WOMEN AND WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2356, 12 January 1915, Page 2

WOMEN AND WAR

CHANGING CONDITIONS.

[By Imogen.]

Early though it is yet to do such a thing, one cannot help but speculate as w> some of the far-reaching changes that will ho brought about by the war in tho lives of the women in Great bntain. That they will be far-reaching and of almost revolutionary effect seems certain when one comes to analyse and '•o see the direction in which some of these changes are already setting their course, and that many of them will be permanent cannot he doubted. For yorv many years women have been lighting lor their political emancipation, as all the world knows, but it is likely that tho war will bring to them minutely more than that, though whether they would have wished for it at, such an overwhelming cost is a moot question. Destiny, however, i& settling the mattor for them. Opening Gates. From English correspondents and newspapers have been learnt from timo to time many interesting facts as to the way in which tho women have been tilling tho vacancies' in cilices, schools commercial institutions of various kinds' including that most conservative of all callings, banking—caused by the absence of the men who have volunteered lor the front. In municipal affairs, in the manual trades, in several of the professions work that hitherto has Leon jealously guarded has been falling into the hands of women,- and as the wir goes on will lie still more in their hands because the cry for men, and still more men will continue to be heard throughout tho Empire. Whether they wish it or no they have been pushed by irresistihle world-forces out of the quiet backwaters into an ocean, whoso tides and currents thoy had only just begun to place upon their chart of life, and all the forecasts as to what will hapmui to tho race if women do this or that will have to lie dared because there is nothing else for it. "For men must wont and women must weep" iB one of the antiquated payings—and thoro are quite a number, that have only a quarter of a grain of truth in them, and never has it been more falsified than during this war. Even while women have been left desolate, wrung with suspense and agony, the busv fingers and quick brain of thousands, hundreds of thousands in Great Britain and.in t.he countries of her Allies have brushed imidc all thought of qdf surf have worked IncflsaaatJj. for th,e spnjfgrt (£,

the soldiers who are in the thick of tho grim realities of war..

The Question of Permanency. It is hardly likely, .either, when the war is over that callings that have now of necessity been opened to them will once again have their doors closed. Many of the men who Joi't their ordinary work for the war will on their return, even if physically fit, not care to take up the threads they dropped for a more exciting, adventurous career, so it is said. To those who hear the incessant rumbling of the motor-ambul-ances with their load of wounded passing through the streets night and day, there is another reason still, and the question presents itself—what can be done for those who have been so broken by exposure, privation, and wounds? The scheme of education for girls and women may have to be adjusted later on, in times 'of peace, to meet the altered conditions of life. A little while ago the cry was "Back to the kitchon and the nursery and learn them scientifically," but in the days to come many women will have to fit themselves to the utmost of their ability to take their place efficiently in the industrial, commercial, and professional world. At the present time some of those who never in all their lives did such work befors are now sorubbing floors, sweeping and dusting wards and rooms, _ learning to nook, and sewing and knitting in every possible moment. That, however, is only for the present time, to meet its needs. The Belgian Occupation. An indirect influence that will not be confined to women alone will be left by the Belgian occupation of Great Britain. Thousands .of Belgian families scattered all over the country, in towns, cities and villages cannot fail tq make a mark and in the years to come it will be' interesting for the savants to trace its influence in English literature and art, and in the mental and intellectual outlook of the people. ' Tho migration of Liege and Louvain Universities to Cambridge and Oxford may make for considerable modifications in English University life and training, and it will undoubtedly add to a greater sympathy and understanding between the people of the two countries. English writers say that there is already a marvellous improvement in the ability of English people to speak French and even in the most rural of the villages may he heard snatches of the language being painfully acquired by tho villagers. Daily, in streets, railway stations, restaurants, on news-stands in London and elsewhere, it is the same and with the acquiring of the language will come modifications of many of the insular traits of the British.

When the war is over the sympathy and understanding that now exist between all classes, all creeds at Home, brought about by the sharing of the samo burdens of sorrow, of suspense, of desolation, and of national and individual pride may to a certain extent, perhaps a large extent, fade away, but in its place will be built up other things, so the optimists say. In the meantime the war goes on and the temperament of the British people, men and women, is being beaten on the anvil of a destiny that"faces two wa^'s.