The Supply of Working Women

From The Illustrated London News, 10th July, 1915. 

LADIES' PAGE.

We shall all feel glad that the Government have called on women to register for possible war service—and women up to sixty-five years of age, too—even although the previous request for women volunteers for this service produced 87,000 offers, of whom but some 2300 have been found any work to do.  It is to be hoped, however, that women will not be set to tasks too hard for their strength, producing a crop of broken-down girls to match the lads wounded in the war, but without the same provision and compensation.  It is also to be hoped that women will not be too much called away from the vitally important work on which so large a proportion of us are now engaged.  The female sex, as a whole, is mainly occupied in rearing and educating the next generation, and in providing the necessary cooked food and other requirements of the present working population.  We hear too much in ordinary times of exclusive attention to their own household work being required of wives and mothers.  Even skill in other forms of work acquired by long, costly, and devoted study, as in the case of lady doctors or women certificated teachers, has been constantly relegated by men on public boards to be wasted for life if the holder of it should elect to marry.  But now we are suddenly going too far in the reverse direction.  As unreasonable and wrong in the public interests as it is to command absolute servitude for intellectual or business women to domestic cares alone, so it is, on the other hand, wrong to call women too largely away from those wifely and motherly and educative duties upon which both the present and the future generation so greatly depend for health and well-being.

That there is not really a superabundant supply of women available for physically hard work has long been plain from the scarcity of domestic servants.  That such scarcity is a fact every employer of that class of labour knows.  The money wages of domestic workers have advanced fifty per cent. in as many years, without any strikes or combinations, merely by reason of the scanty supply of labour, consequent on the large number of new occupations that have been opened to women in modern times.  That it should have followed that domestic workers should become too few to meet the demand, in consequence of the opening of other employments, is a token that there is not an adequate supply of female labour, for wages, for hard physical work.  So it must not be supposed that the National Service census will discover a vast army of healthy women hitherto merely sitting lazily unoccupied.  ..... Many—not all—middle-class married women, however, might well work harder than hitherto in their own homes, even to the point of dispensing with one domestic servant.
.....

FILOMENA


[This all seems a bit muddled.  It's not clear to me whether Filomena is suggesting that the Government was wrong to expect women to work rather than looking after their families, or just warning that there would not be as many suited to physical work as expected.  But in fact, many working-class women were already working out of economic necessity - often at jobs requiring 'physically hard work'.  And as far as I know, domestic service was unpopular, not because it was hard work, but because it was badly-paid drudgery with very little freedom.  A job in a munitions factory with fixed hours and better pay was far preferable.]  

Women’s Part in the History of the War

 From The Times, 9th July 1915. 

Women concerned with or interested in war work should instruct their newsagent to secure Part 46 of The Times History at once, as an exceptionally heavy demand for this Number has arisen since attention was drawn to its contents in the debate of July 6 in the HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The mere enumeration of the subjects treated in Part 46 of

The Times

Illustrated

HISTORY OF THE WAR

affords an indication of the exceptional interest of this Number to women generally, and in particular to those who are taking up any share of war work.  The wide scope of its brightly written and delightfully illustrated pages will be gathered from the following Table of Contents :—

Women's Anxiety to Help on Outbreak of War ;
Mobilization of the Nursing Services ;
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, Territorial Nursing Service, Naval Nursing Service, and the British Red Cross Society ;
Women Doctors at the Front ;
Women's Military Hospital in London ;
Queen's "Work for Women" Fund ;
Scheme for Central Committee on Women's Employment ;
Queen Mary's Needlework Guild ;
How the Suffragists and Anti-Suffragists Helped ;
Formation of War-Register of Women by the Board of Trade ;
Replacement of Men by Women. 

Part 46

THE WOMEN'S NUMBER

Now on Sale. 7d.

With numerous appropriate portraits and photographs.

Written by one having a wide knowledge of, and a deep sympathy with, all questions affecting women, the Current Number of The Times History constitutes a complete justification of the present-day claim of women to be regarded as co-workers with men in numerous spheres of activity hitherto closed to their sex, whilst it fully recognizes their supremacy in the organization, administration, and actual performance of the Nursing Services and in everything appertaining to the Care and Relief of women and children in distress or out of employment.

