New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-08-03

f OF iarl9mcNt. ne duty OF TINS com
mittee is TO care for the convalescent
wounded soldiers and complete or fol-
low up the work of the Red Cross.
The fourth subcommittee. of which
Senator Wollemborn is chairman. is the
financial committee to which / have re-
ferrcd above
+ Then comes Sub committee y. whose
duties l have also mentioned. This
committee provides The subsidies for
the families Of soldiers. The chairman
is Senator Soiarpo.
One subcommittee is the ladies'. of
Nhici Countess SUal-ctti. Italy's most
.amous suffragiSt. is head The duties
of this committee consist in supervis-
ING tho needs, troubles and circum-
stances Of the girls who are left be
hind" and rendering whatever assist
ance may be necessary.
Women Win Advance in Pay.
Their chief work at present is the
establishment of workrooms through
out Rome, where the wives and chill
dren of soldiers may come to receive
work, for which they are paid just
double the ordinary wage. There was,
OF course, great outcry on the part
of the manufacturers and employers Of
Sweated women against this wage in
crease. But the women stuck to their
point and won, and, what is more, they
tell us they are going 10 insist upon
the same higher wages after the war.
The work is maryellouSly well organ
lied. The central headquarters are in
the ancient and magnificent Palazzo
Doria. donated by Princess Doria for
the purpose. These old palaces in
Rome are so enormous that the owner
ms IL Ga+ NJ Txx-a nrpN-
without being in the least inconveni-
enced or even aware of the fact that
his home is invaded.
1t is curious sight to see a waiting
room for all sorts and conditions of
people lined with mirrors in priceless
frames. with tapestries of the sixteenth
century. with paintings and carpets and
frescoed ceilings of a splendor indie
Scribable. One sits on upholstered
chairs Of centuries gone by and waits
for the lady with the businesslike eye,
seated at table Uttered with docu-
ments, who Is speaking at the tele-
phone an anomaly indeed amidst the
beauties of the Renaissance
The women call for the work twice
a week-on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
They return IN a weeks time with the
garments ready made. They arc paid 30
contimes mine cents) a shirt tine COM
mercial price is 20 centmes) and four
confines lless than one cent? a cravat
the commercial price is two centlmes
less than a half cent. The work
: is sterilized. made up in bundles and
sent 70 the War Department for inspec-
tion. That which IS up 10 standard is
paid for; that which is below, rejected.
The women are paid in any case, but
their shortcomings are pointed out 70
them. Consequently the standard Of
work steadily improves, and vcry little
is now rejected by the War Depart
ment The loss is slight. To begin
operations this committee borrowed TO-
600 lire $4,000 from the central com
mittee What else they needed was
made UP by private subscripti
They expect 10 pay back TO the central
committee within the next few weeks.
The running expenses are no. much.
The nelp is voluntary, the hcadquar-
tiers donated and the raw material sup
Piled By the state. The demand, how
ever, is greater than the supply. They
are obliged 10 limit the amount of ma
terial that is given to each. These
wives and mothers striving TO keep the
home together, work so hard and so
fast that it is impossible to provide
for them. They clamOr for more work
that they are able to earn is eight lire
labout s. COZ a week And il is not
enough Later the cOmmitte" hopes to
provide more.
Mothers Parted from Children.
1t is tragic to see these patient.
pleading faces asking merely for the
opportunity to live with taelr dear
ones around them. Many are not able
to manage, and every day despairing
mothers arrive at the homes for sol
diers' children and deliver mp their
babies. They wander away, hoping al
ways 10 come back, longing only for
place of warmth and shelter, where
they may hush the little one 70 sleep.
Sometimes poor things, they never re-
turn. The struggle has been too great
and they 80 under.
This is part of what war means TO
women. Think of it, Not only the
sickening fear always tearing at your
heart, but the whole burden of the
family support to bear alone, work,
worry, struggle, strain and grief
| heard some one say the other day
it was a gentleman known to us in
America Count Boni de Castellane:
The hideousness of waiting behind,
being ready 10 serve, longing to serve,
and not being called / don't think
anything in life is worse than that
20 wait and to be left behind" |
said TO him: "Do you ever think that
women do nothing else? This strain
that you find intolerable for a few
months is theirs always and has been
through the centuries" "Yes," he
said, "but that is their life, and they
have other things to interest them"
Well, it may have been the life of the
women of the past. but if know any
thing about the women of the future
(and l think / do, for l have looked
into my own heart, to wait and suf-
fer will not be the life they are con-
tent with. To unfold ones capacities,
to serve, to know life. to be free. to
be joyous, to participate in the shsp--
ing and identifying of the life around
us-to be up and doing in stirring
world-that is the demand of the wom-
en- of the future. God bless us!
But for these war-stricken mothers
of Europe no such hope is possible,
though | see here and there glimmers
Of rebellion born in anguish that
sets my blood on fire The destinles
of the nations after the war lie with
the women; the males will emerge
from the war degraded IN stock. poor
er in physique, duller IN intelligence
weaker in will than they went IN
Fortunately the source Of race is IN
its mothers And it remains with me
mothers of the future TO repair the
ravages Of war. They must, therefore,
be trained to wisdom, health, beauty
and infinite sympathy, capable Oh the
noblest ideals and the most effective