PHASES OF PRACTICAL PHILANTHROPY. 541 



proper status of woman much good has been evolved; it is no longer 

 considered degrading to earn one's living, and the woman worker 

 in every field is v\^inning her way to the respect and recognition 

 which she deserves. 



What can be done to raise the standard of woman's work, to 

 give more thorough training in vocations for which women are best 

 fitted, to dignify important occupations which suffer from the lack 

 of skilled service and which are not overcrowded because of mis- 

 taken ideas, and, above all, to make women ashamed to receive com- 

 pensation which they do not fully earn? 



The employment bureaus connected with the various organiza- 

 tions of women are endeavoring to answer these questions. Their 

 object, as outlined, is to advise and adopt such methods as shall best 

 assist women in their chosen vocations; to also provide a bureau of 

 registration where applications can be received and information 

 given. 



A committee of practical women supervises the work and en- 

 deavors not only to secure temporary positions, but to confer per- 

 manent benefits on those who seek their aid. The applicants usually 

 include stenographers, typewriters, copyists, clerks, governesses, 

 matrons, nurses, housekeepers, seamstresses, laundresses, cooks, and 

 housemaids. It is the rule, and not the exception, to find a girl 

 or woman specially fitted for the position she seeks. The majority 

 are not fitted even to do one thing well, and the ignorance and as- 

 sumption shown are appalling. 



To discover latent ability, to stimulate the desire to excel, to 

 explain the rights of the employer and employee, and the moral 

 obligations of both, is a part of the privilege of the women who give 

 time and thought to the employment problem. 



The Boston "Women's Educational and Industrial Union has 

 been able to render excellent service by the distribution of circu- 

 lars cautioning women against advertisements which offer large re- 

 turns for work done at home. Its list of fraudulent firms, obtained 

 by thorough investigation, has been sent to other associations, and 

 has already proved of inestimable value to many women who would 

 otherwise have been tempted to send money, allured by the attract- 

 ive advertisements. 



The list compiled gives the names of one hundred firms which 

 are a " delusion and a snare," and W'hich, on account of some trifling 

 technicality, the law seems unable to touch. 



To exalt the home and raise the standard of domestic service 

 is another important object — ^perhaps the most important of all. 

 From the ordinary intelligence office to the employment bureau 

 under the guidance of educated women is a long step for progress. 



