor"
I Siace the hotel women workers are
not affected by the bill and since even
| il they We're, the hardship would not
fall so much on the women who lost
their jobs rs on their employers, "who
| cannot get enough labor" the advo-
Gates of the eight-hour day feel that
their opponents are either ignorant OF
| the nature Of the legislation. or are
/ wifully misguided. Altogether the
| wildering.