Women And Work

suw in a yvmov paper Jiow l'he siipply of wotaan workêrB iar exOeed tflio demand flar thie.tr serví owi.ns to the liniiiitiation put upon Ulicin 1.lwo{ili,m;U.e jealoiisis. Wlien SLr JO'hn Beunett adv-ocated the general employniemt of Women in waltchmak'lii'í. he was laotíbed luis ipalUns. WTien a Paris fimn of printers atötempted to emplioy women composllttors. tihe mea opposed irt, and the project was abandoned. Whean tiue Kildennilnster mnnuincTurers oí velre placed wemmen at their 10 the oarpet wca vovs stnick tl' maw leat t!heii' diBapproval oí femala lalato". An'd In tlhe PO'tteri&s, the op]c-n of tlhe niion to thiei cmployjnn't oi ■women was the struggle' of Crcars, and tlis wiliole stirengrth of the Trailers Unibn was exerciiteed "tö1 preTeaït wiomen from nshig tba hantlfest, whioh was oí the gpeatesb aerT.iico in. producías bO'tlh, rapidity and pmeclslon of work." Girls employod' in Lo n don as jewel buimiahiers were ablo to eam threO and step ene e a 'day, and gave tlue Mghesk satisfactöon to tteiir em.ployeirs. Yet all -were unwillhigly dlSttnlsaed thirougJi itlLO Jealouis opposion of ttoa men ín ttlLe same establiisbrneoit. These arO a few examples ou;tt of hunld'rf.ds whdch liavie mtütated agaiust the extensión of feanale employment, and we need act enumérate more. Unediucated mech iniics airad ■uni1vrsity fellows nave alike sho'wn tbe aame aniniosüty to women .sfearjing tlhielr crafts or a-cademical lioEors. Both may profess to admire ehivalry in the abstract, l)ut they eviidently liad mo relish tor it ta t!h,9 concrete. Both, join in the cucboo for justiice anid fair play, liut. it would seem tliat too oftenl tiliey mean these prijvilegesi por tSiemselves O'iily, ancl will !iave none üf tliom for women. NeTx?rt4ieJess, since 1871, the mimber of wamen worbers li.as relati-ely ihicre'ased and ttieir Bpheres oE labor have been. enilarged and multiipüeö. For, affcer all, tlia coursei of justice, though slioKv, is etcrnal and progrossSve. We may noit always bote hiei' steps at the iihie, any more Umi we see the grSai&Sng march of tflte gtacfer, but we. may be sure that slia iw movin with grea-ter certainty of advance, and cruáto'ta to powder all thiat Snapedie hr progress. Yet iln moralis, as in geiology, a eyele is o ten requïred to make umportont clianges palpable. TünIs imoreiaèl'Bgly ext.eradhig spihere of la'bO'i' for womaa 3s not., howevet", ara uamixed bteaaïng. Many o; HhieStr occupaitiionis are noxious to asa extreme degree, and even wtosre t'hey ace nwt abso-lurtely un'be'alt'.hj-, tlie l'ong hoiï"s demanded tfom grow'iinig g'.irls aiid ehdld-bearing womiein,, amd t'be cruel rules to whlch so mia.ny hare t)o yliold, a"e highly prejutdilcLa.1 to liealtd acid temper. Some of the "gejitel" oceupafcions aire mot exempc from these drawtnacks. Mr. Charlea Itooth, 1-a hiö 'Lilrc amid Labrar of tto People," snys: "Th liO'cig hou'rs worked iin. the drapecy tra.de, oombixied wStS prolonged stamdfimg, hiave a verj' detirimental effec't uipoa drapers' asslistants, causling anaeinila, and a geneiral deterior■atiio'ii oL health which readbrs thetn a easy prey to littdigeetdon, constipatio-ii. anid kiindred maladies. Tho stuoct taime allowed ïor meals, and the speeüilly acqmlred liabit oí 'boiting' tlhieii'." fo'od, so as to mak tiia niosttj of the alNxted niiinute?, teaid in the same ■dïrecti'O'n. The results are most 110ticeable arnong tte womeo a,nö &speeially ttnose in. bmsy shops, whe'-'e íáttle o" no opportuinïty ;or rest. occurs. Unless a girl has an except'.hnally stoug eowstiifcuition, the excessüve gtinain eooa tells om her Jiealth and tlhns it happens that many have to leave tihi3 tra de, whildst others giive up ia.' a tCinue oaly t be invalided soiom after tihey return t n'.iop liu'e." It was nob lang tiiat the horrors of tlie iaatc'h makiïnö índustey we re exp'oiiiedi Jia tlis daiily papers, tluroaigh ivhich, as was allegeds the "eeth, jaws, and bornes of youiig women and g-iris einpltiyed, were destroyed by the fumes of the ingrediënt. We hLL-e nn besHatitti in eaying that it Is the bouoiden duit y of evety civilizeid n'U'Vieriïni'eint to proteet idiose wiio are oompelied to labor íor ttelí ■bread, ared to pro'vids tliat ui every oecupatiO'ii t'he best saieguards that seience can devise, witlhiihe minimum of risk to he-alfch, life, or? limb, saiall bo rigidly eaiiorced. Nar would this goveiliimental interierence witih free labor be incompatible wiKli the ideas of liberty wtich we have. repeatedly eivmieiateil, particularly whore womeu a:re ooncomed. Por wliile they are deuied t!he suffrage or any other privilege of crtizeaship, they axe unttble to proteot themelvesi, and the iisT. duty of aniy and every governmettt ia to offer proteoti-on to the ïeeble and helpless. So Par as we are aware, uo complctfi diigest of the Census of '91 has yet bee-n made, except iliat Jor Ioii'tl . iil by Mr. Charles' Booth. From