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PeUeebfftr Library

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December 1899.

VOL. VII.

WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS

OF WOMEN OF 1899

Edited by
THE COUNTESS OF ABERDEEN

President

VOL. VII. «*

Women In Social Life

THE TRANSACTIONS

OF THE

SOCIAL SECTION

Zbc 3nternatfonal Conareea of Momcn

LONDON, JULY 1899

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MRS BENSON
Convener of the Social Sectional Committee

LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
PATERNOSTER SQUARE. 1900

LIST OF MEMBERS OF S

The General Officers of the International Council of
Women were ex-officio members of this and all Sectional
Committees in connection with the Congress.

LIST OF MEMBERS OF SOCIAL SECTIONAL
COMMITTEE OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF
ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE INTERNA-
TIONAL CONGRESS OF WOMEN.

Convener.
Mrs Benson.

Hon. Secretary.
Miss Janbs.

Lady Battebsea.

Adeline, Duchess of Bedford.

Mrs BuNTiNa.

Mrs Creighton.

Miss LiDOETT.

Hon. Sabah Ltttelton.

Mrs Rawlinson.

Together with the General Officers of the International

Council of Women.

CONTENTS

iMTBODUonoN by Mrs Benson

PAGE

PRISONS AND REFOR/AATORIES.

Addbess by Adelinb, Duohebs of Bedfobd ... 2

(A) Treatment of Women In PrisonB.

P<vper: Mrs Ellen G. Johnson {MoisachusetU) ... 4

Discumon: Mrs Isabel C. Barrows {United StcUes) . 12-16

Papers: Mme. Isabelle Booelot .16

„ Miss Haiqhton {HoUcmd) ..... 23

(B) Treatment of Cliil<lren in ReformatorloB.

Paper: Mr T. 0. Leooe {Great BrUain) .28

Ditcusnon : Mr Arthur Maddison ; Miss Fanny Calder ; Miss A. S.
Levetus ( Vienna) ; Lady Georgina Vernon {Great
Britain) ; Miss Rosa Bamett {Irdand) . . 32-33

PREVENTIVE WORK.
Address by Mrs Bawlinson ...... 34

(A) In tbe Uliited States.

(B) In Borope.

Paper: Mrs Maby F. Lovell {United States) ... 34

DiseuMUm: Mrs Elizabeth B. Grannis {United Sta/tes) \ Mme. de

Tschamer {Svfitzerland) ..... 39-40

Paper: Miss Janes ....... 40

Dticussion: Mrs Hallowes {Grea^t Britain) ; Mrs Wilson ; Mrs Cock-
bum {South Australia) ; Mrs Percy Bunting ; Miss
O'Reilly ; Mrs Oholmondeley ; Miss Mary Simmons 41-42

CONTENTS

RESCUE WORK.

(A) Methods of Work Inside Homes.

(B) Methods of Work Ontside Homes.

Addbbss by Mrs Benson .....

Papers: Mile. Sarah Monod {France) ....

„ Mrs Bbamwell Booth .....

DUcimsion : Mrs Ruspini ; Mr8 Sheldon Amos ; Mme. v. Finkelstein
Mountford ( Jerusalem) ; Mrs Hunter [Glasgow)

Paper: Mrs E. B. Grannis {United States) ....

Di8(yussion: Frau Cora von Bulzingslowen {Gerrrumy) ; Fr&ulein Kuhl-
mann {Belgium) ; Adeline, Duchess of Bedford ; Mrs
Hallows ; Mrs Bunting ; Lady Georgina Vernon ; Mrs
Taylor ; Miss Mary Simmons

PAGE

43
61

55-66
66

57-61

TREATAENT OF THE DESTITUTE CLASSES.
Address by Miss Clifford ...... 62

(A) In the United States.

Papers: Rev. Ida Hultis {United States) . . .63

„ Miss Hallie Q. Brown ..... 64

(B) In Ftance.
Paper: Mme. Mauriceau {Prance) .64

(D) In Qreat Britain.
Paper : Mrs Bernard Bosanqubt {Great Britain) ... 78

WOAEN'S CLUBS.
(A) Social Clubs.

Papers: Mrs Webster Gltnbs {United States)
Dr Ida PosNANSKT-GARFDiLD {Russia)
Mme. B. F^rier de Marst {France)
Mrs Wynford Philipps {Great Britain)
Lady Hamilton {Great Britain)
Mrs Croly {United States)

86
89
91
96
96
97

(B) Qirls' Clubs.

Papers: Hon. Maude Stanley {Great Britain) ... 98

„ Miss Edith M. Howes {United States) .102

JHscussion: Miss Neal {Great Britain) ; Miss Lily Montague {Great

Britain) ; Mrs Wilson {Great Britain) . 106-110

CONTENTS

SOCIAL SETTLEMENTS.

Addbess by Mrs Barnbtt

Papers: Miss Mart Simmons {OretU Britain)

»»

>»

PAGE
111

112

116
118
123

Mrs George Adam Smith {Olasgaw)
Miss FoRTESCUE {Great Britain)
Fr&ulein Salomon {Oermany)

Diaettssion: Mr Hunter {Chicago); Miss Grace Stebbing; Miss
Crumpton ; Mr Douglas ; Mrs Crawford ; Miss Sim-
moDS ; Mrs Samuel Bamett .... 124-127

EQUAL AORAL STANDARD FOR AEN AND WOAEN.

Papers: Mrs Henrt J. WiUBori {Great Britain) . . 129

Frau Bieber-Boehm {Germany) . . . .129

Mrs George Drummond {Canada) . . - . 130

Froken Iva Welhaven {Norway) .... 130
Mile, de St Croix {France) . , . . .130

))

»»

AAUSEAENTS.

(A) The BtMcs of Amusementa

Paper: Lady Battersea ...... 131

Discussion: Mrs Boomer; Miss May Wright Sewall . . 139-146

(B) The Public Control of Ama8eineut&

Paper: Mrs Perot Bunting {Great Britain) .... 147

Discussion : Mrs Jenness Millar ( United States) ; Mrs Crawford ;

Miss Stanley ; Mrs Crelghtou . . 153-154

TEAPERANCE.

Address by Lady Battersea

„ Mrs Ormiston Chant {Great Britain) .

(A) General Principles.

Papers: Rev. Anna Howard Shaw .
Frftulein Hoffman {Germany)
Herr H. von Kooh {Sweden)
Baroness von Lanoenau {Austria)

»>

f»

(B) Public Control of the Liquor Traffla

Papers: Professor E. Almquist {Sweden)

Mr Joseph Bowntree {Great Britain)

165
157

160
163
167
171

174
180

Discussion: Mr Edward Pease ; Miss Agnes Slack ; Miss May Yates 181-183

PROVIDENT SCHEAES.

Paper: Miss E. E. Page ......

Discussion : Miss Haldane ; Miss Hargood ; Miss Edith M. Deverell ;

Mrd St John ; Mrs Wells ; Miss E. S. Haldane . 219-190

184

Xll

CONTENTS

Papers : Frftulein Jastrow [Germany)
Mr Reeves (New ZeaUmd) .
Mr Hebbbbt Stead {Great Britam)
Mrs Arthur Johnston [Great Britain)
Mrs William Wood [New Zealand) .

»»

»>

PAGE
192

197
198
199
199

EAVIGRATION.

Address by Lady Macdonald

Papers: Lord Strathoona and Mount-Royal [Canada)
„ Mrs Van Zutlen Tromp [Hclhmd)
„ Miss Robinson [Great Britain)
Mrs Gawler [Scmth Australia)

»>

201

204
208
212
216

Discussion :

Mrs Parker ( Wimfiipeg) ; Hon. Mrs Joyce ; Miss
Whitaker [San Francisco) ; Miss Ross ; Miss Catherine
Webb ; Mrs Conybeare-Oraven ; Earl of Aberdeen ;
Mr J. Jervis ; Miss March- Phillipps ; Miss Smith
[Leicester) ; Hon. Mrs Joyce ; Miss Fraser ; Miss Morris 218-222

PROTECTION OF YOUNG TRAVELLERS.

223

224

228

Address by Miss Lidgbtt ......

Papers: Mile H. de Glin [Switzerlaiul) ....
„ Baroness von Lanobnau [Austria) ....

Discibssion : Mile. Kuhlmann ; Mme. Klerck ; Mme. Godefroy de
Tschamer [Switzerlam.d) ; Hon. Emily Einnaird ; Lady
Battersea ; Mrs Sheldon Amos ; Mrs Percy Bunting ;
Lady Enightley ; Lady Frances Balfour . . 231-233

PROTECTION OP BIRD AND ANIAAL LIFE.

(A) Dress in Relation to Animal Life.

(B) Our Duties to Wild Animals.

Address by Duchess op Portland ....

Papers : Mrs F. E. Lemon, F.Z.S. [Great Britain) .

Mrs Charles Mallet ....

Bight Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, M.P. .

Discussion: Sir Edward Grey, M.P. ; Mr Richard Wood; Rev. J
Stratton ; Mr Henry Salt ; Mrs Henry Lee ; Mile
Adrienne Yergele ; Miss Yates ; Mr Alderman Phillips ;
Lady Laura Ridding ....

>»

2S5

236
242
245

248-250

APPENDIX-GIRLS' SECTION.

Paper: Hon. Mrs Berteand Russell [Great Britain)
INDEX ......

251
253

WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

INTRODUCTION.

I HAVE been asked to write an Introduction to the Papers of the
Social Section, as its Convener, but it seems to me that it is
much better to let the papers speak for themselves than to add
words of my own. I was fortunate enough to get a strong
Committee, whose work was to divide the subject up into its
most important parts and to endeavour to get the best and most
representative speakers on each branch.

To them, and not to myself, is due all the success of the
arrangements.

The Committee laid special emphasis on providing for Dis-
cussion as an important fact of the programme of the meetings.
And certainly I for one growingly felt the importance of it as
the meetings went on. Discussion tended to bring out much more
forcibly than set papers the different ways of looking at a subject
which belongs naturally to an International Congress, and there
was a vividness and life about it which was striking and valuable.

It is not for me to appraise the general results of a Congress
like this, nor to judge of its usefulness. The /act of the Cpngress
speaks for itself, and the papers which follow show in what
measure and with what success the fact was justified.

M. Benson,
Convener of the Social Sectional Committee,

vol. VII. A

PRISONS AND REFORMATORIES.

(a) treatment of women in prisons.

(b) treatment of children in re-

formatories.

CONVOCATION HALL OF CHURCH HOUSE, DEAN^S

YARD, WESTMINSTER.

TUESDA y, JUNE 27, MORNING.

ADELINE, DUCHESS OF BEDFORD, in the Chair.

Adeline, Duchess of Bedford, said : In opening this, the first
meeting of the Social Section of our great International Con-
gress, you will, I hope, allow me to express my great satisfaction
in welcoming to the discussion of the important suhject with
which we shall presently deal speakers whose names have long
commanded the respect and admiration of those familiar with it.

I esteem it an honour to have been deputed to preside at the
meeting which treats of Prisons and Prison Work. That honour is
largely enhanced by the association of my same (who am but a
novice in such matters) with those of women who have devoted
cheir lives to this cause.

Who does not know something at least of the wonderful
work of Mrs Ellen C. Johnson, Superintendent of the State
Reformatory for Women at Sherborne, Massachusetts — one of
the most remarkable and unique institutions in the world ?

Which of us has not wished to be able to transport herself
across the Atlantic to visit in person that place of pity and

PRISONS AND REFORMATORIES 3

peace? To most of us such a pilgrimage would be impossible.
But to-day we have with us the moving spirit of the whole — the
brain that thought, the heart that felt, the hand that moulded
that great work are with us in the person of Mrs Johnson her-
self. Here, too, we have Madame Isabella Bogelot, who superin-
tends the work among discharged prisoners in connection with
the greatf S. Lazare Prison in Paris, a lady of long experijence and
great resource.

£ut for the fact that poor human nature is the same all over
the world, we should not connect the thought of crime, or even of
disorderly behaviour, with the spruce neatness and cleanliness of
the irreproachable-looking Holland ; but Miss Haighton no doubt
will tell us that there as elsewhere there are prisons and
prisoners whom she and those associated with her seek to
benefit.

The advantage of interchange of ideas on such a subject, with
such authorities, can hardly be over-estimated, and I trust that
in the discussion which wfll follow we shall have the experience
of some of our own prison visitors, who will tell us something of
the efforts that are being made on behalf of discharged prisoners
who have passed through short-sentence prisons in England.

I am unable personally to deal with this branch of the subject
as my work (and that of my colleague. Lady Battersea, who
is with' us to-day) is entirely confined to the visitation of the
Female Convict Prison in England, which is located, at Ayles-
bury in Buckinghamshire. We are appointed by the Home
Secretary, and it is our duty to visit the prison frequently,
converse with the prisoners, and assist them so far as is possible
on discharge. Since the Prisons Act of 1898 a Board of Visitors
has been appointed, and we also serve ofl&cially on that Board.

It is pleasant to record that very considerable numbers of
prisoners discharged after serving long sentences for serious
crimes have been placed in suitable institutions, or employment
has been found for them in various ways. The great majority have
amply repaid by their good conduct the efforts made on their
behalf.

As a large proportion of these prisoners belong to the Roman
Catholic Church, we have secured the help of a lady corre-
spondent — Mrs Parr — who ably carries on the same work among
her co-religionists.

To return to the more general subject of prison work, I may
say that the question is receiving special attention at the present
time, and with most beneficent results. The Chairman of the

4 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Directors of H.M. Prisons writes as follows : — " There are now
only five prisons in the whole country which are not equipped
with lady visitors. In March 1897 there were nineteen without
them. I hear on all sides of the great good that has resulted
from this extension of women's work among prisoners. I think
that it can safely be said now that no woman offering chances
of reformation goes unregarded from prison, and that real efforts
are made by the ladies, co-operating with the prison authorities,
to find homes and situations for these cases. It is a field of
labour into which they have entered with great credit to them-
selves and with advantage to the public.**

I would only remark in conclusion that this work of prison
"visitation, which makes so large a demand upon wisdom and
perseverance, on patience and on hope, carries with it those large
and happy compensations which attend all work when entered on
with the single-hearted desire for simple human fellowship one
with another, for the purpose of giving and receiving help as we
make our way through the world. The character of the task, its
pains or its joys, will be set before us by the speakers, whom I
will now proceed to call upon to address us.

The Treatment of Women in Prison.

Mrs Ellen C. Johnson, Superintendent, Massachusetts
Beformatory Prison for Women.

It is now about 30 years since the commonwealth of Massa-
chusetts tried to establish a separate penal institution for its
female convicts. The initial steps in the movement were taken,
as was fitting, by a few philanthropic and determined women, in-
spired by the prophetic works and words of that honoured
pioneer in prison reform — Elizabeth Fry. For 7 years these
women, with a slowly-increasing band of helpers, persevered in
their purpose, until they had won over public opinion and its
representatives in the legislature. In 1874 an appropriation of
$300,000, about £61,728, opened the way for the realisation of
their hopes. The construction committee lost no time in carry-
ing out instructions and in 3 years the buildings were completed,
and the experiment of a woman's prison, officered and managed
by women, was under way.

THE TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN PRISON O

For more than 20 years the work Las gone on, not of course
without mistakes and discouragements, but with a constantly-
increasing efficiency and hopefuhie88. From the outset it was
determined that the discipline of the prison should be reform-
atory as well as penal in character ; a determination based upon
the belief that no soul is entirely depraved, and that no criaiinal
should be judged as lost to all sense of honour, until faithful
effort has been made to awaken that sense. It is a common
saying that the worst criminals are not prisoners, it is certainly
safe to say that human nature is the same inside prison walls as
outside. The same principles, therefore, should be applied in its
treatment — the same spirit shown towards the weak and fallen.
No man or woman is inspired or softened by having his sins or
his misfortunes constantly held up before him ; no courage of
soul or purity of purpose comes from dwelling upon a wretched
past or an unhappy present. The impulse must be forward and
upward and outward. Some of us may learn this lesson easily,
but the vast majority must not only be taught by stem experience,
but must receive from some source outside of self the inspiration
and the guidance which are necessary to establish us in the right
way. Beyond all question this is true of such criminals as are
received at the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women.

Of other prisons and other methods I have neither the right
nor the wish to speak, but of the spirit and system of the work
which has been my charge for 15 years I can speak understand -
ingly. Our women are of all ages and nationalities, of all grades of
intelligence or ignorance. The majority are young. Very fen
are strictly illiterate, that is, unable to read or write, but a largo
proportion are practically uneducated. We take the woman from
the officer in whose charge she comes to us, with no inquiry as to
her past. The mittimus sent with her states simply the crime
for which she is sentenced, and we^do not seek to know more
than this. Any woman, criminal though she be, hsm a right to
an unprejudiced trial and a fair start in her new life. A few
necessary data as to age, nativity and parentage are recorded,
a thorough bath follows, and clean, whole clothing replaces the
soiled, ragged garments in which most of the women reach us.
An examination is made as to the physical condition, the results
of which go on record for possible future reference, and the
woman begins her experience as a prisoner by entering the
department called Probation. The probation plan we regard as
one of the most effective points in our system, which is essentially
a system of grades founded upon the record of the daily conduct

6 WOMEN IK SOCIAL LIFE

of the prisoners. Here the woman spends 4 weeks by herself in
a well-lighted room 12 feet by 14 feet, where she does not come in
contact with other prisoners, and sees no one except the officials
in charge of her. At the end of that time she is quite certain to
be sober, quiet, and disposed to conduct herself properly in the
next grade. She has had no privileges except those necessary to
health of body and mind. From the time she enters the prison
till the day she leaves it every women is supplied with a read-
able book from the well-chosen library. The prison dress has a
large outside pocket in which the book is carried. The time in
probation can therefore be partly employed in reading.

After experiencing the isolation of probation, no woman will
again readily forego the companionship of her mates to return to
it. Those in charge of her have meantime been shown something
of her character and tendencies, and are better prepared to meet
such manifestations as may appear later. Furthermore, new-
comers often develop delirium tremens, not infrequently insanity,
and the conditions of the probation ward make it comparatively
easy to deal with such cases. Another point in favour of the
probation plan is that the news brought by a criminal from the
outside world becomes stale and unimportant to the other prisoners
before she has a chance to relate it. News 4 weeks* old has little
interest for them.

Above probation there are four grades, numbered from one up-
ward, each bringing with it certain privileges additional to the
grade below, privileges so slight as almost to provoke a smile
from those who do not realise how small is the world to which
these women are restricted, and how few and pathetic are their
interests. A different dress, more varied food eaten from better
dishes, another way of holding the hands when in line of march,
and the right to carry a library book in sight, under the arm,
instead of out of sight, in the pocket — only one who has had to
deal with prisoners can understand the importance to them of
these things, and the influence exercised thereby upon their
conduct. Every prisoner knows, when she enters a grade, the
numljer of days she is to remain in it, the date upon which, if
she is orderly and obedient, she will pass to the next higher, and
her daily record is kept by marks upon a system which she fully
understands.

Every year demonstrates more clearly the value of a graded
system in the management of probation. A mission without
which no reform is possible ; self-respect, which is the keystone of
character ; self-control, which is character, have been gained by

THE TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN PRISON 7

many an unstable, sinful or despairing soul simply by the pur-
poseful effort to attain the best rank in her little world. We
who watch these women as they pass before us at work, or at
their meals, or in their assembling in the chapel, have learned to
recognise the first hopeful signs. The brightening eye, the lighter
step, the tenser muscles, the steady gain, not only in grade but in
spirit — these tell the story. I do not need to say that there are
downfalls — in some cases many. The habits of a lifetime are
not overcome in months. The deadened conscience, the weakened
will, the disordered brain, the confused ideas of morality and
truthfulness, all conspire to drag down and keep down these un-
happy victims of vice and passion. A woman's standing is
seriously, sometimes permanently, affected by these lapses, but
every effort is made to hold her to her duty, and to restore her if
she falls. Patience, gentleness with firmness, time to consider
and repent, forgiveness and restoration where it seems wise, loss
of grade, or punishment in extreme cases— nothing is left un-
tri^ in the purpose to save a woman from herself, and to reform
her if reform is possible. That it is ever impossible I dare not
take it upon myself to say.

Of all the means employed in dealing with offenders, not the
least effective is allowing time for reflection. Sober second
thoughts will almost surely come to the most enraged and excited
woman if she is given space to cool her brain and quiet her
nerves. Even if circumstances require the infliction of punish-
ment, it will be far more effective if the offender can be made to
see the fault and to recognise the justice of the penalty. Criminals
are not seldom dull and slow of intellect. They consider them-
selves the victims of a power which governs by force alone, and
which has imprisoned them simply by virtue of its greater
strength. They must be made to see the falsity of this belief.
They must learn that they are not friendless, and that law,
though merciless, is just. Obedience, to attain the best results,
should be intelligent, and to arouse the intelligence of a prisoner
is a process requiring time and patience. But it pays to take
time. Patience is a good investment.

From all that I have said I would not have it inferred that
punishment should not sometimes be sharp and sudden. No lesson
is more important than that which teaches respect for law, and
dread of its wrath. At the same time it is a fundamental point
in our theory that every criminal can be won by gentleness and
patience. I believe^ if time were allowed to deal in this way
with each individual, that punishment would in time — a long

8 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

time, perhaps, but certainly at last — be abolished as needless. I
might give you countless incidents from my own experience, but
perhaps one extreme case will illustrate sufficiently.

A woman was received at the prison whose intelligence and
morals seemed but one degree above those of the brutes. She
resisted every offer of friendliness, and defied authority so boldly
that we were forced to put her in punishment, but solitude
and quiet had no effect except to enrage her still farther, to the
doing of deeds unfit to be told here. She seemed bent upon her
own undoing ; but we used no severity beyond what was absolutely
essential to her control, and she was told quietly, though firmly
and repeatedly, that disobedience so persistent would surely in-
volve greater humiliation and atonement. Somehow I could not
give that woman up. I set my patience and resolution against
hers, and every day for 5 weeks I went to see her, hoping and
believing that the good in her would triumph. And it did
triumph. One night, as I entered her cell, she burst into tears
of penitence and shame. **0h, Mrs Johnson!" she cried, "I
wanted long ago to tell you that I was sorry, and that I would
do anything you asked me to ; but I was ashamed to say it. May
I begin to-morrow morning ? " The victory was complete. The
woman did without reluctance or reserve all and more than was
asked of her, and I need not tell you of the courage and renewed
faith brought to our own hearts by this happy outcome of what
had seemed a hopeless contest.

The greatest good can be accomplished, as I have said, only
by an intelligent obedience on the part of the prisoner. If she
understands the true nature of her offence against law, feels the
justice of her penalty, and comes to believe in the friendliness of
those who have her in charge, she is prepared for the next step
of repentance — ^aspiration after better things, and a definite pur-
pose to attain them. She begins to see the value of discipline,
however grievous it may seem for the present, and to submit her-
self to it in a spirit which in itself goes far to accomplish the
desired work. The end of all discipline is to train mankind in
ways of integrity, unselfishness and sobriety. What other end
should we seek for these women, not only for their own sakes
but for the sake of society, in whose interest they were imprisoned ?
They must learn to do right because it is right ; to make a right
decision when they are free to make a wrong one ; to stand stead-
fast when they are released from restraint and confronted with
temptation. A prisoner who obeys because she is afraid to dis-
obey can be trusted as far as the arm of authority can reach, and

THE TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN PRISON 9

no farther. One who obeys because she thinks obedience pays
better than disobedience may go down under the first strenuous
assault of the adversary. The right principle and purpose must
reign in the heart if life is to be either happy or useful. The
only effective control of a prisoner is self-control, and to cultivate
this in our women every incentive to well-doing is brought to
bear, and every discouragement to evil-doing is kept before them.

Many of the privileges given, especially those in the form of
recreation, are unannounced and irregular in their recurrence,
and often of a kind new in the experience of the women. For
instance, as an unexpected and exceptional favour, they were
summoned from their beds at midnight, bidden to wrap their
blankets about them, and pass in procession to the office. They
obeyed, not knowing why, and were rewarded by the sight of a
night-blooming cereus in full glory of fragrant blossom ; and the
delighted faces, the orderly behaviour, and the earnest thanks
expressed then and later, by word and act, showed their apprecia-
tion of the favour.

At another time, on the last day of the year, I went into the
rooms where the women were gathered for their evening recrea-
tion,^ and told them that, as was my custom, I should spend the
closing half-hour of the year in the chapel, and that I should be
glad to see there that night any woman who felt that by coming
she could find comfort for her soul and inspiration towards a
better life. They were all free to come or to stay away, but
whatever they did they must conduct themselves so that there
would be nothing to regret, either for them or for me. The plan
was no impulse. I had considered it well, and was convinc^ of
its wisdom, notwithstanding the fact that of the 300 women in
the prison a large proportion were in the lower grades, and com-
paratively unused to discipline. I had spent hours that day
planning the simple decorations in the chapel. The Christmas
greens still hung on the walls. About the desk I placed palms
and flowers. In front and between these was a bank of white
lilies, with nodding heads and golden hearts, and into the centre
of these I dropped a single electric light. It shone up into the
faces of the flowers, and beamed out with a soft radiance through
the snowy petals, and the place was glorified. At half-past
eleven that night I was in my place in the chapel, with my
deputy at my side and the organist at the instrument. I heard
the distant, measured steps of the women in the corridors coming
nearer and nearer, and then they filed in, a single matron in
charge of each division. I looked over the expectant faces.

10 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Every woman in the prison was there, except those in probation
and a few in the hospital. We had a simple service, responsive
reading from the Psalms, prayer and singing, ending with a hymn
suited to the closing year. At three minutes before twelve I said,
**Now we will kneel in silent prayer."

They dropped to their knees as one woman, and amid a silence
unbroken save by the prison bell as it tolled the midnight hour,
we passed from the old year over into the new. When we rose I
talked to them for a little about some matters necessary and
helpful in their daily life, then we sang together a New Year's
hymn, and they went as they had come, in order and quiet, their
footsteps growing fainter down the stairs and along the corridors,
and I knew the experiment had succeeded. Time and time
again, as the days went by, was I assured by one and another of
the helpfulness of that midnight service. So satisfactory were
the results that what was at first only an experiment has become
a custom, and is carried out on every New Year's eve

But we try to reach and influence the women not only by
their recreation and by the privileges which belong to the suc-
cessive grades, but by other means — flowers, music, reading, pet
animals, the little children in the nursery, their helpless comrades
in the hospital; in some way, at some time, we can almost
certainly reach a tender spot in the heart of every woman — a
little handful of soil where the good seed may find lodgment.
There are very few to whom flowers do not appeal, and we
employ them freely in chapel decorations, often using one variety
alone, as on "Cowslip Sunday'' and "Laurel Sunday." After
the service on a certain "Cowslip Sunday," an Englishwoman,
whose hands, like those of the other prisoners, were full of the
golden blossoms, came and told me in earnest words how they
had touched her heart and stirred memories of an innocent
childhood spent amid the green fields of England where the
cowslips grow.

In all that I have said in regard to the time and eflforts spent
in reaching the reason and the conscience of a prisoner, I do not
wish to be misunderstood. We suffer no compromise with
authority; we allow no parleying nor evasion of orders. We
desire intelligent and willing obedience, but it must also be
instant and complete. That this is thoroughly understood by
the women, let me give you a proof.

The women are sometimes allowed five minutes for general
conversation at the close of the public exercise. Every tongue
will be active when such an opportunity is given, but at the

THE TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN PRISON 11

first tap df the bell on the superintendent's desk the sound stops
on the instant. There is no gradual lessening of the volume of
conversation, no scattering words falling on the silence here and
there; the hush is absolute and instantaneous. This argues a
degree of training in prompt and perfect obedience.

I have said nothing in regard to the occupations of our
prisoners, but it may be stated in a general way that these are
such as will best fit the woman for a life of freedom and self-
support. All branches of housekeeping, cooking, dairpng,
laundry-work, plain sewing, the arrangement and management
of a house, the care of the sick and of- small children ; all are
part of the daily routine, besides the rearing of silk-worms and
the winding of the silk, an especially attractive duty to most of
the prisoners, and bestowed as a high privilege upon those who
have shown themselves trusty and steadfast.

Those women who are illiterate — that is, unable to read or
write — are arranged in two classes, one for reading and one for
writing, and each class spends an hour a day, for five days in the
week, in the schoolroom; while to those who prove apt and
docile some additional teaching is given in an evening class.

The subject of prison recreation is one to which we have
given much time and thought. The custom of allowing un-
restrained intercourse between convicts of all ages and grades,
even for a limited time and in the presence of an officer, seems to
us unwise, for all experience shows that the conversation of
prisoners, when left to themselves, will certainly relate chiefly to
their sinful past. In such "recreation" there is no good and
much harm, since it effectually destroys the tender growth of a
new purpose, and gives added impulse to the unruly and evil-
disposed. We endeavour, therefore, by various expedients, to
break into this free recreation time, and turn it to better use.

In the first place, the different grades, four in number, are
never, either in work or recreation, allowed to converse together.
Each has its* own corridor and cell-block, its own recreation and
dining-rooms, and its own division of seats in the chapel, and in
the latter place, as well as in the workrooms and schoolroom, no
conversation, of course, is permitted. Even among members of
the same grade, the recreation allowed for a half -hour each day
is made general as often as possible by means of readings, music,
games, simple entertainments, often arranged by the women
themselves. For the higher grades an evening temperance club,
managed by the prisoners, has proved of great interest and profit.
The literary efforts of some of the women are surprisingly good.

12 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE ^

The little silver T given as a club badge, and attached to the
breast by a knot of red ribbon, helps to produce an esprit du
corps, which in its way is beneficial both to the members and to
us who are trying to inculcate the principles of "temperance,
truth and trust," for which the T stands. The red ribbon in
itself is the badge of the trust women, who constitute the higher
grades of Division IV., and are those only who have maintained,
from the day of their entrance into the prison, an unbroken
record for obedience and honest effort.

Of course, the prisoners themselves are not aware of our wish
to interfere with their recreation time. They are very jealous
for what they consider their rights, and whatever we do must be
managed with tact, not to antagonise them and so destroy the
good effect of our efforts.

I have tried in this short space of time to give you an outline
of the spirit and methods in the Massachusetts Reformatory
Prison for Women. To sum up briefly, the principles are these : —

" A criminal reformed is a citizen gained."

** No criminal is incorrigible."

" Love rules better than fear."

Perhaps these thoughts can be stated in no way better than
in the words of your own noble philanthropist, Elizabeth Fry,
words which have guided and inspired prison workers on both
sides of the water : —

" The spirit must be the spirit, not of judgment but of mercy.*'

" In our conduct towards these unfortunate females, kindness
gentleness and true humility ought ever to be united with
serenity and firmness."

"The good principle in the hearts of many abandoned
persons may be compared to the few remaining sparks of a nearly
extinguished fire. By means of the utmost care and attention,
united with the most gentle treatment, these may yet be fanned
into a flame, but under the operation of a rough and violent hand
they will presently disappear and be lost for ever.*'

Discussion.

The discussion was opened by Mrs Isabel C. Barrows (United
States). — The number of women in the United States in pro-
portion to the general population is smaller than is the proportion
in many European countries, therefore it is not strange that the
female State prison population is small. It is indeed so insignifi-
cant that in the last annual reports from States made to the

THE TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN PRISON 13

National Conference of Charities and Correction but three gave
the figures with reference to women prisoners — the two Virginias
and New Hampshire. In Virginia there are 79 women to 1603
men in the State's prison ; in West Virginia 1 1 women to 538
men; in New Hampshire 4 women to 188 men. In the western
part of the country there are yet fewer — Nebraska, for instance,
priding herself that there are but 304 men in the State peni-
tentiary, and only 1 woman.

Under these circumstances it is not strange that few States
have separate prisons for women. Pennsylvania, one of the
largest and most important States, for example, having two large
penitentiaries and a reformatory for men, apparently has not yet
found it worth while to have a separate reformatory for women.
The Eastern Penitentiary, in a population of 1265, has but 22
women, and it would be hard to get a public sentiment in favour
of the expense of providing for them by themselves.

These figures, however, represent only State prisoners. In
addition there are women in lock-ups, jails, workhouses and
other places where criminals are confined — even in the convict
camps in some States. If a complete census were made of the
women of any State who have been convicted of crime it would
be seen at once that were they all under one central authority for
each State, as they should be, there would be quite enough to justify
each commonwealth in putting them apart, in prisons managed
by women, where they should be subjected to reformatory influ-
ences till they are safe to be returned to the community at large.

If we ask why the number of female convicts is so small,
especially in a country where opportunities for both well-doing
and wrong-doing are so open to all as in the United States, we
must recognise the fact that girls, as a rule, are more industrious
than boys. The boys who learn trades and go to work early
in life are not often among the criminals. A warden of forty
years' experience says that he almost never has a convict who
can do good cabinet work, carpentering, plumbing or brick-
laying. If such work has to be done within the prison walls he
must either send outside for workmen or have them trained in
prison; whereas he has often college graduates and men with
purely book knowledge. It is the boys who leave the primary
and grammar schools and thereafter have no regular work to do
who drift into intemperance and into crime. The sisters of the boys
who follow the trades become telegraphers, typewriters, clerks in
shops. The sisters of the boys who become juvenile street tramps
are more likely to be moderately busy in the house. The parents

14 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

may both be breadwinners and the oldest girl cares for the
younger children. They learn to sew after a fashion — usually a
very poor fashion ; they wash and iron, wipe the dishes, make
the tea, fry the meat and spread the table. Very little other
cooking is done ; soups are unknown, and bread and pies they
buy at the bakery. What they can do in their own homes
would be of little use to them in a well-appointed kitchen,
but their simple occupations serve at l6ast to keep them in the
house, except, perhaps, towards nightfall, when they meet other
boys and girls and saunter about the dreary streets, at the same
time keeping an eye out for the little ones entrusted to their care.
So it would seem that even this untrained occupation of the hands,
and this modicum of responsibility do their part towards restrain-
ing girls and helping to keep them from becoming lawbreakers.

An eminent Philadelphian, Mr Philip C. Garrett, in a paper
on the need of radical reform in the treatment of criminals — a
paper read in Toronto in 1897 — speaks as follows of the reason
for the rarity of crime among women as compared with men : —
"Perhaps oftener than all else the force of habit, working
through education and tradition, and that regard for the opinion
of others which constitutes a wholesome and civilised propriety,
is the bulwark that keeps a man from dangerous error. He may
sin ; he does not commit crime. This applies to most men, and
with double force to women, and is probably the reason for the
small proportion of that sex in prison cells. They have too
much regard for the opinion of others. In fact, a study of the
reason for the small number of women, compared with the
number of men, in prison, should aid us in reaching conclusions
as to the prevention of crime. It is not to be thought that
because a person belongs to the female sex she is thereby in-
trinsically less liable to depravity. Yet it is an undeniable fact
that she commits less crime punishable by imprisonment. The
fact must therefore be due to some peculiarities of the female
character and enviroment, partly, perhaps, to greater timidity, to
less independence of action, less self-reliance, and receiving more
lenient treatment at the hands of men from motives of gallantry,
but largely to a love of admiration and consequent dread of the
ill opinion of others."

If this theory be correct, and the love of approbation is one
of the chief preventatives of crime, it should not be difficult to
see that if self-respect can be restored to the criminal woman a
long step is taken toward reforming her. Prison methods then
would be in perfect harmony with means of prevention of crime.

THE TREATMENT OP WOMEN IN PRISON 15

The girl who helps her mother and so is looked up to in the little
family as being of some use there, the clerk who, as the result
of her hard work, brings home the scant salary to help support
the brothers and sisters, has a perfect right to look for and
receive approbation. If, through temptation or bad companion-
ship, she lapses from an honest life and falls into the hands of the
police, and gets into prison — perhaps for some petty crime, per-
haps for some crime of passion — she can never be restored to
society as a good member of it unless that self-respect which
demands approbation can be given to her again.

Now, how is that to be done? The way adopted in the
Massachusetts Reformatory Prison for Women, and similar
methods in the women's prisons of New York, Indiana and Michi-
gan, are fruitful in securing this result. Book learning is good
as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. Moral and
religious training are essential, though they must be given
without prejudice and bigotry, but these alone will not do it.
The hand must be trained as well. The one word that covers
everything — prevention, reformation, restoration, rehabilitation
— is education. The rudiments of the academic side — the three
R's — are essential, and as much more in that line as can be
imparted on that line in the time allowed, and with the material
upon which the work is to be done. The eye, the ear, the
musical sense, the cunning fingers, the brawny limbs, all must be
educated. Even the scrubbing of the tables to milk-like white-
ness is educative, for with every fibre of wood answering to the
efforts spent upon it the moral fibre of the woman is cleansed,
and her love of a proper appreciation grows. The use of the
needle develops not only the possibility, but a care for decent
dress. The cultivation of fruits and vegetables, the rearing of
animals, the garnering of fruits and vegetables carefully and
well are acts that tell in the garnering of character, the better-
ment of the inner life. These women may learn not only to
sweep a room, but to sweep it "as for Thy laws,'* and thus their
action, and their lives, as Herbert sings, may both be " fine," for
this alone "makes drudgery divine."

The consideration of the care of women in prisons must always
lead back to the thought of reformatory schools for girls, of
which we have many in the United States, and this in turn to
the work of prevention among school children and the little ones
even in the homes. Here is where prison reformers should do
their hardest and best work. Kindergartens, industrial schools for
boys and girls, manual training of all kinds, domestic training, girls'

16 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

clubs, mothers' meetings, influences in the direction of industrious,
temperate and moral living all the way from childhood through
womanhood — these are the props that must sustain humanity
and keep the weak from falling and the erring from deeper crime.
In these efforts to unfold a stronger, purer, nobler humanity,
that we may have better mothers and lovelier children — whence
fewer wayward and criminal women — the women of all lands
may well unite.

'» k

Le Cp|i4:^Reconfortant de I'Oeuvre des
Pemmes dans les Prisons.

Mme. Isabella Bogelot, Directiice G^nerale of the (Euvres des
Llb6rees de St Lazare, Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, &c.

Mesdames, — Je suis charm^e de me retrouver au milieu de vous.
Nous sommes ici des travailleuses accourues de tous les points du
globe, dans le but de faire b^neficier la cause feminine du fruit
de nos efforts et de notre experience.

Aujourd'hui, a Londres, nous sommes reunies comme nous le
funiej a Washington, en 1888, a Paris en 1878 et 1889, a Chicago
en 1^93, et comme nous le serons encore, a Paris, Pann6e pro-
chaine, en 1900, groupees en une vaste association montrant les
r^sultats obtenus par nos justes revendications.

Ohacune de nous traite, dans ces reunions, le sujet qu'elle a
specialement etudie et tous ces travaux forment un ensemble
duquel il se 'd^gagera, je I'esp^re, une partie de Pideal que nous
souhaitons atteindre.

Le sujet qui m*a ete confie et dont j'ai a vous entretenir,
conceme, cette fois encore, la vie de la femme en prison. On
me demande d*y ajouter quelques notes sur la conduite a tenir
envers elle au moment de sa liberation et quelques id^es sur ce
qui pourrait ^tre fait pour lui eviter, dans la mesure du possible,
d'etre, un jour, sous les verrous.

Le titre du sujet k traiter est : —

Preservation et Bel^vement

Je serai, je le crains, au-dessous de ma t4che ; mais le m^rite
de mon travail sera dans la sincerite avec laquelle je vous
exposerai les resultats de vingt-quatre annees d'une vie consacr^e
k Pamelioration morale et physique de la prisonni^re, en par-
ticulier, et de la femme qui travaille, en general.

PBISONS 17

AFheure o4 je me sentis attir^e dans cette voie, j'interrogeai
ma conscience afin de connaitre toute I'etendue du travail que
j'allais entreprendre.

Avant de donner k une vie une direction nouvelle et d'en-
trainer avec soi des amis ou des personnes nous accordant leur
confiance, il faut savoir si le chemin dans lequel on s'engage,
conduira k une conclusion bienfaisante ou a un ^hec.

Je me posai les questions suivantes : —

1°. Qu'est-ce que la prisonni^re ?

2°. Que peut-on faire pour adoucir son sort, pendant la
detention, et preparer son amelioration morale 1

3° Que f era-ton pour elle, k sa sortie de prison, le jour cii
elle sera lib^ree ?

4°. Peut-on esp^rer une diminution du nombre des prison-
nitres, en s'interessant au sort de la travailleuse et de la femme
en g^n^ral ?

J'adressai tout d'abord ces questions a mon coeur, car ce fut
lui le premier qui m'entraina vers ce genre d'infortunes.

A mon coeur interroge, mon esprit repondit en me mettant
sous les yeux le progranmie de VCEuvre des lih^rdea de Saint-
Laza/re :

" Priserver la femme en danger de se perdre et foumir k la
liberie le moyen de se r^habiliter, sans distinction de culte ni de
na4iionalitd.^*

Ce programme repond, k mon sens, en grande partie, a I'^tude
de la question sociale, en ce qui touche le sort de la femme.

On dit de moi que je suis enthousiaste. Je suis heureuse de
ma disposition optimiste. Croire au bien est une grande force
dans la vie. Mon coeur m'entraine, il est vrai, le premier, mais
le c6te pratique et positif de ma nature corrige et attenue mon
premier mouvement. Plus j'avance dans la vie, plus je me
f^licite de toujours esp^rer et je reste convaincue de la n^cessit^
et du bonheur que Ton eprouve a se proposer un id^l. II faut
done le chercher afin de pouvoir Tatteindre.

S'il est bon, k certains jours, de s'^lancer sur les hauteurs
pour y respirer un air plus vif et plus pur, qui reconf orte ; si de
toUes envolees sont salutaires aux personnes mSmes qui sont en
bonne sante, combien plus encore ces envolees deviennent
n^cessaires et m^me indispensables aux pauvres ^tres guett^s par
la maladie et la mis^re.

On se dit alors que si un changement d'air fait tant de bien
an point de vue physique, il serait ^galement opportun de
recourir k un proc^^ semblable pour des cures morales. Les

VOL. VII. B

18 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

natures faibles, d^nuees d'energie et de volont^, se modifieraient,
en donnent de T^l^vation a leurs sentiments, en les pla^ant dans
un milieu sain et r^confortant.

Et a la premiere question de mon programme qui demande :
*' Quels sont le type et la nature de la prisonni^re ? " on pourrait
peut-^tre r^pondre, avec justesse :

'* La prisonni^re est un pauvre ^tre, qui est sou vent helas ! la
r^sidtante et la victime du milieu social malsain dans lequel sa
jeunesse s'est ^coul^e."

Je vous demande la permission, Mesdames, d'avoir recours a
une comparaison avant d'entrer directement dans mon sujet.
Loin de ^us en Eloigner, eUe nous guidera dans nos recherches
et fortifiera, j'espere, nos convictions.

Une c^lebriti^ m^cale, un professeur Eminent de I'Ecole de
m^cine de Paris, M. le docteur Lannelongue, fit, tout recem-
ment, une conference a des ^tudiants. -

II avait pris pour sujet : " Ijes progr^s de la science chirur-
gicale durant les cinquante demi^res annees ecoul^.

^^Les resultats considerables obtenus dans cette science sont
dus, disait-il, aux trois grandes decouvertes suivantes :

"1^. Uanesth^sie ;

" 2°. L^antisepsie ;

"3° La bact^riologie."

En lisant les extraits de cette conference, j'^tais toute
p^netr^ du vieux proverbe : " L'esprit sain dans un corps sain "
et toute heureuse d'avoir appliqu^, depuis de longues ann^, aux
maladies morales le traitement pr^conise par la science. Quand
on vit en contact avec les prisonni^res, qu'on leur porte un reel
inter^t, on devient pour ellea de veritables m^dicins. On les
observe, on les ^tudie, on vent modifier leur nature, on souhaite
leur donner la force qui leur manque et les mettre en 6tat de
resister aux tentations joumali^res qu'elles rencontrent, a chaque
pas, sur leur route — tentations qui sont, pour le coeur et Tesprit,
le milieu malsain dont il faut les preserver.

On se dit que le moral et le physique ne font qu*un ; que le
corps est Tenveloppe fragile et p^rissable qu'un souffle merveilleux
anime en lui transmettant la vie ici-bas.

En se parlant ainsi, le visiteur ou la visiteuse observe le
detenu, voit Fexpression de son regard, la maigreur ou la
deformation de son corps, la couleur de son teint. Par ces
signes exterieurs, Tobservateur d^couvre souvent les ravages
interieurs de ceux qui cherchent encore k se d^rober a sa
soUicitude. Plus on etudie de pr^s tous ces sympt6mes, plus I'on

PRISOHS 19

s'attache au malheureux detenu et aussi a une CEuvre qui
conduit £l £aire de telles observations.

Done, pour la prisonni^re, il faut s'inspirer, tout d'abord,
pendant sa detention, des precedes de la science et les appliquer
avec son coeur.

1°. Anesth^sier, e'est-ardire calmer et engourdir, par de bonnes
paroles et d'utiles conseils, les douleurs si vives qu'^prouvent tous
ces pauvres ^tres irrites et r^voltes. Le benefice de ce premier
traitement moral fait naitre une sympathie reciproque, qui permet
d'agir avec profit. La patronesse, comme le chirurgien, prend
alors possession de son malade et profitc du calme momentane
obtenu par cet engourdissement de la douleur, pour sonder la
plaie sans trop faire soufirir et pour en connaitre Fetendue. II
n'y a plus alors qu'a en determiner la nature, afin de decouvrir
les moyens curatifs. En suivant cette methode experimentale,
on se rend compte que la philanthropic est une science veritable,
qui reclame de I'etude, de la patience et beaucoup de perseverance.

Cette science a une portee positive, par les proc^d^s employes,
qui correspondent aux experiences acientifiques du laboratoire, et
une portee morale, par le don volontaire que Ton fait de soi-
m^me pour soulager son semblable.

En s'inspirant tou jours de la methode medicale et chirurgi-
cale, on peut aj outer que le jour ou Ton sut endormir le patient
et bien faire une amputation, le but curatif ne fnt pas encore
atteint, car, par exemple, sor 100 personnes operees, 98 mour-
aient des suites de I'amputation et deiLx seulement etaient
sauv6es. Les savants poursuivirent leurs recherches et decou-
vrirent le r61e n^faste du milieu infecte, qui compromet tous les
efforts de la science. lis lutt^rent encore pour devenir les
maitres du mal ; il eurent recours aux desinfectants et aux anti-
septiques. Grace a Pemploi mesur^ de ces agents energiques et
pr^servateurs, on obtint une veritable transformation. L'op^ra-
teur, ses aides, le malade, les plaies, furent litteralement
envelopp^s dans une atmosphere de purete. Le chirurgien ne
fut plus uniquement Thomme habile, il devint un veritable
gaerisseur et, sur 100 cas, mSme parmi les plus graves, 98 furent
couronnes de succ^s et deiix seulement fureut refractaires aux
bienfaits de la science.

