WOMAN
THE
AMIA B LE A
N OT A S
MI C
T HE ECONO
—
BLE S S H E R
B OO K A S
IT S O U NDS
AND S OCIAL
CONTR IBUT I ON O F
CANAD IAN WOMEN
WAR WORK
AND RECONS TR U CT ION
37
N ot
as
A mia ble
a
Boo k
It S ou
as
BY
MARJ ORY MA CMURCHY
T OR O NT O
PUB LIS H ER IN C
S B GU ND Y
.
ANA DA
FO R
.
HU MP HR EY MILFOR D
A RIO
COPYRIGHT
,
BY GEOR GE H. DOR
1 9 1 6,
AN COMPANY
P RINTE D IN THE U NITE D S TA TES
O F AME RICA
CO NTE NTS
PA C )
’
S
O R GANI S A TION S
.
WOMEN
.
TH E
B U S INE S S WOMAN
35
.
TH E
C O LLEGE WO MAN
59
IV.
TH E
C O U NT R Y WOMAN
V
THE
WOMAN A T H OME
1 07
WOMEN AN D T HE WA R
1 31
I
II
III
.
VI
.
TH E
W O MA N
NOT AS
AMIABLE A B OOK AS
—
BLE S S H E R
C HA P T E R
W O MEN
’
S
IT S O UNDS
I
ORGAN I S AT I O N S
six chapters of this little book are
devoted to studies of w ome n in C an a d a
The purpose of these studies is to find an
ans wer to such questions as What are the
most promising developments amongst
Cana di an women : and in what ways are
they preparing for the greatest economi c
and social contribution which they can
?
make to Canadian national life
’
Women s orga ni sations o ff er a p romis
ing starting point for a study of the C a
nadian woman S upposed to be efficient
and progressive they are O ften spoken of
TH E
.
,
.
,
9
T HE WOMA N B L E SS HER
—
as representative of the best work of
women in Canada An analysis of their
characteristics and the actual work which
th ey have accomplished canno t fail t o p ro
duce interesting results
A ccording to a careful estimate two
hundred and fifty thousand women belong
to national organisations in Canada But
so far no question has been asked as to the
influen c e these associ ation s exert on the
development of Canadian women Many
of the most thoughtful among this mem
b e r sh ip already must be conside ring i f
their work is producing any app reciable
e ff ect in higher standards of living But
it is necessary to discover first if they have
decided what these higher st andards ought
to b e
Broadly speaking wonl erfs grg arg sa
.
.
,
'
.
.
.
.
,
w
‘
O I CV CD.
The first group consists of su ch lar g e
,
10
’
WOME N S O R GAN I SA T I ONS
w
the N ational Council of the 4:
Women of Canada the Imperial O rder of
’
the D aughters of the E mpl r e Women s
’
Institutes the Young Wome n s Chr istian
’
As sociation the Women s Chr istian Tem
’
e r a n c e U ni on and W omen s Cana di an
p
Clubs The N ational Council with its
affiliated societies is estim ated to have a
membership of
The Daughters
of the E mpire an affiliated society has a
’
membership of
Women s Insti
in O n
t u t e s have a membership of
tario alone These Institutes and H ome
’
M akers Clubs comprising the most re
markable body of women in Canada are
organised in all the provinces and must
number from
to
The second group includes clubs for the g
Sm
jy g f l fi e r amre travel soc ial s cie nge
"
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
z
,
m
,
i
t
associations of nurses women j
u
m
a
l
s
s
g
teachers and business women ; political o r
N
fi
~
,
,
11
« \VE I
"
‘
I HE
WOM AN B L E SS HER
w—
-
bot h C onservative and L ib
’
so cietiE S J an d women s trade
rag
e
g
unions
O rgani sations in this second
group are c omp arativelyM small ; they deal
more or less with the work of occup ations
c
n
and have d e
d
i
e
r
s
g ow s
t
ed
t
ark ab le group consists of
T h e(t hird r em
M
n usg on ary
l n the var i ous r e ll g l ou s
d en omin atigms a n d has a membership of
not under
These missionary so
c ie t ie s are not affiliated with any other
body and are not included as societi es in
’
the W omen s Council grou p They were
the rst great
fi
v elo among women in Canada and have
p
retained a special chara cter T he income
which this tlfird group collected managed
and designated in an average year before
an d
the war wa s between
’
N o other women s orga ni sa
tion raises money of any large amount
altogether for altruistic purp oses Dur
a
n
i
t
on s
s
a
i
g
‘
.
,
m
.
d
~
N
“
~M
M
M
M
k
.
ad v
- “w
“
W
M
”
.
,
.
12
’
WOM E N S O R GAN I SAT I ONS
ing the war however all the women of
Canada in local and national organisa
tions and as individuals are earning and
/
2
collecting hundreds of thousands of (10 1
lars for Re d Cross p atriotic and relief
work
With membershi p statis ti cs such as
these why is the estimate of the total
membe rship placed as
It is not unusual f or a w oman jo h el on g i o
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
K
- uo - v
“
I
may be a member of a mi ssionary society
’
the W C T U a Women s Canadian
Club a Chapter of the I O D E and
if she has j oined these four sh e probably
wi ll not escape j oining one or two more
It is literally irn p o ssib le to tell how many
women are actuall y represented in na
t ion al orga ni sations
Two hundred and
fifty thousand is a conservative estimate
But important as such a membership is it
is well to remembe r that the Census of
,
.
.
.
.
,
.
.
,
.
.,
,
.
.
.
,
,
13
T HE WOMAN B L E SS HER
—
p laces the number of women in C an
ada between fifteen and eighty years of
age at
For one woman who
belong s t o a national assoc iation eigh t do
not
C ana dia n women have a geniu s for or
an isation
t
i
a
on a
ac
The
n
t
e
o
f
r
r
a
h
l g
g "
their associations must be regarded as an
achievement of real social value It is
considered by them as a matter of cour se
for a single association to have branches
in H alifax S t J ohn Charlottetown Q ue
bec O ttawa M ontreal Toronto W inni
peg R egina Calgary E dmonto n Van
couver and Victoria To have succeeded
again and again in establishing and main
tai ni ng this ing rcommun icatiQLl E tWQ e n
province and pr ovince i_s__a genuine contri
b ution to national life
1911
.
~H
a
-m
t
—m
w
./
-
w
-
n fi
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
’
,
,
,
,
.
’
.
exception of the missionary societies are
claiming largely to speak for the women
,
(W N
W
.
M
W
,
14
W
’
WOM E N S O R GAN I SA T I ONS
their leaders are being put for
ward as the leaders o f all Cana di an
women This statement is specially true
of the
group It is necessary to
a
d
n
a
a
C
f
;
Q‘
.
.
The national n fi gsio n any g o ciet ie s
devoted
to
broadly speaking are who
ly
l
e
r
and
have
consistently
k
n
gr
fissiqna
w
fl
ry
fused to express an opinion on public or
social questions They began to organise
thirty or forty years ago convinced that
their work could be best accomplished by
k eeping to a single purpose
We have then two great groups of
’
en s ass o ciations in Canada h o t
I
— fl— n
A
m
g p '
d '
w
,
,
,
fi
.
,
.
,
with a W
e to be
he (I in public a ff airs and to represent
Canadian women ; the other with a single
'
,
15
T HE WOMAN B L E SS HER
—
business develo p ment p ub
lish in g maga zines books and leaflets sup
p orting and managing hospitals emp loy
ing educating and supporting m iss ion
aries and deaconesses collecting and des
ig n at in g an income of somewhat Under
half a million This business is carried
on almost altogether b
The only charge for management is l es s
than three per cent
The
/
tions in b
S he is ddlg a g e d S he is a woman with
t r aor d in ary
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
W
.
fl
so
-
.
/
me w
o rk outsid e .
home ma kin g is
-
at
A s the e mp loymen t of
d
r
e
n
r
s
s
e
n
d
t
u
e
o
t
o
p
,
a
woman in charge of a house whose chil
dren are not in need of constant attention
,
,
has su fficient initiative and energy
to make
16
T HE WOMAN B L E SS HE R
—
efficien cy of any work
h
li
s
e
d
p
ac
tually
m
ac c o
.
In the early days of wh at are now na
t ion al associations the movement began in
a single mee t ing in one city
It h as
spread gradually over thousands of miles
and multiplied into hundreds of meetings
The simple p ro cedure and work have
grown extremely comp lex O ne of the
greatest dangers which has threatened
’
and still threaten s women s nation al o r
i
sa t ion s IS the W
an
g
W
W
business and all the authority in o ne city
d
DIirin g the last t
v in c ial councils or board s h ave been de
v e lo p e d to take over a good deal of the
work and some of the authority of the cen
tral board But discontent with the pol
icy o f keeping the management in one city
has been unmistakable in di ff erent p arts
of the country part icul arly in the west
The p eculiar d ifficulty and temptation of
.
.
.
,
,
m
m
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,
18
’
WOM E N S O R GAN I SAT I ONS
O ntario is that the central board in many
cases originated and has remained in O n
tario
If l eaders are compet ent they mu st:
bu sme ss and authority
can be di st rib ute L arpp n g st provincial
.
.. -
‘
m
m ay
be
but they must be
arran g ed In this way Canadian women
can actually work powerful ly and im
mediately for national un ity N o one can
possess sufficient vision imagination and
knowledge to decide details of manage
ment for the whole of this country in any
one city
Is any one unwise enough to think
’
that the management of women s or
?
n
a
i
sa
t
i
o
n
s
is
unimportant
O
n
h
con
t
e
g
t rary it is a quest ion of real states
manship E very woman who is a mem
ber of a national association should test
the character of her association by the de
r ef
.
.
,
.
,
.
19
T HE WOMAN B L E SS HER
—
gree
a
/
in
which
i
.
uthor ty
it
distributes business and
W
Few people outside the management
have any adequate ide a of the exacting
duties of a typ ical o fficer in a national or
ani sat ion
S
uppose
this
middle
aged
g
married home making woman is the p res
ident of a central board In this case she
takes charge regularly of as compli c at e d
a business meeting a s any business man
would care to handle S he is a member
of fifteen or t wenty committ ees each re
sponsib le for a section of work neglect of
which would mean a breakdown in some
what important a ff a irs
H er work in
volves endless conferences consultations
planning and thought It is as hard work
as the paid skilled occupation of an aver
age man or woman Women who are o f
-
.
,
-
,
.
.
,
,
.
,
.
.
20
,
’
WOM E N S O R GAN I SAT I ONS
of national organisations in reality
have d eveloped an occupation of their own
Their home circum stances must be such as
to allow them to give the time T he cir
c u mst an c e s of the president must be ex
S urely the uninformed citi zen
c ept ion al
will say there are p ractically no Canadian
women who follow this occu p ation O n
the contrary there must be four or five
hundred women in Canada who are mak
ing an occupation of being an officer in a
national association The occu p ation is
having a decided effect on the character
of Canadian women S ome idea can be
formed now as to the importance of
whether the management of these associa
tions is autocratic or demo cratic T here
is always of course the additional consid
e r at ion that so much organi sation
r
oce
p
dure and m achinery of work tend to de
stroy equality in social co o pe rat ion and
fi cers
.