ÜhXB w-a fiiiil that two hundred and sixty thauaamd persons are einployed ia the Metropolis ia connection w-Mui "Dres." Of these ninety thousand are males, and oae hundned and seTenty thoueaud female, ''very juniiy of them yonng girlö." Eightyt!wo tjuo'usand of the whole were headis of famiili'es, andthk-ty thousand of tihese were womea. Ini ihe prepiiratjon or sale of food antk drink," the males were 111,415, and Jemales anly 27,019. Headü of families numlbeTed mreinty-BÈs thousand, 'Of wliom 8,500 were female. Among the "Dealers and Clerks" the ddspar4ty between t.hie sexes is, O1" coivrse, stUl greater : Males 33,175, íemales 9,054. NevwiflueSess, "more than tnalf of tluose rëfcurneid as !:eneral sthio-p keepers are fem'ales, as are alsa nearly one-ttiit-id of tin Street sellers." It wou'ld be tedúbus íu a paper such. as tibüs to jo much farther tiïi'omgh men; statüftlo?. Enoughhaí been wrïtten to s1dow thiat women ongage i!n m'Uilitifarious oocupations, and ía many oí them, in p'redomiuating numboiv. MuWnall remarks o'n Uie Censúa oí '91, tihat "The nua-plus feDi.ilü populatyan keeps risimg every decade.'" In tiu last, the f&males numibcred 514 tx' every 486 males. In '81 t'ho exces oí témales over jirales th.'oughoug Bnglanxl1 and Walss was 718,000 ; ih. '91 it had risen to 901,000, befiíDg an incfease in ten ten years of 183,000. Do t'hiose faclts affard no food for refleotiDii to our P'O'HHiea] tconomi,-is and soclologists? Nay, raay mot poillMcJiao3 and moiralÉ.-;is read, mark, learu, anid carefully dllgest tihem ? Ia the barden oif the support of thós graat and ove.a-increasánlg body of EngUshi woiraen to be tlnnown upon the shomldGi's ol the comparativo!}' dectreajsing men, or goa.ll wcnaen bo permiibted to smppoirt ilhcniselTes in any oecupatiou {or ivliiicli they n.fe coim.petent ? Tliese are tlhie questiioias wdiicli must be deelided - and quickly, toa- im favoir of sexual equali'ty oc the aboliltioii of sex privileges, uilless we are bliudly nletcrmlaied to inere'a.se tliö aemoralfeatüian of our womeoi and toe consequent deteritjiration of our race. Even IndáJa, i;i giome respects, }g more erai tlinu Kiiiland. flor we Jiaveí just rpad t'h,at a lady liad been admütted w p-íacfaibO ín ons oí itá law courts as a baarpWër, and' t o tlio geoe-ral ehirprÜse, s3ie pleadeil as welí and exihübí'tlaiJ aa much legal acamen and and ioTemate eloquence as aoy of hcr 1k'- iU'ged1 brctih,ren. llulh,all remarle?, "If wc compare 1(h,e total immbor of persons of all oecupattona i'n 1881 wltíh. tlaat Ín 1851, we füiid a.a l'ucirea'se oí 25 per cient. Da taiO men, and 57 per cent. '.'a Dio women," andi ve havo every na bo bslfeve t.lLat the clí'fference for '91 wffll be fonnd1 to be still go-oat?■. We liave slio'wa fia a previous arlctle tJhat tlw woomen. woirkera nearly equial tilie moa wocfcems. Tlie aat'twal coinseiiuenca fe that the ccoupattO'as open to womeu aro overÉUonie wiltllx candidates for work Scores of tih.ausa.act3 of those who can abttaSu employment aro miserably "g-weatbed," whBle fhe more fortúnate are usually undferpaid. Is ilhere n ü1 remeay: for a,U tivts ? Iö womld seem t.liait in polygamous c-ountrles íiuily are womien reially carecí for, and ■áí miottiiogaomy and su,bjection of tlie sex are to eonfcimu.6 togetSier, it mny "be th.a.t to giive woanau "he proper ephere," we shall have to, revert to the po-lyigamöus hatocite of ouir Briitiish araeedtiOriis, Is tliiB thO airn oí our ppetem'ttorus moralist ? Is this 'hiil'toer Protestanititson, th.s iree Bible, freo tradie, free labor, aixd free de'bauctei'y, ar-e to lanidi us ? Pexliaps so. Whio cam teil ? If woonen must comtiinrae to be diegraded, better ttuat iit gbould be in thO harem of one ,man W -wlhom she can be virtuous and ta-ue, amd by wJuo.ni she Vfii be comiforta'bly proviidied wiftlh reasonable requiirememtg, fh.an tlhat slhe ehoulci starve iln a loaely (?arret or pace 1-he stireets wübh a fallen slsterhoold. Olayfait' and Belgravia aadother weaïtüiy quarters, wijl beless transparent t.han now, and vohiptuous ivomen of rare baauity wiili be seen fru'tïviely glaiacing upon tih.e outer woxld, (ïntil tihe example thus Bet by rank anti fashjlon becoiae universal. Thousamls of Frencli silver five-franc pieces annually disappear from circalation. Tliis, accordingto an official auuouncement just made by the Frencli Government, is due to a queer belief. When the great Emperor Napoleon flrst put these coins into circulatiou it was difiicult to induce the people to adopt tliem. Accordingly, lie caused a story to be circulated to the effect that oue of the coins concealed in its interior a check for 100,000 francs, written on asbestos paper, and directing the Bank of France to pay the finder the money all in five-franc silver pieces, It is in the hope of discovering this probably niythical check that so many thousands of five-franc pieces are broken in half every year.