Women Workers in Seven Professions Part 23

The reports of the Women Inspectors evoked much appreciative comment during a recent debate in the House of Commons. Some interesting remarks on their work are also to be found in the evidence given before the Royal Commission on the Civil Service by Sir Edward Troup, K.C.B., Permanent Under-Secretary of the Home Office.

The number of Women Inspectors at present employed is not nearly large enough to cope with the work that needs to be done. It must be remembered that the staff enumerated above is responsible for the inspection of factories and workshops in Scotland and Ireland as well as in England, and that the number of women engaged in industrial work has increased during the last five years from about one and a half millions to two millions. The necessity of increasing the number of Women Inspectors has frequently been urged upon the Government in the House of Commons and in the press, and it seems probable that the Government must soon yield to this pressure.

The following extract from the _Women's Trade Union League Quarterly Review_, July 1913, may be of interest in this connection:--

"That the Women Inspectors' staff in particular is far below the numerical strength which would enable it to cope adequately--we do not say completely--with the task presented to it, has long been patent to every one who knows anything of the industrial world and the part taken in it by the woman worker. But in 1912 promotions and resignations left gaps in the already meagre ranks which for some time were not filled even by recruits, with the result that the number of inspections was necessarily reduced in proportion. To those who realise, as we do, the importance of the women inspectors' visits, both in detecting infringements of the law and in making clear its provisions and their value to the employer and worker alike, this decrease, even for a time, of the opportunities which Miss Anderson's staff enjoy of exercising their beneficent and educative influence seems altogether deplorable. The recent promise of the Home Secretary to increase that staff by two is very welcome, but we cannot pretend to think that such an increase will meet the need which these pages reveal."

There is one Woman Inspector of Prisons, a qualified medical woman, who acts also as a.s.sistant Inspector of State and Certified Inebriate Reformatories. Her salary is 300-15-400, whilst the lowest salary received by Men Inspectors is 600-20-700.

There is one Woman a.s.sistant Inspector of Reformatories and Industrial Schools in Great Britain. Her salary is 200-10-300, whilst that of Men a.s.sistant Inspectors is 250-15-400.

_The Board of Trade_

The first woman to be admitted to the higher branches of the Board of Trade was appointed as a Labour Correspondent in 1893. In 1903 she became the Senior Investigator for Women's Industries, the salary of the post being fixed at 450. A Senior Investigator's a.s.sistant was also appointed at a salary of 120-10-200, but the salary has now been increased to 200-300. These posts are open only to University women with high honours.

The Senior Investigator, with the help of her a.s.sistant, undertakes special enquiries into the conditions in women's industries. Perhaps her most important function is to originate investigations concerning women, which will yield information likely to be useful to the Department in the future, when some particular question comes up for discussion or decision. For instance, when the question of bringing laundries within the scope of the Trade Boards Act was under discussion, the investigations previously made by the Women Investigators into wages and conditions proved invaluable.

There are also three Women Investigators appointed in connection with the Trade Boards. Their duty is to a.s.sist in the collection of information relating to the scheduled trades, in all of which a large number of women is employed. They may be called upon to help in the preliminary work involved in setting up new Trade Boards. They explain as far as necessary the provisions of the Act to the working women concerned get nominations of workers to sit on those Boards and otherwise a.s.sist the Boards in carrying out their functions. They also conduct inspections to see that the law is carried out.

All these appointments are made by the President of the Board of Trade on the recommendation of the Civil Service Commissioners.

_Labour Exchanges_

The establishment of Labour Exchanges under the Board of Trade some years ago gave occasion for the appointment of a considerable number of women to responsible posts. On the organising staff at the Central Office there is a Princ.i.p.al Woman Officer at 400-15-450, who is responsible for the organisation of the women's work in all the Labour Exchanges. She has an a.s.sistant at 150-7, 10s.--200. A woman also acts as Secretary to the large London Juvenile Advisory Committee. She has the acting rank of an a.s.sistant Divisional Officer, although her salary (300-15-400) is less than that received by men a.s.sistant Divisional Officers.

There are nine Senior Organising Officers with salaries of 250-10-350, six of whom are women. The three men holding these appointments deal with Juvenile work only, whereas some of the women are in charge of both Women's and Juvenile work. Of the five Junior Organising Officers at 200--7, 10s.--250, three are women. The nine a.s.sistant Organising Officers at 150--7, 10s.--200 are all women.