.
.
,
,
.
,
.
.
.
,
,
,
-
21
TH E
WOMA N B L E SS HER
—
make the business of ru n ning an associa
tion an end in itself
And now dear madam do you enj oy
making a pedestal with the president on
it s summit out of the o fficers of your as
sociation ; or do you favour a p lain de
’
mocr a cy each woman s word and brains
’
as good as another s with due use of tal
ents possessed by officers and members
?
alike Is a president a presiding o fficer
a woman like the rest of you or do you
feel that she is a member of a royal family
a reigning president a s it were and you
instinctively speak lower in her presence ?
The reflection is somewhat comi c but the
democratic and the ruling ideals both ex
ist in Canada It is not cert ain that the
rul ing ideal is not more prevalent than it
’
used to be in women s organisations
There are two clear conceptions of the
n ature of o fficers O ne is that the officers
.
,
,
'
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
.
2%
’
WOM E N S O R GAN I SA TI ONS
It is their
be i
the res t of th e m
em rs h p
task to discover the prevailing views of
maj orities and minorities to reconcile and
compromi se to bind together the di ff erent
sections of the organisation S uch o ffi
cers rarely have their own way ; they have
to devise plans which meet with the ap
proval of every one or at least a large
maj ority Above all they must have in
timate friendl y relations with as large a
number of m embers as possible
The
st rength of a democratic organi sation is
great ; but it can o nl y be obtained through
‘
the self denying labours of o ic e rs who
serve the membership regardless of self
interest while th e membership must co
ope rate actively an d sympa thetically
The other conception of leadership is
th at the officers are super i or E W E M
They have authority and the
members wait to be told what is to be done
The etique tt e of approaching and address
.
-
“
,
,
.
,
.
,
.
fl
-
,
.
,
.
23
TH E
WOMA N B LE SS HER
—
in g
the p resident of this kind of society is
considerable and it is rigorously enforced
M en have foibles as well as women A nd
something about the autocrati c organisa
tion reminds one i rresistibly of politics
Certainly there are women politi cians as
well as men p oliticians
s
organisation unl ess it is democratic o ffe r s
a field or the d evelop ment o f a type of
o ffi ciaLl ad y w ho se a ut ho rit y it is tru e
s
,
derived only fro m t he m e mbe rsh ip al
though the o nl oo er would never b elieve
k
such to be the cas e so remote seems to be
h er r e spon sIbility to those who have
elected her In this class of organisation
decisions are arrived at in a hidden way
A few ele cted leaders and a few others
wh o establish an unexplained influence
decide what is to be done A plain mem
ber may be on a committee and may wait
t o be s ummoned to a m eeting which will
frame a decision or a p olicy to be sub
.
.
.
,
W
.
,
‘
5
w
’
H
,
w
w
~
,
,
m
‘
,
.
.
,
,
.
24
TH E
WOMAN B L E SS HER
—
are told without exerting an intelligent
c o operation in work make it possible for
officers to be autocratic There is no real
,
-
,
.
rea l authori ty e
p u and your equals
y W
_
’
T hese exact types of women s asso c1a
i KS In ay not be found in Canada But
organisations with a tendency to be auto
cratic and those with a tendency to be
democratic do exist in this country The
first are harmful T he second the dem
(
l
o
m
a
oc
i
a
l
op
ti
n
o cr
o
o
t
e
s
er
r
o
a
g
i
p
j
g
which ii of g re aLbeng fi t to ou r c itize n ship
What is the degr ee of e ffi cien cy in the
’
work actually carried on by women s o r
?
n isa t io ns in Canada
N
ot
what
kind
a
g
of work do they do but in what way is
?
their work done A s far as the missionary
societies are concerned the question may
be put to one side They have s h own that
the givings of women generally savings
,
.
.
,
’
/
.
.
.
,
b
‘
-
-
.
.
‘
u
,
,
.
—
26
’
WOM E N S O R GAN I SA T I ONS
are of economic import ance What e f
f e ct the placing of responsibility for mis
sion ary giving on women rather than on
men and women together has had on
church and social life would be a d ifficul t
question to determine Perhaps any e f
feet this may have had is now largely
’
ended having be en met by the L aymen s
’
M issionary work and the Young M en s
Christian A ssociation Whether or not
the business management of the mis
sion ar y
societies is saving of labour
could o nl y be determined by a special
study
Their contribution of v olun
tary work is so great and has been so
beneficial to the contributors that the
uestion
may
not
be
a
pressing
one
In
q
’
the same way the work of Women s In
’
st it ut e s and H ome M akers
Clubs may
be exempted from discussion Their o r
a
n
i
sa
t
i
o
n
is
comparatively
recent
and
the
g
work of the association is practically iden
.
.
,
.
.
,
,
.
.
,
27
WOMAN B L E SS HE R
T HE
—
tical with
ion of its members
,
making Th e man ag e men t
ly under the governm ents o f
7
the provinces
The harshest criticisms brought against
’
wom en s organisati ons are that the result
of the ir work is inefficient rather than e ffi
cient and that there is too p revalent a
tendency to emp hasise the importance of
re ce iving credi t for work accomplished
O nl y p rolonged d iSciplin e tzgch e s
It
women or men how to work well
is j ust this disci p line of work which the
’
average member and officer of women s
organisations have not experienced
’
Partly as a consequence of this wome n s
at
a ss c at ion s or rather some of them
g
j j
t ach too grea t importance to having
p laced o u_record especially in th e public
press that
the first to begin the
e
-
.
.
,
.
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
the h eat
Q8
and labour of the
’
WOM E N S O R GA N I S AT I ONS
day and that in fact no one else is e n
titled to any credit What diff erence does
it make who does the work if the work is
?
done It is seldom a useful business this
determining of credit The gr eat oppor
’
t un ity of women s association s in Canada
is to grow more e fficient and thorough in
their work to raise their sta ndards so that
what they do no matte r how sma ll in
.
,
.
,
,
’
Wom en s org a ni sations have helped to
nd
develop social fe
friendl iness
m
“
fl
m
qngfl
,
u
m
They wi ll continue to
do so if they resolutely determine to r e
main democratic and promote democracy
If they are inefficient in work and un d e m
o cr at ic in management
they will fail in
leadership They may not fa il wit h the
few the
but they will do so with
a
w
n
g
g
s
.
,
.
,
29
WOMAN B L E SS HER
T HE
—
the many the
women of
Canada
’
Are women s associations especially
national organisations likely to be perma
nent characteristics of modern society or
will they disappear be merged in some
?
thing better L astly have they helped
and are they helping now to promote com
?
Is
r a d e sh ip between men and women
’
the typ e of woman de velo p e d Joy women s
if there is such a typ e bet
ass g ciafib n s
ter fitted to work in partner sh ip with m en
?
as well as wi th other women
It would take much knowledge and
courage p erhaps useless courage to
answer these questions fairly
W omen should ask themselves how
ever why the l r o rg am sat ions have not
made a particular study of the s p ecial
business of women for this special busi
ness me rg es into nati onal q uest ions to
solve which every e ffort must be made b y
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
-
—
—
,
—
—
.
,
,
,
30
’
WOM E N S O R GAN I SA T I ONS
the men and women of Canada W h y
have not these a ssoc iatien s s t udi ed thor
oug hl y and S cientifically t he sub j
ect of iff
fant mortality collected money to em
ploy experts if necessary but made the
savin g of infant life and the health of
?
children their special care The reply will
The an
be made that they have done so
swer to this assertion is Where are your
statistics and where is the improvement
which would have taken place as sure as
’
sunr ise if women s orga n isations had
?
done thi s work The rate can be reduced
to 50 in
it is double this in Canada
’
n
o
t
have
women
s
orga
sations
n
i
h
W y
stu di ed the food supply of Canada ; why
?
have they not issued foo d bulletins
Ten mill ion dollars was spent last year in
C anada practically by women in buying
imported fresh fruits and vegetables D o
’
any of the women s organisations know
?
this W ill not Canadian women take the
.
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,
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,
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,
.
,
,
.
31
T HE WOMAN B L E SS HER
—
trouble to work out a diet as interesting
as palatable and as wholesome using our
?
own food At the same time if they so
desire they should press for the growing
of fruit and vegetables under glas s in
Canada
The economic welfare of the country is
a question which men an d women must
It cannot be solved unl ess
solve together
women who buy co operate with men Wh o
produce manufacture export and imp ort
The experience of the business women of
Canada is that men welcome c o operation
whenever the co o p er ation is skilled and
efficient There are not enough of u s to
do the work of Canada in any case T he
co o p eration of women c annot be lacking
’
It: is particularly the work of women s as
sociations to help in the solution of these
questions and othe rs such as public health
sympathetic unity between the east and
west of Canada the education of boys and
,
,
,
,
.
.
-
,
.
,
“
-
,
-
.
.
-
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,
,
3%
,
TH E
B U S IN E S S
WOMAN
C HA P T E R
T H E BU S IN E S S
II
W O M AN
busines s woman is the mos t int er
esting product of p aid employments for
women in Canada But how far sh e is
likely to change soc ial conditions is a ques
tion which has not yet bee n answered
O ver
Canadian women are in
p aid occupations In reality a far larger
proportion than this total indicates are
employed for wages at some time in their
lives For telephone o p erators the aver
age length O f service is o nl y three years
A young woman remains in stenography
on an average between six and seven years
The wage or salary earning woman may
leave one paid occupation to enter an
other bu t this does not hap pen often
TH E
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37
T HE
WOMA N B L E SS HER
—
When sh e gives up her employment as a
rule S he d oes so to marry and she be
comes a home maker The maj ority of
girls go to workW he n they leave school
A very large p ro p ortion therefore of
women in Canada are first in p aid em
ployment and afterwards enter the more
important occupation socially and e co
n o m ic a lly of creating the homes of the
country S tatistics from the Uni ted S tates
indicate that a fraction over 8 7 p er cent
of all women in that country marry T he
percentage if there is a di ff erence is
likely to be higher in Canada There were
approximately
more men than
women in Canada before the war S ince
that date between
and
men have enlisted for active service
’
The largest women s employments are
manufacturing and domestic work
These occupations well repay study with
regard to their e ff ect on women es p eci al ly
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38
T HE
B U S INE SS WOMA N
in arrivin g at th e influe nce paid employ
ment is having on the later employm ent of
home making But the most notice able
contr ib utio n made by any p aid O ccupa
life o f women is tha t
S he is a modern
development and we know little of her
Wh at is business doing for Canadian
women and what are business women do
?
