THE ROMANTIC PAST

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 104, 3 May 1924, Page 13

THE ROMANTIC PAST

THE YOUNG WOMAN OF

TO-DAY

DEBATE AT SCHOOL OF

ECONOMICS

LADY FRANCES BALFOUR'S

INDICTMENT.

CiaOU O'JE OV7N COKRESPONDBIiI.)

LONDON; 20th March.

"Is the young woman of the day any worse than she ever was?" A series of lectures is being given at the School'of Economics in aid of one of London's big hospitals, and the text for the controversial subject last evening was the above. The speakers were Lady Frances Balfour, a charming and picturesque grande-dame, and Miss Viola Tree, the well-known actress. The.Rev. H. R. L. Sheppard was in the chair.

Lady Frances Ballour said she did not like either the grammar or the sentiment of the title. It presupposed that young women were1 bad, and passed judgment. The young woman of to-day:. was extremely. nice to old age. She did not los*. her temper, was quite civil, and when she left that presence she always said, "Oh, she is senile !"• In the past women led more sheltered lives. They, knew less, and there was great confusion between ignorance and innocence. On the other hand, they had a more romantic life. They knew leas of men, and sweet 17 thought of them as paragons of vii'tue and unselfishness, and all that was heroic. That, perhaps, made them better than they were to-day. It was good to be believed in;"especially by men. They were held as entirely irresponsible, and it did not matter, in those days, how they .'spent'" their time, so long as they amused men. Being irresponsible, they had not, -the feeling ,whick she believed the young woman had to-day,: that something more than amusement was called for from her. That ignorance made it most improper that she should know any of the darker sides of life of her sex. . She thought that in the past there was a more serious vein m the individual life. Then the young woman was more interested in- the great affairs, of life: than was possible amid the-bustle of to-day.,.;.- ■.. ■ When she (Lady Frances) was young,;, she was not at all good-looking—(laugh-ter)—but she had beautiful hair, which had all gone now. It was an'inheritance, and so was its-.colour. , When her father was travelling'1; in Greece nearly 100.years ago, some one asked his tutor what dye he used for his hair./ On bein' told none at all, the Greek replied f'But ■Nature never, made a thing so beautiful." The colour was red,: and red hair for a. woman was supposed', to be . the distinctive mark of the courtesan. Her woman/friends used to'look at her hair and say to her when a'girl: "I am very sorry for you, my dear; But it is a cross you must bear." And she had to bear it with, the submission that was taught to women-in those days: .-' What .did-.we; kee to-day?—A young woman doing everything she possibly could to imitate the courtesan. Her face was a. mass of powderj her red lips were.gashed out -of human resemblance, and the stinking reek of her, which came up as she passed, made one long for the breath of the gorse the heather. She thought the path the: young ' women of to-day had": to tread was more difficult, and they had k> walk it by themselves. The responsibility was great,. and more was expected of them. During! the war all classes and ages of women did their 'duty., Now they .went out alone, with.no great example to follow.'i Did they eVer hear one woman say that she would not drink -another cocktail because her example might weaken the temperance of her-son? Walking down Bond street the other day she heard one young woman say to another. "Let us go into — and have a really' bilious lunch.", (Laughter.) .'■ -.-— ■'.'■'- ■■'; ■..■• CHORUS GIRL'S "BOGEY." ! To.Miss Viola Tree the subject of the lecture suggested something about the stage. . The'prevailing idea' was that on the stage one saw ithe seamy side of life, but as a matter/ of fact they did. not havo time in her \ profession for. a seamy side. .They were: all . rather :frumpy, dowdy, in: a. hurry, liking a cup of tea11 —that sort of thing—(laughter)—arid the higher they rose the busier they became, and the more people they had to look after. As :to that - great bogey, the wicked chorus girl, . that poor, creature ] was harder worked than any of them, ! and' had to rehearse seven hours daily. People spoke of, the opportunities' girls had to f.o wrong, but- surely the many opportunities had the 'reverse, effect? Why should they elope when'there was no one to stop them? (Laughter.) Was I the freedom which the sex.had acquired making them any worse?' No, this young woman of to-day was sincere, in a hurry, but unashamed, and , capable really :of nothing "except of being absolutely natural. There was no nonsense about her, but it was true that she was rather indifferent about religion. : Still, she had a horror of being bored, and a: still greater terror of: becoming. a bore. Ihe young; woman, of the. present day might take more ■ care about her heart ■ (Cheers.) ; :, . , .... . ' ' LACK OF MODESTY. ■')."' Lady Frances Balfour, in the course of her reply, said that -in an Edgeworth novel one of the heroines who had fallen downstairs-modestly, covered her ande-an-operation tliat would not be performed to-day. She wondered if the women or the present would in later years feel ashamed of being photographed practically; with no clothes ,on. There was, she was afraid, -no sense of modesty on' thepart of the.woman she was talking about Young people talked about' the horrors of--.ancient photographs, ''and their excresences of" dress. They might be reminded that that would not be the criticism of the future. (Laughter.) 'In conclusion, she paid a tribute to the stage which possessed many admirable qualiWONDERFUL CHORUS GIRLS. L , The. chairman paid a hirrh -tribute to the girls of the theatre. "My job," he' said, "takes me into what is known as theatre-land^ and I come across a good many _ theatre people—the people who work in the chorus. How profoundly I admire those people h ■ They have -lots of faults, jDut I think they are just wonderful. Their comradeship, companionship, goodness to others in the profession are marvellous." ■■"■'■.-,.