[With hindsight, 1915 seems a bit early to be publishing a history of the war.]

Halifax Fighters and Prisoners' Needs

From the Halifax Courier, 3 July 1915

FIGHTERS AND PRISONERS’ NEEDS

SHALL WE FORGET OUR OWN?

THE PREMIER POINTS THE WAY

In a day, one solitary Saturday, Halifax alone raised £800 for horses.  Now what will Halifax do for its own Fathers and Sons?  Shall they appeal in vain?  Shall indeed they go short of anything?  Do not those vacant chairs appeal to us?  There is no more direct way of proving to our own, our gratitude.
We have made it our business to ask folk at home to provide needed comforts for Tommy.  It is one bit of proof that he has a soft spot in our hearts, that we want to help him in his great sacrifice for us.  Without he kept the enemy back, where should we be?  Let us pour out thankfulness to the fullest measure.

WHAT THE PREMIER SAYS.

What did the Premier say on Tuesday:- "All money that is spent in these days on superfluous comforts or luxuries, whether in the shape of goods or in the shape of services, means the division of energy which can be better employed in the national interests, either in supplying the needs of our fighting forces in the field, or in making commodities for export which will go to reduce our indebtedness abroad."

WHAT LADY JELLICOE SAYS.

Lady Jellicoe, speaking in Halifax yesterday, said: "However brave our soldiers and sailors are, they cannot fight, and beat the enemy without all the aid they can get from the civilian.  We know now that men and women alike must put their shoulders to the wheel.”

NEEDED QUICKLY: £500, FOR 1,400 MEN

Regiment:  2nd West Ridings; 5th W.R. Artillery; Ammunition Column; R.A.M.C. (A Echelon); R.A.M.C. (B Echelon).
Area: Brighouse to Todmorden, Stainland to Queensbury.

The claims of other regiments (at the Front only) will be put before the public, as soon as the needs of the above have been met. As long as the War goes on, it is up to this district to continue to think generously of native braves.

The goods provided by this Fund are : --
Vests.     Carbolic Soap.   Pipes.
Pants.    Vaseline.    Cap sunshades.
Braces.    Boracic ointment.   Candles.
Handkerchiefs.  Zinc ointment.   Tinned goods.
Razors.    Sweets.   Writ'g mat'ial.
Shaving Soap.    Fruit.   Towels.
Toilet soap.   Tobacco.   Mirrors.
Tea    Games.   Biscuits.
Coffee.    Laces.   Tooth powder.
Cocoa.    Thread.   Tooth brushes.

Except to men in other than local regiments, the "Courier" only supplies on the signed application of Commanding Officers, and on the understanding that every man from the district indicated above shares.  105 prisoners known to us have received parcels weekly, but owing to lack of adequate support we are obliged to cut them down one half, so that each prisoner will now get a parcel in the next fortnight; and if the rate of sending in money does not vastly improve, we shall have to curtail their help further because, whoever else we forget, the fighters must have every possible attention.  Each parcel contains 2 mothers’ loaves, and goods costing 6s. 3d.

For shirts, socks, and all knitted goods, local regiments must apply to the Mayoress’s Committee.

TO SOCIETIES, WORKERS AND THE PHILANTHROPIC.

Will district Red Cross and other Societies kindly consider our appeal with a view to helping it, in view of the fact that it is all for local men?
Mill, workshop, and office collections would be particularly agreeable now.  Employes throughout Halifax, Elland, Brighouse, Todmorden, Lightcliffe, Hipperholme,  Queensbury, Sowerby Bridge, Ripponden, Hebden Bridge, and all the intervening places, know that in assisting in this cause they are contributing directly to their own lads.  The cause is likewise commended to churches and their auxiliaries.  The consideration of all charitably-disposed friends we cordially invite.  Lady collectors and workers would be valuable.

