governments. In 1920 about 200 cities, II states and the Federal Government had adopted the competitive civil service plan. The number of women employed in the civil service throughout the coun- try could not be accurately ascertained but a conservative estimate of those in the Federal service in 1920 placed the number at about 50,000 in the District of Columbia alone. During the first half of the year 1919, examinations were held for 260 different types of service with positions varying from that of charwoman at $240 a year to a Federal Trade Commissioner at $10,000.
The plan of the classified civil service aims, on the whole, to give equal opportunity to both sexes. But in practice women are often discriminated against by the custom of excluding them from certain types of service and also by permitting the heads of departments to determine the sex qualifications both for examinations and for ap- pointments. In the Federal Government service, where women were admitted by statute in 1870 at the discretion of the head of the department, the custom of giving preference to men had been so powerful that in the civil service examinations held between Jan. I and July I 1919 women were excluded from over 64% of the positions in scientific and professional services, from 86% of the posi- .tions in the manufacturing and mechanical services and from 75 % in the medical services. In the work of collecting information from original sources only 4 out of 16 different kinds of positions were open to women. Even the Federal Bureau of Efficiency and the Federal Board for Vocational Education closed its examinations to women.
This policy of discrimination was deeply affected by the shortage of labour during the World War, and the situation was partly rem- edied when the Civil Service Commission, after an investigation by the women's bureau of the Department of Labor, opened all examinations to both sexes, but with the reservation that heads of departments may specify which sex was desired. This latter provi- sion will need to be modified before equal opportunity is completely secured. There also exists in the Federal service serious discrimina- tion against women in the matter of salary levels and in the classi- fication of grades. During the first two months of 1919, for instance, over 86 % of all women appointed received salaries ranging between $900 and $1,300 a year, while only 36% of the men received these salaries. The number of women receiving probational and temporary appointments, in this same period, was about twice as great as the number of men in the same classes. But efforts to remedy this situation are increasingly successful.
Positions most commonly open to women include those of stenographer, secretary, librarian, statistician, editorial and clerical worker. Many departments, however, require women with expert technical training such as biologists, bacteriologists, chemists, dietitians, linguists, draftsmen, doctors, nurses, directors for play-grounds and recreation centres, and specialists in social welfare such as child hygienists and factory inspectors. Public institutions also offer opportunities for women in such positions as matrons, supervisors, inspectors and in the more technical positions as physi- cians or psychologists. Tenure of office based upon merit, often with a pension upon retirement, is probably one of the most alluring features in civil service work.
General. The entrance of women into many other professions was given a special impetus during the war, including journalism, advertising, commercial art and banking, where women were em- ployed both as clerks and as officers and directors. Architecture, interior decoration, landscape gardening and motion-picture work attracted an increasing number of women. I n motion-pictures women were not only actresses but also title editors, research workers, readers and occasionally directors or even producers. The exceptionally large salaries of $25,000 and $50,000 were occasionally reported, and a rare motion-picture director or a play broker was said to earn $100,000 a year. It is apparent that women have en- tered a very large number of professions exclusively held by men in earlier years, and their success indicates that they are certain to re- main and to carry important responsibilities. (I. O. A.)
WOMEN, LEGAL STATUS OF (see 28.784*). (1) UNITED
KINGDOM. The position of women in England was almost
revolutionized between 1910 and 1921. Very little actual change in the law took place between 1882 and 1918, but beneath the surface inevitable changes were impending, and the World War brought about the outward change as probably nothing else could have done. The parliamentary suffrage (see WOMAN SUFFRAGE) was granted in the early summer of 1918 to all women over 30 years of age whether single, married or widows;[1] and in
Dec. 1919 they were declared eligible for any office.
It may be taken as a general proposition that from the beginning of the year 1920 onwards there has been no difference in the legal position of men and women on account of their sex throughout the Ued Kingdom, and since that time no woman has been under any civil disqualification by reason of sex or marriage. As far as property was concerned, even under the old law, the non-married woman, whether spinster or widow, held her property on the same terms as a man. She could buy and sell, go to law and make her will just as a man could. The married woman's position before the year 1882 was far different. It is well stated by one who, though born in the United States, became one of England's greatest lawyers, thus: " A married woman is absolutely incompetent to enter into contracts, and has in the contemplation of law no separate existence. She cannot make a valid purchase on her own account even for necessaries, and when credit is given to her there is no remedy but an appeal to her honor " (Benjamin on Sales, 3rd ed., p. 32). All this has com- pletely disappeared. The Married Woman's Property Act 1882 was a great step in advance, and the last remnant of the medieval doctrine that for every purpose husband and wife were one per- son (and that person the husband) disappeared in 1920 when they were made capable of stealing from one another except when living together. A married woman is now as capable of dealing with her own property as a man is.
Married women (and of course all spinsters and widows) can now make their wills and dispose of their property as they wish. In England neither the husband nor the children have a right to any part of it except in the absence of a will. In Scotland the children have a legal share, on which they can insist on their parent's death. A married woman is not obliged to ask her husband's leave to make a will, nor need she make him executor or leave him any part of her property, unless she wishes to do so. Among wealthy people the married woman's position as to property is of ten controlled by her marriage settlement. The provisions are almost invariably the same, viz. that the capital of the property is in the hands of trustees and the income goes to the wife, who cannot anticipate it. On the death of the wife the husband sometimes has the income for his life. If there are children the capital is divided among them, generally in equal shares. If there are no children or other descendants of the wife the property goes back to the wife's relations, unless she disposes of it by will as she can generally do.
It is, however, an irony that even in 1921, in respect of her motherhood and the custody of her own children, the woman was still inferior to man (see 14.514), and also as to inheritance she was still not in such a good position as her husband or brother. In case she does not make a will all her property except her land goes to her husband, whereas if he dies intestate she only gets a third of his property, or half if he has no children (see 14.568 and
In addition she has one university vote at a general election. To qualify as a local government elector she must have (a) attained the age of 21, be resident in the area on the last day of the qualifying period (Jan. 15 or July 15), have occupied some land or premises in the area for the whole of the qualifying period, or in the alternative (ft) must have attained the age of 30 and be the wife of a man who is entitled to be registered as a local government elector in respect of the premises in which they both reside. To qualify as a parliamentary elector she must have attained the age of 30 and must be entitled to be registered as a local government elector in respect of , the occupation in the electoral area of land or premises of the yearly i value of not less than 5, or of a dwelling house, however small the : value, or be the wife of a husband entitled to be so registered. This means that the husband must own land or premises in the area of the yearly value of not less than 5. In all the above cases the women must not be under any legal incapacity. A peeress in her own right can be an elector and also a peeress by marriage. There are certain offices, chiefly in Scotland, which if conferred on a woman would incapacitate her as a voter. She must not be a lunatic, an alien or a convict. The wife of a person serving in military or naval forces of the Crown, who would if he were not so serving be entitledjo be , is not disqualified. The wife of a " conscientious objector " is not disqualified.
registered as an elector,
In the case of a university vote the woman elector must be 3 years of age, and fulfil the same local conditions as a man elector, or have passed the final examination and kept the period of resirlenc necessary to qualify a man at the time when the university did not grant degrees to women.
- These figures indicate the volume and page number of the previous article.
- ↑ By the Representation of the People Act (1918) all the old franchises were swept away. There are now three qualifications for women as parliamentary electors under the Act: residential, university, and as the wife of a local government elector. In her own right a woman may qualify by residence in the electoral area and may in addition have one or more university votes. As the wife of a local government elector she may also have a parliamentary vote, but she may not vote more than once in the same election nor for more than one ordinary constituency in a general election.
