WOMENIN THE WAR LABOR MARKET

Evening Star, Issue 16350, 16 February 1917, Page 8

WOMENIN THE WAR LABOR MARKET

HELPING JEWISH SUFFERERS

WHEAT AND OATS

—Domestic Service Unpopular.—

THREE-QUARTERS OF A MILLION

MEN REPLACED,

The July figures resulting from the monthly inquiries conducted by the Employment Department of the BoarQ of T rade of the increase in the employment of womer and of the replacement of men ny women throughout tho country are now available. Although 866,000 additional women (or 27 per cent, of those employed n 1914) had been drawn into various "ocmpations up to the month of July. 766,000 ){ them directly replacing men, it is no lecret that the figures for the next quarter will be better still, and that the recruiting ground of this new women's labor army is not yet exhausted. We are informed, too, (hat there is still need for more women in ndustrial occupations. Not included in he figures in tho following table are such iccupations as nursing the sick and rounded, small dressmaking establish-iient-s, and domestic service. Returns of .omen engaged in mu-sing the wounded .re only available to the end of -May, 1916, vnd since then have, of course, largely in-n-eased. Then the total was 30.000. Of hese, roughly, 9,000 .were employed by the War Office, Admiralty, or in Territorial general hospitals; 21,000 by the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. folin, of whom 10,CC0 were voluntary vorkers.

Broadly speaking, tho educated woman is to be found in the groups concerned with munitions and clerical work. She has chosen what appealed to her patriotism, and discarded for the most par' the e :forms of work which might bring her mere I personal wealth in the future. The vast j amount of industrial substitution has been achieved by women who have been accustomed to work, and few employers find much difficulty in replacing thdr men Domestic service, for which no exact figures are available, may be taken tr be the most unpopular form of fem-.-i no cn; ployment since the war began. There are figures to prove a serious decline in laundry work, dressmaking, conforti-ucry. printing and bookbinding, linen, race, and silk; in all these groups, however, some women are directly replacing me’n. In the cotton industry £5,000 women are directly replacing men, but ni other textiles (except, hosiery) the mm t-v-5 arc cut so remarkable. Many married women who had left the cotton industry have returt >d to it. Tho food trades show a ve.v appreciable increase; in grain businesses* the number of women lias trebled since July, 1914; in sugar refuting it has flmo'-d; in brewing the increase is more than doub!c—-lrom B,COO to 18,000. In those trades in which special pamphlets have been prepared by the Home Office and the Board oi Trade on the substitution of women a considerable amount of new replacement is going on.

—Strange Tasks for Women

The figures available for inclusion in tho September returns will show some interesting lurther developments of the

NUMBERS OF WOMEN DIRECTLY REPLACING MEN IN THE MAIN OCCU RATIONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

E?.timnted number of Occupations. women employed July, 1914. .’ndiislrial occupations ... 2.117.C00 ?t>mnieivial occupations ... 454.C00 E’rofcssional occupations ... bT.h-CO Hanking and finance 9,500 Hotels, public-houses, cinemas, theatres, etc. ... 175,000 Agriculture. (Great Britain) 130,000 Transport (not municipal) 15.GC0 Civil Service 65.000 Arsenals, dockyards, etc. 2,000 Local Government (including teachers and transport workers under municipal authorities) 184.0C0 Total 5,220,009

Number of women re- i Bcrrentage of reported by employers placement nmmlipis a,s direct Iv replacing - cnqdoved in July, males. 1014--100;. “ April, July, April, dnlv, 1916. 1916. 1916. 1916. 213.000 263,000 10.1 12.4 152.000 201.000 33,6 44.2 12.000 15,000 i 13.4 21.8 21.000 26,000 219.0 270.1 27,009 31.000 15.5 17.7 of.OsO 65,000 28,3 50.3 24.000 31.CC0 169,0 209.5 aO.CCO od.OdO 46.2 5/. 6 13.000 69.000 674.0 5,440.0 18.0:0 26,000 10,0 14.2 547.000 766.000 17.0 23.3

The number of women engaged in an Kxupation is no guide to the number of .Tomen who replace men ; a firm working with a reduced stall' would replace nun with some of its existing female stall, without engaging other women ; while a firm on war work engaging a large mini her of new women hands might not employ any on processes which in pre-war day's would have been done by men. The gross increase in the number of women employ.si in industrial occupations since July. 1914, Ls c 02.000, but of these ms is shown bv the table) 2d3,0C0 only are replacing men ; '■he figures of increase in the number of women employed and replacement of men ire, however, identical in professional ocrupations. agriculture. transport (not municipal), and arsenals and dockyards, which means that no fresh women were taken on in any of these occupation? to do ■work that would ordinarily lie done by women. There arc no industries in which some form of direct substitution In? rot taken place, and few iu which it 's tot increasing.

