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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..61eac00 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #52959 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52959) diff --git a/old/52959-8.txt b/old/52959-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 92095e0..0000000 --- a/old/52959-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1147 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Women's Wages, by William Smart - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Women's Wages - -Author: William Smart - -Release Date: September 2, 2016 [EBook #52959] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOMEN'S WAGES *** - - - - -Produced by WebRover, Chris Curnow, Martin Pettit and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -Women's Wages - - - "Give her the wages of going on, and not to die." - - - - -Women's Wages - -BY - -WILLIAM SMART, M.A. - -LECTURER ON POLITICAL ECONOMY IN QUEEN MARGARET COLLEGE -AND IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW - - -GLASGOW -JAMES MACLEHOSE, ST. VINCENT STREET -PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY -1892 - - -A paper read before the PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF GLASGOW, -9th Dec., 1891. - - - - -WOMEN'S WAGES. - - -It is not necessary to prove that women's wages are, as a rule, much -under those of men. In the textile trades of Great Britain, which -constitute the largest department of women's work, the average of -women's wages is probably--in Scotland it is certainly--about ten -shillings per week. This labour is not by any means unskilled, as anyone -who has ever seen a spinning or weaving factory knows. Twenty shillings -per week, however, is a low average for a man possessing any degree of -skill whatever. - -In a paper read before the British Association at Cardiff, Mr. Sidney -Webb gave some valuable statistics on the subject. Women workers he -divides into four classes--manual labourers, routine mental workers, -artistic workers, and intellectual workers. The two latter classes may -be dismissed in a word. Sex has little to do in determining the wages of -their work. A novelist, a poet, a writer of any sort, is under no -disadvantage that she is a woman, while in many departments of artistic -work women have an obvious advantage. But in the third class, that of -routine mental workers, Mr. Webb finds that women's earnings are -invariably less than men's. In the Post Office and Telegraph -Departments, in the Savings Banks, and in the Government offices -generally, where women do precisely similar work with men, and are -sometimes, as in ledger work, acknowledged to do it better, they -invariably earn much less. The largest experiment yet made in this -direction is that of the Prudential Life Assurance Office, which began -in 1872 to substitute women clerks for the lower grades of men clerks. -There are now 243 ladies employed in routine clerical work, which they -are said to do more efficiently than men. The salaries run thus:--£32 -for the first year, £42 for the second, £52 for the third, and £60 on -promotion--probably half of what men might be expected to accept. In -Glasgow lady typists and shorthand writers are offering their services -from 9.30 till 5, with one hour for dinner, for £25. In the teaching -profession women almost invariably receive lower remuneration than men. -The Education Department Report of 1888-90 gives the average wage of -teachers throughout England and Wales as £119 for men and £75 for women. -Similarly low salaries are found under the London School Board, in the -Secondary Schools, and in girls' schools generally as compared with -boys' schools. - -The exception noted by Mr. Webb is interesting and, I think, suggestive. -In the United States, where women teachers often alternate with men in -the same school, the salaries of women are habitually lower. But in the -State of Wyoming, where women have a vote, the salaries are equal. - -Coming now to the manual workers, Mr. Webb takes the statistics -furnished by the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labour in 1884. -These give the average of 17,430 employés in 110 establishments in Great -Britain, and 35,902 employés in 210 establishments in Massachusetts, -representing in both cases 24 different manufacturing industries. The -women's wages show a proportion of one-third to two-thirds the amount -earned by men, the nearest approach to equality being in -textiles--cotton goods, hosiery, and carpetings in Great Britain, -woollen and worsted goods in Massachusetts. Without going further into -statistics, I think we may assume the fact of a great disparity between -men's and women's wages, and go on to ask the reason of it. - -If we put the question in general terms, Why is a woman's wage less than -that of a man? there are some answers that spring to the lips of -everyone. First, it is said that it is a mere question of supply and -demand. Second, that women are not usually the sole bread-winners in the -family to which they belong. Third, that their standard of living is -lower than that of men. Fourth, that their work is not so good as that -of men. Fifth, that the commodities made by women have, generally, a -less value in the market. There is truth in all these answers, but I -propose to show that each of them is at best a half truth, raising as -many questions as it settles. - -The first answer given is that women's wages are low because of the -equation of supply and demand. Only certain branches of industry are -open to women. In these there is a great number of women competing for -employment. They are free to take work or refuse it. But over the -industrial community there are found enough women willing to take the -low wage which employers find they can offer, and free competition -determines the level. If two women run after one employer, wages will -fall; if two employers run after one woman, wages will rise. - -Those who think this answer an easy and satisfactory one must be unaware -of the unsettling of many problems since Mill's day. Mill had no less -than three laws of value--that of the Equation of Supply and Demand, -that of Cost of Production, and that of Differential Cost of Production. -The former law, he said, applied to goods of which the quantity was -naturally, or artificially, or temporarily, limited, and it was, -besides, the sole determinant of the value of labour. But then Mill was -assuming a definite Wage Fund--a fixed portion of the circulating -capital of the country predestined for the payment of wages. This -definite sum, and no more, was to employ all the workers, however many -they might be. If, then, wages fell, the reason was obvious--there were -too many workers. Wherever Mill touches on low wages we have a sermon on -the evils of over-population, and his favourite explanation did not fail -him here. "Where employers take full advantage of competition, the low -wages of women are a proof that the employments are overstocked." But -this is logical only if "overstocking" is the sole possible cause of low -wages--which might be doubted even under a Wage Fund theory. But the -Wage Fund is now one of the antiquities of political economy. Since -Jevons we have looked for the measure of value in marginal utility; for -the value of productive goods in their marginal utility as instruments -of production; and for the value of labour in the value of its products, -and not in any predetermined fund divided out among a variable number -of workers by the action of supply and demand. And where invention is -constantly widening and strengthening our power over natural resources -and increasing the productiveness of labour, the presumption is against -the idea that over-population is even a strong factor in modern wages. - -There is, indeed, no formula in political economy on which the modern -economist looks with more suspicion than that of Supply and Demand. The -operation of supply and demand as determining market price is, of -course, perfectly definite; but to say that any concrete price is fixed -by the equation of supply and demand is a mere statement of an observed -fact which says little, unless one knows and defines accurately what is -involved in the "supply," what is involved in the "demand," and how -those two factors stand related to each other. The price of railway -stock to-day is determined by supply and demand; the price of a man's -labour, whether unattached or working under restriction of the Trade -Union, is determined by supply and demand; the earnings of the poor soul -who sells her body on the streets are determined by supply and demand. -What does this formula tell us unless we know the complex phenomena -which determine the supply of railways and the demand for transit, the -supply of labourers and the demand for work, the supply of hapless women -and the demand for human souls? To say, then, that women's wages are low -because there are enough women who take the low wage, is little more -than to say that wages are low because people are paid low wages. We -have still to ask: What are the factors, or influences, or motives, -that make women take a wage below that of men, and what are the factors -that make employers offer the low wage? - -Apart from the general insufficiency of this first answer, it is enough -to remember that the determination of wage by this mechanical equation -of supply and demand could be tolerable only under absolutely free -competition, which would involve perfect mobility of labour. But labour -has this unique characteristic among all commodities that, physically, -it is not mobile; historically, it has never been mobile; and ethically, -it should not be mobile. A man's labour is--and should be--his life, not -the mere instrument of providing a living; and, therefore, in the -question of wages it is impossible to ignore the ethical consideration. -Civilised society could not hold together if the workman and workwoman -could only get their fair share of the world's boundless wealth by -changing their trade, their residence, or their country, as a higher -wage offered itself. - -The second reason given is that, women not being as a rule the sole -bread-winners of the family, their wage is auxiliary to that of its -head; the woman's wage is, as it were, "found" money in the household -purse. Underlying this statement is an assumption which is at least -questionable. It is that the economic or wage-earning unit is the -_family_. This is an old-time idea which, however beautiful and -desirable, is a little out of place in the conditions to which the -factory system has brought us. Once-a-day it was recognised that -children had a far greater claim on the persons who brought them into -the world than we now allow. It was thought that the one wage should be -earned by the head of the house, and should be large enough to maintain -the wife and daughters without outside work, and to educate and -apprentice the sons till they were able to hive off for themselves. Any -money earned by the junior members of the family was, in this case, -supplementary, and determined by a different law. Perhaps in time we may -come back to this view. Mr. Frederic Harrison is sanguine that we shall. -But meantime the factory system has changed all that, and it is scarcely -worth while looking for laws of wage in a condition of family life which -does not now obtain. Putting aside the objections that many married -women are not members of a family, and that many married women and -widows are the sole bread-winners of the family, it is perhaps -sufficient to point out that this answer would not be taken as -explaining or justifying a low wage among what we call the "better -classes." It would not be counted an excuse or reason for a publisher -asking a lady novelist to accept a lower price for her books, or for a -patient offering a lower fee to a lady doctor. If the