Women in Modern Times. (continued 5)

8. Democratic Control of Foreign Policy.

Since War is commonly brought about not by the mass of the people, who do not desire it, but by groups representing particular interests, this International Congress of Women urges that Foreign Politics shall be subject to Democratic Control; and declares that it can only recognize as democratic a system which includes the equal representation of men and women.

9. The Enfranchisement of Women.

Since the combined influence of the women of all countries is one of the strongest forces for the prevention of war, and since women can only have full responsibility and effective influence when they have equal political rights with men, this International Congress of Women demands their political enfranchisement.

IV. INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION.

10. Third Hague Conference.

This International Congress of Women urges that a third Hague Conference be convened immediately after the war.

11. International Organization.

This International Congress of Women urges that the organization of the Society of Nations should be further developed on the basis of a constructive peace, and that it should include:

a. As a development of the Hague Court of Arbitration, a permanent International Court of Justice to settle questions or differences of a justifyable character, such as arise on the interpretation of treaty rights or of the law of nations.

b. As a development of the constructive work of the Hague Conference, a permanent International Conference holding regular meetings in which women should take part, to deal not with the rules of warfare but with practical proposals 286for further International Co-operation among the States. This Conference should be so constituted that it could formulate and enforce those principles of justice, equity and goodwill in accordance with which the struggles of subject communities could be more fully recognized and the interests and rights not only of the great Powers and small Nations but also those of weaker countries and primitive peoples gradually adjusted under an enlightened international public opinion.

This International Conference shall appoint:

A permanent Council of Conciliation and Investigation for the settlement of international differences arising from economic competition, expanding commerce, increasing population and changes in social and political standards.

12. General Disarmament.

The International Congress of Women, advocating universal disarmament and realizing that it can only be secured by international agreement, urges, as a step to this end, that all countries should, by such an international agreement, take over the manufacture of arms and munitions of war and should control all international traffic in the same. It sees in the private profits accruing from the great armament factories a powerful hindrance to the abolition of war.

13. Commerce and Investments.

a. The International Congress of Women urges that in all countries there shall be liberty of commerce, that the seas shall be free and the trade routes open on equal terms to the shipping of all nations.

b. Inasmuch as the investment by capitalists of one country in the resources of another and the claims arising therefrom are a fertile source of international complications, this International Congress of Women urges the widest possible acceptance of the principle that such investments shall be made at the risk of the investor, without claim to the official protection of his government.

14. National Foreign Policy.

a. This International Congress of Women demands that all secret treaties shall be void and that for the ratification of future treaties, the participation of at least the legislature of every government shall be necessary.

b. This International Congress of Women recommends that National Commissions be created, and International Conferences convened for the scientific study and elaboration of the principles and conditions of permanent peace, which might contribute to the development of an International Federation.

These Commissions and Conferences should be recognized by the Governments and should include women in their deliberations.

287 15. Women in National and International Politics.

This International Congress of Women declares it to be essential, both nationally and internationally, to put into practice the principle that women should share all civil and political rights and responsibilities on the same terms as men.

V. THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN.

16. This International Congress of Women urges the necessity of so directing the education of children that their thoughts and desires may be directed towards the ideal of constructive peace.

VI. WOMEN AND THE PEACE SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE.

17. This International Congress of Women urges, that in the interests of lasting peace and civilization the Conference which shall frame the Peace settlement after the war should pass a resolution affirming the need in all countries of extending the parliamentary franchise to women.

18. This International Congress of Women urges that representatives of the people should take part in the conference that shall frame the peace settlement after the war, and claims that amongst them women should be included.

VII. ACTION TO BE TAKEN.

19. Women’s Voice in the Peace Settlement.

This International Congress of Women resolves that an international meeting of women shall be held in the same place and at the same time as the Conference of the Powers which shall frame the terms of the peace settlement after the war for the purpose of presenting practical proposals to that Conference.

20. Envoys to the Governments.

In order to urge the Governments of the world to put an end to this bloodshed and to establish a just and lasting peace, this International Congress of Women delegates envoys to carry the message expressed in the Congress Resolutions to the rulers of the belligerent and neutral nations of Europe and to the President of the United States.