Pour le traitement moral, nous proc^dons de m^me. Nous
avons commence par calmer, puis nous teutons de purifier
Fatmosph^re dans laquelle vit la prisonni^re; nous I'isolons le
plus possible, afin de la soustraire au contact malsain d'un
mauvais entourage.

20 WOMEN ly SOCIAL LIFE

Nous esp^rons beaucoup d'un tel isolement, qui permet 4 la
d^tenue de se recueillir, d'^loigner d'elle les souvenirs p^nibles et
dangereux. Plus confiante, elle se mettra volontairement sous
la bienfaisante influence de Tinterlt veritable que nous lui
portons.

Dans ces moments de solitude, le coeur de la pauvrette se
tournera vers nous, son esprit s'eclairera et Famelioration morale
commencera a germer.

La cellule d'une part, les visites de la patronesse, d'autre
part, sont les vrais moyens de lutter contre le mal pendant la
detention.

3* Question. — Que fera-t-on pour la prisonni^re liberee ?

4* Question. — Peut-on esp^rer diminuer le nombre des prison-
nitres dans Tavenir?

Me reportant encore a la conference de M. le professeur
Lannelongue, au cours de laquelle il a formule, en langage scien-
tifique, ce que je vous expose si incompl^tement, j'ajouterai que
les medecins, dans les hdpitaux, et nous, dans les prisons, nous
avons un rdle identiq^e. Comme eux, nous obtenons des re-
sultats consolants et m^me surprenants^ par les memes proc^es.

Gr&ce a la methode rappel^e par le docteur Lannelongue,
je repondrai a la troisi^me et a la quatri^me question par
la troisi^me decouverte scientifique dont je vous ai parle au
d^but :

" La bact^riologie,"
science destinee a prevoir et a eviter les d^sordres physiques qui
font perdre la sante efc engendrent les maladies. La bacteriologie
est Petude ni^dicale qui, remontant a la source du mal, en deter-
mine la nature et contribue au succ^s final de la chirurgie.

En toute chose, il faut toujours pouvoir remonter aux causes
premieres. Ce n*est pas toujours facile; on rencontre tout
d'abord, sur sa route, quelques indices, on les saisit au passage ;
ils se derobent, on les trouve a nouveau, et ce n'est qu'apr^
beaucoup d'^tude et avec esprit de suite que le but est atteint,
que la cause est pr^cisee. Le microbe moral que Ton veut
decouvrir et detruire, est varie, cache et peut-^tre plus dangereux
encore que le microbe physique. Si ce dernier est legion, dans
les hdpitaux oil sont groupies tant de maladies, le microbe moral
est legion aussi dans les prisons. Si on transporte quand m^me
le maJade a I'hdpital, malgre Fair impur qui s'en degage, c'est
qu'on emporte avec soi le secret espoir d'y trouver le remMe
a cdte du mal.

Les savants viennent risquer leur vie dans des laboratoires

PRISONS 21

6t des amphith^tres, pour sauver I'existence de leurs semblables.
Gr&ce a ces savants, le malade retrouve bien souvent la sante.

Dans les prisons se rencontrent aussi des personnes, qui ont
vou^ leur existence a I'etude des questions p^nitentiaires. Elles
ont d^couvert que Tignorance des uns et Tegoisme des autres (M)nt
les causes premieres auxquelles il faut remonter, pour bien con<
naitre les elements morbides qui font perdre la sante morale
et conduisent dans ces tristes maisons. O'est Tignoranoe et
Tegoisme qu'il faut d^truire, pour assainir et transformer le
milieu social et diminuer, dans I'ayenir, le nombre des prison-
nitres.

Les CEuyres qui ont pris k coeur de s'int^resser a ce genre
d'infortunes, n'ont pas eu le don de recueillir beaucoup de
sympathies. Le public est, en general, assez refractaire a leur
appel. II est consolant pourtant de constater que le dedain
professe jadis a leur egard conmience a diminuer. On est
redevable de ce bienheureux changement a des coeurs gen^reux^
k des esprits r^fi^chis, qui ont pris cette cause sous leur protection.

Les (Euvres des prisons peuvent ^tre classes parmi les plus
grandes oeuvres, en raison de leur immense port^e morale et
sociale. Ce sont elles qui, en voyant de pr^s les souffrances dans
toute leur ^tendue, ont pousse le cri d'alarme, reveille les con-
sciences et stimuli d'energiques initiatives. Ce sont elles qui
ont contribu^, en grande partie, au developpement des oeuvres,
si utiles, de pr^rvation.

S'il est beau, mais douloureux, de vivre dans un hdpital en
consacrant son temps au service des malades, il n'est pas moins
touchant et pr^ieux de s'enfermer volontairement dans des
prisons ou la souffirance est aussi intense. Et si, dans un hdpital,
le niedecin et ses aides ne reculent devant aucune plaie et ne
voient que le malade, qu'ils esp^rent soulager et gu^rir, de mSme
les visiteurs de prisons ne doivent voir ^galement que des ^tres
faibles ou malades, tomb^s en cours de route, qui demandent
gr&ce et qu'il faut aider a se relever.

Dans les deux cas, la mission est la mSme : il s'agit de rendre
la sant^ k celui qui Pa perdue.

Je termine ce rapport trop long, quoique bien incomplet, en
vous confiant ce que me disait le digne aum6nier de la prison de
Saint-Lazare :

'* Madame, me disait-il, je n'ai jamais et^ aussi heureux que
depuis que j'exerce dans cette maison mon saint ministere. En
prison, j'apprends k connaitre le douloureux chemin qui conduit
k la faute.

22 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

"En observant les prisonni^res, en les voyant souffrir, en
ecoutant leurs aveux et leurs confidences, je me pen^tre d'une
reelle tolerance, je les plains et je m'humilie sinc^rement en
songeant a la part de responsabilit^ que nous avons tous dans les
fautes commiscs par le prochain.

" En prison, plus qu'ailleurs, on a une joie reelle, car on arrive
toujours a soulager un ^tre qui souffre. On pent lui parler
d'esp^rance. Le liber^, k sa sortie de prison, pent rentrer trans-
forme dans sa famille, y prober d'exemple et devenir un coUabor-
ateur, si on a su ouvrir son coeur et son esprit en lui temoignant
de I'inter^t et de la vraie bonte pendant sa detention.

" Je vous dis tout cela bien bas, Madame, car il me serait
penible de voir desirer par d'autres un poste oii je me sens si
heureux et si utile."

M. PAumdnier ne m'en voudra pas, je Tesp^re, de mon
indiscretion.

Mon but, Mesdames, en vous faisant cette confidence, est de
vous interesser a notre travail et de vous faire aimer, a votre
tour, nos pauvres affligees.

Pour finir, je remercie M. Tabbe Michel et sa ni^ce,
Mile. Michel de Grandpre, d'avoir fond^ VCEuvre des lihdrdea de
Saint-Lazare. J'adresse un souvenir reconnaissant aux amies
qui ont contribu^ a mon developpement intellectuel et moral : les
Maria Deraismes, les Caroline de Barrau, les Emilie de Morsier.
Nous ne saurions ^tre trop reconnaissants envers Dona Con-
ception Arenal, qui a fait parattre, en 1864, Le Manual du
visiteur du pauvre. Ce petit livre est une merveille d'obser-
vation et de bonte. C'est un guide precieux pour celui qui veut
venir en aide k son prochain. Trente ans plus tard, cette femme
de bien dedia a VCEuvre des Ixbir^ea de Saint-Lazare son dernier
travail : Le Ma/nuel du viaiteu/r du prisonnier, Les deux ouvrages
unissent ^troitement la mis^re physique et la mis^re morale et
apprennent k lutter contre Fignorance et Fegoisme. Son CBUvre
de jeunesse parle du pauvre, en general; son chant du cygne
int^resse tout particuH^rement au sort des prisonni^res. Les
deux livres ont pour ^pigraphe : Consolez et vous serez consoles,

Ou peut-on consoler plus surement que dans la prison, dont
les portes, si ^paisses, ne s'ouvrent que bien rarement, mSme
pour la famille, ou les barreaux des fenStres retranchent du
monde des vivants, oti le ciel m^me ne se voit que par de rares
echapp^. '

Un jour, une dame patronesse, se rendant a Saint-Lazare
pour une de ses visites, y fut salute par cette phrase po^tique,

A NEW PRISON SYSTEM 23

par le gardien qui ouvre le gnichet : " Entrez yite, Madame^
la neige qui tombe est bien froide et le ciel est bien sombre!
mais peu vous importe, ici vous apportez toujours un rayon de
soleil."

Je vous quitte, Mesdames, sur ces mots si doux et si
toucbants. Us expriment des sentiments qui embeUissent nos
vies et nous rendent meilleurs.

Fersonnellement, je saJue Mme. Josephine Butler. Je suis
enti^rement d'esprit et de coeur avec eUe dans sa courageuse
campagne pour Tabolition de la prostitution et d6 la r^glementa-
tion du vice. Je lui dois cette adhesion publique comme un
hommage et aussi en souvenir de notre regrett^ amie, Emilie de
Morsier, qui avait fait de cette question primordiale le grand
acte de sa vie et qui consacra vingt ann^ de travail a V^itvre
des Lib&des de SairU-L<izare,

A New Prison System.

Miaa Haighton (Holland).

SociETT, thinking of self-preservation, builds prisons in order to
make harmless for a short or for a long time persons that offend
the laws and rules, without the obeying of which no society is
imaginable.

Whosoever takes cognisance of the prison system will per<
oeive that it proceeds from self-preservation of society, mixed
with the desire of punishing the offenders of law.

Philosophy, physiology and psychology are unanimous in
pronouncing a condemning sentence upon those proceedings,
supported by the opinion that man is wholly free in committing
or omitting a punishable fact. Modem science brought to light
— or rather tries to meet with approbation, for its theories are
far from being penetrated by judges and legislators — that man is
determined in ail his actions by heredity, physical and intellectual
qualities by the persons surrounding him, education, etc. ; that
malefactors are victims, quite as well as persons, subject to bodily
or mental illness. Accordingly, the system of '* putting aside ''
is equally unjust and injudicious. Our judicial punishments,
common or cellular, do not improve, but have an exasperating and

24 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

deteriorating influence, undermine usually the body and nearly
always the mind, and put the delinquents in a state of unfitness
for social life, where it is necessary that they find their way after
the expiry of their penalty. This unfitness for returning to
society is also a proof that our system of punishing is unpractical.
The <x)de ought to bear evidence of its striving for the improve-
ment of delinquents by taking away, or at least reducing to a
minimum, the causes that led their behaviour into a wrong and,
for society, dangerous line. Medical anthropology ought to have
the principal vote in the courts. By exact inquiries it has been
verified that committers of punishable acts ordinarily present
peculiar divergences in the construction of the body or of its
functions, and nearly always abnormality of the brain and its
development.

It is impossible to elaborate this matter here, by the circum-
stance that the reader of a paper has but ten minutes for its
subject.

However different the opinions may be of people here present,
I may yet safely suppose that we are all deeply convinced of the
wrong results of our prison system. The incessantly growing
number of recidivists is perhaps the strongest proof against it.

Is it impossible to find another system 1

It is not only possible, but it exists already, and that in the
State of New York. In Elmira exists a prison for men where
malefactors are considered as patients, who are to be cured, if
possible, not only in their own interest, but also in that of
society. The system is neither common nor cellular, but gives,
notwithstanding, the best results. In Sherbom exists a similar
establishment for women. In the sentence the duration of the '
residence in the reformatory is not fixed, because nobody is able
to know d priori how much time the cure will take— with this
restriction, however, that the maximum term put by law on the
offence cannot be transgressed.

The Elmira-Sherbom system is a system with degrees. By
diligence, good behaviour and progress, marks are obtained, a
certain number of which is necessary to pass into a higher class.
If the behaviour in the highest class has been during some time
irreproachable, the superintendent proposes to the direction to
release the delinquent "on parole, '^ i.e., he (she) leaves the
reformatory and enjoys perfect liberty, but remains surveyed.
If the behaviour has been irreproachable during the fixed term,
he (she) is released also from that survey, and has, in the most
favourable circumstances, the chance to begin a new life*

A NEW PRISON SYSTEM 25

For everyone who is released " on parole " there has been found
some work by which he (she) comes into a better position than
ever before his (her) fall. In Elmira, in an almost incredible
way, instruction and the learning of a profession are supplied to
the inmates. In Sherbom, for instance, the sense of order and
neatness is, as much as possible, developed. To give an example :
In the highest class the inmates never use glass-work and
crockery that is somewhat spoilt.

If anyone of you, pitying our brethren and sisters bom with
so few opportunities (for nobody chooses his parents or social
circumstances), wishes to know further details about the New
York State reformatory system, you can address yourselves in
writing, if the occasion for a personal visit that should be the
best might fail, to the superintendents of the Elmira B-eformatory
and of Sherbom, and they will answer your questions and with
great courtesy — at least it was the case with me, and there is no
reason for the supposition that the reception I met with was
exceptional.

My question how the shortening of the maximum term could
ever be justified, because, in Holland, for instance, good behaviour
in prison does not offer the slightest guarantee for moral improve-
ment, was answered by both. The superintendent of Elmira
Reformatory writes : —

Repljdng to yours, 8th instant.

The matter of applying tests of reformation or determining
fitness for release under the system of imprisonment and adminis-
tration adopted at this reformatory is, you will readily perceive,
greatly simplified when it is stated that the reformation the
State demands is not solely or so much an apparent adjustment
of one's relations to the moral government of the universe,
adjustment according to some theological standard or some
individual standard of the governor or government of the
institution or of the State, as it is an improvement of individual
skill and power of application to industry and manifest purpose
to pursue some legitimate occupation for a livelihood, improve-
ment of mental capacity by which the prisoner perceives, as he
did not before, the rational, reasonable policy of conduct for his
own happiness and interests, improvement in the power of and
the habit of self-control in the same direction. The tests applied
are not, and the judgment of a man's fitness is not based con-
siderably, if at all, upon his protestations of reformation and of
new-formed purposes, but rather upon his actual performance

26 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

under observation in such activities, and those that environ him
by similar temptations to those that must invest him on his
release.

It is true that a murderer might be sentenced to the
reformatory under the indeterminate sentence system (and indeed
one murderer whose crime, from the actual facts of it, should
have been visited with capital punishment, was, after having
been convicted of murder in the second degree, committed here.
He was, after four years of training, adjudged ^afe to be released on
parole, and did at once enter upon the trade taught him with us,
and for a number of years until we gave up supervision of him,
until he became absorbed in the heathful, respectable members
of his community, worked faithfully, earned satisfactorily, saved
prudently of his gleanings, married, and became a satisfactory
inhabitant of the place where he lived). But not many murderers
are committed to this reformatory. Under the laws of New
York a murderer, first degree, must be executed ; only murderers
of the second degree or those guilty of manslaughter may be sent
here. My experience of a lifetime with prisoners of all classes
is that a man committed for killing is not necessarily less hopeful
of restoration and safe citizenship than a thief or other classes of
criminals — that is to say, when it does not reveal the abnormal,
homicidal habitude, nor those exceptional characteristics that
lead to the most atrocious murders.

It is readily perceived that, under an ordinary disciplinary
regime^ established and conducted for safe custodial care and
orderly institutional life, the experienced criminal might fulfil
the conditions of good record, if that were all that is required,
and be released substantially and remaining the same unsafe
inhabitant his crime has shown him to be. But the requirements
for release from this reformatory by parole or previous to the
date of the expiration of the maximum are : —

1. The record, 12 months or more, which tests the prisoner

as first above mentioned in industry, in intelligence, in
self-control.

2. Reasonable confidence of the government of the institu-

tions aside from the record ; that confidence men have in
one another and daily bestow in commercial and social,
life.

3. Actual employment previously provided at his trade or

at such legitimate occupation as gives him reasonably
favourable environments and a satisfactory wage rate,
always going out, if paroled, understanding his

A NEW PRISON STSTEH 27

liability to be brought back again, and under the
supervision of the agents directed by the reformatory
management.
In actual administrations it seems not difficult to determine
with reasonable accuracy when one is fitted for free life, no more
difficult, indeed not so difficult, to judge a prisoner under our
control, to whom we may subject tests at pleasure; not so
difficult to determine the real character, the weaknesses and
strengths, hates and moods, as it is in ordinary life to judge of
the capacity and reliability of those with whom we commonly
come in contact. It is also found that when the new life of
legitimate and larger earnings by industry at trade or calling is
actually entered upon, and the inspiration and hopefulness of it is
derived, this after the training received and under restraints of
the legal obligations above referred to, there are very strong in-
ducements and a good probability that a larger percentage of
youthful criminals convicted of felonies will live within the law,
eanung their own subsistence, and by-and-by become absorbed
among the average citizens of their community, so that their past
mistakes from year to year become less and less remembered,
until finally they are quite obliterated from the public mind. —
Trusting I have answered your inquiry satisfactorily, I am, etc.,

R. C. Brockway,

General SuperinU/ndefn/t,

Mrs Ellen C. Johnson, superintendent, says : I can under-
stand your problem, and can only help you by answering from
the standpoint of the reformatory. You are aware this institu-
tion is not intended for the most hardened criminals or what the
courts consider the most serious crimes ; but from what I have
judged from many years of study of this class of people there is
much less to be feared from a person who, in an unguarded
moment of special temptation, commits a crime which is con-
sidered by a judging court as an offence to the community at large,
such as robbery or assault, than from one who habituaUy leads a
life of low ignorance in apparently minor offences.

Considering these equalising facts, also the utter impossibility
of forming absolutely correct judgments as to a future life from
prison conduct, no difference whatever is made in the grading
and recommendations for release of crime. My observation
confirms me in the opinion that this is wise. It is also an idea
that is spreading quite widely throughout our prison systems,
and which hcus for its fundamental idea the putting behind and

WOMBN IN SOCIAL LIFE

forgetting the old life, with a new start of which the prison
discipline and training makes the foundation. — I am, etc.

The Treatment of Children in

Reformatories.

Mr T. 0. Legge (Great Britain), Inspector of Beformatories

and Industrial Schools.

There are at present —

BKrORMATOBUS.

ACCOMMOOATIOV.

In England,
In Scotland,
In Ireland, . . .

For Boys.
30
5
3

For GUrls.
9
3
3

For Boys.
3884
591
790

5265

For Glrli.
676
168
190

938

About 1200 boys and 170 girls are sent out into the world
from these schools every year. The importance of the work will
be appreciated when it is understood that 71 per cent, are known
to be doing well for 3 years after their discharge ; of many others
nothing is known, and even of those who are known to have
been convicted, a considerable proportion are not what might
fairly be called criminal, but they have gone to prison in default
of a fine, for trespass, or disorderly behaviour — the offence often
having been committed under great provocation.

We must not mix up this class of young people with the
much larger class of children sent to industrial schools for less
serious offences, such as truancy, begging, etc.

The class sent to reformatories are generally over 12 years of
age, and on the high road to a criminal career; and that 71 per
cent, of these are arrested in their downward course is a result
tp be profoundly thankful for. But it is not a result to rest
satisfied with. Every effort should be made to diminish the
percentage of failures, and to make the successes more thoroughly
satisfactory. Let us, then, try to examine for a moment what
have been the contributing causes of successful reformation, and

THE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN IK REFORMATORIES 29

to what unfavourable circumstances failure may be attributed, in
order that we may, as we have opportunity, strengthen the
former, and, if possible, remove the latter.

Firstly, As to the causes of success, we may mention : —

(a) Private management under a responsible committee
ensuring continuity of method and personal individual
interest in the young people. Let us resist any
attempt at centralisation of reformatories. State
reformatories are to be avoided.

(6) The treatment in small numbers — ^generally of from 50
to 100 — whereby good school regime is substituted
for mere mechanical discipline. Let us discourage
barrack schools.

(c) The blending of industrial and physical training with
school instruction.
The reformatory and industrial schools of this country
were the first institutions to introduce this treatment,
and it has been found a powerful force in overcoming
moral depravity in the young. Let us use our
influence against the prevailing tendency to increase
the mere school teaching at the sacrifice of efficient
industrial and physical training. A girl is being
better educated and better prepared to meet the
temptations of life by being taught to cook, and
dam, and make her own clothes, than by being
pushed on to the sixth and seventh standards.
Calisthenics and drill should be regarded as part of
the school hours.

{d) Above all, the personal influence of Christian superinten-
dents, who look upon the young people committed to
their care, not as prisoners, but as wandering lambs
of the Good Shepherd to be brought into His fold.
So long as superintendents are engaged who realise
this, and that for every soul committed to them they
must give account hereafter, so long may we hope
that reformatories will continue to be an immense
power in raising men and women who shall be a
credit to our country.

Secondly, TiCt us consider some circumstances leading to
failure. The stigma, or taint. It is not a credit to our civilisa-
tion, much less to our Christianity, that a young girl or lad
should be handicapped in the race of life through having been in

so WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

A reformatory. Remember, the ofifence for which a poor lad is
sent to a reformatory is often identically the same as that for
which a child in a well-to-do family, or a youth in a high-class
school would receive domestic punishment or a birching, and he
would go out into the world without a blemish on his character.
The boy or girl is, after all, sent to a reformatory, partly because
of poverty, or from want of parental judgment in dealing with
initial misconduct. But let the offence in the child be what it
may, it should not mar a 4 or 5 years' good character in the
youth. We can all bear a part in effacing a too common public
prejudice against the boy or girl from a reformatory. We know
that, as things stand, a lad dare not let his mates know he has
come from a reformatory, and that if a girPs fellow-servants
should discover that she has been in a reformatory, it might be
the first step to her ruin.

The prison taint, as it was called, has long been removed.
Formerly no young person was sent to a reformatory without
first undergoing at least 10 days' imprisonment, but in 1893 the
Reformatory and Refuge Union, through Lord Leigh, obtained
the passing of a Bill removing this obligation, which had so long
hindered reformatory work; so that now there should be no
special stigma attaching to a person from a reformatory.

. It is still a great hindrance to the work that the royal
navy is closed to reformatory boys without exception^ and we
look forward to the time when the navy will be open to receive
those fine fellows — the best of the lads trained in reformatory
schools. Of course the character of a young person engaged
from a reformatory should be inquired into as carefully as that
of any other employee, but the mere fact of training in a reforma-
tory should be a recommendation rather than the reverse.
Indeed there is reason to believe that some of our best men and
women in humble life have come from reformatories. Boys of
pluck and courage have there developed, under Christian train-
ing, the noblest qualities, and have taken no mean part in
winning our battles, and have performed noble deeds on sea and
land. Many a lady could also testify — if that tuere desirable—
to the devotion and affectionate self-sacrifice of a servant, a
nurse, a friend who was trained in a reformatory school.

Let us do what we can to remove the stigma that unhappily
still attaches to the word reformatory and st3l hinders the work
of those institutions.

Several other circumstances leading to failure might be
considered, but I will only mention one : the extreme difficulty

THE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN IK REFORMATORIES 31

that has been experienced in securing the services of devoted,
cultured Christian women as officers and superintendents.

The physically sick attract a goodly number of women of
^ntle birth to minister to them, but. the morally sick, for some
reason or other, do not seem to afford so interesting a field of
labour. Perhaps it is because the progress of healing is not so
rapid, and the results not so quickly perceived.

Let me not be misunderstood. If the superintendentship of
a reformatory is vacant, there are plenty of women ready to rush
in for the appointment and offer their services. They think that
no special preparation or study is requisite.

There are, however, very few willing to devote their lives to
the careful training in every detail of reformatory work, regard-
ing it as a field of home mission work to be taken up in the
name of Him who came to seek and to save that which was lost,
and so th^ laundries and workrooms and schoolrooms have
sometimes to be left in the charge of women who are not of that
cultured class who can exercise the strongest influence upon
poor, neglected and untrained girls.

Anyone who thinks of taking up this work must first of all
have a real love for girls themselves, and next, she must take it
up as mission work. If rightly considered, this will be seen to
be the true motive power which must underlie all genuine work
in reformatories. Unless these two forces are united, I do not
believe that anyone can be sustained and strengthened to over-
come the difficulties and discouragements which at times beset
all the workers. It must not be forgotten that one of the chief
difficulties lies in the fact that many girls, when first sent into
a reformatory, have no desire to be reformed, and almost all
are sent against their will, without themselves seeing the
necessity of reformation, and therefore it is far more difficult to
deal with them than with girls who go to a Magdalen Home.
These last go of their own free will, whereas girls sent to
reformatories in most cases go against their will, and object to
give up their freedom. Taking for granted, then, that we start
with these two most essential motive powers, we must add to
them sufficient strength of will and purpose to carry us through,
and energy enough to rise above more than ordinary difficulties
(for such are sure to be met with). No person of weak or
undecided character will ever succeed in a reformatory, for the
girls are quick to detect weakness, and they trade upon it, and
want of discipline and order are sure to be the result.

A firm wUl, united to kindliness and charitable dealings with

32 WOMEN IS SOCIAL LIFE

failings and weakness (much of which is often hereditary), is what
is needed with this class of girls.

The girls' lives should he made as varied and bright as
possible, for they are but young ; and who of us can say that if our
own temptations and surroundings had been such as theirs have
been, we should h^ve kept clear of the sins which they commit?
The girls should feel that the reformatory is a home, and that to
a great extent it is what the girls themselves make it.

What a field of labour is here presented for women of a holy,
self-sacrificing ambition.

Discussion.

Mr Arthur Maddison, Secretary to the Reformatory and
Refuge Union, pointed out that 1200 boys and 170 girls were
sent out annually from the reformatory schools. The figures
stood as follows : England — boys, 30 ; girls, 9 ; accommodation
boys, 3884 ; girls, 575. Scotland — ^boys, 5 ; girls, 3 ; accom-
modation boys, 591; girls, 168. Ireland — boys, 3; girls, 3;
accommodation boys, 5265 ; girls, 933. Mr Maddison advocated
the abolition of State centralisation of reformatories. He held
that for a reformatory to be a success there should be 50 or
100 girls. Fifteen was far too few. It was more important
that a girl should be instructed how to cook a dinner, dam and
mend her own clothes, than that she should be pushed into
the third standard. Formerly a short period of imprisonment
was the inevitable prelude to a spell in a reformatory, but
happily this custom had been abandoned.

Miss Fanny Galder, continuing the discussion, wanted to
ask if no more could be done for women who had served short
sentences. They had heard about what was love in the case of
loving ones. They of the Technical College of Domestic Science
had long been anxious to enter prisons and teach the women
to be experts in some useful domestic work.

Miss A. S. LevetuB (Vienna) said that in Austria the
maximum sentence ordinarily was 10 months. In the case of
longer sentences the prisoners were sent to the Convent of the
Good Shepherd, not far from Vienna, where they found the
palace of the Archbishop of Austria had been converted into a
prison. Here they were entirely under the care of the nuns.
There was no soUtary confinement.

Lady Georgina Vernon (Great Britain) advocated the
creation of a greater dread for the prison among women. She

THE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN IN REFORMATORIES 33

had hardly the heart to say it, but was there any deterrent to
many women in the idea of a period passed in a well-warmed
cell.

Miss Bosa Bamett (Ireland) said that there were only five
countries in the world where crime was diminishing, and that
Ireland was one of these.

VOL. VII.

PREVENTIVE WORK.

(a) in the united states.

(b) in EUROPE.

CONVOCATION HALL OF CHURCH HOUSE,
DEAN'S YARD, WESTMINSTER.

TUESDA r, JUNE 27, AFTERNOON.

Mrs RAWLINSON in the Chair.

Mrs Bawlinson said that the great aim, of course, of those who
took up preventive work was to form young people for the battle
of life. To put it in one word, she would reconmiend as the
guiding principle of those who went forth on this crusade the
word Reverence — reverence for the God who made them ; reverence
for the mother who bore them, that they might, through her,
respect all womanhood ; reverence for their own bodies, that they
might be temples of the Holy Ghost. With this thought in their
hearts the subject of discussion that afternoon would be ap-
proached with the realisation of what a great and solemn work
they had to consider.

Preventive Work as carried on in the
Public Schools of America.

Mrs Mary F. LoveU (U.S.A.), Superintendent of Department

of Mercy in the W.O.P.TJ.

Under the conditions of society known as civilised much wrong
has existed which foresight could have averted. Much valuable

PREVENTIVE WORK IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OP AMERICA 35

time and energy are now constantly expended to remedy evils
which ought to have been exterminated while in the formative
stage ; and it has not been until they had reached proportions
distinctly menacing to social welfare that public sentiment
against them coidd be awakened. But as a natural outcome of
the growth of that sentiment — the noble determination to remedy
wrong — ^there has arisen the wise desire to prevent it.

Each child who is bom into the world is accounted by that
very fact to have rights, and first of all he has the right to an
education which will make of him a useful and benevolent
member of society, not a useless and mischievous one. The right
of the parent over the child being subordinate to the child's
rights as an individual, it follows that his education should be
compulsory, and not dependent on the caprice or even on the
convenience of the parent, and as the cultivation of the intellect
merely is no guarantee against subsequent evil conduct, he
should receive specific training, that moral development which is
true education.

This is why we in America are prescribing by law in our
schools, supported by public money, some lines of study which we
hope and believe will contribute to the desired end. It has long
been realised by those interested in reform that the drink evil is
of immense proportions, is a direct or indirect cause of a large
percentage of crime, is in many ways a menace to the public
welfare, and that it has proved an evil most difficult to cope with.
The plan of prevention seems the only hopeful one. Such a plan
is now in active operation in the public schools of every State in
the United States but three. I wish that Mrs Hunt, the author
of this plan and Superintendent of the Department of Scientific
Temperance Instruction for the Women's Christian Temperance
Union, were here to tell you of it, but as I have the honour to
know her, and to be associated to some extent in this work, I will
try to present an outline of it. Under the laws in the several
States every pupil in every department of the schools supported
by public money is taught, from suitable and well-graded text-
books on physiology and hygiene, the nature of alcoholic drinks,
stimulants and narcotics, and their effects on the human system.
The physiology is the necessary medium by which information
concerning the effects of the substances on different organs of the
body is conveyed, and the hygiene is the every day hygiene,
acquaintance with which is so much needed, and which is so
conspicuously abseiit among the poor and also among those who
-are not poor. The books for the lower grades are simple in

36 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

language and very attractive in style, only enough physiology
being introduced to convey the necessary facts. All the authorised
books are prepared specially for use under the laws of the States^
and are issued by a number of publishing houses.

This American plan for the prevention of intemperance has
been in existence for more than a dozen years, and is constantly
growing in favour. It is showing fine results, and as a conse-
quence other countries have legislated in a similar manner — for
example, the Canadian provinces and Sweden; and the text-
books I have mentioned have been translated into five foreign
tongues, including Hawaiian and Japanese. One feature of this
plan which commends itself to all is that while the legally pre-
scribed study enlightens the pupil in easy terms, but according
to the best scientific authority, concerning the nature and effects
of the beverages which may ensnare him, he is still left a free
agent. His sobriety, if he possess it, will be of the reliable sort^
the result of intelligent conviction. It may be asked if drinking
parents do not object to such teaching and if the counteracting
home influence does not neutralise the effect of the lessons. It
does in some instances, but on the other hand we often hear, in
the reports of those who visit the schools and who learn of the
individual results of the work, the most encouraging incidents^
relating not only to the impressions made on the pupils but on
the parents through them, and not infrequently through the
perusal of the school text-books by those at home. As many
who were pupils some years since are now taking their place*
in life, we look here also for results, and we find them. The
number of young people of strong total abstinence principles ia
notably increased. One of the most striking proofs of the change
that is taking place is the marked decrease in the consumption of
beer and spirituous liquors. According to Dr Shrady, editor of
New York Medical Record, the decline in their consumption in the
10 years, from 1888 to 1898, was 30 per cent, in the United
States. A marked decrease in the number of persons who sell
these beverages is also found when statistics are consulted.

Al^ut 16 millions of children of school age are at the
present time under temperance education laws in the United
States, and as the laws demand qualified instructors, there is,
beside, a great army of educators who must know the truths
of science regarding alcohol and other narcotic poisons, and use
their influence out of school as well as in the interests of
reform. Thus is the day of American deliverance from the
drink slavery hastening on. Further information concerning

PREVENTIVE WORK IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OP AMERICA 37

this work and how to introduce it can be obtained by address-
ing Mrs Mary H. Hunt, 23 Trull Street, Boston, Mass., U.S.A.
I recommend everyone to read her last annual report as being
most interesting and valuable.

I will now speak of another preventive measure in which I
take the deepest interest, namely, humane education. No close
observer of the characteristics of mankind, no thoughtful reader
of the history of the human race, can fail to observe that cruelty
has always been a predominant feature. Of the worst vices it is
a necessary constituent. Disguised in many forms, it escapes
the notice of the heedless, yet under these very disguises it is an
insuperable barrier to progress. Where the spirit of kindness
prevails many vices must of necessity disappear. As character
is formed in childhood it is in the school that our field of labour
chiefly lies, and in America the idea of humane education is gain-
ing very favourable recognition, not merely among philanthropists,
but with those in the teaching profession also. They find that
children, imbued with the humane idea, are more easily con-
trolled, have better manners, are more courteous to each other,
are kinder and more patient with younger brothers and sisters,
more obedient to parents, and more merciful and considerate
towards dumb animals, who previously, perhaps, have been the
victims of their malice or thoughtlessness. I may cite as an
instance the case of a teacher in San Francisco, who, finding
that her boys, of a very rough class, were in the habit of ill-treat-
ing frogs and other animals, organised a Band of Mercy in her
school, and began giving the pupils lessons on the nature and
habits of animals and their proper treatment. To her delight
she soon found a deep interest aroused, and in time discovered
that these same rough boys were not only defending and caring
for stray animals but were exercising a sort of protecting care
over an unfortunate member of the human race.

The idea of humane teaching carried out through what she
called Bands of Mercy originated with Mrs Catherine Smithies,
an Englishwoman, who was many-sided in righteousness. In
connection with Mr Angell of Boston she began the work here in
England years ago. We have now in America many thousands
of these bands, both in the public schools and elsewhere. Many
are being formed throughout the country through the agency of
Mr Angell and his society in Boston, and other humane societies
are doing splendid work in organising and conducting them,
notably the Rhode Island Society and the Woman's Pennsylvania
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to the latter

38 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

of which I have the honour to belong, and can say, from personal
knowledge, that in the public schools of Philadelphia alone we
have nearly 14,000 boys enrolled in Bands of Mercy, these
being system«»+^cally visited and kept up by ladies employed by
the society for the purpose. The value of this work is so evident
to our members that it is our opinion that no humane society is
making use of its opportunities unless it includes human educa-
tion in its plan of action.

No inconsiderable part is taken in this work by the Women's
Christian Temperance Union. Our lamented Miss Willard fully
recognised its value, and it is now one of the departments of
the organisation, with ^regularly appointed workers in thirty-two
of the States. The *' reports received from them each year
show a steady advance and a constantly growing interest. The
work of the department is varied, including, beside the promotion
of humane education, the distribution of much reading matter,
the giving of addresses, writing articles for the Press, influencing
physicians and others against vivisection, the erection of drinking
fountains for man and beast, requesting ministers of the Gospel
to preach sermons on kindness, etc. Three hundred and nine
addresses were reported to me as made last year by the workers
in the department, and 44,316 persons, mainly children, are
pledged in Bands of Mercy. Two of the States, Washington and
Maine, have laws prescribing that a certain amount of time in
each week of the school year shall be devoted to humane educa-
tion, a wise step which we hope we shall persuade other States to
follow. Money is better spent in training children to become
good members of society than in supporting them in prisons and
reformatories after they have become criminals. It is a well-
established fact that some of the worst criminals began their evil
careers by cruelty to animals in youth. In the case of a man
who murdered his wife in my own city of Philadelphia, I re-
member that one of the agents of our Women's Pennsylvania
Society void me that he had arrested the same man years before
for revolting cruelty to a poor little mare. As cruelty to animals
can be practised very early, sometimes in mere infancy, the in-
culcation of kindness to them should form the earliest and indeed
the chief part of humane teaching, and thus, though the ultimate
benefit to the child is greater than that to the animal, he also
reaps his share, and it is his unquestionable right. He is sentient
and can suffer, but can never tell the story of his wrongs at any
bar of justice. It should give him a double claim to our protect-
ing care, our tender and loving mercy.

PBEVENTIVE WORK IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OP AMERICA 39

I trust that^ we in America will go on with unfaltering steps
into wider £elds of labour for the prevention of each form of wrong,
working at the same time in loving comradeship with our sisters
in other lands. Let our first and best work be to save the
children, for through them we shall save the nations, " redeeming
the time," and at some future day in the " timeless land," in
looking upon the faces of those children, we shall see of the travail
of our souls — and be satisfied.

Discussion.

Mrs Elizabeth B. Grannis (United States) said that whilst
intemperance attacked, perhaps, only 1 in 7, impurity in some
form or another in social and personal life attacked almost every
family. In working in the temperance cause in New York and
other parts of the United States, there was probably no special
line of work that was so immediately effective as the teaching of
the evil effects of alcoholic stimulants in the blood. A very
excellent mother and grandmother in one of the districts, where
there was a saloon in almost every building (because many
of their buildings would have from 1000 to 1500 people
living in them) said : " How can I keep watch over all those
chilc&en 1 " This was said in answer to my protest concerning a
little boy who had been asleep in a home-made hammock. " We
have to have the whisky bottle to put them to sleep." But what
of the poor little brains of those children ! She wanted to do a
great deal better. She wanted every woman to feel that it was
her special privilege to try and save their poor, distressed fellow-
creatures from liquor. Let her go to men in position. Let her
ask them to change the laws. Let the Members of Parliament
see what can be done to reduce the manufacture of liquor. It
was no use to try and pick the leaves off the trees in the great
forest. They wanted to stop the manufacture of liquor gradually
until we can reduce the manufacture to a minimum. There was
no reason why a great civilisation should manufacture this deadly
stuff and support our governments by the revenues of it. It
had been proposed to remove every saloon to a distance from
a church or a schoolhouse. But she would have them, on the
contrary, brought nearer to the church and the schoolhouse
rather than attempt to drive them out of sight.

Mme. de Tsdiaxner (Switzerland) gave an account in
French of the work which had been accomplished in Paris and in
Switzerland. The surveiQance of the asylums of charity was, in

40 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

the latter country, largely in the hands of German ladies. Much
had been done, but there was yet much to be done. They must
not be discouraged, and it was faith that would carry them on to
final victory. She said that the smallest seeds brought forth
great fruits. Their Union Internationale des Amies de la Jev/ne
FUle was bom of the smallest beginnings and the smallest seed
of charity dropped in the heart of some among their sisters by a
woman whose love for her neighbour was great. That woman
was Mme. Aim^e Humbert. In Switzerland they had a per-
manent staff of agents who were on duty on the arrival or depart-
ure of trains in order to give all necessary help to young girls.
When they climbed to the summits of their wonderful Alps, how
often were they deceived, how often did they imagine that they
had reached the topmost height when they were only half-way *?
The higher the mountain, the more did the pinnacle seem to
elude the climber. Was not this the experience of those who
worked in the cause of humanity ?

Preventive Work in Great Britain and

Ireland.

Miss Janes, Secretary of the National Goiincil of Great

Britain and Ireland.

Miss Janes drew attention to the value of the work of the
Mothers' Union and of the Parents' National Educational Union,
which were doing much to stimulate intelligent care in training
and early education on the part of parents. The discipline of the
Christian character was emphatically an individual duty, but it
could not be confined to the home and the family. The less
friended classes of children needed the mothering of good women,
who must bring mind as well as heart to bear upon the complex
difficulties of crowded city populations and isolated country vil-
lages. In Great Britain, women, as Poor Law Guardians and
members of School Boards, had shown how valuable a work
could be done in conjunction with the administration of public
bodies interested in the care of the young, while orphanages,
industrial schools, training homes, girls' clubs, emigration societies,
religious guilds and bodies like the Girls' Friendly Society, the
Young Women's Christian Association, the Church of England

PREVENTIVE WORK IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 41

Women's Help Society, testified to the desire of our country-
women to give to their younger and less fortunate sisters friendly
and sympathetic help. To be beforehand with the powers of evil,
to cherish things lovely and of good report was their happy task.
Preventive workers in Great Britain especially cared most for
those who most needed care. There was much still to be done for
the children, much need of closer touch among the workers. She
suggested that the National Union of "Women Workers should
form a roll embodying the addresses of associates of societies
affiliated to the National Council, so as to have a handy book of
reference for all who wanted to be in touch with those interested
in the care of girls. It would form a bulky volume, for workers,
for girls, were to be numbered by thousands in Great Britain
and Ireland.

Discussion.

Mrs Hallowes (Great Britain) said that as prevention was
acknowledged to be better than cure, surely this ought to be one
of the most important meetings at this important Congress. One
had to realise the immense importance of preventive work. She
was afraid that there were not as yet really a great number
engaged in this work outside certain societies which had been
named. There were, alas ! very few whose sympathies were really
with preventive work. So many found it difficult. They said,
'* Oh, it is not in my line, let somebody else do it." It was every
woman's work. No woman could fairly say, "This is not my
work." She is bound to see that her sisters are warned and led
into the right paths. Nobody who had been engaged in rescue
work had failed to come into contact with some human wreck,
some woman who had suffered. What an awful thing it was to
think that in our towns and villages there were groups of people
living without God, without hope in the world. There was a class
of men and women who were going down the broad road to de-
struction. They must realise that this preventive work had to
be done if England was to be saved.

Mrs Wilson advocated lectures on alcohol. She fully coin-
cided with the aim of teaching preventive work amongst men
and boys. The idea was usually associated with the work
among the girls, but this was its narrow acceptance. The
President of the Congress was right when she had urged that
the way to happiness lay in the improvement of the homes of
the country.

42 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Mrs Gockbum (South Australia) said that she had come to
England to learn what could be done to keep young girls from
walking at night on the streets. The law she had wished to get
passed wa8 regarded wrongfuUy as a curfew law, and as an in-
fringement of liberty. The police told her that their, hearts
sometimes broke at the sights they saw.

Mrs Percy Bunting wished to see more work done in the
workhouses. They did not want to trespass on the ground of
the guardian, but there was special work to be done in over-
grown institutions containing 2000 people, in rescuing young
girls of 13, and putting them into situations before the work-
house taint had seized them.

Miss O^EeiUy said that she would like to see good homes in
London for ladies who were temporarily destitute. At present
no provision was made for them. There were only the night
refuges.

Mrs Cholmondeley, of the Church Army, pointed out that
such cases would be taken in at Mr Taylor's Homes in Euston
Road ; at Miss Hill's, 37 Manchester Street ; and at 27 Metford
Place ; -while there was also a home in Vine Street, Clerkenwell.
In the winter there was also a shelter at Newport Market, and
an asylum at 39 Homer Street.

Miss Mary Simmonds, Principal of the Women's Bermondsey
Settlement, gave her experience of relief work in Bermondsey,
She had managed to organise a small staff of nurses, who visited
the board schools and looked after children afflicted with small
physical ailments.

RESCUE WORK.

(a) methods of wokk inside homes.

(b) methods of woek outside homes.

CONVOCATION HALL OF CHURCH HOUSE,
DEAN'S YARD, WESTMINSTER.

{Meeting /or Ladies only,)
WEDNESDA F, JUNE 28, MORNING,

Mrs BENSON in the Chair.

Mrs Benson said she felt the question of rescue work would never
he complete until men took their share in the work. They could
do that in two ways. Firstly, by relieving the women of all busi-
ness work, and secondly, by finding out in what way they could
work effectively among men. It was a most difficult problem,
and they could only hope to solve it by the help of the men.
Claiming as they did that men and women should have the same
moral standpoint, she thought that men should work for the
restoration of virtue amcmgst men as women did amongst women.

Mile. Sarah Monod (France) said : —

Mesdames, — II faudrait des heures, au Heu des minutes dont
chacun dispose dans un Congr^s comme celui qui nous r^unit en ce
moment, pour exposer d'une mani^re complete Toeuvre du re-
l^vement moral dans le monde, son histoire, ses methodes diverses
comparees, la mani^re dont elle s'exerce soit dans des Refuges,
soit au dehors de ces etablissements, et a Pair libre, si Ton peut
ainsi parler.

Vous comprendrez sans doute qu*il me soit impossible de

44 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

traiter a fond une mati^re aussi complexe, m^me en ne prenant
que la partie du sujet que m'a impose votre amicale insistance,
bien que je m'en sois d^fendue, faute d'une competence speciale,
et vous m'excuserez de m'en tenir aux grandes lignes, et de
m'attacher aux principes meme de Tceuvre, plut6t qu*4 leur appli-
cation dans le detail.

On ne peut observer Texercice de la philanthropic de notre
temps sans ^tre frappe de voir combien elle aussi suit le mouve-
ment intellectuel et scientifique g^n^ral; combien elle perfec-
tionne ses m^thodes ou arrive a les specialiser, de mani^re a leur
faire rendre le plus possible, pour le bien de ceux qui sont Tobjet
de ses soins, en quelque domaine que ce soit. Ce fait, qui est
manifeste dans ce que nous pouvons appeler les oeuvres de la
charity materielle, n'est pas moins vrai dans les ceuvres de la
charity morale ou spirituelle. Et cependant il n'y a pas d'ceuvre
oil, plus que dans celle qui nous occupe en ce moment, I'etre
physique et F^tre moral se tiennent de plus pr^s et il soit plus
difficile d'^tablir une demarcation entre les oeuvres qui doivent
s'appliquer a Tun ou a Tautre.

Comparez ce qui se fait actuellement pour Pceuvre du re-
l^vement moral, ou comme I'exprime si justement votre langue,
Tceuvre du Sauvetage — rescue work — avec ce qui se faisait il y a
une soixantaine d'annees. A dire vrai, la comparaison est
difficile, faute d'^lem^nts pour Tetablir. C'etait le temps oA
votre noble Elisabeth Fry, de sainte memoire, commengait a in-
teresser les femmes de son entourage a I'oeuvre des Prisons des
femmes, qui est inseparable dans son origine de celle des Refuges,
Tune ^tant la consequence immediate et necessaire de Tautre. Et
ici vous me permettrez de nommer une f ran9aise digne ^mule de
Madame Fry, Mile. Louise Dumas, qui, a sa parole et a son
exemple se donne a cette ceuvre de Sauvetage en 1839, et jusqu'a
Vkge de quatre-vingt dix huit ans passes, oil Dieu la reprit a lui,
en 1890, ne vecut que pour elle, on peut le dire, dans toute la
force du terme. Dans ces soixante ans ecoules, que de change-
ments, de perfectionnements dans tous les pays, dans toutes les
Eglises surtout, car nos Refuges, sous toutes leurs formes diverses,
sont-ils autre chose que des sortes d'hdpitaux spirituels, od
nous cherchons a appliquer les meilleures methodes a ceux qui,
atteints dans leur volenti et dans leur sens moral, sont in-
capables de se conduire eux-m^mes, jusqu'a ce que nous ayons
reussi k refaire en quelque sorte ce sens moral et cette volont^.

