Norwich bulletin., 1915-05-11
Conditions In Holland.

The immense drains made by the refugees from Belgium on the good heartedness of Dutch women have by no mean exhausted their efforts for the betterment of social conditions in their own country. The strain of Bel gian relief work has undoubtedly been very great, and still is especially heavy upon the wives and daughters of the Netherlands. Holland was to- tally unprepared for any such emerg ency as the arrival over night within her borders of more than a million neighbors. It was the women of the Netherlands who had to find immed- fate accommodations until the relief work could be systematically organ ized. They did it magnif1cently and without a whimper. Thousands of homes in Holland still shelter refu- gees, notwithstanding the general pro visions which have been made for the unfortunate Belgians. One house in The Hague, alone, has afforded asylum to II destitute Belgians for nine months.
 But in addition to this work of pressing necessity, the women of Hol- land are carrying on theinr suffrage campaign, are knitting and sewing for their own soldiers and their families, and are keeping up such work of so- household arts and the schools for working women, which exist in many of the larger cities. In the former, young ladies of the better families of the Netherlands are taught house. keeping. the care of children, teach necessary or useful in the formation of model wife and an efficient mother. These schools are, of course, paying organizations.
 The schools for working women in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Ha- r charities Here the daughters of the people are taught to be independent or of aid to their families. They are trained as housemaids, cooks, seam stresses, laundresses and nursemaids. If they are able, they pay a small just the same, and no one but the treasurer knows who has paid and who has not. The schools are pro- vided with babies for the nurses to practice on, and even with older children, who serve as the raw ma terial for kindergarten instruction.
 Inthe school for working women in Rotterdam last year, 109 girls were turned away on account of lack of accommodations for them. This year the number has been less, since the general condition of hard times has forced many families to send their girls to work earlier than usual; also the absence of many men mobilized to guard the neutrality of Holland has greatly increased the demand for women workers.
 In the school for working women in school for working women which has just been issued to cover the year 1914 shows that the tuition fees re- ceived in this school amounted in that year to S375.70. The expenses. how ever, were $13,099.20. The deficit was met by private gifts. Many of the girls are forced to leave these schools before finishing the fun three years course, to earn their own living or to assist in the support of their families. But even these are snapped up at once by watchful Dutch housewives. anxious to secure good servants. The girls themselves are only too glad to be employed in domestic service in Holland, for the wages of women workers in the factories are notably low.
 Nor are these the only practical measures taken by the women of Holland for their less fortunate sis ters. The war has brought, even to this neutral land, some of its ghastly train of mediaeval horrors There are Red Cross buildings in many streets of the larger cities, and one of the royal palaces in The Hague has been turned over to this work In this country there are not, of course. any wounded to care for. But there are the sick and the needy, and they are cared for.
 The Home for Destitute Babies. too since the mobilization has shown d cahritabie endeavor. It is really an charitable endeavor. It ise really an organization devoted to the care of the unfortunate children of unmarried mothers. The babies of such of the poorer women as die in childbirth