Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/201

 FACTORY LEGISLATION FOR WOMEN

I8 7

The following seven are selected as being far ahead of the others in this respect, and we can see from these the great need of good legislation and watchful inspection of so large and important a class.

c-*

dumber employed

Per cent, of total.

Mai*

Females

Total

females form

New York

402 670

1 17.100

629,869

22 per cent

Massachusetts ....

272.246

qS.OIQ

170.26?

24 "

Pennsylvania

451 417

76,860

528,277

14 "

Ohio

4IO l62

71,012

242,294

13 "

I 31.647

28,914

160.561

18 "

177.471

28,099

205, 570

14 "

Connecticut

80,192

26,899

116,091

21 "

This host of women engaged in manufactures opens up a great social and economic problem. Why are they so engaged ? The answer is self-evident. Their work is necessary under exist- ing arrangements. In. Europe, four millions of women are engaged in factory labor, and economists say they could not possibly do without them. Whether this should be so or not is an open question, but the fact remains that in this country many thousands of women are slaving away at body- destroying work and oftentimes for soul-destroying wages.

Before passing on to the beginning of legislation, let us look for a little at the accompanying table showing the number of manufacturing and mechanical industries in which women are engaged, and the actual number of women employed according to the census of 1890, so that we may see the great variety and hardship of their work.

Census, volume on "Statistics of Manufacture, 1 ' etc., pp. 5, 6, 7. S ; iSoo. Industrial Evolution of the United States, C. I >. \\KI..UI. |>. jo(>.

/>'. In the figures for 1850 I have adhered to those found in the original census report, and copied into the report of 1880 as above (p. 8). The figures used by MR. WRK.H r in the Industrial Evolution of the United States, p. 204, are taken from volume on "Industry and Wealth," Ninth Census (1870), p. 406. (See foo: Attempts to reconcile the two sets of figures seem to have been unsuccessful. The author write- me that he for some reason preferred those he has used.