THE WATCHTOWER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11805, 16 September 1916, Page 5

THE WATCHTOWER.

THIX K1 Nfi n\.IPER IA T. I\\ Mi ss Margaret Hodge, a robust Imperialist and too it all liiat German ambition stands tor, is yet (strongly convinced of the need to dissociate the preset;t strngsln for freedom from a militarism outlawing the present necessity of putting down that gront antisocial organisation which planned to subjugate the world. Her recent article in the "Vote,'' "Thinking Imperially," is essential?}" a word in season io tlio great union of Hritish women overseas which she represents• " Words are. the counters of wise men and the coinage of fools," wrote the, wise old philosopher. Ilobbc;;,'' she says, "and there is no be tier proof of thi* than tbo ready acceptance of any shibboleth by the mass, of unthinking people and the circulation of ii, as sterling coin of the realm. When the antisuffrage agitation was at its height, women were accused by the enlightened leaders of that movement of being incapable of 'thinking imperially, 5 and the phrase wns eagerly caught up and passed from mouth to mouth. At every anti-suffrage meeting it was quoted, and the downfall of the Empire was dolefully predicted as the inevitable result of entrusting women with political power, for they were intellectually ineapablo of realising cither the importance or the responsibilities of an Empire. Thai: word has an unpleasantly warlike significance, considering we are fighting militarism, which is an almost essentia! attribute of imperial ride. Whoever remembers the great jubilee processions of 1887 and 1897, designed to impress the man in the street with the pomp of our power, will recollect how these demonstrations resembled n military review rather than the union of a peace-loving people, whose vast dominions were scattered over the whole face of the globe. The clash of arms, the sound of drums, the waving of flags —that constitutes the Imperial ideal to the man in the street, yet all this military display is in its nature only a temporary adjunct, and not a permanent attribute, of what constitutes the true glory of the British Empire. Spenser, in his wonderful description of .the house of Pryde, forestalls this ideal of Empire, which to-day so dazzles the eyes of the ordinary mortal. " This goodly building bravely garnished" is built upon a weak foundation, no mortar hinds its bricks together, and All the hinder parts, which few could spie, Wero ruinous and old, but painted

cunningly. These weak points in xbo structure of the British Empire were plainly visible to tho thoughtful, and the slums of London, Montreal and Cape Town form a striking comment ou our Imperial glories which are expatiated upon from so many "patriotic" platforms. It is tho concrete symbols of Empire that appeal to the sensation lovers, the j sights that dazzle and tho sounds that exhilarate; it is only to the intelligent few that those are but as sounding brass and Tinkling cymbals. Appeals to tho eve and ear are effective for a time in arousing applause, hut they cannot have other than a temporary ■\*al ne. The cement which binds this Imperial structure together must be a i sentiment deep-seated in the heart of tho people, otherwise this Empire will sham the iate of all the great empires that have preceded it, and fall in ruins either from disruption from within or from attacks from without. To the British women of our dominions scattered ail over the world one instinct is common. These, though tinunder alien skies and in strange, new lands, have preserved in tho depths of their hearts the old love of "home."' and cherish a keen desire to maintain and to improve the race to which they are proud to belong. Their eyes are not fixed admiringly ou the svmbols of potential military and nav*l triumphs, but are dilate::! with horror at the enormous increase in the rate of infant mortality, which shows that last year more children died in infancy than there were men slain on the battlefield. The rising gene ration is paying .'i heavy price for the prospective victory of the British race. These; women oi the dominions oversea?, as their suffragist sisters in these islands, hava the keen foresight of the goddess Erife"', worshipped hv their ancestors. They see tho dread doom of this Empire not ill a Gorman victory, but in the steady degeneration in numbers and stamina of tho race to which thev belong. fho meeting of the second biennial Conierence of the British Dominions \v ouian Sufi rage I.nion (July 5 to 7 inclusive.) is a great episode even in this age, which is fraught with so many dramatic and startling events. In the midst of the most terrible war that the world has ever seen the women are sending representatives from the remotest parts of our Empire to discuss the really great and permanently important fjUestions of the day and to prepare for the rebuilding of the social structure on a sounder and more reliable foundation. When this war-fovor has passed away, how much will have been destroyed in the great cataclysm, and who will rebuild the shattered ruins? The women must be the Empire builders-—as they have been, m truth, through all the ;>ges. Tiu v have followed in the wake oi the conqueror -—healing the wounds, ercoiing ok!: r out of chaos, bringinc. 'ore to bauish hatred, striving to preserve the race. Their work has been purely altruistic, for they have been most unselfishly oblivious of their own personal loss in their eagerness to serve their generation and posterity. The tubjeccs discussed at the conference arc sufficiently significant. Thc-y show how the women, with marvellous foresight, are determined to « arn tho unthinking opportunists. and thus to endeavour to avert the great enls which menace the human race.

Women'* suii'rage "cakes ;.hc first. ana last" place in -the discussions tor it i; the crux of the whole matter. If the women have flic vote in all parts of the Empire, they will bo able to deal effectively with the threatening evils, possibly even to avert them. The crying injustice of the British Jaw, which forces a woman to sacrifice her nationality on her marriage with an alien, i<* being discussed from the legal and the human point of view, and the terribly distressing cases of women who have suffered under this law sinco the ovttbrc ni: of the war prosit ted vo the audience. The t ( uest,ion of «e.v morality and sex ('duration will l>o ably ;ml. with, by specially competent speakers: it is u L'.iijieet that this war, as :dl wars hare done in the past. Ins brought specially into prominence. The dark menace of venereal disc a =:.■•>. increased n hundredfold under a. miliiiary yogiwill be treated of as a grave danger to the continuants of the racs. Women and children in the irjdusrrinl world is another theme which the true guardians of the race can fitly des.l W \tli; overwork and underpayment for •cvornevi and childecu nve Uio ln.'Mn piivso'-: oi the of • iisni;: 'Oil , t '.i'" l,i v - 1,

is form;;:, tho little ones to sacrifice their previous early years in labour of a Kind alike fatal to j>l'.>-i how Ith Hud monta! fatauilily. The Indian «>vc.n~ ijvi, July »>. d<-voted to a sprier of lot;- . i;;c • on Tilt]in. delivered by hading ;• 'prc-cfii'>( : vt !1 - ol the groat religion* ,sf tho Pemnsu.'?!. and dealing claofi.v v.'itl- tho present condition mnf hlture, pjospoe.Lt of tho women of India, it. dt signed to hring -11 purls of tho Empir' into union. Perhaps in time. -women may teach men to or*.re less for lit,, glory and i'n»K« attendant oil tho destruction r.n<' wholesale butchery cn.Hcd v.nr, and a little more for preserving tho lives of the pro*l mosses of human beings who now die tor want of such nurture. Tho now Empire whirli will arise from tho ruins of tho old one will ho a. temple of industrious peace which men and women w ill co-op: l rato in roarij;r:: labour will ho honoured, and the gteaie-a, happiness of tho ,<rr?:itt?sv numbo r wili ho tho j>rimo object of tho builders.