sex of the author, -artist, musician, doctor, intellectual or artistic worker generally, has -nothing to do with her remuneration, why should sex determine the wage -of the factory girl? - -More clearly does this objection emerge when we consider the third -answer. It is said that the inferiority of women's wage is owing to -their standard of living being less than that of men. It is true that a -woman, as a rule, eats less, drinks less, and smokes less. Tea to her -is, unfortunately, both meat and drink, and it would be counted -extravagance in a working woman if she took to eating twopence worth of -sweets a day as balancing the man's half ounce of tobacco. But I am -afraid a woman's standard of life differs from a man's rather in its -items than in its cost. I have yet to learn that her standard of dress -is less than ours, and I am quite sure she takes more medicines, and -spends more on doctors' bills. As in the former case, we change our view -according as we look at different classes. Among the "upper" classes, as -we call them, the woman's standard of life is very much higher than that -of the man. It is only because the poor seamstress, when put to it, will -live on a shilling a-day, while a man will become a tramp or go to the -workhouse first, that we say the woman requires less. - -In a word, it is not that the physical and mental needs of woman are -less than the physical and mental needs of man, but that many women, for -some reason or other, can be got to accept a wage that will only keep -them alive. If so, the answer, translated, simply runs: women's wages -are less than men's because, for some reason, women accept less. - -It is to be noted, however, as very significant of the popular ideas -about wage, that the second and third answers just given account for the -standard of women's wages by the _wants_ of the worker. A woman's wage -is low because she does not _require_ a high wage, whether it be because -her father partly supports her, or because her maintenance does not -require so much. Now it may be said in passing that it is quite against -our modern ideas to represent wage as regulated by wants. Under a -socialistic régime, indeed, the wages of all might be thrown into a -common purse, and divided out according to the wants and necessities of -each; but under an individualist régime, like the present, what the -worker _is_ is nothing, what the worker _does_ is everything. To assess -the value of goods by the cost to the human life which makes them is to -take ground on which the world is not prepared to follow the economist -whatever it may say to the moralist. It is not the cost in killed and -wounded that decides the battle. To the purchaser it is indifferent -whether the cloth he buys wore out the fingers and heart of a woman, or -only took a little tear and wear out of a machine. The one question he -asks is: How will the cloth wear? _Caveat venditor._ If a man-worker, -then, is supposed to get a high wage when he produces much, a low wage -when he produces little, why should a woman's wage be determined by -another principle? We cannot hunt with the individualist hounds and run -with the socialist hare. - -The next two reasons, accordingly, put the low wages of women on quite -different and more scientific ground, namely, that of the work they -produce. Of these the fourth says that women's work is not so good as -men's. As a statement of fact this is probably true. It is no -disparagement to the sex to acknowledge that, if women are necessarily -off work several days in the year because of little ailments common to -them, if they are insufficiently nourished relatively to their needs, or -are naturally more delicate than men, their wage at the week's end will -be less than that paid to the average man who scarcely knows what a -headache means. Or, if the woman is compelled by law to leave the -factory at six, while the man can stay and work overtime; or, if she is -driven to the street for an hour at meal-time, while the man can gulp -his tea within the walls and get back to his work half-an-hour earlier; -we can see that the wage of the man will be higher by the time and the -overtime he works. Similarly, if it requires not only skill but strength -to work a heavy loom; or, if a man can do two jobs, the one alternative -to the other; or, if he can "set" and "point" his tools as well as work -his machine, while a woman has to go to the mechanic's shop for these -things; in cases like these--and they are, of course, very many--we -require no answer to our question. It is simply a case of better wages -for better work--better in quantity, or in quality, or, at least, in -advantage to the employer. That is to say, if men and women are working -side by side at the same trades, and under similar conditions, it -requires little explanation to say why the wages of men should be 20s. -and the wages of women, say, 15s. - -If this were all, the inferiority of women's wage would not be primarily -a question of sex at all; it would be very much a question of unskilled -labour as compared with skilled labour. Women would get lower wages than -men for the same reason as the dock labourer gets lower wages than the -artisan, and the artisan than the physician. The world might suffer -nothing in pocket by adopting the principle--which, however, I am afraid -is yet far from general acceptance--of Equal Wages for Equal Work, -whatever the sex of the worker. And here it is that Mr. Sydney Webb -deserves thanks for having accented a fact which we all indeed knew, but -of which few of us saw the bearing. It is that men and women do not, as -a rule, produce similar work alongside of each other, and that any -argument which compares the wages of both sexes, without taking account -of this fact, quite misses the mark. - -To recur to the facts adduced by Mr. Webb: it seems to be impossible, he -says, to discover any but a few instances in which men and women do -precisely similar work in the same place and at the same epoch. In the -tailoring trade, for instance, men do one class of garment, women -another. In the cigar trade women make the lower-priced goods. So in all -the Birmingham trades. In paper mills men do the heavier, women the -lighter work. In cotton spinning, the mule tenders, called, _par -excellence_, "spinners," are men, while women take all the preparatory -processes. But there is one exceptional trade where this does not hold. -"Weaving," says Mr. Webb, "appears to be nearly always paid at equal -rates to men and women, whatever the material or locality." This seems -to hold as regards the weaving industry generally, from the hand-loom -weavers of Ireland to the carpet weavers of our own country; and it -extends also to other countries, as, for instance, to the cotton and -silk weaving in France. That is to say, as I understand, that the -piece-work rate is the same, although in special cases strength may give -the man an advantage in handling heavy looms. But what is most -remarkable is that, over the great weaving district of Lancashire, not -only are the rates of piece-work the same, but men and women do exactly -the same work side by side in the same sheds, practically under the same -Factory Act restrictions, and earn equal wages, namely, an average from -17s. 11d. in Carlisle to 21s. 4d. in Burnley. This, however, is -distinctly and notably an exception. Women compositors, for instance, in -London, receive uniformly lower piece-work rates for exactly similar -work; for the same work the union man gets 8½d., the non-union man 7½d., -and the woman only 5½d. As an exception, however, we shall have reason -to recur to the Lancashire weavers later. - -We thus come naturally to the fifth answer given to our question. It -points to the fact that the kind of commodities made by women, or in -women's trades, have, generally, a less value in the market--they are -"cheap" goods. Even as a mere statement of fact this proposition is very -loose. What are cheap goods? In the absence of any absolute standard of -value, goods can be called cheap only as comparing present prices with -prices of similar goods in the past, or in consideration of their cost -of production as compared with other goods. If the former is meant, all -modern manufactured goods are cheap, and this would not explain the -lower wage of one sex. If the latter, it is prejudging the whole -question. But to make this statement an explanation, and suggest that -cheap prices are the cause of low wages, is surely to turn the causal -connection the wrong way about; for the value of goods such as we are -speaking of depends, according to the recognised theory, on cost of -production, and of this cost of production wages is a large part. It is -true that the connection between prices and wages is one on which -economic science is somewhat slow to speak. We may not now be so -confident as Mill was when he put the proposition "high prices make high -wages" among common erroneous notions. And we may not be prepared to -say with him that the effect of prices on wages is only indirect, -through increased profits adding to capital. But we are not prepared, I -think, to go in face of all our old faith, and declare that the _prices_ -of goods determine their cost of production! - -But as a fallacy is not usually put in a bald form, we must consider the -concrete case in which it is assumed. Let us take an industry--say a -branch of the textile trade--where labour constitutes a great part of -the costs of production. Suppose that for many years low prices have -ruled for the particular class of goods made. Any attempt to raise wages -here meets with an obvious criticism. It seems most plausible to say: It -is the wants of the people which have established this demand. The -present price is all the consumers can or will pay, and the low wage is -all that these prices can afford. - -This is probably quite true. Once the prices are down, it is difficult -to see how wages can be higher. But what brought down the prices? Is it -ever the case that the world of consumers, practically, go to the -workers and ask them to accept low wages on the ground that they can -only afford low prices? Experience does not bear this out. So far as I -know, the initiative of reducing prices, as a rule, comes from the -producers, not from the public. The history of prices of most -commodities of large use is something like this. They are at first dear, -and only a small circle of consumers can afford them. As the production -becomes organised, and capital brings more and more appliances to bear -on the manufacture, the goods become cheaper, and a wider circle of -demand is found. But below each circle of actual demand there are -endless and widening circles of potential demand ready to take any -particular commodity if it can be had cheaper. Thus, as, up to a certain -point, large production is cheap production, there is always an -inducement to the manufacturer and merchant to produce more cheaply. If -they can reduce prices, and get down to a lower circle of consumers, it -is well known in practical experience that the increase of trade which -follows is out of all proportion to the degree of the reduction of -price. But when this movement has gone on for some time, and goods have -become very cheap, the demand has a way of appearing imperative, -especially if these goods have entered into the standard of comfort of -great classes. The goods become "necessary;" the low prices meet a -"natural" demand; and these prices are just enough to yield an average -profit to the employer--for profit must have its average, or capital, as -we are often warned, will fly the country. - -This is all quite true. The fallacy emerges only when it is suggested -that the low prices are the cause of low wages. Here there are two -possibilities: (1) All the reduction of cost may have been effected by -perfecting machinery, organising production, and bringing producer and -consumer