These Envoys shall be women of both neutral and belligerent nations, appointed by the International Committee of this Congress. They shall report the result of their missions to the International Women’s Committee for Constructive Peace as a basis for further action.

288The memorable Congress adjourned on May 1. In closing the sessions Miss Addams said: “This is the first International Congress of Women met in the cause of peace in the necessity brought about by the greatest war the world has ever seen. For three days we have met together, so conscious of the bloodshed and desolation surrounding us, that all irrelevant and temporary matters fell away and we spoke solemnly to each other of the great and eternal issues as to those who meet around the bedside of the dying. We have been able to preserve good will and good fellowship, we have considered in perfect harmony and straightforwardness the most difficult propositions, and we part better friends than we met. It seems to me most significant that women have been able to do this at this moment and that they have done it, in my opinion, extremely well.

“We have formulated our message and given it to the world to heed when it will, confident that at last the great Court of International Opinion will pass righteous judgment upon all human affairs.”—

In accordance with Paragraph 20 of the resolutions the members of the different delegations appointed to present the resolutions to the rulers of the belligerent and neutral nations of Europe and to the President of the United States of America began their work on May 7th. Various delegations with Miss Addams and Dr. Jacobs as speakers, were received on that day in the Hague by Prime Minister Cort van der Linden; on May 13th and 14th in London by Foreign Minister Sir Edward Grey and Prime Minister Asquith; on May 21st and 22d in Berlin by Foreign Minister von Jagow and Chancellor von Bethmann Hollweg; on May 26th in Vienna by Foreign Minister von Burian; on May 30th in Buda Pest by Prime Minister von Tisza; on June 2d in Berne by Foreign Minister Hoffmann and President Motta; on June 4th and 5th in Rome by Foreign Minister Sonnino, and Prime Minister Salandra; on June 8th by the Pope; on June 12th and 14th in Paris by Foreign Minister Delcassé and Prime Minister Viviani; and on June 16th in Havre by the Foreign Minister of Belgium, M. d’Avignon. Other delegations submitted the resolutions to the Prime Ministers of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Russia. The resolutions were likewise sent to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of all countries not visited by the delegates, and to President Woodrow Wilson.—

That all these efforts by noble-minded women, to secure the cessation of hostilities, failed, is a grave reproach to those men who directed the war. Blinded by hate and revenge they insisted that the murderous struggle be carried on to the bitter end. And to do this unhindered and unmolested, they 289decried all “pacifists” as despicable creatures to whom no attention should be paid. To speak of peace was made a crime, equal to illoyalty and sedition, and so the resolutions of the Woman’s Peace Conference were drowned under waves of detraction and calumny.

One of the most glaring examples of this sort of warfare was that of Miss Jeanette Rankin, who in 1917 had been sent by the State of Montana as the first woman member to the House of Representatives. Her first act in this body was very dramatic. When on the memorable April 6th, 1917, the House voted on the question, if the United States should enter the World War, she answered the call with the words: “I love my country and I want to stand by it. But I cannot vote for war! No!” After these words she sank, tears in her eyes, into her chair. Although Miss Rankin had without doubt expressed the feeling of the overwhelming majority of American women, she nevertheless excited the wrath of the notorious “National Security League,” who in 1918 defeated the re-election of Miss Rankin by sending broadcast to Montana tons of literature in which her vote against the declaration of war was stigmatized as an “infamous and damning act.”

Undaunted by such persecutions the gallant women once more raised their voices when it became evident that the so-called Peace Congress of the allied delegates at Versailles, instead of giving quick relief to the starving millions, and instead of promoting good will and better understanding among the different nations, was degenerating into an orgy of autocracy, merciless extortion and land-grabbing, repudiating all the high-sounding phrases of humanity, democracy, self-government, political and economic liberty, with which the war had been carried on.

On May 12th, 1919, delegates of the “International Women’s Party for Permanent Peace” assembled at Zurich, Switzerland, to discuss the work of the Peace Congress in Versailles and the movement for a League of Nations. Sixteen countries were represented, the neutral with thirty-five, the countries of the Entente with forty-nine, and the Central Powers with thirty-six delegates. Among the twenty-three delegates of the United States were Jane Addams, and Jeanette Rankin, ex-member of Congress for Montana. Again Miss Addams acted as president.