ing for our national life
First we should de fine what a business
wgman is
Business women themselves
reserve the title for a woman worker who
has made g ood whose character and out
look have noticeably become more efficient
and practical in actual a ff airs through
her working experience They do not
mind so much what sh e is doing but they
judge her by the way sh e is doing it
E very woman wo uld be eligible for a busi
’
ness women s association who r ecognises
that her work has a Tight to her tim e
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39
T HE WOMA N B L E SS
—
H ER
t h ought the be st th at is in her and wh o
carri es th is belief into a ctual practi ce A s
an
examp l e of the way wage ear ning
women make u se of th ese distin ctions
among th emselves it is a fa ct that a shop
girl and a saleswoman belong to diff erent
“
‘
Do not say shop
r anks in business life
’
girl
a business woman will remonstrate
“
A sh o p girl h as no intere st in h er work
A saleswoman is a business woman with
”
an out look
The term busine ss woman
is co n fined generally s p eaking t o women
in c ity occup ations working in co op era
tion with m en
A ll p aid em ploye es who are women do
no t recognise the claim of their work
N either do all p aid employees who are
m en But th e p o in t of view of merely o c
’
c upyin g a p osition for one s own c on ve n i
ence is more p revalent with girls T his is
p artly a consequence of the fa ct that the
girl is likely to remain in p aid emp loyment
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40
T HE
WOMAN B L E SS HE R
—
’
favourably on the business woman s char
acte r S he becomes tolerant and recog
n ise s that her side is not the only side of a
question S he knows too how hard peo
ple have to work in order to earn a living
or do anything worth doing S he under
stands the anxiety o f work and business
and she makes a ll owance for nervousness
and irritability S he learns good sense
helpfulness and non inte rference and sh e
has some knowledge of a ff airs
S he
comes to know after a while that it is not
easy to keep a position or remain at the
head of a business and also that other
people are able frequently to do better
work than one can oneself This may
sound like exaggerated praise of a busi
ness woman ; but there are many Canadian
women from whom the description might
h ave been taken Character like this is a
contribution to the life of a country
E mployers and business people gen er
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42
TH E BU S IN E S S
WOMAN
ally believe that paid
under
present conditions is
preparation
a girl can have for n arr ie d life This
statement never ceases to seem strange ;
but it has not been successfully refuted
The opinion of the business world is that
the average home does not a ff ord as good
a preparation for home ma king as paid
mploy
m
ent
N
ot
only
are
k
n owledge of
e
people and tact acquired in business life ;
but a g irl learns more about money how
to spend plan and save kno wledge which
is a prime requisite for efficient home
making than if she remained in the aver
age home assistin g but not responsible
f or house keeping as is generally the case
with girls who are not in p aid employ
ment
The b usiness woman is not a revolution
S
he
is
not
likely
to
begin
any
out
ary
;
s tanding or conspicuous movement among
women H er time is fully occupied and
fl
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l
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.
T HE W O MA N B L E SS HER
—e —
for th is re ason sh e is more likely to belon g
to an average typ e than those who have
much spare time The business woman
’
values the average woman s life more
than she does anything els e A s soon as
she is of sufficient age t o recognise reali
ties an age which com es early with her
since sh e h as t o deal with realities she
knows that nothi ng is of greater impor
At
t an ce t o her than to belong to a home
this point her ex p erience is not exactly
the same as that of the average home mak
ing woman
T he unm arried business
woman with a home either contributes
largely to its su pp ort or maint ains it alto
gether S he provides the income ; some
other woman makes the home The busi
ness woman knows that unless sh e earns
her salary or wages She h as nothing to live
on If she is maintaining a home she wi ll
have no money for the home unless she
earns it T o m anage always to h ave the
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4 41
B U S I N E SS WOMA N
T HE
money on hand helps her to understand
the work of a man with a home to sup
port Accurate inqui ry shows that while
very young girls at work receive part of
their support the average business woman
either is a large contributor to her home
or its sole support A home is practically
necessary how everL to the efficiencn the
business l vpman ; sh e cannot get on with
out it But beyond her ac t ual loss in
physical and mental efficiency work and
money onl y seem worth while to her if
“
they give her in return some one to love
“
’
and some one to take care of
There s
nothing in hav ing nobody to love and no
”
body to care what happens to you
is the
actual saying of such a woman H er con
tribut ion to national life therefore is
business efficiency and a strengthening of
home mak ing ideals
The business woman does not need the
’
act ivities of women s organisation s in the
.
,
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A
”
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45
,
T HE
W O MAN B L E SS
—
HER
ame way that these assoc iations are n ec
essary to the middle aged m arried woman
Wh en such associations d o a p peal to h er
they have definite aim s and do not take
u p much time It is iIn po ssible for her to
g o to frequent or lengthy meetings S he
h a s no time to undertake much extra
work I t is not uncommon however for
a business woman to j oin a reading club
s t udy art or music or belong t o such an
’
organisation as a W omen s Cana di an
Club S he wants to know about p ublic
a ff airs progress and the general knowl
edge which h as been accumulated in the
world S he is eager for recreation love s
going to the theatre concerts or a show ;
and the better business woman she is the
more likely she will be to b e fond of social
life Clubs to p romote social enj oyment
when su ccessfully managed are highly
ap proved of by business women A ll of
s
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46
T HE B U S IN E SS WOMAN
which proves that her type is normal and
healthy
S he does n ot believe that she is the most
lovable or fascinat ing type of woman
This description she reserves in her own
mind for a woman who has some leisure
and who can devote herself wholly to the
life of the ordinary woman
If her
mother is making the home where they
both live she b elieves that her mother is
a more lovable type of woman than any
business woman ca n be There is often a
fear in her mind that she herself may be
somewhat hard and unsympathetic b e
cause she knows real life rather intimately
and has to deal with situations quickly and
sometimes firmly S he has great respect
for gr ace and beauty and as far as she
can tries to copy those who are examples
H er dress is often a model in choice ; it is
so exactly suited to her emplo ment and
y
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47
T HE WO MAN B L E SS HE R
—
is as attractive as her surround ings
permit
H er e fficiency fairness insight and
the fac t that she is in business working
with men have enabled her to increase
comradeship in work between men and
women
H er friendshi p s with other
women are admirab le
‘
But what does the busine ss woman
?
th ink on the wh ole O f women at home It
is natural that she should j udge them ac
cording to their effic
iency in their own o c
c up at ion ; and sh e is a good j udge of the
way in which work is done S omething
which appears to be antagonis m exists in
the attitude of the business woman t o
ward s wom en who she thinks are no t
working out a full equiv alen t for wh at
ever share of life they have
R emember she is a very usual woman
with all the tastes and likings which be
l ong to usual p eo p le S he h as to sp e nd so
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48
T HE WOMAN B L E SS HER
—
h ave that sh e wants for her sala ry or
wages S he knows that they are not dif
fe ren t women from herself : it only h a p
pened that way W ell to say that she
does not regard her unoccupied or
slightly occupied sisters with a wholly
symp athetic eye is not too strong a state
m ent
T he not agreeable truth might as well
be faced that there is so me antagonism in
the attitude of even the efficient woman
who earns a salary to the woman who is
not self sup p orting But remember she
regards the woman who truly makes a
h ome a s S p lendidly self supporting O ne
would undertake to say that in the busi
’
ness woman s o p inion the efficient woman
at home is the woman above all others who
in an economic sense is best and m ost
ful ly self su pp orting What then is the
?
difficult y I s she merely j ealous of other
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50
.
T HE
B U S I N E SS WOMA N
women who have more and do not work
?
as hard as she does
Part of the explanation may be found
in her salary or wages whi ch are not often
large enough for the standard of living
that would satisfy her S he may have to
work too hard with consequent fatig ue
Al l over occupied people both men and
women would welcome more leisure but
it is not always true that they would know
how to spend it with real advantage or
enj oyment This is not a reason how
ever for not helping them to get leisure
The question of wages is one of the most
difficult in the world
The rate of pay
ment for women is part of the whole ques
tion of wages But pe rhaps the an t ag o
nism is caused more than anything else by
our false standards As long as we all b e
lieve that to have nothing to do plenty of
money more recreation than anything
else pretty clothes and an ex q uisitely
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51
‘
v ’
5
3
‘
(I
T HE
W OMA N B L E SS HER
—
cared for ap p earan c e are the outward
symbols of p erfect h app ines s for a
woman h ow c an we wonder that girls who
work for wages and even busines s
women obj ect t o their exclu sive p osse s
?
s ion by oth ers
B ut if the wage or salary earning girl
or woman does feel antagonistic occasion
ally sh e is mistaking an appearance for
what it is not reality What sh e really
wants is happiness If she had all the rest
and was unhap p y she would not be satis
fi ed
S he thinks happiness is secured by
the condi tion described above ; but to think
so is to b e deluded
This case is p ut ex
t re me ly of course ; few business women
feel in th is way But it is wise to remem
ber that the antagonism exists especially
a mong girls with longest hours and least
p ay who are not likely to be able to
value the externals of life wisely When
women know t h is e sp ecially those who b e
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52
T HE B U S I N E SS WOMAN
’
long to women s organisations it would
be truly national work for them to pro
mote sympathetic comradeship and unity
between the girls and women in paid o c
cup at io n s and those who work at home
and have leisure to use for good ends
There is a fee ling of comradeship already
amongst girls and women in paid employ
ments They may not belong to unions
but they are comrades nevertheless ; this
is specially true of the class described as
business women
’
The business woman s opportunity to
work for her country has never been
greater than to day under war conditions ;
it may be even greater in the coming time
of reconstruction L et her remember that
a comparatively high percentage O f the
whole number of women in the population
is engaged in skilled work ; probably no
other country in the world has afforded its
women an equal opportunity for entering
,
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53
T HE WOMAN B L E SS HER
—
skilled employments N ot only is this so
but the class of paid work in which women
are engaged is relatively a higher class of
work than in most countries It was once
said that women in the educated classes
in the O ld Country were O ften compelled
to take trifling work at low wages which
their brothers would think beneath their
social standing altogether There is now
apparently a vast revolution in the work
of women in G reat B ritain The question
of how war is a ff ecting the work of women
in Canada will be dealt with in another
chapter H ere it is desired to p oint out
that the skilled Canadian woman worker
h a s to day an unequalled opportunity to
use her training N o adequate study of
paid work for women in Canada can fail
to show that wage earning employment
on the whole is a useful and beneficial ex
e ve r th e
N
rie n c e for Canadian girls
e
p
less the fact that so many Canadian
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,
5 4:
T HE B U S I N E SS WOMAN
women earn wages and later marry makes
it important that paid occupations for
women sho ul d not interfere with the effi
c ie n cy of home making and the care of
children occupations in which the con
tribu t ion made by women to the state is
out of all comparison more valuable than
in any other
What women workers are specially de
?
