Page:Women Wanted.djvu/367

 world so many babies that he should know their value as much as any man may, is saying they are really worth more. Through the Academy of Medicine in France he is recommending to the Senate a measure providing for a payment to a mother, from the time that gestation begins until the child is one year old, of five francs a day.

But most significant to the woman movement of all lands is the welcome that the Usine de Guerre is extending to Azalie de Rigeaux. Of all the making over they have been doing for us in industry, this is perhaps the most revolutionary in its effects on the whole social structure. For when industry takes the baby, it means the passing of the wage envelope to a whole class of the population whose arms were hitherto literally too burdened to reach for it. Here at Ivry-sur-Seine they do not shake their heads and say, "Oh, you might have a baby. We prefer to employ a man who won't." On the contrary preference in employment is given to a woman who has a child. The only person who takes precedence of her is the woman with two children or, of course, with three. From the day that she signifies she is going to have another, she becomes an object of special solicitude. She will be shielded from any injurious strain. Because it may not be well for her to stand at the lathe, she will be transferred to the gauging department, where she may remain continuously seated. And, while the gauging department's regular rate of pay is