LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are often more read, and therefore more effective, than those which fill treble the space.] WOMEN'S WORK.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."J
SIR, —I enclose herewith my cheque for £20 towards the fund you propose raising at Mrs. Kinnell's suggestion in aid of the London Society for Women's Service. I cannot imagine a more deserving cause than that of the women who, as men return from the war, are becoming unemployed after doing the nation's work in the days of our need and stress. As a small employer of labour it gives me pleasure to pay my tribute to the whole-hearted devotion that women gave to the work they were so unexpectedly called upon to do. In common with others, I have during the last few years watched and registered the relative value of male and female labour, and it occurs to me that it may be desirable to utilize the experience gained in this period in coming to an equitable agreement of the rate of their wages as compared with those given to men. My experience has shown me that exceptional women are equal to good men, but that the majority are less productive, and I have in my field gauged this productiveness as low as two to one, although three to two may be a fair• average valuation. In suggesting the utilization of such experience I assume, of course, that the hope you express in your leading article will be realized, and that the Trade Unions will quickly remove the stigma resting on them in the suggestion that they are an unconditional bar to the employment of women in any of the trades they control. My experience teaches me that female labour is a most desirable alloy to male labour, and that, even if their capacity is at times inferior, their devotion to and love of their task can only act as a desirable stimulus to men and help towards efficiency.—I am, Sir, &c., W. HEINEMANN. 20-21 Bedford Street, W.C. 2.
[We have pleasure in acknowledging also the receipt of a cheque for £10 from Mr. G. G. Playfair, and a cheque for £1 from Mrs. Gertrude A. Traill, for the Women's Service Bureau, the objects of which were described by Mrs. Kinnell in last week's Spectator. Moreover, the London Society for Women's Service gratefully acknowledges the following donations to the fund :—Edward F. Balwin, Esq., £4 4s.; "Orielensis," £1; Miss E. M. Hall, £1; Miss L. Yates, £1 is.; Miss Mackie, £2; Mrs. H. S. Gladstone, £1 is.; Colonel C. V. Turner, £5 5s.; Miss D. Webb, £5; Messrs. Hillabys, Ltd., £5; Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Worthington, £50.—ED. Spectator.]
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