together--that is to say, all the cheapening may have come from -the side of capital. In this case there is no room for laying low wages -at the door of cheapened prices. Or (2) as wages constitute one of the -chief costs in all production--in the United States, for instance, they -make up on an average a quarter of the manufacturing cost--they may -have been reduced along with the capital expenses, and the low prices be -partly due to these low wages. - -What this does prove is, of course, that it was the reduction of wages, -among other things, that made the reduction of prices possible. But what -it was proposed to prove was the converse proposition, that the low -prices made the low wages! To put it, then, in the plausible way, that -the reduced prices "do not allow" of higher wages, is simply a very -pretty specimen of the argument known to the vulgar as "putting the cart -before the horse." What, however, we may very well learn from the wide -acceptance of this view is that it is a very difficult thing to raise -wages once they are down; and it may suggest that employers have some -responsibility in reducing, and the public some responsibility in giving -excuse for them being reduced. - -Thus we seem to be still without an adequate answer to the question: Why -is a woman's wage less than that of a man? But the last answer, -unsatisfactory as it is in itself, seems to me to have a value in -something further that it suggests. It seems to draw attention to a -notable fact, and to point the way to a new formulation of the whole -question. The fact is this, that women are in almost exclusive -possession of certain branches of trade, and that, in these branches, -the commodities made are recognised by public opinion as being "cheap." -The observation of most of us must confirm Mr. Webb's conclusion, that -there are certain trades where men do not compete with women; indeed, -that there is a well marked relegation of women-workers towards certain -ill-paid trades; while, at the same time, there is as well marked a -movement of men towards the better-paid trades. If this is so, the -difference of wages between men and women takes a new and definite -aspect. It is not a difference of wage between workers of various -degrees of efficiency. It is very much a question of difference of wage -between two non-competing groups, and of groups where the levels of wage -are determined by a different law. The question is not: Why are men and -women employed in equal work at unequal wages? but, Why are men and -women employed in different groups of employment? and, comparing these -two groups, Why is the wage level of skilled female labour lower even -than that of unskilled male labour? - -The reasons may be found in observing a course of events constantly -under our eyes. There are always certain trades where women are still -competing more or less directly with men. In these, women are under -certain disabilities of sex which make their work less remunerative or -less profitable to their employers. They are, as I said, physically -weaker; subject to little ailments which make them less regular in -attendance; more liable to distraction of purpose; perhaps worse -educated; and, probably, more slipshod in their methods. They get less -wages because, either in quantity or quality or both, their work is not -so good. This competition of the women tends to drag down wages for both -sexes, and, as a consequence, men hive off to trades where there is more -opportunity, or retain certain better-paid branches within trades, and -certain trades or branches of trades are left to women. Whenever this is -the case the women lose the advantage of competing with workers who will -not accept wages under a certain level. Their disabilities, thus become -cumulative, are taken advantage of by unthinking or unscrupulous -employers, and all other employers are forced to follow. - -If tailors and tailoresses are working side by side making coats and -vests indifferently, it is not difficult to understand why the men may -earn 20s. to the women's 15s. But if, in time, the men get all the -coats, and the women all the vests, we have a good reason why the -women's wage goes down to 10s., while the men's remains at 20s. - -Or equally common is another course of events. A certain industry, we -shall suppose, has been worked exclusively by men. By a "happy" -invention machinery is introduced which can be tended perfectly well by -women. For a little time the dead weight of custom will probably retain -men to tend these machines, and the wage will certainly not fall below -the average wage of men generally, which we shall, for simplicity's -sake, put down at 20s. But, either gradually or as result perhaps of a -dispute or strike on the part of the men, women are introduced to tend -the machines. Does their pay bear any proportion to that of the men they -replace? It is quite certain that the women's remuneration will not be -determined by the 20s. wage which they displace, but will be fixed at -something like 10s. If we ask why, the only answer given is that 10s. is -the "customary wage" for women. - -People who have no practical experience are apt to think that economists -are theorising in speaking of "customary" wage. It will be said that the -steady replacing of hand labour by machinery, and of old machines by -improved machines, breaks up the continuity of wages, and weakens the -element of custom. A simple illustration from a trade I know very well -will show how far this is true. In the cotton thread trade, -spooling--that is, winding the thread on the small bobbin familiar to -every work-basket--was for many years done by women sitting at single -machines not unlike sewing machines, filling one spool at a time. The -customary wage was sixpence per gross of 200-yard spools; a good worker -could spool at least four gross per day, and make twelve shillings a -week. As in all industries, machinery was gradually introduced by which -cunning arrangements of mechanism did the greater part of the work; -instead of turning out one spool at a time the girl now watched the -machine turning out six, or nine, or twelve spools. When these machines -were introduced, how were the wages determined? For a few weeks the -girls were put on day wages, and when the machines were in good working -order, and the average production per machine had been ascertained, the -piece-work rate was fixed so as to allow of the girl making the same -average wage as she did before. That is to say, if the new machine -turned out in the same time six gross for every one gross turned out by -the hand machine, the price of labour per gross was reduced from -sixpence to one penny, and the wage continued at the customary level. So -far as sacrifice or skill goes, there was no reason why the worker -should get more, as, on the whole, it required less skill and attention -to turn out the six gross than it did to turn out the one. Thus it is, I -believe, over all the textile manufactures, with the exception, perhaps, -of weaving. The introduction of new processes displaces labour, but the -labour left does not get higher wages. - -This, then, is the first conclusion I would come to: that in more cases -than we would believe the wage of women-workers is a "customary wage," -fixed at a time when the world was poorer, and capital was more -powerful. - -This conclusion is, I think, strengthened by the case which, at first -sight, would seem to refute it. The great outstanding exception to low -wages in women's industries is, as before noted, in the Lancashire -weaving. - -There, not only are the rates of piece-work the same, but men and women -do exactly the same work side by side, practically under the same -Factory Act restrictions, and earn equal wages, namely, an average of -from 17s. 1d. in Carlisle to 21s. 4d. in Burnley. - -But there is an exceptional circumstance in their case. It is that the -women are in the same strong Trade Union with the men, and under the -same obligations to the Union, and that any attempt to reduce the wages -of the one sex would be resisted with the whole strength of both. But -what if this Union were to break down? - -It is as certain as anything based on experience can be that in a few -weeks, or even days, it would be possible for the employers to reduce -the wages of the women-workers; that, rather than lose their work, women -would consent to the reduction; that, as they accepted lower wages, men -would drop off to other industries, and would cease to compete for the -same work; and that, in a comparatively short time, power-loom weaving -would be left, like its sister cotton-spinning, to women-workers -exclusively, and wages fall to the general level of women's wage. For -what we are apt to forget is the constant inducement before the employer -to reduce women's wages. There are two ways in which a manufacturer can -add to his profits. One is by getting up his prices, the other by -reducing his costs. In the present state of competition we know what the -chance of getting up prices is, unless there is some element of monopoly -in the case, and even then it generally requires a combination or -syndicate of makers. But the employer is always looking out for ways of -reducing cost. Theoretically, the most obvious way of all is by reducing -wages. In men's trades, where reductions of wage are jealously watched, -employers think twice, however, before they try that particular -reduction of cost. In many factories, again, women's wages are purely -customary, and employers would not think of touching them. But in the -factories where wages are customary and almost fixed, the wages are also -_low_. If the customary wages in cotton-spinning were 16s. a week -instead of 10s., I venture to think that employers, in times of keen -competition, would be inclined to try a reduction. I mean that, if the -customary level of women's wages is 10s., the reason why it does not go -lower is chiefly because it cannot. - -And here, I think, we are at the root of the matter. In looking over the -field of factory industries, in order to arrive at an average of women's -wages, it has struck me that the variations from the average of 10s. a -week are comparatively small. This is not an average made up from -widely different wage-bills, and from widely varying individual wages, -but from pay sheets that show small amounts of variation on one side or -other. - -This definiteness of average wage seems to me most explicable on the -supposition that women's wages are very near the only quite definite -level that political economy has ever pointed out, the level of -subsistence. - -There are two ways, known to theory, of determining wage. In a -progressive society, where wealth is rapidly increasing, the tendency -will be towards payments by _results_, that is to say, by value of -product. Product being in this case the result of the co-operation of -land, labour, and capital, the problem is to find the share in that -product which is economically due to labour--that is to say, the share -"attributable" to the efficacy of labour. In a poor or backward society, -again, where labour and capital are struggling with an unfriendly -environment, and the return to industry is still uncertain, the risk and -the chances of speculation in the return are left to the only class who -can take risks, the capitalists. - -England long ago passed from the latter to the former description of -society, and of her increased wealth the men-workers have obtained, we -may suppose, something like a share corresponding to the increased value -of the joint product. But, owing to want of organisation of -women-workers, it is yet possible to pay women by the other -standard--namely, according to their _wants_--and to keep them at the -same level of wage as they were content to take half-a-century ago. - -It seems to me, in fact, that while men's wages, unless in the case of -unskilled workers, are