GERMAN WOMEN

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2729, 25 March 1916, Page 11

GERMAN WOMEN

SEBK A VOiaili IN THE AVAR.

i Tho iittUudo of Iho women of Germany has recently liuou Imcomiitg iia ongrossiiig u tcpio of dismission in tlui (ioniiiui I'ross uliuosl. «s is t.liu war itsoil", b'l'om a disiuistlion, shown lit tho outhmnk of luitil tjiiioti, m aw.-opi. all tiaoritidoa imposed on ihnin and to tako for granlod Uni ooniinj! ni prouusnd succiihii in n rolo of bulniiissivonoss, l-hu woimsn iiavo umv rtmuliiitl a point whino Iheii' aoiiou threatens lo lie a doiiiilinliilg fan tor ill coillleol.inil with tho uiutiiulunco of tlio war, So ciiergolif-ally aro they doiuauclillg a right Id ho lieard that it is annoiinced that tlio National liberty I'nrt.y will miike a, proposal in I lie Reichstag thai Vi'oiiioii from sixteen to twenty years old ho mobilised for the piirposa of giving a year's service to tlio country, the servico to be performed in a way to bo determined according to the circumstances.

The original proposal came from one of tho women leaders who, however, in the proposal which she made in this connection, embodied a condition that the women's service shonld. be used in hospital work. The project now has taken a much broader .extension, and it is proposed tlmt women he used not merely in the preparation and manufacture of munitions of war, but also in the trenches thenisclvc-:-.. As the women have to dig trenches in which to plant potatoes, one of their leaders said, there is no reason _ wliy they should not dig trenches for military purposes. Some of the Gorman iiowspapc-rs hint that this form of service would relieve the community from many incidents ol recent occurrence which show the new attitude of the women of Germany. The ''Taegliche Rundschau" savs:— "The war seems to be exercising a singular influence on the women. Olio would think that there is a militant spirit in the air, which is going to take away for ever the docile and indolent character which our women possessed in normal times, and that. this spirit is now transferring them into a species of suffragettc-s of the militant English type. The other day before a Police Magistrate in Berlin four of these women were accused of having attacked witli violence another women in the . street. 'J'hey threw her down snatched oli' her: hat, tore her clothes to shreds, and took away her shoes. Their defencc was that they were outraged at seeing a woman show so little regard for pre- I sent conditions as to deck herself up with extravagant finery." The ; 'Berliner Tageblatf gives another instance to indicate the new attitude of the women and the militant spirit which they display. A Berlin merchant, it says, in order to bring out some of the hidden gold which the Government needs so much, thought of the- idea of offering half a pound of butter extra to those who_ bought two pounds of butter and paid for it with gold. However strange it may seem," continues the newspaper, "the result was marvellous. Lines of .women presented themselves, and offered their gold. But the matter did not end peaoefuliy. Scenes of extraordinary violence occurred as the women who had no gold set upon those who had, and the police had to interfere to stop the riot."

To the new attitude of the women is also being attributed an explanation o? the many cases of officers who have committed suicide, as reportc-d from the Eastern front. Tile explanation which Has previously given regarding these occurrences was that the officers through a lack of sufficiency of reserves, are ordered back i-o the front from the hospitals before their recovery from wounds and illness is complete and that in despondency they kill themselves. It is now said, however, t-hat many of these officers who have_ committed suicide have done so in distress over the news from home and the dread of returning without having .achieved the victory which had been announced to tht women, and on account of which the women had submissively endured so many sacrifices for so many years while the army v,'as .beiiiji prepared and equipped and all else ..regarded as of secondary moment.

The "Frankfurter Zeitnng'' issues an appeal to the women to adopt . a policy of restraint and of asceticism.

It invites thou* ".to abstain from eating ci\viny, mandarines, pinonpples, aiul Unifies; from buying Swiss corsots and jowois, m\ from sucking so mtu'lv Tho H Kopluisol}« Zoituny also piouosos that rcistniiuk forccouomica! purposes. "Let us louru immoijiulel.Vi ' it says, ''<] (10, without tho smievHmms, without tl\o milk whu-h wo mix with opt oollpe, Without liutlor Id bo sproi\{| on tho broad, and without' pork, whitMi is hoconuofs very sourco." [|, has been hinted Hint it was on acßoiint of its inslriimoiitnlity in bHiring up the women of Germany that ihe "Li)lul Anzeißor" was recently snp-

pressed, and continues in constant trouble with the Cerman censorship. The "Lokal Anaeiger" is not merely a Berlin newspaper, but has editions in other principal cities of Germany, aud its influence on the women of the country is very large, as it does not limit itself io philosophic disquisitions on politics and sociology, hut deals with the topics of tlx; day in which women are keenly interested.

Mrs. Hurry Gullett, v.-ho was Miss Penelope Ba.vnion, daughter .of Mrs. Barbara- Ba.vnion,'authoress of "Bush Studies" and other Australian stories, lias accompanied lier Lushaud, the Australian war correspondent, to Sydney. With them is their little son.

During a brief visit to Dunediu, Her Excellency the Coiuitess of Liverpool visited the Otago Women's Club, and yesterday attended the Early Settlers' Hall ts> see the women workers of tbo Patriotic Association. Their Excellencies v.erc to return io Christchuich today.