Qu'est-ce en effet que nous designons sous le nom de Sauvetage
ou de rel^vement moral ? qui dit rel^vement dit chute, qui dit

RESCUE WORK 45

Sauvetage dit naufrage. Et vraiment les ^tres que nous cher-
chons a relever et a sauver se trouvent dans un etat de naufrage
qui menace leur ^tre physique et moral tout entier. lis ont
perdu tout equilibre; leur sens moral est perverti; et avec le
sens moral perverti, c'est le plus souvent, la sante physique ruinee,
ou du moins gravement compromise, et devenant a son tour un
danger pour d'autres. Si bien qu'il s'agit a la fois de sauver des
malheureux entraines a leur perte, et de defendre ceux qu'ils
menacent a leur tour. Quelle qu'en ait et^ Torigine, mauvais in-
stincts nJlturels, ou entrainement, violence ou mis^re, avec une
responsabilite plus ou moins mitigee, cette dech^ance morale est
un veritable naufrage; quelle qu'en soit la cause apparente, le
resultat est le m^me. Apres avoir essaye peut-^tre par moments
de se reprendre, apres quelques retours offensifs de la conscience
qui reclame ses droits, et qui veille en s'eloignant et en s'effaiblis-
sant, Tabime, reprend sa victime, et elle sombre au point de dis-
parattre souvent enti^rement.

Voila la mine consommee, d'autant plus grave que T^tour-
dissement de la conscience est plus complet, et cela quelle que soit
la condition sociale de Tindividu, avec un degr^ de responsabilite
de plus sans doute, pour ceux qui, avec les privileges de Teduca-
tion et de Tinstruction, n'ont pas de Texcuse — douloureusement
incontestable — de la mis^re, avec ses souffi-ances poignantes, et
ses redoutables tentations.

D'ou vient done ce sentiment trop g^n^ral de mepris pour ceux
qui sont tomb^s ? mepris qui s'^tend comme une sorte d'opprobre
a ceux qui voudraient leur tendre la main ?

Pourquoi d'ailleurs cette oeuvre de rel^vement s'applique-t-elle
presque exclusivement a la femme, tandis que Fhomme souvent
est le plus coupable, et en tout cas Pest au m^me titre et au
m^me degre. Affaire de pure et inexplicable convention. Et,
disons-le en passant, pour nous Tceuvre de rel^vement reste incom-
plete aussi longtemps qu'elle ne s'exerce que d'un c6t^ et nous
comprendrions fort bien des ceuvres de rel^vement pour tant de
jeunes gens qui sont devoyes par les mceurs et les coutumes
r^gnantes.

Tu ne manqtieras pas de reprendre ton prochain , , , tu
aimeras ton prochain comme toi-meme, Voila Pantique precepte
qui, nous semble-t-il, doit inspirer toute oeuvre de Sauvetage moral.
Mais I'orgueil de celui qui se presente devant Dieu pour lui dire.
Je te rends grdces de ce que je ne suis pa>8 comm^ cette Jenim^-la,
n'est-il pas aussi reprehensible a ses yeux que le p^che de cette
femvme-Ub^ ou de cet homms-lA ?

46 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Que la responsabilite soit plus ou moins attenuee, partout
cependant ou il y a chute morale, il y a culpability ; parce que
cette chute n'est pas fatale : et c'est 1^ precisement pourquoi il y
a possibility et espoir de relevement. Ne peut-on pas voir dans
le soin instinctif de dissimuler et de se cacher pour faire le mal
comme un hommage indirect rendu a la purete et a la conscience,
comme Taveu de la faute, qui appelle le pardon ? £t ce besoin
m^me de pardon est une force, parce qu'il est un signe de faiblesse
et de dependance. L'aspiration, inconsciente peut4tre, apr^ la
paix interieure, qui n*est au fond qu'un besoin d'ordre et
de justice, n'est-ce pas d^j4 le premier symptdme de relevement, et
comme Taurore d'une vie nouvelle? C^est une contradiction,
dira-t-on ? Mais, dans le domaine moral, il y a tant de contradic-
tions ! Et qu'y a-t-il a la fois de plus contradictoire et de plus
fonci^rement vrai que le grand paradoxe apostolique : Qucmd je
suia/aible, c^est cUors queje suis/ort. C'est ce paradoxe qui doit
^tre la devise k la fois de ceux qui sont tomb^s, et de ceux qui
ont a coeur leur relevement et leur salut.

L'oeuvre du relevement ou, et comment peut-elle s'operer de la
maniere la plus certaine ? La premiere condition sera d'enlever
tout d'abord ceux que nous cherchons a sauver a leur miheu et k
leur vie ordinaire, pour les placer dans un milieu plus favorable.
A ces pauvres ^tres dont la volont^ a ^t^ afBeiiblie et fauss^e par
le desordre, il faut comme une education nouvelle, un traite-
ment moral de redressement ; et le premier effort de volonte que
nous leur demanderons, c'est precisement de desirer sortir du
desordre, et de saisir volontairement la main qui leur est tendue,
en acceptant I'entree du Refuge, ou de Home qui s'ouvre devant
eux.

Aussi est-ce pour nous une erreur que de penser qu'on fait
tort a une jeune fiUe tombee en la plagant dans un Refuge, sous
pretexte qu^dle ne Va pas m^rit^, et qu'il y aurait la pour elle une
sorte de d^cheance. La d^cheance, c'est d'etre tomb^, ce n'est
pas de se relever. C'est absolument comme d'emp^her un
malade d'entrer dans un hdpital pour se faire soigner. Ne
craignez rien ; est-ce que les directeurs et les directrices de nos
Refuges ne sont pas la pour defendre Phonneur de leurs pension-
naires ? — ^je dis bien Thonneur de. leurs pensionnaires ; et, d^posi-
taires de leurs douloureux secrets pour les envelopper de discretion
et les proteger contre lea la/nguea qui les attaqtient ? Nous croyons
tr^s mal entendue la charite de ceux qui n'ont pas le courage
d'appeler le mal le mal ; et qui, sous pretexte de manager les autres
ne menagent souvent qu'eux-m^mes par Papplication d'une charite

RESCUE WORK 47

plus facile et plus commode peui^^tre a exercer, mais combien
moins forte, et combien moins efficace !

Voici nos repenties entrees dans le Refuge. Quelle methode
devra-t-on suivre avec elles ?

II est bien difficile d'indiquer une methode uniforme et
d^taillee. Cette methode variera necessairement avec les pays,
les usages, les habitudes generales. Elle devra varier aussi, dans
une certaine mesure, avec les individues ; les causes de la chiite
sont si diverses, les temperaments et les caract^res si differents ;
le developpement intellectuel et moral prealable, et par suite les
responsabilites, si inegales !

Ou sera la methode assez souple pour se prater a toutes les
circonstances ? ou sera la main assez ferme pour sauver, et assez
tendre pour panser les blessures de sauvetage mime ?

Ce qui doit nous preoccuper quand il faut sauver un briU^
ou un noye, c'est le feu ou Teau, c'est le danger. Qu'importe
comment vous saisissez Tindividu? Sauvez-le toujours, la
methode viendra en son temps. II faut qu'elle vienne ; mais elle
Aura a se modifier non seulement avec les individus, mais aussi
avec la forme du mal, qui lui-meme se transforme, il est impos-
sible de ne pas s'en rendre compte. Ou etait Palcoolisme, il y a
seulement soixante ans ? ou ne le retrouvons-nous pas aujourd'hui,
avec ses heredites brutales et desastreuses ? Les victimes de
Talcoolisme ne se comptent plus, elles sont legion. II imprime
ses stigmates, etranges quelquefois, mais ind^niables, et nous le
retrouvons k Torigine de beaucoup de chutes morales. Nous-mimes,
qui cherchons a le combattre, ne nous laissons-nous pas aller a
une sorte d'habitude qui fait que nous sommes moins boulevers^s,
moins revoltes que nous ne Tetions nagu^res, peut-etre pour des
choses moins graves, comme si nous en ^tions a notre tour plus
ou moins directement infectes. Ou est la fraicheur d'impression
d'un Saint Paul s'ecriant k la vue du mal : Quelqu^un est-U
scandalise queje n^en sois comme briUS !

C'est done une Education qui commence, avec tout ce qu'elle
doit emporter de la part de I'educateur de patience, de persever-
ance et d'esperance. Education d'ailleurs complexe, car il y a
beaucoup a deblayer avant de pouvoir ^difier utilement et solide-
ment sur un terrain essentiellement instable et inegal : de la les
nombreux deboires inseparables de cette oeuvre si delicate.

Qaelles seront les dispositions les plus frequentes a com-
battre, et quel sera le levier dans cette ceuvre d'^ucation morale ?
Les dispositions sont presque toujours le mensonge, la paresse,
Pabsence de volont^, et une agitation qui arrive souvent a Pexci-

48 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

tation. II faut done creer dans les maisons de refuge une
atmosphere de paix, de silence, d'ordre, de travail et de droiture.
Tout ce qui met de Tordre et de la regularite dans les habitudes
ext^rieures, dans les mains et dans les idees, retentit en bien sur
r^tre interieur. Avee le travail, Finstruction qui occupe saine-
ment Tesprit, la lecture qui le distrait, la musique, surtout la
musique religieuse qui Pel^ve, ont I'influence la plus bienfaisante ;
et nous voyons souvent des ^tres agites et surexciies se calmer
peu a peu, sans beaucoup de paroles et de raisonnements, sous une
influence saine et egale.

II vaut mieux, dans Tinter^t de la sincerity et de la verite
eviter de les trop interroger sur leur pass^. Le moment viendra
ou, la confiance gagnee par I'affection dont elles sont entourees,
leur fera un bgsoin de s'en accuser d'elles-m^mes. Jusque-la,
leur imagination faussee comme tout le reste les portera tantdt a
attenuer leurs fautes et a les dissimuler, tantdt au contraire a
les exagerer pour se rendre plus interessantes, et cela, m^me sans
une duplicite particuliere. M^me pour celles qui sont entrees au
Refuge de leur plein gre, il faut s'attendre a des retours terribles
quelquefois; ce sont comme des retours de fievre pour un
malade; des poussees reit^rees du mal avant la franche con-
valescence. Le prince du mal ne cMe pas facilement sa proie
et la vie dans un Refuge est une lutte continuelle pour celle qui
dirige et pour celles qui se sont placees sous sa direction.

Et le levier ? On pent evidemment par la simple influence
morale et perseverante obtenir une amelioration de conduite et
de vie exterieure; mais non pas, pensons-nous une transforma-
tion complete et radicale. Encore moins devons-nous Tattendre
du fait meme de la reclusion et de Tisolement relatif . Une telle
transformation, Finfluence humaine meme la plus ^levee et la plus
pure ne peut suffire a Foperer. II faut, avec la bonne volonte
personnelie et le sincere desir de se relever le sentiment interieur
du peche, auquel repond du dehors et de plus haut un element
de pardon, qui retablisse les choses dans leur etat normal. Et
ici nous revient a Fesprit la parole des Juif s. Et qui peut pa/r-
donner les pdch^s que Dieu seul ? Le raisonnement, la persuasion
ne suffisent pas. II faut une force exterieure, une puissance
(jxywer) qui gagne le coeur et a laquelle il acquiesce librement et
s'abandonne volontairement.

" Dieu," a dit un penseur chr^tien, " est patient parce qu'il
est etemel.*' II est tr^s patient avec chacun de nous, et nous
apprend a etre patients envers les autres, et en quelque sorte
envers les circonstances. Nous avons trop 'sdte besoin de voir des

RESCUE WORK 49

resultats, d'etre rassur^s par quelque chose de visible et de
tangible, et tout cela est bien fragile s'il ne tient qu'a la volonte
de Findividu, cette volonte infirme et faussee par elle-m^me.
II f aut laisser a cette volonte le soin de se guerir et de se redresser.
C'est pourquoi, d'une mani^re generale, il est bon d'assurer aux
repenties un sejour suifisamment prolonge dans un Refuge.
Deux ann^es ne sont pas de trop pour Tordinaire, bien que ce
temps puisse ^tre, dans des cas exceptionnels, abrege sans
inconvenient.

II faut du temps pour rompre avec des habitudes inveterees.

II faut du temps pour reprendre le gout et Thabitude du travail,
cette loi supreme et bienfaisante, etablie de Dieu lui-meme pour
donner a Phomme sa dignite et son independance.

II faut du temps pour oublier le passe, pour guerir les plaies
morales profondes faites par ce que PEcriture appelle " les delices
du peche."

II faut du temps pour retablir ou refaire la sant^ physique par
un regime rationnel et bien approprie.

II faut du temps, pour renoncer a I'habitude constante de la
dissimulation et du mensonge qui est devenu comme une seconde
nature.

II faut du temps pour que le tumulte des pensees s'apaise et
que la voix de Dieu puisse se faire entendre dans les profondeurs
de Tame et de la conscience.

Mais ces habitudes peuvent 6tre rompues ; mais la sainte loi
du travail peut reprendre ses droits ; mais le passe peut, sinon
s^oublier, du moins se reparer, et m^me, par un miracle de la
gr4ce de Dieu ^tre toume en bien ; mais la sant^ peut se remettre ;
mais la verity peut triompher du mensonge ; mais le silence peut
se faire dans ri,me, et la voix de Dieu se faire entendre avec une
puissance lib^ratrice et creatrice. Et c'est pourquoi cette oeuvre
de patience doit ^tre une ceuvre de perseverance et d'esperance.

Aussi ne voudrais-je pas terminer sans adresser une parole
d'encouragement aux directeurs et aux directrices de ces oeuvres
de rel^vement, qui sont les oeuvres de mis^ricorde par excellence.
II faut une force morale bien tremp^e, il faut un amour profond
du prochain, pour se jeter au travers d'un courant pareil et tenir
bon ; et ce sont les vaillants qui s'y exposent. Honneur k ceux
qui ne se laissent pas decourager par cette lutte vraiment formid-
able, et qui, fortement attaches eux-m^mes au Rocher des SiecleSy
ne craignent pas de plonger dans les Ubimes du mal pour lui
disputer ses victimes. Heureux ceux qui ont confiance dans le
triomphe final du bien, et qui estiment au dessus de leurs aises

VOL. VII. D

50 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

et de leurs convexiances personelles le prix de la solidarity
humaine !

II est commode pour nous de leur del^guer nos pouvoirs pour
accomplir cette oeuvre difficile et de nous d^charger sur eux de nos
responsabilit^s morales. II est facile de critiquer ceux qui sont
jour et nuit sur la br^he, de trouver les uns trop port^s a Findul-
gence, les autres a la s^verite. II est f acUe, en ^change d'un peu
dWgent accord^— et combien marchand^, souvent ! — a ces coeurs
de continuer a vivre de la vie de travail paisable, de plaisir peut-
^tre, en se sachant gre de soutenir des oeuvres de rel^vement.

Mais si ces interm^diaires au coeurs gen^reux venaient a vous
manquer, si vous deviez vous-m^me — aujourd'hui peut-^tre —
accepter votre part directe de responsabilite a regard de nos soeurs
tombees, quelle main auriez-vous a leur tendre 1 Serait-ce la main
pure, amiante, loyale, de celui qui procure la paix? ou bien la
main de celui qui retient le pardon, qui se couvre par le mensonge,
qui s^me la colore et la haine ? Serait-ce la main de celui qui par
un peu d'argent jet^ pour le rel^vement d'autrui pense purifier ses
plaisirs coupables, en se dormant le change a lui-m^me ? Et cette
main forte et fraternelle que vous trouvez si naturel de voir se
diriger vers ceux qui se perdent, auriez-vous le droit de la leur
tendre ?

Et la statistique, dira-t-on enfin; bien que relativement en-
courageante, est elle selon vous de nature a justifier la depense
de temps, d'argent, de force, plus ou moins perdue apr^s tout,
pour des natures vou^ au mal et fatalement incapables de se
relever ?

Nous repondons qu'il faut du temps aussi pour ^tablir cette
statistique. Ce n'est pas en effet une statistique ordinaire ; souvent
elle nous ^chappe et au bout de bien des ann^ parfois, conf ond
nos provisions, soit en bien soit en mal. Mais nous sommes tran-
quilles, car c'est la statistique de celui qui est venu chercher et sauver
ce qui dtait perdu ; et nous ne la connaitrons que dans rOtemitO
maintenant encore, comme aux jours de sa vie terrestre, les cas que
nous appelons desesperes sont ceux dont il salt tirer sa plus grande
gloire. Heureux cerix qui n^ont paa vUy et qui ont cru / Long-
temps apres, lepainjet^ sur la surface des eaux se retrouve encore ;
et la pure semence de la Parole de Dieu, dOposee avec foi et
amour dans T&me la plus abandonnee ne perd jamais son germe
vivifiant et incorruptible.

PRINCIPLES OF BESGUE WORK 51

Principles of Rescue Work.

Mrs Bramwell Booth.

Moral disorders can only be successfully grappled with when
we have learned to distinguish between their causes and their
symptoms. The first requisite for the work of moral reclamation,
to which this short paper is to be devoted, is some intelligible idea
of the causes which produce the disasters we are set to repair.

There are no doubt many influences which contribute to the
ruin and shame around us. The general sentiment (moral sense)
of the population is grossly deficient, and I sometimes fear that
in some quarters it is growing duller. The laws of many countries
are weak and uncertain. In the English-speaking nations — it is
with them I am most fanuliar — there is a terrible halting and
stumbling where crimes against virtue and against the young are
concerned, and unless it be openly oppressive, the law of the land
quickly becomes the law of the individual. What the law for-
bids is looked upon as crime, and what the law does not prohibit
and punish is soon regarded as allowable.

For this, among other reasons, the moral destruction of the
young has become a dreadful evil. Men of a certain kind in
every class of the community have come to look upon what is
really a shameful crime as merely a risky amusement or unfortun-
ate accident.

It must never be forgotten also that, speaking broadly, vice
offers to a good-looking girl, during the first flush of youth and
beauty, more money than she can earn by labour in any field of
industry open to her sex. At the very beginning of a career of
immorality the highest rewards are obtained. By a cruel inver-
tion of the ordinary laws, it is the apprentice who receives the
largest wages, and the " old hand " who gradually sinks to desti-
tution, disease and death. But human nature is shortsighted.
The tempter offers, or pretends to offer, ease and comfort, and
even wealth, and that at once, and the giddy and venturesome,
chafing against the restraints and monotony of industry, see the
glittering bait constantly before them. ^ Who can wonder that
many take the plunge and barter their future lives — ay, and their
very souls — for the chance of a little ill-gotten gain ?

And many of these of whom I speak are where they are owing
to fraud and crime for which tbey had, at the most, but slight
responsibility. Some, I have no doubt, have entered upon their

52 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

dismal lives entirely without any consent of their own will ; and
although that class may bear a small proportion to the whole, it
is, I am convinced, larger than is generally supposed, and, un-
doubtedly, the most to be pitied.

But we must, it seems to me, look deeper still for the chief
cause — the tap-root of the evil. After a somewhat lengthy ex-
perience and not inconsiderable opportunities of observing the
sufferers — nearly 20,000 women have passed Jbhrough the homes
of the Salvation Army in this country under my direction — I am
constrained to admit that, in respect of the vast majority, the
original weakness was a weakness of personal character. I do
not mean that there was already a moral taint, or even a moral
deficiency, so much as a moral infirmity. In other words, women
become impure from precisely the same causes as men. Immor-
ality, in the sense in which I now use the term, is induced just
as other forms of evil are induced. Criminals become criminals
because the temptation to dishonest courses^-often, I know,
strengthened by adverse conditions of life — come upon characters
too weak to resist. Prostitutes become prostitutes just in the same
way. To make any real reformation in a thief, it becomes neces-
sary, therefore, to find means whereby the character, the dis-
position, the evil nature of the thief may be altered. And to
affect a real restoration to virtue — that is, a lasting one — a
change must be produced in the character, the choices, the
preferences of the victim of lust.

Am I merely stating a truism ? I am not a little surprised to
find it necessary to set forth what seems to me a self-evident
truth ; but the fact is, that the great danger of all work for the
restoration of women — and, for that matter, of men, who appear
to me to be infinitely more needy of restoration than the women
— they certainly sink lower — ^is a disposition to rest in the re-
formation of conduct as distinguished from a change of taste, or,
as we should say, a change of heart. I do not wish to discourage
anyone who will lift a little finger to fight evil, but I am dismally
disappointed in the results of much devoted labour. I do not
see that any great gain is effected in a woman's removal from the
outward conditions of a vicious life if her heart remains un-
changed. Moreover, it is this attempt to alter ths habits of the
impure without changing their chairacter which, I venture to
think, accounts for so much of the discouragement that is
associated with this class of work.

It is then to a moral and spiritual reformation we must
address ourselves. Exactly as with other forms of sin, and in

PRINCIPLES OF RESCUE WORK 53

common with them, the path of recovery will lie in the direction
of self-renunciation, of self-abasement, of self-reliance.

The weak and wobbling nature must be attacked where it is
weakest and most uncertain. The untamed and brutal spirit
must be approached exactly at the seat of rebellion, rather than
in its expressions of unruly conduct. The half-crazy and sus-
picious creature must be won by the restoration of confidence.

It is precisely because I thus view the problem that I set the
salvation of God first in all remedial efforts ; whatever may be
done in other directions by other influences, it is by that means,
and by that means only, that the needed change of character can
be effected. Every woman, therefore, who comes into a home,
or comes, in fact, under any influence aiming at her recovery
from vice, ought to have set before her the definite prospect of
such a change in her character as will in itself largely assure her
deUverance from the power of her evil courses, as well as from
the thraldom of the circumstances which now hedge her in.
Whether or not she be desirous of reforming, she will probably
be intensely influenced by a sense of the helplessness of her
position. She must be made to feel that God is the missing
factor ; that by His help the impossible, both as to herself and
her surroundings, may be accomplished; that in truth the
"leopard may change his spots," and they may learn to "do
good who were accustomed to do evil."

How, then, is this to be accomplished? By what methods
and agencies is the work to be done? Well, I can only refer to
those means which I have seen employed with a large measure of
success — please do not imagine on that account that we claim any
monopoly of wisdom in this matter. But I think you will pro-
bably prefer that I should mention plans which I have proved
to be of practical value than discuss generalities.

First, then, I would say, the workers must have faith in the
solvability of those coming under their care. Faith is indeed the
very sap of successful labour for souls. " Without faith," said
the apostle, " it is impossible to please God," and, without faith,
he might have added, it is impossible to save men. Any doubt
in the heart of the rescuer will invariably communicate itself to
the woman with whom she is dealing.

This faith must be rendered apparent in all the arrangements
for dealing with the women. As with children, it is a great part
of the battle to make them feel that they are expected to be good.
All plans for their future should be based on that expectation.

And after faith, love. It is of the first importance to con-

54 WOMEN IK SOCIAL LIFE

vince a woman of the true love of those who are striving to save
her. Here, of course, is manifest the supreme importance of a
right selection of workers. With us the whole, or nearly the
whole, secret of our success lies in the fact that our officers love
the women. (In this country we have over 300 devoted
women engaged exclusively in the rescue work.)

I cannot too strongly urge that this work can only be under-
taken by those who have themselves deeply received of the love
of Christ.

It is only by this revelation of our love that these poor
Ishmaelites of our modem life can be made to realise the love of
Christ. They do not believe in the one because they have totally
lost faith in the other. When in love serving them, not by
foolish weakness or indulgence, but in faithful and patient
watching and labour, they see the spirit of Christ, new hope
springs up, and then they can be led to Him. At His feet. Who
is still the Great Receiver of Sinners, the one revelation of
pardon, which must come to all alike who profit by His death,
will be made even to them.

The practical fruits of that revelation, as I have witnessed
them^ alike in the proud and refined woman and in the gross
and degraded nature, have been wonderful indeed. It is love
that does it all. The love of God in the seekers and shepherds,
and then the same love directly revealed to the repentant
wanderer herself.

You will have anticipated my next word — there must he no
coercion. Every appeal must be made to the higher nature.
Force is no remedy here. Threats of penalties and promises of
rewards, which are little more than bribes, are not only of
no good, they are distinctly bad. Restraints, which are not
assented to and accepted willingly, will aid no real reform.
Bolts and bars are in reality but symbols of failure. Love and
coercion cannot possibly flourish together. The one is Divine
and is in harmony with all that is best in us, the other proceeds
from what is low and base. Love inevitably attracts, coercion
as certainly repels.

Again and again it is necessary to remind ourselves that it is
a moral renovation we seek, and our weapons may not therefore
be carnal; they are, and must be appropriate to our object,
spiritual.

All this supposes the strictest individualism in our work. I
do not for one moment depreciate dealing with the many. I
long for larger efforts on the part of society to wipe out this

PRINCIPLES OF RESCUE WORK 55

blot on the honour of all the nations, but the work will only be
efficiently done by the most careful dealing with the individual.
A medical man would be laughed at who proposed to deal with
his patients in the mass. One by one their difficulties must be
considered, and each case dealt with according to its peculiarities ;
and can we do less who undertake to prescribe for moral dis-
orders ? No home is sufficiently officered if careful and constant
individual dealing is not provided for.

This paper is only supposed to deal with questions affiscting
the internal management of the home, but I cannot close without
a strong word that a permanently good result cannot be obtained
without a continuance for some considerable time after the
women have passed out of the home of the same loving care that
was bestowed upon them when under its roof.

As a class, these lost ones are friendless and homeless, and if
the work for them comes to an end when they leave the home,
they start out practically as friendless and homeless as they
enter. We generally feel our labour for them has but begun
when the time arrives for them to take their first situation. We
aim at continuing our oversight for at least three years.

I was never more hopeful for the salvation of those of whom
I am writing, and I am convinced that the day is at hand which
will see the institution of measures for the prevention of this
great evil as well as for the adequate support of all agencies
engaged in the work of combatting and recovering and restoring
those who have fallen under its power.

Discussion.

Mrs Euspini (Home of Compassion) stated that when a girl
entered a home, if any force was used towards her, it would pro-
bably keep her from improving her moral condition for months.
She thought that the results of the religion of a home rested
largely with the worker in the establishment. It was the quiet,
constant care that " told " with those women. Nor should they,
when a girl had just entered a home, put a lot of questions to her
about her past life. They should let her hold her peace, and the
chances were that she would eventually put confidence in the
officials of the home. Whatever story was so told should be
treated in the strictest confidence. In the method of employ-
ment she would urge as great a variety as possible. Many homes
were partially financed by the work of the girls, but they should
never be sacrificed for pecuniary gain.

56 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Mrs Sheldon Amos said she thought something should be
done for the reclamation of the young men. It seemed sad to
think that so many men viewed the subject with so callous a dis-
position. The moral reclamation of men was quite as necessary
as the moral reclamation of women.

Mme. V. Finkelstein Mountford, said she thought that the
the failure of many of the homes was owing to the fact that the
teaching of the New Testament was not fairly put before women.
People should now be led to understand that women were not
bondwomen, as in the times of the Old Testament, but free.

Mrs Hunter (Glasgow) also spoke of the necessity of mothers
teaching their boys the common laws of morality.

Various Methods of Rescue Work in

the United States •

Mrs E. B. Grannis, President of the National Cbristiaii
League for the Promotion of Social Purity (United States).

Heredity, she said, in its broadest sense, was largely the result
or the development of environment. Heredity and environment
must go hand in hand for the higher improvement of the race.
The poison of degeneracy was in the very roots of the race, or, as
some of them believed, in the fall of man, which had manifested
itself from the beginning of the world in the subjugation of the
female man to the male man. In the human race the order of Nature
had been reversed, as in all manifestation of animal life save that
of man the female was supreme in exercising her will in the pro-
duction of offspring. The highest development of the human
race could be wrought only through the correct solving of the
problem of mating and marriage. A few, at least, realised the
beneficent results accruing to the race through scientific and
spiritual mating and marriage. Improvement in offspring de-
pended absolutely on this foundation, 'and upon it must be
built the only true social economic system. Every soul ought
to desire and realise its dependence upon its mate to aid and
strengthen each other to attain the highest spiritual, intellectual
and physical well-being.

Of all ancient and modem religions, philosophies, scientific
and social economics, Jesus of Nazareth taught the highest, in
proof of which they had the attainments of the Anglo-Saxon
speaking peoples of the earth. God the Creator, manifest in the

VARIOUS METHODS OF RESCUE WORK IN THE UNITED STATES 57

Sonship, redeemed the race. In the redemption of man, woman
was redeemed to the place she held before the fall of man, and
was restored the equal with man.

For the benefit of oflfepring the .average mind as truly as the
more thoughtful must be impressed with the vast advantage of
pure conjugal affection, coupled with perfect freedom of woman
from financial dependence upon man. The fact that special evils
had always existed was no reason why they should always con-
tinue to exist. When the average woman and girl was no longer
the ward of man, conjugal affection would become of so high a
type that they may look for a new race of men within one
generation.

Authoritative records up to the present date show over
^00,000 defective children in public institutions in the United
States; and were the defective children counted in private
quarters and homes, who can tell to what extent the 800,000
would be augmented ? Let them awaken thought that it might
develop text-books on the science of Stirpiculture, to be studied
not only in the high schools, but placed in the hands and homes
of all parents and those who are being fitted to become such.
They ^wanted books in the simplest, plainest language, that
should teach children to build better physical bodies, increase
mental calibre, and evolve the truest hearts on the surest founda-
tion that could be imparted to them by the creator through
parental endowment.

There was no means of preventive work more effective than
the effort put forth by women and men in wise, judicious instruc-
tion of childhood and youth, by instilling into their minds
physiological facts, shielding them with hygienic care, and im-
pressing upon them the wisdom of the Creator in arranging the
"house beautiful," just as the human body should exist if it
were in a strictly normal condition. There was no appeal to be
made to the human soul of greater interest than for him or her
to attain that perfect self-knowledge and self-control that should
fit the individual to become an instrument able to produce its
kind in the highest type which God and Nature had ordained for
its development.

Discussion.

Frau Cora von Bulziiigslowen (Germany) said the methods
of rescue work outside homes ,is a subject bristling with dijfi-
culty. Rescue work at its best is but a compromise — a dealing

58 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

with symptoms rather than with causes, which generally lie
deeper and date further back than the present mischief. Want
of religious principle, lack of proper education, bad example and
environment, physical and pathological causes, heredity, etc.,
besides the far-reaching evils of faulty legislation, insufficient
wages, lax public opinion, and a low standard of morality gener-
ality — these are some reasons why so many go astray. And the
work of rescue is an arduous one, which presents grave difficulties.
The institutions, however numerous, could not suffice for all, even
were it possible to persuade aM to go into the homes and refuges.
How are we to reach these poor women, and exercise a beneficial
influence on those willing to be helped, to save them from them-
selves and their temptations 1 I believe that each case needs to
be treated individually, according to circumstances. In Prussia
the terrible " State regulation of vice " still exists, though there
are signs that the popular conscience is being aroused at last, and
there are voices in high places that urge that the male companions
of these women, who have hitherto been absolved by society, are
at least equally degraded, and deserving of like treatment and
punishment. Let us hope that justice will prevail eventually.
In the meantime, about 45,000 women are more or less under the
supervision of the police ; and besides the medical aid afforded in
the hospitals, there are devoted ladies and Sisters of Mercy who
try every means to induce the girls to return to their homes,
whence they have been led astray, usually by bad companions,
smoothing the difficulties and reconciling them to their friends,
should these be fitted for the charge. It is, then, most important
to continue the care for some time; to show kindly. interest; to
give the encouraging word or rebuke if needed ; to provide suit-
able work to enable them to earn their bread ; to supply them
with wholesome recreations, and, if possible, to try to awaken a
love and reverence of the better and higher. In work among
these women there is a need of a higher tone, and here, as in
other work, " the best is just good enough," the highest and most
cultivated are most fitted to lielp to raise the fallen. The Jewish
congregation in Berlin provide funds to place fallen girls of their
race with especially selected respectable families, where they are
kindly taken care of and provided with occupation, and become
in time as members of the family. Two ladies of my acquaint-
ance who lived aJone each took in a girl off the streets, and with
wonderful long-suffering and patience, after years of loving labour,
could really hope that the rescue had been complete. But of
necessity this can only be done to a limited extent in families

YABIOUS METHODS OF RESCUE WORK IN THE UNITED STATES 59

where there are no young persons, who might possibly become
contaminated. Besides this most valuable individual care, there
are other ways of holding out a helping hand to the unfortunate
who wish to be helped through the friendly societies, where girls
of all sorts and conditions could always be sure of practical kind-
ness and sympathy on application. At every railway station, in
waiting-rooms and other public places, there should be placards
with the addresses of these societies. In Germany there are
railway station missions, where ladies look out for country girls
who come to town in search of situations, or who have been enticed
to leave their homes by unprincipled persons on more or less
false pretences. The ladies, who wear a badge with a pink cross,
inquire of the girls their destination and business, and are very
often the means of rescuing them from ruin and degradation,
besides affording opportunity to the respectably inclined to join
the girls' clubs and unions which have been formed to give
mutual aid and moral support. Female prisoners are often sadly
in need of help te begin a new life on their release. To visit
them in prison, te learn te know them and win their confidence,
and te assist them to find situations, ete., is a wide field of rescue
work. Search for missing girls who have left their homes, by
tracing them with or without the aid of police, and reconcHing
them to their friends, or finding some place of safety for them, is
another labour of love. Midnight missions for the street- walkers
may show some measure of success for a time, but when the
excitement has abated, the relapse into the old ways is almost
inevitable. The inheritance of sin and misery to which the
majority of these women have been born, the lack of self-control,
ete., all tend to make even those who would be good unstable of
will and unable to continue in a given line of laborious struggle
against the temptations that beset them, the nervous system
being generally diseased with the bad habits of a depraved life.
In reviewing the methods of rescue work either in or outside
homes, I fear we must sadly confess, if we are quite candid, that
they are inefl&cient; there is not much lasting good done, in
spite of the devotion, patience and perseverance of noble men
and women. I trust you will not consider that I am begging
the question when I plead the cause of rescue work in preventive
work in all its branches.

That field must be widened, our consciences quickened, so
that we may not cease to work earnestly, consciously, each one of
us, in our own conduct) setting a more thoughtful example, so
that we may not offend unwittingly by vanity, or self-indulgence.

60 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

or indolence, that, like a pebble thrown in the water, makes ever-
increasing circles long after the stone has sunk out of sight, "We
are much too unconscious as yet of the unlimited influences which
pass from us — in our example, our words and actions. Let us
ever bear this in mind, in our social relations to friends and
dependents and servants, in the bringing up of our children most
especially to a clearer vision, a tenderer conscience in the great
Christian principle which the International "Women's Congress
has taken for its motto, "Do unto others as you would they
should do to you." Our sons must be taught more earnestly that
other men's sisters and daughters should be as sacred to them as
their own. It is terrible to think that the beginnings of so
many ruined hves that we try to rescue can be traced to the
weakness and self-indulgence of men who, by education and
birth, consider themselves gentlemen. It is our duty to help to
form public opinion on these matters. It should be considered
as shameful to sin against the Seventh Commandment as against
the Eighth. The consequences are further reaching and more
disastrous, surely.

The conditions of female industrial work and wages are still
very greatly in need of reform, but the efforts of many unions
and societies are tending in that direction. Much is being done
to ameliorate the condition of the poor in their dwellings, their
education, their amusements, still there is room for more effort
all along the line ; each step forward will further the cause of the
outcast women too, slowly, but, we trust, surely. Evil cannot
always prevail, and now that women — the mothers of men — are
becoming more keenly conscious of their responsibilities, we hope
that legislative enactments will prove more efficient because
matched by citizens of like temper.

As Tennyson nobly puts it^

" Self -reverence, self-knowledge, self-control,
These three alone lead life to sovereign power.
. . . And because right is right, to follow right
Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence."

Fraulein Kuhlmann (Belgium) gave a brief sketch of the
work done in Belgium. She pointed out that, although the
country was not very large, there was plenty of scope for work
amongst women owing to the large number of girls who came to
that country. The society to which she belonged did everything
in their power for those women by meeting them at railway
stations and taking care of them till they found employment.

VARIOUS METHODS OP RESCUE WORK IN THE UNITED STATES 61

Adeline, Duchess of Bedford, said she felt with all her heart
that they should strive one with another against the miseries and
sins which were entailed by the moral laxity prevailing in the
various countries. She could not but view with sensitive fears
the tendencies to specialisation which were exhibited by the
various generous workers who had come amongst them, and in
some of the workers in their own country the same tendency
prevailed. Those special lines of thought had their rise in
the morbid tendencies of the present day, and she was inclined
to think that the lines of remedy were not altogether free from
the same thing. Therefore she ventured to speak on the
subject.

Mrs HallowB said she had found great encouragement in
"outside" rescue work. Going as a friend to the homes of
those girls was much more important than to meet them in the
street. Mrs Hallows conclude her address by expressing regret
that a larger number of Christian women did not take up the
subject.

Mrs Bunting said she had found that in the great majority
of cases motherhood restored those women to virtue and re-
spectability, and she would urge those ladies present to take
those cases to heart. Mrs Bunting then went on to refer to the
want of a law which woidd make incest in England a criminal
offence. France and Scotland had such laws, but in England,
where no such law existed, the practice was rife.

Lady Georgina Vernon also spoke of the natural bond which
existed between the women and their children, and argued that
they should be allowed to remain together for six or eight
months, if it were in any way possible.

Mrs Taylor, of the Southport Board of Guardians, and Miss
Mary Simmons, of the Bermondsey Board of Guardians, gave
short accounts of their work in the same direction in connection
with Poor Law work.

TREATMENT OP THE DESTITUTE

CLASSES.

(a) in the united states.

(b) in FRANCE.

(d) in great BRITAIN.

CONVOCATION HALL OF CHURCH HOUSE,
DEAN'S YARD, WESTMINSTER.

WEDNESDA F, JUNE 28, AFTERNOON,

Miss CLIFFORD in the Chair.

iBiiss Olifford said that the old methods had aimed at making
life possible for the desperately poor without expecting to alter
the conditions of their lives. The present aim is to abolish, at
anyrate, hereditary destitution. A conviction of the unity of the
human family and a sense of our mutual responsibility for each
other should guide our methods. Nothing ought to be done in
relief of distress which is likely to aggravate its causes. There-
fore improved conditions of life and the strengthening of
character should be foremost in our efforts. The State must not
lightly undertake the responsibilities of the individual, and we
must give the element of time for our methods to work. Old
countries must beware of dealing with human nature in masses.
New countries must beware of adopting methods that are not
founded on the eternal principles and right.

TREATMENT OP THE DESTITUTE CLASSES IN THE UNITED STATES 63

Treatment of the Destitute Classes in

the United States.

Bev. Ida Hultin, Pastor of a Unitarian Ghurch

(United Btates).

Whatbvee the system adopted for assisting destitute persons, no
system could succeed unless the work done was undertaken
sincerely and came from the heart and mind. It was a matter
of much encouragement to some of them who had worked for
many years to see that not only had new methods been adopted,
invented and multiplied, but that we have been learning more and
more as to the kind of method to be adopted. They might say
also that the standard of the persons trusted to carry out these
methods had been very considerably raised. She did not wish
to say anything careless or unfeeling about the people who were
at work before they were bom, or of the people who were ending
their work as they were beginning theirs. They would not
undervalue things, but it was a patent fact that they had adopted
a higher standard, a higher education, and a more definite
, training in the work to be done in every one to whom the work
was committed. Only lately had the people who were looked
after by the Church Army, the Salvation Army and Dr Paton's
lingfold Farm Colony been receiving attention. What were the
members of that colony ? The principle of selection followed by
the Board to which she belonged was simple and unexacting.
Some of the homes had failed because the guardians shot their
rubbish at them. The Salvation Army deserved what it got.
Seven or eight years ago the world was thrilled and startled by
the book which told about the submerged tenth. Many people
opined that this new organisation would turn into pure gold
every piece of human rubbish which it got hold of. The guardians
looked out for the most depraved characters and shot them out
to these places. Dr Paton told her that the boards of guardians
would shoot their rubbish into his colony — men who had lost all
energy and morale. It was hopeless to expect to do any good
with them. It was better not to start upon an impossible enter-
prise. The feeble-minded had been more particularly observed
since women became guardians. Women had done much to-
wards the alleviation of this class. That class required a very
strong, and, at the same time, a very gentle hand. It ought to
be detached from the ordinary population, and kept detached until

64 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

it was quite clear that these persons were able to take care of
themselves. It was an injury to the population, as well as to
the class, not to do so. She had noticed among the able-bodied
the great number of defective persons, particularly men. They
might be blind with one' eye, or have lost an arm. On account
of that circumstance they chose to lead a life of idleness. She
had, nevertheless, seen a great many poor men and women who
had suffered accident, but who yet had managed to support
themselves honourably in this popidation of London. Some-
thing ought to be done with these defective persons who said,
" You can't make me work ; I have lost a thumb."

As to the method of dealing with children, that was a burning
subject. It has changed in recent years. There has been
divergence of opinion there. They ought not to -take any
system like a watch and say, "Now this is wound up for so
long, and we need not trouble anything about it." In some of
the small homes the winding-up process had been forgotten.
Thus homes often came to grief.

Miss Hallie Q. Brown gave a pathetic picture of the negroes
in the Southern States before and since emancipation.

Assistance Publique.

Pr6sent6 par lime. Mauriceau, Admiuistratice des bureaux
de Bienfaisance de Paris (France).

L' Assistance Publique est exercee en France par TJ^tat, le d^parte-
ment, et la Commune, dans les etablissements de bienfaisance
hospices, hopitaux, asiles, refuges, maisons de retraite ; soit par
les bureaux de bienfaisance ou I'initiative privee.

L'Assistance PubUque fut longtemps du ressort du clerge, et
des Seigneurs haut justiciers, qui, jouissant, de certains privileges,
^taient tenus de nourrir les indigents sur leurs terres.

Des bureaux de charity existaiont dans presque touts les
paroisses; ils etaient administres par les habitants, hommes
et femmes.

Sous Tancien regime, des femmes administraient les hopitaux,
a Laval, Poitiers, Dreux, Chateaudun Lyon, Chamb^ry ; en 1814,
c'etait une femme qui administrait Thospice de Soissy.

XJn ^it de 1666 avait impose aux villes, bourgs et villages,
I'obligation de nourrir leurs pauvres. Les intendants recom-
mandaient aux Cures de cr^r des bui-eaux de charity, dans leurs

ASSISTANCE PUBLIQUE 65

villages promettant de les proteger et de leur envoyer des remMes
gratuits.

La charite ^tait tres grande quand elle n'etait point spontanee ;
on la sollicitait par des quotes a domicile ou dans les ^J^gHses,
soit par les administrateurs, soit par les Dames des paroisses ou
de Charity.

A Lyon, les quotes avaient lieu tous les dimanches dans les
eglises.

A Nantes, trois fois par semaine, un kne parcourait les
rues, son conducteur tenait une cloche afin dWertir ceux qui
avaient des restes de nourriture a donner. Une dame de Charite
distribuait les secours. Une tresori^re s'occupait des meubles
et ustensiles appartenant aux pauvres.

Le Compte des recettes et depenses ^tait rendu publiquement,
le maire, et les principaux habitants au nombre de 4, au moins.
Le cur^ n'y ^tait appele qu' a titre de principal habitant. Lo
16' si^le vit se former a Marseille et dans les grandes villes
des Associations de Dames Charitables, de Dames Rectoresses ou
gouvemantes d'Hdtel Dieu. Un grand nombre de Dames de
Charity sont attachees aux paroisses, ou groupies en societ^s
recrut^es par elles-memes, elues par les habitants.

On obHgeait les mendiants valides k nettoyer les rues, curer
les fosses, on les enrdlait de force pour les employer aux travaux
publics. " Les mendiants valides,*' dit une Ordonnance de 1866
"seront contraints, de labourer, besoigner pour gagner leur vie,
sinon, ils seront conduits k la ville voisine, pour y 6tre fustiges.''

En 1657 Louis XIV. defendit par un Edit aux pauvres et
aux vagabonds de demander l'aum6ne, il leur fixa pour asile,
La Salpitri^re, Bic^tre, et Notre Dame do la Piti^. Ces ^tablisse-
ments ne purent en recevoir que 10,000 environ, le resto
continua a vagabonder. Voyant cela le roi fit prendre les plus
robustes pour servir sur ses ^^res qui manquaient d'hommes.

Tous les biens confisques, pour cause de duel, ^taient attribues
aux hopitaux (Edit, de 1711). En 1724, Louis XV. crea dans les
villes importantes des sortes de d^pdts oil des mendiants valides
et invalides f urent enferm^s.

L'Etat fut oblig^ a certaines ^poques de faire la police des
mendiants. Cette profession avait ses difiicult^s officielles, ses
ecoles, ses maitres, presque ces jurandes. Par exemple, recevoir
I'aumdne k la porte des eglises constituait un privilege dont les
heureux d^spositaires portaient, parmi les pauvres, le nom de
"tr6uiers."

On ajouta trois deniers, par livres, a Timpdt et le produit en

VOL. VII. E

66 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

fut employ^ k batir aux mendiants des maisons de secours et de
force. En 1767 on arr^te jusqu'a 50,000 mendiants, les 33
renfenneries du royaume ne suffisant plus, on ouvre les h6pitaux
les ateliers de charity, les prisons. Dix ans plus tard, k la suite
de disettes succ6ssives, on compte un million deux cent mille
mendiants !

Le ministre Turgot fit ouvrir des ateliers de charite, le
depute Linguet propose 90 louis de sa bourse, a donner en pris,
au meilleur ouvrage tendant a la suppression de la mendicite.

Les cahiers des !l6tats Gen^raux de 1789^ donnent une idee,
des r^formes k introduire dans Porganisation de TAssistance,
dans tout le royaume.

Tl est reclame dans les campagnes lafondation d'hospices pour
f emmes en couches ; la surveillance des enfants trouves et la
revocation de I'Edit de Henri II. qui punissait de mort la fiUe
qui avait cache sa grossesse. *

Les femmes adress^rent de nombreuses petitions au Roi,
demandant que le service de T Assistance Publique fut enti^rement
dans les mains des femmes. Mme. Palm Alder, une hollandaise,
presenta un travail remarquable sur Torganisation de TAssistance
Publique. Ce rapport existe a la biblioth^que Nationale.