determined ultimately by the value of product -which is economically "attributable" to their work, women's wages are -determined by the older and harsher law. "The wages, at least of single -women," said Mill, "must be equal to their support, but need not be more -than equal to it; the minimum in their case is the pittance absolutely -required for the sustenance of one human being.... The _ne plus ultra_ -of low wages, therefore (except during some transitory crisis, or in -some decaying employment), can hardly occur in any occupation which the -person employed has to live by, except the occupations of women." - -But, indeed, it is a lower depth to which women's wages have fallen than -the "sustenance of one human being." There may be persons that think -10s. a week is sufficient to keep a grown-up factory girl, living by -herself, in healthy and decent life. It certainly is true that in many -cases it has to serve till she accepts the release of marriage; but -surely the marriage of the English girl, factory or otherwise, is a -matter too serious to have the escape from a miserable wage added to its -attractions. It is sufficiently obvious that this level of wage was -never determined by sustenance, but by the competition of the "single -woman" with married women and widows who will take any wage rather than -see their children starve, with girls sent into the factory to add their -few pence per week to the earnings of the head of the house, and with -children. - -If this is so, what are the remedies? They are, briefly, organisation -and enlightenment of the public conscience. - -First, organisation is necessary to protect women against employers and -against themselves--the one no less than the other. The true enemies of -the workers' organisations are, on the one hand, the grasping employer, -and, on the other, the "blackleg" worker. By the grasping employer I -mean the employer who really wishes to make a gain at the expense of the -people whom he employs; it is easy to see why he dislikes the trade -union. But the good employer--if he could only lift his horizon a -little--would see that he requires the help of the trade union, inasmuch -as he cannot keep up the wages if the workers do not assist him. The -best, the most amiable and just manufacturer, must sell his goods at the -same prices as his rivals. If these rivals, by securing low-priced -labour, can reduce the prices of their goods, he is almost forced to -reduce his wages. Consequently, if the trade unions could prevent -low-priced labour being offered they would most materially assist the -great majority of employers--for I am sanguine enough to believe that -most employers are anxious to pay their workers as high a wage as they -can. But the best employers are helpless to remedy the evils of a class -of workers who are hopelessly at war among themselves, and ready to take -each a lower wage than the other. Where a girl, coming out of a -comfortable home, is willing to take ten shillings a week because to her -it is "pocket money;" where the mother of five will take eight shillings -because her husband is out of work and she is the sole bread-winner; -where the mother of ten will accept six shillings because she has so -many mouths to feed; where the girl just in her teens will take four -shillings because she is a little girl--where all these different -women, with different motives, are competing against each other for -equal work, there is no remedy but the severe one of _preventing_ these -poor souls from dragging down the wage of each other. If women are ever -to get a fair day's wage on the ground of a fair day's _work_, as -distinguished from the wage determined by a woman's necessity, it will -only be by the old remedy of combination and the protection of the -average working woman against the more helpless members of her own sex. - -But, second, enlightenment of the public conscience must supplement -organisation. It should not be difficult to convince educated people -that women's work should be paid on the same principle as that of -men--that is to say, according to their product, and not according to -their wants; and to make them pay, or insist on the worker being paid, -equal wages for equal work. But the point on which enlightenment does -seem very much needed is that of the supposed necessity for low wages. - -I do not know how there could be any such necessity unless it was the -case that labour and capital, like land in some countries, had entered -on the stage of decreasing returns, and had, moreover, gone so far on -that down grade that the additional returns grew more slowly than -population--and no one has even suggested such an idea. I have already -tried to point out the fallacy that low prices explain low wages. It is, -however, perhaps advisable to note that they do not even, to any great -extent, condone, much less justify them. - -Probably we are all familiar with an argument like this: Consider, it -is said, the great fact that calico is twopence a yard. Every woman in -England may now be clad in cotton fabrics which, a century ago, were -beyond the purchasing power of a queen. Beware how women are encouraged -to ask and to stand for higher wages, or calico will again be put beyond -the reach of any but queens. I confess I never heard this caution -without remembering Carlyle's indignant reply:--"We cannot have -prosperous cotton trades at the expense of keeping the Devil a partner -in them." The weakness of it will become obvious if we carry the matter -a little further and argue that if we can succeed in reducing women's -wages still more, say, to 5s. per week, we shall have a considerable -reduction in calico, and bring it within the reach of still poorer -people. - -It is Dickens, I think, who speaks of a horse that was fed on a system -which would have reduced his cost of upkeep to a straw a day, and would, -no doubt, have made him a very rampageous animal at that if, -unfortunately, the horse had not died! The idea that cheapness of goods -makes up for everything in the workers' circumstances is, perhaps, the -most deplorable of current fallacies. It is no less than that of -mistaking the whole end and aim of industry. The goal of economic effort -is not accumulation of wealth, but the support of wealthy human -beings--not "goods," as Aristotle told us long ago, but the "good life." -True economical cheapening of production is cheapening of natural powers -_outside_ of man--not cheap labour, but cheap machinery, cheap -organisation, cheap transit. This is a kind of cheapening of product -which can go on indefinitely. From the dawn of civilisation man has -been turning a hostile or indifferent environment into a rich and -friendly one. For ages, indeed, constant war hindered this conquest of -nature. It is only in this century that comparative peace among nations -has allowed the majority of men to give all their time and thought to -the economical life, and even yet the locusts of standing armies eat up -great part of our harvest field. But the changes which have been made on -the earth, as we know it, the natural resources of matter and force now -under our control, the complex and sensitive organisation which knits -the world together, all point to possibilities of wealth beyond the -wildest dreams of last century. There is some fatal leak in our -industrial system if every child in Great Britain this year is not the -heir of a richer heritage, at least of richer possibilities, than the -child of last year. If our fathers a generation ago earned 20s. by day -labouring, we should be earning 40s. by day labouring; or, if we are -still earning only 20s., the 20s. now should buy what 40s. did then. - -Now, as this suggests, there are two lines which the economical progress -of the workers may take--that of advancing wages or that of cheapening -products. Which of these is preferable? Without entering on any more -discussion, two considerations may show that there is no comparison -between the two, so far as the workers are concerned. - -First, the ideal condition of average human life is a condition of -well-paid wage earning; of steady assured labour, which does not strain -or stress, and is crowned visibly by the fruit of its own exertion. -There is nothing more depressing to the thoughtful economist than the -waste, positive and negative, which comes of disorganised labour; where -the working man and his wage are the sport of speculation, and the -period of high wages and overtime is succeeded by periods when the -worker is thrown on the streets to learn the bad lesson of spare time -without culture, and of leisure without rest. It is of small comfort to -the working man that the manufacturer and merchant share the bad time -with him, and that stocks are thrown on the market at "ruinous -sacrifices." In vain is the cheap sale advertised in sight of the -penniless buyer. - -Second, while from one point of view it is all the same whether a -worker's wage is raised from 20s. to 40s. a week, or whether everything -he buys is reduced by 50 per cent., the balance of advantage is not so -simple as this. If the wages are raised the worker alone gets the -benefit. If commodities are reduced in price those who consume -them--namely, the whole community--get the benefit. If, by reducing -Tom's wages, you reduce the price of commodities which Tom, Dick, and -Harry buy, Tom divides the economic advantage, such as it is, with Dick -and Harry. Thus reduction of wages is never fully compensated by -reduction of prices. The seigniorage of current commodities is borne, -not by the community but by the workers. - -Thus, I repeat that, while the fact that wider circles of population get -the advantage of cheap goods is some mitigation of the evil, it is no -justification of it. There is no reason why products should reach wider -and wider circles, except that the cheap products are a gain to the -wider circles. And if this gain tends to be outweighed by the evils of -reduced wages, calico at twopence a yard may be too cheap. - -But if there is still some question whether, economically, it is -justifiable and advisable to organise workers to ask higher wages, and -to educate the public conscience to pay them, it may be settled, as -regards women at least, by this simple consideration. Wealth in Great -Britain, according to Mr. Giffen, increases annually by 3 per cent., -while population increases by only 1·3 per cent. That is to say, wealth -increases more than twice as fast as population. In the light of this -statistic it _cannot_ be economically necessary that women's -remuneration for labour should remain at the subsistence level. If this -was a fair wage fifty years ago, it cannot be so now. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Women's Wages, by William Smart - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOMEN'S WAGES *** - -***** This file should be named 52959-8.txt or 52959-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/9/5/52959/ - -Produced by WebRover, Chris Curnow, Martin Pettit and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Women's Wages - -Author: William Smart - -Release Date: September 2, 2016 [EBook #52959] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOMEN'S WAGES *** - - - - -Produced by WebRover, Chris Curnow, Martin Pettit and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="center"><a name="cover.jpg" id="cover.jpg"></a><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2">Women's Wages</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center">"Give her the wages of going on, and not to die."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> - -<h1>Women's Wages</h1> - -<p class="bold space-above">BY</p> - -<p class="bold2">WILLIAM SMART, M.A.