The New York herald., 1921-10-16

of France Ia post lCdr con-
dti0i,s, for France acas the battle
field and her daughters found theis'
most gigantic efforts qCere needed
ia the toll of reconstruction. IN
the series of articles on acOmen ci
acar Wora Europe, acritten by Mrs.
Borden Hartman for The Ne@
York Herald, the author has
reached her clin,oG in these heroic
FrenchaUomen aUho exhibit, she
says, the great qualities of their
ancestors IN period equally
troubled, that about 1889.
Without bothering with politics
nor striving for equality IN fran
chise, though she enjoys the one
and IS keen about the other, the
Fq'enchWoman of to-day is the same
eminently practical person she has
aIacays been and her aid Ia restor-
ing fields and uillageS to their
former state has gone fOr1Cdrd
aoith efficiency and success.
BY MRS. BORDEN HARTMAN.
Special Correspondence to THE NEW YORK
HERALD.
PARIS Oct. 2.
T HE morale of France to-day is very
high. Paris promises to be once
more the city of glad faces of
which the poet sang in prewar times
There was a period when visitors were
wont to think that the French were
superficial nation, bent on pleasure and
was probably because the visitors them
selves, and especially Americans, came
here seeking only the light side of life.
After the battle of the Marne. however,
this estimation was changed. People said
that they could never again doubt the
seriousness and intensity of the French
character. That the French once more
laugh and are gay should lead no one into
a reversal of their wartime judgment.
There are those who can cover much with
a patina of frivolity.
In studying the women OF the countries
of Europe. those of France are a great
contrast to all others. Nearly everywhere
else the war did one good thing in emanci-
pating the women and educating them to
their political responsibilities. Here the
turned to their pre-war condition. Only
small group is interested in the suffrage
question, and there is no real fight being
made to secure the vote.
When asked his opinion of woman suf.
frage in 1919 Clemenceau said that he was
in favor of it for every country but France
He explained that here the peasant women
would be voted like sheep by the priests
nntH txyara fraa Of
clerical domination he could not approve
extending the suffrage to them.
On the other hand, a clever French
woman. in controversion of this idea,
quoted Paul Hervieu to the effect that If
such were the case. the priSets would have
long ago been leaders in the feminist move
ment, whereas, on the contrary they are
it's strongest opponents
Peasant Woman Unchanged
From Pre-Revolutionary Time
To-day the middle aged peasant women
are still the peasant women of 1889 They
have the same lack of education and Ing
itiative, the same willingness to slave for
their masters But change has come over
the spirit of the dreams of the men. They
have suddenly awakened to the fact that
the town cannot live without the country.
though the country does not need the town
for its existence.
The peasant is in the peculiar position of
being completely Independent of every other
class. The railroads and other utilities
might cease to function and still he would
continue to exist as usual. Therefore, one
result of the war has been a growing an
tagonism between the town and the coun-
try. The peasant has made the gesture
of going on strike against the towns.
The people of this class having suffered
terribly in the war are now realizing their
power. The war weighed so heavily upon
them because of 1t being possible for
their places 10. be filed by old men and
children. They never had to be called
back from the front as industrial workers
we're. When the armistice came few peas
ants were willing TO return permanently
to their farm work except those who had
large families whereas go per cent of the
factory workers went back to their old
jobs.
Beginning of Cooperation
Noted Among Farmers
The complaint is made on all sides now
that it is most difficult to get help on the
land. The young men and women are go.
. ing into factories and so causing great
shortage OF labor in rural districts In the
old dayg the whole amiIv ran,aipaJ nv .h,