13 JANUARY 1912, Page 26

Woman at Work. By M. Mostyn Bird. (Chapman and Hall,

55. not.)—A prudent reviewer will bo content to make his notice of this volume as purely descriptive as possible. The first two sections, "Manufacture" and "Distribution," will sot before him problems which he will find it impossible to solve. Thus in the "sweated industries" question, for instance, every ono would rejoice that the factory girl should get better wages, but what if the higher wages means the introduction of a machine and her own disappearance, or if the factory., una,b!o to compete with foreign labour not so controlled, goes under? "Tho forcing-up of woman's wages will doubtless tend to limit her industrial labour." Is that good or bad P Then there is the "living-in" question. Lot any ono read what Miss Bird has to say on it and then declare that he or she is easy in mind. And tho barmaid? Ought she to be or not to be P When we get to the professions the subject is less complex. Our author prefers literature to music, we see, and music, we imagine, to the stage.