THE PROTECTTON OF WOMEN.

Evening Star, Issue 15652, 17 November 1914, Page 3

THE PROTECTTON OF WOMEN.

TO 'J UK KillTOll. | Sir, —Vour sub-leader oi Saturday | on tho above subject deserves thn ionsidcrution of all per.soiis in tho com- . mtinitv responsible in any way for the young. \ou say: '•Why the passnge , of this beneficent measure Mho raising j of ilio age ol consent to TS) was not ' proceeded with wo are somewhat at a , loss to understand." Probably hj- i cause the public (h> not realise vim* ; the- present legal sunns oi voting j girls is. The public do not realise that j at 1(3 girls are legally ot •■disc-re-! lionary ago" (unless—a curious anomaly—they have property). The.", i arc free, absolutely free, to go where '■ they like (except to houses known to the polieo as immoral), innke what friends and acquaintances they like, leave their homes to earn their own living if they like, and also Ml the., like) ifro free to keep from their parents any knowledge ot their whereabouts. If the parents ask police help lo tind out where their daughter is the police have to answer: " The , girl is of discretionary nge, and (herolore lie cannot help volt to n know- ; ledge of her address, although we know : whore she is." This loaves ,t treei opening to any people who like to I tench a young girl that she is mis- j understood or mismanaged ov '' kept j under " ;u home—a free hand to miy j who rare to influence girls against j their parents. 'lliat only despicable people would do this to young girls I does not mean necessarily that it is seldom done. Honor to men that ii is not generally done. Also, as tho law is now. if a father loaves a will appointing a mother " guardian " to his daughters, the daughters nt 1G are ' by law absolutely free from tho j mother's control if thoy wish to be. Because the sense and discretion of a girl of If" are immensely more ! developed than the seuso and rliscre- j lion of a {girl of 10 is one strong reason for the passinir of this measure | re age of consent. To raise it to 18 | is just to the girls, just to tho public, \ just to the parents, who, by the age being its low a.s 16, run the risk of losing the. control of their girls at a critical time of life. If we aro tr. keep the age at 10, wp must no longer bide the truth from girls that at that age they must control themselves and h* responsible for themselves in all relations of life. We must also have another reform M"or boys a~s well a.s girls)—i.e., if parents are not responsible for children after they are 16. then in the name of common sense lift from the parents responsibility for debts of their children after thoy are 16. At present parents are responsible for children's debts till they are 21. Why?—l am, etc., ih'is-orENE*. November 16.