The Alaska daily empire., 1915-06-28

sitlon which. in the first placa raia
 es the amount Of tho contribllion tr be paid by the father and In the sec ond place, provides for iis disbuae
 ment by the municipality lu eases
 where the father cmno, be made tc pay. The mcst revolutionary proyis
 ion Of the bin however, is chat which requires the question of iatherhood- lf not voluntarily admitted Co be eslaohshed by the courts. Anouy mtNs parenthood must cease end the lfallier must assume his share Of the datica now borne by Che mother Un der tho present law the child born oat Of wodlock iuherits rom the mo ther aud only bears her name. By thonew bin which will probably soon become law the child wlll have the right to bear it's fathers name amo and to Inherit from him on an eonm footing with his legitimate children
 rllis measure has, naturally arous. ed opposition in some quarters; there Iara many who think we are merely preparing cushions for vice. The same cry was raised in 1892 when we sue coedad in raising somewhat the sum of tue contribution to be exacted from the father. Our observation since ther, however does not show any in- crease of smmorality but rather to j tho contrary
 st has been said that Q mans law ful wife and children would suffer in the event that such an illegitimate child should appear and claim its lrights That is very true, but we cannot refrain from making 3 man take the responsibility for his ac- tions any more than we could re- frain from punishing him for theft because such punishment would be painful to his family. Crime and mis- demeanor are always painful in their consequences.
 Protect Working Women
 We must protect our women from being injured or over.taxed in their work. A government proposition to forbid night work for women has been opposed by the National Council of Norwegian Women on the ground that women shauld not be handicapped in their competition with men by spec ial laws tending to limit their op- portunities and lower their wages. This is the stand taken by one faction Of our feminist party. those whom would call the typical "woman's rights women" whose somewhat an- tiquated slogan is: absolute equality with men. They have been the pion- eers and, like an who mark out new paths, they have been obliged to go too far It was necessary for them to insist on the purely human rights of woman, but these have now been SO thoroughly recognized in our own country that 1t is time to think of their rights as women. particularly as mothers.
 If we accept the principle of the right of the State to regulate the working conditions of the individual. then the only question will be- Is there so great indifference between men and women that the latter need special protection? ] think there is. Men and women are not eQual-for- tunately- Their natures are SO fun damentally unlike that society must be organized with a full acceptance of the difference, and the tendency of modern legislation is to emphasize the divcrgence.
 The woman's rights movement which has resulted in the vote and the opening of gainui occupations for women, has largely been conducted by unmarried women of the upper classes. The women who work in the factories on the other hand are us- ually married, and it is significant that they are in favor of protective legislation. In England the laws reg ulating hours of labor apply only to women and minors. and the large la- Dor organizations of women are con. stantly demanding more. not less. special protection These measures need not lower the wages of women if the women are properly organized, 1 and especially if they are able to en- list the support of men in their de- | mand for equal pay.
 Old age pensions is another meas. we that is on our program, and tho problem of giving all people access to the land will be ore of the burn ing issues of the future. Our country is entering upon an industrial era. and we must be prepared to meet changing conditions. As yet it is easy to regulate labor conditions: in a few years it will be much more diff ncult.
 The industrial development of Nor way cannot be stopped. nor do we wish to hamper it, but merely to lead 1t into sane and natural channels. Vel wish to make 1t impossible for any one to exploit his fellow men un- righteously We wish to make capi- .al the servant not the master of the people.
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