The noble spirit, that had brought these women together, found expression first in the following address of the French delegates to the German women:

“To-day for the first time our hands which have sought each other in the night can be joined. We are a single humanity, we women. Our work, our joys, our children, are the same. French and Germans! The soldiers which have 290been killed between are for both of us alike victims. It is our brothers and our sisters who have suffered. We do not want vengeance. We hate all war. We push from us both the pride of victory and the rancor of defeat. United by the same faith, by the same sense of service, we agree to consecrate ourselves to the fight against war and to the struggle for everlasting peace.

“All women against all wars!

“Come, to work! Publicly, in the face of those who have vowed eternal hate, let us unite, let us love each other!”

To this address the German women made the following reply:

“We German women have heard the greetings of our French sisters with the deepest joy, and we respond to them from the depths of our souls. We too protest against the perpetuation of a hate which was always foreign to women’s hearts. Our French sisters! It is with joy that we grasp your extended hand. We will stand and march together, in common effort for the good of mankind. On the ruins of a materialist world, founded by force and violence, on misunderstanding and hate, we women will, through death and sorrow, clear the road to the new humanity. As mothers of the coming generations, we, women of all nations, want love and understanding and peace. Despite the dark gloom of the present we stumble, comforted, toward the sunshine of the future.”

On May the 14th the delegates passed the following resolution, which was sent to the Congress at Versailles:

“This International Congress of Women expresses its deep regret that the terms of peace proposed at Versailles should so seriously violate the principles upon which alone a just and lasting peace can be secured, and which the Democracies of the world had come to accept. By guaranteeing the fruits of the secret treaties to the conquerors the terms tacitly sanction secret diplomacy. They deny the principle of self-determination, recognize the right of the victors to the spoils of war, and create all over Europe discords and animosities, which can lead only to future wars. By the demand for the disarmament of one set of belligerents only, the principle of justice is violated and the rule of force is continued. By the financial and economic proposals a hundred million people of this generation in the heart of Europe are condemned to poverty, disease and despair, which must result in the spread of hatred and anarchy within each nation. With a deep sense of responsibility this Congress strongly urges the Allied Governments to accept such amendments of the terms as may be proposed to bring the peace into harmony with those principles first enunciated by President Wilson upon the faithful carrying out of which the honor of the Allied peoples depends.”

291This communication was proposed by Mrs. Philip Snowden of England and seconded by Miss Jeanette Rankin of the United States.

Another resolution protested against the prolongation of the blockade as bringing starvation and death to innumerable innocent women and children of the Central Powers. It also urged that all resources of the world, food, raw materials, finance, transport should be organized immediately for the relief of the peoples, in order to serve humanity and bring about the reconciliation and union of the peoples. A third resolution demanded representation in the League of Nations for women, and that Miss Addams be the first woman representative. At its concluding session the Congress voted unanimously to call a world-wide strike of women in the event another war be declared, even if such a war should be sanctioned by the League of Nations.

292

WOMAN TRIUMPHANT.

The wonderful spirit displayed by many millions of women during the World War gave foundation to the hope that universal suffrage would be an inevitable result of the war, and that the law-makers of all the belligerent countries would no longer deny this crowning privilege to those mothers, wives, and sisters, who had worked so nobly, suffered so keenly, and endured so patiently through the long years of this cruel catastrophe. In a large number of countries this expectation has been verified. To name them in chronological order, we begin with neutral Denmark, which in 1915 granted to her women full parliamentary suffrage and eligibility. Nine women were elected to Parliament. Iceland extended to her women the same rights, and one woman was sent to Parliament.

