The San Francisco call., 1899-07-16
THE WOMAN'S CONGRESS.

THILE comparatively little attention has been
h given in cables from Europe to the Interna-
v tional Congress OF Women in London, the
press of England has given little space to record
of the proceedings. The assembly has been no.
table one in every respect for it has been attended
by delegates from every quarter OF the globe and rep
resenting every civilized
One OF the notable features of the Congress has
been the strict decorum enforced at all the meetings
The correspondent of the Manchester Guardian says:
"The proce> dings everywhere businesslike and
serious Indeed the feminine influence in the :
rangements seemed to show itself in enthusiasm
for discipline which developed into kind OF in
genuous officiousness. Innumerable stewards took
control and strictly forbade any to enter leave
a room during a speech. There a certain pleas
urable reminscence of early childhood in being or
dered about peremptorily by young ladies OF the age
of average pupil teacher in national school, but
it proved to be novel and serious impediment to
journalistic duties TO be vigorously forbidden to pass
from one section to another.
The congress has held its meetings in sections for
the discussion of many TOPICS but the section
ngs are permitted to pass resolutions. That is
right reserved to the congress whole 1t was
noted the first day, while all the section
ings we'll attended, the political section where
the suffrage question discussed drew the smallest
crowd although as it turned out the debates there
were the 1iveiest of the day.
The industrial section, in which womans work and
wages discussed, proved to be attractive to
by far the larger number OF delegates. The papers
and the discussions that followed showed good deal
of antagonism and competition between the sexes in
the struggle for employment. 1t Nas asserted by
of the speakers that much of the so-caed phil
anthropc legislation ostensbly devised to prevent
the overwor1ing of women in factories was really
caused by the jealousy of men ready to put restric-
tons upon the competition of women in the labor
market.
Some of the statements made on the subject bv
delegates from different countries are interesting.
Frau Cauer said women in Germany work from ten
TO fifteen hours day in factories and receive much
Ivanoff reported that in Russia women work for S.
a month"; and often in the most unhealthy surround
ings. Nine Belilon of France declared that men in
all classes and in all civilized nations are striving to
keep remunerativc work away from women The
only delegate who thought women have too much
work it is was Mrs. Annie Hicks of the United
States, who maintained that mothers should not be
permitted to work for certain time after the birth
of child, and that there should be maternity fund
provided by the state.
The significant fact Of the Congress is that more
attention paid by the delegates to economic
than to political questions. Womans suffrage is less
interesting than womans work Much the
same marks the assemblies OF men in these
days. We have reached stage of development
in economic conditions and the problems it presents
the main themes of discussion wherever intef-
gent people meet to consider the general welfare,
whether they be men or women.