All these officers are engaged in organising the work of the Juvenile and Women's Departments all over the country, and inspecting local offices. There are also twenty secretaries to Juvenile Advisory Committees, who may be either men or women. The salary for these posts is 150-5--200.

In the Divisional Offices there are some staff posts open to women at a salary of 200 to 300. Their work is purely clerical, and is concerned with Unemployment Insurance.

The original appointments in this branch of the Board of Trade were made by a Selection Committee on which the Civil Service Commissioners were represented. Applications were invited by advertis.e.m.e.nt, and a large number of candidates was interviewed. The more recent appointments have been filled by candidates who have first appeared before a Board, and have then pa.s.sed a qualifying examination, conducted by the Civil Service Commission.

_Board of Education_

The Board of Education (or the Education Department, as it was then called) was established in consequence of the pa.s.sing of the Elementary Education Act of 1870. Its jurisdiction was and still is limited to England and Wales.

Notwithstanding that it was responsible to Parliament for regulating the conduct of public elementary education all over the country, and that in those schools there were hundreds of women teachers and thousands of little girl pupils, it seems not to have occurred to the Department to call in the aid of women either as inspectors or administrators until the appointment in 1884 of a Directress of Needlework. A Directress of Cookery was added in 1891, and laundry work was brought under her supervision in 1893. It was only when the pa.s.sing of the Education Act of 1893 had brought other forms of education--secondary, technical, and scientific--more completely under the supervision of the Department that the need for Women Inspectors began to be felt. In justice to the Department it must be said that having once realised the need, they did not meet it grudgingly. The first Women Inspectors were appointed in 1904, and by the spring of 1905 there were no less than twelve, one of whom was appointed as Chief. Since then the number has been steadily increasing, and there are now 45--a much more satisfactory rate of progress than that of the Women Factory Inspectors.

_Educational Inspectors._--There are now 1 Chief Woman Inspector, at a salary of 650; 45 Inspectors, 8 at 400-10-500, and 35 at 200-15-400.

The method of appointment of Women Inspectors' is similar to that of men--_i.e._, by nomination of the President of the Board of Education.

The Chief Woman Inspector first interviews candidates, weighs their qualifications, and reports upon them to the Secretary. There is no examination on appointment. Besides academic qualifications, which are the same as those of men, many of the Inspectors have special qualifications, as well as having had practical experience in teaching.

A special cla.s.s of work is allotted to each Inspector: about 17 of them are occupied in inspecting Girls' and Infants' Public Elementary Schools: 15 are responsible for Domestic Subject Centres in Elementary Schools: 4 for Girls' and Mixed Secondary Schools: 3 for Training Colleges (women's and mixed): and 3 again for Domestic and Trade Courses and Girls' Clubs.

In the case of secondary schools, the Women Inspectors pay special attention to women's subjects, but they also take part in full inspections. They are not in charge of districts, and therefore do not carry on the miscellaneous correspondence with the Local Education Authorities which falls to the lot of a District Inspector. In relation to domestic subjects, however, the Women Inspectors are practically in charge of districts, and deal directly with Local Education Authorities. They inspect the work done by girls, and look into the organisation of the schools with regard to health, suitability of curricula, etc.

In the case of elementary schools, the Women Inspectors are attached to the various districts and are directed by the District Inspectors (men) as occasion requires, to deal with infants' and mixed schools, and to carry out routine inspections of public elementary schools.

_Medical Inspectors._--There are one Senior Medical Officer at 600-800; one Junior Medical Officer at 400-20-500; and also three Inspectors of Physical Exercises at 200-15-400.

The Women Medical Inspectors take part in the work of the medical branch in the same way as men; Physical Exercises come under their jurisdiction.

The Board of Education also employs three women on the permanent staff of the Department of Special Enquiries and Reports. The salaries are 100-7, 10s-180, and the posts are pensionable. The duties consist partly of library work and partly of giving a.s.sistance in the general intelligence work of the office.

The Right Hon. A.H. d.y.k.e Acland said in his evidence before the Royal Commission on the Civil Service that he did not see why at the Board of Education the same sort of women who become good inspectors and headmistresses should not take part in the administrative work of the office.

_Scotch Education Department_

The first Woman Inspector was appointed by the Scotch Education Department in 1902, and two others were appointed in 1910. Their scale of salary is 200-15-400. They are strictly specialist inspectors for domestic economy subjects, cookery, laundry, etc., for which they have qualifications including experience in teaching and inspecting such subjects.