Le 5 floreal an II. (24 Avril 1794), il fut donne lecture, k la
Convention Rationale pr^sid^e par Robert lindet, d'une petition,
qui lui etait adressee par Teresa Cabarries, Marquise de
Fontenay (plus tard Mme. Gallien) qui demandait que toutes les
femmes f ussent appel^es dans les asiles de la souffrance et du mal-
heur pour y prodjguer leurs soins et leurs douces consolations.

Des lois portant reorganisation de I'Assistance Publique
furent vot^s en 1792 et 1796 ; elles furent plus ou moins mises
en vigueur. Depuis le 19 Brumaire, an VIII., les administra-
teurs des bur^ux de bienfaisance ont toujours ete nommes par le
gouvernement ou son delegue. De 1 81 3, a 1 830, les bureatix furent
admis ^faire des presentations.- De 1830, a 1860 ces presentations,
ne port^rent que sur la moitie des vacances, pour Tautre moitie,
Tinitiative etait d^volue au Conseil General des hospices.

De 1860 a 1879 ou donna deux listes. Tune dressee par le
bureau de bienfaisance, Tautre par le directeur de TAssistance.
De cette periode jusqu'en 1898 le maire dressait la liste des
noms sur lesquels se fixait le choix de Tautorite.

Le d^cret du 18 Novembre 1899 attribue a une Conmiission
speciale, compos^e du maire, des Conseillers de Farrondissement, de
certains ^lecteurs, le soin de dresser une liste des personnes aptes
k remplir les fonctions d'administrateurs, ou d'administratrices

ASSISTANCE PUBLIQUE 67

des bureaux de bienfaisance de la Yille de Paris : — Ce d^cret,
admet les femmes au m^me titre que les hommes.

Nous reproduisons le texte du decret ; Article 4 ; Les femmes,
peuvent dtre nommees "administratrices des bureaux de bien-
faisance, les fonctions sont gratuites."

Article 8 : "II est attache a chaque bureau pour le service
des enqu^tes, des visites et des quotes, des Conmiissaires, des
Dames patronnesses, dont les fonctions sont gratuites.

" Les Commissaires et les dames patronnesses sont nomm^
par le Prefet."

Le nombre des administratices, ainsi que des dames patron-
nesses, n'est pas limite.

Malheureusement entre le decret et les nominations le
temps a 6t6 trop court ; sur les listes de presentations, dresses
par les Municipalites, ne figurent que quelques noms de fenmies,
de sorte qu'actuellement, nous comptons, seulement 9 femmes
administratrices des bureaux de bienfaisance de Paris.

Les bureaux de bienfaisance distribuent tous les mois des
cartes mensuelles de 30fr., 20fr., lOfr. et 4fr. Des secours de
grossesses de 15fr., 20fr., d'allaitement de lOfr., 15fr., 20fr.,
des secours de maladie 5fr., lOfr. et 15fr. par semaine.

Les Cartes mensuelles de 30fr., ou Cartes representatives
des frais d'hospitalisation, sont donnees aux indigents, dont le
placement est reconnu necessaire, mais qui ne peuvent I'etre,
par suite du manque de place dans les hdpitaux. Pour ^tre
inscrit sur le contr61e des indigents secourus par TAssistance
il faut ^re Fran9ai8 domicilie a Paris, depuis 3 ans, au moins,
incapable par T&ge ou Tinvalidite de pourvoir k sa subsistance.

Quant aux femmes veuves, separees, divorcees ou abandonn^s,
il suffit pour qu'on les consid^re comme indigentes qu'elles justi-
fient des charges de famille. EUes doiverit remplir les conditions
de nationalite et de domicile ^xigees pour les indigents mais il
n'est point n^essaire qu'elles soient ^gees ou invalides. Une m^re
veuve, separee, ou abandonnee peut ^tre inscrite sur le contr61e des
indigents, quand bien meme elle serait jeune et valide si elle a
plusieurs enfants le reglement n'exige qu'une justification, la
charge de famille.

A Paris actuellement 4268 vieillards de plus de 70 ans sont
hospitalises gratuitement, 3682 touchent la pension representa-
tive de 30fr. 32,192 indigents infirmes veuves avec enfants,
re9oivent 4fr. par mois, soit 13c. par jour.

Quel rem^e 13c. peuvent ils aj)porter a la mis^re de chaque
jour !

68 WOMBN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Plus de 16,000 vieillards declarent qu'ils n'ont par de quoi
manger, se v^tir, se loger, se chauffer. Cette situation est plieine
de responsabilite pour ceux qui ont charge de pourvoir au soulage-
ment de la mis^re. Entre ^Assistance et Ics bureaux de bien-
faisance doit r^gner une Emulation ardente pour les secours a
domicile. Le service des enqu^tes et des visites doit ^tre agrandi
et permanent, car il faut s'approcher de la mis^re pour la connaitre
et la secourir efficacement. "II est surtout une fonction," a ecrit
Monsieur Legouv^, " dont les femmes sont uniquement exclues et
qui leur appartient de droit, je veux parler de tous les grands
services, consacr^s aux pauvres et aux malades. Comment n'ont
elles pas part a radministration des bureaux de bienfaisance ni a
Porganisation des societ^s de secours mutuels ni a la visite des
malades ni a la tutelle legale des enfants trouv^s."

L' Assistance est une des fonctions sociales ou les femmes
peuvent rendre les plus grands services, elles s'entendent mieux
que les hommes k faire la charity, la moindre infortune les
emeut, elles trouvent de douces paroles pour consoler, elles inter-
rogent discretement et menagent Pamour propre du malheureux.
Deviner la mis^re qu'on cache, demande de la sagacity et du
cceur, qualites essentielles des femmes. Leur utile et d^vouee inter-
vention se manifestera sous tous les aspects.

Les femmes peuvent ^tre un excellent appoint dans Padminis-
tration du service d^inspection d'enqu^tes, de visites, ainsi que
dans les conseils sup^rieurs de PAssistance Fublique, dans les
conseils de surveillance des hospices et h6pitaux et dans tous les
services de PAssistance Publique. Dans beaucoup de pays les
femmes sont appelees a prater leur concours k la charity officielle.
Je ne parle pas de PAngleterre, vous savez que les femmes y
sont admises aux fonctions de " Poor Law Guardian," c'est a dire
" gardien des pauvres."

En 1875, Miss Merington fut pour la premiere fois et sans
contestation nomm^e k cette fonction par le district de Kensing-
ton. Depuis, la proportion des femmes n'a fait que s'accroitre il
y a actuellement plus de cent femmes dans le service, oti elles se
rendent tr^s utiles par leur intervention personnelle aupr^s des
pauvres qu'elles visitent et auxquelles elles procurent du travail.

En AUemagne il s'est fonde a Elberfeld une Association de
femmes de toutes conditions qui a pour but de completer PAssist-
ance Publique et m^me de la suppleer au cas oh. les formalites
administratives Pemp^herait d'intervenir de suite, dans les
besoins urgents. Cette Association s'impose le devoir de lutter
contre le pauperisme, de combattre la mendicity et de tendre k

ASSISTANCE PUBLIQUE 69

ramener Pindigent a Pindependance personnelle, elle recueille,
aupr^s des Associations privees de bienfaisance des rcnseigne-
ments sur les pauvres qu'elle veut faire secourir et evite les
doubles emplois.

En Sukle, Tordonnance royale du 22 Mars 1889 a concede
aux femmes le droit d'eligibilite aux fonctions de membres des
conseils d'administration communale de TAssistance Publique, et
des bureaux de bienfaisance.

En Norwege, la question de savoir si une femme peut ^tre
nommee membre d'un bureau de bienfaisance, a ^t^ resolue
affirmativement.

En Danemark, le Landsting, a ^t^ saisi d'un projet pour
autoriser les femmes a faire partie de la direction, de la Caisse
des Pauvres ; elles sont de plus, charg^es du soin de la premiere
enfance.

En Boh^me, les femmes sont admises aux seances des
Commissions des Bureaux de TAssistance.

En Italie, une Commission chargee en 1880, de la re6rganisa-
tion de TAssistance Publique, demanda, k Punanimite, que les
femmes puissent faire partie de cette Administration. La
Chambre se pronon9a contre le projet.

En 1888, le Conseil d'Etat d'ltalie se pronon§a contre P^ligi-
bilit^ des femmes aux fonctions de membres des bureaux de
charity. En 1890, la question fut reprise devant le Parlement,
la loi fut votee ; elle autorise les fenmies a faire partie des con
gregations de charite. Aux Etats Unis, Pinfluence de la femme
se fait sentir ; la charity s'exerce par Piniative privee, et partout
ou existent des institutions rappelant notre Assistance Publique,
les femmes figurent dans les comites de direction, et les Com-
missions d' Assistance.

II en est de m^me au Canada, dans PEtat de Victoria, en
Australie, et dans toutes les colonies anglaises.

Dans le Michigan un Act de 1873 autorise le gouverneur a
nommer une ou plusieurs femmes comme membres de la Com-
mission de Correction et de Charity.

Dans le Rhode-Island, le gouverneur nomme un conseil de
sept femmes comp^tcntes, pour inspector toutes les institutions
de charity, destinees k secourir les femmes.

Partout Pintroduction des femmes dans PAssistance Publique,
a preoccupy le l^gislateur. II est evident que les femmes sont
particuli^rement douees pour toutes les fonctions charitables,
leur esprit organisateur pour le detail, leur grand devouement,
rendraient des services dans PAssistance. Elle assurerait une

70 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

meilleure repartition des secours, des en(]^u^tes serieuses, des visites
reguli^res.

Ne pas supposer les femmes capables de diriger un service,
ou il s'agit de secourir les nec^ssiteux, de soulager les malades,
d'exercer la charite, ce serait m^connaitre leur grande qualite de
coBur et de devouement.

The Care of the Destitute Classes in

the British Colonies.

Paper read by Mrs Willoughby Guimniiigs, Becording Secretary
of the National Council of Women of Canada (Canada).

In the self-governing Colonies of Great Britain, of one of which
Kipling has so well said, ** Daughter am I in my mother^s house,"
we have naturally tried, as all good daughters love to do, to
copy our mother, so far as it has been in our power to do so, in
our care for all those who need our help. Therefore, whether
one sails southward to the Colonies under the Southern Cross,
or whether one goes westward to visit the eight confederated
Provinces in our fair Dominion of Canada, there will be found,
in every city and in many towns, institutions of all kinds that
bear the beautiful title of " Charities," for children, for old
people, for the defective classes, for the sick, for those who are
incurable, for helping upward to the right in Industrial Schools
those young persons whose environments have led them down-
ward towards degradation. Of these institutions I need not
speak in detail, but will rather, therefore, touch briefly upon
conditions peculiar to the several colonies as they affect the
question of the care of the destitute.

The pictures drawn of the almshouses in Australia by
Michael Davitt in 1898, in his interesting account of life and
progress in that country, are certainly most attractive, and go to
prove that the people there believe that the man who has gone
to the wall in the struggle of life has a right to humane con-
sideration at the hands of the community, as a duty on the
public conscience.

The benevolent asylums throughout Australia seem to be
upon a uniform plan, practically speaking. The Government of
t>ie colony grants half the annual cost, so Mr Davitt says, and
the remainder comes from local sources, such as fairs, endow-

CARE OF THE DESTITUTE CLASSES IN THE BRITISH COLONIES 71

ments or subscriptions. In South Australia the asylum in
Adelaide answers for the whole colony, and the State contributes
the whole expense. Outdoor relief consists chiefly in food, and
only in special cases is money given. In these asylums there is
no weighing of food allowances, each inmate getting as much as
may be desired. The cost per inmate, including salaries, medical
services and the like, is $15, or about £3. The condition of
admission to these asylums is honorjide inability through im-
paired health, or old age, to earn a livelihood.

Subscribers can recommend deserving persons to the care of
asylums. The buildings in most cases are very flne and stand
in attractive grounds. Games are provided, and a well-stocked
library with books for the blind, also an organ, to afford relax-
ation. All the inmates are expected to perform such work as
health and capacity will permit. Ko social stigma is attached
to the inmates of the asvlums. The sense of a public duty
towards workers who are disarmed by age or infirmity in the
battle of life is one of the well-known traits of the Australian
character.

Writing of one of the colonies, I think New South Wales,
Mr Davitt says, "An Act is now under consideration by which a
central body, to be called a " Council of Charity," will be created
for the general control of relief in the asylums for the destitute.
The colony will be divided into five districts for the purpose, and
the Council will consist of nine members. The ways and means
will be provided by levying a light tax upon amusements in the
interests of the destitute asylums. All outdoor sports and the
prizes offered thereat will bear a five per cent, tax, and local
ratings will be increased on land values three halfpence on the <£.
This proposed Act follows the lead of New Zealand in its main
measures.

In New South Wales, and in South Australia, destitute
children are, as far as possible, placed in country homes at the
expense of the Government, so as to substitute something like
home life for that of an institution. There is, of course, Govern-
ment iuspection, all of which is managed by State Children's
Relief Boards. Some few of these children are adopted by
those in whose charge they are placed, and some are apprenticed
and not paid for by Government.

In South Australia the Government takes the care of the
poor wholly upon itself, and in order to diminish the number
dependent upon institutional care in almshouses has organised
a system of outdoor relief which is unique, healthful and

72 WOMEN m SOCIAL LIFE

wisely administered. If a wife is left without means and with
young children she is supposed to support herself and one child.
One ration of food, such as bread, meat, sugar, rice, salt will be
given herself and two children, and if she has three children the
ration will be one and a half. The Board which is appointed by
the Government to look after the destitute says in effect to a son
or a daughter, " Keep your old father or mother and we will
allow you one ration." By this plan there are fewer old people
in almshouses, and it has the effect of reducing the number of
those who become entirely pauperised. No able-bodied men are
allowed in the destitute asylums ; they may have lodging for
a night, if necessary, but no more.

As a means of preventing destitution, the labour colonies, or
settlement, in Victoria and New South Wales, which are assisted
by Government, seem to be proving successful as providing work
for the able-bodied unemployed who are instructed in agriculture
and other employments of pioneer life.

The money advanced to the settlement is repaid as follows : —
Four years after the institution of the settlement 8 per cent, of
all the money advanced becomes a charge on its earnings, and
this sum remains as a yearly payment afterwards until the
principal and 4 per cent, interest thereon has been paid.

The very successful working of the Charity Organisation in
Victoria for the last fourteen years should also be mentioned.

In Queensland two asylums for the destitute have over 1000
inmates,* and 18 benevolent societies afford outdoor relief to the
distressed in the principal towns of the colony. Orphans and
other unprotected children are cared for by the Government, on
the boarding-out system for the most part.

West Australia has 2 poorhouses with about 300 inmates, 4
native institutions, and 4 orphanages, all of which are supported
by public funds supplemented by subscriptions, the daily average
of those receiving Government aid being about 700.

Tasmania has 2 pauper institutions, and the expenditure of
outdoor relief is in the hands of wardens and stipendiary magis-
trates, under the supervision of the chief secretary.

In New Zealand as elsewhere the care of the poor is a public
duty that is thoroughly well done, no less than 16 benevolent
asylums and 4 orphan institutions, besides many benevolent and
benefit societies, affording necessary shelter and support to those
who are destitute. The department of labour also grants assist-
ance to a large number of men who in many cases have families
depending upon them.

CARS OF THE DESTITUTE CLASSES IN THE BRITISH COLONIES 73

The Government does not deal directly with pauperism. The
colony is divided into hospital and charitable aid districts. The
Boards rate the local bodies within their boundaries, and receive
Government subsidy equal to what is raised. The incorporated
hospitals and benevolent societies also receive from Government
24s. a £ on private subscriptions. Nearly £45,000 was
paid last year to the Charitable Aid Boards out of the consoli-
dated fund. There were 1870 inmates in the various benevolent
asylums last year, of whom 813 were over 65 years of age.
One thousand five hundred and eighty-eight children were wholly
or in part maintained by the Government in industrial schools
and other institutions, or were boarded out.

The New Zealand Act for the relief of the poor has already
been aUuded to as having formed the basis of proposed legisla-
ture in another colony.

There are no poor rates levied in Canada, and therefore
the very many fine institutions that are to be found in
every city, and in many of the counties as well, for the
care of the aged and destitute, the homeless children, the sick
and the defective classes, are supported for the most part by
private subscriptions, legacies and the like, supplemented by a
per capita grant from the Provincial Legislatures.

There is no general Act of Parliament in the Dominion re-
lating to the care of the poor, and, practically speaking, each
county council and municipality acts upon its own responsibility
in this respect. Each city and town has adopted whatever
means of relieving distress has seemed most practicable under
local conditions, so that there is no uniform system in this
matter.

There is no official system of outdoor relief, and very little
paid agency. In some places relief is granted mainly from civic
funds, but is dispensed by voluntary agents; in some, a dis-
tributing agent is paid by the municipality, while the funds
dispensed are supplied by individual generosity; in some
municipal funds are distributed by a paid official, while in others
the funds devoted to poor relief are voluntarily contributed, with
small occasional aid from civic sources, and the distributers are
volunteers.

With very rare exceptions the poor who have to be relieved
in Canada are those who are too old or too infirm to work, the
exceptions being due to some local condition, such, for example, as
the destruction of some large industry by fire when for a time
those out of employment in consequence may need temporary

WOMEN m SOCIAL LIFE

assistance, or the collapse of what is called a *' boom ** in some
city, such as occurred in Toronto some few years ago when a
period of wild speculation in building was followed by the
necessary reaction, and as a consequence hundreds of skilled
mechanics were out of emplojrment, and therefore in need for
succeeding winters. In giving either outdoor or indoor relief
the recipients are expected to make some return in work where
that is possible. In the Province of Nova Scotia each muni-
cipality appoints three overseers of the poor, and anyone refusing
to serve as an overseer is liable to pay a fine of $20. Arrange-
ments are made for providing work and for compelling those
able to work to do so, and those refusing to work are sent to
gaol as vagrants. Overseers are to care for the poor in sudden
cases needing temporary help, or until the destitute can be
placed in the provincial almshouse. In Halifax outdoor relief
is supplied by voluntary subscriptions — voluntary in the fullest
sense because they are unsolicited — and the fund so supplied is
administered by a city official. An excellent provincial law
reads as follows : —

"The father, grandfather, mother, grandmother, children,
grandchildren, respectively, of every old, blind, lame, impotent
or other poor person not able to work, being of sufficient ability,
shall relieve and maintain at their own charge every such poor
person as the Municipal Council shall direct, and in case of refusal
shall forfeit a sum not exceeding $2 a week for such poor person,
to be sued for in the name of the overseers of the poor as a debt."

The property of persons who desert the poor belonging to
them can be seized and sold by the overseers. Every township
is liable to pay the expense necessarily incurred in the relief of a
pauper by a person not liable by law.

In the Province of Prince Edward's Island the law enacts that
the natural relatives of indigent and impotent persons who are
unable to maintain themselves shall contribute to their support
when possible, and this excellent law is enforced in the Province
of Quebec also. In the latter case the law goes still farther, for
it specifies that sons-in-law and daughters-in-law are also obliged
in like circumstances to maintain their mothers-in-law and
fathers-in-law, but the obligation ceases when the consort through
whom the affinity existed, and all the children of the marriage,
are dead.

The system of boarding out the poor is the prevailing rule in
the country districts of the Province of Quebec, and seems to
work very satisfactorily, the churches in many cases paying for

CARE OF THE DESTITUTE CLASSES IN THE BRITISH COLONIES 75

the support of their own poor. The Quebec Municipal Code
giyes flie authorities power in all cases to pass by-laws giving
relief to poor and needy people, and there are a large number of
institutions and charities that are supported by the Church of
Rome, by other churches, and by public benevolence for all
classes of the needy. The Roman Catholic Church, in some
cases, arranges a system of insurance by which old people are
enabled to provide beforehand for a shelter in some of their
institutions.

In the Province of New Brunswick overseers of the poor are
appointed, and the law provides as follows : — " Any two over-
seers, with the consent of two justices of the peace, shall oblige
any idle, disorderly rogue or vagabond, who is likely to become
chargeable to the parisli where he resides, to labour for any person
who may employ him. If such poor person bas^ children in a
suffering condition, any two overseers, with counsel aforesaid,
may bind such children as apprentices, if male until 21 years of
age, and if female until 18 years of age. If any such poor person
shall refuse to labour, such justices may commit him to the
common gaol to be kept at hard labour for a term not exceeding
40 days." Under this law, in some municipalities in this Pro-
vince, destitute persons, both old people and children, are
auctioned to those who will take them on the lowest terms, a
condition of affairs that has caused an agitation to be begun as
to building say one poorhouse for each two counties where the
population is sparse, in addition to several county poorhouses
already in existence, which are managed by commissioners
appointed by the municipalities. These poorhouses have farms
attached to them on which are grown all the produce needed by
the inmates, who do all the work, both outside and in, except the
cooking. Outside relief is given in this Province when needed,
from public funds, by the Almshouse Commission, after strict
investigation.

The Provincial Legislature of Ontario has always recognised
its duty towards the destitute and defective classes of its
citizens, and in addition to institutions for the blind and
the deaf and dumb, wholly supports six arsylums for the insane
and one asylum for idiots, gives a sum of $4000 towards the
erection of all county poorhouses, and per capita grants for the
poor in 51 hospitals and in 69 charitable institutions. Besides
the grant from the Government, these hospitals and institutions
receive municipal aid also, while the rest of the large amount
needed to support these and many other charities in the Province

76 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

is given by private individuals. There are 20 county almshouses
in Ontario, and these are supported by the municipalities. They
are managed by the warden, or an inspector and a committee of
the County Council, and have farms attached, on which the male
inmates work, and which supply the houses with vegetables and
the like.

Outdoor relief is given by the municipalities, and is generally
administered by a city official, or by voluntary agents. In the
small towns and townships the council usually appoints one man
to look after the few cases of need that occasionally arise, and
supplies him with funds for the same. The churches and the
national societies also make provision for the relief of their poor.

The newer Provinces of Manitoba, the North-West Territories
and British Columbia have as yet few poor for whom assistance is
required, and these are cared for by the various churches and
charitable organisations, assisted by municipal grants. In
Kamloops the Government of British Columbia has built and
entirely supports a home for the aged and infirm poor. In other
parts of these Provinces the " boarding-out " system is generally
the rule.

While there is no law of the Dominion Government making
provision for the care of the destitute classes, there has been,
unfortunately, an Act that bears hardly upon some of them.
This Act, which is known as the Vagrancy Act, became law at
a special time to meet a special condition, and was never intended
to be applied to the respectable poor of the country. It was
passed at the time of the close of the Civil War in the United
States, when Canada was overrun with tramps who had been
discharged from disbanded regiments in that country, and it
gives power to magistrates to commit to gaol for six months all
those brought before them who "have no visible means of
support." It is much to be regretted that municipalities in some
places have taken advantage of this Act, and, because it is
cheaper and less trouble, have had their destitute poor committed
to the county gaols, having them re-committed at the end of
each six months.

At the last annual meeting of the National Council of
Women of Canada, a resolution was passed asking the Dominion
Government to amend this Act, and shortly afterwards a petition
was sent from the National Council to the Prime Minister, Sir
Wilfred Laurier, to that effect. The result has been that the
Minister of Justice has introduced an amendment to the
Vagrancy Act during this present session of Parliament, which

CABS OF THE DESTITUTE CLASSES IN THE BRITISH COLONIES 77

has passed the second reading, and which it is hoped will remove
the injustice now done not only to the aged and respectable poor
in many cases, but also to our country's fair name, as making it
appear that in Canada poverty is regarded as a crime.

Mention should be made of legislation in the Province of
Ontario, which affects another section of the destitute classes —
namely, neglected and dependent children under 14 years of age.
This excellent Act was passed in 1893, and is entitled the
"Children's Protection Act," and is very similar to the South
Australian Act of 1872. The provisions of this Act contemplate
the gradual introduction in Ontario of the system of taking care
of the unprovided-for orphans and waifs of the community by
placing them out in carefully-selected foster-homes rather than
in the crowded children's homes in our cities and towns, and
thus bringing about the gradual absorption by the community of
the neglected and dependent children of the State.

In cases where children are suffering from cruelty or neglect
an officer of the Children's Aid Society (branches of which are
organised in the chief cities, towns and villages), who is authorised
to act as a constable, shall bring them before a magistrate for
examination into the case. The parents or custodians of the
child are entitled to notice of the examination by the magistrate,
and if it is found that the child is dependent or neglected within
the meaning of the Act, or in a state of habitual vagrancy, or
ill-treated so as to be in peril of life, health or morality, by con-
tinued personal injury, or by grave misconduct or habitual in-
temperance of the parents or guardian, the magistrate may order
the delivery of the child to the Children's Aid Society, and the
society may send the child to the society's temporary home to
be kept until placed in an approved foster-home. The society
then becomes the legal guardian of the child, and may place
children in families under written contracts during minority,
or for a shorter period, at discretion.

The fullest record of each child is kept by the society, and
all the foster-homes are visited from time to time by a " friendly
visitor," who, like the superintendent, is appointed and paid by
the Gk)vemment.

During the five years the Act has been in operation, up to
January last 828 children have been cared for and placed in
foster-homes by the society, and of these only a small number
have had to be changed to other homes for various reasons.
Owing to the success that has attended the canying out of the
Act in the Province of Ontario, the Legislatures of the Provinces

78 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

of Manitoba and British Columbia have decided to adopt similar
Acts.

That the Act has been successful in bringing to pass that for
which it became law may be seen from the fact that through its
administration many parents who were completely sunk in vice
and drunkenness have been induced to reform for their children's
sake; children who were being ruined and degraded almost
beyond conception have been saved before it was too late ; home-
less children, some of them deserte4 by indifferent parents, have
been provided with good foster-homes, and boys and girls who
were subj footed to ill-usage and overwork have been protected
and befriended ; surely results that are indeed well worth while.

Treatment of the Destitute Classes in

England.

Mrs Bernard Bosanquet (Great Britain).

In speaking of the treatment of the destitute classes it is important
to begin by noting that destitution is not necessarily a chronic
condition. It is no uncommon thing amongst men of a certain
type to be earning good wages for nine months in the year, and to
be destitute for the remaining three ; and this will tend to swell
the numbers of the destitute classes during the winter. On the
other hand, vagrancy, which appears at first sight to be the
simplest and most complete form of destitution, is naturally far
more attractive in summer than in winter ; a{id the numbers of
the temporarily destitute for whom free lodging has to be supplied
are largely increased on the eve of popular races, or when the
hopping season tempts town people into the country. For this
reason no great reliance can be placed upon returns as to the
number of vagrants, and it must suffice to say that there are
many thousands at any given time tramping the country.

There is another class of destitute persons which varies with
circumstances. It consists of those who succumb to sudden mis-
fortune, and those who, weary of the battle of life, and it may be
reluctantly, it may be gladly, hand over all responsibility to
others and become destitute as a preliminary to becoming

TREATMENT OP THE DESTITUTE CLASSES IN ENGLAND 79

dependent. This class will increase in periods of sickness and
"bad times/' or again according to the facilities afforded to
the dispirited to shift the burden of their maintenance on to
the community.

Finally, there is the class of those who are destitute owing to
some physical or mental infirmity, such as the blind, the crippled,
the epileptic, or the insane and feeble-minded, or again the very
old and the very young. The numbers of this class are not liable
to fluctuation quite in the same way as those of the two former ;
but it must be borne in mind that an infirm person is not neces-
sarily destitute, but may, under skilled treatment, become self-
supporting, or may, under wise administration, be supported by
relations.

It is clear that the destitute require very different treatment
according as they belong to one or another of the above classes,
and we find accordingly many varieties in practice in England at
the present day.

It will be convenient to distinguish between the Poor Law and
the work of charity, though sometimes they will be found to
employ the same methods. Strictly speaking, the Poor Law exists
for the destitute only, but in practice it deals with others also, as
when it affords an asylum for the imbecile child of a father who
pays .towards its support, or supplements the earnings of a widow,
or takes into the irdfirmary some old pensioner who has no one to
nurse him outside. But though it makes exceptions in favour of
some who are not destitute, it makes none the other way. How-
ever temporary, however voluntary, the destitution must receive its
relief. A pensioner may draw his money on quarter-day, lead a
week of drunken revelry, and at the end of the week be main-
tained as destitute. A tramp to the Derby desirous of free
lodging may empty his pockets at 5 o'clock and be maintained
after 6 o'clock as destitute. And a man may earn high wages
until December and then be maintained as destitute through
the Christmas holidays. All that the guardians who administer
the law can legally do, is to impose conditions which may prove
deterrent.

To take first the case of vagrants. The guardians are bound
to provide food and lodging for them after 4 o'clock in winter, and
after 6 o'clock in summer. The rule is that any vagrant accept-
ing this relief shall be detained in, the workhouse or casual ward
for two nights, and work in the intervening day in payment ; but
guardians have a discretion in the matter, and frequently let him
go without any work done. Where this is the case, and where,

80 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

as is almost universal, no regenerative influence is brought to
bear upon the vagrant, the system tends wholly to the increase
and not at all to the diminution of vagrancy.

The treatment of vagrants by the Poor Law is largely supple-
mented by voluntary charity.

In the first place, there is the food and money which is given
so freely "at the door," and perhaps even more by the working
class than by the well-to-do. The fact that the vagrant is
destitute at the moment, and possibly hungry, proves irresistible,
and the questions whether he prefers tramping to working, and
whether it is well that he should prefer it, are lost sight of. This
form of " treatment," under the name of the " conmion dole," used
to be penal, and is no doubt responsible for the great bulk of
vagrant destitution.

The fact that this is so has led in various directions to the
attempt to deal with this class more systematically. In the first
place, there is the excellent method followed by some trade
unions and friendly societies for dealing with the man who is
genuinely seeking for work, of passing him on with an introduc-
tion from place to place. Properly speaking, the man who is
member of such a body is not destitute, but it is important that
those who give at the door should know that the genuine working
man has a means of dealing with the emergency which sends him
on the tramp.

Then there are the various charitable institutions which estab-
lish refuges, shelters, labour homes and labour bureaux ; it may be
merely with the view to making the vagrant's life easier, or it
may be with a view to catching him on the wing and luring him
back into employment and domesticity.

The shelter which has no further aim beyond shelter has done
a large share towards increasing the number of the destitute, for
it has drawn upon the class of those who are wearying of the
struggle of independence, and who drift from casual ward to
shelter, and from shelter to lodging-house and back to casual
ward, not because they love the wandering life as the true vagrant
does, but because they are following the line of least resistance.
The fact that these shelters are often less particular than the
casual wards about sanitation and behaviour makes them both
more attractive to the lowest classes and a source of real danger
to the community.

The labour homes and colonies which attempt the reforma-
tion of the- vagrant are on a different footing altogether, and as
some of the comparatively successful I may instance those of the

TREATMENT OP THE DESTITUTE CLASSES IN ENGLAND 81

Church Army, and of the less successful, those of the Salvation
Armv.

In qualifying the success which has attended the Salvation
Army Labour Colonies, I am guided mainly by the result of an
experiment made by half a dozen Boards of Guardians in sending
their able-bodied paupers to the Army's city colonies and farm
colonies. The guardians paid for their maintenance in the
colonies, in the hope of their being ultimately restored to inde-
pendence ; but 90 per cent, of those sent have returned to the
workhouse still incorrigible, and of the remaining 10 per cent,
there is no record. Those guardians who still send cases do so
now with no hope of reclamation, but in order that they may be
able to prosecute the men for refusing work.

The Church Army, on the other hand, is decidedly more suc-
cessful in reclaiming and restoring to independence those who are
sent to their labour homes. By some tlus is attributed to the
more individual and possibly less emotional nature of the in-
fluence brought to bear ; certainly the fact that this influence can
be prolonged over considerable periods of time must contribute to
their success.

Similar good results can hardly be hoped for from the Church
Army's new scheme of way tickets and lodging homes, which can
exercise no such prolonged influence, and merely increase the
facilities for a vagrant life.

Experience seems to show that in dealing with this class of
destitution, nothing but strong personal influence is of any avail ;
and it may be suggested that a great field of work is open to ex-
perienced men or women who would visit the casual wards regu-
larly with a view to influencing hopeful cases in this way.

Of rescue work in its more technical sense I need not speak,
as it has been already dealt with.

When we come to the class of those who are destitute through
exceptional misfortune, and those who merely need the spur of
encouragement, we reach the sphere which is peculiarly appro-
priate to private charity. The Poor Law has little scope for
constructive work, for raising the destitute into independence,,
but to charity it is open to make every effort to attain this end.
Experience shows that such work must be complete, and miist^
above all, be adapted to individual needs ; and it is probable that
from this point of view a great improvement is taking place in
charitable methods in England. The centre of this improvement
is the London Charity Organisation Society, with its insistence on
the necessity of proper training for charitable work, and the

VOL. VII. p

82 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

facilities which it affords for that training. It has also many
corresponding societies in the provincial towns, and has 800
volunteer workers in immediate connection with it in London.
Many also of the younger clergy and parochial visitors have
received training in its offices ; and sound principles are beginning
to make way among the enormous army of untrained and un-
disciplined almsgivers who are so apt to make independence
difficult to the poor.

I come now to what is beginning to be a most interesting and
profitable branch of work — ^the treatment of those who are desti-
tute owing to physical or mental infirmity. Much greater efforts
are being made to treat destitution of this type in a scientific
way, by/ removing or lessening the infirmity to which it is due,
both by the official guardians of the poor and by charitable
enterprise.

For the permanently insane or imbecile no remedial treatment
is possible, and improvement here has taken the form of more
humane treatment and better classification. It may be pointed
out that the apparent increase in lunacy is probably due largely to
a change in administration, by which the cost of maintaining a
pauper lunatic is no longer borne entirely by the local rates,
and guardians are therefore more ready to commit them to
asylums.

Until quite recently, hardly any proper provision was made for
the destitute epileptics, who may or may not be insane. Even
now they are very insufficiently provided for, and many are to be
found in the wards of the workhouse or infirmary. But there is
now a movement towards the founding of colonies for epileptics,
where, under proper treatment, their condition can be greatly im-
proved, while some may be even made self-supporting. The
guardians have power to send epileptic paupers to these in-
stitutions, and to pay for their maintenance out of the rates;
but they have been started, and are mainly supported by private
charity.

There is a similar movement in favour of the class now
technically known as the "feeble-minded." Many of the most
hopeless cases of destitution are amongst these ; and no ordinary
treatment, whether by the Poor Law or by charity, has been
effectual. Good preventive work is now done by the special
classes of the School Board in London and some other towns^
where special attention is paid to developing the faculties of
defective children; and a considerable number of homes have
been instituted — ^mainly for girls — for the reception and main-

TREATMENT OP THE DESTITUTE CLASSES IN ENGLAND 83

tenance of those who can be induced to remain under control.
At present there is no legal power of controlling this class in such
a way as to prevent it from passing on its defects to another
genei-atioiL

The blind and deaf and dumb have long received the attention
which has hitherto been denied to the two previous classes ; and
guardians have power to send such cases to charitable institutions
for special education and training.

There still remain the children and the aged poor. The work
of dealing with the former is very attractive, and charitable
enterprise takes a large amount of it off the hands of the
guardians. Some of the charitable homes indeed are reserved
for those who are above the pauper class, but it cannot be said-
that on the whole there is any clear distinction between the chil-
dren who are cared for by the Poor Law and those who
are cared for by charity. There are large institutions, such
as those of Dr Bamardo, which deal with children by thousands,
and are not always concerned to ensure that they are destitute ;
there are a vast number of smaller homes and orphanages , and
there are also societies for boarding out or emigrating desti-
tute children. Of all alike it may be said that, in so far as
they can ensure individual care for the children, they are doing
a good work ; while on the other hand, in so far as they neglect
to enforce the responsibility of parents, they are probably tending
to increase the class requiring their care.

All three methods of dealing with destitute children are also
practised by the guardians, with varying success, according to the
amount of care bestowed. With children who are really destitute,
of whom therefore they can take complete charge, they are
in the main successful. The chief difficulty arises with the
children of those who are known as " ins and out," those who are
constantly bringing their families for a spell into the workhouse
and then taking them away again. Jt is thought by some that
the problem of dealing with these children might be simplified
by giving the guardians greater powers of detention over their
parents.

With regard to the treatment of the aged poor there is great
diversity of opinion. All are agreed in desiring that old age
should be guarded against destitution, but there is no consensus
as to the best means of attaining that end. With respect to the
Poor Law, it is chiefly in favour of this class that the guardians
exercise their discretion of granting out-relief ; though in numer-
ous cases of loneliness or infirmity it becomes necessary to receive

84 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

the old man or woman into the workhouse or infirmary. But
some hold that where out-relief is restricted, a more sufficient and
natural maintenance will be forthcoming from children, relations,
employers, or private charity ; and in some districts this method
has been followed with striking success. On the other hand,
where out-relief is freely given to the aged it is too often miser-
ably inadequate to the needs of the recipient. It is probable
that for those cases of destitution which cannot be dealt with
except by the Poor Law, the most humane course is to direct
attention towards perfecting their treatment within some Poor
Law institution, and to follow out some careful scheme of
classification.

Here again charity also does a very large work. I may not
now speak of charitable schemes for the future, but of what is
actual fact at present. There are, in the first place, a very large
number of charitable endowments assigned to the use of the aged
poor, many, though not all, of whom are supposed to be otherwise
destitute. The funds of these charities are frequently applied in
the form of almshouses and pensions, and this treatment has the
great merit of being adequate and making real provision for the
needs of its recipients. But there are also large numbers of
endowed charities which are still frittered away in sums too
small to be of any real benefit, instead of being concentrated into
adequate allowances.

In addition to this endowed charity there is the living
charity which flows so freely in our midst from day to day, and
this again falls into two kinds — that which makes adequate pro-
vision for its recipients, and that which is dissipated in doles. It
is to be feared that the latter is still the larger amount, but
progress is being made in the right direction.

I do not speak of the allowances to the aged made by the
trade unions and friendly societies, for the recipients of these
are really living on their investments, and are in no sense
destitute.

To sum up. We have in England many ways of treating the
destitute classes, which are practised both under the Poor Law
and by charitable enterprise. Sometimes these work in opposition
to, or ignorance of, each other ; but the best results are obtained
when they agree upon some policy and combine to carry it out. .
The advantages of this are twofold. First, nothing tends so
much to strengthen the moral fibre and independence of the
dependent as knowing exactly how far they may look to others
for help, and how far they must rely upon their own exertions ;

TREATMENT OF THE DESTITUTE CLASSES IN ENGLAND 85

and this certainty is never attained where those engaged in
philanthropy work at cross-purposes. Secondly, where there is
mutual knowledge and combination, charitable enterprise benefits
by the experience and authority of Poor Law guardians and
officials, while these in turn may be roused to the value of new
methods, and may escape the dangers of too much routine by
contact with charitable enterprise.

WOMEN'S CLUBS.

(a) social clubs.

(b) gikls' clubs.

CONVOCATION HALL OF CHURCH HOUSE,
DEAN'S YARD, WESTMINSTER.

THURSDAY, JUNE 29, MORNING.

The Hon. Mrs A. T. LYTTELTON in the Chair.

The Women's Club Movement in

America.

Mrs Webster Glynes (United States).

The Women^s Club Movement in the United States is interest-
ing to students of sociology as indicating the direction that
feminine activities will take when women shall have attained
the larger liberty that was inevitably awaiting them. Its ten-
dency has been not only to stimulate the intellectual faculties
and to widen the sympathies, but to educate, in the true sense
of the word, by unfolding and leading forth the hidden powers
of the soul, and developing the sub-conscious individuality.

The Women's Club Movement as a social force dated from

THE WOMEN^S CLUB MOVEMENT IN AMERICA 87

1868, when Sorosis was formed in New York and the New Eng-
land Women's Club in Boston. Literary circles and societies
had existed previously, but those two clubs formed in two great
cities attracted the attention of the Press, and by that means
the club idea was scattered abroad.

Other centres were formed in important cities, notably the
New Century Club of Philadelphia and the Chicago Women's
Club.

Through the instrumentality of Sorosis " The Association for
the Advancement of Women " was formed in 1871, and its yearly
congresses held ever since in various sections of the United
States had greatly helped the growth of organisations among
women.

Under the wise presidency of Julia Ward Howe the dignity
of the subjects treated of, and the sobriety of the discussions,
have commanded respect for the organisation and won golden
opinions from those who were watching the growth of the
Women's Movement with critical and inquiring eyes.

It is now 10 years since the formation of the General Federa-
tion of Women's Clubs, under the auspices of Sorosis, tended to
make club life for women exceedingly popular in the United
States.

General and State Federations have stimulated the growth
of women's clubs everywhere, until we may, I think, venture to
regard " The Woman's Club " as a national institution.

The objects of these numerous clubs are as varied as the
needs which gave them birth, but their work was always in the
direction of higher education for women, and they are practically
in harmony with the university extension idea. They fostered
a spirit of friendship and camaraderie among women^ and in-
variably proved centres for the radiation of "sweetness and
light."

Did time permit I could tell you of civic clubs whose object
is municipal reform ; of health protective associations, concrete
embodiments of the maternal instinct which are endeavouring
to carry the principles of good house-cleaning and house-
keeping into the city streets, stables and abattoirs; village
improvement societies who are claiming the right " to assist in
the ordering, in the comforting, and in the beautiful adorn-
ment of the State," which, as you know Ruskin says, is
"the woman's duty as a member of the Commonwealth;" of
travellers' clubs who are brightening the monotony of village
life with glimpses of foreign travel experienced by means of

88 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

photographs, guide books and papers written after due research
by earnest and enthusiastic members, so that it often happens
that the *' stay-at-homes " are more familiar with cathedrals,
ruins, picture galleries and famous authors of foreign lands than
the favoured few who have enjoyed the privileges of travel.

The many-sided clubs like Sorosis, the departmental clubs,
are as varied in their interests as is human life itself. The com-
mittees on science, art, literature, drama, house and home, edu-
cation, philanthropy and current events which compose Sorosis,
provide topics for discussion on each social day and call on the
most talented minds to write papers on those topics. The inter-
change of ideas must cultivate breadth of view, as one's world is
enlarged by seeing it from a neighbour's hilltop.

It is not too much to claim for women's clubs, I think, that
they are modifying the conditions of social Ufe, breaking down
barriers of prejudice and lessening the spirit of caste. In club
life there was no " abdication of majesty to play at precedence
with one's next door neighbour," the abdication which Ruskin
so sorrowfully deplores.

Every woman's club was a small state or republic in itself,
with its executive board, directed by the will of the majority.
Every member receives an education in parliamentary procedure
while taking part in its deliberations and voting on the various
measures which come up for consideration.

These miniature republics, related as they mostly were to the
State and General Federations, have their foreign and domestic
policies, and while formed ostensibly to foster intellectual sym-
pathies and obtain a wider culture of the mind, they are insensibly
training in another way the faculties of women, and preparing
them for the exercise of civic rights and responsibilities.

To sum up, the influence of women's club life has been in the
direction of a higher mental culture and the increase of S3anpathy
among women, and incidentally it was educating them for the
duties of citizenship, preparing for the hour when they shall be
called upon to fulfil those duties.

I cannot close my paper without a brief reference to the
financial aspect of club life. Women have proved themselves
able financiers. I have never heard yet of a woman's club bur-
dened with a debt.

A number of clubs have built club-houses by means of joint-
stock companies formed of club members. These club-houses
prove sources of income. The New Century Club House of
Philadelphia paid its stockholders a 10 per cent, dividend the

RUSSIAN women's ASSOCIATION AT ST PETERSBURG 89

first six months after the house was opened. There are many
others which have proved a financial success, besides providing
a delightful centre and place of meeting for members.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, but there are souls
specially fitted to receive such gifts. We have with us to-day
the woman whose faith and enthusiasm was instrumental in
founding Sorosis, who believed it possible for women to " dwell
together in unity," and who has seen that possibility demon-
strated to an extent that must have more than realised her
dreams.

The ideal of a united womanhood was in the air. Mrs Croly
received the ideal, and held to it, and it has become a reality.

Russian Women's Association or Club

at St Petersburg.

Dr Ida Posnansky-Garfield, Secretary of Women's Association

for Mutual Help (Russia).

The idea of association among Bussian women found its realisa-
tion only three years ago. The two years preceding the found-
ing of the club were occupied in drawing up its constitution ; but
unfortunately our statutes were not accepted by the Minister of
the Interior, women's clubs being among the prohibited things
of that country. The proposal was, however, made by Govern-
ment to call it a philanthropical institution, against the existence
of which no objection would be raised, so we called our club by
the somewhat lengthy name of " The Russian Women's Associa-
tion for Mutual Help," and got the thing, if not the name, we
wanted.

The society began its work with a capital of only £100,
which had been raised by the contributions of the 70 ladies who
formed the nucleus of the society. So thoroughly did the associa-
tion meet the needs of the public that at the end of the first year
they had more than £1000 in hand, having hired a permanent
place of meeting, bought the necessary fittings, and instituted a
reading-room. At the same time the association was giving its
members moral, intellectual and pecuniary aid by arranging
courses of lectures on literature, science and art, and getting up

90 WOMEN IX SOCIAL LIFE

social gatherings. Book-keeping, too, was taught, and a registry
for governesses opened. Arrangements for lending or bestowing
money on those in need of it were made. The chief aim of the
society is to raise the tone and ideals of Russian women, so as
to fit them for their work in the, let us hope, not very distant
future.

The yearly subscription is 10s. Each new member has to be
introduced by three old ones, after which she is balloted at the
next general meeting. Now we have about 2000 members.
The business of the association is carried on by a council, con-
sisting of the president, 2 vice-presidents, 1 treasurer, 2 secre-
taries and 6 members. The association contains 12 sections, at
the head of each being a special manageress. These sections
were formed chronologically as follows : — (1) The reading-room ;
(2) a special committee for raising funds ; (3) a department
whose special work it is to arrange courses of lectures ; (4) home-
reading circles ; (5) a registry for finding employment for women ;
(6) a musical circle ; (7) a department for the supervision of the
luncheon and refreshment bar ; (8) a circle for providing chil-
dren with dress and food, and lectures on children and hygiene ;
(9) a literary circle; (10) a bureau for money lending and
savings bank combined; (11) a circle of amateur photographers;
(12) a department to arrange for common homes. We will soon
open a section for instruction in dressmaking, and publish a
journal of our society.

In the alleviation of public calamities our society took an
active part. Thus, during our periodical inundations, five local
centres were instituted to work more efficiently.

