The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-04-21
A Woman's Invasion.

That the close OF the war IN turoPe
=, ,,. .pe for an avalanche Of wom-
an immigrants into this country Is the
on,n;on stated by Commissioner OF lmmi-
,-.,,on Frederick c. Howe in recent
interview with a prominent Ne" 10Th
newspaper woman
Their. are probably from four to SIX
million husbandless women right no" IN
the belli-erent countries of Europe anu
That is reason enough to make the proph-
..x That the large majority OF these
immigrants will be UNFRAMED save pos-
siblv in elementary farming. housekeep-
ing and babytending." makes the proo-
lem of providing them with suitable en-
,,ovment one that may not be easily
solved.
The commissioner does not attempt 10
predict the outcome of this lnhat,on Oh
the market for unskilled womans LABOR
save that he does not think that II Will
help to solve the so-called servant
problem," which in his opinion Will DC
settled only when the antiquated meth
dds now employed in housekeeping are
superseded by scientific cooperative
.ystem, whereby houseworkers Will De
given the same status and the same
hours of work as the factory girls. Cd
viously he does not believe In present
day Homework.
But leaving aside Commissioner HOWE
Interesting opinions on this much mooteo
subject. just what are we going 10 90
with the army of unframed, husbandless
uomen who are bound to come to this
,ountry after the war is over? Will
heir presence in the labor market tend
10 lower the wages of women now in the
se,5, If so. are we going to be able to
,.ke adeouate steps to check this tend
sncy.
Arc VIC going to be able to tide them
AVER in their hours of difficulty in a new
and strange country? Are We going to
mako this land of promise" something
more than a grind mill for human labor
-or worse still, a market place for their
souls and bodies?
We are still sending nurses afield to
lake part in the patching-up process of
the combatants. The apparent romance
,f the life OF a war nurse is making its
snpeal to Vaccinations of many young
women whose position in life makes il
POSSIBLE for them to give their time for
The cause Of humanity without thought
of remuneration.
We are still sending garments to the
BeIrians. Some of the woolly stocking:
that we began to knit in November are
only now being finished to he sent as
rather warm comfort in the hot days OF
summer to the linen in the trenches
And well probably keep up this WORK
as long as there is a shot to be fired ir
door old war-ridden Europe.
And while We are sailing to Europe fol
this relief work and shipping relief sup
plies across the ocean another traffic viii
he coming from Europe to our gates
bringing with it thousa nds and Thousands
of women-widows, some OF them, will
dependent children, young girls deprived
Of their fiances in the very spriaStim'
of their lives old women bereft of thei
sons Just when long years OF work ha'
won for their toil-bent frames shor
respite from labor.
There will be stupid women from thu
fields. clumsy. awkward and "Sauche.
who will tax our patience to the utmost
There will be pretty. fresh-faced peasan
girls from Russia. from Galicia. from
Hungary and the Balkans. in whom thu
love Of life will run high.
There will he weaker sisters who cal
III stand the transpla nting from the OLE
order Of things 10 the strange. intoNicat
ing freedom OF this new LAND And Their
will be sure TO be here and there rar'
spirits who will need but this oppor
tunity to show sparks of lonS-dorman
ability that may surprise us. Thes'
women are coming to our very doors
coming as surely as peace will follow
the period of war. Isn't it reasonable
to suppose that the next problem oil
the program for our own public-spiritet
women is to be directed toward the re
ception of this peaceful invasion of Eu