The Dominion. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1909. WOMEN IN INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 443, 27 February 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1909. WOMEN IN INDUSTRY.

■"Bertie and Gertio" is a recent headline to leaders and news articles in some of the Australian papers. The subject of the heading is by no means as frivolous as one would suppose': it is tho evergreen question of woman's, entrance into .'industry, and the effect of her competition with men in work and business.' The occasion of the discussion was a recent .lecture by Senator Teenwith in Melbourne, who. summarises the problem by tho following statement of the position, as he sees it :

"When a young woman named Gertie felt that she would like to follow a nice genteel'occupation and wear the latest Merry \yidow hat, and have a peach-blossom complexion to go with a nice blouse, she had to remember that when she went up the lift; to'an office for 15s. or 20s. a weels, Bertie, who did the work before for 455. or 50s. per week, had to come down. The girl with the nice complexion and the Merry Widow hat supplanted the man with the high collar and the immaculatevest." '"'•'.-

Senator Trenwith's remedy for the supplanting of Bertie by Gertie is tho raising of women's'wages; he declares that women are paid much less than men for the Bame:class of work It is some-time since we. heard the cry of "equal pay for equal work" in this .country, ®ut it is certain' to be heard again sooner or later, and it may be worth while to seo how much there is in the complaint of the Victorian Senator, and what the reasons; are for any anomalies that exist. To iegin with, : it is fairly safe to' assume that as a general '• rule a given post, : when filled by a woman, is allotted a smaller salary than when it is occupied by a man. But, n'othwithstanding this, a post which has been occupied by a man js practically alwayß filled, .upon his departure, by,an-, •other man,, for the very good reason that .the employer, cannot usually find a woman capable of doing the work efficiently. He could almost always find a woman .ready to fill the vacancy at a lesser salary than was paid to the previous, occupant :of die jpost, but she would often: be. a bad/bargain, at the price.. There are some occupations in which women can dp quite as' well as men, and on examination it-will be found, that usually these /occupation's are almost entirely confined to feminine workers. In these occupations' the; work is light, and usually requires'no special skill, and the wages paid, therefore, cannot be high. There is no place in them for' men, who arc; /differently situated in that they are. either married, 'or'likely. to l take up the responsibilities'of' marriage. / Most women who enter' the. industrial world: do'so. with/the expectation that they will 'one day become dependent upon, a husband.-.: :They/have therefore no special reason to save'money, and no present: burden beyond their' own i maintenance, v They are /therefore quite content with a,moderate wage, and as industry, can accommodate itself "to'• most human conditions,, it has accommodated itself/to this!. There are: industries,'that, is to say, which do not require the Ber-' ties of: the world. ,; /-,.:/.-

: Skill 'can/'nowadays always":'.obtain /its price, as.', the materialj success iof .-'women' doctors,'artists; nurscß,. or ; forewomon bears witness. ; :The.fact that'only a very ismall proportion, of; women workers receive salaries on the masculine scalo can by no means be taken as proof that women are unfairly treated by a man-ridden society; it merely signifies'that only a :very,small /proportion of industrial .wo-/ -meri.;.havo' equipped 'themselves,, or !*are' equipped by nature, .for well-paid avbca-" lions. /There is not,'sb ; far, "as we know, any real discontent amongst women workers, nor.'is there any - reason; why: thore should be, since the world of industry is so far from being goyorned by conspira- ' tors, against:the rights;of women that, a woman who can give . better ' service in overy respect than a : 'man..in/any particular pest will quickly; discover that Capital,is indifferent':to:sex as sex.., But: a'more important aspect of the .question than that /which touches ''the rights, of women" is the.effect of feminine competition upon the economic; equilibrium; of society;.. Is Gertie—to!use Senator Trenwith's' figufe—going iip. the' lift;-to displace' Bertie in any notable' degree 1 There can be but one answer: she is not./ The .unemployed ', have.' hot" complained">uatv .they.'are the victims of a/feminine invasion of tho labour market. The 'trades-!, unions have assuredly not found tho-pre-sence of .women an obstacle, to. their .fight for good wages. ..Even.in mercantile,of-' flees, where the. woman worker would be most at; home, the men' are; still in pos-'. session,/, and they would not remain in possession long if feminine competition' were bo severe as'to cause-a slump, in salaries. The opening of industry to wo-' men, in shorty,has not materially affected the men already there, while it haß been of great benefits to individual •: womeri/-.and to the. families upon which, they would have been otherwise a burden; ■: It has moreover; been beneficial ;to industry as a whole, since unskilled feminine labour,; by setting/free; the masculine hands that would only have been doing; woman's, work, has, made masculine labour available for greater wealth-pro-ducing activities, /