Evening star., 1923-01-13
CAPITAL KEYNOTES
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

| II all of Washington were not agog
over the European crisis. more at
tention would be given to the con-
Vention OF women now being held In
the hall of the National Museum. 1t
is significant that the few hundred
women there assembled represent
millions engaged in gainful occupa-
tions. and Secretary Davis of the De-
| partment of Labor, under whose call
the convention is held, declares that
one-fifth Of the women of the United
States are engaged In industry. Tne
Secretary uttered keynote for the
convention when he called for meas-
ures which would eliminate from
| wage industry all mothers Of depend
| ent children. One In ten married
| women, he said. are working Tor
1 wages at the expense OF their homes.
Americans have been inclined 10
look down upon Europe In the fnalter I
1 OF treatment of women. We 90 not
harness our women to wagons, along
side of cows or dogs, as Is done IN
Europe. We do not work our women
in the fields, as rule. Our women 90
not carry huge loads upon the.. sa.
heads. SO we fiatter ourselves that
our American women are treated as
the queens OF the earth-which they
| are, of course.
| But here comes an official state.
ment that one out of ten wives nave
| to work for wages. and among tneri
are thousands of mothers needed ~
4 home. Surely that is as great
problem as how to run for Congress
| How will the womens conference
solve the problem? Secretary DAVIS
ANNOUNCED that he was in favor OF
rule or law giving women equal pay
| for equal work" but how shall sucI
1 q rule be applied? What is "equai
| work" when physical powers diner.
and the physically weaker sex" must
have the wind tempered to the snoFh
The fact that women are physically
incapable of doing all the rough Work
| that men do does not argue inier!-
ority, for the converse also is true:
Women are certainly not weaker
than men. in intellect-they are only
different: and right there is the point
which cannot be decided with a hur-
rah. boys. let's be fair" Some day
there will be an adjustment OF social
conditions which will be made TO
nicely, and femininity will really
come into it's own. In the meanwhile
there is always danger of injuring
the case by making too hard and rast
rules, with no power to enforce them.
A rule that IL two persons are book-
keepers. employed at the same desR,
they must receive equal pay, under all
circumstances. will usually result in
the employment of two men. rather
than man and woman. unless the
woman is markedly the more expert
Either the woman loses her oppor-
tunity by insisting on equal pay, when
she cannot work overtime, cannot
work all the time and cannot do many
things that the man may do as mat
ter, of courSe-either she loses her
opportunity TO get the position or she
brings to her task surplus talent. In
either case the rule OF equal pay Tor
equal work does her an injustice and
works hardship. This is not Ideal
but it is fact. 1t will be most inter-
esting 10 note how the women's con-
ference faces the fact.
4 X x r
The condition especially deplored
by Secretary Davis-that of mothers
who must neglect their children to
help earn their daily bread-is simpler
OF solution. but even less likely to be
solved Immediately. THE poor We
have always with you" To say 70 the
mother who is blessed with babies
and cursed with poverty that she
must not work to support her family
is impossible, unless some substitute
for her wages is provided. For some
inscrutable reason, 1t is the poor who
have the most children. The only an
swer to that problem is the mothers
pension. Not all the states have yet
provided that progressive measure OF
relief.
x x 4 &
The high cost OF living does not
seem inclined toward normalcy yet.
In the large cities. according TO the
Department of Labor, the cost in
creased during the month ending De-
cember 10 from to per cent. 1t is
still 55 per cent higher in Washington
than il was in 1913. Wages of the
skilled mechanics remain from 100 to
400 per cent higher than ten years
ago, so il is not those who are suf-
salaried man and the man of fixed in
come The skilled mechanics of the
building trades are happy, in this
open winter and the continued de-
mand for building. Wages show no
inclination to come down, though
some of the shop trades-metal work
ers. etc.-are increasing in unem-
ployment. only the farmer is feeling
the full force of the changed condi-
tionS, since what he has to sell shows
less advance than what he has to buy.
y X X X
The government hotels, or roomins
houses for women employed in the
departments. have proved profitable
10 the government TO the extent of
ss6. 900 a year, according to Repre-
sentative Wood. and that congress
man-and probably others-will sup