</p> - -<p class="bold">LECTURER ON POLITICAL ECONOMY IN QUEEN MARGARET COLLEGE<br /> -AND IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW</p> - -<p class="bold space-above">GLASGOW<br />JAMES MACLEHOSE, <span class="smcap">St. Vincent Street</span><br /> -PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY<br />1892</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center">A paper read before the <span class="smcap">Philosophical Society of Glasgow</span>,<br /> -9th Dec., 1891.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2">WOMEN'S WAGES.</p> - -<p>It is not necessary to prove that women's wages are, as a rule, much -under those of men. In the textile trades of Great Britain, which -constitute the largest department of women's work, the average of -women's wages is probably—in Scotland it is certainly—about ten -shillings per week. This labour is not by any means unskilled, as anyone -who has ever seen a spinning or weaving factory knows. Twenty shillings -per week, however, is a low average for a man possessing any degree of -skill whatever.</p> - -<p>In a paper read before the British Association at Cardiff, Mr. Sidney -Webb gave some valuable statistics on the subject. Women workers he -divides into four classes—manual labourers, routine mental workers, -artistic workers, and intellectual workers. The two latter classes may -be dismissed in a word. Sex has little to do in determining the wages of -their work. A novelist, a poet, a writer of any sort, is under no -disadvantage that she is a woman, while in many departments of artistic -work women have an obvious advantage. But in the third class, that of -routine mental workers, Mr. Webb finds that women's earnings are -invariably less than men's. In the Post Office and Telegraph<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> -Departments, in the Savings Banks, and in the Government offices -generally, where women do precisely similar work with men, and are -sometimes, as in ledger work, acknowledged to do it better, they -invariably earn much less. The largest experiment yet made in this -direction is that of the Prudential Life Assurance Office, which began -in 1872 to substitute women clerks for the lower grades of men clerks. -There are now 243 ladies employed in routine clerical work, which they -are said to do more efficiently than men. The salaries run thus:—£32 -for the first year, £42 for the second, £52 for the third, and £60 on -promotion—probably half of what men might be expected to accept. In -Glasgow lady typists and shorthand writers are offering their services -from 9.30 till 5, with one hour for dinner, for £25. In the teaching -profession women almost invariably receive lower remuneration than men. -The Education Department Report of 1888-90 gives the average wage of -teachers throughout England and Wales as £119 for men and £75 for women. -Similarly low salaries are found under the London School Board, in the -Secondary Schools, and in girls' schools generally as compared with -boys' schools.</p> - -<p>The exception noted by Mr. Webb is interesting and, I think, suggestive. -In the United States, where women teachers often alternate with men in -the same school, the salaries of women are habitually lower. But in the -State of Wyoming, where women have a vote, the salaries are equal.</p> - -<p>Coming now to the manual workers, Mr. Webb takes the statistics -furnished by the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> Labour in 1884. -These give the average of 17,430 employés in 110 establishments in Great -Britain, and 35,902 employés in 210 establishments in Massachusetts, -representing in both cases 24 different manufacturing industries. The -women's wages show a proportion of one-third to two-thirds the amount -earned by men, the nearest approach to equality being in -textiles—cotton goods, hosiery, and carpetings in Great Britain, -woollen and worsted goods in Massachusetts. Without going further into -statistics, I think we may assume the fact of a great disparity between -men's and women's wages, and go on to ask the reason of it.</p> - -<p>If we put the question in general terms, Why is a woman's wage less than -that of a man? there are some answers that spring to the lips of -everyone. First, it is said that it is a mere question of supply and -demand. Second, that women are not usually the sole bread-winners in the -family to which they belong. Third, that their standard of living is -lower than that of men. Fourth, that their work is not so good as that -of men. Fifth, that the commodities made by women have, generally, a -less value in the market. There is truth in all these answers, but I -propose to show that each of them is at best a half truth, raising as -many questions as it settles.</p> - -<p>The first answer given is that women's wages are low because of the -equation of supply and demand. Only certain branches of industry are -open to women. In these there is a great number of women competing for -employment. They are free to take work or refuse it. But over the -industrial community there are found enough women willing to take the -low wage which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> employers find they can offer, and free competition -determines the level. If two women run after one employer, wages will -fall; if two employers run after one woman, wages will rise.</p> - -<p>Those who think this answer an easy and satisfactory one must be unaware -of the unsettling of many problems since Mill's day. Mill had no less -than three laws of value—that of the Equation of Supply and Demand, -that of Cost of Production, and that of Differential Cost of Production. -The former law, he said, applied to goods of which the quantity was -naturally, or artificially, or temporarily, limited, and it was, -besides, the sole determinant of the value of labour. But then Mill was -assuming a definite Wage Fund—a fixed portion of the circulating -capital of the country predestined for the payment of wages. This -definite sum, and no more, was to employ all the workers, however many -they might be. If, then, wages fell, the reason was obvious—there were -too many workers. Wherever Mill touches on low wages we have a sermon on -the evils of over-population, and his favourite explanation did not fail -him here. "Where employers take full advantage of competition, the low -wages of women are a proof that the employments are overstocked." But -this is logical only if "overstocking" is the sole possible cause of low -wages—which might be doubted even under a Wage Fund theory. But the -Wage Fund is now one of the antiquities of political economy. Since -Jevons we have looked for the measure of value in marginal utility; for -the value of productive goods in their marginal utility as instruments -of production; and for the value of labour in the value of its products, -and not in any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>predetermined fund divided out among a variable number -of workers by the action of supply and demand. And where invention is -constantly widening and strengthening our power over natural resources -and increasing the productiveness of labour, the presumption is against -the idea that over-population is even a strong factor in modern wages.</p> - -<p>There is, indeed, no formula in political economy on which the modern -economist looks with more suspicion than that of Supply and Demand. The -operation of supply and demand as determining market price is, of -course, perfectly definite; but to say that any concrete price is fixed -by the equation of supply and demand is a mere statement of an observed -fact which says little, unless one knows and defines accurately what is -involved in the "supply," what is involved in the "demand," and how -those two factors stand related to each other. The price of railway -stock to-day is determined by supply and demand; the price of a man's -labour, whether unattached or working under restriction of the Trade -Union, is determined by supply and demand; the earnings of the poor soul -who sells her body on the streets are determined by supply and demand. -What does this formula tell us unless we know the complex phenomena -which determine the supply of railways and the demand for transit, the -supply of labourers and the demand for work, the supply of hapless women -and the demand for human souls? To say, then, that women's wages are low -because there are enough women who take the low wage, is little more -than to say that wages are low because people are paid low wages. We -have still to ask: What are the factors, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> influences, or motives, -that make women take a wage below that of men, and what are the factors -that make employers offer the low wage?</p> - -<p>Apart from the general insufficiency of this first answer, it is enough -to remember that the determination of wage by this mechanical equation -of supply and demand could be tolerable only under absolutely free -competition, which would involve perfect mobility of labour. But labour -has this unique characteristic among all commodities that, physically, -it is not mobile; historically, it has never been mobile; and ethically, -it should not be mobile. A man's labour is—and should be—his life, not -the mere instrument of providing a living; and, therefore, in the -question of wages it is impossible to ignore the ethical consideration. -Civilised society could not hold together if the workman and workwoman -could only get their fair share of the world's boundless wealth by -changing their trade, their residence, or their country, as a higher -wage offered itself.</p> - -<p>The second reason given is that, women not being as a rule the sole -bread-winners of the family, their wage is auxiliary to that of its -head; the woman's wage is, as it were, "found" money in the household -purse. Underlying this statement is an assumption which is at least -questionable. It is that the economic or wage-earning unit is the -<i>family</i>. This is an old-time idea which, however beautiful and -desirable, is a little out of place in the conditions to which the -factory system has brought us. Once-a-day it was recognised that -children had a far greater claim on the persons who brought them into -the world than we now allow. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> was thought that the one wage should be -earned by the head of the house, and should be large enough to maintain -the wife and daughters without outside work, and to educate and -apprentice the sons till they were able to hive off for themselves. Any -money earned by the junior members of the family was, in this case, -supplementary, and determined by a different law. Perhaps in time we may -come back to this view. Mr. Frederic Harrison is sanguine that we shall. -But meantime the factory system has changed all that, and it is scarcely -worth while looking for laws of wage in a condition of family life which -does not now obtain. Putting aside the objections that many married -women are not members of a family, and that many married women and -widows are the sole bread-winners of the family, it is perhaps -sufficient to point out that this answer would not be taken as -explaining or justifying a low wage among what we call the "better -classes." It would not be counted an excuse or reason for a publisher -asking a lady novelist to accept a lower price for her books, or for a -patient offering a lower fee to a lady doctor. If the sex of the author, -artist, musician, doctor, intellectual or artistic worker generally, has -nothing to do with her remuneration, why should sex determine the wage -of the factory girl?