The organizing ability and the common sense way in which our women
in voluntary organization, quite rapidly, themselves decided what
organizations were unnecessary and merely duplicating others, and
refused to help them, so that they died out quite quickly, roused
admiration, and the war has educated vast numbers of women in
organization and executive ability. Women who never in their lives
organized anything, and never kept an account properly, are doing
all kinds of useful work. One nice middle-aged lady whose War Savings
Association accounts were being kept wrongly, or rather were not
really being kept at all, when told they must be done fully and
correctly by one of our National Committee representatives, said, "Oh,
but you see, I never did anything but crochet before the war"; but we
have succeeded in making even the crochet ladies keep accounts and do
wonderful things.
In the great world of mechanics and engineering, women are doing
a wonderful amount of work and, there is no doubt, will remain in
certain departments after the war. One danger there is in the women's
attitude--so many of our women have learned one branch of work very
quickly, that there probably will be a tendency to believe that
anything can be learned as easily. There are only certain departments
of mechanics that can be learned in a few months' time, and women will
probably go on doing these. Such work as theirs in optical munitions,
has shown their very special aptitude for it and in law-making,
etc., they will be used more and more. Women have successfully done
tool-setting and can go on with that. The training for civil and
mechanical engineering is long, but there will be, if women are
keen and will train, plenty of opportunity for them in peace-time
occupations in civil, mechanical or electrical branches in connection
with municipal, sanitary and household questions and in laundries,
farms, etc. The women architects and these women could very well
co-operate closely.
Women clerks and secretaries will remain largely after the war.
Fewer men will want these posts as we are convinced there will be big
movements among our men to more active work, to the land and to the
Dominions overseas.
Women on the land will in numbers stay there, and there is a distinct
movement among women with capital to go in for farming, market
gardening, bee-keeping, poultry-keeping, etc., still more.