WOMEN IN INDUSTRY. Through all the variations and complexities of modern in dustry there runs the simple motive of primi tive human activity, viz., the need of food, clothing, housing and ethical expression. In such activity women have always had a part, though that part has varied with countries and with centuries.
In the United States, before the development of modern industry, women were concerned chiefly with the preparation of food and cloth ing. Women practically monopolized the spin ning of cotton and woolen yarns, the making of hosiery, the manufacture of women's cloth ing; they made all the bread and pastries, and were the nation's canners. \YUJI men, women shared the weaving of cotton before the de velopment of modern industry, the manufacture of men's clothing and the slaughtering and curing of meats.
During this period in America's history men were the chief makers of boots and shoes and the principal weavers of wool They were al most exclusively concerned with the manufac ture of flour and grist-mill products, wood and wood products, clay, glass and stone manu factures, and in the production of fuels.
There are no statistics showing the exact number of men and women that were engaged in the home occupations, but the compilations made by such men as Alexander liarnilton, Tench toxe and by other early American his torians, together with many State documents, afford ample evidence that although there were some interesting exceptions, broadly speaking the work of providing food, clothing and hous ing was divided in the manner described be tween men and women before the development of modern factory system.
Although the industrial eras, referred to as °be f ore° and 'after' the development of modern industry, are not abruptly dentarked, but merge almost imperceptibly one into the other, there is no difficulty in determining the periods if a transition zone of sufficient width is marked off between the old and new orders in each industry or group of industries For example, the first stocking mills of any ins portance were established in the United States about 1820. Before this time, and for a goodly one afterward, hosiery was a household manu facture in the hands of women. They held
their own in spite of the factory until the ap plication of power to the looms in 1832. This and later inventions put wings to the factory industry. Forty years after the introduction of the power loom, stockings were practically a factory product, and women, who monopolized the work when it was a home industry, consti tuted about 55 per cent of the employees in the hosiery mills of 1870. The transition period covers about 40 years, but there is no question now about the complete monopolization of the the mills, factories and mechanical establish ments, and the immense field of employment dependent upon these industries, viz., the whole sale and retail stores and other distributing agencies and offices. Twelve million women, however, are the approximate total number of women earning their own living in part or in whole, usually by wage-payments or profits from independent business or services. They include domestic servants and women who go from house to house to sew, to wash, to clean; they include teachers and actresses, doctors and nurses and lawyers and women in independent business. They Include women working their own farms and women helping on their own or manufacture by the factories, nor about its being a home industry and in the hands of the women at least before 1820.
The World War effected at least a tem porary revival of home knitting. The relative importance of the home product, however, was not significant even in war time, as it is not probable that the home knitter will become a serious peace time competitor of the factory knitter.
Before discussing in detail the entrance of women into industry it is necessary to clear away any misconception which may cloud the meaning of the term •women in industry' as used here. It is not uncommon to hear about the •tw rive million women in industry.' This entire army of women workers is commonly, and erroneously, supposed to have *invaded° others' farms without wages or payment in kind. Such women are not usually thought of as •women in industry' and many of them are obviously not properly described by the term.