The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-03-31

iGiSuiC " SAJOy ILLS llDeIts nv
longer idles within the confines of
her home with a bit of useless m
broidery. She goes boldly out into the
broad world, seeking the wrongs she
may right and the needy she may help.
This feminine Sir Galahad in her
growing strength each year opens the
doors of grim factories in order that
thousands of little children may have
freedom in the fresh air and sunshine.
She provides them generously with
Fairgrounds and schools and with
proper care for their neglected little
bodies. She goes to the aid of her less
fortunate sister, making her hours
of Labor shorter, her wages larger, her
conditions easier. Secure in her W
freedom, she can even lend a helping
hand to the woman who sins and open
to her one-time hopelessness an
avenue to future well being. 1t is the
freedom that has come to woman
which makes possible all of these good
works. The smaller her liberty, the
narrower her opportunities for general
helpfulness.
Unfortunately, there is a reverse
side to this picture in which a few
III douoS in " "IliSlt 81
many are using g%loriously. The mod
ern woman is free from man of the
obligations of her ancestors. The OBJ
legation of toiling for her family, of
bearing children, of being in subjec-
ton after the admonition of ST. Paul,
no longer rests upon her. This failure
to recognize certain moral obligations
has been interpreted by a few of the
parasitic class as al excuse for shrink
ing all duties and responsibilities, and
constitutes an abuse of the liberty
which it should be woman's highest
glory to improve. The freedom from
the old-time subsection to her hus-
band, which the American woman en-
phasizes continually. has been brought
about by the modern theory of indi-
vidualism, which is stronger in Amer
ice than in any other country. 1t is
sometimes so grossly abused that its
advantages are questioned, but to the
optimist even this abuse is a process
in the evolution by which the progress
of the whole race is being developed.
Clergymen complain of the fact that
women no longer are restrained by re-
ligious faith and that there is a dan
gerous amount of free thought and
skepticism among them. The modern
oma insists upon the freedom of her
religious views, but as Miss Helen
Gould recently pointed out, there was
never a time in the history of the
world when Women were so Loyalty
supporting and aiding in the work of
the church or when the clergymen
were so dependent upon them.
Olive Schreiner claims that the OBJ
lection which certain men make to the
freedom of woman and the liberty
she enjoys under social appreciation
of choosing any field of activity she
prefers, either outside or in addi-
ton to the time-honored one of child
bearing, arises solely from a jealousy
of her success. She AYERS tina no
objections are on record from men
which would hinder a woman from
engaging in any laborious piece of
work which was not attractive from
the standpoint of remuneration. She
claims that men object only to the
professional woman who commands an
income he would feign enjoy for his
own expenditure. The woman doctor,
who keeps her own carriage and has
a list of patients yielding an annual
income running into the thousands, is
the cause of the strong protest made
by men against the freedom of
women to choose their own callings.
Mrs. Schreiner is better acquainted
with Englishmen than Americans, but
the objection which was made recently
by a member of the American Society
of Engineers to young women being
permitted to take a course in me-
chanical engineering, was based in his
statement: american men are too
chivalrous to wish women to do such
unpleasant work" The chivalry does
not, however, as yet apply to the un-
educated women who are permitted to
work in some of the great steel mills
of this country, separating sheets of
steel under conditions that most men
would deem decidedly laborious. De-
spite the occasional objection, the
American woman is exercising her lib
erty to choose her own calling abso-
lutely and, whatever her mistakes, her
freedom cannot be curtailed.
The ability of the American woman
to care for and protect herself is DEM
onstrated fully by the character of the
American working girl. In England,
the store girls, for example. have no
liberty of any kind. They are required
to lead a nun-like existence in an in
sttutlon or home provided by the
flrm, in which they take their meals,
sleep and spend their leisure. Callers
are permitted them only under the
most rigid surveillance and they are
treated as though they were quite in
capable of preserving their own re-
s~pectability. The American shop girl
Is a free and Independent parsonage,
wing in her own home or boarding
where she chooses. and, despite the
many hardships and temptations to
which she is exposed, her standard of
morality is far higher than is that of
her English sister who Is denied all
freedom.
Inc freedom a girl enjoys in this
country in being able to go out un-
chaperoned with men, frequently is
criticized by Europeans but h in
stances in which it is abused are ex-
ceptional. A European man uncon-
sciously gives greater Difference to the
American girl whom he meets alone
than he would to one of his W