</p> - -<p>More clearly does this objection emerge when we consider the third -answer. It is said that the inferiority of women's wage is owing to -their standard of living being less than that of men. It is true that a -woman, as a rule, eats less, drinks less, and smokes less. Tea to her -is, unfortunately, both meat and drink, and it would be counted -extravagance in a working woman if she took<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> to eating twopence worth of -sweets a day as balancing the man's half ounce of tobacco. But I am -afraid a woman's standard of life differs from a man's rather in its -items than in its cost. I have yet to learn that her standard of dress -is less than ours, and I am quite sure she takes more medicines, and -spends more on doctors' bills. As in the former case, we change our view -according as we look at different classes. Among the "upper" classes, as -we call them, the woman's standard of life is very much higher than that -of the man. It is only because the poor seamstress, when put to it, will -live on a shilling a-day, while a man will become a tramp or go to the -workhouse first, that we say the woman requires less.</p> - -<p>In a word, it is not that the physical and mental needs of woman are -less than the physical and mental needs of man, but that many women, for -some reason or other, can be got to accept a wage that will only keep -them alive. If so, the answer, translated, simply runs: women's wages -are less than men's because, for some reason, women accept less.</p> - -<p>It is to be noted, however, as very significant of the popular ideas -about wage, that the second and third answers just given account for the -standard of women's wages by the <i>wants</i> of the worker. A woman's wage -is low because she does not <i>require</i> a high wage, whether it be because -her father partly supports her, or because her maintenance does not -require so much. Now it may be said in passing that it is quite against -our modern ideas to represent wage as regulated by wants. Under a -socialistic régime, indeed, the wages of all might be thrown into a -common<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> purse, and divided out according to the wants and necessities of -each; but under an individualist régime, like the present, what the -worker <i>is</i> is nothing, what the worker <i>does</i> is everything. To assess -the value of goods by the cost to the human life which makes them is to -take ground on which the world is not prepared to follow the economist -whatever it may say to the moralist. It is not the cost in killed and -wounded that decides the battle. To the purchaser it is indifferent -whether the cloth he buys wore out the fingers and heart of a woman, or -only took a little tear and wear out of a machine. The one question he -asks is: How will the cloth wear? <i>Caveat venditor.</i> If a man-worker, -then, is supposed to get a high wage when he produces much, a low wage -when he produces little, why should a woman's wage be determined by -another principle? We cannot hunt with the individualist hounds and run -with the socialist hare.</p> - -<p>The next two reasons, accordingly, put the low wages of women on quite -different and more scientific ground, namely, that of the work they -produce. Of these the fourth says that women's work is not so good as -men's. As a statement of fact this is probably true. It is no -disparagement to the sex to acknowledge that, if women are necessarily -off work several days in the year because of little ailments common to -them, if they are insufficiently nourished relatively to their needs, or -are naturally more delicate than men, their wage at the week's end will -be less than that paid to the average man who scarcely knows what a -headache means. Or, if the woman is compelled by law to leave the -factory at six, while the man can stay and work overtime; or, if she is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> -driven to the street for an hour at meal-time, while the man can gulp -his tea within the walls and get back to his work half-an-hour earlier; -we can see that the wage of the man will be higher by the time and the -overtime he works. Similarly, if it requires not only skill but strength -to work a heavy loom; or, if a man can do two jobs, the one alternative -to the other; or, if he can "set" and "point" his tools as well as work -his machine, while a woman has to go to the mechanic's shop for these -things; in cases like these—and they are, of course, very many—we -require no answer to our question. It is simply a case of better wages -for better work—better in quantity, or in quality, or, at least, in -advantage to the employer. That is to say, if men and women are working -side by side at the same trades, and under similar conditions, it -requires little explanation to say why the wages of men should be 20s. -and the wages of women, say, 15s.</p> - -<p>If this were all, the inferiority of women's wage would not be primarily -a question of sex at all; it would be very much a question of unskilled -labour as compared with skilled labour. Women would get lower wages than -men for the same reason as the dock labourer gets lower wages than the -artisan, and the artisan than the physician. The world might suffer -nothing in pocket by adopting the principle—which, however, I am afraid -is yet far from general acceptance—of Equal Wages for Equal Work, -whatever the sex of the worker. And here it is that Mr. Sydney Webb -deserves thanks for having accented a fact which we all indeed knew, but -of which few of us saw the bearing. It is that men and women do not, as -a rule, produce similar work<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> alongside of each other, and that any -argument which compares the wages of both sexes, without taking account -of this fact, quite misses the mark.</p> - -<p>To recur to the facts adduced by Mr. Webb: it seems to be impossible, he -says, to discover any but a few instances in which men and women do -precisely similar work in the same place and at the same epoch. In the -tailoring trade, for instance, men do one class of garment, women -another. In the cigar trade women make the lower-priced goods. So in all -the Birmingham trades. In paper mills men do the heavier, women the -lighter work. In cotton spinning, the mule tenders, called, <i>par -excellence</i>, "spinners," are men, while women take all the preparatory -processes. But there is one exceptional trade where this does not hold. -"Weaving," says Mr. Webb, "appears to be nearly always paid at equal -rates to men and women, whatever the material or locality." This seems -to hold as regards the weaving industry generally, from the hand-loom -weavers of Ireland to the carpet weavers of our own country; and it -extends also to other countries, as, for instance, to the cotton and -silk weaving in France. That is to say, as I understand, that the -piece-work rate is the same, although in special cases strength may give -the man an advantage in handling heavy looms. But what is most -remarkable is that, over the great weaving district of Lancashire, not -only are the rates of piece-work the same, but men and women do exactly -the same work side by side in the same sheds, practically under the same -Factory Act restrictions, and earn equal wages, namely, an average from -17s. 11d. in Carlisle to 21s. 4d.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> in Burnley. This, however, is -distinctly and notably an exception. Women compositors, for instance, in -London, receive uniformly lower piece-work rates for exactly similar -work; for the same work the union man gets 8½d., the non-union man -7½d., and the woman only 5½d. As an exception, however, we shall -have reason to recur to the Lancashire weavers later.</p> - -<p>We thus come naturally to the fifth answer given to our question. It -points to the fact that the kind of commodities made by women, or in -women's trades, have, generally, a less value in the market—they are -"cheap" goods. Even as a mere statement of fact this proposition is very -loose. What are cheap goods? In the absence of any absolute standard of -value, goods can be called cheap only as comparing present prices with -prices of similar goods in the past, or in consideration of their cost -of production as compared with other goods. If the former is meant, all -modern manufactured goods are cheap, and this would not explain the -lower wage of one sex. If the latter, it is prejudging the whole -question. But to make this statement an explanation, and suggest that -cheap prices are the cause of low wages, is surely to turn the causal -connection the wrong way about; for the value of goods such as we are -speaking of depends, according to the recognised theory, on cost of -production, and of this cost of production wages is a large part. It is -true that the connection between prices and wages is one on which -economic science is somewhat slow to speak. We may not now be so -confident as Mill was when he put the proposition "high prices make high -wages" among common erroneous notions. And we may not be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> prepared to -say with him that the effect of prices on wages is only indirect, -through increased profits adding to capital. But we are not prepared, I -think, to go in face of all our old faith, and declare that the <i>prices</i> -of goods determine their cost of production!</p> - -<p>But as a fallacy is not usually put in a bald form, we must consider the -concrete case in which it is assumed. Let us take an industry—say a -branch of the textile trade—where labour constitutes a great part of -the costs of production. Suppose that for many years low prices have -ruled for the particular class of goods made. Any attempt to raise wages -here meets with an obvious criticism. It seems most plausible to say: It -is the wants of the people which have established this demand. The -present price is all the consumers can or will pay, and the low wage is -all that these prices can afford.</p> - -<p>This is probably quite true. Once the prices are down, it is difficult -to see how wages can be higher. But what brought down the prices? Is it -ever the case that the world of consumers, practically, go to the -workers and ask them to accept low wages on the ground that they can -only afford low prices? Experience does not bear this out. So far as I -know, the initiative of reducing prices, as a rule, comes from the -producers, not from the public. The history of prices of most -commodities of large use is something like this. They are at first dear, -and only a small circle of consumers can afford them. As the production -becomes organised, and capital brings more and more appliances to bear -on the manufacture, the goods become<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> cheaper, and a wider circle of -demand is found. But below each circle of actual demand there are -endless and widening circles of potential demand ready to take any -particular commodity if it can be had cheaper. Thus, as, up to a certain -point, large production is cheap production, there is always an -inducement to the manufacturer and merchant to produce more cheaply. If -they can reduce prices, and get down to a lower circle of consumers, it -is well known in practical experience that the increase of trade which -follows is out of all proportion to the degree of the reduction of -price. But when this movement has gone on for some time, and goods have -become very cheap, the demand has a way of appearing imperative, -especially if these goods have entered into the standard of comfort of -great classes. The goods become "necessary;" the low prices meet a -"natural" demand; and these prices are just enough to yield an average -profit to the employer—for profit must have its average, or capital, as -we are often warned, will fly the country.</p> - -<p>This is all quite true. The fallacy emerges only when it is suggested -that the low prices are the cause of low wages. Here there are two -possibilities: (1) All the reduction of cost may have been effected by -perfecting machinery, organising production, and bringing producer and -consumer together—that is to say, all the cheapening may have come from -the side of capital. In this case there is no room for laying low wages -at the door of cheapened prices. Or (2) as wages constitute one of the -chief costs in all production—in the United States, for instance, they -make up on an average a quarter of the manufacturing cost—they may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> -have been reduced along with the capital expenses, and the low prices be -partly due to these low wages.