This winter our association did good work in raising 8000
roubles, besides clothing and boots, for the relief of those suflfer-
ing from famine and its terrible consequences.
^ I am proud to say that our lady president, Dr Schabanoff,
got the signatures of about 24,000 Russian women from all parts
of Russia to send to the assembled delegates at the Hague. And
so I think I am justified in saying that if we are somewhat slow
in awaking, we come to the front quite as readily and willingly
as the women of those countries which are more fortunate in
possessing a more liberal Government.

THE ladies' club OP PARIS 91

The Ladies' Club of Paris.

President, Mme. B. F^vrier de Marsy (France).

Pbi^sidente du Ladies' Club dont '^ la fondation causa a Paris la
Ville qui ne s'etonne de rien que des id^s nouvelles " une si com-
plete surprise, c'est a moi qu'il appartient de vous dire ce que j'ai
congu, souhaite en cr^nt ce Cercle le premier, Punique en France.

Le succ^s obtenu en Angleterre et aux Etats-Unis par les Clubs
de femmes, les grands avantages qui en sont resultes a tous les
points de vue, m'ont detenninee a fonder a Paris un Cercle du
m^me genre. Je savais d'avance combien j'allais rencontrer de
difficult^s, d'oppositions pour realiser seule, sans aucun appui une
pareille entreprise dans un pays oii I'independance de caract^re
n'existe pas encore chez la femme, dont I'education sous ce rapport,
a besoin d'etre faite. J'ai eu cette grande ambition d'y aider dans
ce pays ou la solidarity feminine n'est h^las 1 qu'un voeu qui
cherche a se r^liser, o^ tout ce qui est nouveau est accueilli avec
mefiance par les femmes, avec raillerie par les hommes.

Cependant, persuadee que je faisais oeuvre utile en rdalisant
ce projet, en cr^nt dans ce Paris oii, a c6te de tant de lieux
de plaisirs, seul un abriu centre amical pour les honnStes
femmes a ^t^ oublie, j'ai fonde, il y a bient6t quatre ans, le Club
de la rue Duperre, le premier qui ait existi a Paris. En le
faisant, j'ai cru repondre a de reels inter^ts, a de nombreux
besoins, car si tant de gens s'interessent aux miseres physiques
et essaient de les soulager, combien peu songent aux soufifrances
morales, aux besoins de I'esprit et du coeur.

La pauvre humanity ne vit pas que de pain cependant, elle a
d'autres besoins, d'autres aspirations, et bien superieures celles la.
C'est cette lacune que j'ai voulu combler. Si je lui ai donne le
nom Anglais de Ladies' Club c'est parceque j'ai voulu, autant
que possible, imiter ce qui 4 ete fait par les Anglaises, leurs
entreprises en ce genre ayant ete couronnees de succ^s. C'est
aussi pour mettre le Cercle sous le patronnage international
et bien indiquer qu'il 4tait ouvert a toutes les femmes de bonne
volonte a quelque pays qu'elles appartinssent.

Mon but etait de creer un centre amical, intellectuel, ou
femmes honorables, cultiv^es et bien ^levees "veuves ou c41i-
bataires '' pourraient se rencontrer, ^changer leurs idees, se mettre
au courant des ev^nements de la vie Parisienne, un centre ou les

92 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Isoldes pourraient trouver une aimable compagnie, des distractions
de tous genres et, surtout aux heures si lourdes de la solitude et
de la tristesse, un remade a leur ennui, une sincere sympathie pour
leurs peines, on celles qui ont souffert trouveraient des consola-
tions, oh. les moins fortundes pourraient se creer un milieu
comfortable, elegant m^me, retrouver ainsi les douces joies du
Home et oublier pendant les heures qu'elles passent avec nous,
les injustices sociales dont si sou vent elles sont victimes.

Ce premier Cercle, tr^s familial, tr^s intime, ^tait avant tout,
utilitaire et pratique, base surtout sur Fassistance morale, la pro-
tection et I'appui mutuels. Le cdt^ inter^ssant de cette fondation
nouvelle ^tait la pensee morale qui y pr^sidait ; du reste, sa devise
en disait plus long que les plus longs discours " L^ Union fait la
forced A la premiere trop br^ve j'avais ajout^ cette autre qui
r^sumait tous mes espoirs, toutes mes aspirations; ^^ Protection^
Solidarity, Bienveillance, D^vouement,** c'etait une beUe et bonne
egide qui a tenu tout ce qu'elle promettait, si Ton songe aux
grands et multiples services que le Cercle pouvait rendre, qu'il a
rendus !

Le Ladies' Club de Paris a ete, d^s le debut, le centre d'une
Society d'elite. La se sont recontr^es des femmes qui n'auraient
jamais eu occasion de se connaitre, qui ont ^change leurs id^es, etabli
d'amicales relations, qui se sont rendu des services mutuels, qui
ont pass^ d'agreables heures de loisir, qui auraient ete des
heures d'ennui si elles n'avaient pas eu les reunions du Cercle.
Celles qui sont musiciennes ont charm^ les autres par leur talent,
quelques unes par leurs travaux litteraires poetiques ainsi que par
leur charme de bonne diseuse, toutes ayant appris ou gagne
quelque chose.

Des cercles masculins nous n'avons voulu retenir que les
avantages, laissant de c6te tous leurs inconvenients. Comme a
ces messieurs, les bons diners pas chers n'etant pas pour nous
d^plaire, nous les avons institu^s. Mais mieux avis^es, plus sages,
nous avons rigoureusement banni le jeu de notre programme,
nos distractions sont plus morales, et plus intellectueUes. La
litt^rature, la musique, les arts, la causerie en font les frais et
si je ne craigmais d'ltre accusee de partiality je vous dirais que
de Faveu de toutes, nous passons au cercle de charmantes soirees,
sans le secours des cartes ni de la medisance. Animees d'un
esprit conciliant nous n'apportons au Club qu'une bienveillance
absolue; meilleur que le leur est done notre but, plus morale
notre tentative, plus hautes nos aspirations. Dans cette reunion
de femmes bien n^es, d'excellente education, il n'est question ni

THE ladies' club OF PARIS 93

de politique, ni d'^mancipation, ni de revendication d'aucune sorte ;
se grouper pour se rendre la vie plus douce et plus facile, telle
^tait notre unique ambition.

Enseigner aux femmes qui, chez nous, on n'habitue pas assez
a penser, k ne point rester indifferentes sous pr^texte qu'elles
ne manquent de rien, au^ souf&ances d'autrui; leur apprendre
les joies et les bienfaits de la solidarite, qu'un grand nombre
ignore tel 6'tait notre but.

Aussi que de femmes intelligentes et cultivees auront du au
Cercle une distraction k leur isolement, que d'autres Papaisement
a leurs peines.

Encourage par ce commencement de succes j'ai resolu
d'etablir un second Ladies' Club au centre m^me de Paris, pr^
de la Madeleine, au milieu de la vie Elegante et mondaine. Tout
autres sont les vis^es de ce nouveau cercle. Tout en conservant
les traditions de bienveillance et d'urbanit^ qui ont assure le
succes de son atne, le second Ladies' Club a donn^ a sa direction
une note plus Elegante.

Destine sp^ialement aux mondaines, ce nouveau cercle sera
comme le temple de la femme, le centre de toutes les sup^riorit^s
f^minines.

Toutes les aristocraties y auront leur place marquee, celle de
la naissance comme celle de I'intelligence, du talent comme de la
fortune. Les etrang^res, a la condition qu'elles soient du meilleur
monde, seront assuri^es d'y trouver Taccueil le plus sympathique,

Paris, la seule capitale du monde civilise qui n'en poss^ait
pas, aura enfin son centre de toutes les ^l^gances, son Jockey Club
feminin, pour tout dire en un mot.

C'est aux ^trang^res surtout que je m'adresse aujourd'hui
pour leur demander de nous aider dans la reussite d'une entre-
prise fond^ dans un int^rSt feminin, et dont les femmes du
monde entier sont appel^s a beneficier, car Paris est un centre
o^ se donnent rendez-vous les femmes de toutes les nations et ce
sont celles 14 surtout, venues de lointains pays pour qui le cercle
est appreciable; elles y trouveront en arrivant un salon ouvert
pour les recevoir, des femmes du meilleur monde pour les
renseigner sur la vie parisienne, les guider dans leurs distractions,
leurs achats, leurs Etudes, etc.

Je n'ai pas k insister pour faire comprendre combien il est
avantageux pour les ^trang^res de se joindre k nous. Je fais done
appel, mesdames, k votre bienveillant concours et, dans un inter^t
g^n^ral, je vous demande de contribuer au succes du Ladies' Club
de Paris d'abord en le venant visiter puis ensuite en nous

WOMEN

ail

gentle^

''Uromen

read

€entle>'

signalant les ameliorations k
realiser.

Le cercle tient a la dispos
qui viendraient a Paris, pou
scientifiques ou artistiques, q^
tout le conf ort desirable en n
conditions les plus avantageu

Les dames parisiennes <
rhabitude de venir diner au c
du foyer retiennent enchainec
par semaine.

Enfin, le Ladies' Club <
artistiques et litteraires. L
jour la exceptionnellement, i
amis, qui non seulement sont i
m^me invites a nous faire des
qui vient de s'ecouler nous av«
nombre de c^lebrites et de
feminines, tres empressees a
talent et de leur notoriety.

Enfin, comme nous avons a
intellectuel, nous y avons orgi
ont 6t6 pour les femmes d'elit€

II ne faudrait pas croire
vendications feminines prechf
lliomme. Loin de \k ; les suj<
y ont et6 trait^s.

Et je termine mesdames, ei
soUdarite feminine, nous savoa
Mettons cette devise en prat I
nous deviendrons toutes puissautea ^ u est aiors que nous pourrons
exercer notre action bienfaisante, moralisatrice et r^g^n^ratrice.

Imitons ce que les hommes font de bien ; ces institutions dans
lesquelles ils puisent leur force, cette entente masculine qui leur
donne le moyen de r^liser les choses les plus dificiles, entente
que nous devrions toutes tendre a imiter.

Unissons nous pour le bien, pour le progr^s de rhumanite, pour
Televation du niveau moral de la race, pour les ceuvres de Con-
corde, et de paix, et en pr^parant ainsi Pavenir a ceux qui nous
suivront, et qui, plus heureux que nous, r^lteront ce que nous
aurons seme, nous aurons bien m^rit^ de nos contemporains,
puisque nous aurons fait tout ce que nous aurons pu faire.

Pour moi, n'aurais-je vers^ un peu de joie et d'oubli que dans

^ixsoman.

J y

women's clubs in ENGLAND 95

un seul coeur, je serais encore heureuse et fiifere de mon oeuvre qui
congue avec foi, avec amour, avec enthousiasme, trouve en elle-
mSme sa recompense.

Women's Clubs in England.

Mrs Wynford Philipps, Proprietor of the Grosvenor Crescent
Club and Founder of the Women's Institute (Great
Britain).

Mrs Fhilipps said that during the ten short minutes at her dis-
posal she would try to point out a few of the purposes for which
clubs in this country had been started. They fulfilled a modem
need in women's life ; some joined them to obtain creature com-
forts, others for intellectual food ; some for aesthetic reasons, to
get airy rooms and dainty surroundings, others for ethical,
philanthropic and social purposes. Mrs Philipps pointed out
that the famous club, the female coterie in 1770, was destined to
be short-lived, except in the literature of our country, which had
immortalised it. A hundred years later the club idea had revived,
and had resulted in the formation of at least three dozen excellent
clubs in Great Britain. The Albemarle for men and women was
formed in 1874, and was followed by the Somerville, the Women's
University Club, the Pioneer and the Writers'. She mentioned
the other great clubs of the present day — the Sesame, the
Grosvenor Crescent, the Empress, the County and many others.
Clubs could be considered under two general headings — those that
existed for general social purposes and those which had a literary
or educational aim. Each had its special advantages and dis-
advantages. The clubs where eating, sleeping and entertainment
was the chief aim were apt to become mere private hotels or
restaurants. Clubs with an aim, on the other hand, though they
brought many together, were apt to keep many apart, since all
definite objects antagonised some whilst they attracted others.
It had been said that in clubs with intellectual aims the food
was in inverse ratio of excellence to the mental diet, but the
most recently formed literary clubs were remarkable for their
cuisine, and in the future this comment might be regarded as a
Ubel.

Mrs Philipps then described her idea of a club that might
join the advantages of both types. She pointed out that there
might be a club, homelike and beautiful, furnished like a private

96 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

house, adorned with flowers and books, where routine and official-
dom should not be too obvious ; a club for women where men
would be welcomed as guests, and linked in the same building
with a department or society which should devote itself to special
aims which might appeal to different members, but with which
no member need be identified unless she wished. This woidd not
take the place of other clubs, as clubs both for purely social and
for other purposes would always be needed as well. Of social
clubs which had united a definite object apart from and yet linked
with the club she mentioned the Sesame, which had an Educa-
tional League that was doing excellent work, and had a special
room for conferences, and the Grosvenor Crescent Club, a social
club, established at Hyde Park Comer in the same building as the
Women's Institute, a society quite separate that members could
join or not as they liked, that had rooms of its own, and that
linked together artists, musicians, philanthropists and other
workers, and has a literary society as well as a recreation
department.

Mrs Philipps alluded to the excellent feeling that existed
between the best women's clubs, and to the kindness and con-
sideration she had received from them in her own work. She
concluded by saying that residential clubs for professional women
were greatly needed, and that the knowledge that this need
existed had led some of the members of the Women's Institute
to consider the formation of such a residential club in a suitable
locality as a department of the Institute as soon as the oppor-
tunity for such a further department arose.

Lady Hamilton said that, glancing at that paper, she felt like
the Queen of Sheba, because of everything which had gone before
her on the programme and of what followed behind her — a lady
who if she did not know what clubs were then there was nothing
more to know. What she had hoped to do, but Mrs Wynford
Philipps had taken the wind out of her sails, was to say a word
about the spirit of that mother of all those clubs with a purpose
— the late Mrs Massingberd, the foundress of all that idea of
social and useful clubs. She had been thinking that morning
that if Mrs Massingberd had been there instead of herself they
would have had her encouragement, her eloquence — ^the eloquence
of the greatest; they would have felt that power of infinite
sympathy which Mrs Massingberd had, and which no one had
ever had since. Perhaps she might pay that slight tribute to the
memory of a woman who had done so much in this way. Day
after day, hour after hour she had worked in support of these

women's clubs in ENGLAND 97

establishments for the benefit of those who were at work in that
big city of London. As was known on the other side of the
Atlantic, she had affiliated her club with the American clubs.
There were two points which she had thought of as to what had
beeja said before. That was the effect of social clubs from the
point of view of home, and the other was respective to co-operative
schemes, which were the vogue of the day. What was the
practical result from the club point of view ? Whatever a woman
seeks should be found in her club — repose, isolation, literary
resource, philanthropic interest, amusement, society, comfort,
sympathy, work. But as everything had its quid pro quo, what
must she give in return % Civility, common sense, some notion of
the law of order, some consideration for others, and above all the
spirit of loyalty which gives an atmosphere of healthy sweetness
embraced in the idea of home.

With the difficulty in obtaining service, and the tendency of
women to work as well as men, club life is becoming popular
and separate houses are at a discount. Therefore the next century-
may see the co-operative kitchen typified in clubs in every street,
and the inhabitants feeding in clubs in preference to their own
homes, which will be merely sitting-rooms and sleeping-rooms.

The possible danger of clubs is that they may destroy home
life, and home life and family life is the marrow and bone of
the English nation. If clubs, however, can create esprit de
corps among women, and create a sort of family feeling and pro-
mote national life and domestic charms, they are progressive in
the best sense.

Mrs Croly, the founder of ** Sorosis," the first women's club in
the United States of America, felt that in speaking to them that
morning she was at a considerable disadvantage — not per-
haps in knowing nothing of her subject, but from knowing too
much. An editor in America was once desirous of having some-
thing written about the clubs. When he printed the article
about those institutions it was found that the only part which
was not inaccurate was that which was not about clubs. He was
asked by certain persons why he did not obtain the services of a
writer who understood the subject. "Why did you not ask So-
and-so ? " " Oh ! " he replied, ** she knows too much." He wanted
someone who could speak from an ordinary point of view. In
talking about clubs she personally felt that she knew too much
about them. Her point of view might be considered too sym-
pathetic. It was 31 years last March since they started the first
woman's club in New York, and to-day they had thousands, she

VOL. VII. o

98 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

, might say, of those clubs. They had certainly upwards of a
thousand, and a scheme of general federation had covered the
entire system. Now that was a large work in 31 years. There
must have been something vital in the club life and in the club
woman which attracted this large number of women. When two or
three women were gathered together in the old days it was always
supposed that a certain object was the point of it. They had
really started from a literary point of view. They wanted to
know lots of things, and they wanted to find companionship. It
was really the married woman who was first in the field in this
way. The next idea was that they were really working towards
self-improvement. She could not see the force of refuting the
idea that the best way to start the work of self -improvement was
to start forthwith improving oneself. They knew well that the
club would lead to many other things, because amongst other
notions clubs were not associated in the minds of women with
smoking and drinking. Since the commencement, out of the
club had grown hundreds of free libraries for women; out of
the club had grown hundreds of village improvement societies.
Hospitals had been founded ; club-houses dotted here and there
throughout the States were literary centres.

DAts Johnson said that she thought very little was known
about the Societe de Belles Filles in Paris. It did splendid work.
It was founded in 1873. Women of different nationalities had
started the hotel. They founded a fund for it ; the principle was
to pay 5s. a year, and the duty was to get any woman in it whom
they had the chance of helping. Constantly women were sent to
her and it was her duty to do her best for them. She was con-
stantly sending women over to them in Paris. They could not
conceive what a great deal of good work it was doing.

Clubs for Working Girls.

Hon. Maude Staailey, Founder of the first Working Girrs

Club in London (Great Britain).

The subject on which I am called to speak at this Congress
appears to me to be one of the most satisfactory works which
are engaging our attention, because there is a finality about it
and we are able definitely to accomplish our aim. We are able,
through the many influences of a dub, to awake and stimulate
and strengthen the desire for a higher life among our working
girl population in the large towns of our United Kingdom,

CLUBS FOR WORKING QIRLS 99

■where, for commercial reasons, vast numbers of working people
are brought together.

By finality I mean that if we can succeed in safely steering
the fragile bark of girlhood through the difficult years from 14 to
20, encountering, perhaps, at times rough winds and squalls,
still if we sail bravely on, only needing occasional slight repairs
of the rigging or sails, we can consider that by 20 the small bark
has proved itself a seaworthy boat, and we may confidently hope
that it will reach her port in safety, whether she is bound for a
short or for a long voyage.

The rapid growth of girls' clubs since they were started, 19
years ago, is the very clearest proof of the want of such in-
stitutions. They seem to meet a great necessity. They combine
instruction in evening classes and recreation with the sympathy
of the ladies who manage them, and whose influence over the
girls for good is beyond all expectations.

There are clubs of various sorts carried on in London. There
are those connected with the Young Women's Christian Associa-
tion, the Girls' Friendly Society, the Factory Union, and those
that are linked together in our London Club Union, where 36
clubs are joined together with the idea of benefiting one another
by their experience and hospitality, and also by being able to
join in yearly competitions. Besides these clubs many are inde-
pendent of any association, but are connected with parochial
churches.

I have been frequently asked to give details of the working
of a girls' club, and have therefore put much of my experience
and that of others into a book called Clubs for Working Girh^
which is now on the bookstall of the Church House.

The object of the London Club Union is not to insist upon
similar rules for all the clubs, as we contend that the conditions
in London are so diverse that it woidd be as impossible to enforce
the same regulation^ there as it would be in the different parts
of England and Scotland. There is but one rule or necessity
which must be complied with before a club can join this Union,
viz., that of being opened at least four times a week. Many
classes that people start, whether for musical drill, or singing, or
other instruction, are called clubs when they only meet once a
week, but that does not carry out our object in establishing girls'
clubs, which is to wean the girls from the London streets, harm-
less in itself at the beginning, but which in many cases leads to
very bad results. If the club is not open most evenings of the
week, if only once or twice, it does not give a certainty of

100 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

meeting for those who have no proper place to spend their
evenings in. And during the time that the club is closed they
will probably relapse into their former habits of recreation,
lounging about in front of shop windows or elsewhere. The
club, besides giving a safe place of meeting for girls, supplies an
intellectual want which is often felt though not expressed by the
London work-girl. The dulness which comes upon a mind from
want of intercourse and conversation with others upon subjects
other than the newest hat or the gossip of the workroom is most
depressing to those girls who have an innate desire for something
higher.

Clubs have been established in many cases for special classes
of girls and women— some for factory girls, some for the servants
in hotels, some specially for dressmakers, some for church
members and some for flower-girls. But if it is possible I
feel very strongly that it is better to unite many classes in one
club, and to make it the club of the special locality in which it is
situated. The interchange of interests between girls in diflFerent
occupations must enlarge their mind in the same way as men
and women of the higher classes are interested in meeting with
those of different pursuits.

The age at which girls join a club is very various. Some
will not admit them until they are 16 or 17 years of age. With
us girls can join at 13 or 14, as soon as they are at work them-
selves, and they will remain on as members of our club, if not
married, when they are 3d or 40 years of age. Their occupa-
tions are also widely apart. We have the little errand girl or
trotter of the tailor, and we have clerks and shopwomen of very
high standing. We have also members of very different religious
beliefs — Church of England, Roman Catholics and Noncon-
formists. Religious classes have been carried on, on weekdays
and on Sundays, and those girls have come who felt the
inclination, and no pressure has been brought to bear upon them.
We have found it very interesting to assemble once a year the
fathers and mothers of our girls, to speak to them about the
work we are doing, and to ask them if they find the club an
advantage to their children. The answer is always the same :
" You do for our girls what we cannot do for them ourselves
We can bring them up and take care of them as children, but as
they grow up to young women we cannot provide them with
interests or amusement that will keep them with us."

One of the greatest evils in the lives of working people in
London is early marriages, those that are made merely betweeiL

CLUBS FOB WOBKING GIBLS 101

boys and^girls, because from their companionship together in
the evening they have drifted, without much caring about it,
into marriage. Often when the ceremony is gone through there
is no home ready, there are no savings to start the home. Now
I feel sure that wherever a club is established, where the
managers know the girls, where a higher feeling and sense of
what is right is put into them, they will not accept the offer of
any man without the prospect of the happiness which a good
character would promise. The misery which comes upon young
people who marry without any certainty of wages, without any
preparation for home life, the miserable poor children that are
bom, underfed and ill-housed, is one of the causes which keep
our working people in such low conditions. When a marriage
is to take place in our club we hear of it ; we all join in our
wedding gifts to the bride ; we often are present in the church,
and most of the brides continue as honorary members of the
club, and join in our different festivities. We do not wish them
to come to the club as they used to do, as we do not wish to
take them from their husbands and homes.

The yearly competitions held for musical drill and singing
for all these clubs are most valuable means of stimulating the
interest of the pupils in this work.

Very great facilities for instruction in classes are given by
the Technical School of the London County Council, who provide
trained teachers for cooking, laundry, dressmaking, hygiene,
nursing and first aid and ambulance classes. These lectures
are taken up variously amongst our clubs ; the difficulty is often
for the girls who first join in large numbers to keep up the
interest and not to slacken in their attendance. Some try to
stimulate this interest by prizes, but I have never thought that
this was a good plan, and consider that the efficiency of the
teacher will prove sufficient attraction for the pupils.

We have had classes of English literature and of history,
taking these pupils to the British Museum or to Westminster
Abbey to impress upon their minds what we have taught them,
and visits have been made on Saturdays to the National
Gallery, to Tate's Gallery and to South Kensington Museum.
I am certain that no girls' club would be a success that does not
provide classes and encourage the girls to join them for the
desire of the improvement of their minds, which desire we try to
instil into them. Girls are very imitative and impressionable,
affectionately sensible of kindness, so that by these means we can
train them up to higher intellectual and moral desires, not

102 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

wasting these qualities in sentimental attachments, but by
pointing out to them that the best appreciation they can
show for our efforts on their behalf is by having a healthy and
vigorous spirit, taking every opportunity for self-improvement
and for working for others. That our club girls have confidence
in us, and know that our sympathy is always with them, is
shown by the way in which they come to us in their difficulties,
their sorrows and their joys.

The country holidays that have been enjoyed by the Soho
Club members have been too numerous to recount — visits to
ladies' houses in Surrey, Devonshire, Staffordshire, Wales, York-
shire and Cumberland. No summer passes without many in-
vitations from kind friends, and last year a party of 70 spent
10 days in Belgiimi — a never-to-be-forgotten holiday. The
holidays are looked forward to and looked back to with nev^-
ending joy, and we know that whatever troubles life may bring
them it can never take away these happy recollections.

I consider that this work, as much other philanthropic work
which runs on quietly unobserved, and often unrecognised, is of
the greatest importance. Every year in the life of a club for
working lads or girls is valuable, for that year will never return
to them. There must be no delay, for if we are not influencing
the girls through our clubs, others will be influencing them and
leading them too often astray, and we must always remember
that wandering in the paths of pleasure in this great city will
very often lead to pitfalls of destruction.

The Working Girls' or Working Women's
Club in the United States.

Miss Edith M. Howes, Cbairman of Executive of National
League of Working Women's Clubs of America. Bead l^
Miss Alice A. Burdett, Boston, (United States).

It is only about fifteen years since the first independent Working
Girls' or Working Women's Clubs were started. Mrs Eliza
Sproat Turner, of Philadelphia, and Miss Grace H. Dodge, of
New York City, were the earliest and best-known leaders of this
movement. Their wisdom and forethought in laying stress upon
the principles of co-operation and self-government had been
manifested in later years.

WOBKING women's CLUB IN THE UNITED STATES 103

The Working Girls' or Working Women's Club had been
defined by the New York Association of Working Women's
Societies as *' an organisation formed among busy women and girls
to secure, by co-operation, means of self-improvement, oppor-
tunities of social intercourse, and the development of h^her^
nobler aims. It was governed by the members for the members,
and strove to bo self-supporting."

This definition has been accepted by the associated clubs of
New York, Brooklyn, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massa*
chusetts, that are now united in a league of associations of
Working Women's Clubs. The club stands between religious
societies, like the Church Guild and the Girls' Friendly Society
on the one hand, and the Trades Unions on the other. It has
no religious exclusiveness, as Protestants, Catholics and Jews are
found in its membership. It is limited to no race, for native
Americans, children of foreign parents, even those of foreign
birth, and clubs of young coloured women, are accepted members
of the League.

The leaders of the club are mainly women not dependent on
their daily wages for support, though many of the offices in every
club were held by working women. At one time it was hoped
that the leadership of the clubs would very generally be in the
hands of the working women, but the responsibility of the grow-
ing organisation became too great for the average young woman
worker to assume. A woman haying from 8 to 10 hours a day
of active work, especially work which is physically exhausting, is
rarely able to add to her burdens financial responsibility. Some
clubs, however, are fortunate in having the active leadership of
working women as well as a few members of the leisured class.

It was now generally recognised that the Working Women'fe
Club supplies the mental and social deficiencies of the college-bred
and society woman as well as those of the wage-earner. No
human being bad the right conception of life — certainly no citizen
of a republic has a complete education in democracy until social
relations had been formed with rich and poor, with students and
working people.

The model club has been animated by the co-operative and self-
governing spirit from the start. The classes, entertainments and
social evenings are not arranged by some kind ladies who assume
all the directioi^ and responsibility of furnishing these benefits to
the girls ; but each step of club development is taken with the
consent of the members, A group of young women who need
and wish for a club must be formed before any attempt is made

104 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

to start one. This group should elect its own officers, and though
willing to accept the help of richer friends in furnishing rooms
and assisting in the rent, each member is made to feel some
responsibility for the success of the new enterprise.

No gift is accepted, no class started, no pi^ramme arranged,
without the consent either of the club or its officers. The busi-
ness meeting, therefore, becomes the most important evening in
the club, [n fact, this phase of club education is regarded as
infinitely the most important, and those urging the clubs to foster
the trade union or su&age causes are assured by thoughtful club
workers that all good reforms are helped when working women
are being trained in principles of co-operation and self-government.
The fees paid are large or small according to the vote of the
members. They usually vary from 10 to 25 cents per month.
The ideal of the club is self-support, and where fees must be
supplemented, money is usually secured by some co-operative
effort, as a fair or club entertainment. The needs and tastes of
the members, and the facilities offered for industrial or other
education in the city evening schools determine the classes that
are undertaken by different clubs. Cooking, dressmaking, sew-
ing, housekeeping, millinery, embroidery, as well as literature,
travelling, physical culture and dancing, stenography and type-
writing, singing, penmanship, English and current events are
among the classes found in different clubs.

The social evenings are varied by practical talks, lectures,
games, music and dancing. Some of the clubs have successful
evenings when young men are invited. This is always easier
when the club meets in the room of a social settlement, where
clubs of young men are already organised. Young women living
in tenement houses have very few opportunities for safe social
intercourse with young men, and clubs can furnish girls and
^yS) young men and women, a meeting-place where healthy and
happy comradeship is possible.

l^e clubs in western cities have often started as lunch clubs
for those employed in large factories. The owners of these
factories have frequently given rooms for this purpose. The
expense of food, its preparation and serving, has easily been met
by the fees of the young women. The spirit of co-operation thus
aroused has led to the formation of classes, holiday houses in the
country, and other forms of mutual enjoyment and improvement.
The tendency, however, is to supplement business life by social
and educational enrichment rather than to foster the trade union
spirit.

WORKING women's CLUB IN THE UNITED STATES 105

Many clubs have junior branches for girls between 12 and 16.
Others have domestic circles for young married women, where
household matters and the care of children are discussed. Of
course these branches depend on the size of the club and the
needs of the surrounding community. As long as the principles
of co-operation, self-government and self-reliance (or an effort
toward self-support) are accepted, the club is free to develop in
any way that the members may desire.

In four States clubs are organised in associations, and these
associations maintain vacation or holiday houses where members
of clubs and their friends can enjoy a week's or fortnight's vaca-
tion at the price of $3 per week for board. This defrays the
actual running expenses of the house. The rent and repairs of
the place are usually contributed by friends. The New York
association has established a mutual benefit fund, which grants
benefits in time of sickness and death, and is also maintaining an
alliance and employment bureau. The Massachusetts Associa-
tion has studied how to improve the condition of women workers,
and aided in the establishment of the eight hours' day in the
Boston dry goods and department stores. Thrifty habits are
•encouraged in each association by the stamps, savings, or penny
provident funds.

Three Conventions have been held where matters of vital
interest to working women and girls have been discussed. The
first was held in New York City in 1890 ; the second in Boston
in 1894 ; and the third in Philadelphia in 1897. As a result of
the last convention, the National League of Associations of
Working Women's Clubs was formed. The League began its
work in October 1898. It embraces 5 associations and 86 clubs,
with a total membership of over 7000 women.

The club movement is growing in the middle, west and south,
though the League at present is confined to the eastern States ; it is
expected that ere long an Ohio Association will be formed, and
will join the League. The object of the League is to further the
«ocial, educational and industrial interests of working women, to
increase the spirit of co-operation and helpfulness between clubs,
and to aid those who are organising new clubs. The general
secretary, Miss Charlotte Wilkinson, of Syracuse, New York, is
conducting the business of the new organisation. The League
has published a leaflet, " How to Start a Club," and a book of
songs for club use. It also issues a little paper called The Club
Worker,

The account of Working Women's Clubs in the United

106 WOMBK IN SOCIAL LIFB

States was not a tale of rapid progress, but a great deal of serious^
persistent and faithful work had been done — work which had had
results that could not be lightly estimated. In a country like
ours, the dangers of class separation were very great. Riches,
and even education, might erect barriers between people, and
cause social distrust and misunderstanding that endanger the
life of the Republic. Their clubs, like the social setUement,.
were bringing together people whom the circumstances of life ar&
constantly tending to separate. The spirit of co-operation and
self-government destroyed the spirit of patronage and caste. The
social distinctions were obliterated that separated the saleswoman
from the worker in a cordage factory, the book-keeper from the
woman employed in domestic work. Of course, refinement of
manners and person, and cleanly habits are a sine qua nan of club
membership. The clubs are not reformatories, and girls lacking
in self-respect would not feel at home in them. In junior clubs
one sometimes finds a certain roughness of speech and manner^^
but it is interesting to observe the ambition of the average
American working girl of 17 or 18 to appear well-mannered and
well-dressed. The late Professor Henry Drummond was surprised
at the intelligence and quiet dress and good breeding of the
members of a Boston Working Women's Club. Of course, the
club members are a picked set of busy women, and club life
attracts only those who are ambitious for self -improvement. The
ideals of our young and hopeful country, though they seem to
influence but slightly the great foreign population of large cities^
are strongly felt in the public schools, and there they awaken
ambitions in even the most sluggish natures.

As riches increased on the one side, and the ranks of labour
and the unemployed struggle on the other, working women's
clubs became of greater value to the nation. They might theorise
and dream about social regeneration, but only with the slow
growth of nobler ideas, by mutual knowledge and loving co-opera-
tion, can arise that blessed commonwealth which shall be worthy
to be called the Kingdom of God. Our clubs are constructing &
small, but we hope a firm and enduring, pillar for that splendid
edifice.

Discussion.

Miss Neal (Great Britain). — Others have spoken of the social,,
moral and religious ideals at the back of this work. I wish to-
speak of what experience has proved to be an equally important
side.

WORKING WOMBN'S CLUB IN THB UNITED STATES 107

In opening the discussion on girls' clubs, I must say first of
all that the conclusions to which I have come are based entirely
on the developments which have taken place in our own club
(The Esperance) from the days when most of our energies went
in keeping order, and when our highest ambitions did not go
much further than providing a happy and orderly evening's
amusement, to the present time when we have attached to our
club two registered co-operative societies — one productive and one
distributive — and when from mere amusement we have advanced
to education, to a corporate social life, and to the enjoyment of the
sweeter and more beautiful things which a broader outlook and a
wider interest always bring into one's life. We number among
our club members to-day those who are our comrades and our
friends. Our ideas of a holiday, too, have advanced from an
uproarious day in Epping Forest, to which we journeyed in brakes,
singing as we went, to a fortnight spent together in the loveliest
part of Surrey, or by the seaside, this year to culminate in a tour
to the Ardennes, a visit to several old Belgian towns, and to the
co-operative colony of Guise.

The girls' club movement started because it was felt that
what the working^ girl needed more than anything else was a
homo in which shI ^uld spend her evenings in healthy .^creation
and in education, and where she might learn some of the gentler
manners and sweeter joys learnt by those more privileged in the
ordinary intercourse of a happy home circle.

It was in the intimacy which is established between the
members of a club and the leaders, an intimacy of' long evenings
spent together year in and year out, of greetings in the street as
each goes to her work, of summer holidays — when out in the open
air things have a way of taking on proper proportions and vision .
gets clearer — the intimacy established between those who realise
that they have the same ideals and the same struggle after those
ideals ; it was there that certain questions suggested themselves,
and certain facts became clear and called importunately for solu-
tion and recognition. It becomes for us no longer a case of
statistics and of economic laws and necessities, but becomes a
concern for human lives we love and reverence, stunted and
limited, and often cruelly wronged and defrauded of their inherit-
ance in God's fair earth. Some of the facts we learn are these :
That the homes in which the majority of working girls live and
grow up to womanhood are overcrowded and insanitary to a
degree which makes the goodness and uprightness of the girls a
standing miracle. Girls of 17 and 18 are living and sleeping in

108 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

one room with father and mother ; girls are living in one room
with mother and stepfather or with grown-up brothers ; girls are
sleeping four and five in a bed with brothers and sisters. These
are not exceptional cases, and if I had time I could give one
instance after another of facts such as these I mention.

We are faced, too, by other aspects of the home life, the utter
want of moral training when parents are already demoralised by
the conditions under which they live, so that drink and all
kinds of excess become their only interest in life. There are
tragedies behind the lives of the working girls — not the ordinary
who live in our crowded city slums — which are so terrible that
they cannot be told in a public audience such as this.

Turning from the home life to the life lived in the workroom
or factory, we find an even worse state of things.

The hours worked by girls, and especially those in fashionable
West-End season trades, where the greatest pressure comes in the
hottest time of the year, are exhausting, often lasting from six in
the morning till ten at night ; at other times the girls are quite
unemployed for weeks and months together. Speaking generally,
the money earned is not enough to keep a girl in anything like
necessaries all the year round.

It is so easy for us who do not work ourselves in factory
or in workshop to read of amendments to Acts of Parliament and
of the appointment of Factory Inspectors to see the Acts carried
out, and to live in the comfortable assumption that all is well
with the workers, that all can work if they will, and that for all
who work well there are good conditions and good pay. Thank
God that the club movement has for ever stamped out that
delusion for its leaders !

The reason why so many are deluded is that the ordinary
working girl is the pluckiest soul on earth ; her one desire is to
put on a good face and not " to show the game up." Ask her
what she earns and she will tell you the highest wage paid in the
season ; ask her how long she works and she will tell you the
short hours of the slack time. So long as the best dress is out
of pawn so that the Sunday attendance at the club can be kept
up, you will have to put then your own interpretation on the
appearance which pretty clearly indicates exhausting overwork
and semi-starvation.

Once we have realised the conditions of life and work of our
sisters our first step will be, if we are quite honest and quite
simple, to tell our members frankly that we consider those con-
ditions wrong, unfair and unjust. We shall tell them that we

WORKING women's CLUB IN THE UNITED STATES 109

claim for them in return for an honest day's work such reasonable
hours and pay as shall insure them good food and clothing, space
in which to live, a holiday every year, and security for days of
sickness and old age. We would pledge ourselves, as far as in
us lies, to work for this, and we shall ask our girls to go with us
hand in hand.

-Our first practical step will be probably to instruct our girls
in the laws which have already b^n passed in their interests,
and of which they are for the most part entirely ignorant, and
to collect from time to time such information as will be useful
in view of future legislation. If we club leaders had done our
duty it would not have been necessary to waste so much time
in trying to convince the women who take an outside and
academic view of factory legislation for women what is the true
and human standpoint, and by this time the young women in
shops would have been protected and some of the worst brutalities
of competition averted.

We shall also put the simple machinery by which these Acts
are worked within reach of our girls, and by encouraging them
to report all infringements to us, lessen the work of our over-
worked inspectors and get many a grievance remedied without
loss of time. Then she thought they would see to it that their
girls are prepared, by every kind of education we can give them,
for the struggle which lies before the women of all classes for
freedom, economic and social. For this purpose, in our own
club we have established a small distributive co-operative store,
which the girls managed almost entirely themselves, and which
has always paid its way. It has been an immense help in
instructing the girls in the ways of trade, the value of money,
practical economics and the spirit of comradeship, as opposed to
competition, which every co-operative enterprise should engender.

In addition to this we have estabhshed, on labour co-partner-
ship lines, a Co-operative Productive Society, which employs
many of our girls who are in the trade most represented by our
members — dressmaking and ladies' tailoring.

This is also paying its way. Other of our girls are employed
by those sharing the ideals to which our club has brought us,
and the economic position of most of our elder girls has much
improved during the time they have been in the club. Many of
them are sharing small homes, which take the place of the over-
crowded homes they have left, and they are often the proud
entertainers of mothers and aunts, who say they only wish they
had lived in the days of clubs.

110 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

In short, Girls' Clubs do not exist as an end in themselves, as
an institution which will exist because we expect that the poor
will bo always with us ; but their aim should be so to alter and
modify existing conditions that the clubs themselves will be done
away with because the need for them no longer exists.

Miss Lily Montague (Great Britain) said that in connection
with working girls' club visiting should be organised for purposes
of becoming more intimately acquainted with our girls' lives.
However difficult the task might be, they should try to enlist
the parents' sympathy and co-operation in the work.

She fully agreed with Miss Stanley that it was only by
developing the educational side of the work that they could hope
^ to maintain a permanent influence over girls' Uves. Unless they
came to the club for some definite purpose they easily drifted
away from its influence. But they must remember the natural
craving of the mind and body for recreation. Whether they
liked it or not, the fact remained that in the evenings the girls'
room was more needed at home than their company, and they
could not blame them if they sought amusement in undesirable
places unless at the club they were provided with healthy
pleasures. They must become acquainted as far as possible with
the industrial lives of the girls, since the main proportion of
their time is devoted to work. If we cannot for the moment
imitate Miss Neal in making this labour life a source of happiness
and a beneficent influence, we could arouse their members to a
sense of responsibility in observing the Factory Laws, and in
reporting infringements when they came under their notice. As
a natural development of club organisation they could show
them that unless every individual attempted to carry out the
measures passed for the benefit of all, the machinery of good
government tottered. It was only by showing that they wronged
their own and succeeding generations of women by neglecting
these truths that they could teach lessons of citizenship to girls
who, at the susceptible age of 14, were forced as wage-earners
into the battle of interests.

Mrs Wilson (Westmoreland) gave her experience anent the
establishment of girls' clubs — " lads' and lasses' " clubs ; they had
both. In the following winter they hoped to open a junior
branch for girls of 14 and 15.

SOCIAL SETTLEMENTS.

CONVOCATION HALL OF CHURCH HOOrSE,
DEAN'S YARD, WESTMINSTER.

THURSDA r, JUNE 29, AFTERNOON.

Mrs S. a. BARNETT, of Toynbee Hall, in the Chair.

Mrs Bamett^ in opening the meeting, suggested that not only
those who knew about settlements should send up their cards,
but also those who did not know. She thought it would help
discussion if someone would voice the intelligent ignorance of
the meeting.

Settlements, she pointed out, are not missions, and those are
the best residents who live among the poor to learn as well as to
teach. Rich and poor are equally losers by the separation which
has grown up in the great cities. The rich lose the example of
the patience, hope, unselfishness and charity daily evident where
the poor strive to Uve. The poor lose the infectious brightness
of those freed by circumstances from the canker of care ; they
lose the help which refinement, knowledge and leisure give, all
that the rich owe to their education and environment.

Settlements were started to enable the rich to go with their
knowledge and tastes to live among the poor, to breathe the same
air, smell the same smells and endure the same disadvantages, in
the behef that they would use their powers to amend the ills of
the neighbourhood. The readers of the papers will tell the
results of 15 years' experience. Veterans may be allowed to
give warnings, Ld one ^7 be accepted by the meeting from a
veteran of 26 years. If settlers go to do good or to help the
poor, they will touch only the one class they help ; but if they go
to live as neighbours and take their part in the varied interests
of the district they will touch all classes — the tradesmen, the

high-class mechanics, the hardly-pressed teachei's, the sturdy,

111

112 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

self-respecting industrial classes, whose needs are real if not
recognised and declared, may, by the touch, get the contagion of
goodwill, and in their turn pass on gifts to the very poor. In
Toynbee Hall a body of the women students, who have enjoyed
the privileges of university teaching, have lately formed a Guild
of Compassion. They have taken out children for an afternoon
pleasure, entertained the old from the workhouse, laid hold one
by one of some who have drifted in the stream of poverty and
vice, and have now opened a house where four or five neglected
children, a feeble-minded girl, and two or three good old people
enjoy the advantages of friendship and fresh air.

The warning is thus encouraged by example. Let settlers
beware of becoming simple missionaries, with no sight but for
those who need, and no object but to do good. Let them go to
live and to learn, to take up duties as they come, and to be
taught by their neighbours.

Social Settlements.

Miss liiary Simmons, Principal of Bermondsey
Settlement (Great Britain).

There has been — first and last — ^a good deal of talk about the
"settlement idea" and the ** settlement principle," rather as if it
were some new idea, some new principle that had been discovered
or evolved, and I am grateful to Miss Sewell for pointing out
clearly in her article that this is a wrong notion, and that the
root idea at the bottom of all settlements is no new one, but, on
the contrary, as old as — well, not to go further back, at least as
old as Christianity, being neither more nor less than the recog-
nition of our fellowship one with another, and of some of the
duties involved in it.

In some form or other this root idea is expressed by many of
those who are engaged in settlement work, or have looked
closely at it. In an article written for the Nineteenth Centwryy
and reprinted by Mr Beason, Canon Barnett de6nes Toynbee
Hall as *' really a club," and goes on to say of the men of different
classes brought together there : —

"They have become friends and sharers in each other's^
strength, and because they are friends their eyes have been
opened to see the good in their friend's friends. Poor men have
seen that the rich are not what they are pictured by orators, and

SOCIAL SETTLEMENTS 113

the rich have found that the poor have virtues not always ex-
pressed by their language."

" The first object," says Sir John Gorst, writing of settlements,
" is to make friends with the neighbourhood, to become part of
its common life; to associate with the people on equal terms,
without either patronage on the one side or subserviency on the
other ; to share in the joys and sorrows, the occupations and
amusements of the people ; to bring them to regard the members
of the settlements as their friends."

" The idea common to all settlements," says Miss Sewell, " is
that persons of various callings and standards should, in some
measure, share a common life ; that rich and poor, educated and
uneducated, cultured and uncultured, should meet and know
each other, and help each other."

And Mr Lidgett, the warden of my own settlement in Ber-
mondsey, wrote some two or three years back : —

" The bulk of those who remain in dull ignorance or wander
into evil ways need friends — wise, self-sacrificing friends. Lives
wasted for lack of finding true friends— this is the story of our
East End slums; lives wasted for lack of seeking to make
friends among the poor — ^this is the story of many a moral failure
in the West End. It is steady persistency of broad, deep, self-
forgetting sympathy which is wanted, which can bear to work
and wait, to be hidden from sight, to stand delay and disappoint-
ment, so it can bring the quickening spirit of great Christian
ideals to bear upon dwarfed and misshapen lives through the
personal contact which friendship brings about."

This, then, is the settlement idea; but it is no new one.
Settlement work is — as Miss Sewell and Mr Lidgett have pointed
out — simply an attempt to do consciously and of set purpose
what is done, at least partially done, naturally, and without
much talk about it, in every moderate-sized town where rich and
poor live within sight and touch of, and are brought in constant
contact with, each other. As a town grows larger, the popula-
tion denser, and the distance to the open country greater, the
selfish side of human nature asserts itself too often, and those
who are able migrate from the centre te the pleasant suburbs,
leaving that centre from which the help of their culture and
education and personality are withdrawn a far less desirable
abode for those who, whether they like it or not, miMt remain.
And once the exodus has begun it continues. As fast and far as
possible the upper middle class follows the rich, and the lower
middle class follows the upper, until a district equal to a large

VOL. VII. H

114 WOMEN m SOCIAL LIFE

town is left entirely to the very poor, with all the influences for
social progress which may be exerted by men and women — and I
venture to think especially by wise and good women — of educa-
tion and leisure gone out of it, and with a spirit of distrust and
defiance bom of the sense of desertion and neglect steadily
growing up and strengthening year by year.

