The Washington herald., 1920-05-23
BY LADY BONHAM-CARTER.

In the past, as see it, woman has
been either enslaved1 or enshrined-
I feel tempted to use the world
'vaticanized" (Which has obtained
popular currency since the contro-
versy as TO the fate OF CONSTANT
nople). She drudged or. like the
Pope. she lived a prisoner in great
state, radiating influence. WELDING
fmmeasurable power, yet shorn Of
all temporal privileges and rights;
often a tyra1t in her weakness,
sometimes a victim in her strength: {:
always a captive. who from birth
was taught that to burst her bonds
would be to break the spell by
which she ruled.
Those bonds are burst-that spell
is broken. The slaves are freed.
the Popes unfrocked, the medieval
mists are clearing. and woman faces
woman. and man. too, in the light
of common day" And in that honest
light she sees world which. po-
litically. she had no hand in max
ing. She sees wrongs. violences, in
justices. things out of shape, things
out of tune. And in her untried
hand she finds a new and powerful
instrument of redress. How will
she use it?
Sex Division CrumbIIng.
hope. / confidently predict. that
every woman will use IL differently.
just as every man has done. One
of the best and bealthiest results OF
the enfranchisement of women is, in
my opinion. that we shall lose sight
of sex as mental or moral frontier.
as a line of demarcation in principle
or point of view. he sooner this is
accomplished the bttter, ! feel IL
will be for men, for women and for
the community.
Women have been driven by
sense of humor of the injustice done
to them into a sort of trades union
based upon their wrongs as a sex.
and until they have been brought
up abreast of men in political devel-
opment as well as in political rights,
a certain political seX-consciousness
and sex-solidarity will remain. But
once this Is accomplished. one hopes
that the unreal atmosphere created
by inequalities will be finally exer-
cised, and that the association of
men and women on equal terms In
every field and plane of life will
lead, not only to a much freer and
truer relationship between them, but
also to a much juster and clearer
vision of the problems they will
tackle side by side. There should
be no "women's subjects" and no
sex-blinkers in politics. and no rele-
cation of women by men to certain
limited areas Of the political field.
"Feminism" Warped Product.
have always regarded "femi-
nism" as a warned product. born Of
injustice and tending toward it. And
feel at times that some of my
fellow-women, who took an active
and glorious part in the struggle for
the emancipation of their SEX bear
on their minds to this very day the
honorable scars of battle, and that
the passion and the eloquence with
which they pleaded the wrongs and
denounced the oppressors of their
sex lave left their voices, even
now little hoarse. The younger
generation of women. for whose
rlshts the victory has been fought
ana won by their predecessors, will
get a truer perspective.
Il pelieve, as / have said, in the
graouai disappearance of sex as a
deciding factor in political ques-
tons, but should like to make one
great exception to this general rule.
nope, and l believe. that on one
question women will always stand
together: that they will always
throw all the weight of their polit-
icai power into the balance against
an forms of violence, against any
aroitrament of force, whether ii
takes the form Of way abroad or
general strike at home.
Hatred. mistrust of force is al
most physical instinct with wom-
an, 1t has been implanted in her
soul oy centuries of weakness and
py the fact that ever since the be-
ginning OF time size has been Great
ING sheltering. protecting. rearing
the young life of the world. with
nothing but her arms between 1t
ana the ride battery of circum-
stance.
Women. throughout TIE world.
VIII prove the surest safeguard of
MS peace. the strongest buiwark of
tne state against class conflicts
hero at home.
What special faculties what new
siits OF heart and head will women
life?
FIRST, and perhaps most valuable
OF All, the freshness of an open
mind, unencumbercd by the mental
conventions and the mental tradi-
tions OF the past. They will ap-
proach the old problems from a
new angle.
Minds moye Rapidly.
While men tramp along the hard
high road, women will make their
own cut across country, and often
torestaH them at the goal TIC r
minds move differently from mems,
less surely. less reliably, but often