TO WOMEN OF ALL NATIONS.

White Ribbon, Volume 24, Issue 284, 18 February 1919, Page 13

TO WOMEN OF ALL NATIONS.

(By Mrs Charlotte Despard in “Ju Suffragii.’’) jo\ tempered with solemnity, f»*r the real battle is only beginning, wr the women of Gi“.it Britain salute our sifters of every land. In ttiise moments of gener.il rejoicing, we re member that womanhood all over the world s orv\ It has suffered un speakahb ; but we hone and pra\ that the suffering will br»ng to humanity the tnut of wisdot ». From the spiritual s.d“, the bitterest and indeed the most sinister, asp'st of the war has bee.t the enl >rced separation between the peoples kapt aliv'* by a tier* e propaganda of bate. This has been felt specially by women. Rigorous press censorsh p, deni.il oi fr<°e speech, and restriction on individual liberty have kept us apart. At the ''ante time, during these yearn of upheaval our power to help and redeem the world has been growing, and W“ are tirnriy convinced that *f womanhood everywhere can grasp and hold the secret of power, our future is assured. That secret is to be found, not in armaments or war-munitions, not in money, not in dom nation of sexover sex, ( lass ov°r class, nation over nation; but in the love that, billing all sections of the peoples .gether in a common humanit), makes for a recognised oneness. It was said lately by a poet, when he was describing a great spiritual struggle: For thou hast but taken to gather I he last of the secrets of power The beauty that breathes in thy spirii Shall mould of thv sorrow a flower. With this hope, we the women of Great Britain, greet our si? ter; aero's the seas. We rejoice that .hrmghout these years of reac ton wc* and thc\ have been abl * to keep the flag of internationalism flying. We g*ve honour to the women who, by their ceaseless activity's, their courage, their sufferings, and their death, have rendered homage to the great cause of in ternat onal unity, and we look forward with joy to the opportunity, so long denied, of meeting fare to face those who with us have been striving for liberty, and seeking for a common understanding of its demands