New-York tribune., 1918-08-23
Allied Congress
Of Women Gives
New War Slogan
Believe Victory, Think Vic
tory, Preach Victory, Live
Victory, Their Cry
(Speciul Cable to The Tribune

Allied women, which ended last night
with tremendous mass meeting at the
Champs Elysees Theatre, has put new
tonic into a new atmosphere of VIC
tory. The motto Of the congress, pre-
pared by Miss Rena Csrswell, of the
Young Women's Christian Association,
might be generally adopted by the AL
lies to help defeat the heralded Ger
man peace offensive. 1t should help
in the trenches during the "last quar-
ter hour" The motto is:
Believe c1ctory!
Think C1ctory!
Preach victory'
LINE victory!
AS Miss Carswell explained. "It in
sures the men at the front that the
women second all their sacrifices" And
as Comtesse Helene Dalviella lie Pres
entative, of Belgium, who was for.
three years prisoner of Germany,
said: "The significance of this con-
gress is to prove to our soldiers that
we women will never give in"
Mrs. Benjamin Lathrop, head Of the
publicity committee, speaking of the
comtesse's statement, said: "This will
prove to any doubters that there is no
votes for women platform and no fem
mist programme in this congress. It
Is simply joining hands all around for
common cause-victory."
The scene at the Champs Elysees
Theatre was an inspiration. Long be-
fore the hour Of opening the authori-
ties were forced to close the doors.
Three thousand seats were occupied,
several thousand other persons filled
every inch Of the corridors and aisles,
and nearly every woman was in uni
form
There were very few men able to
gain entrance, outside of Lord Derby,
who presided, Foreign Minister Pt-
chon, the chief orator; the American
regimental band and the press. Be-
sides the American musicians, there
were a woman's orchestra and wom-
ans chorus of several hundred.
Exactly one hundred societies, num-
bering tens of thousands of women war
workers, we're represented, coming from
fifteen countries. There were delega-
tions from Rumania. Poland and Mon
tenegro and a body Of nurses on their
way to Russia. There were great Brit
| ish delegations of woman farmers and
bus conductors and q French delega-
tion of women munition workers.
American army nurses participated; !;
and every form Of American woman's
relief work was represented.
Songs Of the trenches, "Over There"
and "La Marseillaisc" were sung and
Kipling's "Recessional" was chanted by
the choir. A great tribute was paid to
American women by the Hon. Mrs. AL
fred Lyttelton and Mrs. Katherine
Furse, representing England's women
farm laborers.
Mrs. Lyttelton told how after consid-
cradle male skepticism at the beginning
Of the war the women had made good
in every form Of work attempted. She
described the scene in the home Of
some American friends where she "
visiting on the day after America T.
clared war.
at came at the crisis" she said, with
Lloyd Georgian frankncss. "for just be-
fore America came in we were facing
the thought Of defeat From that mo-
ment the tide turned. As for the
American women, they were like a
daughter just coming to the threshold
OF life. We had gone through suffer
ing, and we knew that they must go
through 1t, az they are now doing SC
nobly end 30 we'll"
The Bpokeswoman for The American
organizations Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss
who reviewed our women's work done
in France since 1914 as well as since
our entry in the war, evoked great en-.
thusiasm by delivering n speech in
French, quoting Clemenceau's famous
"Le dernicr quart d'hcure, c'cst nous
qui laurons!"
In other words. all we need is to hold
out fifteen minutes longer than the en-
emy; and we can do It.