Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 4.djvu/872

 852 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

women only. Their expenses are of two sorts : (i) those imposed upon them by their statutes, e. ff., medical expenses, indemnity in case of sickness, funeral expenses; (2) optional expenses which are occasioned by certain other advantages offered by some societies. The assessments of the members do not pay the expenses of these societies ; they are all supported in part by charity. I will treat in detail three typical societies, composed chiefly of women engaged in work connected with dressmaking and the toilet. There are many difficulties in such a life for a young girl of eighteen recently arrived from the country and without friends. Such girls often pass gradually into prostitution, and end in the street or in the hospital. I will first speak of the Parhitnne. It demands of its members a franc and a half monthly. It excludes from its mem- bership those suffering from chronic diseases. To married women, who, in sickness, are taken care of at home, it pays a franc a day. In case of child-birth it pays a franc a day for twenty days. Unmarried members are cared for at the house of tlje Sisters of Marie Auxiliatrice, where many of the members live permanently for forty francs per month. A savings department has recently been created. The amount deposited is not at the disposition of the depositor, but is returned only in case of marriage, estab- lishment of a household, or business of one's own, or of entry into religion. After twenty years it pays an annuity.

The Courturiire pays every member who gives birth to a child fifty francs on con- dition that she does no work for a month, and twenty-five francs more if she nurses the child herself. The Mutualitl maternelU does the same. It has reduced the infant death- rate among its members 10 per cent. It used to be as high as 35 or 40 per cent. It makes no distinction between married women and unmarried women who give birth to a child ; only about 5 per cent, are unmarried. Women already pregnant are admitted, but receive a smaller benefit. The membership of these three societies is about 3,200. There are no other societies for mutual aid for women at Paris, at least in the ranks of laboring women, properly so called. In the industries above spoken of alone there are 303,000 women employed. It can therefore be seen how small a proportion of the working people take advantage of the benefits of mutuality. This is not due wholly to the smallness of women's salary. Some leave the society because, when out of work, it could not find them a new place on the moment; another because a bottle of soda- water was not given her daily ; another because her comrade was not given a pair of glasses, etc. Many having been well for a year or two trust that they never will be sick.

There is also a society for loaning money to persons temporarily in need of it. Loans are limited to six months, and are proportional to the salary of the borrower. There is another way to make societies of mutual aid appeal to young women, that of affording a place of meeting where they can stay Sundays and evenings. To associate charity with mutual aid is a fruitful idea. Without charity mutuality among women could not live. — Haussonville, Revue des deux Mondes, December i, 1898.

The Telephone Tangle and the Way to Untie It. — In a comparatively poor state like Norway or Switzerland it is possible to speak upon the telephone from almost any farmhouse or hotel to almost any other farmhouse or hotel in the country. In England it is only with difficulty and delay that it is possible for a sub- scriber to telephone from one principal town to another. I propose to show how, with great profit to the government, a thoroughly efficient service can be established over the United Kingdom. I propose to show (l) that it is impossible to have the best service over the whole of the United Kingdom, unless it is entirely in one hand and under one control ; (2) that, after acquiring the existing system at a fair price, it will prove an enormously remunerative enterprise. Under the present system, when tele- phoning from one city to another, it is impossible to find who is responsible for delays. A subscriber in London who constantly reports any unreasonable delay can generally connect with any other subscriber in London in fifty seconds. Any subscriber in the United Kingdom who cannot communicate with any other subscriber in the same area in three or, at the outside, five minutes has a grievance that ought to be inquired into. Mr. Preece, of the general post-office, has committed himself to the deliberate state- ment, " there is no reason why the time occupied in trunk working should be more than that occupied in local telephoning." We know that town service is very remunerative,