Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1915-01-13
MOVE
BRINGS WRECKED
HOMES IN WAKE

That the contamination OF feminism
Will find man homeless, wifeless, child
less and wandering about like a lost
spirit, and that commercialism Is the
! driving force back of the whole
feminist movement were the striking
statements Of Mrs. John Martin of
| New York, who spoke before the Con-
temporary Club at the Bellevue STRAIT
ford. says the Philadelphia Record.
Mrs. Martin was one OF four speakers
presenting different phases on the
subject. The New Freedom for
Women" Her charges against the
! feminist movement came after IL had
been upheld by Mrs. Maud Howe Ell
! hot OF New York daughter of Julia
Ward Howe; Violet Oakley, artist. and
! Luther Halsey Gulick, educatoy and
author, and her statements seemed to
meet with the hearty approval of the
/ brilliant audience which packed the
gold room.
Mrs. Martin took as her topic, lis
Mankind Advancing" and at the out
( set made it clear that she expected her
audience to have difficulty in accept
\ ing her views. She declared that
feminism seeks to break up the home
and that it is simply a process OF
putting father out Of business" She
said that if the feminist idea survives
the time will come when the husband
will find himself "dodging in and out
back doors like a guilty plumber"
Mrs. Martin characterized the new
freedom for women as a new slavery
There was time" she said. when
i 1t was considered domestic slavery for
woman to sit in her home and
write letters for her son or husband.
! but now we find that the woman who
writes letters in an office for a salary
is enjoying the new freedom There
was also a time when ii was con-
! sidered slavery for woman TO sew on
I buttons, darn stockings and mend
! clothes for her husband and children,
/ but now these women have found
their freedom behind sewing machines
and looms in the industrial world"
The speaker drew many other vivid
comparisons between the so-called
old slavery and the new freedom, and
the audience applauded in approval.
AS a result Of this condition of af-
fairs, Mrs. Martin declared, a young
woman's chances to marr- have de-
creased just one-half in the last ten
years She added that if the young
woman OF to-day is so fortunate as TO
marry the chances are 10 to / that she
will be divorced Mrs. Martin then
asked her hearers what kind of society
they could expect to develop on such
a basis, and again won approval by
/ her ready wit when she declared that
even a chicken farm on such a basis
would fail
What kind of business would
poultryman have who allowed half his
chickens to remain single and sent the
rest Of them out TO make feathers for
the hens?" she asked.
Continuing, Mrs Martin said that
the typical feminist is simply trying
to turn the home inside out and drive
the woman into an outer world.
She predicted that a feminism OF
new sort will come in the near future.
and with ii will be the tread of many
women's feet. She declared that they
will be marching in great army
from the office factory sweat shop and
professional walks of life, back into
their own homes.
Mrs. Elliot declared that since the
European war was declared the whole
world has come into a new existence
and that II will never be the same. She
said that this offers to America a great
opportunity and that to woman comes
the responsibility of holding fast to
America and preserving all the sacred
traditions of the country. Mrs. Ell
lott pointed To the fact that all the
nations of Europe have done their
best to procure Americas good will
as an evidence of this nations re-
sponsibility. She said that militarism
is nothing but fear, and urged women
not To be afraid. Mrs. Elliott gave
several poems by her mother. One
OF them was written years ago espec-
tally for the Contemporary Club Of
Philadelphia.
DIR. Gulck declared that the press
ing need of the country is a genius
that will apply to the movies and dance
halls that which is predominately
feminine. He said men fail to remedy
such evils because their method is
simply TO blot them out. He said men
have done their jobs pretty well. but
predicted that the world is seeing the
the beginning of the end of the ap-
plication of force.