An Edinburgh woman sends the following interesting statement:—­

“Secretarial work seems to me one of the most congenial for educated women.  In Edinburgh the prospects are excellent.  The headmasters and mistresses of all the large schools, medical men, dentists, university professors, managing editors of our great printing and publishing houses, several of whom are editing encylopaedias, need a fair number of women secretaries.  And there is not a sufficient supply for the law offices of which Edinburgh has such a large number.

“The conditions are in need of some kind of organised supervision, particularly where everything depends on an individual employer.  In my first post with a medical specialist, for instance, my time was never my own; my work began at 9 and often did not end at midnight.  Sunday work was quite common; there were no Saturday afternoons off, but I had free hours here and there which it was impossible to utilise.

“Another post I had was ideal.  I worked for two men, for one of whom I spent the morning in a pathological laboratory.  Here I did nothing but research work and writing.  In the afternoon I did general correspondence and assistant editing of one of the medical journals.  I had free evenings and Saturday afternoons.  It is an excellent plan to work for two men, as it gives variety and may often be more remunerative, although for myself I never had more than L100 a year.  There is lack of organisation in this profession, and posts are difficult to get by registry or advertisement.  I have never found a Women’s Employment Bureau of any use whatever.  I have got everything by personal recommendation.”

A common grievance seems to be the amount of overtime imposed on many clerks, sometimes paid for, but often obligatory whether paid for or not.  There is a naive arrangement in the Civil Service Typing Department.  It seems that the typists are allowed 9d. or 10d. an hour for overtime up to a limit of fifteen hours a month, but any overtime beyond that is not paid for.  In the Minutes of Evidence before the Royal Commission we read:—­

“Commissioner.  Is any other time beyond that (15 hours a month) ever exacted?

“Superintendent.  Yes.

“Commissioner.  Are they ever required to work longer than that?

“Superintendent.  Yes.

“Commissioner.  And are they not paid for it?

“Superintendent.  No.

“Commissioner.  What is the reason for that?

“Superintendent.  The Treasury laid it down in their minute.

“Commissioner.  Have you questioned it?

“Superintendent.  Yes, we have many times asked the Treasury to allow the department to pay for more, but so far as I know, in no case has it been allowed, and at this present time (May 1912), in the London Telephone Service all shorthand-typists and typists and superintendents are doing a great deal of overtime, but only 15 hours in a month of 4 weeks is paid for.  Superintendents are not paid at all for overtime.  The only reason, apparently, for the limitation is that the salaries are so close that if shorthand-typists were paid for more overtime than 15 hours they would be earning more than the superintendents.”