The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-29

male employees making use of tho chairs. Another form in the feminist direction deals with the provision of marriage DOT tons for widows and female orphans ln- stead of these being deprived on mar rage of such state pensions as they draw owing to their husbands or fathers having been state officials they will in future have the pensions capitalized in order to creat q dot. This helps to solve one of the gravest Spanish questions us 1t Is almost impossible for young women or the middle classes who are without money to marry. In Madrid where there are ll9 women to 100 men the position is particularly bad.
 Advocates of womens rights in Spain say King Alfonso got his feminism from his wife, Queen Victoria When Queen Victoria arrived eight years ago she had persistent quarrels with court ladies owing to what they considered her im- proper notions of feminine freedom. Up to that time no young Spanish Queen had ever gone out of doors except in com pany of much older woman The Spanish men themselves consider ths a law of propriety and they stared and al- most denonstrated in lg06 when their Queen Was seen in El Retire park with only one young lady and an officer sl attendance. Ever since then Queen NiG- toria has been making efforts in a fen,- mine direction At first Alfonso was not at all edihed by her feminism Even more than his polo playing il caused trouble with the Queen, The Queen started in Madrid Naiadolid, caiamanca and Barcelona. intermediate schools for girls which have a technical and scen- tifc basis and aim at reforming the old Spanish schools in which religion and the domestic virtues are the basis of all train- ing. In 1912 the queen, started in these schools special courses of physical train- ing on Swedish lines. In her Madrid tha rrir nnIy to tl,fa .t..t. were formerly unknown in Spain, and also to games. Today Madrid has two girls hockey clubs. Alfonso regarded with suspicion the technology and the science, but when he discovered that women are capable of sport his heart was touched. Sonora Teresa Villajas, . leading feminist, says that only astcr this did Alfonso begin to see that there is something in feminism. He attended a girls hockey match, and interviewed the captains of the teams. He asked one captain what she was training for. Not the hockey profession?" said Alfonso. No said the hockey girl. For the profession of engineer" But you can't become an engineer under Spanish law" said Alfonso. Not now" said the girl but thanks to your majesty's advocacy. I may be able to in four years time" The discovery that such futile interests as science and technology could be ex- alted and consecrated by sport gave AL fonso some respect for science and tech- nology. and this incident finally put him on the feminist path.
 So today Alfonso Is the leader of Spain's femlnists. Even his ultra modern aunt Eulalie. may hope to be forgiven for her precipitate book writing But the nuns of Burgos still disapprove and the local bishop issued decree warning young women against sacrificing peace for the sake of work Still Spain is progressing in all that concerns women and Alfonso XIII will be remembered as the first feminist King.