MATRIMONIAL CONCILIATOR
COMMENT ON “OFFICE WIVES” SYDNEY. July 22. South Australia is noted in Australia not only for its experiment in licensed betting shops, but also for another, the establishment of the office of Matrimonial Conciliation Commissioner, who is meant to be an obstacle between domestic differences and the Divorce Court. The pioneer and present occupant of the office, Brigadiergeneral Stanley Price-Weir, has recently set Australia by the ears by a report, in which he describes, as one of the main causes of domestic unhappiness, the “office wife, who is known to, and not checked by. the managements of business houses." The commissioner, in his report covering the second year of his work, said that, there had been an increase of nearly ;><) per cent. in Hie cases dealt with by him, and (ho ratio of differences settled remained the same af about one-third. He frankly comments to show' that he has found the question of “office wives” to be no means confined to the talkie screen and cartoonist jokes. He confesses amazement at. the number of eases in which married men on the staffs of Adelaide business houses have had “affairs” with typists or other girl employees, leading to alienation from their wives. These “affairs,” lie says, appear freely to proceed with, the knowledge of, but unchecked by. managerial a utliorii i'a; of the business houses. These comuienL-, telegraphed all round Australia, aroused one of those controversies which spring up like mushrooms. Feminists and business executives alike contributed to it. and most of them disagreed with Brigadiergenera 1 Pr i ce-We ir.
11E Pl { ESE NT A TIV E OPINIO N S Sydney's “unofficial” conciliator is Mr. Frederick Stevenson, chamber magistrate. who deals with tittnn cases of domestic differences. "The general." he said, “seems to give the impression that he found woman an angel with wings. It has been my experience over a number of years that, (he man is tlie forgiving party in al. least :is many if not more cases of matrimonial differences (han is the wife." Mrs. Fay, lady visitor attached to the Children's Court, said: "Innumerable cases of office wives are brought to our notice, both by Hie ‘wives’ themselves ami in many cases by (he
mothers of the girls. In most instances they are looking for redress, not conciliation.”
“.If single girls did not encourage married men there would be no "office wives,’” said Mr. A. B. Fuller, of Fuller’s Theatres, who said lie. considered the percentage of “office, wives in Sydney small. “The single girl concerned in an intrigue with a married man is a tool; the man is a scoundrel.” said the president of the Feminist, dub (Mrs. T. A. Cameron). She said she had no sympathy for either the girl or the man in such cases. The girl would have no peace of mind and would pay in the end. “Most, office girls these days are attractive," she said, “and the man in the office does not see her under the same conditions as he sees his wile at home, busy looking after her family. 1 suppose this ‘glamour’ has somcthi ng I o do with it.” “I do not. think that such cases are general.” said the president ot the Housewives’ Association (Airs. Glencross). "The average girl to-day is very critical. After sitting a!- an office table all day with her employer on (he other side, she would take a long, hard look til him and wonder if he was worth it."
Big business houses in Sydney prevent. the problem from arising by depriving their feminine staff of much of their lure. Their chief means of arriving at this result, is Io make Hie. wearing of uniforms compulsory. In the Commonwealth Bank head office I.”” girls have to wear idtm skirls and white Idotises, regardless of the colour ol their hair or complexion. In the Bank of 'sew Sunlit At ales 150 ol them arc even worse oil' in brown overalls, and their colleagues in the Rural Bank are covered to the neck with green. Most of the big organisations have a. responsible woman whose principal duty is to mother the girls and correct. them when necessary. One staff superintendent. frequently takes a damp towel and wipes lipstick and powder from ;t. girl's face. In many ollices it is a serious offclit e against office discipline to call a typist by her lirst name or to be seen with her in Ihe st reel.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GEST19380809.2.14
Bibliographic details
Greymouth Evening Star, 9 August 1938, Page 3
Word Count
743MATRIMONIAL CONCILIATOR Greymouth Evening Star, 9 August 1938, Page 3
Using This Item
The Greymouth Evening Star Co Ltd is the copyright owner for the Greymouth Evening Star. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of the Greymouth Evening Star Co Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.