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Show MINIMUM WAGE AND THE UTAH LAW. The poverty of waKe-earning girl is the subject of editorial comment In at least one religious paper. The Lltng Church, published In Milwaukee, Milwau-kee, which takes this irjew: "Girls have a right to Ike and to be supported at home, doing such work as naturally devolves upon home-makers, and recognizing the norm -j I probability of marriage ahead This does not mean that a worn-j iao should be stopped from following J tho honorable proiession of bachelor I maid and voluntarily entering upon a life of self-support. That Is her right; and a social system that forces icr Into matrimony s Itself a frightful wrong. But 10 enter that profession, she is bound to fit herself her-self to become a skilled, productive Worker in some line of industry. She ruay not demand that society give her a living wage qua woman; she can (only demand the right , to perform I huch labor as shall be of auftlclrnt 1 1 productive value to make self-support possible to her And that means that she must become, to the fullest de-gree de-gree of which she is possible, a skilled skill-ed laborer. She may then rightly demand de-mand that a living wage be the recompense re-compense of her skilled labor not because be-cause she is a woman, but because s.ie has given to society the equivalent equival-ent of that which she expects in return. re-turn. "But the unskilled girl in the fac-lorcs fac-lorcs and the stores Is not. neces-?c'ily. neces-?c'ily. thus productive If she has be-c-n driven into industry, not because be-cause she deems her vocation to lie therein, but because her father cannot can-not support her at home, she 16 indeed, in-deed, the victim of our bad economic system, which has so nearly brokeu down at this stage of the world's history. his-tory. She it is that is In greatest danger of falling into prostitution iiat shall we do with her?" The Living Church offers this comment com-ment as to regulation of wages by law: ' H does not follow that we ought to seel; a solution of the problem of regulation of the girl's wage. To do that is to tinker with an effect j without solng hack to its cause. "It would seem probable, then, that only confusion would result from the I enactment of most of the minimum. age, bills now pending lu the 6"vcral t i aire. We are not in accord with the iewt; presented by The Living Church." This country is face to f.,rr with the problem of girl employment em-ployment It is all nonsense to talK e( parents supporting their children. Tbe industrial conditions arc such that hundreds ol thousands ol voung women are forced to help sustain their folks and thev are driven In necessity into the fields of employment employ-ment open to them, and. unless the law helps to protect them, thev are it the mercv of the most unscrupulous unscrupul-ous among those who oiler employment employ-ment to girls All employers are not disposed to mistreat their girl workers, work-ers, but the men who do. force those who are disposed to he fair, to cut nown to the one level of wages. Here Is where the minimum wage scale is to work a benellt, bj compelling all employers to pay at least a living wage. It is too early to predict the results to be obtained from the law enacted by the last Utah legislature, bul We are confident nothing but good can ' come from that measure. If II is l10r- l enforced |
