The Star. THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 1893. . A Female Inspector of Factories.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4594, 16 March 1893, Page 2

The Star. THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 1893. . A Female Inspector of Factories.

The emancipation of woman goes on apace. Most callings and professions are now open to members of the gentler sex, and in New Zealand, at any rate, no female is nnder tbe necessity of donning male attire in order to obtain employment, as Lady Florence Dixje testified they have to do in England. Oar female workers, pending their political enfranchisement, are having their interests carefully attended to. Addressing a gathering of tailoresses at Wellington on Tuesday evening, t_e Minister for Labour announced that he would shortly appoint a female Inspector of Factories for the Colony. This is a most commendable departure. There are now thousands of female workers in all the towns of the Colony, whose occupations are of a nature calling for strict supervision . as to hours and other conditions of labour. Many of these workers are mere girls, whose natural timidity prevents them making their grievances known to the awe-inspiring male inspector. A female inspector, in addition to her intuitive knowledge of the requirements of those of her own sex, will be in more sympathetic accord with the female workers, and will more readily command their entire confidence. The Hon W. P. Eeeves has proved himself in < various ways to be well Buitedfor the Post of Minister for Labour, and in none more than in hiß ready recognition of the wants of women workers. The appointment of a female Inspector of Factories, if made promptly, will prove to be the first of the kind in English countries. In the Mother Country, however, a movement in the same direction is being made. Towards the end of January last a large deputation, with Lady Aberdeen as spokeswoman, waited on the Home Secretary to impress on him the urgent necessity of appointing women inspectors in order to secure the better observance of the Factory and Workshops Act. Mr Aaquith, after hearing the deputation, said there were difficulties in the way of adapting the present system of inspection to the altered conditions that would prevail if there were female inspectors, but these difficulties could ba surmounted, and he promised tbat in the course of next financial year he would appoint two female inspectors, at salaries of J6200 a year, rising to ,£3OO. One of these inspectors would be stationed in London and the other in Glasgow; but it was intended that bhey should be to a large extent peripatetic, travelling from to place, .and paying . surprise visits bo workshops and factories. Considering bhe many thousands of factories in the United Kingdom in which female labour is jmployed, it is plain that two Inspectors jan do very little, and of this the Home Secretary seemed to be sensible, for he itated that the contemplated appointments vera to be taken only as an earnest of ', noretocome. By comparison, the appoint- , nent of one female Inspector for New • Zealand is a very liberal provision indeed, '• tut the duties of such Inspector, embrac- ! ngvisitß to places scattered over a thou- j and miles of latitude, must of necessity , ie arduous and harassing. It would j

almost require for these duties the ideal woman of Wordsworth, possessed of "endurance, foresight, strength, and skill," and " nobly planned to warn, to comfort, to command." We have no doubt, however, that a worthy person will be found to fill, with credit to herself and benefit to the workers of her sex, the new : sphere of usefulness thus opened np to women.