sired in Canada
The supply of domestic workers never
approaches the demand In m ost manu
fa ct u rin g industries in which women are
employed the demand for workers is gen
although
e rally greater than the supply
this was not t rue in the depression of
1 913 14
It appears practically certain
that the need of factories for women
workers which is now (S eptember 1 9 1 6 )
great will increase once the re adj ust
ment following the war is over The de
mand h owever which is never fully sup
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55
T HE
WOMAN B L E SS HER
—
p lied is for the e fficient worker for skilled
and trained women in many oc cu p ations
and p arti cularly for women workers with
i n itiative and managing ability
S uch women are welcomed in to prac
tically every suitable o ccup ation in Can
ad a
T he attitude to women who work
There
is characteristic of the country
w as a t ime in every nation a pp arently
when it w a s thought un fi t tin g for g entle
women to have paid emp loyment E ven
yet in som e small unchanged circles of so
c ie t y it is considered grievous or astonish
ing There is now practically no employ
me nt in Canad a where mode rn o p inion is
surp rised to find a woman or even d isap
p roves of finding her It is true that
scarcely as yet do girl s of well educated
families expect to go to work exactly as
their brothers do When talking to the
C anadian busine ss w oman she will tell
you if the sub ect of how she h appe ned to
,
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56
T HE
C O L L E GE
WOM AN
II I
C HA P T E R
CO LL E GE W O M AN
THE
’
s
iversities of Canada are King
College Dalhousie A cadi a S t Franci s
avier N ew B runswick M ount Al l ison
’
L aval Mc Gill Bishop s College O ttawa
’
a
ueen
s
Toronto
Trini
t
y
Victori
Mc
Q
M aster W este rn M anitoba S ask atche
wan Al berta and British Columbia A ll
but two teach women students and grant
them degrees In the University of To
ronto with which the Universities of Trin
ity and Victoria are federated for the last
academic year the number of women
students w as
the number of men
The last published report of
’
Q ueen s University gives the number of
women students as 2 4 4 The number of
TH E
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61
T HE WOMAN B L E SS HE R
—
women
enrolled in fourteen other univer
sities are : Mc G ill 1 5 1 ; McMa st e r 5 4 ;
L ondon 6 0 ; M ount Al lison 38 ; Dal
housie 9 2 ; N ew Brunswick 2 2 ; Bishop
’
College 1 0 ; A ca di a 7 0 ; King s Col
9 ; S t Franci s
avier 30 ; M anitoba 1 5
S askatchewan 5 3; Alberta 5 5 ; Briti
Colu mb ia 1 5 1
T he number of women undergraduate s
is therefore over
The number of
women graduates is a matter of some
thousands p robably between five and S ix
thousand
’
In Q ueen s University t h ere is a dean
of women students whose duties include
advice with regard to stu di es supervision
of health and general well being
A
co uncil of women grad uates has prepared
a booklet instructing women students
traditions and customs of the u niversi
M ount Allison has a residence for wo
students of which a woman is
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62
.
T HE
C OLL E G E WOMAN
Alexandra H all is the residence for
’
women at King s College An alumnae
association manages Forrest H all which
’
is the women s residence at Dalhousie In
Toronto an adviser to women student s
has been appointed this year Previously
a general oversight of health and m anner s
was exercised by a lady su p erintendent
Three residences for women s t udents are
conn ected with Toronto University : S t
’
’
H ilda s Annes ley H a ll and Q ueen s
H all E ach is in charge of a lady p rinci
pal or dean At Mc G ill the R oyal Vic
toria College for Women ch iefly used as
a residence has at it s head a warden who
is a woman A s resident tutor in his
tory the warden is a member of the Fac
ul t y of Ar ts and is cons ul ted with regard
to the courses of studies to be p rescribed
for women students
The duties of these deans of women
s tudents lady p rincip als advi sers or
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63
,
T HE
WOMAN B L E SS HER
—
l ady
sup erintendents are confi ned t o
advising women students in their choice of
studies with regard to health and social
matters N o Canadian universi ty with
the except ion of Mc Gill has on it s faculty
a woman holding an o fficial posit ion with
regard to women students who h as au
th ority to discuss with other members of
the fa cul ty the curri cul um of studies to
be take n by women The universities of
Toron t o and B ritis h Columbia have
women as members of their senates ; but
in these universities the sena t e m erely ap
p roves courses o f st udi es as p rep ared by
th e faculty
University l ife for wome n in C anad a
di ff ers widely from th a t in G reat Britain
or the Unite d S tat es T h e acute contro
v er sy as to t h e admission of women
universities died down q uickly in C ana
But the fact that women h ave been
mitted t o p ra cti cally every C anadian
,
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6 4:
WOMAN B L E SS HER
T HE
—
ing from the control of a body of men to
that of one man But examples of both
methods of government are to be found
The president may have a great co n c en
t r a t io n of authority or he may be the first
authority among equals In the case of
women students since no woman member
of the faculty represents their inte rests
the authority seems to remain with the
university president altogether
H e needs to possess therefore some
spe cial knowledge of the types of women
that belo ng to Canada and particularly of
these types which are developing
He
may still ask why he should have this
knowledge Because he has the power to
determine how women shall be educated
at Canadian universities There is no one
certainly no woman whose duty it is to
confer with him about how women shall
be educated
In the world to day there is a romantic
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66
,
T HE
C OLL E GE WOMAN
and momentous mingl ing of types of
women S ome are developing some are
perfect e d types or near perfection and
some are vanishing A revolution is in
progress among these types which is non e
the less significant although there is little
to be seen of its development on the su r
face o f social a ff airs The novelist who
coul d see this revolution and these types
clearly has a world to Show of supreme in
t e rest
The economist the sociologist
more than all the university president
’
should be concerned with the women s
revolution and the typ es of women to be
p reserved or developed
Women are studying these types co n
sciou sly or unconsciously
They know it
is important for them to recognise the
type they belong to themselves
A
woman knows that other types will a ffect
the successful development of her own
typ e enormously S he wakes up some
.
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67
T HE
WOMA N B L E SS HE R
—
m orning to discover tha t she belongs for
instance to an old typ e If she is lucky
it is a useful typ e for which there is an
urgent demand when she h a s been turned
out with any degree of efficiency O r she
may wake to realise that there is no longer
a sure p rovision for h er kind of woman as
m ay happen to the unmarried daughter
withou t trai ning when her family h ome
breaks up S he may be a new type in
which case she wil l find herself regarded
with some su spl cmn a little lonesome on
account of neither quite understanding or
’
being quite underst ood T he woman s
crux is that her typ e a s a rule has be en
established by those who have been edu
cating her be fore she knew what they were
,
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,
,
iversity p resident sh ould be
warned in p assing that this knowledge of
’
typ es of wom en and the women s revolu
t ion c anno t be obtained from obs e rving
T he
un
.
68
C OLL E G E WOMAN
T HE
"
the girl undergraduate who alas ap pe ars
to be the o nl y type of woman believed to
be of significance educationally by univer
H e will have to look into
sity presidents
the world outside to see what is happening
to them when they are succeeding or fail
ing in practical life N ow observe the
conditions of life for women are that the
average young woman at eighteen a usual
age for entering the university does not
kn ow whether sh e is to support herself by
earning a salary in trade or professional
life whether she will earn her living in
home making or earn a salary for a while
and then be a home maker The last al
t ern at iv e is the career of the average
woman graduate Clearly it is not her
occupation but it is the type of woman
she is to be which is the vi t al concern of
the university
The type of college woman is m odern
direc t and desirous of being honourable
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69
'
5
VE
’
Q
“
WOMAN B L E SS
T HE
—
H ER
straight and fair Whatever may be her
faul ts these are characteristics of the aver
age college woman and the improvement
of her education must be based u p on these
characteristics
Two aspects of the college woman
may be considered usefully
These
are wh at she knows about herself and
how sh e a pp ears as a typ e to others
In dealing with these aspects it will be
advisable p robably not to appear to flatter
her S he does not regard herself as hav
ing yet app roached the ideal type of what
a college woman may be S he knows sh e
h a s intel ligence and training of a sort and
sh e believes sh e c an a p p ly this intelligence
and training to her work and prob lems
S he has an imp ression at times that she
is lacking in g race and persu asive ne ss
S he is conscious that she could do more
with p eople in the interests of society and
her own int ere sts a s she understands them
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70
'
T HE C OLL E G E WOMAN
if she had some quality which she recog
not in all other
nise s in other women
women but in some of them While she
has many friends among college women
the body of college women generally does
not seem to her to have that quali ty of
cohesiveness which is so useful for getting
anywhere To this extent at least sh e
seems to be aware of her deficiencies
The pub lic generally speaking agrees
with this estimate It may add that she
is not able to forget the fact that she has
a degree ; that she is inclined to under
estimate the amount of kn owledge pos
sessed by other people in the subj ects of
which she knows m ost ; and that she has
lost some of the lovable qualities of wom
a n h oo d without adding others of equal a d
vantage M any professors lec t urers fel
lows and undergraduates are k in dl y dis
posed to college women But possibly the
severest comments on the type have come
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71
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,
T HE WOM A N B L E SS
—
HER
from t h e order s en um era t e d Th ey c om
p lain of h er h a t s
But at l eas t it can be sa id truthfully of
the c ollege woman that she wants to im
p rove her type Sh e finds h erself h owever
with practically no direc t means o f doi ng
Sh e would like t o be ab le to help col
so
l eg e women who are undergraduates but
she h a s no mean s o f commu ni cating with
them S he has a generous self sac rifi cin g
feeling towards these girls but she can
no t get it over to them S he would like to
warn them to develo p q ualities in which
Bu t she is met
sh e finds herself lacking
with the difficulty tha t the wom an under
graduate seems to h ave a tendency to look
down on the woman graduate S omehow
the undergraduate h as acquired an im
p ression that the woman graduate is lack
ing in scholarship knowle dge of the
world and distinction This is rather a
c omfort able fee ling for the un d e rg ra d u
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72
T HE
WOMAN B L E SS HER
—
h as a lower p ercentage in marrying than
the average woman of all classes What
can be said of her marriage is that when
sh e becomes a mother
sh e brings every
good quality she h as to the care of her
children S he uses her traine d mind to
acquire knowledge of childhood in every
way in which it can be acquired usefully
H er powers of concentration patience
p erseverance self control her character
and intelligence are bent on being a good
mother and she has succeeded in being a
better m other than the average woman of
her social class This statement is made
after somewhat careful inquiry and it
alone is sufficient to j ustify her existence
In comparison hats are of secondary im
p ort ance
A second point in her favour is that any
improvement in the type of college woman
has a favourable reacti on on the general
body of women a more favourable re
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7 4:
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T HE C OLL E G E WOMAN
action than immov emen t in any other
?