The next country was England, for many years the storm center of the suffrage movement. While in all other lands had been steps in evolution, England was the scene of a revolution. Not one with guns, and powder and bloodshed, but nevertheless with all other evidences of war. As Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, President of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, graphically described, “there were brave generals and well trained armies, and many a well-fought battle; there have been tactics and strategies, sorties, sieges, and even prisoners of war, many of whom had to be released as they went on a hunger-strike. But in time, by the restless activity of the leaders, every class, including women of the nobility, working girls, housewives and professional women, became engaged in the campaign, and not a man, woman or child in England was permitted to plead ignorance concerning the meaning of woman suffrage. Together, men and women suffragists carried their appeal into the byways and most hidden corners of the kingdom. They employed more original methods, enlisted a larger number of women workers, and grasped the situation in a bolder fashion than had been done elsewhere. In other countries persuasion had been the chief, if not the only, weapon relied upon; in England it was persuasion plus political methods.

“First, the world expressed disgust at the alleged unfeminine conduct of English suffragists. Editorial writers in many lands scourged the suffrage workers of their respective countries over the shoulders of these lively English militants. But time passed; comment ceased; and the world, which had ridiculed, watched the contest in silence, but with never an eye closed. It assumed the attitude of the referee who realizes 293he is watching a cleverly played game, with the chances hanging in the balance. Then came a laugh. The dispatches flashed the news to the remotest corners of the globe that English Cabinet Ministers were “protected” in the street by bodyguards; the houses of Cabinet Ministers were “protected” by relays of police, and even the great Houses of Parliament were “protected” by a powerful cordon of police. Protected! and from what? The embarrassing attack of unarmed women! In other lands police have protected emperors, czars, kings and presidents from the assaults of hidden foes, whose aim has been to kill. That there has been such need is tragic; and when, in contrast, the vision was presented of the Premier of England hiding behind locked doors, skulking along side streets, and guarded everywhere by officers, lest an encounter with a feminine interrogation point should put him to rout, it proved too much for the ordinary sense of humor.

“Again, the dispatches presented another view. Behold, they said, the magnificent and world-renowned House of Parliament surrounded by police, and every woman approaching that sacred precinct, halted, examined, and perhaps arrested! Behold all this elaborate precaution to save members of Parliament from inopportune tidings that women would have votes; yet, despite it all, the forbidden message is delivered, for over the Houses floats conspicuously and defiantly a huge “Votes for Women” kite. Perhaps England did not know the big world laughed then; but the world did laugh, and more, from that moment it conceded the victory to the suffragists. The only question remaining unanswered, was: ‘How will the Government surrender, and at the same time preserve its dignity and consistency?’”

Surrender came when in January, 1917, the Lower House of Commons adopted a resolution favoring a bill making women eligible as members of Parliament.

The bill was discussed again in October, 1918, and a vote of 274 to 25 on October 24th gave women the right to sit as members of Parliament.

Voting in the general elections on December 14th, 1918, for the first time, the British women enjoyed at last the victory for which they bravely fought. While they did not succeed to elect one of their women candidates for a seat in the Parliament, the election was nevertheless one of the most notable in years. Nearly in all districts the women voters made a satisfactory showing as compared to that of men. In Ireland one woman, Countess Georgina Markievicz, an Irish by birth and the leading female figure in the Sinn Fein movement, was elected to the House of Commons, the first woman ever sent to this body.

Canada likewise granted full suffrage to women. A bill 294passed the third reading on May 3d and received Royal Assent May 23d, 1918.

In Nova Scotia a bill was passed April 26th, 1919.

In South Africa Parliament accepted a Woman Suffrage Bill on April 1st, 1919, by 44 votes to 42.

When the revolution came in Russia, equal suffrage for women was accepted by the men of all parties without opposition. It has had, as Catherine Breshkovsky, the “Grandmother of the Russian Revolution,” explained, “a profound effect upon the minds of the peasant women. They used to be often beaten by their husbands. Now the idea of freedom and equal rights has taken firmer root among them. Instead of submitting to beatings from her husband the sturdy peasant woman defends herself, and sometimes she even beats him, especially if he is drunk. The fact that during the war the women have had to do every kind of work has also contributed to this sense of independence.”

When in November, 1918, the German Republic was declared, paragraph 31 of the Constitution provided that the representatives of the people be elected by all men as well as women over twenty years, and that women are eligible for all Federal and State Legislatures and municipal bodies. Under this regulation on January 19th, 1919, 36 women were elected to the Federal Parliament, and 22 to State Legislatures. Among the women elected to the Parliament were several of the most prominent leaders of the suffrage movement in Germany: Dr. Gertrud Bäumer, Dr. Käthe Schirmacher, and Dr. Alice Salomon.

