To sum up, we may say that on the whole the life of a Health Official is a healthy and suitable one for a woman of average physique; it demands great activity, with many hours spent out of doors, and whoever undertakes it must be prepared for surprises and difficulties.  She may find herself in an office staffed entirely by men, with chief, committee, and council composed entirely of men—­indeed everything looked at from the male standpoint.  She either works singly or in small groups of two or three, except in a few large towns where the women officials may number from ten to twenty.  Thus isolated and scattered, it is extremely difficult for the Women Health Officials to form an effective organisation.  What is accomplished under one Authority may have little or no effect upon another.

One condition which presses heavily on many women is the shortness of the holidays.  The work is always arduous, particularly in poor districts where one is brought face to face with poverty, disease, and suffering, and from two to three weeks is not sufficient for rest and recuperation, particularly as the years pass on.

The creation of public opinion and the advent of a greater number of women on Municipal Councils and Health Committees is greatly needed to improve the conditions under which women officials work, and to support their reasonable demands.[2]

[Footnote 1:  Full particulars of this can be obtained from the Secretary, Sanitary Inspectors’ Examination Board, Adelaide Buildings, London Bridge.]

[Footnote 2:  The above article considers under the term “Health Visitors” such women only as are serving under public Municipal Authorities.  Unfortunately, since it gives rise to confusion, the name is also used in connection with officials privately appointed by various charitable institutions.  These have no universally recognised standard of attainments:  some of the so-called “Health Visitors” are without any qualifications, others, e.g., those employed by the Jewish Board of Guardians, are fully trained and do excellent work, comparable with that performed by Hospital Almoners.  We hope, in a later volume of this series, to publish an article on their duties and position.[EDITOR.]]

SECTION V

WOMEN IN THE CIVIL SERVICE

I

THE HIGHER GRADES:  PRESENT POSITION AND PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE

The claim that women should be allowed to enter not only the lower but the higher branches of the Civil Service is being freely made at the present time.  It is very generally felt that posts in which the holder has to execute judgment and to decide on administrative matters should be open to women as well as to men.

Many reasons are urged for admitting women more freely to a share in the responsible work of the Service, but the true basis of their claim lies in this—­that the most successful form of government and the happiest condition for the governed can only be attained, in the State as in the family, when masculine and feminine influences work in harmony.