type of woman Why is this so B ecause
the average college woman is more likely
to interest herself in the improvement of
social condi tions than the average woman
generally S he be lieves that she is di
r ec t ly connected w ith the social fabric and
she is impelled to do somet hing about it
M any women of other classes do not rec
og n ise that they have any responsibility
outside their own imme di ate su rround
ings
M uch h as been said of a widely
varying character of the relations b e
tween men and women and of what these
relations may become in the future
There is a general agreement that com
r a d e sh ip
will increase
The college
woman when sh e m arries appe ars to be
more successful in becoming her hus
’
band s comrade than the average woman
J udging the college woman therefore by
her motherhood her recognition of her
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75
,
T HE WOMA N B L E SS HER
—
relat ion to the social fabric and as a com
rade in the m arriage relation sh e may be
described as a useful developing typ e and
of special value t o the commu nity
N o doubt the sta te h a s done a great deal
for the c ollege woman It is evident that
some u nive rsit yp residents are in sympathy
withhe r a spirat ion s W h at m o re c an b e d on e
for her improvement Two favourite p lans
’
are spoken of O ne is a woman s college
where sh e will be by h erself educa t ed
trained and formed by other women with
men professors to lecture to her O n e of
the most keenly felt advantages of this
plan although it is seldom m entioned is
that the college woman will be removed
from the u niversity which will then be left
to men It is a good plan in many ways
The college wom an will gain someth ing
by it and may lose something S he will
gain perhap s in grace and dignity ; she
may lose in broadness and in thinking of
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76
TH E
C OLL E G E WOMAN
herself more as a human being and less
often as a woman The u niversity also
may gain something and may lose some
thing It may gain in more peace and less
problem or complexity although less
complexity is not always a gain It may
lose in being less like the real world per
haps less modern The difficul ties are ob
viou s
To es tablish equip and maintain
’
a woman s college of the fir st rank is a
great additional expense ; and if the stand
ing and teaching are not equal to what is
a ff orded in the un iversity it is unfair to
the college woman L ike universal su f
frage every one may not approve of it
but once given the p rivilege can scarcely
be taken back again T he college woman
has been admitted to the university and it
is more or less impracticable to dismiss
her
Th e other plan is to provide a p attern
for her in the university some woman
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77
T HE
WOMAN BLE SS HER
—
wh om she can admire and by whom sh e
can criticise hersel f usefully Indeed the
failure to provide this p attern and in
spiration is probably the one subj ect on
which the college woman has a desire to
address the university president
S he believes that a woman should hold
some position of authority in university
a ff a l r s in connection with wo m en stu
dents Call her a dean of women stu
dents if this is the title most in favour
But it is the reality which is desired not
the titl e The dean of women student s
shoul d be a woman of some age and ex
c e with knowledge of lifeand good
e
r
i
n
e
p
j udgment a lovable woman who values
loveliness and fine conduct with dignity
and reasonable persuasiveness who under
stands Canadian character and ideals and
is in sympathy with them and finally a
scholar who will underst and and forward
the as p irations of the girl who is naturally
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78
T HE
C OLL E G E WOMAN
a student This may seem an un att a in
able ideal Possibly But this is the way
in which to improve the type of college
woman The irreducible m l mmu m for
the pattern is that she must be a scholar
that girls in the university must be able to
look up to her scholarship as something
which they woul d des ire to possess them
selves and that she should hold such a po
sitiou in the management of university
a ff airs that her opi ni on and advice should
be sought officially in the decision of mat
ters a ff ecting women students
The
women s tudents will not respect her as
they must if they are to receive the full
benefit of a university education un less
she has authority with other heads in the
university and has also a responsible
share in its management at least as far as
women are concerned
S uch a dean of women stu dents will
be a bond between the woman graduate
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79
T HE
WOMA N B L E SS HE R
—
and the undergraduate
S he will em
body a high typ e of college woman ; and
the girls at the university will look to her
when they wish to learn grace dignity and
fine conduct When the college woman
leaves the university under p resent con
“
d it ion s she is likely to say Why did n o
one ever tell me that these things m ade a
”
?
A ll she is shown t o day is to
di ff erence
p ore over books make herself a s much like
a m an as p ossible and pass exa mination s
W ith such a dean of w omen students
holding a p osition of adequate authority
no girl at the u niversity will mistake the
small town invitation of the boy she knew
at home to come to se e him N or wi ll girls
then be likely to j oin unasked a cou p le of
their distinguished professors in a hotel
dining room It must have been a sh ock
to th e professors But no adequat e p ro
vision has been made to tea ch the girls
what no t t o do T he onl y way f or t h em to
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80
T HE
WOMAN B L E SS HER
—
yo urself a more useful woman and a bet
te r wife when you marry by means of a
”
university education
A Canadian
woman who was a teacher among foreign
e r s once remonstrated with the mother of
Anita because A nita w as at a positive
’
standstill in geograp hy An ita s mother
“
replied
I know no j
o g r aphy
My
mother kn ow no j
og ra phy
M y sisters
a n d my aunts
none of them know j
o
graphy W e are all m arried You know
and
you
are
not
married
o
h
r
a
jg p y
”
A nita not learn j
og r aphy
It still would
not be advisable to make the marry a
man with ten thousand a year lady or
’
A nita s mother the official pattern at the
university for women undergraduates
Any fine type of woman would be better
dean of women students than it
as
would be t o leave the p osition vacant
What a barren place a university would
be for young men if there were no older
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82
T HE C OLL E G E WOMAN
men in the university for them to learn
from to respect and co p y more than all
a dmi re
It seems that the college woman mus t
be right when she says that a woman who
is a dean of woman students or who
holds some similar position of authority
should be consulted as an o ffice r of the
university when matters a ff ecting women
students are decided N o man can wholly
represent a case as it a ff ects women as
no woman coul d represent altogether a
case as it would affect men For one
thing in the pressure of action it is so
easy to forget S ome one should be there
who is practically unable to forget since
’
it is natural to think of one s own case
N o woman of sense woul d be will ing to
do without the advice of a man with re
gard to the education of girls if she coul d
consult with a wise man N o woman
could conceive of seeking to de cide by
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83
T HE W O MA N B L E SS HER
—
herself th e e du cation of young men It is
fair to add tha t a man surely should not
be willing to decide the education of
women without consulting a woman if
h e is in control of th e educat ion of young
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world has take n care of its typ es
of men and wo m en wit h succe s s on the
whole for a very long time
To be dis
quieted is part of the process of imp rove
ment as types learn sooner or later The
college woman doe s not need to harass
herself unduly What a man knows of
women he learns from his mother and his
wife and this way seems wise and satis
factory to women A few generations
therefore will decide the question By
the time her son has grown up to be a uni
versity p resident there is more than a
p ossibility that it will be de cided in the
’
c ollege wo m a n s way
T he
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84
T HE C O UN T R Y WOMAN
C HAPT E R IV
THE
CO U N TRY
W O MAN
A FOR CE which has not been realise d
until now is co ming within the vision of
thoughtful Canadians
The Ca n a dian
country woman has earned a title of no
b ili t y during the great war But she does
not yet know her own power ; and the ma
rit
o
of
Canadians
are
not
aware
of
what
j y
she is already doing for the country
Country women have their own great
’
national associations the Women s Insti
’
t ut e s and H ome M akers Clubs which are
organised provin cially but which have not
any large degree of interprovincial com
munic a t ion
The country woman is one
of the strongholds of the national mis
sio n ar
e
societies
d
Cross
and
every
R
y
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87
T H E WOM AN B L E SS
—
HER
p a triotic as sociation S p eak with ad mira
’
tion of her contribution to soldiers com
forts and relief work A woman p acking
cases for overseas has told with tears in
h er eyes of dresses from the C anadian
country for French and B elg l an children
with handkerchiefs in the little p ockets
and mending material in addition The
’
country woman s p ower of work in asso
c iat io n
it is clear h as so far o nl y been
slightly known W ar has p roved her will
in g n e ss whenever demand is made u p on
her for national work N o other class in
the country is so uniformly industrious ;
nor is the econo mic contribution of any
class more stable and valuable Wh at
Canada should do for the c ountry woman
is a question which comes readily to the
lip s of an inquirer Bu t the country
woman herself will welcome questions of
a di ff ere n t character What is she doing
?
and what can she do for her own country
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88
,
T HE W O MA N BLE SS
—
H ER
in c ommon with the maj ority of women
H er h ouse keeping is of a more compli
c at e d
nature than city h ou se kee p ing
H ousehold manufacturing in the country
if one may coin such an ex p ression is
more extensive and varied than in the city
This m ay tax the country woman but it
also tends to develo p her intelligence At
the same time her work of making turn
ing raw materials into finished p roducts
has defini te economic value Unl ess the
city woman emp loys her spare t ime
saved fro m household operations in d efi
nitely useful em p loyment o f some kind
the country woman is more valuable eco
n o mic ally than the c ity woman
B esides
th is the country woman has a share in
p roduction which goes to market and is
sold or is used in the household enriching
the standard of mate rial living The ex
’
tent o f the country woman s contribution
to the productive wealth of Canada has
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90
T HE C O U N TRY WOMAN
not yet been estimated by the C ensus
S he has a share in the products of the
da iry : butter mi lk and chee se ; in the out
put o f eggs poultry honey vegetables
and fruit S he also is in a position to c o
operate intelligently in the management
of farm work G enerally speaking there
is a strong opinion in Canada against
women undertaking manual work on a
farm N othing which has happened so far
during the war indicates that this opinion
is to be changed It is agreed that coun
try women have enough to do without
helping in the fields barns or stables
This is evidently true ; and anything which
tends to alter the standard with regard to
women not undertaking manual work on
farms will be strongly resist ed by Cana
dians
E vidently however the count ry woman
is in a position to understand a good deal
’
of her husband s field operations and
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91
T HE WOMA N B L E SS
—
H ER
whenever int elligent farming is going on
she
mus t le arn something of it
But
whether or no t she knows anything of
farm management or h a s a share in it the
’
country woman s economic contribution
to Canada is plai nl y of grea t importance
—
T he day will come it may come to mor
row when governments will recognise
that a survey should be made of the eco
nomi c and social work of women in the
country T o have this contribution of the
country woman clearly in m ind it must
be remembered tha t she is a home maker
that she trains her children and cares for
them and that she is also an e conomic fac
tor a s a p roducer H er res p onsibilities
are many and sh e must dep end on herself
It is no wonder that her character and in
t e llig e n c e are o f a kind to command a t
tention
The count ry woman is a better thinker
than t h e average Canadian woman H ow
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92
T HE
CO U N T R Y
WOMAN
this should happen to be so is an interest
ing question But that it is so is the j udg
ment of observers who have attended con
In
f ere n ce s of city and country women
discussing questions country women
speak from experience and say what they
think
They do not repeat opinions
which they have taken from books or
newspapers but their conclusions are
drawn from actual life and knowledge of
pe ople The value of this typ e of woman
in national life is self evident The power
she has of being able to think may come
from the fact that her life is more secluded
than that of many city women O r b e
cause she r eads more thoroughl y when
she has time not being overwhelmed with
more reading matter of ephemeral interest
than she can comprehend O r it may be
that her more varied and responsible
household work develop s power of
thought and ingenuity
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93
T HE W O MAN B L E SS
—
H ER
I n using this power of thought the
c ountry woman ponders over the happen
ings of her life and reaches conclusio ns
with regard to them S he comes to these
opinions slowly but she retains them S he
is generall y speaking a single hearted
woman that is her p urp oses are not di
v id e d amongst many interests but she is
attached to the interests she has It is
sometimes mistake nl y supposed by others
and even by country women themselves
that they are not shrewd They are often
shrewder than other classes of women
Indeed i t sometimes ap pears as if they
might be too shrewd to have that con fi
dence in human nature which i
to bring the bes t out of those with
they come in contact both strangers
friends T his o p i nion is stated with def
erence Bu t our able country women
should consider if they have not noticed
that a very shrewd j udge of human na
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94
T HE
CO U N T R Y
WOMAN
ture often has the e ff ect on others of mak
ing them less capable of good work than
they might have been
This war ha s
taught us that every one may be a hero
and that we have had many heroes whom
we have not recog n ised It is absurd to
suppose that life does not make as urgent
and e ff ective a demand for heroes as war
S o also we have learned that a j ust war
leads us as directly to heaven a s any pea c e
no matter how beautiful The Canadian
country woman has never been as true to
herself and her countr y as when sh e has
given and is giving her husband and sons
“
to fight that Thy will may be done upon
”
earth as it is done in heaven
To repeat again because of her charac
ter Canada must receive great national
help from the country woman S he is
patient steady strong self sacrifi cin g
S he is intellectually generous and admires
other p eople readily when they once com
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95
.