In Austria the downfall of the monarchy nullified the law which forbade women to take part in political societies. The 12th of November, 1918, brought to the women universal, equal, direct, and secret suffrage and eligibility with the announcement of the republic. Seven women were elected, among them the well-known suffragist Adelheid Popp, who was also elected to the Vienna Municipal Council.

The Government of the Hungarian Republic likewise adopted a suffrage law which gives the vote to all men of 21 and to women of 24 if they can read and write. While this is not equality of the sexes yet, the government gave at the same time evidence of its profound respect for the abilities of women by taking one of the most important steps in the history of woman’s progress. It appointed Miss Rose Bédy Schwimmer, highly respected for her activity and literary works on suffrage and peace, as ambassador extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Switzerland. But the conservative members of the Federal Council of that country refused to accept a woman ambassador, and so Miss Bédy Schwimmer found it advisable to tender her resignation, a month after having accepted her difficult task.

295The new republic Czecho-Slovakia as well as the newly reconstituted state of Poland at once conceded full political citizenship to their women. In Czecho-Slovakia eight, and in Poland five women were elected to the Parliaments.

In Sweden full suffrage was accorded to women May 28th, 1919, when a bill was passed by large majorities in both houses of the National Parliament, according to which every subject, man or woman, who has attained his or her twenty-third year, is qualified to vote.

In France the “Union Française pour le Suffrage des Femmes” sent on January 24th, 1919, a proclamation to the Parliament demanding that French women be given the franchise. The proclamation pointed to the fact that the right to vote had been recognized in enemy and allied countries and that therefore France should not be backward. But in spite of this on April 4th two women suffrage amendments to the Electoral Reform Bill were killed in the Chamber of Deputies. The provision making women eligible for election to the Chamber was defeated, 302 votes to 187. The vote against transmission of the right to vote to the next of kin of heads of families, without distinction of sex, was defeated 335 to 134. But on May 20th the Chamber of Deputies adopted a bill granting women the right to vote in all elections for members of the Communal and Departmental Assemblies. The vote was 377 to 97. The measure then went to the Senate.

Switzerland, with the European spread of woman suffrage all around, may be expected to soon respond to the wave of democratic sentiment. On January 22, 1919, the delegates of the Swiss Union of Women’s Clubs adopted a resolution to request the Federal Council to order a radical revision of the Constitution, and grant to women equal political rights with men. On March 17th, the Grand Council of the Canton of Neuchâtel declared for the principle of Woman Suffrage, and likewise instructed the Government to prepare a suffrage bill. If passed this bill will probably be decided by referendum.

The Belgian Chamber of Deputies, by unanimous vote, adopted on April 11th, 1919, an Electoral Reform Bill, under the terms of which the right to vote is limited to widows who have not remarried, to the mothers of soldiers killed in battle and to the mothers of civilians shot by the enemy.

In Holland the first Chamber of the Dutch Parliament adopted on July 12th, 1919, a motion to introduce woman suffrage by a vote of 34 to 5.

In the United States of America the Western States have, as pointed out in a former chapter, never hesitated to acknowledge the rights of women to vote. But the Southern and Eastern States had remained reluctant in granting this privilege. And so the suffragists were compelled to conquer these regions step by step. The women of New York won full suffrage in 2961917, those of South Dakota, Michigan and Oklahoma in 1918. Presidential suffrage was secured in 1917 in North Dakota, Nebraska, and Rhode Island, and in 1919 in Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri and Maine.

For many years efforts had also been made by the friends of Woman Suffrage to induce Congress to act on the so-called “Susan Anthony Amendments to the Constitution,” reading as follows:

“Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

“Section 2. The Congress shall have power by appropriate legislation to enforce the provisions of this article.”

