THE WOMAN OF TO-MORROW

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 15, 12 October 1918, Page 13

THE WOMAN OF TO-MORROW

(By Mrs.. Co'ulson- Kormiliaii," in tlio ■ ; "- "Daily Mail." ; The modern woman is—or has been, ■ until tho war revolutionised, all things— ii. charming--figure enough a'ti-a dance or a whist driy'oj but ; as.thc; i "ungol of .thq;J)ouse" she-has; scarcely shone. Tho'woman of to-morrow.will be a throw-back. -Wo shall/unless 1' am :mueh n\istakpn,--see amongst us again that adorable creature/, tho..wife and mother as .slid wi\s. in.the l days, of our grandmothers.- ,ln: those- days young girls, wore trained ,to bp thrifty house•wives; they could cook aud mend and 'make; : They w-oro taught'.to" make a honio,- and. not, a tinselled .'thing of 'brick.aiid mortar—a house.not so much to.livo' ih as" _to .go -out of.; In those 'days tho family fireside was; :made desirable to, the male folk, just because .woman recognised her real sphere. She was, content to bo queen of the home. Her pride was in ■ her well-filled linen chest,l'lier store of self-made jams and pickles, in hams of her own curing. Her children grew up under her own tender care, and wero not left entirely to nursemaids. .. .• „ ' ;

::-, Woman has already awakened to a ■.sense of the seriousness of life, since .war conditions have forced,her thoughts ; ahd-interests into new channels. She now must do her' own shopping, and think out food problems. She must turn' 'her attention- to contriving' new. garments "out of old ones. She must' watch that nothing is wasted in the home. And in this process she is making great discoveries. She is astonished at the, useful articles that can be mado of-what has been thrown aside as "done with,"'aud feels humiliated; as :' she.; notes how much waste, thero' has/been in, the past. War economy, has' opened her eyes. A woman said to me'.the. other, day: "I had no idea that looking after a houso oneself could be ■ sojnteresting'l" This woman had, until the.war, kept four maids and an "experienced.' uiirso." Now she has one' maid, 'and:, ho'.nurse.....'.'l am nurse!" she- 1 said,' -.laughing, "and really I had no''-idea I liad such,nice children. I scarcely,knew them; I have had more pleasure in my nursery than I ever did in:,my dinners and dances. I shall bring up my girls to be home-birds." One good that is destined to come out of t(io evil of war is that woman will become "that beautiful being, the true helpmate, ;0f man, the mother of children, who shall rise up and call her, blessed. The woman of to-morrow will ~be,'.,as I saidy a' throw-back,.,the,wo-man men do not flirt with ,but rever-, enco. She existed long ago, and her, image has dwelt in the heart of,every good man —and of men who may not be called good. Deep down in the consciousness of every man thero dwells the instinct of reverence for tho pure, unselfish, unworldly woman, and the' craving: for the home such a woman can make.'.,Much,■will havo to' be unlearnt; .'much learnt, and the school .will be a hard one. But just as h. child ■■ is worth all the anguish of oirth-pangs, so surely iyill tho woman of to-mor-row, born of to-day's pain, bo a compensation almost too-great to bo real- 1 ised. Sons born of good mothers are tho strength of-the nation. And the daughters, who will have an ideal woman 1 as an example, will tlioy .not count in a nation's greatness? '; '■ It is' woman, more than man who has,the power to''raise tho'gtandard of.'a.;'racer; .-The- .woman: of .Jo-morrow 'may not have so.ready a laugh; thero will bo too much sadness to remember. But .we think her smilo. will be much sweeter. ■ Ease and luxury never brougllt out the best in anyone yet.. Character can only grow splendid on. thorny _ground. Thorny ground enough; .and,to* spare,'; this war lias given us,' and.-upon it. .will. grow women worthy of .man's reverence. There is already 1 a new seriousness in women. Tlioy have started to take life >'n earnest. One- notes' on every hand how little time is frittered away by them.compared with three years ago. So-called

"fancy work" lias been delegated to the drawer where tilings not wanted are kept. Instead ono sees work that lias some practical value in the hands of a. woman. ■

Of course there are many still who cling desperately to the old' state of tilings, who ..fight to keep, their, old amusements and' their old adornments, lint -they will pass. The tide of ad-, .vanco will he too. strong for them. -1 believo that to-morrow will sec so great a change for tho better ill women that inon will look back with' wonder that they ever .tolerated the ■ idle, flighty, pleasure-seeking woman of the day ber fore.. That women are talcing, seriously to work is.ono of the guarantees that tho woman of "to-morrow will he infinitely superior to her sister of the past. 1-do not bolievo that women will '.slip back into old ways when tlip supreme "necessity is past. The old idle life would never content them. .There-is a lure in work which soon gets •Vgrip on one.not to be resisted. There is a sense of satisfaction and. content that comes to work, which all else fails to" give.' To feel of use—to feel of .serious account, this in' itself is a reward. Also..work bestows a ''est which 'surpasses all other so-called rest—because' it',is earned. Women who have learnt to' work-in these troubled times are the rich promise of the woman of to-morrow. ■'»