The pay question was brought forcibly to the minds of those women students who worked during last holidays. On a certain job men and women doing identical work over the same period were paid in a ratio of about two to one. The official attitude to this may be gleaned from a letter from the Minister of Agriculture, replying to a petition by students working on a certain vegatable production project.

"The main point raised in your petition is that, generally speaking, female labour is as efficient as male labour, and you indicate that in your opinion on certain work at this project female labour was more efficient than male labour. With this viewpoint I cannot agree, for while it is admitted that in a few of the small tasks female labour might be more efficient, generally speaking the work which calls for sustained effort is more efficiently carried out by male labour. That this is an acknowledged fact is proven by the differential rates of payment awarded to the two sexes in practically every occupation or profession. I would further add that in those tasks where it is felt that female labour might prove as efficient as male labour, every endeavour is made to introduce piece-work, so that the worker gains that reward to which he or she is justly entitled."

A further long letter to the Minister concerned, mentioning specific arguments, was ignored. It is, however, a question which we students cannot afford to ignore; it affects us too vitally.

Our Independence

Of course, university students doing essential work over the holidays are fortunate in this respect, they do not depend on that type of Job or trade for their living. The case of the four girls in the South Island may be cited here. Questions were asked in Parliament about them—they received considerable back money for overtime which their union claimed for them. Had they been ordinary employees they might have hesitated to jeopardise their employment by demanding payment for the excessive overtime worked. It is here that the student body can be of value in the community by its very independence. The writer of the article in last week's "Salient" pointed out that students could and should, endeavour to work in with the unions over the vacation. To my mind there is yet another matter the students should consider, and that is "equal pay for equal work." It may be said that this is an old feminist slogan. It is desirable that we as "educated people" should understand how it affects us and the community in which we live. Mrs. Roose-velt, while on a visit to New Zealand last year, told the "Salient" representative at the Press Conference that a United States women's committee in which she was interested had carried out a broad investigation which effectively disproved the idea of women needing less money because they do not have to support dependents. The myth that women cannot tackle difficult or responsible work was shaken in the last war and the post-war years; this war has completed the process. Of course it is not suggested that women wield pickaxes any more than that men should take up Karltane nursing, but there are shipyards in England where the majority of the workers are women, doing a "man's Job." We have learnt that over 65% of the doctors in the U.S.S.R. are women and in the U.S.A. on government munition projects the administration allows the principle of equal pay for equal work with most desirable effects on the work and the morale of the workers.

The differentiation in pay is a hangover. Women are no longer politically inforior; they have been given the vote. The removal of economic inferiority will have a desirable effect on our society.

There is another problem which, as we are young, affects us vitally. At the present time there is considerable trouble socially over the position of the home. The vexed question of divorce is in daily evidence. To a woman it seems apparent that this is knit up with the anomolous disparity of pay. A woman may be unconsciously tempted into marriage by a regular income and better living conditions. Such a marriage is likely to come to grief when it is founded on a desire for economic security rather than on affection and similar interests and companionship.

Democracy in Education

This question of women's pay affects not only the graduates of V.U.C. but more particularly in college life—the undergraduate. V.U.C. has a very high percentage of part-timers—and takes a certain pride in those students who have the strength of purpose to work by day and swot by night. But compare the small number of scholarships capable of supporting the scholar throughout the year with the 1,100 students enrolled at the college. Women-students, who form the majority at a war-time university, are forced to be part-timers save for the lucky few who are assisted by bursaries or parents. Were it possible for the women students to earn sufficient over the vacation to support themselves during the University session, it would have definitely beneficial results. This not only for the women themselves, in that it would lessen the physical and mental Strain to which they are subjected, but also they would be in a position to enrich the cultural life of the college and it would certainly go far to raise the scholastic level of the University of New Zealand.