Arizona republican., 1916-05-27

 STREET DRESS
 OF OUR WOMEN
Republican A. ?. Leased Wire1


 NEW YORK, May 26.-"Shall the women of America standarize their street dress? 9"
 Two thousand women, delegates, al- ternates and visiting club members of the thirteenth biennial convention of the Federation Of Woman's Clubs an- swered the foregoing question in the affirmative at an open conference of the home economic at the confederation today.
 The committee has spent two years Tn investigating the practcabiity of the plan. and Gs a result it is prepared to introduce resolution favoring it at ncXt weeks session of the conven- tion. Gowns for evening wear are to be excluded from :he proposed limi- tation.
 Mrs. Thomas A. Edison, Mrs. Robert J. Eurdette, Pasadena, Cal, Mrs. Fred trick Nathan. president of the con- Sumers' league of this city. Dr. Jose phine r. Baker of the New York city bureau of child hygiene, Dr. Benjamin R. Andrews of the New York Teachers College anG Lady Duff Gordon, spoke in favor of the proposed plan. Lrdy Aberdeen was an interested auditor.
 Miss Helen l.. Johnson of this city, chairman of the committee who pre- sided at the conference. declared that after study of years. she had arrived at the conclusion that a standardized street dress for women, on par with the conventional sack suit of the mer would not only make the American women more dignified in appearance and deDortment but would reduce her dress making bills by one half Manu- facturers whom she consulted, Miss Johnson said, were in hearty sympa- thy with the plan.
 Lack of a conventional standard, Miss Johnson said. was directly res ponsihle for what she characterized as the freakish and almost bizarre dress of the American women of today"
 Women should strive for simplicity and InOdesty in their dress" Mrs. Edi- son said. "The ever changing styles of today are responsible for street dresses that not only astOnish, but horrify. The latest style it appears calls for abbreviatior of dresses at top and bottom, in some eases beyond the bounds of modestv
 Mrs. Burdette, for years an advo- cate of dress reform who aroused a country-wide discussion by wearing white fer mourning on the death O. her husband some time ago. was as emphatic as Mrs. Edison in her re- marks. She defended her defection from the custom of wearing black mourning.
 Why wear black for the guest of heavcn?" Mrs. Burdette asked. Has yoIr psychic sense given you a concep- tion of the effect on your soul of wear nS oertain cclors?"
 But" Mrs. Burdette concluded, the chief question is: Can you afford your dress"
 Food shelter ard the child also were discussed at the conference. The health of the nation, Dr. Carol L. AL borg. chief of the bureau of chemistry department of agriculture, said re- qnires uniform food laws. Lawrence Neiller of New York president of the National Housing association, said the women of the country can quickly solve the bad housing problem by see nG and smelling the slums."
 Mise Julia Latrop, chief of the chil- dren's bureau. declared the growing infant mortality rate in this country shonld be given serious attention by the government. Fifteen thousand women Cie yearly as the result of im- proper maternity care she declared. Rural hospitals and government aid for the treatment of maternity cases, she said, was the only solution.