Whether it ever could rise
again is to my mind extremely doubtful. The ideal of women in Germany is
the lowest in Europe. Infantile mortality is very high, immorality is
widespread, and, in consequence, venereal disease is rampant. Notice,
too, the miserable and niggardly pittance that is being paid to the
wives and families of German soldiers, while nothing whatever is being
paid to unmarried wives and their children. True security for women and
children is for women to have control over their own destiny. And so it
is a duty, a supreme duty, of women, first of all as human beings and as
lovers of their country, to co-operate with men in this terrible crisis
in which we find ourselves.
If all were trained to contribute something to the community, both in
time of peace and in time of war, how much better it would be.
What bitterness there was in the hearts of many women when they saw work
and business going on as usual, carried on by men who ought to be in the
fighting line. There were thousands upon thousands of women willing,
even if they were not trained, to do that work and release men, and we
have urged the authorities to take into account the great reserve force
of the nation, the women who are or might be quite capable to step into
the shoes of the men when they were called up to fight.
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