Women in Modern Industry

"What is woman but an enemy of friendship, an unavoidable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable affliction, a constantly flowing source of tears, a wicked work of nature covered with a shining varnish?"--SAINT CHRYSOSTOM.

"And wo in winter tyme with wakying a-nyghtes, To rise to the ruel to rock the cradel, Both to kard and to kembe, to clouten and to wasche, To rubbe and to rely, russhes to pilie That reuthe is to rede othere in ryme shewe The wo of these women that wonyeth in Cotes."[1] LANGLAND: Piers Ploughman, x. 77.

"Two justices of the peace, the mayor or other head officer of any city (etc.) and two aldermen ... may appoint any such woman as is of the age of 12 years and under the age of 40 years and unmarried and forth of service ... to be retained or serve by the year, week or day for such wages and in such reasonable sort as they shall think meet; and if any such woman shall refuse so to serve, then it shall be lawful for the said justices (etc.) to commit such woman to ward until she shall be bounden to serve."--Statute of Labourers, 1563.

"Every woman spinner's wage shall be such as, following her labour duly and painfully, she may make it account to."--JUSTICES OF WILTSHIRE: Assessment of Wages, 1604.

"Sometimes one feels that one dare not contemplate too closely the life of our working women, it is such a grave reproach."--Miss ANNA TRACEY, Factory Inspector, 1913.

"The State has trampled on its subjects for 'ends of State'; it has neglected them; it is beginning to act consciously for them.... The progressive enrichment of human life and the remedy of its ills is not a private affair. It is a public charge. Indeed it is the one and noblest field of corporate action. The perception of that truth gives rise to the new art of social politics."--B. KIRKMAN GRAY.

* * * * *

WOMEN IN MODERN INDUSTRY

by

B. L. HUTCHINS

Author of "Conflicting Ideals" and (with Mrs. Spencer, D.Sc.) "A History of Factory Legislation"

With a Chapter Contributed by J. J. Mallon

London G. Bell and Sons, Ltd. 1915

PREFACE.

It may be well to give a brief explanation of the scheme of the present work. Part I. was complete in its present form, save for unimportant corrections, before the summer of 1914. The outbreak of war necessitated some delay in publication, after which it became evident that some modification in the scheme and plan of the book must be made. The question was, whether to revise the work already accomplished so as to bring it more in tune with the tremendous events that are fresh in all our minds. For various reasons I decided not to do this, but to leave the earlier chapters as they stood, save for bringing a few figures up to date, and to treat of the effects of the war in a separate chapter. I was influenced in taking this course by the idea that even if the portions written in happy ignorance of approaching trouble should now appear out of date and out of focus, yet future students of social history might find a special interest in the fact that the passages in question describe the situation of women workers as it appeared almost immediately before the great upheaval. Moreover, Chapter IVA. contained a section on German women in Trade Unions. I had no material to re-write this section; I did not wish to omit it. The course that seemed best was to leave it precisely as it stood, and the same plan has been adopted with all the pre-war chapters.