Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-07-07
BY ALBIN f. JOHNSON.

u
ger of losing their right to
work." to say nothing Of
~ their political rights" Eu-
ropean women, and to certain extent
women in all countries Of the world,
are rising in arms against any further
encroachment of their equality. Nu-
merous petitions received by the Inter-
national Labor Office and the nine
teenth annual conference of the 1.
L. o. reveal that as a result OF the
economic crisis drastic changes IN
womans status is envisaged in many
countries.
Although public attention has not
been centered upon their plight,
women, next to young people OF both
sexes, are suffering as much, If not
more. because of unemployment and
the depression, as are men. No re-
liable statistics are available as to
what per cent Of the worlds unem-
ployment are women, but their num-
Der is growing because Of a wide
spread tendency, for both political and
economic reasons, to Danish them
from the professions, and to limited
extent from industry.
In Germany a quota" has been
placed upon women who may obtain
higher or specialized education: in
Italy official regulations have limited
the number of females that may be
engaged in industry to maximum of
20 per cent. In Belgium the minister
of labor and social welfare has been
empowered by royal decree ito fix a
maximum percentage of married
women in each branch Of commerce
and industry"
Women Organizing.
In Holland, Belgium, France, Great
Britain. Spain and the Scandinavian
countries women are organizing to
protect themselves economically. In
France the agitation has taken on a
political aspect with the result that
equal suffrage Is nearer attainment
in that country than it has ever been.
France and Switzerland, supposedly
two of the most enlightened states in
Europe, are about the only ones where
women do not have the vote.
1t is in Nazi Germany and Fascist
Italy, especially, where the movement
to drive women out of professional
and industrial life, and into the
kitchen and bed room" is most pro-
nOunced. Both governments are bent
upon obtaining heavily increased
birthrates. To compensate" women
for their loss of economic independ-
ence the German government has in
augurated a system of marriage
loans" domestic service training, -
maternity education" etc. The Nazi
mothers service has more than
! 1000 teachers now engaged in train
ing women for motherhood"
A survey Of the women's labor
front reveals that there are more
$4,000 girls passed through them. In
January of this year the volunteers
for women's labor camps increased by
so per cent. While the service is vol
+ untary, presumably, no girl is granted
permission 10 enter a university until
she has completed six months of COM
pulsory labor service. This consists
besides domestic training. mainly ii
assistance to housewives and over
worked mother "
! Girl Students Trained.
The scheme for placing all Ger
| man girl high school students in prl-
waite homes for training upon theiI
| leaving school. is not working out as
we'll as was expected. The system has
led TO abuses" according to the Off
cial Nazi publication. the Volkische
! Beobachter. which adds that the
| young girls placed in domestic en-
ployment do not always receive the
education and moral training which
had been expected A vigorous
! propaganda in the Nazi press has
been ordered to remedy the situation.
! Official statistics in Germany show
/ however. that women are steadily being
pushed out of industry and the pro-
! LESSONS. During the 1933-34 school
year the number of students permit
ted to enter universities was limited
to $4,000, of whom only 10 per cent
were to be women. The decline in the
number of women enrolled in various
classes ranged from % per cent in
medicine to SO per cent in chemistry
and So per cent in geography.
In employment the exodus of women
was marked. About 33S6,O00 workers
were reabSorbed by industry last year,
of which II per cent were women. In
u months the number of woman
workers dropped 5 per cent. Bonuses
of from 500 to 1000 marks given to
women who contract marriage are said
to have been responsible.
Reports received by the l. L. o. say
the number of employed married
women in the United States and Great
Britain. as we'll as some other coun-
tries. shows tendency to increase.
In the last census there were 10.700,-
900 employed women in the United
States. over 100000 of whom were
married. In 1890. out of % married
American women was employed; IN
1880, l out of every 9. In countries
where an honest effort has been made
to replace women by unemployed men,
thereby returning women to their
homes and firesideS. results have
still is-but it becomes in this latter
day a social rather than physical