TRADE UNIONISM 55 



develop the best type of citizenship. The chief weaknesses, then, of this 

 system seem to me to be an inherent tendency toward paternalism, with 

 its consequent emasculating or embittering of labor; its lack of the 

 cooperative spirit; and its failure to hold up an ideal. 



There are many things in life of more importance than window 

 boxes filled with trailing vines and bright blossoms; there are more 

 pressing needs for girls than fresh white aprons. And the would-be 

 philanthropic employer who does not recognize this is doing less than his 

 whole duty. While providing for the physical comfort of their em- 

 ployees, employers should recognize the fact that they assume certain 

 moral as well as economic responsibilities when they bring together large 

 numbers of workers. And it is this ethical side of welfare work that is 

 most significant ; it is the side that has the most direct bearing on good 

 citizenship. It is quite possible for a working woman to discharge her 

 full duty to society without having luxurious couches on which to lie 

 when she grows ill or weary from toil, but it is not possible for that 

 woman to fulfill her duty as a member of the social group unless she is 

 capable of exercising the power of choice, of standing firm as a moral 

 entity, of grasping and holding to a definite ideal of progress. 



Now my contention is that the present tendency of welfare work is 

 not to strengthen labor's power of initiative, and is not to summon to 

 the fore that virile zeal which belongs to sturdy manhood and woman- 

 hood. When the employer has been the means of rousing his employees 

 to action, of encouraging them to evolve methods of betterment, and of 

 stimulating them to an appreciation of their opportunity to do things 

 for themselves, the situation is much more hopeful. Some few employers 

 in this country have been able to do this, but the general trend of the 

 work is in another direction. And employees, surfeited with comfort 

 for which they can give no return, are liable to become limp of will and 

 uncertain of purpose. Their power of initiative becomes dwarfed. They 

 are always open to the charge of ingratitude. The pampered children 

 of industrial Utopias may become unfit for the competitive system of 

 industry. There are remedies of course that could be suggested for all 

 these difficulties, but it is not my purpose here to show how to revolu- 

 tionize welfare work, but rather to point out its present tendency. 



Now having before us the essence of the two betterment movements 

 for women known as trade unionism and welfare work, and some com- 

 ments thereon, it becomes pertinent to enquire which one merits the 

 greater degree of approval and support from people interested in indus- 

 trial and social amelioration, so far as young wage-earning women are 

 concerned. The question really resolves itself into a very simple one, 

 but nevertheless one that we may not be able to answer satisfactorily 

 for a generation or more, that is, which method tends to give us the 

 more efficient women, women who can function most capably in a 

 democracy ? 