T HE
WOMAN B L E SS HE R
—
mand h er c onfidence T his last is a nota
ble virtue and one in which Canadians
often fail M any of us form a habit of
belittling anything that is done by those
whom we know T he country woman
should take care not to lose her in t elle c
tual generosity ; for if sh e does so sh e will
lose at the same time one of the great en
o
t
m
e
n
of
life
and
a
v
rtue
whi
h
pow
s
i
c
i
s
jy
e r ful in c reating other virtues
S he is
eager to l earn and will learn from any one
who can teach her something tha t is worth
knowing
But she recognises quickly
peo p le who in reality know little and have
nothing to te ach
I n all p robability th e finest ex p ression
of p atriotism in Canadian literature was
written by a country woman M iss Agnes
Kingston of W atford O ntario It first
’
appeared in M r P eter McA rthur s maga
zine
O urse lves : an d it is an epit ome
’
of th e country woman s ch aracter q uiet
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96
,
W OM AN BLE SS
THE
—
HE R
this way It is a mistake also to su p pose
that detail is absent from any kind of
work The C anadian actress M argaret
A nglin said on one occasion that making a
play ready for the stage and producing it
successfully was largely a matter of house
keeping close and persistent attention to
detail W orry and the tyranny of duty
which cannot be as important a duty as
tranqu il living are said to be faults of
housekeepers both rural and urban B e
sides these difficulties there is the money
difficulty and the difficulty of work
In other province s O ntario peo p le are
accused of meann ess I n other countries
for ins t ance the United S tates the whole
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nation of C anadians is accused of money
meannes s Until recen t years O ntario
.
p eo p le es p ecially in the c ount ry h ad little
money It has been natural for them to
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se e
a ten cent p ie ce and a silver quarter
-
98
as
T HE
CO U N T R Y
WOMAN
far larger sums of money than they really
are
In the West money has come more
readily than it ever came to our grand
fathers and grandmothers on O ntario
farms But when the hospitality and
kindness of the older generation and this
generation in the country are remembered
the accusation becomes absurd People
when generous are generous with what
they have to give Country people give
food and help and time and labour
B ut it is sometimes said that Canadians
generally are small an d mean To deal
with such an accusation rightly is not to
prove its untruth but to make sure that
we redouble our exertions to be generous
and large minded Do we underpay those
?
who work for us Are we slow to divide
?
our profits with others A r e we generous
?
with opportunities and with money If
Canada is to be a great nation we must
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99
TH E
W O MA N B LE SS HER
—
re ourselves of failings such as these ;
and we cannot deny th at we possess these
fa ilings in some degre e I t may be d i i
cul t for women to see through deta il s into
the great ideals of life ; bu t women mus t
succeed in doing so if they are to h av e
the ir share in saving the life of the nation
T o turn from ideals to p ractical work
T he writer is one of those who believe that
th e country woman herself because she is
on the average the ab lest woman we have
in C anada will so lve the problem of the
overworked count ry woman W e believe
th at she is solving th e p roblem now B e
c ause t h e country woman is a working
woman who h as to p lan invent and carry
on is one of the reasons for her strong
N eighbourhood by
character and ability
neighbourhood she will so in vent and con
’
t riv e that the women s work on the farm
will develo p the worker but will not bur
d en h er and wil l endow h er with the dig
cu
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I HE
W OMAN B L E SS
—
H ER
eve ry one who can bu ild one s t on e on an
other in the life of a nation should build
The day may come when every Canadian
woman will p ray that sh e might know
other C anadian women as intimately as
if they were her sisters and m ight care for
them as tenderly as if the y were of her
own house
To no on e does the appeal for national
unity and understanding come more p ow
e r fu lly and clearly than it does to the C a
na di an country woman
S he is able
strong self reliant ge nerous S he is not
like the busi
sub ect t o unemp loyment
ness woman S he may not have great
wealth but her household and h erself
never lack food a s homes in the Ci ty some
times do S he may say tha t it is the duty
of the city woman to seek her out It is
never the duty of another to show kind
ness first Besides there is no time to
wai t nationally
To find faul t wi th
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1 02
T HE CO U N T R Y
WOMAN
th ing s being wrong or for not being what
we wan t them to be will not help us a p ar
Dislike and wrong doing bring
t icle
war Friendliness and right doing create
peace W e must be more friendl y than
we have ever been first with our own peo
ple in Canad a and the E mpire then with
the people of every right doing nation
N othing can be simpler than to make a
’
beginn ing L et women s organisations
send greetings to one another invite other
organisations to send visitors o f er to help
’
in each other s work exchange e x p e r i
“
e n ces
Is there anything you need that
?
W
H ave you a lecturer or
. e can send you
?
a plan of work , that you can send us
There is no greater work that Canadian
women can do than to promote national
unity between east and west and between
c ount ry and city
There is other work however which
with the assistance of the Government the
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1 03
T HE
W O MAN BLE SS
—
HE R
country woman is now engage d up on or
which she will se e shortly that she must
T hese s p ecial p roblems of the
unde rt ake
c ount ry woman are : co o p era t ive market
in g ; co o p erative buying ; further remu
ne rat iv e emp loyment for women in the
c ountry a movement intended to discover
a n d p l an work which wi ll bring in money
t o the c oun t ry home and wh ich will re sul t
in kee p ing young women in the country
and a study of o pp ort unities for em p loy
m ent in th e country in t ended for boys
and girl s a t an age when t h ey leave school
’
T he W omen s Institutes and H ome
’
Makers C lub s are sp lendi dl y adap ted for
th is work p robably th e mos t irn port an t
econo mi c work of a modern character that
the country woman can undertake It is
in reality an extension of the work of the
country home which is designed to train
boys and girls not for the city but for
life in the c ountry
T he count ry
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1 04
T HE WOM AN A T H OM E
WOMA N B L E SS
TH E
—
H ER
tha t th e re p resent ative C anadian woman
is the woman at h ome A ll oth er classes
of women are represented in this class
T hey influen c e her it is true but she
m ore great ly i nfluen c es them T he busi
n ess woman the college woman the coun
’
t ry woman members o f women s organi sa
tions the single woman of any class who
neve r marries are more a ff ected by the
standards of the woman a t home than
’
they are by any other woman s s t andards
S he is the most i n uential woman among
women and the contribution of women to
p rogress and th e state mu st be measured
to a l arge exten t by h er c ont ribution
It is generally su pp osed th a t this rep
r e se n t at ive woman knows exactly what
h er work at home is But on the contrary
it is p robably more difficult for this
W oman to t h ink out to day what her serv
ice to the c omm un ity ought to be than it
The arrang ements
is for any one el se
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1 10
THE WOMAN A T
H OM E
for the work of the home h er position
and respo ns ib ilities have altered greatly
Then too people are ap p rehensive that
she will change for the worse if she
changes at all W e are so dependent on
her and so attached to her that many think
it would be s afer for her to leave things
alone But if leaving things alone had
not been prevented by the ordinary
changes of the world it would have been
made impossible by two other factors the
’
women s revolution and the war
Al though not yet recognised as occupa
tions by the Census the two most Mpo r
’
tant women s employments are home
making and the care of children They
are the most important in eve ry way In
one sense the state may be said to exist
for its homes ; and the greatest p otential
wealth of any country is its children
These truths are generally re cognised
which makes it the more remarkable tha t
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111
TH E
WOMA N B L E SS HE R
—
lit tle e ff ort has be en made to introduce
’
ski ll and t raining into these women s em
l
o
n
t
s
m
If
a
girl
becomes
a
stenog
e
p y
rap h e r sh e will receive more careful and
p recise instr uction for her work than the
woman h a s received wh o is c arin g for chi l
—
dren unl es s that wom an is a trained
n urs e
G raduate n urses are the o nl y
class of women who receive this t rainin g
Wh a t do we know about th e care of ch il
dren ? O ne h as actually h eard the state
ment m ade within th e l as t year that a
m o th er is a better mother who is n ot
t augh t anything War has not b ee n left
an un skill ed oc cu p a t ion
A p lea then is made th at for th e eco
nomic and so cial well being of the nation
girls and women sho ul d be trained for the
e mp loyment s of home making and the
o f ch ildren O ver 8 0 p er cent pos
—
9 0 per c en t of all w omen are
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1 12
T HE WOMAN B L E SS HER
—
cally Who is taking the trouble to learn
her opinion or inform her of national
economics or of the importance of what
sh e can do to maintain and build the sol
?
veney and strength of the country
O ne class only in the community has
re cognised the importance of the woman
buyer
S tores address their advertise
ments to her H er training in economics
of a kind is going on through the p rinted
description of what to buy But while
the advertisement is meant for the con
v e ni e n c e of the woman buyer
it is par
t icu l arly intended for the individual good
of the advertiser It is not devised for
real economic training or for the good of
the country S o far one does not know
of an i ns tanc e in which a G overnment
has trained or taught women by means of
an advertisement But training can be
given in this way and governments often
address advertisements to citi zens Y e s
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1 14
,
TH E
WOMAN
AT
H OME
“
it is true that the E at an Apple a d ve r
t iseme n t was addressed to women buyers
as well as to men It succeeded in its pur
pose a few years ago But what is hap
?
pening to day What ought we to do
?
and what ought we to buy H ow useful
it would be if the G overnment advertised
again what food we ought to buy What
“
“
about E at F ish or Buy a Cana di an
“
“
”
Cereal or Cheese Is King or E x
“
planation of the Price of S ugar or Do
?