In 1914 the Senate again voted these amendments down by 11 votes. Again, in September, 1918, it was rejected by two votes, and again in February, 1919, by one vote. The House voted upon the resolution three times, rejecting it in 1915 by 78 votes, passing it in 1918 by a margin of one vote, and again, on May 21st, 1919, by a vote of 304 to 89. The fight ended on June 4, 1919, when the Senate adopted the resolution by a vote of 56 to 25.

“The credit of having won this victory,” so the “New York American” said in an editorial, “belongs chiefly to the resourceful women of the land who have, for generations, been pushing this issue to the front in spite of stupid opposition and almost as stupid indifference.

“Liberal-minded men, a few in the early days, many more recently, have helped. But, primarily, it is a woman’s victory, and no man will begrudge the acknowledment. Equal partners in the economic and social life of the nation, American women will now be equal sharers in its political life and in the responsibilities which this will involve.

“The joy of triumph will be of brief duration. The period of responsibility will be long and trying. But the women of America will certainly meet it equally with the men, and if they do that the men will have no just basis of complaint. Political rule by men has been full of blunders. Women, too, will blunder, but they will not be likely to make the same kind of blunders that men make. The blunders that men make will tend to be corrected by the superior insight and intuition of women; and probably in time the blunders to which women will be prone will have counteraction by the men. So instead of the blundering being increased by the widened circle of electoral responsibility it is more likely to be lessened, for the cure for the ills of democracy is always more democracy.

“Anyhow, the change is here. It is world-wide. It comes as a resultant of increased freedom and it presages more freedom.”

297

WOMAN’S MISSION IN THE FUTURE.

As woman now is man’s equal partner, she must share in the difficult task of solving the many problems connected with the economic, social and political life of that nation to which she belongs. That she will assume this obligation, fully aware of its significance, cannot be doubted; we need only recall the noble spirit, enthusiasm, intelligence and perseverance which have distinguished all the leaders in the great movement for woman’s emancipation.

Woman’s mission in the future will be many-sided. Paramount among all questions, that demand her utmost consideration, is the prevention of future wars. And it may be said right here that mankind, through the efforts of women, will most probably find the final realization of hopes cherished for centuries by all right-minded people. We hardly need point to the glaring contrasts between the Peace Congresses called together by women at the Hague and in Zurich, and the conferences held by men at Versailles to secure a League of Nations. While the former meetings were distinguished by the perfect harmony and cordiality among the delegates of all belligerent and neutral nations, and while their resolutions expressed the good will and lofty disinterestedness of all members, the wearisome discussions at Versailles were characterized by suspicion, avarice and merciless extortion. The “Allies” no longer spoke for a common cause, but were rivals over the spoils of war. Each clamored for an individual gain. And instead of extending brotherly hands to the conquered enemy, instead of instilling hope in the hearts of the desperate, and instead of feeding the starving, they increased the bitterness and sufferings by an unwarranted and cruel blockade, through which more than a million innocent children and women were condemned to agony and death.

Many far-seeing men have expressed grave doubts that the “Covenant of Peace” and the “League of Nations” can prevent future wars. So we hope that women, who would again become the greatest sufferers through such a catastrophe, will continue in their efforts to re-establish international good will and solidarity. Deep abysses of antagonism must be bridged; hate and the thirst for revenge must be quenched, and thousands of smarting wounds must be healed before humanity can hope for a better future. But women can perform these wonders. Since the organization of the “International Woman’s Peace Party” the voice of women will be heard in the council of nations, and their influence will be mighty, for the women outnumber the men.

298Most naturally the demands of women will also be directed to an international regulation of women’s relations to men, which in most countries are far from satisfactory. The World War has emphasized the fact that in almost all countries women, on marrying foreigners, forfeit their own nationality and are compelled to adopt that of their husbands. Thus it happened in 1914 that many French and English women, having married Germans or Austrians, residents or citizens in France or England, were deported from their native countries, at the same time losing all personal property that they were unable to take with them.

Under the laws of the United States a loyal American woman, who marries an alien enemy, becomes herself an alien enemy, while a woman enemy alien who marries an American becomes herself a loyal American. By allowing the woman no choice of allegiance this law works injustice both to her and to the country.

