ORGANISING THE WOMEN.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 961, 10 March 1917, Page 5

ORGANISING THE WOMEN.

A LABOUR PROBLEM. SOME PRACTICAL HINTS. While Ihc pleas for organisation of the women have been insistent and necessary, the plans for putting the suggestions into execution have been (lis! i net I.v lacking. Undoubtedly, writes Miss Ivy Sanders in a recent number of the "Daily Mail," the success of any organisation of the women depends primarily on the efficiency of the foundation on which it is based. The chaos and confusion consequent on (he indifferent and faulty " organisation of the men are a significant and serious warning of the necessity for a careful and guarded calculation of the capabilities of the material now to be dealt with, and a logical and sane utilisation of the available power. Square pegs must no! again be put into round holes. Our valuable wo-man-power must be judiciously directed into the most urgent and beneficent channels. The dissipation of female labour must be strenuously avoided. One imnortant factor materially assisting the co-ordination of women workers in a satisfactory and speedy manner is the advisability of utilising the existing machinery in the form of the various local administrative authorities, rather than the creation of new bodies.

Worth Considering. An excellent scheme as to how this may be most advantageously carried out was outlined to me a i'ew days ago by an able woman worker. Briefly, her suggestions were:

That a central clearing-house should be created in London to serve as the general headquarters f<" - the women war workers, from which a call "to arms" should be made to every woman in the country through the medium of the National Registration cards. That this central body should requisition the services of the iocal authorities of each county, as represented by the county councils and county borough councils.

That each county war council should open a recruiting oOice for ! the enlistment of women into the army'of workers in every town and village. Service to he for the duration of war only. That the county war councils should become responsible for the billeting or housing of the women workers and for their welfare. That the local educational authorities should be required to undertake all necessary training, the public schools and colleges to be utilised to this end. That a standard and equal rate of nay should be made in addition to nil their expenses, including board, lodging, uniform, travelling, and washing. In short, that they should be treated as an army. The sound, common-sense arguments in favour of this scheme appeared to me to be very strong. Misdirected Energies.

The localising of the allocation of labour would guard against the misapplication of valuable services to a very great extent. This is essential to oromote success, for to-day a most deplorable wastage is occurring by the misdirection of feminine energies. Educated women holding high degrees are expending their efforts on scrubbing floors and washing dishes, when their qualifications could profitably be turned to account much more. Young girls fresh from elementary schools are being entrusted with highlv important and intricate work. Strong domestics, born and bred fo manual labour, are engaged on light duties in the factories, while delicately-bred women are performing strenuous work on the land and in countless other directions, for which they are quite unfitted, with disastrous results both to the health of the women and to the future employment of female labour.

This careless and incongruous placing of women workers reveals an enormous leakage in womanpower which we cannot afford to continue. It must be stopped, and the new organisation of populationpower must provide the means for doing this successfully. Another point in favour of the employment of local labour whereevcr possible is that the unnecessary breaking up of homes would be avoided to a very considerable degree. Many parents to-day hesitate to permit their young daughters to undertake work because it necessitates leaving their homes.

Others, again, hesitate long before they move far from their native homes—the homes, too, of their absent fathers, brothers, sons, and sweethearts. The indiscriminate drafting of women from one part of the country to another would in a great many instances sever the ties of home and county which reflect so truly the spirit and unity of England. It would create homesickness, which bleeds discontent, and consequently inferior work. Human sympathy must be employed in dealing with tiie women workers. Ruthless trampling over sentiments that are the. backbone of the Empire will have no reward.

Organisation that is thorough and sympathetic will quickly serve to sweep aside the need of conscription for women. There are thousands of women eager and anxious to work who would readily volunteer for service under a system that is just and efficient. The unsatisfactory and capricious method now in being of dealing with services which have been readily offered is the main thing which has held them back.