THE SOCIAL DOCTRINE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 69, 14 December 1907, Page 11

THE SOCIAL DOCTRINE.

: : 6ver sixteen engaged m .gainful occupations in the 'phited States, says' an American,: woman's paper, number 5,000,000 out-of a total, adult female popula-tion\-'of-.23,000,000 ."(vide 1000 Federal census), which'means' /that about one in .'nineteen;-is working '.outside the home. The proportion of ; girls who before they marry'are wageearners',; according -to the same.'- census,•-., is about one 'in -four,- so, that- first -and last a very: large '.percentage.are,acutely;concerned in' .'breaOrwinJiing "for: themselves, -and ..in many iristaiiccs'for. those dependent .on them as -well..' Moreover;-so fa,r ■ trom there• being any--likelihood that .this 'class, of- .the : ecoindependent; ..will lessen, .-it has been-.increasing for*,some.years and.:is. still increasing ■ faster • than -the; feminine, .population :of '• adult age:, ..The .; wage ; earning ;girl and i woman- therefbre'ebhstitutft-.a';;. permanent ejemerik'in ■modern','sbcic'ty-.tha't.niuSt .be-'ne-ce'pte'd;:■ arid -'thei.supi'eriic service';;to• be xenderedithern i.s to ■ stimulate'the'm" to efficiency. in-'their,:chdseri lines of-lahour, and- to afford them;, facilities for, the. acquirement of this mnst'-.necessary-preparedness.;. • :■' .-.-.!; • '■-■-.:. .-'■lt,.is a safe: estimate 'that, hardly 10 'per cent, 'of: women wage-earners-belong, to that class.-.voluntarily, and this fact-alone ..should restrain; leaders of thought, from endeavouring... to 'discourage them, because ..they .have been 'forced >by.'circumstances to,, become selfsupporting;.. 'Not' only' must many women ;be engaged, in .gainful occupations because ,of economic changes,''but' it-is : increasingly .inevitable' that. : a- large:, proportion of them will-riot marry, and for this reason also is it incumbent iiipbn moulders of. public opinion to . guard . against-: preaching the gospel of discontent to those whose status in life is largely:fixed beyond -their'ability to alter. . It'sliould'be said that these,;reflections are suggested- by a* paper' in a popular, woman's magazine,'' in-which business life for women, arid success in it, are. pictured as, lacking in .domestic happiness, and as making for res't 7 lossness, 'selfishness, arid; discontent:', . The firiariciajly. ..successful; bachelor .girl, in the dainty home 'created' and • inaintai'ried'by. lic.r.-" s.elfr'arid "in which .she dispenses a refined hospitality,-lis /pictured ,as ■■• inhabiting a sepulchre .in 'which;, the starved, soul' of., the; -woman .sits alone weeping.; V '.Such iii.efit.imental; stuff' might bo dismissed with a la'iighj'if it were not for the fact.that thousands..of girls ;are' accustomed ;to'- their 'opinions from their favourite periodical, arid tpajt the influence of such:views.'cannot, but be .undesirable for this impressionable class:' Iri-Vthrs.'nge the, fundamental, necessity for girls.as .well 'as. men is.that. they, shall be encouraged 'to an'' ennobled "self-sufficiency, arid 'tq-Tiaye hri honourable -business career thus misrepresented 'to-them" as. developing ngly arid 'niost'u'nsbti'al.'i'-iitalitie.s,' and .as.;resulting" in' mental-: misery ,•'.-is'-.to '.turn their thoughts' to marriage at any hazard, since that' is the'bnly)'way 'of'gaining';, support: The:undoing effect'..'of-such ill-advised doctrine is., the, riiore deplorable because it-frer fluently 'happens;.that;''everi" those'-girls; and women'- who- marry "will "find'; "themselves forced',to"self-support'.later, and-that- unless they;are equipped witli'a trade -or profession 'they' 'are proficient; and : in >which they Vta'ke' pride,' th.e,y ..simply -add -.to/-.the army H of !tbe unskilled and little' paid, which is-the affliction'and despair of large cpiii- ' muriitiesJ ; ... ..-. ■. .:.'■-.■.* .-.- --■' • A. ; 'To' sum up:; for:aj: large''and increasing proportion of .women':, wage-earning .is inevitable, arid marriage increasingly, unattairi•ab)e;. These: incontrovertible'. Facts : suggest that what.all .girlsi'iieed' is .efficient training in-industry, coirim_erce, f 'or' the. -professions, and torbelieveV-that. 'proficient, ' service: in-.;,'even '.'the. lowliest .occupations brings'.with it poise;- : ,un*. selfishness}., and "-character, -development that is highly, in ..its-.manifestations.'.