Evening star., 1921-08-13
BY ROGER W. BABSON.

and mother. Each day a list of the
SICK ones is sent to my house by the
mead nurse of the store. Against
certain names will be a star. meaning
that call from me would be much
appreciated
Our greenhouse-which was getting
to be more or less of care-has
aglan become source of great
to the homes of two or three of my
husbands employees. When no one is
i'll 1 take flowers to the office and
place them about in the dark and
paid employees work. You have no
idea the pleasure this work has been
TO me. Moreover. it has brought my
husband and me closer together. Like
the oiden days; we now again have
common bond
1 met other women who had caught
this new vision. Not only were they
happier. but their husbands were very
happy about it.
Labor n WOman's Problem.
The labor problem is the greatest
care today of the average business
man.
The labor problem is essentially a
woman'S problem. 1t is problem of
feelings and instincts rather than of
agreements and statistics. A woman
can diagnose and solve a labor diff
Guilty far better ian a man can. A
the instincts and emotions play in
life. \ wife can explain to the fam
lily of an employe the real desires
and aspirations of her husband, the
the factory or store far better than
he can. She can also explain him and
make friends for him far better than
he can do it for himself.
A great deal of trouble and dissatis-
faction comes from disagreeable work.
ing environment. Offices and factories
are all too often uncomfortable and are
sometimes positively harmful places to
work in. To make them attractive and
homelke requires the attention of a
business hOmemaker. Here then is
another place where a wife can help
better than any one else.
A Business HOmemnker.
Business people spend most of their
waking hours in the factory. store or
Office 1 have always felt, therefore. the
Importance of making the working en-
vironments as attractive as the business
can afford. The place where the main
part of a persons life is spent should
have plenty of air and light. Things
should be clean and neat. There should
he place to play during off-hours. The
grounds should be pleasant setting for
the buildings. l have found that all these
factors readily pay for themselves in
the increased quality and quantity of re-
sulting output But even if comfort and
happiness were pure expense, l should
still regard the expense as necessary
for workers are entitled to a decent life
as well as a decent living.
A very large proportion of modern en-
terprises are conducted on this policy of
maintaining a plant in which the work.
ers can take real pride. Here is a won
derful opportunity for a wife to help her
husband. 1t is housekeeping and home
making on a broader scale. / cannot
imagine a woman who would not be in
terested in proposition to make several
hundred people more comfortable and
happy.
Taste, Not Money, Needed.
This is not question of lavish ex-
penditure, but of alert wits. sound taste
and pure sympathies. We are not after
gold-plated fountains in the front yard,
and a Japanese print in the boiler room.
But We do like to have the boiler room
kept picked up-for the sake of the un-
derwriters if nothing more. We want
the front yard laid out in such a way
that it is community asset instead of
a public nuisance. / have yet to see the
business organization which cannot
profit in such ways by the touch of
womans hand. l say profit instead of
benefit because there are direct financial
gains in making plant attractive to
employees, to customers and to- the gen.
eral public.
In their own homes some women can
spend a fortune on the house and
grounds, and the results are both un-
comfortable and inartistic. Other wom-