Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-06-04
by SIargot AsquIth.


often when 1 nrst reached America.
what l thought OF American women.
/ should at FIRST comment on their
wonderful beauty and next on their
capacity for procuring and wearing
exquisite clothes.
But in discussing the subject at
this time. ! feel that have OBJ
served something that may not DO
SO obvious TO the Americans them
selves and 10 other foreigners pay
Ing. as / did. n flying visit. That
something is the tendency Of Amer
lean women TO take desperate in
terest in trivial things-to make
questions out of matters that are
really economic or hygien!c.
In every city that ! visited theIc
are clubs" hth male and female.
10 forbid some harmless tr!vialitics.
and. until these are ridiculed out Of
existence. they will prevent the
United States from ever becoming
What we should call free country.
Concerned About Each Other.
The Americans. while the most
friendly people in the world. are too
much concerned about each other.
and. though not personally. are ma
tionaliy vain. They would rather
hear themselves abused than undis-
cusscd: which inclincs one TO Inn
agine that they are suffering from
the uneasiness OF the "nouvcau
richie"
''Wnat do sou think q. u.s. How
do YOU compare our men and women
and their clothes and customs with
your own? was the substance OF
every question ,hat was pI. 10 ne.
There arc things Of surprising in
terest In this country. hut have any
Of US heard an English man or
woman ask foreigner what he
thought OF US? or. II they were
H..
interested In the reply?
Some will say that this comes from,
our pride. or !nsulnrity. but they will
be wrong We arc not obsesscd by
the desire 10 interfere with our
neighbor that is noticeable all over
America.
Women md Prohibition.
was told. and have the owl
dence o! my own experience TO sup
port that statement. that the women
were largely. IL Indirectly, rcspon-
sib!c for the passage OF the prohibi-
ton constitutional amendment and
tho Nolstcad and other laws. de-
signed TO interpret tho amendment
have already discussed the work =
ings OF prohibition. as IT IS enforced
bf ono can truthfully say on
forccd) have written my disap-
pointmcnt. strong believer In
temperance and regulation. that the
extreme measure In America is not
satisfactory.
/, is 10 he regretted that the
womcn--if they did tring about the
harsh rcstriction--actcd before they
were fully aware OF what it's consc-
Tuences would he
Supported In Her Views.
Some ono tto whom am gratefully
took UP the cudgels for me. on my
stand on prohibition and in letter
10 New York paper wrote:
Il am busy man. and have no,
much time TO write letters. but ]
can't stand the sneerinG. cheap re-
marks Of certain papers In their &C
counts Of Mrs. .Asqu!th's summing UP
Of prohibition.
Mrs. Asauith did not give stories
OF a vulgar nature depicting an In
dlvidual half-stupid with drink
tNote the hard Pharasaical way in
which they gloIt over the word
drink. Reminds me OF the cheap.
cd fashioned temperance poems).
She quito properly and honestly
called attention To the farce Of pro-
hibition laws. and merely voiced the
opinion OF 30 per cent OF all honest
people. when she decr!ed the unjust
and unconstitutional blue laws
which arc bigoted and ignorant mi
nority OF the Canadian and Ameri-
can people are trying to enact and
enforce on the unwilling majorities-
the real taxpayers.
Would to goodness we had more
such women. fearlcssly candid,
broad minded and nnhypocritlcal like
the same Margot AsQuith England,
with all her faults. will never PAN
der to the few fanatics who are the
killers"
I was told that similar measures
are being considered. especially in
women's clubs" to prevent the smok-
ing of cigarettes. In fact. one or
two states already have anticiga-
rette laws.
The strange part IS that such
things are considered. as they are
called in the United States. moral
issues" The final passage of the
prohibition amendment was cele-
bratcd with services In some OF the
denomina tional churches as though
some great victory for Christianity
had been achieved. Fancy making
the stoI sage of cigarette selling an
object OF as great import as the
crusaders considered the ransom Of
the Holy Sepulchre.
rette smoker-the prohibition OF
smoking would be silly and peril
Gus meddling with individual lib
erty.
1t is apparent that millions of
American women consider smoking
an evil in itself: they think it moral
~ wrong; they regard It as virtual
ly sin.
Yet is Is not such. Excessive smok-
ing. ike excessive eating. excessive
Tea drinking or excessive sleeping, is
an evil-any intemperance that un-
dermines the health is an evil.
AS matter of fact. one secs every
day. not only in Europe. but in Amer
lea. and-I must confess-amonR
American women, more victims OF
overeating and oversleeping than vic
Tins OF either too much drink or too
much tobacco!
Some women OF America. n one
may Judge from their newspapers and
the letters receive, are even con.
sidering the lengths Of their dauph.
ters' skirts moral issue!
Legislation Anent Short Skirts.
1t Is safe to say. however, that the
majority OF them regard tho sno,t
skirt. IL not too extreme, as a prac-
,lcal blessing.
For my part, asked thousand