The Washington herald., 1915-08-20
WOMAN'S PLACE: THE HOME.

WOMAN'S PLACE: The HOME.
| There are really some very gooc
| arguments against woman's suffrage
But the one most often used i:
stupid to a degree. That is thai
woman's place is the home.
No one who stops to think has any
reason to say that such is the case
when statistics show that in large
] cities one-third OF the women of vot-
ing age are employed outside OF the
home. Some OF these from choice,
to be sure, but most OF them because
in the present industrial structure
there is no place in the home for
them. There is not enough in the
home to keep women at home, when
we have stripped it of weaving, spin
ming, dressmaking, breadmaking,
candle dipping, and the countless
other industries that busted our
grandmothers. Feminists are not to
blame for the industrial revolution
that has taken women out OF their
one-time zone. If any one is to be
blamed it is the inventors and manu-
iacturers who have built up the pres
cnt economical industrial scheme Of
things.
For the last few days number of
New York politicians, parrot like, have
tried to stall the New York votes for
women advocates with the argument
that woman's place is the home.
The suffrage leaders heard this
stupid argument just once too often.
If this was the most convincing ar
gumcnt against their cause they
would show the politicians that wom-
ans place is not the home.
The project is daring.
If it is carried out it will involve
enormous financial loss. 1t would
practically stop the hands OF the
| CLOCK Tor a DAY.
The proposition is to call a "wom-
ans one-day-strike, to drive the
truth OF the fact that womcn's place
is not the home in by having women
/ remain home for just one day. What
! OF the telephone industry alone, if for
one day women remained at home, il
they complied with the theory that
womcn'S place is the homeo
What OF the department store busi-
ness if women remained at home for
a day.
What of the garment makers in
dustry il women remained at home
for a day?
What OF the public schools il wom-
en- teachers stayed at home? There
would be holiday for the children
that is not on the calendar.
And what OF the husband when he |
came home at night to find no din
ncr, for the wives would be unable |
to 90 outside the home to buy food. |
The hope OF the suffrage leaders
in New York is to call the strike for
some day toward the end of Septem-
Der or the first of October. Their |
only hope OF success will be through |
the aid OF the women's labor organ
izations, OF which there are all too
few.
OF course the project will not come |
to much. Most women are too close
ly involved in the interests that would |
suffer by such a. strike to be willing |
TO go into it. Most women are too
closely interested in the welfare of
the men OF the community to want
to attempt it. But just the thought |
OF what wide effect such a project
would have ought to make those stu
pid politicians who cling to the worm
out argument stop and think.
There is rejoicing among the haus-
fraus OF Germany.
News has been given out by the
imperial bureau OF potato supply that
there are more potatoes in the en-
pire than was at first announced. !,
Ever since the war broke out there
has been economy in the use OF po-
tatoes; starch factories and dstil-
lcries have been as careful as posi-
bic in the use of their supply, and
hausfraus I've pared the potatoes
they cooked. oh. so sparingly, and
have used every crumb of the vege-
table prepared. The result of such
economy, says the Kaiser's imperial
potato counter-or whoever it is who
keeps track OF such things-is that
there are over 100000 double hum
dredweight of potatoes left over from
last years crop to add to the 5o,ooo,-
900 double hundredwe:ght of this