WOMEN AND THE WAR.

White Ribbon, Volume 24, Issue 286, 19 April 1919, Page 1

WOMEN AND THE WAR.

|i\ Ktist* Hciuler*on in tin* Canadian Woman's Century.

Only a low short yea \s ago the wo nitii ot this Dominion asked for tin ballot and v.ere refusal it flatly. A change has occurred since then; now they are entitled to the Federal and the Provincial vote, in all hot thre* piovinceH, Nova Scotia, 'Niine Eduard Island, and Quebec Old ot seltprotcctioii or self-respect these three* provinces will hive to felhiw in hn*. This revolution has not l*e.*n conliinsl to Canada— it !s prtctic.dly world-w de. War is tin* lever which has turned woman body and soul out ol ih;* home* into the industrial and poll ti a I arena to scr.iinhle as best s lie could, ‘iiiorganiscd. untrained, and unrepresented. The ballot was handed to her with hut little ado. A lew women put ip n de*termu»e*d tight but ihe masses cl women at no time and at I*o place were with them, so that it would la* wrong to conclude 1 hat woina i s jHilitic .il emancipation e me i**lel> through tlieir own efforts and desire tor freedom. (1 renter forces are at worn carving liic pathway cult of the human jungle over which the woman oi the 1 util re will travel. It could not he expected that woman would have any great desire for freedom. She was enslaved without knowing it. She accepted *»°r situation nieeklv as the will of fiod and man She was born and reared in subjection. Her mother before her wore the badge ot humility and servitude. She wa* held a» a species of property along with chattels, animals an 1 real estate, created as the' Hebrews tell us, ‘solely for the pleasure of man," hut nmo was created for tlu* glory ot (»od.

Petruehio, in the “Taming of the Shrew,” expresses the idea when lie says, “I will he master of what is my own. She- is my geHiels ; my chattels, sin* is my house, my household stutl. my barn, and so forth." Ibis conception of woman’s status and place* s also expressed in tin* marriage service, vv lic'ii sonic male relative must h** there* to answer the question, “M ho gives this woman away? Thus it will lx* seem for ages, Ch ir»*li and State w**rc one in their laws and teachings of woman's subjection, ment ! and .spiritual inferiority. Even to-day in ti ost churclu's she* cannot sit and vole in their councils or lx* ordaineel as a mine. er. M •in we wonder, ti*e*n. al woman’s e*on>e*rv:itiMii and lack ot niititan t ieii'cv * “Her v*»r> chains and sh»* are fru*ncls. So much a long communion tciuis, To make us what we are." The nutort.iunte and tragi* part »l tin* whole story is that while* one end oi tin* chain was faste*nc*el around her i-is k, the* otliei end was s.*onr»»|y tightt ned a round the* man's inkle, and o blinded was lie by his supposed free, ctom and supe*rioi itv. lie ‘lever detested the la t of Ids own slavery.

The war is the great anvil on which tin* slave-chain is lieing broken On the* wheel of ete*rnal ednnge whether lie* will, err she will not, both are* being hurled into the gieat melting-pot to he beaten, battered, bruised, and remoulded into a new humanity, nearer the desire of the new age now winging its way into tlu* minds and souls of mankind the* world < ve*r. One remarkable fact during this w »r ; s, that although women have l*e»en uprocitcd bodilv from their ancient traditions ami occupations, the*y do not apparently rcalise the vast changes taking place and how these* changes are hound to affect

them. Individually here and there a woman lias s|xiken. Collectively they have not with any de*gree of intelligent social |ter<*e*ptioii ol cause* and e*tfe*t. Men, t<M», for the* most part have left this very important subject to take care of itself, yet there is no subject more* important, not even war itself.

Mighty are the changes wrought through war in tlu* world e»f man, hut mightier hv far are those taking place in the world of woman. It may not still logical to -<o|Kiratc the- world ol man and woman but fciiico woman I cars, moulds, and nurtures "he race, and must continue to do so, what affect* her and ihe unborn generations is basie* and fundamental: i thousand times more imjiortant than man’s niechunial inventions and material enterprises. These, important as i hey are are* hut a means to an end. Ihe end is race betterment, life more beautiful and abundant.

