The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-02-01
COUNTRY MUST GET READY TO
 FACE HARDSHIP
Mrs. Ernest Thompson Set on Tells What Should Be
 Spirit of Women.

We women do not know as a na- ton what the word sacrifice means in relation to the war. We have been coquetting with the stark gravity of the situation,' said Mrs Ernest Thompson Seton of Greenwich, chair man of the publicity committee, com mittee on woman's activities, Connec- ticut State Council of Defense, Then asked what should be the spirit of sacrifice shown by women in rela- ton to the war and Wha tforms this sacrifice should take. She said:
 Sacrifice will be the keynote from now on in this country We women do not know as a nation what the word means in relation to the war. Some are giving all their time, ener- gy and money; still more are giving one of these. But, as a busy wom- an from Chicago who was organizing her sex for the second Liberty Loan recently remarked, The Red Cross is absolutely all right in it's way, but it is not enough. It is surprising the hordes of women who sit with tne:r hands over their stomachs knitting a sock for soldier, who seem to feel that they have made their peace with God and man and that nothing more should be expected of them.' And even this very last line of defense is not universal. The snug content that the foreigner fresh from war scenes in Europe finds here strikes chill to his soul. We are not vet awake to the real necessity that is be- fore us. We have been coquetting with the stark gravity of the situa- ton.
 ''To be sure, we have heard enough of wars horrors, of the empty stom- ached children, of the outraged wom- en, sitting helpless amid the ruins of their former homes and lives, of the men who have made the supreme sac rifice. But it passes us women. by as conveniently remote. We feel that such things cannot happen to us We will throw out a little dole of cloth ing, food, money; we will even work certain number of hours a day on | war work. It is not enough! In England, in one munition factory alone, over 1000 women are working. Women of all classes, women who are l unaccustomed to manual work Wom- | en whose busy hands had made some | home comfortable, women who had never known a physical want in their l lives, women who had never button ed their own shoes, hooked their own gowns, dressed their own hair, or walked a hundred yards, except from choice. The EarTs daughter and | f life, are working side by side with 'Arriet-alI are running daily risks of loss of limb, if not of Iife-they are giving their youth and, what is more to woman, their good looks.
 How many of us are giving up sugar, for example, or tea or coffee How many of us restrict our use of white flour? How many women are going to give up their private cars this winter and use the money for war relief? How many have given up their opera seats? How many are
 getting along with last winters gown? How many, I wonder, of the women who do not have to curtail are sacrificing any degree of personal pleasure, to say nothing of comfort 1 NO woman III EnSlduu IS allowed 10 operate a private motor car or burn mare than one-half of a ton of cc2! month for the average family. Bread, meat, sugar, the necessities
 are regulated by law.
 Are we going to wait until we are
 forced into sacrifice, or will the wom-
 en respond in the true spirit ot
 democracy to establish wise. policy
 of retrenchment and self controI which will enable the country to take ; care of itself and it's allies? But and this is a big BUT-whiIe the women are doing this, let She mer ! realize that there is no use for wom-
 en to save at the spigot while the
 men, through their laws, permit the
 stream of waste and extortion at the
 bung. While preaching sacrifice tC r the women, let us not forget that : sacrificial man is an equal necessity t Let us not leave the sacrifice to the ) other fellow for only as we rise uI r as a united nation, both men ant Q women, can we win this war.