men. Read of the introduction of machines into the English
districts where the hand looms had been in use. Have papers or talks on
conditions everywhere in this transition period. This was the beginning
of the great work of women in factories. Especially in New England,
factory work became a large part of life. Daughters of farmers, of
shop-keepers, of the owners of the mills themselves, and many
school-teachers in vacation, were employed from five o'clock in the
morning until seven o'clock in the evening. There was no social stigma
put upon them. Read from the early history of Mount Holyoke.

Mill towns were considered models of quietness and morality because of
the presence of hundreds of women. Their life was full of intellectual
stimulation; lyceums brought the best lecturers: Emerson, Lowell, and
other great writers and orators often spoke; the women edited and
published little newspapers of their own. Lucy Larcom was a mill girl;
read her poem called "An Idyl of Work," and her paper published in the
_Atlantic Monthly_, volume 48, called "Mill Girls' Magazines."

But the hours of work were too long, the boarding houses too poor, the
pay too meager. Gradually the American girl was replaced by the
foreigner, and this period of work was at an end.

From this point factory work, as we know it, will open before the club.
Study it especially in relation to cigar and cigarette and candy making,
and in clothing industries of all sorts. Describe conditions as factory
inspection has discovered them; notice the unsafe buildings, the long
hours, heavy fines, and low pay. Discuss what should be done to remedy
such evils. Have some of these questions taken up: Should Women Enter
Trade Unions, or Is Organization Unnecessary? Do Strikes Pay? Should
Women Insist on Compensation for Injuries and Old-Age Pensions? Can a
Woman Work All Day and Still Bear Healthy Children and Bring Them Up
Properly? Should There Be Mothers' Pensions? What of Night Work for
Women? Describe the life of the night scrub-woman in a city. Read "The
Long Day."

Turning to the work of women in shops, notice that it was about 1859
when the first women took this up. Compare the conditions then with
conditions to-day. Describe welfare work. Discuss the "living wage," and
question whether this should not depend on competence. What of lack of
recreation and social life? Does the low wage drive girls to immorality?
What can be done locally to better conditions in