And then, into the midst of the deserted people, missions
were organised to redeem them from evils, many of which were
in large measure the result of this desertion. Truly, if it were not
so sad it would be funny, and perhaps it would be quite un-
bearably sad if one could not see the humorous side of it. A
friend of mine once said, in all reverence, that God must be the
chief of humorists. In all reverence I am inclined to agree
with him. How else could God bear with our childishness 1

But of late years it has grown into our consciousness that
missions — necessary as they are — are not enough ; that if we are to
bridge the gulf we have made, and redeem the poor from the lot to
which we have left them, we must do something more than send
a few other people to preach the Gospel to them ; we must give
them fellowship — friendship.

And so settlements — settlements of more or less educated and
better-to-do people in the very midst of the poorest districts —
have been formed to supply the needs, and are multiplying year
by year as more eyes are opened and more hearts are awakened
to the great evils that have arisen from the separation of classes.

But just here it seems to me that there is a danger — a danger
lest we fail to see, or forget, that the settlement, as it exists to-day,
can be in itself only a make-shift, and that its best value will be
lost unless it becomes a stepping-stone to a better and a truer
state of living altogether.

Sir Walter Besant, in an article on settlement, says that he
is "constantly reminded of the early days of the Franciscans,
What St Francis commanded his followers was, that they should
be obedient ; that they should remain in poverty ; and that they
should be celibate. They were to be obedient because work of
all kinds among men must be organised ; very well, that law is
in full force in the university settlement. They were to remain
in poverty — that law is also in force wherever work is done
without reward or money. They were to be celibate — a custom,
if not a law, which also prevails in the modem settlement."

It seems to me that in drawing this parallel — the exact
accuracy of which I cannot now discuss — Sir Walter Besant has
very well summed up both the strength and the weakness of our

SOCIAL SETTLEMENTS 115

settlement life. Its strength, because given obedience, accepted
poverty, and that singleness of aim which the unmarried state
allows, and you are likely to get very good work done. Its
weakness, because this implies living a different kind of life from
the people you have settled among, and a life which must always
seem to them a somewhat unnatural one. Tou have come down
to show your fellowship, and by means of club and class and
guild you set about creating a possible basis for fellowship, and,
thank God ! fellowship does result, and all the good that comes of
it. But it is not — I think it cannot be — quite the same thing as
the fellowship that grows up where men and women live out
their lives side by side, neighbours through all the vicissitudes
of ordinary human life — family life or single, as God shall
ordain — having the same kind of joys and sorrows, the same
needs and the same interests, municipal and social — in short,
having a common life and known to each other in living it out.

Miss Sewell says, comparing a settlement in a poor district
with the educated and cultured portion of a mixed population
which is alive to its social duties and touched with every sense
of brotherhood : — " The settlement will probably be always a
weaker force than its analogue, both numerically and from lack
of traditions, of local influence, and of natural bonds to the
place in which it settles, as well as from the resulting constant
change in its personnel.** While the warden of our Men and
Women's Settlement in Bermondsey wrote in one of his re-
ports : — '^ Doubtless a settlement is a somewhat artificial ex-
pedient and can only faintly set forth the good which would
come to all if men of different ranks and interests lived together
in mutual intercourse and co-operation. But we believe that it
is the small beginning of a better state of things, and we trust
gradually to awaken sympathies which will draw a growing
number to live among the people, and to serve them, and to gain
those many blessings which life among the people brings." And
while I should be very sorry to seem to set little value on the
work of settlements, even as they stand — if I did, I should
hardly have put my own life into it — I yet believe strongly that
their chief end is to act as a trumpet call to the educated and
the well-to-do to come **back to the people,'' to make their
homes among them, and live out their ordinary human life side
by side with them, helping them and being helped by them. If
this call is answered, the settlement movement will have suc-
ceeded in the truest sense : if it is not, then in spite of much
good work done and of noble lives given through it in service, it

116 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

will, as a whole, have failed. For comparatively few can live in
settlements, and of those the majority are young and only stay a
short time— at most a few years — leaving just as they have got
the confidence of their poorer neighbours and are learning how
to be of use to them. And — I repeat it — only by living among
the people can we learn even what their legislative needs really
are; and still more only so can we truly bring to bear upon
them that " quickening spirit of great Christian ideals," which
beyond all legislation, however good and necessary, and all
Poor Law system, however immaculate, in the cause of social
redemption stands first, second and third.

Settlement Work in Scotland.

Mrs Greorge Adam Smith (Glasgow).

Settlement work in Scotland is on a very different scale from
what it i^in England. This does not mean that Scotland has not
been alive to the needs of the poor and the many questions
and difficulties that arise from these needs. On the contrary,
in all the poor and sunken districts of the big towns in Scotland
you will find earnest and energetic work going on, but it is carried
on chiefly through the means of Church Missions, the missionaries
and workers visiting from their own homes, and not necessarily
residing in the district.

But there are two definite and important men's settlements
in Scotland. One is the Pleasance, in Edinburgh, a district
small in area but densely populated. This district is in the
charge of students of the New College, Edinburgh, and eight are
always in residence. There is a paid missionary and a lady
superintendent. To give an idea of the overcrowding of the
population in this district, I am informed that one " stair " contains
sometimes as many as 39 families, consisting on an average of four
or five members. The majority of the houses are single roomed,
and few have more than two apartments. Under these condi-
tions the squalor and wretchedness of many of the homes may
be imagined.

The most distressing thing about this district is that the
people need not be so sunken and miserable. Many of the heads
of families are skilled workmen, earning good wages, up to 408.
or 50s. per week. Here, as everywhere, it is drink that is the

SETTLEMENT WORK IN SCOTLAND 117

great enemy of the people, and under its devastating influence
they sink to this low level.

There was no doubt that the residence in this district of a band
of earnest young workers had exercised a strong influence for
good, and that, by means of visiting, preaching clubs and tem-
perance work, it has quickened and fostered a desire for a better
and more healthy life among many of the inhabitants of the
Pleasance.

In Glasgow there was a similar settlement in the district of
Possil Park. It may be interesting to know that Professor
Henry Drummond was largly instrumental in founding and
organising this settlement. It was here, in a northern suburb
of Glasgow, that he had himself worked as a missionary for many
years. In 1878, when he started work there, the population was
about 6000, mostly working-class families. This is what he says
in a letter to a friend of his work when he lived there : " On
Sabbaths I preach twice, attend schools and classes; on Mon-
days I look after a bank ; on Tuesdays I give a popular lecture ;
on Wednesdays a mothers' meeting and a lecture to children;
the other nights visit the sick or hold meetings elsewhere."
Several years after, when the university students were propos-
ing to establish a settlement in a poor part of the town, this
same district was chosen for the centre of their work. Of the
founding of this settlement Professor Drummond writes : " I am
busy with the university men, planning a settlement in a poor
district. The leader is an Established Church student, the
second a medical, the third an Arts man, coming on for
the Free Church College. Plans are out, and the thing will
be built by the beginning of next session. Thirty men are
already at work, and there will be fifteen residents. It will be on
earnest evangelical lines, and ought to be a great blessing to the
university.'* And on November 28, 1 889, he says : " To-night
I preside at the opening of our university settlement."

This work, which he inaugurated, is still being earnestly
carried on by a resident superintendent and a band of university
students.

There is in Glasgow a Toynbee House, but, unlike those at
Toynbee Hall in London, the workers, men and women, are non-
resident.

In another poor district in Glasgow, called the Broomielaw,
which is under the charge of the professors and students of the
Free Church College, the experiment of a resident ordained
missionary, with an assistant, had been tried with real success.

118 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Close to this district of Broomielaw, in Glasgow, is that of
Anderston. And it is here that the Queen Misirgaret College
Settlement Association is doing its work. This is the one
women's settlement, and, as yet, one only in embryo. For two
years the association has placed workers at the service of the
C. O. S. and of the School Board, and has done much useful
work in investigating and visiting cases, teaching invalid chil-
dren, and so forth. Now the association is on its way to
maintain a house of residence in this same district, which should
be a <5entre of work and influence.

The members were all past students of Queen Margaret
College — the women's branch of the university in Glasgow. It
is significant to note how women's settlements follow on
" women's higher education," showing how the higher educa-
tion brings with it a new sense of responsibility, a new eiSbrt to
work for the good of the community.

In all philanthropic work in Scotland, as elsewhere, it had
been found that the most important thing was the systematic
visiting of the people in their homes. It was work that needed
patience and persistence, yet, after all is said, it is still to be
found the most simple, yet the most potent, method of help and
influence. And to this end settlements were a direct and most
helpful means, exerting sometimes a quite unique influence for
good, at the same time that they afforded the most excellent
opportunity for training men and women in useful philanthropic
work.

Settlement Work in connection with the

Catholic Social Union.

Miss Fortescue, Lady Superintendent of St Anthony's

Settlement (Great Britain).

Settlements for women are a necessary outcome of the philan-
thropic movement which, in its present conditions, may be said
to have started in the early part of the century, but in which
women have taken an active part only during the last 20 years.

To work for the working classes, to raise the indigent from
the hopeless state of misery into which large numbers of people
have sunk, starved alike in mind and body, speedily brought
about a desire not merely to travel eastwards at stated periods,
and for a few hours to suffer the discomforts of tramping through

WORK IN CONNECTION WITH THE CATHOLIC SOCIAL UNION 119

the slums, but. to live down in the midst of a centre, thickly
populated room by room, to dwell at the corner of the alley, and
if not to abandon for good home life, at least for a time to give
up the ordinary round of engagements and pleasures, to strive to
carry a little sunshine to those whose only engagement is the
daily toil, and the only pleasure within their grasp one that, if
not actually injurious, can only tend to sink them lower in the
social scale.

The Catholic Church found even in pagan Rome a certain
philanthropy. There, with no religion to guide them, men
banded together to help a neighbour less well endowed than they
themselves, and Dives, with a natural dislike to view suffering
in any form, clothed and fed Lazarus, that he might be spared a
painful object, whilst answering to the natural generosity of his
heart. But mere philanthropy can never work a lasting good.
Men may be clothed and fed, they may be educated and trained
to see that they are helped who help themselves, but without
higher motives as weapons, the large number, nay, all who do
not possess the natural qualities of courage and constancy, will
seek, after a time, and again and again, to find in vice the only
palliation to their strife.

The Church picked up the threads with which the work was
thus begun, but added to them, and wove into the pattern the
great truths of the Gospel, and whilst ministering to the needs
of the body, and raising it somewhat to its normal condition,
trained and prepared the mind also to receive these truths, and
taught the whole man to practise the virtues there inculcated.

After a period of semi-pagan worldliness and luxury in the
eighteenth century the clouds opened again, and the sunlight of
modem philanthropy shone over England. Men came forward,
and societies were formed, not only to raise the poor from the
squalor and want into which they had sunk materially, but
also by education and a moral bettering of the masses to raise
their minds. Europe had received a lesson, and the untaught,
unfed people had broken loose to teach phlegmatic egotism that
it could remain indifferent to the interests of its neighbour no
longer.

Example was the best precept, and it was by living side by side
with one's poorer neighbours, and daily carrying out the lessons
they are to learn, whilst becoming not a patron but a friend,
sharing with them their troubles and their joys, showing them
how far more evenly divided amongst the human race than they
ever suspected were these same sorrows or pleasures, that they

120 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

could best heighten their ideals, and raise the whole bent of
their mind beyond the drudgery that lasted from Sunday to
Saturday to a Master that paid not a weekly wage, but whom
to serve was life everlasting.

To cany out this plan needs surely a long training. For
who can step suddenly from the schoolroom, or from the round
of ordinary occupations pursued by ladies in the world, into such a
life as I have briefly described — a life of self-denial and self-control,
evenly balanced and in touch and sympathy with a people whose
character and interests are totally unknown, or known only by
the misleading remarks or reports too often printed in books or
papers.

A training is certainly needed, but it is also best acquired by
going down to work at a settlement. Carry with you a desire to
know more of a perhaps unknown land, and that very desire will
tide over first difficulties, and bear you on to the further region
of experience and love.

Few, very few, take up the work in earnest without loving
it, and many who came with grave hesitation and a promise to
remain away from home the shortest possible time have returned
thence with deep regrets that the visit was over, a longing to
go back again, and an affectionate love for many a hard-work-
ing, bony woman, dirty baby or blue-eyed factory girl, who have
taught lessons of courage, resignation and generosity not to be
forgotten, and who, they know, will haU their return with a
genuine delight not always found amongst their friends in the
West.

The Catholic Social Union was founded some five years ago
to guard and protect the great number of Catholic poor of the
metropolis, especially the girls and boys, who, leaving the pro-
tecting influence of school for workshop, and putting off the
restriction of childhood for the liberties of wage-earning youths,
have no safeguard for their faith and morals, which are perilously
wrecked — too often, humanly speaking, beyond recall.

For these clubs have been formed, combining amusement with
instruction for the evenings, when, the day's work being over,
they hesitated to return to the one room dignified by the name of
home, and sought companions and pleasure until fatigue compelled
them to rest, so as to begin again in the morning the allotted
task. The East is too far from the West for these clubs to be
managed by casual visitors, so that distance alone would have
necessitated the establishment of a home near at hand.

But if the girls and boys were thus considered, and their needs

WORK IN CONNECTION WITH THE CATHOLIC SOCIAL UNION 121

studied, their fathers and mothers and the little brothers and
sisters were not neglected.

The whole parish in which the settlement stands was carefully
mapped out, and a portioned district fell to the share of each ;
this district had had its census taken, and every Catholic family
within its limits registered. To minister to the wants of each,
day after day, was the life of the settlement.

It is after breakfast that the order of the day is made, and
the morning hours fly whilst a worker is passing from door to
door in the street selected by her. Every case is visited once a
month, but some need looking up far of tener. This man is out of
work, and through no fault of his own ; the wife is ill, and the
children too young to .be breadwinners. Help must be given in
this emergency, but help which will not impoverish them or
teach them to depend on charity and thus neglect the opportunity
later of earning again their own daily bread. Milk will be given
to the mother, a ticket for a daily supply, which the girl can
change at the shop between the school hours, whilst some old
rags can be allotted to the father te sell in Petticoat Lane, or a
trunk can be carried to the station or a message taken West, to
earn the money needed for the rent. A boy has left school and
is looking for a situation ; but where can the clothes be found ?
The city is ransacked for a vacant place, and friends besieged for
an outfit. Three children not attending school must be looked
up, and perhaps conveyed thither to make a fresh start. These,
and many similar ones, make up the business of the morning's
visit, and the luncheon hour is filled with discussions of how to
deal in such and such a case. The names of new candidates for
club or mothers' meeting, and of families lately arrived. Then
there are still the meetings to attend ; the Charity Organisation
for cases needing investigation, and the Children's Country
Holiday Fund, worked for the parish from the settlement ; the
Hospital and Infirmary, sometimes over 40 inmates falhng to the
lot of the visitor in an afternoon. For weeks before the Christ-
mas tree the schools have to be visited, measurements for frocks
and suits taken, and attendance reconsidered for the various
prizes. Again, through the summer, the children are approached
to pay in the pennies for their country trip. There are girls te
be taken te the hospital, or despatehed to a convalescent home.
A boy who is really going to service in the West takes leave of
the ladies, or another reports himself home from the sea. Night
causes the daily surprise that hours should pass so quickly, and
brings with it too the heaviest portion of the work — Girls* club.

122 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

with classes of cookery, drill and needlework ; boys* club, with
games and gymnasium ; mothers' meeting, with tea and garments
to be sold at less than cost price to come M^ithin their very
limited means.

The variety of the work is in part a secret of its happiness,
its unity of thought and principle perhaps another secret.

The workers of the settlement may never have met before }
they may, indeed, have followed very dissimilar pursuits, but
they have all left the country or the park to dwell amongst those
who, of the same nation and faith as themselves, have been bom
into a world narrowed between two rows of smutty houses and a
long, badly- ventilated workshop ; and in this they find a common
bond of union, closer than many other ties can possibly be.
They are striving together to better the condition of the poor, to
bring pleasure, happiness and warmth into their daily hard-
pressed lives, and, above all, to lead them to a knowledge and a
love of their holy faith — the only certain safeguard they can
have.

Big boys will come up to the house of their own accord after
the return from the club even to ask to be prepared for the
sacraments, and all — mothers, boys and girls — ^are trained carefully
to understand the mysteries, doctrines and ceremonies of their
religion.

The work of the settlement was all comprehensive ; the little
baby is watched in its early days, clothed, fed and taken to the
church for baptism. In death a man was assisted, comforted and
taught how best to die with his priest by his side. The boys were
interested, amused and instructed through the most difficult
years of their lives ; the girls were trained to make good and
useful wives and mothers, whilst the older generation were helped
to pull themselves together time after time. When habit had made
falls a constant occurrence and virtue was no easy task, they could
lean on their lady, who would be coming round to see them,
encourage them by some words of sympathy and hope, and thus
plant a new staff to cUng to, that would last again till a further
one could come.

And this not in a home where inmates could be watched from
mom till night, could be rewarded or punished, and were free to do
but little harm ; but merely in a parish, accepting the conditions
as they existed, the families packed together closely, vying with
each other for the insufficient supply of work, as their pale faces
and undergrown forms showed them to be struggling for too feeble
an amount of air and health.

THE SETTLEMENT IDEA IN GERMANY 123

Such a life, or time spent in such a way, must bring its own
joy, and though failure might be written on many an individual
case, success really rings through the whole, as each could recall
the promise, " No cup of cold water given shall be unrewarded,"
and no experience perhaps possibly could tend better to enlarge the
mind, widen the general sympathies, or raise the whole soul and
being, than the pursuit of such a charity.

The Settlement Idea in Germany.

Fraulein Salomon (Grermany).

The movement, which has for its ideal the bridging of the chasm
between rich and poor, has also made itself felt in Germany in
various ways, primarily in the founding of unions for the develop-
meat of sobitLl work a^d for the better instruction of women L
regard to it about these attempts. According to national
peculiarities a different course of action from that pursued in
England by the settlement movement was imperative in Germany.
One had to lay down as a vital principle of such efforts the
winning of German women as a whole, not only the training of a
small circle of independent girls, because the greater part of
German women have not yet been taught to take their share
in the social life of the nation.

Another reason for our different methods of working is, that
even in our largest towns we seldom find districts where only
the labouring classes Uve, and which are entirely avoided by
the well-to-do classes. On that account local help and friendly
relations between rich and poor, which are so scanty in the
poorer districts of large EngUsh and American towns, are not
only forthcoming in Germany through our poor law system, but
local effort could easily be organised by private societies, if only
the women who live in our thickly-populated districts could be
taught to acknowledge their duties as citizens.

In pursuing this object, we therefore decided to relinquish the
plan of establishing a settlement and to organise a somewhat
lower form of associations for training girls for social work both
by instruction in method and theory. The practical work of the
members who join these unions is considered as the most im-
portant branch, the girls are brought to co-operate with different

124 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

societies, which have for their object the promotion of the welfare
of the destitute classes, with the Charity Organisation Society,
with hospitals, country holiday funds, children's happy evenings,
and other societies.

They have to work under the care of experienced women, but
they may choose the branch of work they undertake, according
to their capacities and their inclinations, and they may settle its
extent according to the time at their disposal.

That makes it possible to women living under various con-
ditions to join these societies, to women who have got a home
and children of their own, or who are bound by their profession
and can only spare a few hours a week, as well as to girls of the
well-to-do classes, who can give the whole of their time to social
work.

This practical work among the destitute classes is supple-
mented by theoretical instruction, upon which the committee sets
a great value, and the members are expected to take part in this
instruction at least for one year.

The lectures are intended to supplement the predominant
aesthetic education of the girls' schools in a social direction, and to
give some knowledge of the economic conditions of the labouring
classes and of the necessity for social reform, which is indispens-
able, if a knowledge of practical work is to be obtained. Courses
of lectures have been arranged dealing with national government,
poor law, theory and practice of education, and other subjects.
Our fiirls become aware that the help of these workers is fi^ladly
welcomed in aU philanthropic or^nisations. and many have
initiated original schemes for the amelioration of social evils.

This German attempt, which did not take the exact form of
the settlement movement, but which owes to it a large share of
its leading spirit, shows that the settlement idea and method,
when adapted to national peculiarities, are well adapted to deepen
the feeling of individual responsibility among women and to
teach them to do their duties as citizens.

Discussion.

Mr Hunter (Chicago) said that the movement towards social
settlements in the United States was a very different affair to
that in England and Scotland. It would be well if he explained
some of the efforts which had been made to solve the problems
with which they were faced. Great growth had taken place in
the United States. There were 80 or 90 settlements spread

THE SETTLEMENT IDEA IN GERMANY 125

over the country, and most people thought that these were
separate movements. The general opinion of most settlement
workers in the United States, however, was that there were
very few settlements in the country that were doing real work —
not more than 30 or 35. They were doing certain evangelical
work. Mission work it ought rightly to be termed; it had,
however, taken the name of settlement work, because that name
suggested a certain ideal in social movements which they wished to
attain. So far as he could understand, a settlement, to the minds
of most people who were at the head of affairs, did not really
mean anything in the way of definite policy. The people went
into the neighbourhoods where they thought there was some
need of work in the way of understanding the poor better, and
when they went into a neighbourhood they realised that there
was one leading principle to be kept in sight. Anything which
would make the people more religious was not the main idea
which underlay the settlement movement in America. The idea
there was to go among the people and find out what were the
conditions of the people. One of the things which was first
endeavoured to impress upon the people was that they married
too young. But investigation had proved that this was an error.
From 1 8 to 25 a man was earning the maximum wage which
he would earn. Probably by the time he was 30 or 40 he
would be earning a smaller wage. As a consequence it was
necessary for a man to marry at that time if he was to marry
Ht all. A professional man might wait till he was 30 or 40,
but they*Eound that the poor man was really acting in a sensible
manner. The settlement movement in the States was a woman's
movement. There were settlements which included university
men, and where the university idea obtained, but the settlement
movement in the States was led by women. There were two in
New York, and the general personnel was composed of women.
It was fair to say that the settlement movement was a social
movement. The speaker mentioned that he had spoken to
John Bums the preceding afternoon, and referred to his descrip-
tion of Chicago as "a pocket edition of hell," or, if they pre-
ferred, "hell was a pocket edition of Chicago." But though
there was corrupt government there they felt in a way that it
was an expression of the real people, and ought not to be in
every way meddled with.

Miss Griace Stebbing said a few words about slums in Grerman
cities. In one of her visits a woman living in a tenement
exclaimed, " Ach Himmel ! You pity me, mademoiselle ! What

126 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

of the poor boy up above ? " The poor boy in question was a
bright student, living on the roof in a shed of his own manufac-
ture. She knew London slums, but they had nothing to equal
what she saw there. And on the ground floor the people were
no better. The man, a washerwoman's husband, was a thoroughly
bad man. She had lived in Rome and in Paris, and in the
students* quarter, on 7fr. a day, apart from lodging. She lived
so for four weeks.

Miss Grumpton (of the Manchester Settlement) said that she
was almost a novice in settlement work, and had very little to
tell. But she represented a Lancashire settlement, and many
people were unfamiliar with the methods in vogue there. There
was a general point with regard to the idea of the settlement.
The workers did not merely visit the poor ; they founded a home
in the poor district where the poor were welcome. That was the
case in their Manchester settlement. One of their chief aims
was to provide a free drawing-room for the district. In Man-
chester there were already free libraries. Now they were trying
to provide a free drawing-room. Very appropriate was it to
give the name public-house to the inns which abounded. Those
inns had to be drawing-rooms and social meeting-places for poor
men and poor women who lived so often in one room or two
rooms. Therefore they were trying to provide a drawing-room
for the district. On Saturdays everybody was welcome at their
At Home — rich and poor, men and women, young and old.
The classes should know each other better. At their settlement
the rich did not prevail, neither did the poor ; they were anxious
to keep the idea of a home. They were fortunate in having
married couples with them ; that was a great gain, for it took
away the artificiality of settlement life. She would be glad if
some subsequent speaker could make it plain what was the
difference between a mission and a settlement. Other people
also might not be quite clear about that point. The co-operation
of the working people in the formation of the settlement question
was important. They had a body of Socialists, both men and
women, and they were represented on the Council; they met
fortnightly and considered the activities of the settlement.
From them they learned very much. One class could not act
for another class without a great deal of experience, and even
then it was difficult to make plans for another class ; it was only
right that the working people should have a very direct voice in
the formation of their plans. One departure was the starting
of court and alley open-air concerts. They hired singers and

THE SETTLEMENT IDEA IN GEBMANT 127

instrumentalists, and established themselves in the lowest courts
and alleys ; they had audiences of 300 and 400 people. They
only began that summer. Great encouragement was found in
the fact that the pubUc-houses objected to these concerts.

Mr Douglas (of Toynbee Hall) said that two questions were
suggested to him that afternoon — What was a settlement ? and
What did people do at a settlement 1 It was very easy to say
what a settlement was not. It was not sufficient to say that it
was a centre of education or a club. It was rather a place
where a body of men lived and took up responsibilities, and had
an idea of carrying out an ideal — the ideal of social co-opera-
tion. In a settlement which he knew well the varieties of life
were as many as the varieties of men who lived there. A
settlement was only successful where it helped to create a healthy
pubUc opinion.

Mrs Crawford said that there were three ^Catholic settle-
ments in the East End, and these had to deal with the poorest
of the poor. That was the natural work of the Catholic Social
Union. They had the very poor to take in hand. The Catholic
Social Union could work where purely religious organisations
could not. It was a connecting link between reUgious Catholic
work and the great philanthropic societies with which it was
important for them to be in contact. The Irish Catholic
population of England was among the very poorest. The im-
portant thing to remember was that they should adapt them-
selves to the needs of the people. That had been done by the
CathoHc Social Union.

Miss Simmons referred to the difference between missions
and settlements. The mission was an organisation intended to
bring people into closer relationship with God. A settlement
was an organisation intended to bring people into closer rela-
tionship with one another. But after all human love was the
shadow of the great, the Divine love. If a man loved not his
brother whom he had seen, how could he love God whom he had
not seen? The settlements could only be a substitute for the
homes of the well-educated and such classes who settled in the
poorer districts, who settled there in the best sense, and carried
out their social duty with the help of God.

Mrs Samuel Bamett said that she had passed 15 years at Toyn-
bee Hall. Many people who went down to the East End to help
the poor only touched one class. It would be different, how-
ever, if they went down there with the idea of sharing the life of
the neighbourhood, then they would touch all classes. They needed

128 WOMEN IN SOCIAX LIFE

the aid of cultivated people. If the worker lived as a neighbour,
with the spirit of neighbourliness to all around, he or she gradu-
ally awakened in the hearts of those who lived in the same place
a wish to also help the poor. The last work at Toynbee Hall was
the somewhat fancif uUy - named Toynbee Guild of Compassion.
It was composed of young people who attended the Toynbee Hall
(Masses as studentS) and assistants in shops, clerks, etc. They
had started the Guild because they were moved by the sight of
the huddled groups of humanity in the streets. They had
already entered themselves for a whole series of good actions.

SOCIAL NECESSITY FOR AN EQUAL MORAL
STANDARD FOR MEN AND WOMEN.

CONVOCATION HALL OF CHURCH HOUSE,

DEAN'S YARD, WESTMINSTER,

(meeting for women only).

FRIDA r, JUNE 30, MORNING.

[A special reqvsst having been made that the papers read at this
meeting should be printed in full, the Editor has decided to
publish them in a separate pamphlet, which vnll be supplied
tmth every full set of the " Transactions " ordered, and extra
copies of which can be obtained from the publishers at 6c?.
ea/ih, A short notice of the papers read is also included below
for the sake of convenience, — Editor.]

Mrs CREIGHTON in the Chair.

Mrs Henry J. Wilson (Great Britain), taking the place of
Mrs Josephine Butler, read a paper in which she dwelt upon
the vitiating effect of the unequal moral standard and the State
regulation of vice, contending that the latter system was bad in
principle and provocative of evil. She pointed out the great
responsibility of women in the matter, the readiness on the part
of many of them to condone in men what they condemned in
women being productive of injury to both sexes, and concluded
with an earnest plea for the unity of the moral law.

Frau Bieber-Boehm read a paper in which she said that in
Germany their National Council of Women, including more than
one hundred societies, has urged wide circles of men and women
to give their attention to this great question. They strove to
inculcate in them that purity was as much demanded from men
as from women, and that the most disastrous consequence to
civilised society flowed from the neglect of this principle. Frau
Bieber Boehm proceeded to state the means proposed by her
society to enforce its ideas in education and in legislation, and
concluded by reading an appeal from the National Council of
Women of Germany to all professors and instructors of youth.

VOL. VII. I

130 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Mrs Greorge Drummond (Canada), read the next paper, in
which she said that the principle of one standard as opposed
to two standards of morality was the principle whereby the life
of the individual and of society as a whole could find its fullest
realisation. The idea that there was one standard for men and
another for women led, by inevitable consequence, to terrible
evils, both physical and moral, and, in particular, to what the
late Archbishop Benson, in a charge to his clergy, had called
" the plague spot, which, in spite of all that science could do,
remained to fester, to kill, to maim, to disfigure, and to sap the
health of millions.'* She was persuaded that the hope for the
future lay in the altered attitude of women towards this problem.
She advocated careful home teaching by wise mothers, and the
purification of society by women who were acknowledged leaders.
She concluded by asserting that purity of life is man's essential
nature, that the progress of humanity has been a gradual escape
from " the bonds of animal life," and that much must come from
an increased sense of responsibility on the part of women, and
from an earnest co-operation of men and women in all matters
referring to the elevation of humanity.

Frdken Iva Welhaven (Norway) read the next paper, in
which she said : While schools and churches have preached the
doctrine that there is one moral standard for men and women,
the horrible heathen theory that there are two has ruled life in
home and in society. From this vile idea have come innumerable
evils. It is the one pressing need how to keep our children from
accepting its teaching. She concluded by describing the steps
taken in Norway to spread the required knowle(^ and to
prevent immoral legislation.

Mile, de St Croix (France) read a paper in which she said
that, generally speaking, the great enemy to the enfranchisement
of woman the world over was woman herself. She had, through
a long course of years, become so accustomed to look at all ques-
tions through the eyes of the opposite sex, and to submit her
opinion to that of man, that, until quite recently, she had been
blind to matters vitally and materially afiecting her own interests
as woman. Morality, justice and liberty demanded a single
moral standard and equal responsibility for both sexes. Mothers
should cease to inculcate unjust ideas in the minds of their
daughters — ideas which were largely accountable for the actual
state of afiairs and tended to make women a hindrance rather
than a help to advancement towards the desired goal.

AMUSEMENTS.

a) the ethics of amusements.

(b) the public control of amusements.

CONYOCATION HALL OP CHURCH HOUSE, DEAN'S

YARD, WESTMINSTER.

PRIDA r, JUNE 30, AFTERNOON.

Miss CONS in the Chair.

Ethics of Amusement.

The Lady Battersea.

To Matthew Arnold we are indebted for the saying that some
250 years ago the people of England went into prison, when
Puritanism turned the key upon them, and that from the said
prison they are now gradually emerging. Twenty years or
more must have passed since those words were written by the
pungent pen of the poet-critic, since then the action of emerging
has become a very rapid one ; the prison doors have been thrown
open with a vengeance, and English men and women are trooping
forth into the glad sunshine of gaiety and pleasure-seeking.
Dulness is no longer synonymous with goodness, and the gospel
of amusement is preached alike from the pulpit of orthodox and
unorthodox divines. Amusements are less exclusive and less
expensive than they used to be. The spirit of amusement seems
to have invaded all classes of society, and no philanthropic move-
ment can be said to have attained popularity that does not
acknowledge and is not prepared to act upon this fact. The
primary schools, with their complicated and wonderful arrange-

131

132 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

ments for kindergarten instruction, have fully recognised the
part that amusement should hold in their curriculum ; there the
children learn to play and play to learn : games, drawing, the
handling of ingenious toys, relieve the tedium of the hours of
tuition, and transform the school premises into halls of delight,
as far as the owners of pattering feet and lisping words are
concerned. The quietest country parishes have been invaded by
the love of dramatic display — tableaux, theatricals, musical
conceits are freely indulged in; dressing up in character is
considered a practical historical lesson ; whilst the old-fashioned
penny reading, once looked upon as a form of boundless dissipa-
tion, has, I think, rather unfortunately, been crushed out of
existence by the numberless new and daring entertainments
devised by the energetic daughters of the clergy and their
willing coadjutors — the curates. The great public schools, and
their following of small but close imitators, set immense store by
the popular games that attract vast concourses of people to
watch the prowess of the boys, until the original object of the
school seems almost in danger of being lost in this new develop-
ment. Young people of philanthropic bent devote their spare
time and energy to the amusement of those whose lives are
passed under joyless or monotonous conditions. The hospital
and the workhouse wards are invaded by many whose kinchiess
of heart sends them forth to enliven patient and pauper.
Dreary and poverty-stricken parts of London are no longer left
exclusively in the hands of the evangelist or missioner, but
yield a new and fascinating hunting ground to a generous bevy
(drawn principally from the upper or the professional classes) of
reciters, singers, even diancers.

The growing ugliness of a big city, with its endless factories,
huge barrack-like dwellings for the poor, its mean streets, and
the network of tram-cars, seems to have produced in the
soul of man a passionate longing for the giving and taking of
pleasure.

Bedizened in glowing colourS) joyous with music and song,
addicted to processions and great gatherings, the spirit of amuse^
ment advances upon its way. It has the benediction of the
clergy, the encouragement of the philanthropist ; it is the chosen
instrument of both political parties ; it claims alliance with the
temperance reformer and Sunday-school teacher ; and yet at
times it treads so giddily near to the precipice of dissipation and
frivolity, that the moralist cries " Halt ! " as the brilliant cortege
sweeps by, and wonders whether England will continue to hold

ETHICS OF AMUSEMENT 133

her own amongst nations if the Puritanism that made her great
and strong is to vanish entirely from her life.

And yet, and yet we must be prepared to acknowledge that
dulness can, and does, engender wickedness, and that if the
powers of imagination, the joy of swift movement and rhythmical
motion, and the pleasures of the senses be properly directed, they
will prove powerful factors against evil.

The balance must be carefully struck; nor can we call it
waste of time to pause and ask ourselves. How far amusement is
consistent with morality? or, in other words, What are the
ethics of amusements ? Now, in talking of amusements, I wish
to make it plain that by this term I do no not include that one
form of pleasure or joy which should be the residt of our best
work. Some of the most genuine pleasure we can ever hope for
in this world is closely connected with our day's work, unless, as
it happens, that work be one of terrible monotony, such as is
frequently the outcome of a too great subdivision of labour.

Amusement, such as I shall dwell upon to-day, is the relaxa-
tion from the daily grind, and amusement, taken in that sense,
can only be considered on moral grounds, when it is not the main
object of existence. It should be the 'broidered hem on the robe,
not the robe itself.

The moment that amusement, in the shape of games, sport,
society even, departs from its rightful kingdom, it becomes a
usurper, and as such cannot claim ethical power.

But to a certain extent this is inevitable, owing to the very
high standard exacted in these days in games of skill, in all forms
of sport, in artistic and musical performances. I am of course
speaking of the non-professional. But, indeed, the distinguishing
line between the professional and the layman is no longer kept as
clearly as it used to be ; the word '' amateur ** is rapidly being
struck out of our vocabulary ; we claim to be artists or nothing
in all that we attempt. We must allow that it is difficult to
find the necessary time required for such perfection, and the
golden hours of the day are apt to turn into lead if too great a
strain is placed upon them. Amusement, we agree, should be a
relaxation either to the mind or the body, and this it ceases to be
when it usurps an undue amoant of time, brain power or physical
energy.

It seems to me that, if amusement is to be healthy and pure
(permissible amusement), it should depend —

(1.) Upon the exercise and use, but not abuse, of our
physical and mental faculties ;

134 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

(2.) Upon sympathetic companionship ;

(3.) Upon the certainty that in the pursuit of our own

pleasure we are not injuring others ;
(4.) Upon the fact that we are giving pleasure to others.

Now, the more we cultivate our faculties, the greater will be
our possibilities of enjoyment. For instance, the little book of
our childhood called Eyes and no Eyes taught us explicitly enough
that to some a walk between budding hedgerows or through green
fields may lead to a paradise of delight, whilst to others it may
simply mean an excursion into the kingdom of boredom.

The amusement gained in learning to observe Nature closely
is infinite ; it is a stimulus from without, in every sense a healthy
one ; it leads to many of the pleasures of art as well as to those
of sport.

When combined with a love of research and reading, these
interests are yet more valuable. It seems almost trite to dwell
upon the ethical aspect of the amusement gained from our most
precious friends, books. How they feed our imagination, turn the
dull hour into a bright one, widen the limits of our little world,
giving us, as it were, a new family to love and care for, bringing
us into contact with noble lives and great minds.

"All the world is around me," exclaimed a monk of the thirteenth
century, sitting in his library ; " all that ever stirred human hearts or fired the
imagination is harmlessly here. My library shelves are the avenues of time.

" Ages have wrought, generations g^^own, and all their blossoms are cast
down here. It is the garden of immortal fruits without dog or dragon." —
From the toritingt of Gilbebt Pobritimus.

Novels, which, if they do not amuse, are unworthy of their
name, do not prevent their authors from being amongst the best
preachers and teachers the world has ever known. What thank-
offerings we would gladly raise to the magicians who enrich our
lives by their creations ! And how surpassing is the pure humour
of many of our best writers. Think of Sir W. Scott, Hood,
Sydney Smith, Dickens, Thackeray, Jane Austen and George
Miot, and, coming to still later days. Miss Broughton and the
joint work of Gilbert and Sullivan.

Second to the amusement derived from all forms of literature,
or perhaps equal to it, is that connected with music. Music has
its own particular atmosphere of sunshine and brightness, and is
inseparable from our conception of festivity, of great public and
private rejoicings, of solemn festivals and great celebrations.

Religion as well as patriotism has pressed music into her

ETHICS OF AMUSEMENT 135

service; it belongs to the battlefield and to the home-coming.
The poor little street urchin dancing merrily in rags and tatters
to the barrel-organ, or the crowd that tramp in step behind a
military band, are oblivions for the time of hunger or care. To
most of us music is captivating, inspiriting, ennobling, whether
it be of a classical or a romantic character ; to some even the beat
of the drum or shrill note of the bagpipe can be a source of
delight. But still there is the danger that music may have too
powerful an effect upon the emotions, such as some people declare
is the case in the wild, exciting music of Wagner, producing
ungovernable passions that may result in lawless actions. Thus
music, except for the artist or professional, should not occupy too
great a space in life if we are to grant it an ethical place in our
existence.

With music, dancing is, of course, intimately associated. The
popular dictum has now given to the rhythmical movements,
so dear to the young, a very honoured place in the scale of
amusements.

Dancing is taught in primary schools, it has found an open
door into the modem working girls' clubs, it is sanctioned by
many excellent clergy as a wholesome recreation in their parishes,
and the young of all classes would count social pleasures as
insipid if they did not include a dancing-party or a ball.

The ethical value of the dance must depend upon the whole-
some exercise it entails, upon the fine spirits it engenders, and
upon the healthy social tone it imparts. The dangers connected
with it often spring from its surroundings, or from the undue
excitement it occasions.

Before I venture on the very great subject of games, allow me
to confess, in all humility, that I have never been proficient in
any game, that I have never devoted any time to games, and
that I am considered a very unsympathetic and ignorant on-
looker both of games sedentary and active. For all that, I hope
that I am broad-minded enough to make my respectful curtsey
to games that do not merely pander to excitement, and that do
not depend upon gambling for their attraction. Games such as
cricket, football, tennis, golf are simply invaluable. They bring
their votaries into the open air, bracing their nerves, making
them active in body, agile and supple of limb, keen of sight,
enduring, patient, good-tempered, unselfish and public-spirited.
The healthy emulation they engender is invaluable, and its good
effect is apparent in every walk of life. I care enough for these
open-air pastimes to regret that the element of gambling should

136 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

ever have intruded upon them, with its sordid spirit and
unwholesome love of excitement, and dangerous tendency to
dishonesty.

Beyond this there is a further danger, resulting from the hero
worship so freely bestowed upon all who show an exceptional
proficiency in the national games.

It must often require great force of character to settle down
to the steady routine of everyday life after the fictitious excite-
ment of injudicious and universal adulation.

And I would add that the ethics of those countries are in the
ascendant where national games are innocent of cruelty; bull-
fighting, for instance, can only brutalise those who take part in
it, and remains inexcusable on all grounds. Who does not owe
also a meed of gratitude to the sedentary games, such as the
learned and dignified game of chess; whist, so useful when
conversation flags; draughts, dominoes, even patience, all of
which have helped men and women through many a tedious
hour. But here again their ethical value is at a discount if
they are played for high stakes or gambling purposes.

And then the bicycle, what avenues of fresh delight it has
opened up! What possibilities to those who have lived their
lives within city widls ! Stimulated by healthy exercise and
swift movement their attention can scarcely fail to be held, if
only for a moment, by those natural beauties which, owing to
the bicycle, they are now able to explore. It also promotes
companionship between men and women, so valuable to both,
and in a way realise the aspiration of the poet :

** Ye Gods, annihilate bnt time and space,
And make two lovers happy."

I dare not trust myself to speak of travelling — a source of
unfailing delight and amusement now happily brought within
the reach of slender purses, owing to the half philanthropic, half
business arrangements of Polytechnics, Working Men's Clubs,
Settlements, etc. And much that I have said about games will
apply to sport.

But here my ethical sense cries " Halt ! " for what is sport to
the hunter is not sport to the animal he is pursuing. As this is
a Congress of Women I feel that I must address my remarks
upon sport chiefly to women. I take it that some women
are cruel by nature; others only thoughtless, particularly
when fashion leads the way, as was once wittily said in the

ETHICS OF AMUSEMENT 137

fieventeenth century by Lord Halifax in a letter to his
daughter : —

'* So obsequious is the vain woman to fashion that she would be ready to be
reconciled, even to virtue with all its faults, if she had her dancing master's
word that it was practised at Court."

Yet I am convinced that few, if any of them, are eager to bring
about the torture and the death of the creature. They are
carried away by the excitement, the spice of danger, the skill
demanded by the sport they are engageid in, so they forget the
terror or pain they are inflicting upon a helpless animal. Now
it seems to me that, for a woman, the sport of hunting, if she
must indulge in one, is more excusable than that of shooting or
fishing, for to a certain extent she is riding at her peril and is
not directly concerned with the animal's death. Whilst we must
admit that the greater vitality of men, which in old days used to
be expended in^fighting his fellow men, has now found a safety-
valve in all manner of sport ; some one form of which is generally
dear to some of the tenderest, most chivalrous and least cruel of
EngUshmen. In so far as sport conduces to courage, quickness
of resolve, good fellowship, the love of country versus town life, a
healthy mind in a healthy body, it has valuable ethical as well
as physical attributes. Yet at best life is a compromise ; there
seems some difficulty in reconciling the spirit that prompted
Dryden in the following lines : —

** Better to hunt in fields for health unbought,
Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught."

with that of Wordsworth when he says :—

"Never to blend our pleasure or our pride,

With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels."

Still, how far superior sport is to horse-racing is self-evident —
sport of which the Shah of Persia is reported to have said, when
he once attended a Derby meeting : —

" One horse can run faster than another, but why should one go to Epsom
to see it?"

The owner of the horse runs no physical risk, and the spirit
of gambling is fostered all round. There can be no two opinions
that the amusement derived from one of the most popular pastimes
in England, that of racing, although it is alleged to have many
merits, can have no ethical value.

138 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFS

It would be difficult within the limits of this paper to give a
conception of the great influence that the stage can, does and
should wield over the moral and intellectual life of a nation.
Merely taking into account the fact that passages of the finest
poetry and noblest prose have been produced for stage purposes,
and that some of the most delicately-balanced questions on ethical
subjects have been argued in dramatic writings, it might be a
serious loss to themselves were the theatre not visited by all
classes, even by those who live strictly pure and consistent lives.
It is doubly sad that miserable performances such as disgrace
some of the theatres, and must, one would think, degrade those
that take part in them, should be allowed to pander to a low
standard of taste and morality.

The stage holds unquestionable powers for good. It appeals to
the eye and ear, whilst the words of the actors should carry such
an a.Lnt of sincerity and ring of truth that must drive a lesson
home where many methods fail. In old days there was a good
excuse for our Puritan forefathers to have denounced playgoing,
for immorality was then coarsely depicted and actually taught on
the stage, but that evil is now happily removed, and the danger in
these days is of running into an opposite extreme, such as intro-
ducing words and scenes that are obviously too sacred for stage
representation, and out of place in dramatic performances.

I should like to say a word or two upon S3nnpathetic com-
panionship, which T hold is so requisite an adjunct to the real
spirit of enjoyment. Being able to compare notes with a kindred
spirit, to laugh at the same joke, to sympathise over the same
failures, doubles the joys and halves the annoyances of life. I want
to put in a very strong word for the quiet walk, now generally
discarded as being tame and dull, but which was formerly the
means of bringing about some of the happiest of friendships.
Master and pupil, undergraduates, schoolboys, shy girls, men
and women have sounded each other's depths, have entered an
undiscovered country and conquered new tracts of land whilst
pounding along a commonplace road or sauntering through green
fields. Nature, as a background, has helped them wonderfully.
If these walks should be voted out of fashion, much that is
precious in life, perhaps the possibilities of making rare and
unselfish friendships, such as conduce to the ethics of amusement,
wiU go with them. I have not dwelt upon amusements that
carry with them the deadly poison of injury to others. For men
and women, as well as the poor animals (too often wilfully for-
gotten), in our own determined quest after pleasure or health, can

ETHICS OF AMUSEMENT 139

be injured by that want of thought which is so nearly allied to
want of heart.

If, for instance, girls are so absorbed in their amusements that
they cannot devote a little spare time to the obvious duties of
home life, surely those amusements must be overdone; if their
lives are so crowded with pleasures of all kinds that they cannot
make a poor little dressmaker's life easier by giving her proper
time to complete her task, then some of those pleasures should be
unhesitatingly given up; if men's amusements infringe on the
coveted and rightful leisure of others, like the distribution of
Sunday papers, then let those amusements go to the wall. If
the spiritual side of life be entirely neglected for the things of
to-day, good and wholesome though they may be, then there is a
great risk, as an eloquent and powerful preacher has said : —

" That a heart entirely surrendered to its human and earthly relations has
no security from the sorrows and sins of impulse, no shelter from the storms
of tumultuous anguish."