Your Best with H ome Vegetables
The writer said to a lady who had been
“
making apricot j am in J une Imported
“
of course
S he answered D o you thi nk
?
so I ought to know about fruit but I
”
am more interested in flowers
W ell
well it was perfectly natural But we
cannot a ff ord it nationally S t ill she
w as ma kin g the j am and she might easily
have imported it from another country a s
many do
”
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115
T HE
WOMAN B L E SS
—
HE R
T h e contribution of women at h om e in
m aking h omes and caring for children is
beyond computation
T his statement
doe s not mean that the ir contribution has
no e conomic value in dollars and cents ;
it m eans th at t h e e conomic value can be
expressed o nl y in an indefin ite number of
millions There is social value besides
T he p urpose of this chapter is not to make
’
the women s contribution seem less than
the incalculable sum it is ; but to point out
’
that these women s occu p ations are not
what they might be if the same advance
wa s m ade in home making and the c are of
children a s has b een made in medi cine
business science nursin g and other p ur
suits in which trai ning skill and devoted
intelligence have comp elled advance
There is a s g reat an o pp ortunity for lead
’
e r sh ip in these women s p ursuits a s in any
oc cu p ation in the world no matter what
that oc cup ation may be It wo uld take
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116
T HE W OM AN B L E SS HE R
—
the children of women day worker s A t
the other extreme is the woman who does
no work is wholly irresponsible and idle
a spender of money to be sure sometimes
in large sums but who is of little or no
economic or social value
A woman can easily identify her own
place among the se varieties of home mak
ers
The great maj ority are workers
kindly and knowledgeable adding much
to the happiness and usefulness of others
Consider what a conservation of knowl
edge and experience there would be if this
w a s an organised and skil led occupation
Many women at home are skilled it is
true but they are self taught and their
experience and discoveries are not avail
able to other women
What do these
women think of their p roblems and how
far have individuals solved thes e p rob
?
Why should all classes of workers
lems
and students feel the need of conf erences
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118
T HE
WOMAN
H OM E
AT
discussion ex cept home makers
Those o ccupations are gainin g most rap
i dl y in which the most advanced workers
share their discoveries E ither women at
home make no discoveries which is im
p ossible ; or they are not thinking of the
revolutionised economics of the home ; or
they have not considered how girls are to
be come bet ter home makers than the pres
ent generation ; or there is an extreme need
of some means of communication betwee n
one home maker and another
Where are the leaders in home e co n o m
ics not the ones who talk of leadership
but those who produce results in a d van
?
tage to th e occupation While it is true
that women who care for young children
have neither time nor strength to under
take work outside their homes (
yet the
charwoman is compelled to do so to the
detriment of her home and children )
many wome n at home especially those in
an d
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119
T HE
W O MAN B L E SS HE R
—
the most useful period of middle life have
leisure and do need occu pation as has
’
been shown in the chapter on W omen s
O rgani sations The time is surely coming
soon when we may expect a great advance
G reat as is the contribution to national
life of women at home th ere are undoubt
e d ly a number who do not work
and
many whose work is not e ff ective because
they are untrained and unskilled ; n or
have those who are capable given leader
ship
?
What is the work of a home It mean s
providing and p rep aring food ; making
and buying washing and m ending clothes ;
keeping the house clean sanitary and
comfortable ; buying and making many
kinds of h ousehold necessities ; doing all
this work p ersonally or assisting in part
of the work and superintending the work
of others ; caring for children and training
them ; taking charge of the health of every
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1 20
T HE WO MAN B L E SS HER
—
tai l merchant all have organised and h ave
rep resentatives But the woman at home
whose household is keenl y a ff ected by
high prices has no voice to be heard in
conferences and decisions regarding the
supplies of th e household This is not a
discussion of the vote The retail mer
chant and others are not rep resented by
their votes when they discuss business
with government officials but by agents
and committees of orga ni sations They
study all the t im e what p rices mean to
them and ex p lain the m eaning thoroughly
to the p rop er dep artment But con sum
ers men and women who are heads of
families are not organi sed and have
neither agents nor committees The price
of food the price of rent the p rice of
clothing are p roblems of the home
m aker What is she going to do about
these prices which eventually have a share
in determining the comfort hap p iness and
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1 22
T HE
WOMAN A T
H OME
well being of her household This is work
in which women have a share It will not
do to leave the higher economic work of
the household altogether to men For the
woman to fail here is unfair to men and
not good for women H ow many women
understand that the food su p ply of Can
?
ada requi res attention
What do they
suppose is causin g the present pri ce of
meat and what will meat cost in the fu
ture if the question of increasing our sup
?
ply is not taken in hand now
These questions come more closely to
home makers than to any other class in
the community If 1 0 0 butchers bakers
grocers etc maintain costly deliveries
where if home associations were organ
ised 1 0 of the various kinds of t rad e sp e o
p le would do what would be the saving to
?
the housekeeper Do women realise that
they pay for inflated real estate prices a
toll of so many cents on everything they
?
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1 23
TH E
W OMA N BL E S S HER
—
eat or wear A real esta t e boom is p a id
for by every househo ld and the poor p ay
more than the rich If you cannot make
your money go as far as you need it to go
you yourself have hel p ed to create your
?
poverty H ow
By not o p ening your
eyes ; by thinking there w a s nothing to
l earn through hard study in housekeep ing
The home maker is not lonely in her in
d ictme n t All of us are with her
It has
always been su p posed and taught that
questions of this kind did no t need to be
studied by women T h e high cost of liv
ing is partly the res ul t of our short
’
sightedness that is of women s short
sightedness and of some indolenc e The
woman can help to find a remedy and
while no one remedy is likely to prove e f
f e ct ive the home maker should undertake
a s t udy of co op eration by mean s of which
an association of consumers working to
g eth er can reduce costs and labour N o
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1 24
TH E
WO M AN B LE SS
—
H ER
ness is insured by plenty of money noth
ing to do unceasing r ecreation and p er
f ec t dressing
What is the highest attribute of the
wo man at home an attribute which is her
best contribution to the community and
which seems to surround her with happi
?
ness
This attribute be longs to m any
home makers sometimes in association
with abun dance of material prosperity
more often with a medium economic
standard seldom ind eed when the woman
is idle and merely pleasure loving
The woman at home makes her best
contribution to th e comm unity by know
“
T o make things go
in g how to live
”
well in a home is an art and the woman
who do es this is an artist H er achieve
ment is an att itude to life Most women
at home have a little of this quality and
some are almost perfect S uch women
A s a rule human na
a r e great artists
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1 26
T HE WOMAN
A T H OM E
ture finds some leisure necessary to hol d
this attitude and this is one of the rea
sons why if possible the woman at home
shoul d have leisure But many of these
women do not find leisure necessary A
good mother a really good mother will
surround her children with this atmos
h
r
of
tranquillity
poise
co
n
fidence
e
e
p
and serenity S he must kee p her m ind
happy and she does so S he forbids anx
ie ty
S he knows how to live savoir
vivre To come back to a home like this
is worth living for If any one asks what
is the economic value of her work it is
work of this kind that is meant when it is
said that every successful man h as a
woman working with him
N ow this attitude of an artis t in life
ca n belong to men and women in paid
employments as well But it is the real
employment of the woman at home and
’
this is an advantage in one s e ff orts to
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1 27
T HE
“
WOMAN
B L E SS HER
—
wards p ossessing it A ll that one h as
do is to dis cip line oneself all the time
it becomes an involuntary habit to
first of th e well being tranquillity
peace of others There is no reason
all of u s should not have some of this
I n fact we are not much good
t it u d e
we do not learn som ething of the art
living and above all of living in a h
Knowing how t o li e h as little to do
beautiful clothes or recre ation : it is
been said an attitude But th e bu sin e ss
girl is generally clever enough to dist in
guish between idleness and tranquil lity
The problems of the immediate future
for the woman at home are three : T o
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ma ke the
f
ca re o
child ren a skille d occup a
tion ; t o brin g t he
ou tlook o
f
d omestic
mies in to the work
n a tion a l e c on o
home ma kers;
n a d ian
kin d
-
f
o
women
assoc a tion
at
i
home
an d
to
form
by means
ca n unite
12 8
to
f
o
an d
Ca
me
so
h
c
h
i
w
f
stud y their
o
WOM EN AN D T HE W A R
WOMA N BLE S S
TH E
—
H ER
conversations an d letters It is war work
they want anyt h ing everything
They
will give so many h ours a day They want
to help in any way They do not know
what to do But they ask themselves co n
“
?
st an tly
What c an I do more Am I
”
?
doing all tha t I can do
T he purp ose of this study is to hel p
C anadian women to recognise their work
in war and reconstruction It has been
un dertaken because the writer ha s so often
failed to find war work for women who
h av e asked for it The study is an an aly
sis o f C anadian conditions underta ken for
women by women so that conclusions may
emerge regarding wh at our real c on tribu
tion t o the life and work of the nation
ought to be
Women and the w ar c annot be an ac
coun t solely or even mainly of R e d Cross
work kn i tt ing sewing making bandage s
h o sp i t al supp lies clothin g th e g l vmg of
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1 34
WOME N
T HE WA R
A ND
money pat ri otic speakin g all the hun
dreds of useful activities in which women
are engaged during the war The an aly
What is the whole
sis must go deeper
?
contribution we can make What is the
?
most useful work e ach of u s can do
Women have made a magnificent contri
But are we
b ut ion l n voluntary work
keeping pace in progress with busine ss
with science with medicine with women
who are g iving such a contribution as
?
trained nursing
The answer to this
question is not plainly l n the affirmative
A n honest opinion is that th e answer must
be no
The previous chap ters have placed us in
possession of some kn owledge regarding
the women of Canada W e know the v a
rions clas ses into which Cana di an women
are divided and the relative value of these
classes numerically
W e know the sp e
cial contribution of e a ch class and some of
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1 35
T HE WOMAN B LE SS HER
—
h ara ct eristi cs I t is p os sibl e to con
t in ue an d discove r by reasoning and com
p arison what advance the w omen of each
class c an make in their own s p ecia l work
T he whole number of women in Canada
is
Those between fifteen an d
e igh ty years of ag e wh ich includes pract i
c all y the whole
p o p ulation of w omen
c a p ab l e of work number
Mar
women number
S ingle
r ied
women from fifteen to eighty
In realising the im p ortanc e of the clas s
of married women it mus t b e remem
bere d th a t the maj ority of s ingl e women
are be tween fifteen and th irty fi v e and
that from eigh ty to ninety p er cent of
the s e women wi ll marry W omen in p aid
occup ations number
R eckoning
together married women and women in
p aid o ccu p ations and even allowing for
the fact that some m arried women are also
in p aid emp lo yments it m ust be recog
it s
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1 36
T HE
WOMA N B L E SS HE R
—
h er occupation or should recogn ise that
she is making no economic contribution t o
the life of the nation
B esides the small leisure class some
married women who are not caring for
children or whose children are partly
grown up have leisure in which they may
undertake additional useful work ; and
single women working at home but whose
time is not fully occupied in housework
have also some leisure M arried women
with young children normally sho ul d have
no time to give to other work
E very woman in Canada therefore is
either a married woman ful ly occupied or
with some leisure ; or a woman in p aid em
plo ym ent ; or a single woman working at
home fully occupied or with some leisure ;
or sh e is in training ; or sh e belongs to a
leisure class The most useful economic
and social war and reconstruction work
that e ach woman can do will be found
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1 38
,
WOM E N
A ND
T HE WAR
more readily if she can define the economic
and social duty of the class to which she
belongs
Before di scussing the employment
which would be most useful to the nation
for women in any of these classes several
points should be noted with regard to
conditions of work a ffecting Canadian
women
The first is that it is advisable to take a
practical view in the choice of work
A n y one who is looking for work should
choose an occupation in which she has an
advantage over others Women shoul d
not necessarily try to do the same work as
men ; they should if possible choose an o c
cup at ion in which they have a better O
p
o
t
r
u
n
i
t
than
men
or
an
occupation
p
y
hitherto left to men in which there is some
work that a woman can do particularly
well In any employment having to do
with young children women are at an ad
.