l„e*ss than a century ago, woman had e ntereel only seven eH*e*up‘itions. To-day she* is <smi|M*ting successfully against men in all industries, save six or seven such as killing animals, hanging men, driving locomotives, .'hininey sweeping, i.iid climbing poles. The war has aee'entuated her js'wera and driven her by thousands into every indistiy. She is making herse*lf felt, unlortnnately at present, neitlier for her own e r humanity’s genal. Thif she must realise, but men. tex>, must help lur »o se*e» it. Now she* se*lls her labour even when doing the ame* work, for l«*ss wages tha i men ; she* works longer hours, and rarely complains alxuit abominable sanitary venditions. She does not hesitate to take mail’s place when they are fighting for setter e*onditiou*. Hv inducing wage's, she lowers the standard of home, driving mothers to work, veiling girls oil to tin* streets, am!

children out of the school* and into the factory. Through taking men's places, she enables employers to dilute labour ami destroy trade unionism. Through long hours an 1 had sanitary conditions, health and morals must suffer. All tins she does hui unknowingly, and from this point of view, ix|w*rien<t* and fear of losing her job, i* a load on the back of the laltour movement. Labour cannot shake off thU toad. It must *■» home until women arc organised and |>olit ie *lly reprearn - ed. Women arc in industix to stav. The question is, how mm , l» longer ate men going to kee|> dosed their organisations and allow employers to use women against them. 'l’llis is tile question labour organisations must help to solve. Politically war has thrown woman belter skelter into |H»litics. Politicians have played iqsin her emotions rather than tin lo r intelb'Ct. No inattei how die \ote>, sin* i* humid to he curstl ami ridiculed by the losing party. It would In* unjust to iudg** lw»r un-lei these <ii<iinistaines ,md in time i f war. when lew can think »lea-rlx or stv straight. Yesterday she vote«l from sentimeiit or tor party; to-imirrow she will use her intelligence and dearly Ixntght experience and vote for principles, not party. Woman is naturally politically minded; for this reason she will quickly develop a genius for reforms and legislation temling tow at Is human betterment. This is hut natural, since at tin l risk of her 4>wii life and sa rifiies she perpetuates the race. She will make her blunders, hi*t he will not continue to do so. Where would the workingmen he without his woman folk I* Could lie run a home and family as hiy wife does on his wage-'!' Public financing is tint child's play as intnparisl with filling, clothing, education, and maintaining the standards of health and decency on a workingman's wages in those davs of exorbitant prices. The waste and corruption in public financing is appalling. If women run their homes with as little sense and as }>oor economy a* men do * hi* nation's business, where would the nation After all. broadly speaking, women l»ear, rear, and keep the nation going. She does not boar arms, hut she hears the armies. If the workingman's wife makes such a good job of running his home (and she does), why not ask her advice and help in the larger home keeping trades union* and

politics? War is hitting her from all angles. She realises the powei of legislation as never before. The State *nn now commandeer tlic lives of her husband, son, and brother, and the lafsxir of her daughters. Tile ha he at her breast is no longer hers, the State can dictate the quality and quantity of food she shall give her family, the clothing and education of her children without asking her leave. She realises, as never before, the jniwer that rests in (love rumen ta, the meaning of an order-iu-•oiineil, its effect on her home, and her loved ones, and is deter mined to have her say in them* important matters in the problems of home, food, shelter, and health She silvered sexer *lv and will continue to suffer long after the ennnona cease to roar and drums cease to call to battle

Labour must awaken to the place and Imwor of women. Too long they have hii*n used against them industrially. Labour must see to it that woman's new-found weapon, the Ballot, is not likewise used to further enslave them. Thin is a mighty power and will l.e coveted by all parties. The vote of die working man and woman are in the overwhelming majority. It dt ponds how it is cast, where Labour will stand after the war, and under what conditions they and theirs shall live, or if they shall live at all. There is no ■se telling woman home is her place. She is put out of it, and I'ke HumptyDumpty, all the king’* horses and all the king's men cannot put her hack again until this system is changed and home is a verv different thinv from

what it is to-day. Woman is the weak link in the industrial chain, the millstone whi-li will not allow Labour to rise. When Labour icaliaes this fact, and not until then, will labour organisations progress and attain political supremacy now that women have the vote.

Labour must o|x»n wide the industrial and |N)liticnl doors and inx ite woman to i liter ns an equal. She is half the hum*'.li race and mother of the other half, 'riu* moral force lying dormant within her and anxious for « xpression ii tremendous. A force which the world of men must reckon with. The war has left this force loose and is using it. Tn a short while it will seek new worlds to conquer. If harnessed on the side of the masses together, men and women will usher in a world fit for the children of man, made in the image of (2nd