> replaeenKiit I'uihdem. TtK-ro are wnnu-n i : ernph-yed mi th.e Tyne as bhiehsinitiiH j i strikers; they are at the tires debug tnnl ! {ef.hng ami la-lit blacksmith’s wurk.ind.u 1 ; lav pit wei- b.-.iutin-v. \\enien aw |eadit.:l ' and utseliargnig tracks and ve.gbing ; in.■ i tal in a sttiphiir an*i rei-rer werks, and. I Hn timber y :ir,! ,s they a>,. innuldin:g -ndj | turning an-rl carry mg lindier I'lnm the ■ ' tnukc. In a nu"t<->r gntage i .uv a:-- wa -h- t Mug cars and changing ami unnoving ; ! lyr-.-s. A nii'nner m wnnan are emnle.ve t in a sh-'ct n-.iii wanks making guns d;r : kegs. ! hey d i ail th'- w.-wk —m.-dd: ,g the kegs, pin tnm. and tacking them. For atinthcr firm (hey are Fading pi. ric ;>.-id. • »leaning the nit rating hence, filling and 1 emptying wlr.zzer. and diving and sieving. : In a gttnpOH der factory Hi. v are at ivcrk :on small cor-hi-. pros-es 'witn m -no-re!-. 1 ! sears—work which smne til ui.-. i; id de- | finitely stated tiiey e-.iiid. no; ..hi, ’l'h,. i corpora;:, ns of Hastings and Brighton .have women ns chair-attendants., and in a 1 'setentdio work-hop women are low on- I | i:t aisemniing t'no fia.rts of baro- j

BY THE WAR

Dr Judah L. Magnes, who was so rt to rhirope from New York- charged with the special duty of making minute inquiry into the conditions of Jewish sufferers by the war, has announced that his co-religionists in the United States have resolved to rebuild all the. ruined Jewish homes in the wav arena, but that the work of rrx.mslruction trill not be commenced til! af!-w peace has been consummated. Such eh l will not bo confined to the battle areas where the Teuton and Russian armies have played such havoc, but will be extembvl to all countries where Jews have suffered, as in France, Italy, Rumania, and Palestine. Only iu the Holy Land can die woik of rehabilitation be commenced at once. The money will be loaned to men ha.nts. tradesmen, and farmers who have lost their capital since Turkey plunged into Hie war. In short, Dr Magnus's plan follows tho Jewish policy of ’'Memiluth Chasodim” (Acts of Loving Kindness), which was originated in Ru«sia years ago. This principle lias since been extended "to Hebrews in many foreign lands. It hnfound expression also in New York and other American centres in the establishment of Jewish free loan societies, which, lend without interest gums ranging from £1 to £IOO, on the personal honor if the borrower. Dr Magnes thus outlined his scheme to a great meeting at New York on a recent occasion:—.

The 00-ernment ?tx :siiyh,n v-fpryt? the bricking estimated av. ; u-hh,' V s,. of whr-x and oais. m n:gikd ’uom .’be fields itispertv-rs’ report#: IVhear. Oar?. Bu-hels. Bushels. Auckland 2U- 291 Huwke’s Bay 291 “,rj] Taranaki 22 f 92; WeHiiicion 2M 94" NCis-m 20" 90 Air. rlborough 23 49 Cantcruury 24.1 90 Otago 29J 925 Southland 271 22-i Id i imat ed Dominion average 25.15 30.63 Average lasi -■■■nsou ... il. 21.59 35.98 Estimated yield tins season 5,400,900 5 £OO 000 Yield last sen sen 7,108,360 7 653.208

There are hundreds and thousands of Jews in Europe to whom the tics of bi’tlipia.ee are as strong as to tho-e born in America, and whom, no matter how far their fortunes might be advanced Immigrating elsewhere, arc cither too old or too strongly attached to the places of their origin to do so. It is for these that I hope to secure loans. How much shall be needed no one can tell. The, se-cu.rit v is the honor of the Jewish race, never vet nishonorcd, to repay when and how it mav the. moneys advanced it. The inherent thrift, business instinct, and hoimstv of the race are guarantee that, with help sufficient to build their homes, to again establish themselves in business, and to start thcr wrecked lives anew, no principal will be defaulted upon. In this woik of charity we do not propose to charge my interest. But- the Jews of America, blessed with peace, with pjonty, and with Health, cannot <io .css than to cstaolish i great fund with which to rehabilitate—as it may be, to habilitate—their Drethren across the seas, from where so many of us have come and to which we are vitally attached, despite our transplanting. lam hopeful that, whatever the sum necessary, it will be found, and that whatever the risk it will be ventured A new Europe, a new Palestine, a new Galicia a now Poland, and a new Lithuania can be budded with America's help, and a new promise can lie extended the ■Jewish race. We must relieve the suiter ing of the moment, but we must look to the larger necessities of the future, mu! I feel sure the lews of America will arise to the opportunity and to the responsibility, and that the largest- loan in the history of the world, without interest, anti hence unselfish, will ho raised to do the greatest work that Las ever confronted a .single race of people in the worlds history.”