Nobody can do too much, and certainly we can sacrifice in no better cause.

We have got to win.  Then let us help our own lads in doing their share.

[For some time, the Halifax Courier had been saying that their 'Comforts' fund was short of money, and making increasingly desperate appeals for more.  It seems to me that they had taken on too much - the list of things they were supplying includes many items that should have been provided by the War Office, and probably were.  Providing all those things for 1,400 men out of charitable donations was evidently proving too great a burden - and could only get more difficult as the number of Halifax men at the Front increased.]   

Schoolgirls and War Work

 From The Times, 26th June 1915.

SCHOOLGIRLS AND WAR WORK.

PRINCESS MARY'S UNION

ACTS OF SELF-DENIAL.

What schoolgirls have done during the past 10 months of war has passed comparatively unnoticed. They have been somewhat unjustly overshadowed by their elders.

When war first broke out it occurred to Miss F. R. Gray, the headmistress of St. Paul's Girls' School, Hammersmith, that the thousands of girls in secondary schools, most of them with relatives at the front and all of them burning with desire to help, would be, if organized, a splendid asset to the service of the country.  The Association of Headmistresses took up the idea with enthusiasm, and in a short while 325 girls' schools in all parts of the country had joined in forming the Girls' Patriotic Union at Secondary Schools.  Princess Mary became patroness, and Miss Robertson, Principal of Christ's Hospital, the then president of the Association of Headmistresses, the president.

Schools were strongly advised from the first to work in connexion with local organizations and to ascertain their probable needs before undertaking any work.  Almost the first suggestion of national service was found in a suggestion in one of the early circulars that girls should learn and practise all kinds of domestic work so as to set older women free to do work that girls could not do.

The record of these schoolgirls' work since August contains many thousands of acts of self-denial.  Sugar, cakes and sweets, the prizes or part of their value, were given up to Red Cross or relief funds.  Pocket money was used for contributing to various funds; half games subscriptions were devoted to buying materials; outside matches were relinquished and railway fares paid to relief funds; half-holidays were given up to set free other people, men and women, for war work.

EQUIPMENT FOR HOSPITALS.

Many schools were connected with local service hospitals and assisted in equipping them, providing bed linen, swabs, bandages, and all necessaries.  One school supplied for the use of the wounded stamped envelopes containing a sheet of paper and a pencil with a message of good wishes from the sender. Others did mending for neighbouring hospitals and troops quartered in their neighbourhood.  A few, like the Manchester High School, supplied quantities of jam, which the men much preferred to the ordinary camp preserves.

Sometimes a distraught mayoress of a town wanted warm garments for soldiers as quickly as possible, and the girls never failed her.  Secretarial work was done for local Red Cross centres; wither pads were made for horses at the front, books were collected for the troops, flowers were sent to hospitals, motor-cars were begged from parents and friends to take convalescent soldiers for drives; and boxes were placed conspicuously for self-denial money for hospital comforts.  Elder girls who had mastered French and who formed a Girls' Guide Corps at one school, became extraordinarily useful in helping with refugees, interpreting at some of the centres.

The schools in the long list include names well known in every part of the United Kingdom, from Dr. Sophie Bryant's North London Collegiate School to Miss Mackillop's Victoria High School in Derry.  Every denomination is represented in that patriotic company.

 [Although it is not mentioned, I think that the schools involved in the Girls' Patriotic Union were all private schools.  The minimum school leaving age at this time was 12, and in working class families, children had to leave school to start earning as soon as possible. The luxury of 'self-denial' and giving up outside matches and half-holidays was reserved for girls from richer families.]

A Halifax Firm's Part in the War

From the Halifax Courier, June 26th 1915

HALIFAX FIRM'S PART IN THE WAR.

