EVENING SESSION.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 89, 17 April 1899, Page 2

EVENING SESSION.

INDUSTRIAL QUESTION,

: The Council resumed on Saturday fe.7en.Jng, when there was again a good tetteriaance of the general public.

WOMEN'S WORK AND WAGES

"A careful paper on the above subject;, written by Miss Henderson, 8.A., of Christchurch, was read in her absence by Miss Garstin. Pointing out •that the number of women workers had been enormously increased during the last decade, the writer said the fact must be faced that the number would increase in even greater proportion in the future. From the returns of the Department of Labour, it: appeared that the average weekly ?Wage of women-workers was about 13/ i; and that marked the maximum average, calculated for' a week when wiges reached their high water* snark. Wages moreover were showing a decline, for a number of women xvould work without receiving pay: the dress-making trade was chiefly responsible for that state of affairs. In this industry in some of the largest •work-rooms, 12/ per week was higher than the actual average rate; 7/6 .per ■week was said to be, a fair average, while in smaller work-rooms the minimum fell as low as 1/ per week. For the first twelve months girls in the dress-making trade worked without wages, and at the end of that period it'was optional for the employer to pay them or turn them away; and who was not familiar with the dressmaker's holiday in the slack season •when only a few hands were in work and the rest were kept on without pay.' Shop-assistants did not work ■\vithoutr pay to the same extent, though £he evil did prevail in this trade-.. All the evidence she could get bore out the statement that the rate jbf ..pay is low. Miss Henderson quoted •teases sfcowijjg actual earnings- -yarj;-

ing from 15/, which was considered good pay, to 2/6 per week. One might, she said, go through the whole range of professions and see the same things; that women's earnings fall far short of a living wage. The causes of this in her opinion were: (I) The physical weakness of woman as compared with man closed many occupations to her; (2) The tendency on the part of male workers to bar woman from the high pay and responsible posts of superintendence and control; (3) The expectation of marriage and consequent release from industrial work; (4) The fact that a large proportion of women workers were not dependent on their earnings; (5) Women could live on less than men, their wants being fewer; (G) The inferior mobility of woman as compared with man had a. serious, effect upon wages. The whole mass of female labour was crowded into a few occupations as those of dressmakers and shop-assistants. Another cause was the anxiety of many to have their daughters taught to do their own family sewing. Girls independent of their earnings inflicted a great, injustice on those-who were dependent on their work. Women again were unr willing to seek work away from home, chiefly because it. was impossible to meet the cost of living thus' out of their scanty earnings. The refusal of responsible posts to women placed the stamp of inferiority on all women's work. Again, celebrated actors had been knighted; actresses equally worthy were ignored; public favours were conferred upon artists and authors of distinction. When had the merit of authoresses ever been acknowledged in the same way? If Her Majesty could be a knight, why was it impracticable for other women to be similarly knighted?

Now, she had no sovereign remedy for these evils to suggest. Legislations aid might be further invoked: the Master and Apprentices Act might be extended to apply to dressmakers, shirfmakers and others who followed similar occupations, and shop-assist-ants. The standard of woman's work could be raised by raising'the age of exemption from school, and she was strongly in favour of raising the age to IR, and the school standard to Standard VI. These changes would permanently withdraw from occupation a considerable percentage who now swelled the ranks of the workers, and greater intelligence would be brought to the work. She was not able to see why the protection of age at present restricted to the Factories Act should not be applied to all occupations. The difficulties in the.way of enforcing such a restriction would be minimised by the willingness of teachers to assist in the matter. The introduction of technical education for the proper industrial training of young people would. also result in the raising of the standard of women's work, and organised efforts coiild be made by societies of women. These did not exhaust all the suggestions; but after all, 'Heaven helps those who help themselves,' and women must learn to organise—a difficult matter in the face of the weakness of their position, but not impossible as the tailoresses had proved. The truth was women did not trust themselves or one another.

Dealing with the working, of the Factory Acts, Miss Henderson said the question of overtime was one that was constantly recurring and the evil was only increased especially in those industries, were women were employed. It was unnecessary to state the reasons why overtime was undesirable; the only reason in its defence was that it benefited the employer. There was only one remedy, and that was to abolish overtime altogether.

• Some discussion followed the reading of the paper.

Mrs Tasker said an eight hours bill would more nearly meet the requirements of unskilled labour. She thought it possible for a bill to be brought down to assist those overworked boys and girls.