For amusements may become a scourge instead of a blessing when
they lead to self-indulgence, self-seeking, egotism and a love of
notoriety. But if those who are in full enjoyment and pursuit of
their own amusements, or, still better, are organising them for
others, be actuated by a single mind and generous spirit, then the
amusements, whether they take the shape of a game of cricket, a
concert, theatricals, or a dance, may not only redeem many a life
from monotony and dulness, but may even arrest the first down-
ward step towards degrading or vicious pursuits.

A genial philosopher and poet whom I knew in my youth
used to say : —

((

All the pleasant things in life are unwholesome or expensive or wrong."

If I have only succeeded in demonstrating the falseness of
this doctrine, my paper has not been altogether written in vain.
And I should like to add : —

" So use present pleasures that thou spoilest not future ones." — Skneoa.

Discussion.

Mrs Boomer, Acting President of the National Council of
Women of Canada, said : The writer of the masterly paper upon
the Ethics of Amusement, which it has just been our privilege to
hear read, has evidently realised, not only the vast importance of
her subject, but also its many-sidedness and its varied and

140 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

chameleon-like aspects. She has looked at it, and through it, and
around it with the educated eye of one who is familiar with
its every possibility for good, as well as with many of its possi-
bilities for evil. She has treated it with the utmost impartiality,
with rare tact and wisdom ; she ha« been absolutely fair, throwing
down no challenge which she has not, as it were, herself taken up.
If this form of amusement was good in itself but injurious if
carried to excess, she has told us so ; if that was helpful in its
use but harmful in its abuse, she has said so plainly too ; in
fact, she has so thrown her well-known quality of " thoroughness "
into the consideration of her subject, that she has, so to speak,
cut the very ground of discussion from under our feet.. But I
thmk we may consider that her final verdict is one to which we
all can heartily subscribe : viz., that amusement, used in modera-
tion and without risk of loss or injury to othei^, has not only a
distinctly ethical value, but that to return to the dreary dogmas of
the past would be a terrible injustice to the present generation as
well as to generations yet to come.

And now, having said these few words by way of introducing
my subject, lAaylvelturetoaddafewmorebywayof introducini
myself, and of offering an apology for the fact that the honour
of opening the discussion should have been conferred upon one
who is but a very unimportant unit of the International Council
of Women ? I have no other excuse to offer for my temerity,
except that when the beloved and honoured President of the
Canadian National Council, Lady Aberdeen, requests any
member of her Council to do or say anything, or to go any-
where in the interests or for the furtherance of our work, that
member, however doubtful she may be of her own fitness for the
duty, just obeys and tries to do her best, without question or
remonstrance, and that is why I stand here this afternoon,
although I must confess that I was aghast when the request of
my commanding officer reached me, which was not till I had
already started on my journey to England. What was I to do ?
I could get at no library to help me as to the exact views held
upon the subject of amusement by our own progenitors, or by
those of any other nations to be represented at this Congress. I
knew that in a general way the savage tribes of to-day have their
own very peculL notions as to the ethics of amusement, a sort
of mixing of business and pleasure, a kind of brimstone and
treacle compound of a joyous celebration of peace, with gory
scalp-locks hanging at their girdles ; but how, without access to
any encyclopaedia or book of reference, I could trace the growth

ETHICS OF AMUSEMENT 141

and progress of the incipient idea into its state of present
development, either in savage or civilised lands, with any degree
of accuracy, that I knew not, and I was terribly afraid that
some such proofs of research might be expected of me.

Judge then of my relief when, on obtaining, by the courtesy
of Lady Battersea, a copy of her paper, I found that she had
wisely decided to let " the dead past bury its dead " and to deal
with what has been aptly named " the Gospel of Relaxation,"
more specifically as it is preached and practised nowadays. And
it is with to-day that we have perhaps more especially to do.

As to the problem of how it came about that to me, of all
people, should have been committed the duty of discussing the
subject of amusements, under any aspect whatever, I just
dismissed it with the very probable solution that, like the thin
and cadaverous baby in the well-known Mellin's Food advertise-
ment, one bom before this happier era, when parents and
teachers alike have learnt to recognise in amusement a most
important educational factor, might serve as a peculiarly apt
illustration of the vital necessity for the same if the child is to
enter into its heritage of full development, morally and mentally
as well as physically, and upon this point I think the writer of
the paper has spoken with no uncertain sound. The plump baby
was fed on Mellin's Food — the lean baby wasn't. I appear
before you as the lean baby who wasn't !

There may be just a few present who may recall, as I confess
I do with a cold shiver as the memory of it passes over me even
now, the dwarfing, cramping efiect of the limitations which
surrounded our childhood, when we were continually told that
" Little girls were to be seen, not heard " ; when we had to get
hold of a little fun by stratagem as it were ; when the slightest
indulgence of one's natural high spirits was termed " tomboyish " ;
when in the eyes of our nurses to soil our pinafores was almost a
deadly sin; whilst to make our courtesies gracefully and to
behave prettily " was the whole duty of man." In fact, when
to seem good was to be good, and if the outside was only calm
and quiescent, never mind how wild a tempest of rebellion raged
within ; few realising that the tendency of such training was to
make arrant hypocrites of the more timid little mortals, who
were afraid to dare the penalty for the dear delight of one wild
open outbreak of what was, after all, probably but very harm-
less fun indeed.

Child nature, however, was always the same. The children of
the old days had the same instincts as those of to-day ; then as

142 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

now they as much needed play to strengthen their limbs, to
awaken their faculties, to educate and develop their powers, to
prepare them for what destiny might have in store for them.
All young things need play as the flowers need sunshine, and
they equally look for companionship and sympathy in their play.
The baby girl is not happy unless someone will play " peep bo "
with her, and she toddles off into an unsteady run that she may
be caught and lovingly brought back again. And so with the
kitten which tangles up your ball of worsted, and the big over-
grown puppy which, apparently ownerless, haunts the lakeside
or seashore and gives you no rest until you have thrown into the
water the stick or stone he is so playfully eager to fetch. Mother
Nature never makes a mistake, and, all unknown to the young
things themselves, she is superintending and guiding them in the
course of self -education and development upon which they have
entered at her own inspiration. Play is their work, whilst work
is their play ; and it is this principle which, as Lady Battersea
has pointed out, is the key-note to the whole kindergarten
system which has brought about such a revolution of ideas upon
the whole subject, and with it a glorious emancipation for the
children of to-day from the cast-iron rules which fettered and
circumscribed so many of the children of the past.

Truly " all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," and
no one will deny the application of those words of wisdom to
poor little Jill likewise. (It being inevitable that someone
must, in the course of the discussion, quote a saying so illustrative
of the subject, and. as the writer of the paper was so considerate
as to abstain therefrom, I have taken it for granted that she
purposely left it for those who were to follow her.)

Nor does the necessity for a break in the dead level of life
apply only to the little ones. It is necessary in a curative as
well as in a strictly educational sense only. There are those
other children, often old in years, but yet children in another
sense also, who, like Topsy, have simply "growed," and whose
environment and want of any training at all has landed them
within prison walls. Who can estimate the value to these of the
broader, kinder, wider views which do not shut wholly out of
the prison rules some occasional provision for recreation, and
which takes into account the natural craving of the human
heart which the sinner has in common with the saint ? In this
connection, and in proof that Lady Battersea never said a truer
word than when she tells us that ''dulness can and does
often engender wickedness," let me give the following illustra-

ETHICS OF AMUSEMENT 143

tion. It occurs in a book written, I believe, by Mrs Meredith,
many years ago, entitled, ^^Experiences of a Prison McUron.*^
This chapter was entitled " Jarvis^s Head,'* and it was the story
of an actual occurrence, or rather, to be more accurate, a
recurrence, for Jarvis was a prisoner who, though usually well-
behaved, at long intervals, when driven to desperation by the
loneliness and deadly sameness of her lot, invented a unique method
of relieving it, to her delight but to the dire confusion of the
officials in charge of her. Selecting the moment when the little
trap door was opened to put in the bowl of " skilly," out would
shoot Jarvis's head, with unblinking eyes, but with projecting
unholy tongue, shouting and shrieking imprecations or sarcastic
witticisms. Jarvis, having cunningly braced herself against a
bench in her cell, was mistress of the situation, for to force her
from it until she was tired of " holding the fort " could only be
accomplished by breaking her neck, which, as she well knew,
would not be in accordance with even the strictest prison rules.
This outbreak would result in a prolonged confinement in the
black hole, or some equally severe penalty ; but to the prisoner
distraught with solitude, longing for variety and reckless of
consequences, "the game" certainly appeared "worth the
candle."

In the matter of amusements it is inevitable that tastes
must differ — that what would afford extreme delight to one
would be deadly dulness to another. I do hope the following
little story is true. It certainly is worth recalling as a sweet
little episode in the child-life of our beloved Queen, even if it be
not quite as illustrative of my present, as that of Jarvis's head
was of my former, point : —

When quite a little child, the Princess Victoria, the present
Queen of England, went with her mother to visit Queen
Adelaide. The Duchess of Kent, Princess Victoria's mother,
was obliged to leave her little daughter alone with Queen
Adelaide for some time, and the latter, to make the young
Princess feel at home, said, —

" Now, my dear, you have an hour to spend with me, and
you shall do exactly as you like."

" Exactly as I Uke?" echoed Princess Victoria, doubtfully.

" Yes," replied Queen Adelaide, little imagining what was to
follow.

"Then, dear Auntie Adelaide," the child said wistfully,
" may I clean the windows ? "

Queen Adelaide was rather startled at first, but the future

144 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Queen of England had her way, setting to work with sleeves
carefully rolled up and an apron tied round her waist.

Sir John Lubbock claims that " games are no loss of time/'
that they are of considerable importance in the developing of the
body and in keeping a man in good spirits for his daily work.
They teach him how to give way in trifles, to play fairly and to
push no advantage to extremity. They give moral as well as
physical health, daring and endurance, self-command and good
humour, qualities not to be found in books and which cannot be
learned by rote. Many of the best and most useful lessons are
those which boys learn upon the playground. It was the Duke
of Wellington who said that the battle of Waterloo was won on
the playing fields of Eton ; only, adds Sir John Lubbock, " let
games be the recreation and not the business of life.''

Thus we see that the high standard of honesty learnt in
games of skill may be one of the best lessons for the lad to carry
with him into whatever career may await his manhood. There
is still another side of the question, apart from the recognised
necessity for moderation, namely, the desperately evil effects
upon the public mind of exhibitions and public performances,
many of which cannot be too deeply deprecated. We may not have
in England or her Colonies the savage bull-fight, but what of cock-
fighting under the rose ; tight-rope dancing over dizzy heights ;
men or women carrying their lives in their hands into the wild
beast's cage ; eating fire, swallowing swords, and also, amongst
the upper ten thousand, if I dare say it, the shooting at poor
little pigeons for the mere purposes of sport, whilst gentlewomen
look on and applaud ?

I should like with the writer of the paper to say a word on
behalf of those others who suffer that we may smile : a word for
poor harried Reynard with the hounds in hot pursuit ; for the poor
little fish deluded to its destruction for a pastime ; even for the
writhing, slippery little worm often placed by dainty fingers upon
the hook as its unwilling decoy. I have always felt there was a
deep lesson underlying the remonstrance of the frogs, in the old
fable, to the boys so cruelly stoning them — " It may be fun to
you, but it is death to us."

Lady Battersea has made mention of nearly every form of
amusement which can appeal to the human mind, finding in the
larger proportion a beneficent influence and a good work to do,
and with nearly all she has said I cordially agree ; but to one of
her propositions, with a humility befitting, not youth, but
inexperience, I venture to take some exception. That remark

THE ETHICS OF AMUSEMENT 145

concerns the bicycle — the ubiquitous bicycle. Perhaps if age and
infirmities did not preclude all hope of my ever mounting a
bicycle and deluding myself with the idea that I too was having
a ride when I was doing all the hard work of making the thing
"go'* myseK, I might be in a better position to realise its
inestimable value in the ethics of amusement ; but from the point
of view of one who only observes bicycles and their riders from,
let us say, the pavement, or who, when she meets them in the
Queen's highway, does her level best, as we say over the water,
to get away from them, and therefore may not be a competent
judge of their merits — ^from that point of view she cannot
concede that " the bicycle promotes companionship between men
and women," or that it can possibly make " two lovers happy.''
Why, they can never get near enough to one another to make
each other happy ! There may be a reaching out towards
happiness, a kind of Will-o'-the-wisp invitation to happiness, an
illustration of the sentiment of the old song, " Thou art so near
and yet so far " ; but when a hand-clasp may mean collapse, and
loving words which are intended for the ear of Phyllis alone are
plainly audible to Hodge, who is clippin^g the hedge upon the
other side of the ditch ; when conversation, personal or otherwise,
has to be carried on in short, scrappy, spasmodic sentences ;
when to wax eloquent is to imperil your equilibrium ; when all
sentiment is banished by the very knowledge that in the outfit
of one or both are ointments and healing plasters and bandages
for wounds and bruises, which you may be called upon to use at
any moment upon your very least indiscretion ; knowing all this,
I say, whilst I am willing to concede to the bicycle much that is
claimed in its favour, I am of opinion that in the interests of
love, or even friendship, it is better to wait until you have
dismounted from what by courtesy is termed your saddle, and
your feet and the feet of your beloved are planted on terra firma
once more.

And now my allotted time has, I am sure, more than expired.
The summing up of the whole matter rests with other speakers,
but my last words shall be as my first, in full agreement with
what I take to be Lady Battersea's own verdict, that if we
eliminate gambling from our games, cruelty from our sports ; if
we see. that nothing that pleases us shall be at the cost of a pang
to others; if we choose such games for our young folks and
amusements for ourselves as may bring out the nobler rather
than the baser qualities which may be our natural heritage,
we may assuredly and unhesitatingly assign to amusement no

VOL. VII. K

146 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

insignificant place, and fearlessly preach *' the Gospel of relaxa-
tion to every creature."

Mrs May Wright Sewall pointed out that ten minutes was
only just time enough for her to state the fundamental principles
which should guide them in the contemplation of that subject
and in the formation of their own principles and habits respect-
ing amusements. She thought that what she had to say would
be in harmony with the admirable paper which had just been
read. To her mind they must, in regard to amusement, put the
question to the special amusement which they intended to
patronise — "Is your effect upon those who patronise you to
recreate them or to dissipate them 1 " If the effect of any amuse-
ment should be to dissipate those who follow it, then they must
say that its influence was anti-ethical. If, on the contrary, an
amusement which stirred and recreated the powers, mental and
bodily, of the person following it might be termed really ethical,
that simple question should be put. They would easily under-
stand that she had no time to discuss the matter amply within
the time assigned to her, but she would say that the subject
at once lifted them into the region of non-ethical or anti-ethical
features of the amusements which were regarded as a profession
by those who pursued them. To her mind they must at once
make a division between what might be called physical amuse-
ments and intellectual amusements. She would try to draw
illustrations from the States — and she might be supposed to
understand the conditions there. Their national game, baseball,
to her mind was a physical amusement, only for the most part
witnessed by those who engaged in it. It became anti-ethical when
they had numbers of men in every community who devoted them-
selves to the playing of baseball, going about from city to city to
exhibit their own skill, fortitude and prowess to thousands upon
thousands of idlers who sat with undeveloped muscles admiring
the developed muscles of the professional few. To her mind this
was lowering both to the ball players and to those found to
witness the game. She thought that whenever either men or
women made of any chosen pleasure a life-pursuit it became
degrading both to themselves and to those who witnessed their
performances of it. There was, however, a distinction, for the
opera, the drama and the concert developed both mind and heart,
both of those who followed them and those who witnessed them,
as did also the more serious professions of the doctor, the preacher,
the clergyman, the statesman. As to that great subject — the
amusements, of the children — there was one saddening feature, for

THE PUBLIC CONTROL OF AMUSEMENTS 147

SO many of their amusements tended to make the children pre-
mature men and women. She regarded the bicycle with respect,
for had it not tended towards the emancipation of women ? It
might take children away from parental control, but that de-
pended upon the training of the mind.

The Public Control of Amusements.

Mrs Percy Bunting (Grieat Britain).

The great schoolmaster, Edward Thring, said, " Good amusement
for the people is the most religious work that can be done in
modem England."

This sounds a little exae^irerated, but at anyrate it was the
earnest conviction of one wh^ whole life was s^pent with young
people, and whose opinions on their education were held in the
highest esteem.

Some of us may think that there is so much of deepest in-
terest in life itseK — ^in our daily pursuits, as reading, pictures,
music, social intercourse, business, philanthropy, that amusement,
as such, is rather superfluous, and we may perhaps condemn the
craving for it in others because our own lives are so satis-
factorily filled up. But a little reflection will show us that this
is a narrow view. Differences of temperament, education, age,
character have to be considered, and it should be our business
to look at the question from this wider point of view. I think
we may also find that a little play in some form is good for us
all ; it puts us more in touch with our fellows, stops irritability,
and adds zest to our work.

About amusements involving physical exercise on the part
of those amused, as cricket, football, dancing, etc., I do not pro-
pose to speak, as with these public opinion rather than public
regulation is the real controlling power. These may be for good
or evil according to the way they are carried out, and according
to the proportion of life spent upon them. Nor do I speak about
horse-racing, for I do not think that any regulation, public or
other, will ever make it other than a harmful amusement to the
public.

But when we come to the question of control of amusements
our thoughts are turned to the theatre, the music hall, the circus,

148 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

the travelling caravan and so forth. Can these be so regulated
that all sorts and conditions of people may be entertained with-
out being depraved — ^may be refreshed without being vulgarised,
may lose themselves in a happy world of illusion without sug-
gestion of evil or temptation to it ?

There are over 500,000 people employed in the amusements
industry. This will give some idea of the extent and importance
of the question.

The fact that there are many perils closely connected with
the world of amusement is not an argument for stopping amuse-
ments, but it is a strong argument for great care in their regu-
lation.

Theatres, for example, are more liable than ordinary buildings
to accidents from fire. But nobody thinks that a reason for clos-
ing them, but only for taking every precaution possible to mini-
mise the danger.

So would we apply this principle to the much more serious
moral dangers which haunt places of amusement, and which
make many people dread to have anything to do with them.
This principle is more or less recognised by our public authorities.
We think, however, that there is yet room for improvement.

In the days after the restoration of Charles II., when theatrical
entertainments were revived, there was such gross license that all
the efforts of the Lord Chamberlain and his assistants were un-
able to restrain the evil, and restrictions were introduced under
the Vagrant Act (since repealed).

In 1737 another Act was passed. This gave the Lord
Chamberlain the power to prohibit the representation of any
theatrical performances, and all new plays or parts added to old
ones must be sent in 14 days before performance for his approval,
under certain penalties.

A second provision of the Act was to restrict the number of
the houses to be licensed. Licenses are granted only to the
manager, and only for one year.

All subsequent legislation has been based upon this Act.

The Lord Chamberlain can suspend licenses granted by him
if he considers that the theatre is not being conducted in a
proper manner. Copies of all play-bills must be sent in to the
Lonl Chamberlain every Monday, and whenever a change of per-
formance is announced. The manager is given to understand
that no profanity, no offensive personalities, no indecency of
dress, dance or gesture will be permitted on the stage. No en-
couragement is to be given to improper characters to assemble

THE PUBLIC CONTROL OF AMUSEMENTS 149

there or to ply their calling. No smoking is to be permitted in
the auditorium, and refreshments may be sold only in positions
which do not interfere with the convenience and safety of the
audience. As a matter of fact, I believe in theatres licensed by
the Lord Chamberlain there is no drinking in the auditorium,
although this is a sign of the rise of manners and of public
opinion, and not a matter of official regulation.

I am also assured that whatever may have been the scandals
of the "Green Room" in the old days, great care is exercised
now and the scandals no longer exist. From this slight sketch
it will be seen that, at anyrate as far as the law goes, there is a
real intention that theatres should be conducted with propriety,
and that they should not be centres for temptation to evil.

It is for the public to see that the spirit of these regulations
is carried out, and that plays which tend to excite passion, which
suggest evil or condone it, should not be tolerated.

There are about 37 theatres under the control of the Lord
Chamberlain in London ; but there is another jurisdiction — that
of the magistrates, and, in London, of the County Council. The
powers formerly held by the justices of the peace in regard to
the licensing of all such theatres and music halls as do not come
under the authority of the Lord Chamberlain were in 1888 trans-
ferred to the County Councils. In many cases, however, in the
country these powers have been transferred back again to the
magistrates. In London the powers remain with the County
Council. Applications for licenses are made annually at the
beginning of October, and it is the business of the Theatre and
Music Halls Committee to consider these applications and report
to the Council. Opportunity is given to the public to give
notice of objections. On the report of its Committee the whole
Council sits to consider both the applications and the objections.

The objectors, whether councillors or the public, in giving
their evidence, are not protected as in a court of law, and in-
discreet or unwary witnesses may easily find themselves pro-
ceeded against for libel, if inadvertently they have stated anything
which, however sure they are of its truth, they cannot prove.
Thus evils may go on year after year because people are
afraid to state what they know lest they should be let in for
subsequent legal expenses. The case of the councillor, Mr
Parkinson, who had to pay over .£1200 for statements that he
made with regard to a certain performance of Marionettes which
he judged to be of an indecent character is an illustration, as
also the case of Rev. Peter Thompson in the East End of London

150 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

with regard to statements he made respecting a notorious public-
house connected with a music hall, the license for which he
successfully opposed year after year, but which involved him in
litigation costing thousands of pounds. The courageous stand
they made is worthy of all honour.

There are only about half a dozen theatres under the London
County Council, but there are nearly 200 music halls, or theatres
of varieties, as they are often called, and these vary very much in
character. Still, one may say on the whole that they are carried
on to meet the taste of those whose standard of culture, educa-
tion, manners are of a lower type than that of the frequenters
of the best theatres. And this applies to the West End expen-
sive music halls even more than to the more noisy East End halls.
The drinking bars are in a much more conspicuous position than
in the theatre, and drinking would seem to be a more important
part of the entertainment, both at the bar and in the auditorium.
The air reeks with tobacco, the company is far from select, and
if we may judge by the evidence of the Blue Book published in
1892 it would seem that the greatest vigilance and regulation
are needed if these music halls are to be places of innocent re-
creation rather than places of temptation to all kinds of evil.
The performances vary considerably.

The idea of "High Art*' must be dismissed at once, and
generally the style of songs and the singing are not suggestive
of Music, Songs are supposed to be funny in which the singer
pretends to be the worse of drink. He sings about the drink,
the atmosphere is heavy with it, and it would seem sometimes as
if the object of the entertainment were the glorification of
" boosdng."

Then there are frequently performing animals, and their un-
natural antics make one think how much they must have suffered
in the training. These poor dumb things will never be able to
tell us.

But there are human beings, too, who entertain the public as
acrobats, rope dancers, etc. Many of these coidd tell a story
of bodily suffering, of terror, of risks physical and moral. Some
of them have told us, and their softened bones and delicate
health confirm their words. These are trained from when they
are quite young (too young to have any choice in the matter), as
it is necessary to soften their bones before their frames develop
the strength with which nature would provide them.

Ought not the law to step in and say, " However much an
idle, thoughtless public is entertained by these performances,

THE PUBLIC CONTROL OP AMUSEMENTS 151

they shall not be done at the expense of the health, if not the
morals, of our children."

I am told that in France there is much greater restriction
than in England on performing children, whether as acrobats,
dancers, or in pantomimes. A few years ago in England a strong
effort was made to raise the age at which children should be
allowed on the stage whether in theatre or in pantomime. The
dangers to which very young children were exposed, both physic-
ally and morally, induced an unwilling Legislature to raise the
age to 10 years, but this provision was weakened by allowing
children by special permission to be brought on at 7 years of
age.

Why are our children so cheap 1

The dancing, again, at these music halls is sometimes pretty,
but often in a style that offends not only good taste but the
innate sense of modesty in the girls themselves, although by
repetition that sense becomes blunted.

t Then there are the "living pictures." Some of these are
prettily grouped, and innocent representations of heroic or
domestic or comic incidents, but there are others representing
nymphs, water spirita, bathers, which are entirely objectionable
and have aroused a good deal of comment.

It appears to me a pity that there should be any hindrance
to simple dramatic performances in the music hall. Slight
dramatic " sketches " pass muster, though it is doubtful if even
these are legal, and it is often difficult to say where the " sketch "
ends and the play begins, but I think simple stage plays would be a
great improvement on many of the things done for entertain-
ment now. If bright songs, or even " Uving pictures " with a strong
touch of the heroic as well as of the sentimental or comic, and
without innuendo or suggestion of evil, were the rule, they would
be quite as permanently popular as many things the audiences
sit through now, and which are often dreary enough.

The drawback, as things are at present, to allowing stage
plays in music halls is that the license for dramatic performances
gives the manager, through the excise, a right to sell liquor.

It has-been proved in at least four or five cases over the country
that a music hall can be carried on as a money success without
a drink license. Last year the London County Council refused
to grant a license to any new music hall unless the manager
agreed not to apply for a drink license. The absence of the
drinking bar would make an immense difference to the moral
atmosphere of these places. The complaints that are made of the

152 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

evil effect on the young people who frequent the music halls are
constant, and from all neighbourhoods. Many a mother dates
the downfall of her daughter from her beginning to frequent the
music halls.

Judging by the tenacity with which qianagers fight for a
drink license, we are almost bound to conclude that it is the
drink which is the raison cPetre of the halls to them, and it
would seem as if the catering for the amusement of the public
were a secondary matter.

For instance, in a great town in the centre of a large in-
dustrial population, a most eligible site was purchased on which
to build a theatre of varieties. The people of the neighbourhood
took alarm and determined to oppose the granting of a license
for drink. They did not oppose the place being licensed for
amusement. Their opposition to the drink license was success-
ful. The license was refused. The manager said that without
a drink license it would be useless to go on with the scheme.
So that piece of land is still lying idle. The theatre of varieties
is still unbuilt.

When we remember to how many of our working people the
music halls are the places to which they look for recreation and
entertainment, the question as to how they are conducted is
vital. We believe that even as they are now they are some
improvement on the old saloons. As one instance, the modem
benefit is a rise upon the old "friendly lead'^ held in the public-
house, and which constantly terminated in a drunken fray.

We find in the evidence given before the Commission in 1892
by the Examiner of Stage Plays that he considers that it is
rather among " the richer, idler and more fashionable West End
audiences that a manager seeks in scandal and impropriety to
replenish his treasury, and that the further you go East the more
moral is your audience."

With some exceptions this seems to be true.

It would appear that in America there is no censorship either
in theatre or music hall. If a performance has become very
scandalous the police can walk in, clear out manager and com-
pany, and close the theatre. This is cv/re certainly, but we think
the aim should be not abrupt repression when mischief has
already been done, but that by regulation beforehand mischief
should be prevented. The Lord Chamberlain may be an autocrat,
and some people think his position an anomaly in a free country.
Well, then, even autocracy has its occasional uses. The censor-
ship has on the whole worked satisfactorily, and it would be a

THE PUBLIC CONTROL OF AMUSEMENTS 153

good thing if it were extended to all performances in music halls
and other places of public entertainment as far as is practicable.

A movement seems to be on foot for inducing the Govern-
ment or London County Council to provide a national opera
house and to subsidise it largely. Might it not be worth while
to inquire whether the public money would not be better spent
in providing cheap and wholesome recreation for the great mass
of the people whose art education does not rise to the level of the
Wagner music drama 1 Perhaps some such purpose is in the
minds of the proposers.

I have little time to speak of the travelling stage players.
They have a license, and are on the whole a hard-working set of
performers. They remain two or three days in a place and then
are off. The circuses come nominally under the same category,
but I believe they constantly work without license as they move
from place to place before the performance comes to the knowledge
of the ojQicials.

There are various travelling shows which are supposed to be
regulated by the police. Judging by some of the things that go
on, one would imagine that the police were quite blind or deaf.

After all, I think the words I quoted at the beginning are
not such an exaggeration as they seemed, and I am almost con-
vinced that the subject of amusements is one of the most solemn
in the world, and one. demanding so much wisdom, discretion,
insight, firmness, that for myself, after reading through the evi-
dence of the Royal Commission in the Blue Book, I have gained
a new respect for all those persons in authority whose duty it is
to deal with it.

Discussion.

Mrs Jenness Miller (U.S.A.) in an amusing speech narrated
the episode of the little girl in the country who was reprimanded
by her mother for cutting a worm in half, and who said, " Oh,
mammy, it was so lovely." They wanted to get amusements for
the poorer classes, amusements which would tend to relieve the
strain of life. So often they went down among the poorer
classes, and failed because they did not know how to touch
them.

Mrs Crawford spoke of the evil effect of the music halls of
the present day; she did not know them from experience,
because the smell of beer and tobacco kept her from entering,
but she read in the newspapers what was going on at the

154 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Comedy Theatre. A brainless play, full of dancing and ugly
vulgarity. A dozen young women turning somersaults and
kicking up their legs. Vulgar slang, topical duets made up
the staple.

Then as to cricket. She saw on the bills " Alarming con-
dition of Briggs." She supposed that this illness of Briggs had
produced the greatest sensation. In some of the reading rooms
the authorities had been obliged to black out the racing news, of
which there were columns, because people went only to see it.

Miss Stanley said that the majority of the four millions
among whom they lived had no other holiday than the Bank
holidays. Some of her friends objected to the Bank holidays ;
that might be because they did not get their hot rolls on those
mornings. It was thirty years since she had begun work among
the poor in London. The people in her district said to her :
** You have taught us what holidays are." She had made the
acquaintance of a Socialist woman and shoemaker who was
45 ; she had the bitterest feeling towards the well-to-do — there
was some reason. She had never had a holiday. As a child she
had worked for her parents, as a woman for her husband and
children. Even mothers' meetings were a source of amusement.
It was not only the people who did great work, or those whose
names figured largely in the newspapers who were most useful,
but those who, by continuous small efforts for the happiness of
others who deserved well.

Mrs Grdghton in a few concluding remarks said that surely
the control of public amusements must include the provision of
public amusement, and not merely the suppression of undesirable
entertainments. She pleaded for fresh air. Children who had
a garden to play in could amuse themselves. An American
philanthropist told her that the evils of drinking-places were to
be found in the fact that they were indoors. iSie German beer
gardens were not half so productive of evil.

TEMPERANCE.

(a) general principles.

(b) public control of the liquor

TRAFFIC.

GREAT HALL, ST MARTIN'S TOWN HALL.

FRIDAY, JUNE 30, EVENING.

The Lady BATTERSEA in the Chair.

Lady Battersea began by referring to the death of Mrs Johnson.
She would like to send a vote of condolence from the meeting
to the deceased lady's friends, and she would ask them to stand
and pa^ the vote in silence.

With one accord the audience rose, and a deep silence filled
the liall for a few moments.

Lady Battersea then delivered her opening speech as follows :
— It has been said, and rightly too, that the temperance question
is closely connected with all questions of social reform ; at all
events, it must be acknowledged that intemperance is one of the
greatest stumbling-blocks to the uplifting of humanity, which is
the keynote of the great Congress assembled here this week.

This Congress, as we know, is international, and specially
concerned with tvofnen*8 toork; it has every right, therefore, to
include the temperance question in the list of subjects it covers.

A little time ago it might have been thought that this ques-
tion — the temperance question — would hardly be a subject of
international interest, but an International Temperance Congress
held periodically, and which met in Paris last April, and which
will, I believe, meet in Vienna within the next two years, has
dispelled this illusion. I have, at this moment, an excellent

155

156 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

paper in my hand by the Baroness de Langenau (Vienna), with
an interesting answer of what is being done in Austria, and
how, for many reasons (which I cannot enter upon to-day) it is
the Social Democratic party who are the warmest supporters of
the cause. I should also like to add that three of the Austrian
medical men, all total ahstainersy delivered lectures in different
parts of Vienna during last winter upon the evils of intemper-
ance. Of the three, one was specially distinguished for his
courage and activity during the plague, for which he was
decorated by the State.

These lectures were delivered some thirty times in different
parts of the town, whilst petitions kept pouring in that they
might be repeated over and over again.

The result has been the founding of a new temperance society
in Vienna on total abstention principles, the old association not
being a strictly abstaining one, and of other societies in the
Tyrol, Carinthia and Cracow.

During the session of the Diet two reports were presented by
the Vienna Temperance Committees, and with requests (1) for
preventive measures to be taken against the sale of alcohol ;
(2) for the closing of public-houses where alcohol is sold on
Sundays. I cannot dwell any further upon this paper, but
I have ventured to mention these few details to show you that
the temperance subject is one of international interest, and that
intemperance does not only flourish (as was once thought) under
the grey skies of northern countries, but that it is to be found
as well in sunny cUmes amidst bright surroundings. Intemper-
ance is no respecter of country, age or persons.

So we welcome delegates who may be present this evening
from the United States, Germany, Austria, Sweden and Finland,
especially those who not only are prepared to give us their views
upon the causes, but also upon the remedies for this great evil.

The temperance question is in all senses a woman's question.
Should women not devote themselves to a cause upon which
rests the happiness and security of the home? That it does
occupy in all its bearings a very large number of women in our
country is self-evident from the great organisations of women
banded together to fight against this evil.

The British Women's Temperance Association, with Lady
Henry Somerset as its distinguished president; the Women's
Temperance Association Union, numbering enlightened and
zealous women in its ranks, amongst whom I may mention the
names of Lady E. Biddulph, Miss Dockwra, Mrs H. Wilson,

TEMPERANCE 157

Mrs E. Young ; the Women's Union of the Church of England
Temperance Society, bearing such honoured names as those
of Mrs Temple, Lady F. Cavendish, Adeline, Duchess of Bed-
ford; the Scottish Auxiliary of the Permissive Legislation,
besides others working in happy rivalry, all certify to the
healthy interest this work has aroused amongst women.

The curse of inebriety stultifies many of the best endeavours
of our legislators and philanthropists to improve the moral and
physical condition of the people ; in the elementary schools the
feeble development and halting intelligence of many of the
children can be traced as a cruel legacy of drunken parents,
whilst the unsatisfactory attendances so trying to teachers and
managers, so fatal to the success of a school, can be accounted
for by ;bhe drunken habits of the parents, whose exchequer
requires to be constantly replenished by the small earnings of
the children. Our hospitals are filled with the victims of the
drink craze — truthful medical men are not afraid of giving their
sad experiences of the ravages which it causes in the health of
the nation — whilst more than half of the occupants of the prison
cells find their way there through their intemperate habits.

And yet for many years this evil was only partially recog-
nised, and those who courageously stepped forward to attack it
were dubbed fanatics and tiresome ones.

Formerly drunkenness was a fashionable vice ; now it is held
to be a disgraceful one ; whilst in its turn temperance is array-
ing herself somewhat in a garb of fashion.

There is, indeed, a tardy recognition, but not yet general
enough, of the magnitude of the evily and fortunately in this case
the wish to reform others brings reform with it, for the temper-
ance advocate can hardly plead his or her cause without setting
an example himself, and thus adding to the growing army of
abstainers.

The aim of our work is — not only to deal with the inebriate,
but also to check and prevent inebriety; not only to try to
eradicate the love of strong drink, but also to make temperance
principles attractive ; not only to provide pleasures for the nations
that are independent of drink, but to do all in our power to make
the home life more beautiful, the individual life nobler.

Mrs Ormiston Chant (Great Britain).

Dear Friends, — In apologising for my presence here, I ask
also for your kindest sjrmpathy in the difficult position in which

158 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

I am placed by the absence of Lady Henry Somerset, who begged
me, in a wire received yesterday, to fill her place for her on
account of illness. I am so grieved for the disappointment this
will be to many of you. I am also very sorry for myself, for I
cannot possibly fill Lady Henry's place, but only tenant the gap
her absence makes on this platform.

In looking round upon this audience, it seems to me that any
fervid appeals, however eloquent, on the appalling evil of drink
will be out of place to-night, as most, if not all of you are workers
in some cause or other, who merely need to have the knowledge
you already possess emphasised and expanded, and who do twt
need to have to listen to passionate appeals to conscience and
emotion. To this end I propose simply to set before you a few
facts concerning the position of the drink traffic in England to-
day, more especially those relating to women.

That at the end of the nineteenth century, with the dawn of
the twentieth already lighting up the prominent facts of our place
in civilisation, it should have to be recorded that the women of
Great Britain are drinking more disgracefully, and in greater
numbers, than the women of any other country or any other
period in history, is a fact of unutterable shame, sorrow and
apprehension. It speaks with awful menace of the demoralisa-
tion of generations to come. It is a handwriting on the wall of
the palace of home life that tells of English homes identifiable
only by the ruins of them that remain.

It is also a stern comment on the physiological truth that
fathers hand on their tastes and habits to their daughters,
and that heredity passes from sex to sex in its mysterious
sequence. Doubtless those genial drunkards whom Dickens has
glorified in his incomparable novels bequeathed to their unhappy
little daughters the enfeebled conscience, flabby moral tissue
and degenerate physique so apparent to-day in the sons of the
inebriate mother, who is the certain product of the last two or
three generations of glorified booze among men.

Of course there is always the strength of the national character
to take into account when conmienting on the drinking habits of
Englishwomen — we are a people that do things as a rule " with
both hands earnestly.*' And when we "are good" we are "very
good indeed," but when we " are bad " we " are horrid.*' Also we
Anglo-Saxon women possess a larger measure of freedom than do
other women — we are freer to do right, and freer to do wrong if
we will. It behoves us, therefore, to see to it that this heaven-
bom gift of freedom, secured to us by the hearts' blood of .those

TEMPEBANCE 159

who went before us, fought and died that we might be free, is not
turned into a curse by our abuse of it. *

In that most admirable book, The Temperance Problem cmd
Social Reform^ by Joseph Rowntree and Arthur Sherwell, incon-
trovertible statistics are given from -the Registrar-General's re-
turns, showing, to quote verhaiim^ " that out of every hundred
deaths from alcoholic excess in England and Wales at the present
time, women contribute eight more than they did 20 years
ago."

"If instead of taking the total number of deaths, we take
the ratio per million persons living, the increase is seen more
clearly : —

Males. Females.

Ratio per million Ratio per million
living. li\'ing.

1877-81, • . . 60 25

1882-86, ... 67 32

1887-91, ... 79 42

1892-96, ... 86 51

It thus appears that while the ratio of mortality from alcoholic
excess has increased 43 per cent, among mxdes during the last
20 years, ajnong females it has increased by no less than 104
per cent."

Who can tell how much higher even this terrible ratio of in-
crease might have been had it not been for the arduous labours
of the much-maligned teetotal reformers, men and women, but
more especially women working on behaK of women ?

And here let me say that whatever shame rests upon all of
us as women for the drinking and drunkenness of women,
much more rests upon men for what they have done in the past
and are doing to-day in multiplying times and places of tempta-
tion by their flaunting gin-palaces with private bars for respect-
able soakers, grocers' licenses for pouring the destructive poison
into the home, Sunday facilities, and a demoralised public opinion
on the disreputability of women haunting drinking-places. It is
not women who aimed the last mortal blow against the national
conscience by forming rich brewery companies, limited in nothing
but financial responsibility for a crash. It is not women who
have adjudicated at Quarter Sessions almost unvaryingly on behalf
of the pubUcan, and against the safety of the humble neighbour-
hoods. Nor are women responsible for the fatal cowardice of our
legislators who promise so fairly at election meetings, and climb

160 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

down so meanly in Parliament when any practical measure of
reform is brought before them.

But what women are responsible for is the welcome they
extend to this insidious foe, on their tables, in times of illness,
and in their general habits. Consequently the propaganda of
total abstinence for each individual, moderate or immoderate, is
as much a vital part of temperance work to-day as at any
preceding time, and this propaganda must include the ban of
alcoholic drinks as medicine, if the unenlightened doctor who still
regards alcohol as indispensable in his practice, and the patent-
medicine men are not to undo all that is intended by the pledge
to abstain.

In conclusion, though the epithets of "crank," "bigot,'*
"fanatic** may be disagreeable to have applied to us in our
efforts to save our country from the fate of Rome and ancient
Greece, yet they are of little account in the light of the verdict
of the future. To be passive with a drink bill of £154,480,934
in 1898, and a death rate increased by 104 per cent, among
women during 20 years, is simply to be a conniving party in
the wholesale conspiracy of alcohol against the health, happiness,
religion and heavenward progress of the human race.

The Temperance Problem.

The Bev. Anna Howard Shaw.

The two commonly accepted views of the present condition of
the temperance problem have been expressed during the time of
this Congress. The one by a chairwoman of one of the sections,
the other by the Rev. Canon Wilberf orce ; the former stating
that temperance agitators, by their exaggerated statements of the
evils of intemperance, have done more harm than the reformers
have been able to do good ; the latter in his sermon at West-
minster Abbey said : "A strong man can stand at one side of
this abbey and cast a stone into a district where more sins have
been committed and worse evils have been suffered from intem-
perance than any of the books called * exaggerations * have ever
dared to depict.**

It is because this statement of the Rev. Canon Wilberforce is
true, not alone of ^he district of which he spoke, but also of

THE TEHPERANCE PROBLEM 161

scores of similar or worse places the whole world over, that those
whose work has familiarised them with the results of intemper-
ance know, that no matter what the statement may be made, the
real evils of intemperance have never been and never can be
exaggerated, nor even half expressed.

It might be possible to describe the physical suffering of the
hungry, the homeless, or the destitute ; to tell, step by step, the
physical agony of the descent from affluence to that of degrading
poverty; but no tongue can describe nor pen depict the heart
agony, the moral torture of the human soul, who has lost
everything for which life stands, and from whom even hope itself
is gone. There is neither voice nor language which can describe
the ruin of a human life, nor the robbing of a child of its birth-
right of health and purity, nor the casting like a pall of the curse
of a blighted moral nature over its whole life. It is because
these statements are true that so large a body of women of the
United States have organised themselves into the Women's
Christian Temperance Union, which is affiliated with the National
Council of Women of the United States, and which I have the
honour to represent upon this platform.

It will be impossible in the few minutes allotted to me to
give more than a brief and imperfect outline of their position
and their reasons for holding it. Human nature is such that it
is easier to feel an interest in, and pity for, a visible manifestation
of evil, than it is to grasp hold of and struggle for an abstract
principle. Seeing the visible effect of intemperance in the
degrading life of the drunkard and the degrading position of his
family, they made their first claim for total abstinence for the
individual ; and with the temperance pledge and the Bible they
set out on their two-fold mission of reformation and regeneration.
They soon learned that while it was no difficult task to secure
signatures to a pledge, it was a very difficult task for men to
keep the pledge after having signed it. Not because they did
not wish to keep it, but because they had lost the power to do so,
as long as the saloon door stood wide open and the demon of
appetite compelled them to enter. Take a man with a diseased
physical organism, an abnormal appetite, blunted moral sensibili-
ties, dwarfed spiritual powers, and weakened will, and place him
on the one hand, and the open door of the saloon, with all its
allurements and temptations upon the other hand, and pit them
against each other, and the saloon will conquer nine times out of
ten if not ninety-nine times out of a hundred ; and in doing this
we ask the man to wage an unequal battle.

VOL. VII. L

162 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

They then realised that reformation is practically impossible
so long as the saloon has the power to undo their work, not only
by leading the drunkard back again, but by its ability to create
a score of drunkards while one is being reformed.

Their next endeavour therefore was to secure the banishment
of the saloon. In order to accomplish this they must learn who
is responsible for its existence, and they read upon the saloon
keepers' license the names of the United States of America, the
State, the city, and the saloon keeper himself, and were assured
by the latter that so long as the Government remained a partici-
pator in, and a protector of the traffic, there was no hope of its
destruction.

They became convinced then, and the conviction has grown
upon them, that the power of the liquor traffic does not rest in
the amount of money invested directly in the business nor in
the number of men engaged in it, but that it does rest in the
attitude of the Government towards the business. So long as the
Government says wherever this flag floats the saloon may exist,
and exist in law, so long will the power of the liquor traffic
remain unbroken — but let the attitude of the Government change,
let it say wherever this flag floats the saloon is outlawed, and the
saloon keeper an outlaw, then will the power of the liquor traffic
be broken, then will men and Government be able to grapple
with and crush it, but not until then.

Again they went forth with a faith inspired by a firm belief
in the ultimate triumph of justice and right over the combined
forces of appetite, avarice and unjust laws, and they added to
their former watchward of total abstinence for the individual
the equally necessary shibboleth of total prohibition of the liquor
traffic in State and nation. This position brought upon them the
attack of both the foes and many of the friends of temperance,
who charged them with interference with personal liberties, and
a fanaticism which was quite beyond the standards of social
customs and education. They have been urged to accept many
compromises, which they have steadfastly refused, believing that
both experience and the eternal principles of right prove that
whenever and wherever expediency has been substituted for right
and justice, it signally failed, and even the apparent good which
an expedient may for a time bring to pass proves an obstacle to
the attainment of the object sought.

While they have refused to lower their standards to the level
of these expedients, they gladly welcome as allies all who in any
legitimate way seek to mitigate the evils or prevent the increase

women's tempkbahcb wobk ih oebmaky 163

of intemperance. But for their organiaation, they have taken
their stand on what they believe to be the foundation principles
of temperance in regard to the use of intoxicating liquors as a
beverage, believing the time will come when their position will be
vindicated by public opinion and defended by law.

To secure this result we seek to educate through scientific
temperance instruction in the schools and by agitation through
the Press and on the platform, that an enlightened public mind
may be quickened into action and crystallised into law. From
even the most conservative standpoint, as women we are justified
in this position, since the home is the acknowledged centre of
woman's work, and whatever affects its interests is of the deepest
concern to woman. It is the life of the home at which the
legalised liquor traffic strikes its deadliest blows, blighting its
happiness, impoverishing its life and blasting its dearest hopes.

It robs the child of the first two divine rights bestowed upon
every human being, the right to be bom well and the right to be
well reared. As mothers or teachers of children it is not only the
right but the duty of every woman to seek to protect all children
in the possession of these rights, by education, and by such legis-
lation as shall guarantee to every child, every woman, and every
home, that protection by the Government from all forms of evU
which interfere with the fulfilment of life's best and noblest
purposes.

Women's Temperance Work in

Germany.

Frciulein Hoifinan (Gfermaay).

These memorable Congress days which give us the happiness of
joining hands with comrades from far and near, encouraging one
another in our uphill work, have again made us feel, the higher
our aims, the greater our strength and our love.

