The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1919-08-29
WOMEN DEMAND
WARS SHALL END
Peace League Means More to
Them Than It Can Mean
to Men.
DR.. SHAW'S STIRRING PLEA.
(By the Late Dr.. Anna Howard shawo

(By the Late DR.. Anna Howard Shaw.)
Seven million one hundred thousand
men who had laid down their lives in
the great war. Think of it Seven
million, one hundred thousand young
men had died on the field of battIel
What does that mean to the women
of the world? 1t means that seven
million one hundred thousand women
walked day by day with their faces
toward an open grave that they might
give life to son. 1t means that
seven million one hundred thousand
little children lay in the arms of
mother whose love had made them
face even the terrors of death that
they might become the mothers of
men.
1t means that year after year these
women had put up their lives into the
lives of their sons until they had rear
ed them to be men. For what? IL
the hope that these sons of theirs could
give to the world the things for which
women dream, the things for which
women hope and pray and long These
were the things that the women had
in their hearts when they gave birth
to their sons.
But who can estimate the value OF
seven million one hundred thousand
dead sons of the women of the worldi
Who can estimate the price which the
women have paid for this war; what
it has cost them, not only in the death
of their sons, because that is a phase
of our war to which we look.
The Courage Of Women.
We hear our orators tell us of the
courage of our men. How they went
across tfle sea. Very few of them re-
member to tell us of the courage of
our women, who also went across the
sea- of the women who died nursing
the sick and wounded; the women
who died in the hospitals, where the
terrible bombs came and drove them
almost to madness. They tell US
nothing of the forty thousand English
women who went to work back of the
trenches in France.
They tell us nothing of the thou
sands upon thousands upon thousands
of women who not only toiled and
worked and slaved in order that the
war might be successful, but we do
not hear of the thousands of women,
not alone in Armenia, not alone i'll
Montenegro, not alone in Serbia, but
in Flanders, in Belgium, in Rumania,
in Russia-the thousands of women
who lie in graves today. murdered,
so horribly murdered that men dare
not speak of it,
nd Nat tta woman, aro sf-al
we know about the League of Ma
tions asked what we can understand
about a League of Nations. Oh men
the horrible deaths; the horrible lives
of thousands upon thousands of wo-
men today in all these nations, who
must live, and who must look in the
faces of children unwelcomed, unde-
sred-of little ehiIdren-and know
that these are the result of war.
And then ask women why they
should be interested in a league of
peace?
Women Suffer Most From War.
If there is any body of citizens in
the world who ought to be interested
in a league to ultimately bring to the
world peace it is the mothers of men,
and the women who suffered as only
women can suffer in the war and in
devastated countries.
And we call upon them, we women
OF the world call upon the men who
have been fighting all these battles of
The years, the men who have led
aruies, ana led armies close to their
dcaths.
We are now calling upon the men
of the world to in some way or an I
other find a passage out of the sea Of
death. We nre asking them to form
a league which VIII bring hope TO the
women of the future. IL women are
TO bear sons only that they may die,
IL women may not have hope9
and aspirations for their children.
Ii women may not dream the dreams
that have in them the hope Of thc1
highest civilizations, the highest moral /
and spiritual life of the people-lf wo-5
men may not have these in Their
hearts as the mothers OF men, thtns
women will cease to desire To he the
mothers of men Aud why shouldy
they not7 Why should ttey not2