Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-10-29

women, is whether or nos
German women should have
ears :pecia, training by the state.
rs do the men in their army service
Even prior TO the war the question
was before the people. While many
of the greatest German educators and
thinkers favor the project, others are
opposed to it, for they fear that, as
the women would necessarily be di-
vided into higher and lower class.
Just as the men are in their years of
army service. the result would be a
rigid caste system between the two
,'lasses of women, and that this is.
tove all. 4 thing to be avoided. So
.ar Germany has striven to bring wom-
IN closer together. instead Of driving
them farther apart.
Aaot,ier objection to the years-serv-
ice plan is that it is not wcmanly, for
IL is hereditary idea in Germany that
~S;,lan belongs nowhere except in the
home. caring for the house and her
children.
On the other hand, those who favor
the issue urge that the state needs
women as well as men, and they point
out that in the war the women would
have been much more valuable had
they possessed special training in the
work that many of them are now do
inc.
Some of the greatest and noblest
German women who favor the issue
i.rv- worked gu. plens for the pro-
posed year of service. Also, many
women of social prominence are learn
ing to do things and to help where
reedcd so they would be of real value
in the training of others if the project
is instituted.
The year of state service for women
does not mean that they must learn
to shoot and huri bombs from the
trenches; on the contrary, it means
thar they will be trained in all that
makes for a perfect wonanhood and
motherhood. One of the most far-see-
ting of the women interested has
worked out a plan which is being ap-
proved by many. She would divide
the women into two classes for their
army year-the first class for the high
e. and more educated German girls.
and the other class for the poorer
girls who must earn their own living
The "better-class" girl must pay for
her year of service, just as the upper
class German men pay for theirs. The
other girls would be taught in the
public schools, and their training would
be free, the state paying for every
thing. including food and clothes
Buildings would ha>~ be built
where the women would live during
their service year. but not Immediate
ly for several years of experiment as
to the kind of building most desirable
would be necessary.
The first and the most important SUBJ
ject for women to master in their year
OF service would be housekeeping, not
just merely the keeping of the house
in order. but all phases of such work
as well. For example. the woman must
learn to cook scientifically, not only
for strong, healthy people, but espe-
cially for the sick. And she must know
how to prepare food for infants.
Next in Importance comes scientific
marketing. She must buy without
waste. for economy of materials is one
of the fundamental things to learn in
the army year. The woman student
will be given the task of providing a
menu for times when things are scarce.
such as at present, and little fat and
sugar are to be had
Then she will be taught how to make
garden. when to plant different seeds
and what grows the best at various
times of the year Society women have