</p> - -<p>What this does prove is, of course, that it was the reduction of wages, -among other things, that made the reduction of prices possible. But what -it was proposed to prove was the converse proposition, that the low -prices made the low wages! To put it, then, in the plausible way, that -the reduced prices "do not allow" of higher wages, is simply a very -pretty specimen of the argument known to the vulgar as "putting the cart -before the horse." What, however, we may very well learn from the wide -acceptance of this view is that it is a very difficult thing to raise -wages once they are down; and it may suggest that employers have some -responsibility in reducing, and the public some responsibility in giving -excuse for them being reduced.</p> - -<p>Thus we seem to be still without an adequate answer to the question: Why -is a woman's wage less than that of a man? But the last answer, -unsatisfactory as it is in itself, seems to me to have a value in -something further that it suggests. It seems to draw attention to a -notable fact, and to point the way to a new formulation of the whole -question. The fact is this, that women are in almost exclusive -possession of certain branches of trade, and that, in these branches, -the commodities made are recognised by public opinion as being "cheap." -The observation of most of us must confirm Mr. Webb's conclusion, that -there are certain trades where men do not compete with women; indeed, -that there is a well marked relegation of women-workers towards certain -ill-paid trades; while, at the same time, there is as well marked a -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>movement of men towards the better-paid trades. If this is so, the -difference of wages between men and women takes a new and definite -aspect. It is not a difference of wage between workers of various -degrees of efficiency. It is very much a question of difference of wage -between two non-competing groups, and of groups where the levels of wage -are determined by a different law. The question is not: Why are men and -women employed in equal work at unequal wages? but, Why are men and -women employed in different groups of employment? and, comparing these -two groups, Why is the wage level of skilled female labour lower even -than that of unskilled male labour?</p> - -<p>The reasons may be found in observing a course of events constantly -under our eyes. There are always certain trades where women are still -competing more or less directly with men. In these, women are under -certain disabilities of sex which make their work less remunerative or -less profitable to their employers. They are, as I said, physically -weaker; subject to little ailments which make them less regular in -attendance; more liable to distraction of purpose; perhaps worse -educated; and, probably, more slipshod in their methods. They get less -wages because, either in quantity or quality or both, their work is not -so good. This competition of the women tends to drag down wages for both -sexes, and, as a consequence, men hive off to trades where there is more -opportunity, or retain certain better-paid branches within trades, and -certain trades or branches of trades are left to women. Whenever this is -the case the women lose the advantage of competing with workers who will -not accept wages under a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> certain level. Their disabilities, thus become -cumulative, are taken advantage of by unthinking or unscrupulous -employers, and all other employers are forced to follow.</p> - -<p>If tailors and tailoresses are working side by side making coats and -vests indifferently, it is not difficult to understand why the men may -earn 20s. to the women's 15s. But if, in time, the men get all the -coats, and the women all the vests, we have a good reason why the -women's wage goes down to 10s., while the men's remains at 20s.</p> - -<p>Or equally common is another course of events. A certain industry, we -shall suppose, has been worked exclusively by men. By a "happy" -invention machinery is introduced which can be tended perfectly well by -women. For a little time the dead weight of custom will probably retain -men to tend these machines, and the wage will certainly not fall below -the average wage of men generally, which we shall, for simplicity's -sake, put down at 20s. But, either gradually or as result perhaps of a -dispute or strike on the part of the men, women are introduced to tend -the machines. Does their pay bear any proportion to that of the men they -replace? It is quite certain that the women's remuneration will not be -determined by the 20s. wage which they displace, but will be fixed at -something like 10s. If we ask why, the only answer given is that 10s. is -the "customary wage" for women.</p> - -<p>People who have no practical experience are apt to think that economists -are theorising in speaking of "customary" wage. It will be said that the -steady replacing of hand labour by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> machinery, and of old machines by -improved machines, breaks up the continuity of wages, and weakens the -element of custom. A simple illustration from a trade I know very well -will show how far this is true. In the cotton thread trade, -spooling—that is, winding the thread on the small bobbin familiar to -every work-basket—was for many years done by women sitting at single -machines not unlike sewing machines, filling one spool at a time. The -customary wage was sixpence per gross of 200-yard spools; a good worker -could spool at least four gross per day, and make twelve shillings a -week. As in all industries, machinery was gradually introduced by which -cunning arrangements of mechanism did the greater part of the work; -instead of turning out one spool at a time the girl now watched the -machine turning out six, or nine, or twelve spools. When these machines -were introduced, how were the wages determined? For a few weeks the -girls were put on day wages, and when the machines were in good working -order, and the average production per machine had been ascertained, the -piece-work rate was fixed so as to allow of the girl making the same -average wage as she did before. That is to say, if the new machine -turned out in the same time six gross for every one gross turned out by -the hand machine, the price of labour per gross was reduced from -sixpence to one penny, and the wage continued at the customary level. So -far as sacrifice or skill goes, there was no reason why the worker -should get more, as, on the whole, it required less skill and attention -to turn out the six gross than it did to turn out the one. Thus it is, I -believe, over all the textile manufactures, with the exception, perhaps, -of weaving.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> The introduction of new processes displaces labour, but the -labour left does not get higher wages.</p> - -<p>This, then, is the first conclusion I would come to: that in more cases -than we would believe the wage of women-workers is a "customary wage," -fixed at a time when the world was poorer, and capital was more -powerful.</p> - -<p>This conclusion is, I think, strengthened by the case which, at first -sight, would seem to refute it. The great outstanding exception to low -wages in women's industries is, as before noted, in the Lancashire -weaving.</p> - -<p>There, not only are the rates of piece-work the same, but men and women -do exactly the same work side by side, practically under the same -Factory Act restrictions, and earn equal wages, namely, an average of -from 17s. 1d. in Carlisle to 21s. 4d. in Burnley.</p> - -<p>But there is an exceptional circumstance in their case. It is that the -women are in the same strong Trade Union with the men, and under the -same obligations to the Union, and that any attempt to reduce the wages -of the one sex would be resisted with the whole strength of both. But -what if this Union were to break down?</p> - -<p>It is as certain as anything based on experience can be that in a few -weeks, or even days, it would be possible for the employers to reduce -the wages of the women-workers; that, rather than lose their work, women -would consent to the reduction; that, as they accepted lower wages, men -would drop off to other industries, and would cease to compete for the -same work;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> and that, in a comparatively short time, power-loom weaving -would be left, like its sister cotton-spinning, to women-workers -exclusively, and wages fall to the general level of women's wage. For -what we are apt to forget is the constant inducement before the employer -to reduce women's wages. There are two ways in which a manufacturer can -add to his profits. One is by getting up his prices, the other by -reducing his costs. In the present state of competition we know what the -chance of getting up prices is, unless there is some element of monopoly -in the case, and even then it generally requires a combination or -syndicate of makers. But the employer is always looking out for ways of -reducing cost. Theoretically, the most obvious way of all is by reducing -wages. In men's trades, where reductions of wage are jealously watched, -employers think twice, however, before they try that particular -reduction of cost. In many factories, again, women's wages are purely -customary, and employers would not think of touching them. But in the -factories where wages are customary and almost fixed, the wages are also -<i>low</i>. If the customary wages in cotton-spinning were 16s. a week -instead of 10s., I venture to think that employers, in times of keen -competition, would be inclined to try a reduction. I mean that, if the -customary level of women's wages is 10s., the reason why it does not go -lower is chiefly because it cannot.</p> - -<p>And here, I think, we are at the root of the matter. In looking over the -field of factory industries, in order to arrive at an average of women's -wages, it has struck me that the variations from the average of 10s. a -week are comparatively small. This is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> not an average made up from -widely different wage-bills, and from widely varying individual wages, -but from pay sheets that show small amounts of variation on one side or -other.</p> - -<p>This definiteness of average wage seems to me most explicable on the -supposition that women's wages are very near the only quite definite -level that political economy has ever pointed out, the level of -subsistence.</p> - -<p>There are two ways, known to theory, of determining wage. In a -progressive society, where wealth is rapidly increasing, the tendency -will be towards payments by <i>results</i>, that is to say, by value of -product. Product being in this case the result of the co-operation of -land, labour, and capital, the problem is to find the share in that -product which is economically due to labour—that is to say, the share -"attributable" to the efficacy of labour. In a poor or backward society, -again, where labour and capital are struggling with an unfriendly -environment, and the return to industry is still uncertain, the risk and -the chances of speculation in the return are left to the only class who -can take risks, the capitalists.</p> - -<p>England long ago passed from the latter to the former description of -society, and of her increased wealth the men-workers have obtained, we -may suppose, something like a share corresponding to the increased value -of the joint product. But, owing to want of organisation of -women-workers, it is yet possible to pay women by the other -standard—namely, according to their <i>wants</i>—and to keep them at the -same level of wage as they were content to take half-a-century ago.