Evening star., 1931-12-29
Highlights ON the Wide World
Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands

and courts were also planted in various
sections of Moscow, besides 81 larger
public squares, greatly adding to the
pleasant aspects of the urban scenery.
French Women Held
Not to Blame for Crisis.
LIE Matin. PariS.-The article by M. le
Professeur Richet, recently published in
our columns, recommending the with
draWal of women from industrial pur-
suits as the most effective remedy for
the current economic crisis, is but an
other contribution to suggestions, di-
verse, contradictory, and for the most
part purely Utopian, to which the hope
of eventually triumphing over our man
ifold difficulties gives birth. But besides
its futility, to blame women so cruelty
for all our ignorance, misery and I'M
morality seems to us scarcely less bru-
tai than the destruction of boarded
supplies of wheat. coffee or of cotton
at time when the unemployed wage
earners of the world total $4,000, 600.
We do not attempt to refute today
those arguments of M. Richet which
are based on sentiment-for, after all,
a proper sentiment, or rather SenSl-
bility is the driving force of justice.
other disturbances intelligent people
are always avid for exact facts and
figures. Each one of us feels that if ne
really knew what was wrong he would
be able to find and apply the remedy.
Unfortunately, however, the, facts are
generally ignored and efforts at reha-
bilitation fail because of the false prem
iSes upon which they are based
We would like to give the reaoerS Oh
LIE Matin some precise data. wen, pc
fore the war-that is, in l903-no less
than 6,382,O00 women were ALREADY
working in France. In 1926, the latest
computation, out of a total feminine
population over 81 years OF between
i2lOOO, 900 and $4,000, 900, and not
counting those employed in farm labor,
100000 were employed outside thelr
homes. If we include those engaged IN
domestic work 100000 women were
engaged in productive effort, either al-
rectly or indirectly. This great INDUS
triouS throng in recent years has peen
employed in offices, in factories, IN
shops and in the fields Yet there was
no economic arrangement ana the nor
NAL mean Of unemployment was not
transcended in France. ,,
But now this has all been changed,
and without apparent or sufnclent
cial perturbations have been produced;
every sort Of business has Slackened ana
the trade balance declares oetlclt.
With other countries already heaViiy
afflicted, our own begins to suf1er wltn
them.
OF course, there are a few visible and
definite factors which have aooeo 10
the general disease. First OF these Is
system of relief for the unemployed,
wrong in theory and most unsatsfac-
tory in practice; second, eXtraVagance
with public funds; third, Tightening
up of credits more remotely, perhaps,
new practice of dumping, and
finally, the formation of markets re-
stricted to a falsely conceived national
or political expediency.
All these subordinate obstacles whlcn
have so far frustrated the return OF
normal business conditions are plaln 10
the vision of all who do not keep tnelr
eyes shut Still, in M. Richets opinion,
the troubles of France have come from
the fact that French women are en-
deavoring honestly to earn thelr own
hyelihoods!