The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1919-05-17
80, =, thu allie, promised to place in

I cess Of the allies promised to place N
their hands.
| 1t has not been easy to DO any u
these things; to make ranica'
| in well-established habits reooii Q.
nothing less than genuine ihceh'''o
and a driving motive. These were
supplied during the war by the pa.
triotic sense OF responding to na''on"i
| needs; they must be continued by tIs
conscientiousuess Of participating IN .
| worldwide endeavor.
| The position Of women In American
Industry has been much freer anu
| more democratic than In any othei
| country ever since the earliest en-
| trance. of women and girls into inc
New England textile mills. Although
| our states differ enormously IN thef
industrial legislation. certain OF them
have enacted laws securing a ono
DAYS rest in seven, abolition or night
work. Saturday half-hoiday, an eight
| hour day and q minimum wage ZOE
women In the lowest paid Industries.
| These standards safeguarding the
health of working women are con
stantly being advanced by the women
| in industry service in the department
of labor, created during the war. as
| were the federal employment bureaus
which have women's departments.
OF the eight million women engaged
in gainful occupations at the opening
of the war, less than two million were
in agricultural pursuits, untll many
more took the places of the men VINO
left the farms for the trenches.
Cultivated Back Yards and Lots.
In addition to these women VINO
went into actual farming and dairy
ing were the many women VINO IN the
spring of 1917 cultivated two million
back yards and vacant lots, so that
the first war crop Of potatoes showed
an increase of hundred million busn-
els over that of the previous year. IN
response to the urgent plea that the
United States must produce enough
food to make up the bitter defclen-
cies of the devastated countries OK
Europe, the latent capacities In our
through community gardens, and wom-
en- everywhere were stimulated by the
example Of the wOmens land army.
Did the great success of these actlV-
tiles make clear once again that 1000
above every other product responds 10
individual attention and is greatly
benefited by being treated in small
int
of function" as economists say, in our
food production, and are the children's
war clubs for raising pigs and bees
and poultry not only valuable because
they increase the amount Of food Dut
also because they introduce the best
methods? The change which took
place in American agriculture through
the wider participation e. women dur
ing the war may result to our lasting
benefit. We may have the more In
tensive methods In American farming
which have long been needed.
American women at this crucial mo-
ment must therefore show no sigrs OK
spiritual exhaustion. 1t has been their
part in the war to nurse. to feed and
to keep alive the forces of social re-
generation at home. In carrying on
these perfectly normal activities day
by day these women have gradually
discovered that no child in Serbia
could be kept from starvation. that
no Red Cross supplies could reach
MesopOtamia save through interna-
tional administration of food or
through the interallied control OF
shipping resources. 1t has been the
most natural possible approach to tina
problem Of world organization. Quite
as women entered into city affairs
when clean milk and sanitary housing
became matters for municipal legisla.
ton, and into state activities when
the premature labor of children and
the spread Of tuberculosis became is
sues in a political campaign, as wom-
en- were interested in federal legiSla-
ton when pure food regulations and
other such matters were being cOnsid-
cred, so they now may normally con-
Germ themselves with international at
fairs because these are now dealing
with such human and poignant mat.
tiers as the rescue Of women and chill.
dren from starvation and the safe
guarding of living standards for large
devastated regions. To help make Sc
cure Americas place in the new
world is probably the most compelling
challenge which has been made upon
woman's constructive powers for cen
turtles. To meet it adequately, wom-
ets must utilize their household expert
ences, must employ all their human
affection and must exert their whole
capacity Of understanding.
Tendency to Experiment.
fortunately the reaction from such
vital and generous experienees-as
American women have lately encoun.
tered-is tendency to experiment, to
modify and to change old conditions
The world at this moment is under
a sense Of moral compulsion; there
Is demand that mankind should
exert all his power of affection and
all his clarity Of vision in order to
mako q 0roQf moral q n i,o%r,orA r,,h.oI