WOMAN IN BUSINESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19485, 15 November 1926, Page 9

WOMAN IN BUSINESS.

A SURFEIT OF WORRIES, ; OPPOSING VIEWS. Mrs. Gereth, a dealer in antiques, gave an address, as business woman, to the Soroptimist Club recently, remarking: "The greatest tragedy of business is that we should have to do it at all. Tho most advanced woman and also tho youngest and most eager will be horrified at this statement. They talk about the beauty and value of work to character, but that has not been my experience. I am suffering from a surfeit of business worries that tempts me to be less considerate of others. Women were not meant to spend their lives in fighting for money. Though mentally fit, they are not physically fit. Man can work all day and play all night, but a woman, after a hard day's work, must have a good night's.sleep. Such a life is nothing but work. "A woman has no prospect of ultimate success unless she has plenty of capital behind her, because she cannot compete with businesses worked by men. On the other hand, it is difficult to get money for a business worked by a woman. It means continual worry for a woman in business, and there is only a pittance to bo got out of it at the end. Another tragedy is ignorance. A woman sets out with the idea it is fun to keep a shop, thinking, for example, that if she has a taste for colour and arrangement she has everything that is needed in order to be a successful house decorator. Experience will soon disillusion her." In a subsequent interview, Mrs. Gcreth explained that she was net speaking of the woman who was part of a big company, but of the woman who was running a business. She described the periods of anxiety through which she had gone many years ago when governing director of a" firm of decorators. Although it had a turnover of £20,000 it was only started with a capital of £3OOO. "Business is my greatest pleasure. I look on it as a pastime," declared Miss Kerr-Sander, a well-known member of the London Chambor of Commerce. " I started business about nine years ago with a present of £2O and a loan of three typewriters. Far from experiencing difficulty in getting capital, I met men who were anxious to put money into my business. Business women have not got as much optimism as men. They won't take the risk. They are over-anxious. Any wide-awake young woman with energy, ambition and push can get on as well as a man. So many business women are lacking in practical common sense. Those without capital should avoid the high-class clientele, which expects credit, and go to the many parts of London where they can sell for cash." An official of tho Women's Freedom League defended tho business woman. " I know several women," she observed, "who have been the brains of their husband's business. Undoubtedly many capable women would enter some trade if they were not hampered by lack of funds," "Women have got their fingers in nearly everything and are doing their work well," said an official of the London Chamber of Commerce. "In a few months our women members have increased in number from £0 to 100. They are engaged in trades ranging from leather and motoring concerns to dressmaking and merchandise. They are manufacturing chemists, business managers and works directors. * Obtaining capital is not a question of sex, but of whether the business and prospects are really good." "Business {/access is based on character as well as intellect, and rt is certain that in character there is no feminine inferiority. Women are at least as honest as men and they are not less loyal or •trustworthy. It may be that in the higher regions of business men arc unequalled in vision, in courage and in breadth of view. But the leaders of business we the pick of the male multitude. There aro aoi enough business women to produce sapor-business women. " Mrs, A. J. Wilson, of the firm of A. J. Wilson and Company, Ltd., advertisement contractors, designers, engineers ami printers, has achieved the raro distinction of being.appointed managing director aftei 30 years- of continuous service. .She joined Che firm 30 years ago as typist, and after being successively private se< retary, company secretary * avid directo: has now. lecomo managing director, lie husband being chairman of the company She has cohtrol of s staff which average some 200 employees. 3ho martied Mi Wilson in 1921, when she liad alreadv been on the directorate for several years Mrs. Wilson Wiicvca! it is raro for n woman to be appointed managing director of a concorn of tii.it 1 «ze. She is also a "freeman" 6! 1 the City of London, ; which was at least unusual, and has been for ten years a borough councillor of Hoiborn. She rnadtf tho matter of educa tion ctrVof tha chief concerns of her municipal activities, "A- lady recently <le •dared that women were physically unfit to engage ia business," said Mrs. Wilson. "That is sheer nonsense. There is nn sex in business, and no reason why n j woman should not be as successful in busi ness as a man. As to physical disability, I have not had 30 days" absence front business through sickness in 30 years, and it has been pretty strenuous at times, } assure y6u. My normal day ia from O.JO in the morning till about 7 in the evjfting, and I siiule when I read of workers clamouring lor an eight-hours d§iy,** a aeven-hours day, and a six-hours day."