Her Splendid Trust

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6884, 13 April 1929, Page 13

Her Splendid Trust

DAME MILLICENT FAWCETT and her work to secure FRANCHISE FOR WOMEN TWO CELEBRATED SISTERS

■ VER seventy years ago three young girls sat talking by their .bedroom fire in England. Their brains whirled with schemes for the betterment of conditions of women and children—Emily Davies, aged 22, and Elizabeth Garrett, aged 16, talking earnestly together. Millicent Garrett, quite a small girl, sat nearby, on a stool, listening, but saying nothing. After going over all the great causes they saw about them, and in particular the women’s cause, ■to which they were burning to devote their lives, Emily summed up the matter. '

“Well, Elizabeth,” she said, “it’s quite clear what’s to be done. I must devote myself to securing higher education, while you open the medical profession to women. After these things are done,” she added, “we must see about getting the vote.” And then she turned to the little ■girl who was still sitting quietly on ,her stool, and said, “You are younger than we are, Millie, so you must attend to that.” How well Millie has carried out her trust is known even to this generation of women,: and Millicent Fawcett, as she now is, has played a splendid part in securing the franchise for English women. The story of the three little Victorian girls is told by Ray Strachey, in “The Cause,” a history of the * women’s move-

ment in Great Britain, just published by G. Bell and Sons. The book is a fascinating study of the e m ergence of women from obscurity into the full glare of public and social activ-

ity, with the simultaneous development of education, and the final enfranchisement. It is curious to read that even in those far-off mid-Victorian days, the pioneers realised the importance of smart frocking. The dowdiness of many women who appear on public platforms, does not belong to our own day, and Elizabeth Garrett did not see why brains and chic should not go together. In spite of the fact that she had been criticised for her “levity” in making jokes, Elizabeth wrote to Emily Davies: “I do wish the Ds. would dress better. She looks so awfully strong-minded in walking dress. , , . she> has short pet-

ticoats and a close round hat, and several dreadfully ugly arrangements. ... It is abominable, and most damaging to the cause.” “The Englishwoman’s Journal”

In 1857, the first number of “The Englishwoman’s Journal” appeared, and the value of such a publication was soon realised. In the small rooms inspiration took wings, and there was a constant coming and going of crinolines. One little lady decided there was no reason why women shouldn’t be compositors, so the Victoria Press was founded, and the “Journal” printed there. Through the columns of their paper, women demanded that all doors should open to their knocking, and there is the quaint picture of 30 women tucking their curls under their bonnets and leaving the office every Wednesday to swim in Marylebone—because the manager had said that the doors would be open if 30 swimmers were guaranteed! Yet the enthusiasm and the spirit were there, and Mrs. Strachey’s book should be read by every woman who imagines that the battle has been fought and won only in this, the 20th century. The courage and idealism of the pioneers make a fascinating story, and Mrs. Strachey has written with broad sympathies and great understanding. Comparing this Georgian age with the Victorian era, Mrs. Strachey says, in conclusion, “something, no doubt, has been destroyed, something innocent and restful, and pure; but ignorance, ill-health and the dangerous spirit of dependence have been banished with it, and in their there is education and self-reliance.”