From Brunswick Mills, Halifax, there are 26 employés serving with the colours in different regiments.  To the dependents of these the firm are very generously making an allowance of £1 per week.  Their fellow workers also maintain an interest in them, and this week they have subscribed to send out to them a parcel each of varied useful goods, together with an address, signed on their behalf by Mr. Middleton, the manager, wishing them good luck and safe return.  The workers at the mills have in other ways been doing their bit since the war began, having subscribed £26 17s. 6d. to the Mayor's Fund, £21 2s. 6d. to the Belgian Refugees' Fund, and £20 to the "Courier" Comforts Fund.  One of the employés with the colours, Lce.-Cpl. Crossley, of the Scots Fusiliers, is at present on furlough recovering from frost bite contracted at the front; Pte. Patchett, of the Coldstream Guards, is on special duty in London, having been incapacitated by wounds in action; and Pte. Harry Walker, of the 2nd Duke's, is in hospital at Darwen suffering from gas.  The remaining 23 are either at the front or completing their training.

Bread for Prisoners of War

From the Halifax Courier, June 26th 1915

NOTICE TO LADIES.
For some time now we have received some 200 loaves a week from kind ladies in Halifax, and a few just outside it.  This bread has been sent, the day after receipt to somebody’s father or son held in a Germany as a prisoner.  We know of just 100 of them, and each has been getting two loaves every 8 days.  Cannot we induce another 100 ladies to put their names on our list, promising two loaves apiece fortnightly?  We should like them to do so, and then we would ask our very splendid helpers of the past weeks not to send in oftener than fortnightly.  No lady has uttered the slightest grumble, or asked for this relief, but we feel the alternative scheme we have suggested would be desirable, only fair.

[List of bread-makers follows.]

[It seems extraordinary that the Courier should be sending bread from Halifax to camps in Germany - but presumably they had evidence that the loaves were still edible when they arrived. ]

Breconshire War Fund

From the Brecon County Times, 24th June 1915.

[This is a short extract from a long article reviewing the organisation of Breconshire's support for local people affected by the war. I have picked out first the paragraph that shows how local support for the dependents of serving soldiers and sailors was necessary, even though the Governemet was in theory providing a Separation Allowance.  Secondly, I include the section that anticipates the help that would be required after the end of the war for the families of men killed or injured, and even for those of returning men.]  

BRECONSHIRE WAR FUND.

Splendid Organisation and Splendid Work.
More Money Required to Provide for Big Future Needs.

All cases requiring relief have been considered, visited and helped.  Soldiers' wives and dependents have been assisted in claiming their separation allowances, sometimes a matter of difficulty, especially at first, and relief has been afforded until the Government allowance was received.  In this way a great amount of hardship and distress has been prevented, as in several cases months elapsed before the War Office payments began.  These many activities have involved an enormous amount of work, all done voluntarily and willingly, and the county is under a heavy debt of gratitude to those who have so readily given time and trouble to the good cause.  This debt of gratitude can and we believe will be discharged in the best possible way, by a renewed inflow of subscriptions.  This, we know, is the only kind of thanks the workers want.

OVER 1,500 PERSONS HELPED. 

Up to the time of writing some 620 cases of soldiers and sailors' wives and dependents had relieved.  Detailed particulars of every one of these are not yet to hand but they are available in 595 cases, and show no less than 1,550 persons have been helped—375 wives, 955 children and 220 dependents—truly a splendid record.
.....

WHY MORE MONEY IS NEEDED.
To anticipate any possible criticism of an appeal for more funds at this stage, when there is a considerable balance in hand, let it be stated—and we appeal to a warm hearted people to believe us on this point without going into many details—that the County Committee have undertaken liabilities which will exhaust their balance in a comparatively short time unless their funds are replenished.  Their beneficent operations will need to be carried on not only until the close of the war, but for an indefinite period afterwards.  There will be families left without breadwinners, and maimed soldiers will be coming home and requiring a helping hand to prove to them that their sacrifices have not been in vain.  Moreover, with the cessation of the War—and this is a big question of liability —separation allowances will stop, and there will be a very large number of families to be maintained until the returned soldiers are settled at their ordinary occupations.  To properly carry out their great task, which is nothing less than to see that not one instance of distress or hardship through the War is to be permitted to exist in Breconshire, the County Committee must be kept continuously in large funds.
...