51 



decent wage and enough to eat ; it is absurd to think their poor health 

 is due to the work they do : if they were fed properly they would be 

 much stronger than most people think. They must not be treated as 

 dependants, but as people of some value in the world. 



Question : Is not the question of suitability of employment rather a 

 question of the bad conditions which, if remedied, would make certain 

 occupations suitable ? 



Answer: Better Factory Acts and better hours are badly needed 

 for men and women, and men put up with conditions which they 

 ought never to have put up with : it distinctly lowers the standard 

 of life to allow these to continue. 



DISCUSSION. 



MR. J. G-. NEWLOVE (General Secretary, Postal and Telegraph Clerks* 

 Association :) 



The impression that I got after reading Dr. Marion Phillips' paper 

 was, here is yet another illustration of the^ fact that the war has now 

 gone on long enough to produce its own platitudes, and one of these is 

 that ' nothing will ever be the same again.' I doubt whether the 

 war will have very much permanent influence upon the question 

 of the greater independence of women. We have to be on our guard 

 against drawing too hasty inferences from war conditions, as the 

 conditions are totally artificial ; and my first general criticism is that 

 I think the earlier part of the paper tries to extract a greater measure of 

 advantage in the direction of the effect of the war upon woman's future 

 than the circumstances of the case really warrant. I think also her 

 observation that the war has thrown woman more upon her own 

 resources is not quite so well-founded as she would lead us to under- 

 stand. I mention this because she draws an important inference 

 from it that the men having gone away to the war will teach women 

 greater personal economic independence. Although millions of men 

 have gone, there are still millions of men left, and one of the things 

 which has struck me in my personal circle is that although, as Dr. 

 Phillips says, woman's partner her husband may have gone to the 

 war, there are still a number of men folks in the family circle at 

 hand to give advice, with whom she can discuss her difficulties. 

 Dr. Phillips has drawn a too lurid picture of the possible effects in 

 thinking that this factor is going to help women towards a higher 

 conception of independence in future. Much as we all wish it, I think 

 we ought to be quite certain that we have the right facts concerning 

 the matter. 



