WOMEN ON THE LAND

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2783, 30 May 1916, Page 3

WOMEN ON THE LAND

FRENCH' AND ENGLISH WORKERS. On both sides of the Channel tho question of women's work on the land is a burning, one, and since tho tour of Englishwomen in Franco to the farms of tho Marne it is one that is being discussed in Paris (staffs a writer in "The Queen"). To compare the position of English women workers with French women workers is scarcely possible, as in France the women who work on the land are generally owners of tho land they work on, whereas our women are labourers on the farms of tenant farmers. Tho difference is immense, for it is only human for each one. to work bettor for hor own direct interest than for tho interest of an employer. Again, the life of the farmer's wife in France cannot be compared to that of the farmer's wife in England, and oven in tho most prosperous days of English farmers tho wife only worked at such things as tho dairy, tho poultry yard, and tho garden. Her position in the village-was defined—distinct alike from the gentlepeople ind the working class. Think of "Mrs. Poyser," "Mrs. Tulliver," "uMrs. Fleming," the mother of Rhoda Fleming and her lovely sister Dahlia. The yeoman blood of England is tjuito different from the peasant blood of France, and even the big fanners of France have never held the same position as their prototypes in England, iou can compare the peasant farmer of Franco with the agricultural labourer in England, and the French peasant has by far. tho better part from the financial point of view; for ho owns his laud, lie can work every inch of it to his own advantage. He and his wife' and his sous and his daughters give all they have and gather all they get in one common cause. They make fortunes and keep tliciu; but they live very poorly, and with .no touch of refinement in their homes.

I have spent, many months in my lilo amongst those peasant farmers ofi'rancn. I have been in their homes and have seen tho one room which serves as bedkitchen, sitting-room, all iu one. Even our cottagers would not suffer such restrictions, and surely they are right, for of what use is it lor a man to.have a stocking full of gold and live like tli® ox ill his stall? His wife wears a short petticoat and a shapeless blouse, her feet are shod in sabots, she is bent and old at forty, and her mind is a blank during the greater part of the day. Sho thinks of her cows and her money, her family and her crops; of the outside world she knows nothing. I have talked uiuch with her, I have felt aifection for her, and I have never found one among her kind who could keep u houso clean. She can make .up a mountainous bed, and has linen in her chest to make up a dozen at a time. She has dinner napkins by the dozen, but there is not a corner in her house whero you could sit for five 'minutes in. comfort.. Eead Flaubert on the household of one of the' big French farmers, read Guy (le Maupassant, read Balzac, and you will find nothing in their descriptions which compares with the old-fasliioned farmhouse of England, where plenty of .'comfort' went hand-in-hand with - wealth, and tho sons iind daughters grew up strong and beautiful. All this is changed, and is to change again, we are now told; but the model for our women to take is not the French peasant woman on tho land. •It is more likely to be the woman of our own race in our own colonies, or the' Scotchwoman, whose traditions are nearer'our own, and whoso way of working is more suited to the conditions of our life.

It, is also a mistake to imagine that this generation of Frenchwomen liko working .011 the land. They do not, and many of them flatly refuse, especially in places where a big town is near. \Yu

who live'here know tho difficulties under which the farmers round Paris have kept going, and how tlio price of many things lias gone up for. lack of feminine labour, although tlieru aro numbers of women living on their allocation and charity. It is a mistake to generalise on the love of tho Frenchwoman for doing man's work on the farm. Tho young Frenchwoman of the working classes likes it 110 better than the young Englishwoman, and she is n, great deal more difficult toymanago. "When she does it sho does it because it is to her interest or to tho interest of her family, and her natural spirit of economy helps her to see when this interest is hers as well as that of her country. If sho asks for 110 uniform, 110 theatrical staging, it is because she is working individually an<l not ili a body. "Wo get our "dressed-up few" 111 Paris as well as in England, Tor woman is woman all over tho world. Seen from over here, our women seem to be doing very well, and from the English side of the Channel no doubt tho 1 renchwomen seem also to be doing well. Ami both sides are certainly doing great tilings, just as both sides are making mistakes iu their various attempts. An Englishman who ought to know alx>ut such tilings said only this week to someone in Paris, "Our women have been splendid." And tho tone of his voice spoke for his sincerity. '

It seems tliat tlio Kaiser wears a coat ,of tlio new "Papiertucli," which tho German scientists hnvo invented in order to replace' woollen fabrics. This military cloth consists of thin, specially treated .sheets of cotton, or some other fine textile, between which is a sheet of cellulose cloth. The cellulose cloth will not stand a hard pull, but it retains wonderful Ixjtlily warmth. The thin outside sheet, ing prevents tearing. ■ One story is that the outside -layers aro mado of nettle cloth. These coats are air-proof, and they have to be ventilated with rows of smnll holes. Germany has sold 100,000 of them to Bulgaria. Austrian military blanket 1 ! are of tho same material.