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1 39
TH E
WOMA N B L E SS HER
—
vantage A woman home maker wishing
to make u se of her leisure time should
not interfere with her primary occupation
which is home making ; and she should at
the same time if possible discover some
employment in which she is at an a d van
tage compared with other women and
with men W ork that some one else is
doing is no t by any means always the
work you can do best
A s e cond point to be considered is the
di ff erence in war work for women in
Canada and G reat Britain Although
wa r h a s made work advisable and indeed
necessary for eve ry one including women
of leisure any change in the employment
of women in Canada is comparatively
slight Few women ap p arently who were
not at work before the war have gone into
p aid employments since the war began
This condition is larg ely e x pla in e d by the
fac t that the great maj ority of Canadian
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140
TH E
in g
WOM AN B L E SS HER
—
essentially war work of the most
necessar y kind that it is not to be sup
p osed many Canadian fathers would re
fuse to let their daughters engage in it
But it is plain that a number of Canadian
employers would rather not have women
in munition factories if they can get on
without them In any case there are no
scores of thousands of unemployed C a
nadian women to go into mu nition fac
tories But if wome n a re asked to take u p
m unition work by the G overnment as men
have been asked to enlist thousands of
them will leave other work and go
I t is p ossible that the few thousands
of women w
h o have leisure may make
t h e di fference between Canadian muni
tions being wha t they ought to be and
falling far below our requirements If
the call is made for their servi ce they u n
questionably will give it Physically able
omen
of
a
fine
type
are
attracted
by
the
w
so
.
.
,
.
,
.
.
,
.
142
WOM E N
AND
T HE W A R
call of munition work
S pirite d girls
would also like to do munition work The
best way to get them would be for a well
known woman to ask for a group of girls
to work with her and under her super
vision In thi s way Canadian conditions
woul d be met and it is Can adian condi
tions which have to be met N o large
opening however has yet been made for
women in munition work in Canada
In the same way the Canadian stand
ard of social well being which is against
physical strain for women reacts un fa
v o ur ab ly in the case of ordinary ag r ic ul
t ural employment
A ll agric ul tur al em
ployment of a lighter kind is l ooked on
with approval A few women manage
farms and this also is regarded favour
ably But actual field work for women
does not under present conditions please
Canadians N othing in the war so far
has chan ged this point of view
T he
.
.
.
,
.
,
,
.
-
,
,
.
.
,
.
.
.
1 43
T HE
WOMA N B L E SS
—
H ER
necess ity that every one should do his
b est and her best has further increased the
general favour in which skilled employ
ment for women has been held in C anada
at le ast since Confederation
Canadian women themselves by th eir
e ff ort s and good j udgment their willing
n es s and fitness must se e that these o
p
or t un itie s
for
p
aid
employment
are
p
m aint ained and extended This is one of
t h e economic contributions which they can
m ake both during the war and afterwards
Women anxious to work in war and
re construc tion may therefore lay down
for themselves these p rinciples E ach in
dividual sh ould find by study h er most
useful national work according to the
c lass of occupation in which she finds her
self S he should choose work in which she
can be employed to advantage
S he
sh o
ul d s t udy the conditions of employ
men t for wom e n in her own count ry so
.
,
,
.
.
.
,
.
.
144
T HE WOMAN B L E SS HE R
—
H ere it must b e p oin ted ou t tha t
o ther
oc cup a tion s
w
m
r
or
o
e
n
a
e
f
r
e
a
t
g
ly in
ima ry
r
p
t he
an d
n eed
e
f
o
skille d
mp loymen ts
f
c a re o
e
mp loyed
.
u n le ss
as
as
t he
of home ma kin g
child ren
I t ca n b e said
-
.
truly t ha t it is imp ossible
d o its best
t rain in g
no
women
B u t it is
t he
n a tion
f
of leisure be come
or
to
more true tha t it
f
ar
mp ossible for the con tribution of
women to rea ch its g re a test ap em if the
23
i
ma ry emp loymen ts
r
i
p
m
e
w
o
n
f
o
main
re
u nskille d .
Again if educated and trained women
fail to st udy the big fields of employment
o p en to wome n the opport unity for
’
woman s e conomic and social contribution
cannot be realised E xamp les of these
largest employments are domestic work
and factory work Thousand s of women
are employed in th ese fields But pract i
cally no women economists or sociologis t s
are studying them W here is the trained
,
.
.
.
.
146
WOM E N
A ND
T HE WA R
and certificated domestic worker that we
?
ought to have O nly women can produce
her O ne of the largest paid employ
ments is factory work W e know little
about its e ff ects on women O ne class of
factory ma y produce one type of worker
Another may make a di ff erent type not
nearly as satisfactory from the point of
view of the primary employments of
women Women who are leaders shoul d
study factory work for women Young
women who are receiving a u niversity
training shoul d prepare themselves to
enter higher positions in such large
’
women s employments
What woman
knows for instance how women are e n
gaged either as fa ctory hands or how they
?
are discharged
H ow long they hold
?
their positions or why they leave them
Women who undertake this work can ren
der great economic service
.
.
.
.
,
.
.
.
,
,
,
.
P rep ara tion
f
or
an d
147
t he
c arryin g
ou t
WOMA N BLE SS
TH E
f
o
f
c lasses
c lass,
the
o
H ER
men t is therefore
e mp loy
skilled
d u ty
—
a verag e
,
member
C an adian women
f
o
the
,
class
women
in train in g
,
,
f
o
the
three
t he leisu re
an d
the
class
d y in p aid emp loymen ts
that it is to the advantage of
l
f
I t is plain
any woman in paid employment to be a
skilled worker By her skilled work is
also the best way in which she c an serve
t h e comm unity
There remains th e great cl a ss of m ar
ried women The national organisations
of Canadian women prove that middl e
aged married women have a certain
amount of leisure that they crave emp loy
ment and that they h ave a gen iu s for or
o
a rea
.
.
.
.
,
,
a
a
t
.
n
i
i
o
n
s
g
T he war work of the p as t two year s
has convinced these women that there is
a great good in produ ctive work under
taken in co o p eration with other women
T h ey are no t willing to go b ack to p re
-
.
148
T HE
W OMAN
—
B L E SS HE R
the care of children and h ousehold
?
economics L et them study the relation
between the buying of home makers and
the economic prosperity of the country
L et them ask the G overnment of the
count ry to recognise and deal with the
needs of home makers and their house
holds Is the price of living at home to
?
soar unchecked
It cannot be made a
fair price un til the woman at home who
controls the family budget knows what
that budget means multiplied by all other
budgets of home m aking women and aim s
at securing the best interes ts of the con
sum er
T o m ake these occu p ation s skilled em
in
-
.
-
.
-
,
.
l
o
en
t
m
m
s
w
a
n
h
t
o
e
p y
t eresi herse lf in
t he
at
ho me must in
e d u ca tion
r
s
l
i
g
f
The girl should be taught what She needs
to know But the average Canadian girl
is not properly trained for home making
and the care of children under p re sent
o
.
-
.
1 50
.
WOM EN
AND
T HE WA R
onditions If the Canadian woman will
do this if sh e will make her own occup a
tions skilled employments and if she wi ll
see that the girl is taught what she needs
to kn ow remember over 8 0 per cent of
all girls marry she will have advanced
’
her own country s usefulness and happi
ness immeasurably and indeed for this the
woman will be blessed
There can be no doubt that Canadian
women will vote M any are voting al
ready The vote when it comes wil l mark
progress But as compared with these
’
questions of training and skill in women s
employments votes may be regarded as
unimportant
While we believe that Canadian women
are ready for this great advance it is not
to be supposed that women are wholly re
sponsible for the unskilled con di tion of
home employments
They have not
fram ed the p resent system of education
c
.
,
,
—
,
—
"
,
.
.
,
,
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,
.
.
1 51
TH E
In t his
WO MA N B L E S S HER
—
in e verything e lse men and
wo m en together the who l e fabric of so
c ie ty is res p onsible
N o r can women by
themselve s make thi s advance
They
would be attem p ting the im p ossible u n less
strongly sup p orted by p ublic opinion
Why s h ould not the Federal and Provin
c ial G overnments establish H om e D e p art
m ents to look after the development and
?
well being of the work of the home In
wha t government department is adequate
attention paid to the care of children a s a
?
national int erest N or should this be re
garded as a matter a ffecting women only
T he home and children are the j oint busi
ness of men and women A governm ent
department which will recognise this co
p artnership which will lead in the better
care of children and rep resent the inter
ests of households as consumers may be
p art of the solution of national advance
o ff ered by a bette r Canada
,
as
,
,
.
,
.
.
-
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
1 52
T HE WOMA N BLE SS
—
H ER
of i mmigran t s
With ou t the
whole so ul ed c o o p erat ion of Canadian
women these ends cannot be c arried out
with the high e ffi cren cy which is p ossible
T h e o nl y safety for women as for men
a n d t h e nation is in not shirking ; and we
can and s h ould ado p t better standards of
liv ing
l ess
extravagan c e and more
beauty less useless s p ending and higher
ideals in the good u se of money
The sacrifices which h ave b ee n made in
th e war are reasons for believing that not
decli ning into melancholy and de p ression
the world will c ontinue t o re ceive p owers
of service whi ch h ave never b een eq ualled
I n the same way our high er standards of
work wi ll b e cont inue d T o be trained to
h ave S kill to addre ss ourselves to the new
p roblems of life t o reorgani se the econ o m
ics of h ome making to make the care of
childre n a h ighly efficient oc cupat ion to
bring h igh er standards of ec onomy and
isat ion
.
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,
,
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,
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,
,
,
-
,
,
1 54
WOM E N
A ND
THE WA R
beauty in to our average fi ves and to fur
ther comr adeship between men and
women in work and recreation are the na
o pp ortunitie s of Can adian women
,
,
.
H55