534 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION P. 



for posts of responsibility, and the comparatively shortness of their careers in the 

 service. 



A second objection raised by the men is that women monopolise the middle 

 or favourite turns, and the more mechanical part of the work, while the 

 rougher, harder, and more responsible duties, with the late evening and early 

 morning turns, are laid on the shoulders of the men. This objection is not 

 universally applicable, however, even now, and in any case it is admitted that 

 this distinction could not be permanently maintained, and it is probable that 

 ultimately the arrangement would be to employ women during the working 

 hours of 5 A.M. — 1 A.M. in three shifts. 



Against the view, freely expressed, in some quarters, that the entry of women 

 to this branch is a menace to the men's position, this much may be said, that 

 from the employer's point of view, it is a vital interest that they should 

 maintain the efficiency of the men ticket collectors, as being a considerable 

 recruiting ground for the higher branches of the service, and that the employ- 

 ment of women in the more mechanical duties of the service can only have the 

 effect of equipping the men all the better for higher responsibilities. This need 

 of a permanent source of supply of efficient men renders unlikely any attempt 

 to lower the standard. 



In conclusion it may be mentioned that the great flood of applications 

 received by the Eailway Companies proves the great attraction which this new^ 

 occupation possesses for girls. A large number, but not all, are daughters or 

 relatives of Companies' servants ; others are stated to have come from restaurant 

 work and other depressed occupations. 



Of the minor experiments, that of the dining car service is the most 

 important. The G.W.R. is already employing women in this branch, and no 

 reason is found against extending their employment to cover the whole service. 

 On the other hand, an unsuccessful experiment is reported from one of the 

 Northern railways, whose experience on a trial trip was that women lacked the 

 nerve for carrying dishes on a moving train. In regard to women platform 

 porters the experiment is being tried, but not on a large or systematic scale, and 

 their permanent employment is unlikely ; the objections which are raised in 

 regard to other branches apply with increased force to this service. Porters 

 have in some instances been recruited from among the women carriage cleaners. 



CUrical Staff. 



A considerable extension in the employment of women has occurred in recent 

 years, and the results have surpassed expectations. As telegraph clerks and 

 telephonists they have been employed for years with satisfactory results. As 

 correspondence clerks their claims have been long established. A more recent 

 step has been the employment of women in goods and parcels offices, in the 

 work of invoicing and checking, and in particular as booking clerks. The 

 establishment of a training school by the L. B. & S. C. R., where girls of 

 15-16 are given 3 to 4 months' training in these duties, is evidence of the con- 

 siderable impulse given to the employment of women in these branches since 

 the war. 



Conditions in the railway service are said by Trade Unionists to have become 

 increasingly favourable to the employment of women in recent years, since the 

 reduced competition between different systems has the effect of making the 

 standard of efficiency required from the railway clerk less exacting. The 

 objections to their employment in certain branches, the goods department, 

 parcels office, weigh office, invoicing, checking, &c., are substantially the same 

 as in the case of ticket collectors and in some instances apply with greater 

 force : — 



(1) Limitations to women's sphere of activity. 



(2) Isolation of railway clerks in outlying offices. 



(3) Mobile character of the work, frequently involving transference from 



one district to another. 



(4) The difficulty of a practical early training. 



(5) Women have the easier work, while men take the night work and late 

 evening and early morning turns. 



In regard to the limited sphere of women's activity, a point of special import- 