Mrs Wells remarked that the writer of the paper had brought before them a mass of sorrow and misery. She thought it was the duty of municipalities to supervise industries, arid in support' of the contention compare;d the municipal tramways of Huddersfield With the privately owned tramways of Bradford. In the former city the tram guard worked 48 hours a week for 21/; in the latter, 115 hours a week for the same pay; Domestic servants were miserably paid, and the condition of washwomen might be improved. It was also sad to see girls going out to sew for 2/6 a day. We ought to be ashamed to pay such wages. Another Lord Shaf tsbury .was needed to look after the rights of women's labour. . • •

Miss Boyd said the co-operation of the community of New Zealand was needed to put'an end to those evils.

1 Several other delegates spoke» eulogising the paper, and instanced cases in point that had come within their own experience. ■'master and appeentices BILL. ■ Mrs Tasker read a papejr on the above subject, in the course of which she stated: The great bone of contention seems to be the apprenticing of boys by deed, and limiting the number of boys employed in proportion to the average number of journeymen at work. I think that employers should be bound to give every -reasonable opportunity to boys of learning their trades. Unless this is done, there always will be employers who shirk their responsibilities. «The custom is becoming too prevalent of engaging boys and girls, presumably as apprentices, for a very low wage, and a term at no wage at all, and when they are entitled to anything like a decent sum, they are turned adrift to make room for a fresh lot of youths, and the process is repeated. By this method they are neither one thing nor another. Too, old to be taken on by, other employers as apprentices, and they are not tradesmen, so that getting employment becomes a difficult matter. "Very often the reason given for dismissal is a trumped up or a frivolous one, and the youth has no redress. There is a class pf employers who legitimately teach their boys a trade, and pay full wages, and it is not just, to them that another class of masters who have adverse interests to serve should by unfair means evade their duty to the boys; it just narrows itself down to the fact that opportunity to acquire proficiency is not granted to all the youths engaged in trades. In the words of another, 'The tiger says to the lamb, all he wants is a fair field and no favour.' This philosophy he calls fair play. Show us the fair field and no favour between the dressmaker and the wealthy merchant, who stands a pillar of the church, and gives to charitable objects, but works a number of girls, in everrecurring groups* from year to year, without giving them enough, wages i,to buy., boots,,to saj nothing of keep-

ing respectable on. The skilled me- j chanic of the future is going to be the machine tender, because gradually but surely machinery is being j introduced to do the manual work of j trades. With regard to limiting the number of boys employed, the employees are all agreed on that pioiit. j The opposition comes from those' whose sons and daughters are not in . need of a trade, and from the em-! plovers themselves. It is said that it' will'throw a large number of boys' out of employment. This matter can i be arranged by the Arbitration Court, j so that-if a master can show.that for the purposes of his business he re- j quires a larger number of apprentices than the law allows, he will get them. The working1 classes sacrifice, much for their children. Money with them is limited; what is easy for a rich I man causes self-denying hardship to , a. poor one. We see the need for a] higher, fuller, freer education for the rising generation, and. to obtain this i for his children a working man must; toil on long pnst the time when rest j is required. The summit to which | the human race is striving is the per- '■ fection of intellectual development, i We hope the day is not far distant when every working-man's son will ' have a chance of university training,: for at present they are unable to j speak their thoughts fluently, or in ' what may be termed classical language. It is contended that if ap- \ prentices are limited premiums will | be charged to those who are. appren-. ticed—that there will be such a rush of applicants for positions that boys, and girls, will be glad to get work at j any price, and the poor will be shut . out in the cold. But those who give expression to this contention seem to forget that in giving their services at such a low cost, in consequence of the intense competition which, obtains in the juvenile labour market, j our boys and girls are actually paying premiums, and very high premiums indeed; and what makes the position worse is this: that while | they pay those premiums they learn little or nothing. They are turned out of these industrial establishments) without, a correct, knowledge of any- j thing, and become, as it. were, useless j burdens on society. The struggle for , existence seems to be growing more j intense every day. The labour of our , hands is our stock-in-trade, and should not be carelessly used. The purpose and destiny of the labouring j classes is to excel in individual j trades; without advancement and knowledge of those trades the worker must sink the honourable dignity ot labour into insignificance. It is not for want of material alone that trade leaves the colony, it is for want of J competent workmen. There is a difficulty in regard to the various section's of trades, such as bootmakers. The home apprenticeship is.the greatest of all. Home is not a name, nor a form, nor a routine. It is a spirit, a presence, a principle. Materials | and method will not and cannot make j it It must get its light and sweet- j ness from, those who inhabit it, from ; flowers and sunshine; from the sym- j pathetic natures which, in the exercise of sympathy, can lay asule the j tyranny of the broom, and the awtul , duty of endless scrubbing. The pro- , blem of the world's working classes is a serious' one, and the old days when capital was so arrogant and! tyrannical is happily passing away. to take the discussion of this paper on Tuesday.