The Washington herald., 1916-07-23
The Stronger Sex.
BY ELLIS MEREDITH.

| HerHldn war news coming via Lon
don. should be taken with consider
able salt. The statement recentiv
| published to the effect that mother
| hood was to be considered the great
| DUTY or the German woman, with or
! without marriage, would have received
| little credence but for the known facts
IN regard to war brides This is believed
70 De more feasible plan than polyg-
amy, and considering the illegitimate
| birth-rate in Europe It would certain
iy appear to be SO. Meetings are being
held in which the beauties of the plan
are expended, but they are attended
| We are told, with engaging naiyete
unhappily. either by old maids or
| quite young people. OF the married
ones present. very few are at an age
| 10 help the good cause. When asked
why they do not attend, mothers of
young families generally reply that
| they have quite enough to do to feed
and clothe the present children, with
out thinking of any possible ones in
| the near future"
Women have been ready to rally
| round the Jobs laid down by soldier
husbands; they haven't objected seri-
ously to the proposition that they
should take unto themselves husbands
from the SCARED and mangled rem
nents of returning manhood, thus prov
| ing their devotion to their country
and sparins 1t the expense OF provid-
! ing soldiers homes but this last prom
osition is marked by a brutal frank
ness that may very well make even
the most loyal woman reflect upon
II late and long. One cannot but re-
gret that Grant Allen should not have
lived to see his grandiose dictum,
| Man Is the race-woman is only a
biological necessity told off to repro
! duce the race" reversed in favor Of
n Isas I'd ha
man as q mere after-thought created
| for the convenience of the ferocious
| female of the species. The gentlemen
who are engaged in this attempt to
restore limited form of matriarchy
| should consider the fate of the male
| spider and the drone and be wise
A woman does not need a scientific
| education to be well aware that bring
| ing up family. even when faithfully
assisted by an bodied man, is
about all one woman can manage in
addition to her duties as housekeeper
cook, chambermaid. seamstress and
! char-woman. She has pulled the plow
across German fields, when it was held
in the furrow by her husband, but
she can't pull and guide it at the same
| time. She can't dig coal all day, and do
the family sewing in the evening and
the washing and ironing in the morning
| early when the dew is bright, all the
| time keeping supervision of Hans and
Gretel. A Pennsylvania Dutch woman
once remarked. "Womens is heaps
! stronger as MEMS" but not such
| heaps" these learned gentlemen
seem to think. il is too bad for women
| to fall short of these governmental
| hopes, but it seems inevitable Child
. bearing is not that continual round of
pleasure they seem to believe it, and
! when the child is born the strain is
| changed, not lessened.
! Moreover, it is doubtful whether the
plan would work out as expected. OF
| course the dominant idea IS to pro-
! vide more men for more conflicts but
if there is anything at all to heredity.
! and the Grant Allen, ct al group of
scientists have assured women that
they absolutely control the race by
| means of heredity-if there is any
! thing in heredity the war-baby may
, be confidently expected to be bundle
! of nerves. animated by an unconquer-
! able horror of war. Tales of glory and
| fatuous compliments cannot overcome
| the ideas and ideals of womanhood, not
| to mention the physical facts and eco
nomic conditions with which she must
do battle.
1t appears to be the case that ami
mails brought up by both parents show
| the best fighting qualities. This may
| be something of a reflection upon do
| mestic relations, but it is true. The
| hen is an admirable mother up to a
certain point. but for fighting quail
| ties commend me to the homeloving,
dome minded, homogeneous eagle,
who builds for a hundred years in the
same place. Pa and Ma Eagle bring
up their family according to the high
est ideals of the falconidae family, but
! it takes them both. 1t requires the
! tongues of Mr.. and Mrs Lion to lick
| the cub into shape.
| Nobody is going to take away the
| halo from motherhood, but the unwed-
ded mother knows that hers is a crown
| of thorns, and it will take something
more than governmental DEGREES to
make it otherwise. There has been no
! proposition since the beginning of the
war so calculated to make women
| think kindly of the Socialistic doc
trine that the race is more important
than what is, after all, mere geo.
| graphical expression" This teaching
| is now reposing in gun-cotton and
moth balls, but 1t will be revived
when. If not before, the war is ended
! In the meantime, these other women
might ponder this simple thought:
Can we replenish and subdue and have
dominion over the earth by killing our
selves and our fellows?