Specially qualified women are occasionally employed by the Department to inspect girls' schools, and are paid a fee according to the time occupied.

_National Education Board, Ireland_

Two Women Inspectors are employed by the Irish National Education Board. Their salary is 150-10-300, the same as that of Men Junior Inspectors; Men Senior Inspectors receive 300-20-700.

There are two Women Organisers, whose duty it is to organise weak schools.

There are also 14 Organisers of Domestic Economy; their work is similar to that of Inspectors; they travel about and have authority in the schools; they do not inspect general subjects, but confine themselves to cookery, laundry and domestic science.

There are also six Women Organisers of Kindergarten.

_The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries._

This Department has recently employed a few women upon various kinds of scientific work. Three women are appointed as a.s.sistant Naturalists in the Fishery Branch, at a salary of 150 per annum, and two as Junior a.s.sistant Naturalists at 2 per week. They are appointed on the nomination of the President, without examination, but they must possess the necessary scientific qualifications and have taken a recognised course of study. These posts are non-pensionable. The Fishery Branch deals with questions relating to the natural history and diseases of fish, fish-hatcheries and laboratories, the protection of undersized fish, the effect of methods of capture, international investigations, and grants in aid of fishery research. The women are engaged upon the same work as men, except that they do not write technical reports and are not liable to be called upon for sea duty.

In the Herbarium and Library of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew there are two Women a.s.sistants at 150-10-300 (the Men a.s.sistants' scale is 150-15-300). Scientific qualifications are required for these posts, and there is an examination by the Civil Service Commission. The Library is maintained for official consultative work, to supply the basis of an accurate nomenclature throughout the establishment and as an aid to research. The Herbarium aims at representing the entire vegetation of the earth with especial regard to that of British possessions. A scheme for preparing a complete series of floras of India and the Colonies was sanctioned by the Government in 1856, and has been steadily prosecuted ever since. The principle work of the staff is the correct identification of the specimens which reach Kew from every part of the world, and their incorporation in the Herbarium. It is visited for the purposes of study and research by botanists from every country.

The scientific work in the various branches of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries would seem to afford some scope for women of scientific attainment. Sir T. Elliott, formerly Permanent Secretary to the Board, in his evidence before the Royal Commission on the Civil Service, said he considered that women could do good work in many directions, and that their help might be especially valuable in entomology.

_The Public Trustee's Office._

The Public Trustee's office was established in 1908, under the Act of 1906. Two Women Inspectors--or more correctly speaking, Visitors--are now employed, one of whom receives a salary of 200 and the other 180.

These Visitors are attached to the special Department set up to take charge of children (1) left by will to the guardians.h.i.+p of the Public Trustee, or (2) who have been awarded damages in the High Court either for injury or for the loss of parents or guardians.

As regards the first-named, the Public Trustee has express powers under his rules to act either as sole guardian or co-trustee. In these cases the Women Visitors a.s.sist the Public Trustee in discharging his trust. They visit the children, go thoroughly into the circ.u.mstances of each case, consulting with relatives and family solicitors. Schools are chosen, holidays arranged, careers decided upon, apprentices.h.i.+p or training provided for; medical attendance is secured and even clothing attended to.

In all cases concerning children in which an action for damages has been brought under the Common Law or under Lord Campbell's Act, the money awarded as compensation is paid over to the Public Trustee, unless the judge otherwise directs. A large part of the Women Visitors' work consists of supervising these compensation cases. It is important to see that the money is spent upon the children, and in the manner most likely to promote their future welfare--_e.g._, in providing education or special training. In the case of injured children, proper medical attention is secured and any instruments or artificial limbs which may be necessary.

It is becoming increasingly the practice, when funds are raised locally to help special cases, to place the money collected in the hands of the Public Trustee, instead of appointing local trustees.

Where the beneficiaries of such funds are women or children--very often they are widows--it becomes the duty of the Women Visitors to find out on the spot how the money can best be applied, and to advise the Public Trustee accordingly.

In all cases the supervision is continued as long as it is required, but where relatives are found to be competent and willing to take charge of children the responsibility is left to them.

Such work, concerned as it is with the young and the helpless, seems peculiarly suited to women. The Public Trustee in his evidence before the Royal Commission on the Civil Service, stated that the women already appointed had proved themselves "most efficient."