Example 6.—­The following is an instance of the way in which the Government is sometimes responsible for encouraging women’s “black leg” labour.  Dr Leslie Mackenzie in his evidence given recently before the Civil Service Commission said that the Treasury refused to allow the Scottish Local Government Board to have a woman medical inspector at a medical inspector’s salary, but permitted them to engage a woman with medical qualifications at a woman inspector’s salary, which was, of course, much less.  Sad to relate a woman was found to accept this post.

These examples have been given because it is necessary that a woman intending to adopt the profession of medicine should know the sort of work, quite apart from the treatment of her cases, which a medical woman, worth her salt, has to do.  It may be asked how it is, if these difficulties are still constantly arising, that our pioneers were so successful?  For several reasons:  first, because they were in the best sense women of the world:  they understood when to be firm and when to give way.  They understood mankind.  Secondly, they had an assured position.  This is probably the most essential condition of all for success.  Before decent terms and conditions of work can be demanded, the worker must be in such a position financially that she can, if necessary, refuse the work in question, and if possible the employer must be aware of this fact.  So often women enter the labour market only when driven by stark necessity, that it is unfortunately the easiest thing in the world to exploit them.  People of either sex faced by starvation for themselves or those dependent on them must take the first thing that offers if the conditions be in any way bearable.  In my opinion, next to the parliamentary vote, the most powerful lever in raising the condition of women will be the entrance into the labour market of a considerable number of women so trained in Economics that they will always “play the game,” and at the same time sufficiently remote from want to be able to resist the sweating employer.

Some people discourage women of independent means from entering the labour market through the mistaken idea that if such women work they are taking away the chance of some other women who are in need.  In case any reader may be in doubt on this question, I should like to point out that it is the groups of workers among whom no such economically independent individuals are to be found, that are always exploited by the unscrupulous employer; they are such easy prey.

What really makes women workers afraid of their independent sisters is that extremely pernicious system of payment euphemistically known as “pocket-money.”  This should be swept off the face of the earth.  Even the richer woman has some rights, notably the right to work, and I would suggest that she has this particular, and certainly not unimportant function of raising the rate of remuneration.  From my knowledge of her, I consider that she is most anxious to do nothing but good to her fellows.  The only thing she needs in order to become a help instead of a menace to her poorer sisters is knowledge of the rules that govern the economic labour market.