Practical Suggestions for Mother and Housewife | Page 8

her in distance.
Therefore, when she lives at home, what a special obligation is there to
be her mother's comfort and dependence! Even though she acquire
greater skill in household affairs, she should still resign herself to the
subordinate place of assistant.
The thought that she is becoming useless is the chief dread of a woman
who has been a managing worker all her life, and her daughter should
carefully avoid bringing this to her mind, indeed, should so act that the
ageing mother retains the management of the house, even though her
labors diminish. In respect to the direction of children, the elder
daughter should take a hint from the manner in which the
school-teacher supplements rather than supplants the mother in her care
of the young people, leading to a difference in the kind of regard which
these feel for them. The sister should always consider herself simply as
the eldest, most experienced of the children, and so the natural monitor
of the group, and, when necessary, the mediator with the parents.

In a similar fashion the unmarried woman should act toward her
neighbors who are wives and mothers. In matters where the interests of
children and households are of chief concern she should resign the
leadership to the married women, and, after them, to the professional
teachers. Religious, social, and civic matters, wherein as a church
member and a citizen she is on an equal footing with wives and
teachers, afford her ample scope for exercising her instinct for
leadership.
Every unmarried woman who lives alone should, whether or not she
possess an income, have a vocation. Earnings and wages are not alone
good in themselves, but are an additional gratification, in that they
supply a proof that the earner's service is of worth to the world. Some
day, when social conditions are so adjusted that economic competition
is really free, and wealth cannot be obtained save by service, money
will be a proper measure of standing in the community. It is all the
more a duty now, both to herself, her class, and to society, that the
woman who works should contend to the last cent for her part of the
wealth that is created by the business in which she is engaged. Where
her work is equal to a man's, she should contend for wages equal to his;
where it is inferior, she should be willing to accept less; where superior,
she should demand more. In these matters women are apt to be either
too complaisant or too clamorous. They should first be sure that they
are justified in their claims, and then, if right, be firm in their demands,
and, if wrong, be resigned to abandon them. The law of supply and
demand acting in the labor market allots wages between workers with
natural justice--certainly more equitably than the interested opinion
either of employer or employee.
It will be seen that the woman in business needs to study the
fundamental elements of political economy even more than the
housewife. Books and magazines are filled with superficial, obvious
advice as to the way in which women as employees should conduct
themselves toward their employers and fellow workers, but rarely is
there a hint given of the actual rights and obligations of these relations,
upon which the proper conduct is based.

Employment is a business contract between employer and employee, in
which there is no legal or moral obligation for either party to exceed the
terms. Owing to an over-supply of labor, wages may be exceedingly
low, even down to the starvation point, but for this condition the
employer, if he be not also a monopolist, is not responsible. Indeed, as
employer, his presence in the labor market as an element of demand
raises the market wage. In fact, it is only by his increasing his business
that he can raise wages. If he pay more to his employees than he needs
to, or is profitable for him, this increase is not real wages, but a gratuity,
something no self-respecting person likes to take. Some other class in
society created this condition, and it is this class that the low-paid
workers should blame, and, as citizens, take measures against, not the
employers. Indeed, they should consider these as their natural allies in
making better economic conditions.
Accordingly, the woman in business should have sympathy for her
employer, who owing to the prevalent condition of shackled
competition has troubles of his own. She should aid him by loyal,
efficient work, thus, and only thus, establishing a moral claim upon him
to recognize her loyalty in kind. Personal relations, except of this
nature, should not be sought by the employee, particularly if she is a
woman. Outside of the office or shop she may meet and treat her
employer as