We
have never lost sight of the fact that to possess rights puts upon human
beings grave responsibilities and serious duties. We have fought for
rights because, in order to perform your duty and fulfill your
responsibilities properly, in time of peace, you must have certain
citizen rights. When the State is in danger, when the very liberties in
your possession are imperiled, is, above all, the time to think of duty.
And so, when the war broke out, some of us who, convalescing after our
fights, decided that one of the duties of the Women's Social and
Political Union in war time was to talk to men about their duty to the
nation--the duty of fighting to preserve the independence of our
country, to preserve what our forefathers had won for us, and to protect
the nation from foreign invasion.
There are people who say, "What right have women to talk to men about
fighting for their country, since women are not, according to the custom
of civilization, called upon to fight?" That used to be said to us in
times of peace. Certainly women have the right to say to men, "Are you
going to fight to defend your country and redeem your promise to women?"
Men have said to women, not only that they fight to defend their
country, but that they protect women from all the dangers and
difficulties of life, and they are proud to be in the position to do it.
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