The vexed question of woman's ability to stand upon an equal footing with man in most branches of national activity bids fair to solve itself. The old barriers are falling one after another, and women can no longer complain that they are restricted in the choice of a profession, or denied great opportunities of advancement in any that they may select. Therefore, the part that they will play in the future, be it in public life, in the professions, or in the public service, will depend almost entirely upon themselves. The dislike of the average male to feminine competition in what he has been trained to regard as his own sphere, and the ingrained doubt of most men and a large number of women whether human nature is quite as compliant to human idealism as the convinced feminist claims, will remain to some extent a handicap on feminine advancement; but it is one which no legislation can remove. Otherwise, the way is open, and many even of those who heartily dislike and mistrust the tendency of the age now deem it best that women should be allowed to find their own place in the world without artificial hindrance. It is certainly the most reasonable attitude; and, though it implies the adoption of a general rule of sex equality, it need not be feared on that account, so long as that rule be not applied in obvious violation of the laws of common sense. Viewed from this standpoint, the Government proposals for the admission of women to the Civil Service, which SIR ROBERT HORNE announced yesterday, startling though they might have seemed a generation ago, have much to commend them. After three years the mode of admission to the Civil Service is to be the same for both sexes, though the Civil Service Commissioners are to pay due regard to suitability in the allocation of successful candidates. Women are to be appointed and to hold their posts under the same regulations as men, in so far as classification, status, and authority are concerned. The remuneration of the sexes is not to be equal, for the simple reasons that the cost would be too great and that the rates paid in the public service are naturally governed by those that prevail in other walks of life. Thus women are given the fair start for which they have asked, and though there may still be some traces of discrimination, they can, we think, be justified in every case upon the ground that they are to the interests of women themselves.
The adage of an older generation of constitutionalists that Parliament is all-powerful, save that it cannot turn a woman into a man, has come to the test. Last December there were over 110,000 women in the Civil Service, or thirty-one per cent, of the whole. Under the more favourable conditions of the proposed regulations that percentage may increase. Despite, however, the experience of war time, the employment of women in such large numbers is still, to some extent, in an experimental stage. People can even yet debate inconclusively upon the relative capabilities of the sexes in the public and other services. Certainly it is too soon to gauge their suitability for the higher grades. But, even though we dare not forecast the ultimate judgment of the country upon their employment, it seems possible that their entrance into the public service in such large numbers may affect the position of that service as a whole. The wild extravagance of recent administration has brought the organization and staffing of all the Government Departments under the closest public scrutiny. Economy is an all-compelling national necessity, and we fear the causes which have made it so will only too probably be accentuated in the future. If women do not justify the hopes reposed in them, their failure will provide yet another reason for bringing the whole establishment of the Civil Service into closer accord with the national requirements, and with the nation's power to pay. We wish these women well who may take advantage of the new opportunities; but we see in this new departure the precursor of other and perhaps, greater changes, destined inexorably to be effected when once this nation has squarely faced the facts of its position.
.lc54 years before the Sex Discrimination Act, The Times seems to suggest here that women have all but won the battle for equality in the workplace. Women should be paid less, The Times said, because equal pay would be too costly for the employer.
