Evening star., 1928-10-28
Continued From First Page.)
Lady Crawford. turner. offer an inte

QiQ not, probably cOuIQ not, cnoOSe tIleIl
vocations so advantageously. They me-
less resistance in work similar TO tneli
former household duties and became
dreSsmakerS. millinerS, nurses, teachers
Next to such obvious occupations, posi-
tions most easily available were those
incident to newly developed commercial
fields. such as advertising, publicity ano
the use and distribution OF electricity
A third popular choice was that work
now SO largely pre-empted by women In
all countries-clerical, Stenographic and
secretarial. These three lines of work
are crowded with British women.
In the professional and the older lines
of business, however, they have, as a
group. made only fair degree of prog
reSs. There are few, if any. women
executives and no woman directors of
banks. Lloyd'S has not admitted 20
membership woman underwriters, al
though Edith BeeSley is manager Of a
branch insurance Office. The best posi-
tionS in libraries are held by men. The
first woman barriSter, Helena Norman
ton, was admitted some six years ago,
yet the statistics OF 1925 give only a
woman barristers in England. as con-
traSted with 5000 woman attorneys in
the United States. A larger number of
women are doctors.
or course, there are isolated examples
of women who are successfully eStab-
hShed In almost every line of work Mrs.
Wilson builds blocks of houses, Dora
thea Page manufactures hose. Irene
Whitney WHOLESALERS silks. But these are
the exceptions. The rank and file have
taken the path of least reSiStance-and
may perhaps be said to have been al
most non-resistant as well.
Discrimination Shown.
For in England, as in other lands,
women are paid less than men for the
same work. A woman teachers salary
is approximately four-fifth of a mans
salary in the same position. There is,
also. a very definite discrimination
against the married woman. The argu-
ment is feelingly advanced, by men and
women alike, that every married woman
who works takes a position which
should be held by an unmarried woman
dependent upon her own efforts for
livelihood. In countries where unem-
ployment Is acute such an argument Is
not without merit. Even social service,
that field indigenous to woman's heart
and hand, offers her but limited op-
portunity. while great preacher like
Maude Royden must suffer in her
As yet no vocational guidance is Of
fered women in British schools, al
though the business and university COM
mittee, composed of university and
business women, serves as link be-
tween employers and employable wo-
men. The work Of such q committee
obviously cannot meet the great needs
of guidance and placement even though,
as is authoritatively stated, the num-
Der of business women is not increas-
ing in England as rapidly as in the
United States.
In sharp contrast to any Anglo
Saxon attribute is the restless Latin
temperament which characterizeS the
French woman. She is ingenious, tenn
peramental and, in her feminine way.
aggressive. A proverbial sense of thrift
and less understood desire to make
feminine traits. Therefore. female
labor In the past has been utilized to
a much greater extent in France than
In England, Germany or even the
United States.
But although the woman in business
Is nothing new In France, she has had
neither the reputation nor the reward
OF her labors. The NApoleonic code still
denies her, If married, the right to hold
property In her own name, to sign legal
documents or even to maintain a bank
account alone.
French Unit of Society.
Here the unit of society is the house,
hold and the head of that household
e the husband. In that head is vested
all. II with the dowry. which, however
small, she must bring to him, he buys a
shop, she may share or even usurp its
but the shop is his. In
thousands of such instances the wife
selects the stock, keeps the books, passes
the goods over the counter. But moth
ing may be done in her own name. A
married friend. long domiciled in Paris,
told me that she recently attempted to
take out insurance for her servant. The
premium was the magnificent sum of
80 francs ($3.20). But she could not
do so without, in writing, the masculine
81 'Avec consent marital"
Marriage, therefore, becomes of prime
importance, not only for happiness but
also for business. And behind thou
sands of shop signs bearing masculine
names are thousands OF wives, good
business women, yet unrecogniZed as
such by the world-Or even themselves.
In any country now one find certain
women who break through
the traditions which retard the rank
and file. France has Its woman doctors
and lawyers. It has also certain women
who have established regulations as
world stylistS In women'S wear. This,
again, is work originally closely allied
with the home. Some who have de-
veloped with their husbands successful
business projects are able to claim al
most q full share of credit. Nine.
Vernier, with her husband, publishes
books and magazines, and is said to
have done much in inaugurating strict
honesty In French advertising. Her
reputation is undisputed in the COM
naercial world. Nine. Alphondery is
known internationally as journalist,
but she shares her husbands profess
Gon.
Just as the business is o household
affair. so also Is the social life unit.
There is not the individual life which
one Mrds in America. Husbands do not
return to the ONCE in the evening while
wives 60 to a club meeting and the
children go to the movies, as in our
highly specialized land. They spend
their leisure usually at home together.
so there are few business women's or
Anen's clubs in France.
But Notwithstanding thiS-and much
more could be Said-there was evident
interest in organization work. Paul
Denoyer reported the visit of the party
Of American business women in pop
IlIar French newspaper, LIE Journal.
NEARLY 100 letters of inquiry were sent
Hhe newspaper.
American Influence.
One would expect to find similar re-
Straints among the business women OF
Belgium, for theirs also is a Latin
country and temperament. And one
doeS-only more so. For Belgium mas
no great mecca for tourists, largely
American, from which foreign customs
and ideas may radiate. A hundred
thousand Americans live In Paris and
100000 visit France each year. These
must have q very definite and far
reaching influence upon French stand
ards. Because Belgium Is not subjected
to this or a similar influence. her
women seem much more tightly bound