Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1920-05-09
BONDS BINDING
WOMEN BURST
Daughter of Herbert H. Asquith
Says Fcminism Is Warped
Product.
SEX DIVISION CRUMBLING
Woman Cannot Blink Her Re-
sponsibility-Must Oppose
Violence.
SEX DIVISION CRUMBLING
ny LADY BoNHAM-cARTEn.

ny LADY BoNHAM-CARTEn.
daughter OF Herbert Asquith, who
II expected to follow Indy Aston by
winning tho next Parliamentary sent
Tor WOmcn.)
see 1t. woman has been either en-
shaved or enshrincd-I feel tempted
TO use the world "Vuticanized" (Which
has obtained popular currency since
the controversy az to the fato OF Con-
stantinople(: She drudged or. like the
Pope. she lived a prisoner in great
state. radiatinE influence. welding
immeasurablc power. yet shorn OF all
temporal privileges and rights; often
tyrant In her weakness. sometimes
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 arc burst-that spell
is broken. The slaves are freed. the
Pope unfrocked. the medieval mists
arc clearing. and woman faces wo-
man. and man. too. In the light OF
light shc sees n world which. politi-
cally. she had no hand in making. Sn.
sees wrongs. violences. !njus,ices.
things out OF shape. things out o.
tune. And In her untried hand shc
/ finds n new and powerful instrument
of redress. How will sho use It?
Sex Division CrumbIinE.
hope. l confidently predict, that
~
just as every man has done. One of
tho best and healthiest results of the
enfranchiscment 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. The sooner this Is ac-
complished the better. l fell. II will
be for men, for women and for the
community.
Women have been driven by 4 sense
| OF the injustice done to them ito a
HOrt OF fFu1CE union based thOir
wrongs as 4 sex. and until they have
been brought up abreast OF men In
political development an well as In
political rights. n certain political
sex-consciousncss and scx-sol!dar!ty
Will remain.
created by inequalities will be nm
ally exercised. and that the associa.
terms tern in every fieid and plane of lie
will lead. not only TO a much frcer
and trucr relationship between them,
Sson tho an 1heS w
tackle side by side. There should be
no "women's subjects" and no sex
sn xses politics and email. pe
areas OF the political Held. ss
''Feminisn,- Warped Product.
have always regarded "Fem!nism"
as n warped product. born of injustice
at times that some Of my fellow
women. who took an Active and Elo-
rious part in tho struggle for tho
their minds TO this very day tho hon
orable scars OF battle. and that the
passion and the eloquence with which
nounced the oppressors OF their sex
have left their voices. even now. a
little hoarse. The younger generation
tory has been fought and won by their
predecessors, will get IL truer perspec-
. live
believe. as have said. in the
deciding factor in political questions
exception to this general rule.
hope, and I believe. that on one
question women Will always stand to-
gether: that they Will always throw
all the weight of their political power
into the balance against all forms OF
violence, against any arbitrament OF
force, whether it takes the form OF a
war abroad or general strike at
home.
: Hatred, mistrust OF force Is almost
physical instinct with woman. 1t
has heen implanted in her soul by
that ever since the beginning OF time
ohd has been creating. kheltrring.
protecting, rearing the young life of
between It and the rude battery OF
circumstance.
Women. throughout the world. will
peace, the strongest bulwark of the
state against class conflicts here at
home.
What special faculties, What new
gifts Of heart and head will women
bring with them into our public life?
First. and perhaps most valuable of
i unemcumbered by the mental conven-
tions and the mental traditions of the
past. They will approach the old
problems from new angle.
Minds Move Rapidly.
While men tramp along the hard
high road women Will make. their own
cut across country, and often fors-
stall them at the goal. Their minds
n mSys asa neaby but me often sss
more rapidly and more directly.
But the great, the. torturing ques-
tion which must confront each one o {
career. the question which lies at the
root Of the whole problem Of the en-
REIMBURSEMENT OF women; is: How
tween the claims OF my public and
my private life?"
!. The right time t. go into pT9slitics Is
the flood tide. when our blood is rum
ming and not creeping In our veins,
bet2re the eyes OF youth have lost
probortioDs. and got used edes 10 't the ' due
formitics OF tho world az 1t is, before
"custom lies upon us with n weight.
life"
When Tie. Are Strongest.
But 1t is during these very years
that We pass through our most vivid
personal experiences and that our
human ties are at their strongest and
most lmperious., And these may pre-
vent tho most human and the most
representative types OF their sex from
taking an active part In public life,
ment. 80
1t was thiA dilemma which inspired
doqbts. In many thoughtful people
during the suffrage controversy, and
net as some, supposed. tho obscurant-
ISL ana reactinnary view that women
belonged to lower stratum OF anil
NAL DEVELOPMENT and were not men.
taliy capable of registering n vote or
or dlschnrEing the duties and cxer-
cising the riEhts OF citizenship.
Own Child Paramount.
IS problem which every woman
must fnce and decide for herself-i
hare yet to decide but ~ ans
thins l am certain: that 1t will profit
woman nothing to save the whole
world ~ shc lose her own child.
Ana OF another also am sure: that
Wnotner they go into Parliament or
not women no lOnner can lfvaU, ~, h, =