An international agreement has been proposed that women shall not be deprived of their own nationality against their will, irrespective of marriage, and, when deported into enemy territory, shall be restored to their own country.—

Full equality between husband and wife, father and mother is also desired in regard to property and responsibilities, especially parental. In some countries, as for instance in Great Britain, under the existing laws only the father is recognized as the guardian of the children. He is the sole judge of what shall be their maintenance and education; and he has, prima facie, the sole right to their custody.

Another important question which demands regulation through international agreement, is the suppression of the White Slave Trade, that horrible evil, which under the imperfect conditions of civilization has assumed such amazing proportions. To abolish it, women have presented to the League of Nations Commission resolutions saying, that States who enter into the League shall undertake to suppress the sale of women and children and to punish severely the traffic in women, whether under or over age, and of children of both sexes, for the purposes of prostitution.—

The suppression of tuberculosis, of syphilis and other venereal diseases is likewise a serious problem calling for international regulation. The energetic co-operation of women is of utmost importance, as far too often innocent women become sufferers from these horrible diseases through infection from their unscrupulous husbands, who have concealed from their wives the fact that they were afflicted with such maladies.

The supervision of such diseases by health officers, and the provision of clinics for all infected persons will be 299demanded by woman legislators; likewise penalizing for infecting with venereal diseases.

While in most countries no questions are asked in regard to the health of the candidates for marriage, it has been through the activity of women, that the new marriage law that came into force in Norway on January 1st, 1919, demands that both candidates must declare in writing that they are not suffering from epilepsy, leprosy, syphilis, tuberculosis, or other diseases in an infectious form. Written declarations must also be given as to previous marriages and to children born to them out of wedlock. As this new marriage law contains not less than eighty-one sections, it is evident that henceforth in Norway it will be difficult to marry in haste.

Such laws for the protection of women are nowhere more needed than in the forty-eight States which together form the American Union. As everyone of these States makes its own laws, there exists a variety of laws in regard to the “age of consent,” to marriage and divorce, far too intricate for any woman or lawyer to be thoroughly informed about them all. For instance the legislators of Florida have fixed the “age of consent” at 10 years (!), documenting herewith their utter ignorance in such a serious question. In other States it is 12 or 14 years, in Wyoming it is 18. How competent women think about this subject, may be judged by a resolution of the “Woman’s Political Association of Australia,” asking the Government to raise the age of consent to 21 years, and to extend this provision to cover girls as well as boys.

Very heterogeneous are also the marriage laws of the United States. In Tennessee girls may marry without their parents’ consent when only twelve years old, while in other states they must not do so before eighteen, or even twenty-one. Missouri is one of the few states which still recognize common law marriages. As this state sets no minimum legal age for marriage, a boy or girl of twelve may without their parents’ consent live together as man and wife.

Still more perplexing is the diversity in regard to the causes for absolute divorce. While South Carolina grants no divorce, other states are very liberal and acknowledge eight or ten different reasons as sufficient reasons for divorce. Marriages between Whites and Indians, or between Whites and Negroes or persons of negro descent, or between Whites and Chinese are prohibited and punishable in a number of states, while they are allowed in others.

Improvement in the status of the illegitimate child; child-labor and welfare; woman’s status in industries; mothers’ insurance during maternity; proper insurance for the invalid and aged; combating of alcoholism; the suppression of the traffic in opium and other injurious narcotics; the traffic in 300arms, especially with uncivilized or semi-civilized tribes and nations, and many other questions call for international regulation and the co-operation of women. To compare the laws of the various countries and to select the best and clearest laws to be used as a standard to which other states should be urged to raise their legislation, will be one of the great missions for the women lawyers connected with the various national leagues of women voters.

That women have the ability as well as the hearty desire to contribute in this way to the progress and welfare of the human race, needs no further explanation. It is for the men to accept and encourage their help and to utilize it to the fullest extent. The beneficial result of such co-operation can not be doubted. Women with their intuitive judgment, spiritual insight and knowledge of the needs of women, children, public education, sanitation, philanthropy, etc., will become a most important factor in the vast task of human betterment. And man, working with woman side by side in these noble endeavors, will not only profit, but learn that nature has given him nothing more sublime than woman.

301