The Washington herald., 1920-11-01
TEACH GIRLS TO MAKE A LIv-
ING.
by DOROTHY DIX.

A young woman of good family,
Of education and refinement, has
recently been arrested in New
York andn put in jaail for getting
money under fraudulent pretences'
In trying to excuse her crime, the
girl said that she was driven 10
stealing because her lack of knowl-
edge of any gainful occupation pre-
vented her from making an honest
living.
You can't get a job in New York
unless you have already had pusi-
ness experience there. And IL you
haven't even had out-of-town tusi-
ness experience, you might as well
stop trying before you begln-no
matter how clever you may think
yourself.
''Eyerywhere that I looked for
work 1 was met with the same OBJ
jection-that lacked experiences.
They explained to me in ontces
where ! tried TO get job that they
could not afford to waste the time
of the staff teaching an ignorant
newcomer You have to have skill
to do the simplest thing. Why. l
even tried TO be a waitress in a res
taurant, but found that in order TO
40 that you must be bus girl hrSt
and learn to stack dishes properly.
There's no place for the untaught.
In contradistinCtion to this girls
story let me tell you the story OF
girl l know who also came to
New York seeking her fortune.
This second girl had not had the
educational advantages nor the So
cial upbringing of the first girl, but
she had been taught good trade.
She had served an apprenticeship to
a good milliner, and she had the
technique of making hats at her
fingers ends.
When she arrived in New York
she had only a few cents in her
handbag, but she had her thimble
adm her apron in ii, and the address
of a Wholesale millinery firm. She
got somebody to direct her to II, and
as skilled workers are always in de-
mand everywhere, in less than an
hour after she reached New YORK
she was settled in good JOB,
which grew better and better until
it laid the foundations Of the for
tune that she is enjoying today.
Because this second girl was
trained in some definite occupation
that would bring in money. she was
not driven to wrong-doing to Keep
soul and body together as was the
first woman.
wish that | might write the
moral of these two stories in letters
Of fire before the eyes of all the
parents in the world. l wish that
l might make them see that there is
no other safeguard that they can
haf that is
so I,otent as just to make them self =
sustaining. l wish I could make
them realize that money in her
pocket will do more to preserve a
girls virtue than the highest moral
principles.
| It's all very well to say that a
girl should hold her honor higher
than her life. and that she should
starve and freeze rather than de-
viate a step from the straight and
marrow path. No doubt there is an
occasional woman of high and he
roic mold who does sacrifice her life
ITO her ideal But most Of us are
/ pretty poor. weak. wavering Great
/ ures, and when we get cold ant
| hungry and discouraged. we are
nothing but a bunch Of animal ap'
petites, clamoring to be satisfied
and it is then that we forget oul
high ethical standards. and sell ou'
for a mess of pottage. Therefore II
is not enough for parents to wraI
the thought about them that theil
pure and innocent little girls would
never do anything that WASH
grand and noble and ladylille. No
body can tell what they would de-
until they are tested, and the thing
for fathers and mothers to do is e
build the strongest wall they cal
between their girls and temptation
They can best do this by teaching
the girls how to make an homes
and respectable living. so that the!
will never be forced to earn thei
support by nefarious means. Fol-
in ninety-nine. cases out OF hun
dred. the downward way is tn
chosen way to those who know n
lother way.
The girl who cannot earn he
own bread and butter, who canno
make the money to pay for her owI
lClothes, or provide her with tn
amusement that her youth Graves
lis the predestined victim of an,
conscienceless man who come
along. Some way she must live
Some way she must get the thing
she desires. and the only way sh