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    118 woman's supervision of women's indus...

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    Branche Zeal The Ploymen Of Stock S Thos...

    curacy ; and as to the governing- power , it is only necessary to point to the example of the Irish Convict Prisons , where women act

    in every capacity . There is undoubtedly a difficulty at present in obtaining a supply of women trained to nil these situations ; but

    when public opinion becomes better advised of the dignity of labour , and opportunities of improvement are more freely afforded to women

    suitable persons will be found , who though prevented by cir- , cumstances from undertaking such work unremunerated , yet will

    thankfully accept a sphere of usefulness where they can earn their daily bread . Manufacturers are not averse to a change of this kind .

    They know that the cheapest worker is the steady , well-principled and industrious workerand the factory that possessed one or

    , two able women , who , though they might not understand machinery , could guide , restrain and encourage the girls while at work ,

    and after hours , assisted by Christian ladies who have leisure and inclination to help , win them to attendance at school , implant

    ideas of self-respect , habits of self-reliance , and surround them with humanising influences , would , I believe , speedily pay the

    expenses of such oversight in an increased production and a better class of work .

    In this " age of societies / ' an association might readily be formed for the promotion of this object . The germ of such a society exists

    in the " overseer and sewing machine" department of the Irish . Society for the training and employment of women .

    Therefaci-, lities are afforded for learning the use of the sewing-machine , practically and theoretically ; cutting out and preparing workthe

    , keeping of accounts , and superintendence of a work-room ; and it is confidently hoped _' that a class of designers of trade patterns will

    soon be added , and lectures delivered for the benefit of pupils , by generous men who recognise the full value of the communion of

    labour . We hear on all sides complaints of the waste of artistic power in

    the designing of patterns unfitted for use from utter ignorance of their aptitude to manufacturing possibilities ; a marked inferiority

    of inventive genius alone prevents the United Kingdom froni taking the lead of countries whose tasteful creations we are

    contented servilely to copy . The bridge between the school of design and the factory is here supplied—a well-trained , clever overseer , with

    any artistic taste , could soon adapt her talents to this " work . A subtle power resides in the woman ' s handanswering perhaps

    to the same quality in her mind , which has not , yet been fully taken advantage of . A field would thus be opened , legitimate and feminine

    enough to satisfy the jealous anxieties as to the unsexing of women by commercial pursuits . The tendency of modern competition to

    draw women from the privacy of domestic life cannot be successfully opposed except to a limited extent ; andsince a return to the days

    when the mistress and her maidens , carded , spun , wove and

    made up the _garments and garniture of the household is no longer

    118 Woman's Supervision Of Women's Indus...

    118 woman ' s supervision of women ' s industry .

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Oct. 1, 1862, page 118, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01101862/page/46/