The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1915-05-22 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

SOLDIERS' PERIL FROM IMPURE WATER.I DEATH BEJPORE DDHIONOUR Women and the Menace of Invasion.  20 2112 imams or viz anskoncian saws. Sir,—With your permieeion I should like to say a few words with relation to above title in connection with the frightful national tragedy through which we are passing. The world knows, and we are thankful in lite innermost to Know that England's action in the present crisis stands for honour. Never in her long history could she more bravely face the world and say "All saeriAces will I freely make in order to redeem my pledge, my pledge given to a small, weak, unimportant, and almost defenceless country," and to keep that promite inviolate England's sons, her net and beet, are being butchered by the thousand, and tens of thousands, and may even reach to millions before victory is assured. All the men have come and are coming forward nobly to vindicate England's honour. And that brings me to the kernel of my 1 few remarks, namely, the attitude of women to honour. _  Nothing has been brought to the front more conspicuously in appealing to recruits than the fact of Germany's atrocities to the Belgian women, and Englishmen were besought in the names of their mothers, wives and sisters to avenge these women of the foul wrongs done to them. But can they? No. Wherever the seat of war may ho all women are subjected to these hellish conditions from the men who are, for the time being; conquerors. This state of thin v always has occurred; the soldier pays with life, but the women, not with life only, but with honour as wefl. Be it remembered also that men (civilians) cannot protect women. Though surrounded by men she is at the mercy of the Invaders, neither is she allowed to defend herself, se where do the woman of civilised Christianised Europe stand to-day? Now as women cannot be defended by civilians, nor allowed to defend themselves. what provision ie made by the Government for them? What advice do fathers give to their daughters? Where invasion is possible and probably imminent, as it is here to-day, what do parents advise their daugh• tars to do? Nothing, absolutely nothing. The girls are to take all that comes, and that's all about it  v-i-us every fit man am be a soldier, and men at home be recognised for home defence, and no woman is allowed even to defend herself, the last and only thing left for the Government and parents to do is to initiate the daughters into the quickest and moat instantaneous means of committing suicide whiai means preservation of loaf-respect and honour, and if men die willingly for national honour women should be trained all through their live.; to face death as willingly and voluntarily for their own honour. .  Just thini-olstVe-Position, rendered ab-1 sohitely helpless, and at the mercy of barbarians, and powerless either to defend herself or go hence to her Maker—clean. All women should be trained in revolver practice, and possess • revolver free of license during the time when our country Is at war with an enemy as close as this continental one. This, since she is not allowed by law to be a combatant, she must have in readiness to shoot herself. For women too timorous of firearms they should be supplied with sufficient instanta. moult poison to be used in case of extremity, and this is the very least which could be done for those women who prefer death to dishonour. If the Government will not take this in hand the English parents must. The father who almost thrashes it into his sons, "Death before dishonour," surely has a duty to his daughters here. What is he going to advise them to do? In this connection it is interesting to look into history, and very interesting and illuminating to find in "Lecky's History of European Morals" that the early church had to face this very question and position of women. In the fourth century we find that the fathers of the church decided that the only form of avowed suicide permitted by the church was where "Christian women committed suicide in order to preserve their chastity when menaced by barbarian invaders or the lust of emperors." The church went further. jt casoerined one at least—St. Pelagia—a girl of fifteen, who had been oaptured by the soldiery, but no threw herself from the roof and thus committed suicide.. She was eulogised by St. Ambrose and St. Chrysoetorn. There are many instances of self-drowning and self-stabbing recorded. The church had to face, or rather faced the matter then and helped. The churches to-day do not face the matter. They wash their hands of the whole matter and leave women to their doom  Since England has gone to war for its honour, to help a small and helpless State, surely it ought to show some way to its own women whom it has rendered helpless, whom it cannot either protect or defend. and who a thousand times woula prefer suicide should they be subjected to whal always accompanies war. The primary daty lies with tho fathers, who can themselves act and who can make the Government act in a crisis like this, which is the most tragic in the whole of warfare in the estimation of—Tours faithfully. "