WOMEN'S PROGRESS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22900, 1 December 1937, Page 5

WOMEN'S PROGRESS

POLITICAL OBJECTIVES UNITED STATES PRESIDENCY SOME POSSIBLE CANDIDATES Ttr women liavc suffered a political and economic eclipse in the dictatorruled countries they seem at the same time to ho little by little attaining their objectives in other . countries, states an Australian writer. In Sweden recently the question of "equal pay for equal 'work'' was considered by Parliament, and the decision arrived at was that, from January 1, 1938, the rate of pay for teachers in the service of the State should he equal for men and women in all grades except the highest. On September 1 a new election law passed by the National Assembly of the Philippine Islands enfranchised the women of the islands. Under this law I each person must thumb-mark his ballot paper when he votes, to ensure identification in case of contested ballots. But the most remarkable evidence of the growing importance of women in the State comes from the United States, and is quoted by Helena Norman ton in her monthly commentary on events in a popular English women's journal. Nothing in fact or law, she says, prevents a woman from running for the highest office in the country; and, as a matter of fact, a Miss Claflin did stand, years ago, in the Presidential election and received a number of votes. May Seek Presidency It is an accepted tradition that no President should serve for more than two consecutive terms, so President .Roosev olt is not likely to be a candidate again. But, Mrs. Normanton says, her American correspondents tell her that it is a much-discussed possibility that the President's wife may stand. A further suggestion is that Dorothy Thompson (Mrs. Sinclair l>ewis), the distinguished American international journalist, may contest the election. Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt has won many women friends through her widely distributed contributions to magazines and newspapers and her broadcast talks. The money that she earns in this way is given to her favourite charities. Miss Thompson has achieved a high reputation in Kurope as well as in America, and is now contributing to a well-known American magazine a scries of articles on conditions of American life. An earlier article of hers, entitled "The Dilemma of a Pacifist," attracted much attention in the United States and was quoted with interest elsewhere. In it she explained that all her life she had been a pacifist, had hated war and loved peace. But the world to-day is divided into two groups of nations, those whose leaders teach them a belief in violence and aggrandisement, and those who all too weakly cling to a belief in law, in the sanctity of treaties, and in settling disputes by arbitration. r lo the lattei group belong the greatest, strongest, richest, and most stable nations on earth. Yet the ruthless ones have driven the world on the defensive. "Is it not time," she asked, "to take an offensive? Would it not be wiser and more conducive to peace to say, 'We want no war, but we shall not' be blackmailed nor condone violence in others .... Do not count upon our neutrality'?" The expression of such an attitude of mind would, she thinks, strengthen the moral forces on the side of peace Individual Freedom She herself claims to he willing to die for political freedom, for loyalty to ideals, for the right to teach her child what she believes to be truth, for the right to explore knowledge, for the right to love where her heart and mind admire, without reference to some dictator's code, for the right to work for a society which seems becoming to the dignity" of the human race. "I shall pick no fight, nor seek to impose by force those standards on others," she concludes. "But let it be clear. If the fight comes unsolicited, 1 am not willing to die meekly, to surrender without an effort. And, that being so, am I still a pacifist?" If Dorothv Thompson becomes a candidate, the United States will have an interesting Presidential election campaign when it coines in three years' time. She Avill be a well-informed candidate, and will speak her mind fearlessly.