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p><p>It seems to me, in fact, that while men's wages, unless in the case of -unskilled workers, are determined ultimately by the value of product -which is economically "attributable" to their work, women's wages are -determined by the older and harsher law. "The wages, at least of single -women," said Mill, "must be equal to their support, but need not be more -than equal to it; the minimum in their case is the pittance absolutely -required for the sustenance of one human being.... The <i>ne plus ultra</i> -of low wages, therefore (except during some transitory crisis, or in -some decaying employment), can hardly occur in any occupation which the -person employed has to live by, except the occupations of women."</p> - -<p>But, indeed, it is a lower depth to which women's wages have fallen than -the "sustenance of one human being." There may be persons that think -10s. a week is sufficient to keep a grown-up factory girl, living by -herself, in healthy and decent life. It certainly is true that in many -cases it has to serve till she accepts the release of marriage; but -surely the marriage of the English girl, factory or otherwise, is a -matter too serious to have the escape from a miserable wage added to its -attractions. It is sufficiently obvious that this level of wage was -never determined by sustenance, but by the competition of the "single -woman" with married women and widows who will take any wage rather than -see their children starve, with girls sent into the factory to add their -few pence per week to the earnings of the head of the house, and with -children.</p> - -<p>If this is so, what are the remedies? They are, briefly, organisation -and enlightenment of the public conscience.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p><p>First, organisation is necessary to protect women against employers and -against themselves—the one no less than the other. The true enemies of -the workers' organisations are, on the one hand, the grasping employer, -and, on the other, the "blackleg" worker. By the grasping employer I -mean the employer who really wishes to make a gain at the expense of the -people whom he employs; it is easy to see why he dislikes the trade -union. But the good employer—if he could only lift his horizon a -little—would see that he requires the help of the trade union, inasmuch -as he cannot keep up the wages if the workers do not assist him. The -best, the most amiable and just manufacturer, must sell his goods at the -same prices as his rivals. If these rivals, by securing low-priced -labour, can reduce the prices of their goods, he is almost forced to -reduce his wages. Consequently, if the trade unions could prevent -low-priced labour being offered they would most materially assist the -great majority of employers—for I am sanguine enough to believe that -most employers are anxious to pay their workers as high a wage as they -can. But the best employers are helpless to remedy the evils of a class -of workers who are hopelessly at war among themselves, and ready to take -each a lower wage than the other. Where a girl, coming out of a -comfortable home, is willing to take ten shillings a week because to her -it is "pocket money;" where the mother of five will take eight shillings -because her husband is out of work and she is the sole bread-winner; -where the mother of ten will accept six shillings because she has so -many mouths to feed; where the girl just in her teens will take four -shillings because<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> she is a little girl—where all these different -women, with different motives, are competing against each other for -equal work, there is no remedy but the severe one of <i>preventing</i> these -poor souls from dragging down the wage of each other. If women are ever -to get a fair day's wage on the ground of a fair day's <i>work</i>, as -distinguished from the wage determined by a woman's necessity, it will -only be by the old remedy of combination and the protection of the -average working woman against the more helpless members of her own sex.</p> - -<p>But, second, enlightenment of the public conscience must supplement -organisation. It should not be difficult to convince educated people -that women's work should be paid on the same principle as that of -men—that is to say, according to their product, and not according to -their wants; and to make them pay, or insist on the worker being paid, -equal wages for equal work. But the point on which enlightenment does -seem very much needed is that of the supposed necessity for low wages.</p> - -<p>I do not know how there could be any such necessity unless it was the -case that labour and capital, like land in some countries, had entered -on the stage of decreasing returns, and had, moreover, gone so far on -that down grade that the additional returns grew more slowly than -population—and no one has even suggested such an idea. I have already -tried to point out the fallacy that low prices explain low wages. It is, -however, perhaps advisable to note that they do not even, to any great -extent, condone, much less justify them.</p> - -<p>Probably we are all familiar with an argument like this:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> Consider, it -is said, the great fact that calico is twopence a yard. Every woman in -England may now be clad in cotton fabrics which, a century ago, were -beyond the purchasing power of a queen. Beware how women are encouraged -to ask and to stand for higher wages, or calico will again be put beyond -the reach of any but queens. I confess I never heard this caution -without remembering Carlyle's indignant reply:—"We cannot have -prosperous cotton trades at the expense of keeping the Devil a partner -in them." The weakness of it will become obvious if we carry the matter -a little further and argue that if we can succeed in reducing women's -wages still more, say, to 5s. per week, we shall have a considerable -reduction in calico, and bring it within the reach of still poorer -people.</p> - -<p>It is Dickens, I think, who speaks of a horse that was fed on a system -which would have reduced his cost of upkeep to a straw a day, and would, -no doubt, have made him a very rampageous animal at that if, -unfortunately, the horse had not died! The idea that cheapness of goods -makes up for everything in the workers' circumstances is, perhaps, the -most deplorable of current fallacies. It is no less than that of -mistaking the whole end and aim of industry. The goal of economic effort -is not accumulation of wealth, but the support of wealthy human -beings—not "goods," as Aristotle told us long ago, but the "good life." -True economical cheapening of production is cheapening of natural powers -<i>outside</i> of man—not cheap labour, but cheap machinery, cheap -organisation, cheap transit. This is a kind of cheapening of product -which can go on indefinitely. From the dawn of civilisation man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> has -been turning a hostile or indifferent environment into a rich and -friendly one. For ages, indeed, constant war hindered this conquest of -nature. It is only in this century that comparative peace among nations -has allowed the majority of men to give all their time and thought to -the economical life, and even yet the locusts of standing armies eat up -great part of our harvest field. But the changes which have been made on -the earth, as we know it, the natural resources of matter and force now -under our control, the complex and sensitive organisation which knits -the world together, all point to possibilities of wealth beyond the -wildest dreams of last century. There is some fatal leak in our -industrial system if every child in Great Britain this year is not the -heir of a richer heritage, at least of richer possibilities, than the -child of last year. If our fathers a generation ago earned 20s. by day -labouring, we should be earning 40s. by day labouring; or, if we are -still earning only 20s., the 20s. now should buy what 40s. did then.</p> - -<p>Now, as this suggests, there are two lines which the economical progress -of the workers may take—that of advancing wages or that of cheapening -products. Which of these is preferable? Without entering on any more -discussion, two considerations may show that there is no comparison -between the two, so far as the workers are concerned.</p> - -<p>First, the ideal condition of average human life is a condition of -well-paid wage earning; of steady assured labour, which does not strain -or stress, and is crowned visibly by the fruit of its own exertion. -There is nothing more depressing to the thoughtful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> economist than the -waste, positive and negative, which comes of disorganised labour; where -the working man and his wage are the sport of speculation, and the -period of high wages and overtime is succeeded by periods when the -worker is thrown on the streets to learn the bad lesson of spare time -without culture, and of leisure without rest. It is of small comfort to -the working man that the manufacturer and merchant share the bad time -with him, and that stocks are thrown on the market at "ruinous -sacrifices." In vain is the cheap sale advertised in sight of the -penniless buyer.</p> - -<p>Second, while from one point of view it is all the same whether a -worker's wage is raised from 20s. to 40s. a week, or whether everything -he buys is reduced by 50 per cent., the balance of advantage is not so -simple as this. If the wages are raised the worker alone gets the -benefit. If commodities are reduced in price those who consume -them—namely, the whole community—get the benefit. If, by reducing -Tom's wages, you reduce the price of commodities which Tom, Dick, and -Harry buy, Tom divides the economic advantage, such as it is, with Dick -and Harry. Thus reduction of wages is never fully compensated by -reduction of prices. The seigniorage of current commodities is borne, -not by the community but by the workers.</p> - -<p>Thus, I repeat that, while the fact that wider circles of population get -the advantage of cheap goods is some mitigation of the evil, it is no -justification of it. There is no reason why products should reach wider -and wider circles, except that the cheap products are a gain to the -wider circles. And if this gain tends<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> to be outweighed by the evils of -reduced wages, calico at twopence a yard may be too cheap.</p> - -<p>But if there is still some question whether, economically, it is -justifiable and advisable to organise workers to ask higher wages, and -to educate the public conscience to pay them, it may be settled, as -regards women at least, by this simple consideration. Wealth in Great -Britain, according to Mr. Giffen, increases annually by 3 per cent., -while population increases by only 1·3 per cent. That is to say, wealth -increases more than twice as fast as population. In the light of this -statistic it <i>cannot</i> be economically necessary that women's -remuneration for labour should remain at the subsistence level. If this -was a fair wage fifty years ago, it cannot be so now.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Women's Wages, by William Smart - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOMEN'S WAGES *** - -***** This file should be named 52959-h.htm or 52959-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/9/5/52959/ - -Produced by WebRover, Chris Curnow, Martin Pettit and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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