If that be so, which of us, looking on the sublime wonders of
Nature's hand, man's intellect revealing the beautiful harmony of
her laws ; which of us, enchanted by noble works of art of man's
genius, whether they be lovely pictures or the aisles of our
cathedrals, strains of exquisite music or the raptures of highest
poetry, but feels intensely the sin and the shame that any

164

WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

poisonous physical agency should be allowed to paralyse the
highest faculties of human nature that God enabled to produce
such wondrous works ?

Who that loves happiness and health, beauty and freedom,
does not hate the demon Alcohol, that destroys in so many of
our fellow-men these best companions of human life ?

In the historic lore of all peoples, ancient and modem, their
national heroes are those who conquered the fiends devastating
their fair country, and in Christian times those missionaries were
most beloved who set the people free from the bondage and
misery of superstitions.

So, in our own times, it is brave individual effort, inspired by
the divine light of self-sacrifice for the love of our brethren, that
works against modem powers of darkness, and wins the will of
others to follow, in a fight against dangerous foes that are more
dreadful, because appearing in the deceitful guise of a false friend.
The Christian idea of the solidarity of the whole people and of all
nations is being more and more recognised as our roll-call also
for us women, who have united for God and home and every land.

We women also must be soldiers of Christ, and all civilised
countries bear witness to the fact that those peoples are foremost
in civilisation where women have acted under a feeling of
solidarity of social conscience. The awakening of social con-
science is one of the greatest events of our time. The level of
woman's social work is the level of her social position. It is
under this light that we view temperance tjuorky and we German
women pay lugh tribute of honour and admiration to our English,
American, Scandinavian and Finland sisters for their admirable
temperance work. We know that our hospitals and lunatic
asylums, our workhouses and almshouses, our prisons and re-
formatories are all filled to the greatest extent by the victims
of alcohol. We know that the most unspeakable ill is done by
intemperance through heredity, not on the present generation
alone, but on the health of the future race, whose organisms are
poisoned and degenerated by the intemperate habits of fathers and
mothers. Our consciences, awakened by the knowledge of the
irrevocable laws of God's nature, implicitly demand our unre-
mitting endeavour, as Christians and as patriots, to contend
against the tyranny of the drinking habits among all classes of
society, to insure to the coming generation the birthright of a
clear brain, an unimpaired, unpoisoned organisation, an unshackled
use of mental and bodily faculties, and when we know that in-
temperance produces immorality in just proportion, by paralysing

women's temperance work in GERMANY 165

the judgment and all the higher human qualities, thus leading
many of our poor sisters, many of our youths to ruin, we know
that temperance work is at the same time purity work.

And it is also a work for peace. Dr Legrain, the great
temperance leader in France, wrote to me : " Alcohol awakens
strife and bad passions. In fighting for abstinence, we also help
in bringing in international peace, that we all long for."

All these facts call upon us women to embrace temperance
work. So, when our German National Women's Council, our
Bund D. Fr. V. was formed in 1894, temperance work was
recognised as one of our foremost social duties. The lines on
which we work for general temperance principles are education
in the first place. We aim at introducing temperance instruction
into our schools (as has been done in the United States), also
including girls' schools for domestic economy. The work for
Bands of Hope has begun, and with success. The Association of
Temperance Association Teachers is increasing and helping the
cause very decidedly, and much credit is due to the Association
of Temperance Association Physicians and to the Anti- Alcohol
League, especially to the Association of the Blue Gross and Good
Templars.

Ignorance being one of the great allies of intemperance, we
work for the temperance propaganda by lectures and literature
in people's evenings, and in coffee taverns, winning as many as
possible for total abstinence, or at least for temperance.

The drinking fashions have hjrpnotised society, and only abstin-
ence can break the spell (as Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, Finnish
and Canadian examples prove). We feel that every abstainer
helps to set his country free from this hypnotic bondage of
alcoholic drinks, and abstinence is not a sacrifice, it is a great
gain, as we abstainers all know, to be free from the debilitating
effect of even small doses of this paralysing poison, whose
deteriorating influence on the human organism and on the
organism of society is not nearly enough taken into consideration.

Further, we find that we do not sufficiently know the con-
ditions by which working men easily fall a prey to intemperance,
when near factories and great works, public-houses abound, but
coffee and cheap meals are not always to be had.

Therefore we erect coffee taverns with reading-rooms and
pleasant surroundings, which are much frequented. To raise the
tone of the place and to lessen the expenses, young ladies, taking
it in turn once a week, lend their services, help in giving out
the dinners and distributing temperance literature. This plan

166 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

has answered exceedingly well, introducing our young girls to
social work and raising the tone of the places. No rough word is
ever heard, our young friends are very zealous in their duty, and
it helps a little in making the different classes of society under-
stand, appreciate and respect each other somewhat better. Con-
tinually working people are asking for more of these taverns,
which to many have become like a home and a haven, sheltering
them from temptation, with good books elevating their minds.

We aim at reforms in legislation for temperance principles.
It is a great step forward that, after the introduction next year
of our new code of laws in Grermany, a habitual drunkard may be
proclaimed a minor and be put under control. Also it becomes
evident to all women in temperance and other social work that,
to enable her to help as much as she feels it to be her duty, she
must have a vote, on municipal matters to begin with, by which
the community is sure to be a winner, as is seen in all cases
where it has been tried.

Lastly, where prevention, more important than cure, has
failed, the poor victims of alcohol are cared for by the charitable
efforts of the Associations of the Blue Cross and- the Good
Templars, whose numbers are fast increasing. It is these
principles that guide us in our work. I heard the French Bishop
Turinay say, a few weeks ago, at the Anti- Alcoholic Temperance
Congress in Paris : " Rather would I see our fair country con-
quered by a foreign foe than by the demon alcohol." The
German Admiral Thomsen, at a temperance meeting in Kiel,
spoke out bravely : " Alcohol is the great foe of our country."
And I need not remind you of your great Gladstone's saying :
** Yea, this modem fiend is international, endangering the
dearest treasures of woman. So womanhood rises, in one nation
after another, to protect their hearths and homes against this
evil power." In this thought our great sisterhood unite and find
that all that elevates mankind, bridges over minor divisions. In
such a spirit Frances Willard, of blessed memory, taught us to
work, the foremost among all and sacred to us who by her
lifework fulfilled the divine law of love that sets us free.

The more we work in such love, for temperance and all that
elevates man, the stronger the bonds will be that unite women
of different countries to serve true religion, true ethics, true
culture, and the more peace will reign.

In such hope, a glorious prospect opens to our joyful sight.
Looking forward to it trustfully, let us go on in our temperance
work, more and more united as time goes on.

THE SWEDISH TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT 167

The Swedish Temperance Movement.

Herr H. von Koch (Sweden).

When speaking about temperance matters a tendency is very
often shown to attach too much importance to temperance legisla-
tion and to undervalue temperance efforts. There are people
who believe that it is possible to create temperance only by in-
sisting upon some excellent laws which theoretically will work
excellently. If this be right, the easiest way of doing away with
the evil drinking customs would be to force total prohibition
upon the people. But the solution of the temperance question
is not so simple. Over and over again it has been clearly shown
that it is comparatively of little use to have excellent temperance
laws if the country is not prepared for them, and cannot and will
not support their enforcement. The first thing to do is not to
bring forward temperance Bills, but to create amongst the people
a general desire for temperance reforms, a thorough understand-
ing of their meaning, and above all a real enthusiasm for the
temperance cause. The next and very important step must be
taken by the legislator.

In other words, a true and lasting success in temperance work
could only be brought about by the joint action of temperance
efforts and sensible legislation, but the first must go before and
clear the way for the other. In order to prove this by a practical
example, I will tell you in a few words how the greatest temper-
ance victory was won in Sweden.

In the beginning of this century the Swedes were probably
the most drunken people in the world. The right of manufactur-
ing and selling spirits was given to every person who cultivated
land, and also to householders and tenants. As the duty was
low, and branvin, or brandy, the native spirit of the Scandinavians,
was at this time regarded as quite a necessary article of consump-
tion, it was only natural that the manufacturing of spirits should
rise to an enormous height. In fact, the number of stills in the
year 1829 appears to have been 173,124, and yet the population
of Sweden had at that time not reached three millions ! The
consumption per head of brandy was about forty-six litres, and
probably the actual consumption was still higher.

It is quite obvious that this condition of things was rapidly
ruining the whole nation. From the history of these times it is

168 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

easy to see how despairing all patriots were of the future if some
measure were not taken to reduce the consumption of brandy.

But when the evil was at its highest the help was near at
hand. People began to feel that something must be done to
check the brandy curse. Persons of different creeds, positions
and occupations combined together in order to combat the evil.
Never since had the people of Sweden been roused to such an
enthusiasm for a noble cause; and seldom had it been better
shown what can be done by earnest workers when there is a
moral power behind.

The friends of temperance founded in 1837 the Swedish
Temperance Society. Previous to this several attempts had been
made to introduce temperance societies in Sweden. But not till
this society was founded could the friends of temperance unite
and fully use their influence upon the people — an influence which
was maintained during the following twenty years. The most
distinguished men — professors, government officials, ministers —
became members of the society, and once a year a great public
meeting was held, attended by the highest dignities, amongst
whom may be mentioned the Crown Prince Oscar, who was
keenly interested in temperance work. Hundreds of branches
were formed by the society, several newspapers were published,
any quantity of pamphlets distributed, and several temperance
speakers were engaged to teach temperance principles to the
people. Amongst these latter may especially be mentioned the
Dean of Gothenburg, P. Wieselgren, the great temperance
apostle of Sweden, who during many years travelled all over the
country and roused thousands of people by his enthusiastic
speeches. The result of this formidable temperance movement
was the law of 1855, which was considered to be the greatest
and most effectual victory the friends of temperance in Sweden
had ever gained, and which also was the principal rock upon which
every temperance reform during later years had been founded.

By adopting this law the following alterations, amongst
others, were decided upon : —

(1) That the household stills be quite abolished by fixing a

mimimum of 780 litres a day at every distillery.

(2) A high duty was put on the manufacturing of spirits.

(3) A right was given to every rural community to prohibit

both the bar and retail trade of brandy.
The effect of this step was enormous. In 1853 there existed
in the entire country 33,342 distilleries. Their yearly output
amounted to 93^ million litres, for which an excise of 722,031

THE SWEDISH TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT 169

kroner was paid. At the end of 1855 the number of distilleries
was reduced to 3481, with an output of about 24 J million litres, the
duty amounting to nearly 5 million kroner. Before 1855 brandy
could be bought in almost every cottage. In 1856 one might
travel through whole provinces without finding a single place where
it was sold. In fact, the effect of the law in the country
was revolutionary. In the year immediately following, more
than 1800 of the rural parishes (in all there are about 2400)
decided not to have any sale of spirit. At the present time
there were in rural Sweden only 23 "On** licenses and 129
** Off" licenses, or, as an average, one license for 26,104 persons.
In several counties there are, however, only one license for more
than 100,000 persons in a single province, and one for 229,000.
In four provinces there is not a single public-house ; in five, only
one in each province.

I think there is scarcely anv person who denies that the
local option in rural parishes in S^ed^n has proved to be a great
success. If there is anything with regard to temperance legislation
we can be proud of it is certainly the excellent way local option
has worked. The Swedish experiment, which has lasted nearly
44 years, will probably show other nations the course to adopt.

When to this be added that the law of 1855 has been a
stepping-stone to other temperance reforms, such as the Gothen-
burg system, which will be described to-night by another speaker,
I think there is given ample proof of the very great results that
followed the temperance movement in the beginning and middle
of this century. But the victory was not won without innumer-
able troubles and difficulties. Only think of these thousands of
householders or tenants who looked upon the distilling power as
one of their most sacred rights, and who were utterly opposed to
all reforms in the spirit trade. Had it not been for the thousands
of petitioners to the king and the Government, their ardour and
persistency, and last, but not least, the newborn enthusiasm
amongst the people, the step would never have been made, and
we should have had to wait for a long time for useful reforms.

We witness in our days a new temperance movement which,
according to the number of members, far exceeds the older one.
We have at the present time about 300,000 total abstainers in
Sweden ; that is about sixteen per cent, of the population, and
the temperance societies are both strong and well organised.
They have also served as light-bearers in many a dark spot in
rural Sweden, and have given the people a large amount of
information. Yet they have failed to introduce any important

170 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

practical reforms, and also to rouse the people as a whole to a
more active warfare against intemperance. Neither has this
movement attracted the support of the most distinguished men
and women of our time. The reason for all this is just, I think,
what makes up the difference between the old and the new
temperance movement. In former days the temperance friends
had only one object for their work — to battle against the use of
brandy. No difference of position or political opinion was at
this time a hindrance to working together. Nowadays the aim is
not so clear for everyone. Some temperance leaders believe in
nothing but wholesale reforms, such as prohibition, and have a
disposition to overlook the more practical reforms, which are
possible to attain now, and by this the co-operation of the more
moderate temperance supporters are lost. That, I think, is a
great pity, because it is quite necessary to enlist the support of
all friends of temperance, whatever opinions they may have, in
the battle against intemperance. I have been still more con-
vinced upon that point by what I have seen in London. The
power of the persons who, by poisoning the nation by alcohol, gain
their huge profits, is at the present time so strong that it will
never be crushed unless all friends of moral and social progress
combine together. Although the aim of the more advanced
temperance friends is, and must be, total prohibition of all
alcoholic drinks, it is not unwise nor impolitic for them to join
the moderates and thus gain some smaller reforms, and at the
same time gradually educate the people to higher reforms. And
when the final victory has once been won and the history of the
battle between the economical interest on the one side and
temperance reform on the other will be written, it will perhaps
be seen that the most effectual results have been attained, when oM
friends of temperance have, without suspicion of each other, co-
operated for their noble cause, and when the people as a whole
have been roused to a general will and desire to alter some part
of the abominable drinking customs or regulations.

These, then, are my points. You must by all means enlist
the support of all friends of temperance, xouse the people as a
whole to enthusiasm for the temperance cause, introduce some
smaller but practical reforms while persistently working hard to
educate the people to still higher reforms, with total prohibition
as a distant but yet perceivable aim.

TEMPERANCE REFORM IN AUSTRIA 171

Temperance Reform in Austria,

The Baroness von Langenau (Austria).

Temperance reform in Austria has been hampered by many
difficulties. It is, generally speaking, a hard question to deal
with in this country of ours. This may be explained partly
by the fact that the inhabitants of Southern Europe are not
so addicted to drink as those of the more Northern countries,
partly by the thoughtlessness and inordinate love of amusement
which are their chief characteristies. They look upon the great
moral problems of to-day as upon Utopias that would interfere
with their enjoyment of life. Another difficulty to deal with
here in a temperance campaign, and which cannot be overlooked,
is the absolute impossibility of working on evangelical lines. If
we ventured to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, as the sole
means of conquering sin and temptation, if we were to preach
this, I say, in large public temperance meetings, the Roman
Catholic Church would at once join hands with the Protestant
Churches and crush the movement at its very beginning.

However, in spite of these difficulties, it is an undeniable
fact that Temperance Reform is beginning to grow upon the
public mind, and strange to say it is the Social Democratic
party which has come out as the warmest supporter of the
movement. The members of this party being more cultured
and refined than the common people in general, they have
eagerly grasped the idea that their families would be better
off if the money which they have been carrying to the public-
houses for years and years were put into the hands of their
wives to be spent on behalf of themselves and their children.
There is but one serious objection which they make to upholding
of the temperance reform, and it must be confessed that to them
it is a matter of life and death. Their political meetings are
held in large public halls, for which no money is charged, all the
persons who attend the meetings being expected to drink a great
deal of wine and beer. If they all become total abstainers the
public-houses will close their doors upon them, and what then ?
It would be a kind of moral suicide. The first problem therefore
to solve is this : What substitute for wine and beer can we give
our people ? The well-known English cocoa-rooms which the Rev.
M. Garrett introduced at Liverpool in 1873 are unknown here, tea
is not a popular beverage, and lime-juice is an expensive one. This

172 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

question ought to be very earnestly weighed by all those who
have the welfare of the people at heart. It is an arduous one.
Yet as the counter attractions to the public-house have stood the
test of a quarter of a century in England, and as their popularity
is increasing instead of diminishing, we may hope that something
of the kind will be started here some day or other.

From the recently published report of the Vienna Temperance
Committee I glean the following particulars : —

During the winter of 1898-99 a series of lectures upon the evils
of intemperance were delivered in different parts of the town by
three different doctors — Dr Wlassek, Dr Frohlich and Dr Poch —
all of them being total abstainers. The latter is the young man
who displayed such manly courage during the plague in the
month of November of last year, in consequence of which he was
decorated by the State.

These lectures proved a great success. Working people,
students and teachers crowded to hear them; although they
were delivered thirty times in different parts of the town, yet
new petitions were still pouring in, and nothing but the advanced
season prevented the lecturers from complying with these requests.
The result of these deliverances was that the wish to form a new
Temperance Committee for total abstainers was expressed — the
members oi the present association only pledging themselves to a
moderate use of alcohol. The wish was complied with and the
necessary steps taken to organise the society.

Another Temperance Committee has been started in the
Tyrol. It is divided into two classes, viz., total abstainers and
moderate drinkers. The latter class, however, have fixed one
day in the week on which they abstain from the use of any
alcoholic drink. Only members of the Boman Catholic Church
are admitted as members of this association.

In the province of Carinthia and in the town of Virakow
two more associations have been formed; at the head of the
first is a pensioned-off field-marshal, at that of the second a
public teacher.

For a long time it had been the custom in the different
soup-kitchens of Vienna, where tea also is supplied, to add
three antilister of rum to every cup of tea that was served;
but of late this amount having been doubled, our committee
petitioned to the Government for the prohibition of the sale of
any kind of liquor by these philanthropic societies. The con-
sequence of this petition was that the managers of the soup-
kitchens immediately reduced the rum supply to the original

TEMPERANCE REFORM IN AUSTRIA 173

amoimt, in order to avoid the dreaded prohibition. The model
soup-kitchen in the Exhibition of 1898 was not allowed to serve
any liquor at all.

The Diet of I^wer Austria has taken up seriously the question
how to procure quarters for drunkards. The problem not being
solved yet, they adopted a preliminary measure as follows : — The
curable cases are to be put into a private establishment on the
Danube, called " Brandhof " ; for the incurable ones the erection
of a new and large detentive establishment is planned.

During the session of the Diet two reports were brought in
by the Vienna Temperance Committee : —

(a) On the preventive measures to be taken against the

sale of alcohol.

(b) On the closing of liquor houses on Sundays.

The former president and founder of the Temperance Com-
mittee, Ritter von Proskowetz, died in September 1898, when
travelling from New York to Chicago, in consequence of a railway
accident. He was Austrian consul in Chicago, a man of vast
knowledge and capacity, whose death was mourned by many people.

From Agram the following details of the way in which
children drink there have been sent to me : —

In one class of a normal school the children were asked
which of them drank alcoholic drinks regularly every day. Out
of 56 children, 13 responded in the affimmtive ; 4 drai]Js wine,

2 drank beer, and 7 drank rum, or raki, as they say there.
Only 16 out of the 56 had never tasted raki, 24 only had never
been drunk — that is less than half.

In another class where the same questions were put, only

3 children out of 64 drank raki every morning and night; in
all the classes of this school taken together were 218 pupils that
day present. Out of these 126 drank raki regularly every day,
only 92 did not, but in the whole school there was not one girl that
was unacquainted with some alcoholic drink.

The ministry for public instruction sent Professor Hebra to
the Alcohol Congress that met in Pans in the spring ; two delegates
from the Temperance Committee there joined him. The invitation
which they presented to the Congress, that the next one might
take place in Vienna two years hence, was most kindly accepted.

May this International Congress, when it gathers in Vienna,
be able to acknowledge that the small and feeble beginning,
which we have been sketching in this paper, has developed into a
strong and mighty work, able to conquer one of the worst
scourges of humanity.

174 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Public Control of the Liquor Traffic

in Sweden.

Professor E. Almquist, Professor of Hygiene at the
Medical University of Sweden (Sweden).

The traffic in spirits in Sweden is regulated by a prescript of
24th May 1895.

In country places there remain some old licenses that were
formerly connected with post-houses. Otherwise it is the parish
who decide whether spirits shall be sold within their district or
not. When the parish wish to have a public-house they must
refer to the governor, who holds the final decision. The license is
then sold by auction to the highest bidder. Further, at watering-
places where physicians are appointed, the governor can grant
licenses for a shorter time than a year ; also, he may do it in the
same way for the passengers and crews of ships.

In the towns the magistrates have to render to the governor
a yearly account of the personal licenses older than 1855 that
still exist there, together with how many other licenses are pro-
posed for the year following. The governor decides concerning
the latter proposition ; but he cannot accord more licenses than
the authorities of the town have suggested. The number having
been fixed, the magistrate must sell each separate license by
auction to the highest bidder. Decision as to whether the prices
and the publicans are suitable rests with the governor. Conse-
quently he can approve or reject the offers.

Instead of selling by auction, the licenses may, in towns and
boroughs, be left to a company to effect the sale of the spirits.
In that case the statutes of the company, and also the conditions
offered, must be approved by the governor.

The law expressly points out that the aim of these companies
must be solely to arrange and superintend the trade in spirits in
the interests of morality. The members receive 5 per cent, a year
upon the capital invested in the concern, and the town cannot
use the profits otherwise than is stipulated in the prescript. The
members of such a company must number more than nine.

The company has no right to hand over to others all the
licenses; but it may do so in single cases, if the authorities
permit and find the proposed person suitable. It is forbidden
to sell or buy spirits indirectly through agents, to hire other than

PUBLIC CONTROL OP THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC IN SWEDEN 175

the necessary localities, to enter into business with any separate
member of the direction, or for the direction or the managers to
gain in any way from the sale of brandy or wine.

When the business is undertaken by a company, only y^^hs of
the nett gains are due to the State treasury ; in other cases ^ths ;
j^th is used for the economical development of the county. The
remainder of the profits belong either to the town itself or is
divided between the town and the county. All that is due to
the State treasury is divided between the counties according to
population. The State does not take any part for itself.

All taverns must be situated on a public road, street or public
place. The company itself may not combine the sale of spirits
with any other business than that of wine. The rooms must be
bright and airy; the air to be kept pure. The sale of brandy
may not commence earlier than 9 o'clock a.m., and stops usually
at 10 p.m. On Sundays and holidays taverns generally open
only for those who take their meals there. Wherever spirits are
to be sold, cooked food must always be at hand. Brandy must
not be given to an intoxicated person, nor to a child under 15
years. An intoxicated person must be cared for. Brandy may
be sold for cash only.

According to the last public statistics, there are in Sweden
152 county licenses, or 1 for 26,000 inhabitants. Of these, 92
are founded on old privileges, and 60 bought at auction. In 4 of
our 24 counties there are no public-houses ; in 5, only 1 in each,
and most of these are old and consequently not for disposal. The
number lessens yearly; in 1882 there were no less than 260.

In our towns there are still 877 licenses, or 1 for 1164
inhabitants. Only 9 are founded on old privileges; 28 are
bought at auction; and 840 belong to societies. The number
increases a little from year to year; but, in proportion to the
inhabitants, it lessens. In 1882 there was a public-house for
every 719 of the inhabitants.

At present, the taxes for selling spirits, and the profits of the
companies amount to the important sum of ten million krona (half
a million pounds sterling) per annum. Our towns receive directly
58 per cent, of this. The total quantity of brandy stated to be
sold is 22 million litres (4,840,000 gallons), at the quality of 50
per cent.; but, in reality, 37 million litres (8,140,000 gallons) are
consumed, or 7*5 litres per head (a little over 13 pints). The aver-
age consumption per head has increased in 10 years from about 7
litres. Between 1870 and 1880 it amounted to 11 litres a head
per annum; between 1881 and 1885 to 8 litres.

176 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

In 1897 the trade in spirits was in the hands of the companies
in 82 towns and 10 boroughs — altogether in 92 places.

Such is our present position. We have made two great steps
forward, the greatest in 1855 when uncontrolled production was
prohibited and the parishes were granted local option; and in
1865 when a company was formed to conduct the sale of spirits
in a large town in Gothenburg.

For the country at large, it seems that our system has worked
well. Although the vote is not per head, but according to the
property, almost all private taverns at disposal have disappeared.

The Gothenburg system has done good service in many towns.
That, I think, will be granted by all. The system has its imper-
fections, and in some places it is very badly carried out — indeed,
merely a parody ; this also cannot be gainsaid. But its advan-
tages are obvious. In no locality, and I can say not in the
whole of Sweden, does there exist any publican interest. The
town can, in a certain sense, have a material interest in the
drinking ; but the pubUcan himself cannot benefit by the profits
from the spirits sold. Neither is he of any importance in political
matters. Moreover, the system permits immediate changes in
legislation, no one having any rights or privileges. If a town
feels strongly in the temperance cause, it is easy to advance,
supported by the Gothenburg system.

In many places the system has already done palpable service.
In Gothenburg itself, where the general spirit was good, and the
principles of the system well adhered to, we are able to observe
a series of improvements relating to the liquor traffic. A large
number of the licenses are not used at all; in the year 1897,
for instance, 19 out of 91. The quantity of brandy sold has
diminished in 20 years from 20 to 14 litres an inhabitant.
Public-houses are closed on Sundays and holidays, except at
meal times. During winter, the sale of brandy stops at 7 in
the evening, in summer at 8, and on the day before a holiday
at 6 o'clock. Brandy is not supplied in Gothenburg to young
persons under 18 years of age; the legal prescript is 15 years.
Further, the company has opened 4 restaurants where workmen
can get cheap and good meals, but only one dram at the
meal. Finally, they have reading-rooms in different parts of
the town, where papers and books, and some refreshments, but
not alcoholic drinks, are to be found. These rooms are visited
by an average of 300,000 yearly, mostly young persons. The
manager of the public-house may not have any profit from the
selling of ale. Everywhere one sees placards in temperance interest.

PUBLIC CONTROL OF THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC IN SWEDEN 177

In contemplating the Gothenburg system, we have to discern
between the idea itself and the various methods of bringing it
into practice. The idea was thus expressed by the founders in
the year 1865 : "The company must be formed by persons who
enter, not for gain, but out of interest for the working classes.
The tavern rooms should be healthy, light, clean and spacious,
and the business so organised that the taverns be more like
restaurants for a certain class. Brandy should not be sold on
credit, nor upon pledge, but be paid for in cash only." In the
regulations for the original company, it was stipulated that all
gain above the fixed charge should be used for some purpose or
purposes profitable to the working classes.

As one would expect, the execution of this idea offers great
difficulties. To succeed, the moral status of the town must be
high, and its interest in the temperance cause much developed.
The first difficulty, and one met with immediately, is what to do
with the enormous profits that the business yields. That question
we in Sweden have not yet solved. Most of the money goes into
the town treasury, and is used with the rest of the income for the
common interests of the town. In Gothenburg the authorities
have often put in the protocols that the sum granted, for instance,
for building a school, is from the profits of the brandy trade. But
this is mere child's play. In reality this gain is, in Gothenburg
as well as in all other Swedish towns, used for lessening the
other taxes. Nevertheless, this money, taken from the pockets
of the poor, ought to be used for them only. Concerning this
matter we are, I think, in much the same position as we stand
with regard to taxes generally. Modem thoughts are not yet
brought into practice, nor are modem claims fully recognised in
Sweden.

The enormous advantages to the town treasuries derived from
these societies is doubtless not in accordance with the aim of the
system, and in numerous instances it has hindered temperance
work. But one should not compare this collective interest of a
town with the individual interest of a publican. For the sake of
its income a town may omit good reforms — such as closing the
taverns on Sundays and holidays. But I have seldom heard of
steps to increase drinking. When this income from the public-
houses is no longer a town income, it will be a great advantage
to the temperance cause; perhaps it will then be possible to
reach local option also for small towns.

Another great inconvenience is caused by the large consump-
tion of ale nowadays. In the country there is no danger from spirit

VOL. VII. M

178 WOMEN IS SOOIAL LIFE

taverns ; but the breweries send floods of ale along the highways
and byways. In our towns also there is the same state of affairs.
When the societies seek to make restrictions concerning the
consumption of brandy, their efforts are paralysed by the ale-
drinking. A large proportion of our drunkards are those who
have taken ale beyond measure. So far legislation has tried in
vain to remedy the evil. A commission for this end is now
working, but I do not know whether it has found a principle
that can gain a majority in our Parliament. The great champion
of the Gothenburg system, Dr S. Wieselgren, has proposed that
the selling of ale should be in the hands of the societies equally
as brandy. The production of ale should be strongly controlled,
and taxed according to the percentage of alcohol it contains.

In comparison with these great inconveniences connected
with the Gothenburg system, the other defects are small, and
most of them seem scarcely to belong to the system itself, but
rather to the carrying out of it. Critics have had much to say
about the working of the scheme in several places, and, in my
opinion, not without good cause. Many of the criticisms concern
the time before 1895. It is to be hoped that all crying mis-
conducts are removed through the new prescript, which I have
already reported. I think that at present it is in Sweden not
possible to advance further concerning legislation for the sale of
spirits.

According to our law, the governor of a county has truly very
great power ; he can do much for temperance, as we have seen.
But it is necessary that he be interested in the matter. The
authorities in the towns also have great power with regard to the
question of spirituous liquors, if they will use it. More, I think,
legislation cannot do for the authorities. It cannot force the
people to temperance.

In my opinion, the temperance movement must be supported
by the people themselves, and not only issue from the authorities,
who, however, certainly must also support the cause. As a
matter of fact, these movements have often shown very little
sympathy towards the Gothenburg system of regulations.
Many interested in temperance wish to abolish all sale of spirits,
and notice only the faults of the system. This, I think, is, to a
large extent, the reason why it has been so little developed lately.
Most people having a warm interest in temperance look upon the
Gothenburg system as a hostile scheme.

This is a misfortune to the temperance cause. The active
champions of temperance and the present movements all aim

PUBLIC CONTROL OF THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC IN STVEDEN 179

towards an idecd, but they do not seem to value a development
step by step. They have but little sense of relative good; ihey
will attain all or nothing. If our great temperance societies had
taken interest in the Gothenburg system, or in constructing a
well-organised management of the liquor traffic generally, matters
would be better than they are dow. The faults and mistakes
could have been better pointed out and corrected, and the
authorities would have been kept awake.

It is true that our communal laws place the power among
the wealthy classes, and it will consequently be more difficult for
the adherents of temperance reform to carry their intentions
through. But, I think, so great a movement as the present one
must, in tiaie, be able to gain something, if led practically. In
any case, it is not yet possible to reach local option for our great
towns, and to prohibit all sale of liquors there. I do not think
our Parliament would give its consent. That being so, it is
necessary for us to use the rich power of the movement in
improving the good that we have already.

Here I see a remedy for the future. To forbid all liquor
traffic in great towns I regard as impossible, and, from a moral
point of view, perhaps not prudent. Temperance reformers must,
with all their power and interest, see that the selling of liquors
does as little harm as possible. We may accomplish this, first, by
instructing all classes of people about the danger of using alcohol,
and founding this instruction upon sure observations. We have
now the advantage of medical science having earnestly investi-
gated the question, and given us, year by year, new information.
This must, without delay, be communicated to all, as far as
concerns the observations on the bad moral and social con-
sequences of the abuse of alcohol. By such means there will be
formed a strong feeling against alcohol, based upon, morality and
science, the consequences of which must be practical reforms and
higher development, but, in my opinion, only step by step.

As you see, we have not proceeded far in Sweden ; but we
have taken some steps that will help us to still further advance,
and that, I think, are necessary also for other countries.

180 WOMEN IK SOCIAL LIFE

The Temperance Problem and Social

Reform.

Mr Joseph Bownlree (Great Britain).

Mr Bowntree based his remarks upon the volume written by
himself and Mr Sherwell, The Temperance Problem cmd Social
Reform, He called attention to the fact that, notwithstanding
the rapid growth in temperance sentiment in this country, the
per capita consumption of alcohol in the United Kingdom is
greater than it was 40 years ago when the temperance refor-
mation was in its infancy. This is mainly due to the fact
that the laws of this country favour intemperance rather than
sobriety.

Those who seek to marshal the force of law on the side of
temperance are conscious of the enormous strength of the Uquor
trade. The social and political menace of the trade is compar-
able to that exercised by the slave power upon the Grovernment
of Washington, and no measure of licensing reform will meet the
needs of the day unless it dissociates politics from the sale of
drink. Mr Bowntree showed how this end had been accom-
plished in Scandinavia by taking the drink trade out of private
hands. He regarded this elimination of private profit froifi the
sale of drink as the bedrock upon which any effective system of
licensing reform must be based.

The speaker stated that the nett profits of the public-houses
and beer-shops in the United Kingdom exceed 18 millions per
annum, and, whilst strongly deprecating the appropriation of
these profits in relief of rates, he maintained that these profits,
or that portion of them not retained by the State, could, if rightly
used, be an instrument of vast and beneficent power for the
furtherance of temperance.

Having regard to the conditions of town life, Mr Rowntree
urged that the temperance reformer must cast about for ways
by which the craving for social intercourse and cheerful re-
creation can be met apart from the dangerous and corrupt-
ing influence of the public-house. The proposal set forth
in The Temperance Problem is, that out of the profits
of the trade efficient and attractive social institutes or
" people's palaces " shall be established, in which full and even
elaborate provision shall be made for the most varied forms of

THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM AND SOCIAL REFORM 181

healthful recreation, but in which no intoxicants shall be sold.
In these people's palaces the needs and tastes of all sections
of the local communities should, as far as possible, be consulted,
and while ample provision would be made for recreations of the
simplest and least exacting kind, such as would specially appeal
to those to whom the stress of their daily lives leaves little
inclination for anything more than physical relaxation and
cheerful intercourse, careful attention would be paid to the
more complex needs of the less physically enervated and the
young.

Attention was directed to the success of experiments in this
direction at Glasgow and elsewhere. It is estimated that the
cost of equipping and maintaining these people's palaces and
recreative agencies in thorough efficiency would amount to J&IOOO
per annum for every 10,000 of the population. Glasgow, on this
basis, would receive a grant of £66,000 per annum, Birmingham
£48,000, and London half a million sterling.

The plan provides that the whole of the profits shall, in the
first instance, be handed over to a central State authority ; that
the sole benefit which a locality shall receive from the profits
shall be an annual State grant for the establishment and main-
tenance of recreative centres, such grant to be a fixed sum in
ratio to population and not in ratio to profits earned, and that
such grants shall be made to prohibition areas, so effectually
destroying all inducement to continue the traffic for the sake of
the grants. The profits of the trade are such that, if the public*
house traffic were reduced to about one-fifth of its dimensions,
there would still be profits enough to meet the grants for people's
palaces, temperance caf^, etc.,ybr the whole of the kingdom.

Discussion.

Mr Edward Pease wished them to understand that he re-
presented the Fabian Society and agreed almost entirely with
everything Mr Rowntree had laid before them ; they were more
logical, however, and they wished to go a little further, and to
carry out more practically the conclusions which must be drawn
from the facts of the case.

Mr Rowntree had advocated the municipal management of
the trade. But could they dictate to great corporations like
Manchester and liverpool? He believed that tihe great cor-
porations and the urban districts of England would not under-
take the management of the trade. He wanted to do something

182 WOMEN IX SOCIAL LIFE

to transfer to the community the enormous profits of the
monopoly created by the licensed system, which were handed over
in exchange for a merely nominal price to private people. He
contended that they coiild introduce something of the nature of
high licenses. They were aware that a Justice's license cost a
few shillings. It was handed over to private individuals in
exchange for nothing at all. Its value was £1350 — ^the figure
quoted at the Royal Coiomission. They could see that the
privilege of carrying on the trade was handed over to private
people. They should introduce, and rapidly, some system of
transferring the actual value of the license from private people
to the community.

It was a monopoly, and it should be used for the purposes of
the community. As to prohibition, it had been a failure in
great towns. There was no doubt at all that prohibition would
always fail in large towns. In Soho, should it come to local
veto, it would never come into operation. The proposal of local
veto in England ought to be frankly abandoned; it is un-
scientific ; it had produced disunion in the Liberal party ; political
parties would not take up local veto, it ought to be given up ;
high licenses would be a more practical proposal.

Miss Agnes Slack (hon. secretary World's Women's Christian
Temperance Union) said she had brought statistics from Canada,
United States, Spain and Norway. She hoped that those
figures would have an influence with the audience ; every tem-
perance worker felt what a value there was in the book written
by Mr Rowntree, but many regretted the way in which the case for
prohibition had been presented. Speakers that evening had spoken
in favour of the Gothenburg system. She was at Gothenburg last
summer, and made an inquiry into the matter. In the South of
Norway she spoke to the people about it. " Oh ! " they said, " we
have tried to abolish the Gothenburg system ; we failed because
we were having a new railway made here, and the local
authorities said that they would have hundreds of navvies there
who would spend much in drink, and that they wanted to have a
park made out of the profits." They might have a happy country
here if the British Government was not charged to the amount
of two hundred million pounds a year because of the drink traffic.
If that could be spent on parks and palaces what a grand land
they would have ! They wanted clean hands in Great Britain ;
there was a terrible column in Alliance News which recorded the
fruits of the traffic. Now in Portland you could buy intoxicat-
ing drink ; there was no attraction surrounding the liquor traffic

THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM AND SOCIAL REFORM 183

in Portland in England. On the contrary, some of the brightest
streets were those where you could buy drinks. She trusted that
the Liberal party would never be returned to power if it was
untrue to the great temperance question.

Miss May Yates said the temperance workers must be
horrified by the statement that, in spite of all their efforts, not
only was the drink bill larger by many millions, but the con-
sumption of alcohol per head of the population was also much
larger. She ventured to suggest that the evil was largely pro-
duced by errors of diet which had become general during the
present ^entury. Medical men had stated that the evil was
produced by bad or impure food. She was a vegetarian, and
she felt that this evil might be combated by a more rigid adher-
ence to hygienic rules. If they took the grains in the fruit which
were necessary to the maintenance of the human body in their
simple form, there would cease that desire for alcoholic drinks. A
man she knew said to her, — '^ Since I became a vegetarian I did
not leave my glass, my glass left me."

•

PROVIDENT SCHEMES.

CONVOCATION HALL OF CHURCH HOUSE,
DEAN'S YARD, WESTMINSTER.

SATURDAY, JULY 1, MORNING,

Mrs SIDNEY WEBB in the Chair.

Women's Friendly Societies in Great

Britain.

liifis E. E. Page.

Some 200 years ago there was started amongst the Huguenot
refugee workmen in Spitalfields the oldest benefit society existing
in this country. From this obscure source a mighty stream
has taken its rise — a stream whose volume has been swelled of
recent years by the amazing growth of the affiliated orders.
The dimensions assumed by these federated societies which are
cited in the official handbook as "peculiar to England and
countries peopled by the English-speaking races," may be
gathered from the figures of the National Conference in April
last. At it were represented 31 societies, with a total adult
membership of nearly three miUions, and funds to the amount of
over £23,000,000 ; and of these figures half were furnished
by two great orders alone. The Act of 1875, which first
properly recognised these affiliated orders, and which laid down
what are practically the present conditions of registry for
friendly societies, undoubtedly did much to foster the growth of
the movement by the sense of stability it induced. It did
not guarantee financial security, but it assisted towards it by
provisions which greatly lessened the risk of mismanagement and
fraud.

184

women's friendly societies in OBEAT BRITAIN 185

It is chiefly since the passing of this Act that the movement
has attained any wide foothold amongst women, though it had a
certain vogue for many years before. There exists in my own
city a society founded so far back as 1802. Various others with
a " local habitation and a name " sprang up during the century
in different parts of the country, but a large number of them
were shown to be in an insolvent position when the report of the
Royal Commission on Friendly Societies was published in 1874.
Several were then reformed and new ones were started on
sounder lines, the best known amongst these being the Oxford
Working Women's Benefit Society.

Altogether the Registrar-General's report of 1892 mentions
4 female orders and nearly 200 societies, of which the 15 largest
had a united membership of over 4000. But these societies
never had any widespread usefulness, and many of them were
still financially unsound. It marked, therefore^ an important
advance when in 1885 Mr Frome Wilkinson started the United
Sisters Friendly Society, framed on the model of the ajQiliated
orders. This society, which to-day numbers 1226 members,
has done gallant pioneer work. A special feature of it is court
work and leisure, intended chiefly to meet the needs of pro-
fessional women with higher rates of benefit, and open to
widows and single women only, in all parts of the kingdom.

The United Sisters bade fair to attain a unique position
when, in 1893, a red-letter year in the annals of the movement,
two great orders stepped into the field as its rivals. These were
the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, which then sanctioned the
establishment of women's branches, and the Ancient Order of
Foresters, which, to its enduring credit, took the chivalrous step
of admitting women's courts from the outset on exactly the
same footing and giving them precisely the same standing as the
men's. This order now has 177 women's courts, with a member-
ship of 7055. The Manchester Unity (with 89 women's lodges
and 4139 members thereof) last year brought itself into line and
constituted the women's branches an integral part of the order,
a step which had previously been taken by the Grand United
Order of Oddfellows, the National United Order of Gardeners
(in 1894), and the Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds (in 1895).
The latter, which has 902 women members, has gone further and
provided in its rules for mixed lodges. So has the Grand United
Order of Oddfellows. The Foresters have a similar provision
now under consideration, whilst in the Rechabite Order, which
was the one affiliated order to admit women almost from its

186 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

foundation, mixed tents have been in existence for some years,
and women's branches since 1836. Its female membership to-day
exceeds 10,000, notwithstanding the stringency of its total
abstinence basis.

Before most of the affiliated orders opened their doors to
women, two large national societies of the central type had long
included them. These were the Church of England Temperance
Benefit Society, founded in 1878, and the National Deposit
Friendly Society, founded in 1868. The former has 738 women
members. The latter, which has 6745, is a combination of
friendly society and savings bank, and is noteworthy as offering
a means of insurance against sickness to those who are excluded
from ordinary benefit societies by indifferent health or hereditary
family complaint.

There remains to be mentioned one other latest offspring of
the movement, the Cripplegate Benefit Society for Women,
which, as a central one, with rules specially framed for the
inclusion of members at a distance, fills a comer of its own, and
has at present 74 members. A brief recapitulatory glance shows
a total ef 31,879 women members in the eight societies of
which figures have been given — a significant number, surely. It
is likely to be further increased in the future by the recent Act
permitting juveniles to join adult societies, and thereby pre-
venting leakage at the transmission age.

Side by side with this growth in numbers there has been an
even more important growth in stability. The calculation of
tables has come to be an exact science, as indeed it had need
be, seeing what is involved therein. The contribution of the
day has to be framed for the need of the life — ^framed, that is to
say, so as to accumulate at a given rate of interest to cover the
amount that will be drawn out in the course of a lifetime. Of
course it is impossible to tell, in any given case, what that amount
will be. The actuary can only know or guess it for a number or
group of causes, and then strike the average for an individual.
And upon the accuracy of that average will depend the soundness
of his tables. But given that, he yet has many probabilities to
balance. There is the rate of accumulation, for instance. He
has to guess what portion of the contributions will be drawn out
year by year in sick-pay, and what portion will be left to accumu-
late for the heavier demands of later life. In other words, he has
to know or guess the yearly sickness experience of the average indi-
vidual. Again, there is the age at which the accumulation begins.
Obviously the member who joins early in life will have a longer

women's friendly societies in great BRITAIN 187

time in which to accumulate the necessary amount, and will need
to pay less per month than another joining later. But against
this must be set the fact that the elder woman has behind her a
period of possible sick-pay claims which the younger one has still
to meet, and this the actuary must duly allow for. To this end
he must know or guess the sickness experience of the average
individual ctccording to age. He must have some idea how much
will come in early life, how much in middle life, how much in old
age, if he is to calculate contributions at all scientifically. Now,
the most acute and infallible actuary cannot gv^ss at averages of
this kind. He must have something to go upon. And the reason
so many of the old-established women's societies fell into a pre-
carious financial condition is just that there was nothing to go
upon, and their tables were largely guesswork. Their unfortunate
experience served as a beacon to the later societies, and the tables
of these were drawn up with more care from the only data avail-
able, the men's sickness experience, the actuary's instinct leading
him to aUow a more or less Uberal mar^ for the greater fraUty
of the feminine constitution. It is only since 1896 that there has
existed any assured data for the calculation of tables for women.
Then was published the report so carefully compiled by Mr Sutton,
late Gk>vemment Actuary, which included amongst other matter
a simply invaluable talmlation giving the experience of female
friendly societies in England during the years 1856-1875 — a
total of 139,122 years of life aud 325,612 weeks' sickness. This
proves to be an average of 16 days' sick-pay per year as compared
with \^\ days, the highest male average (exclusive of the Welsh
Colliery District). That is to say, the women's sickness ex-
perience exceeds the men's by almost 25 per cent. Happily, its
cost is not excessive to the same extent, as may be gathered from
a very interesting comparison made in the Foresters^ Miscellany
between Mr Sutton's results and those of the Foresters for part
of the same period. This comparison shows the largest excess of
sickness experience amongst women to occur between the ages of
40-50 and of 65-70, it being then considerably over 100 per cent.
This of course gives their funds more chance to accumulate than
if the excess were distributed evenly over the earlier years of
membership. The comparison further shows that of passing sick-
ness, i.6., under 2 years' duration, women have a larger share than
men up to the age of 50 and a much smaller one after that j whilst
of chronic sickness, t.«., over 2 years' duration, they have a larger
share than men at all ages. This is a circumstance pathetic
enough in itself, but from an economic point of view it has com-

188 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

pensations, since it means that the excessive strain upon the
funds comes when the sick-pay is reduced to half or a quarter.

A few words anent the tables of the various societies may be
of interest. Already the United Sisters, the Manchester Unity
and the Foresters have issued fresh ones based upon Mr Sutton's
results. Those of the two former, being prepared by the same
actuary, are practically identical. The Unity tables in particular
are very complete, giving scales up to or beyond 65 years of age,
with or without maternity benefit, annuity scales and marriage
allowances. They make no provision, however, for quarter pay in
cases of extended illness — a provision which, specially in the case
of' women with their tendency to chronic sickness, though a doubt-
ful boon to the sufferer, affords great relief to the funds and enables
contributions to be appreciably lower. One comparison made
showed a difference of from 2d. to 5d. a month for this one con-
sideration. The Foresters' tables, which are somewhat higher
than the others, are drawn out at two rates of interest, with or
without quarter pay, and for every scale of benefit from 4s. to
10s. a week. The two sets together therefore form an invaluable
guide in any study of the subject.

Of other tables, a partial comparison made shows the Shepherds
to be rather lower than those of the Foresters, and the Church
of England Temperance Society to be rather higher. The Oxford
Working Women's Benefit Society confines its sick-pay to 13 weeks
in the year, and so cannot be compared. It also proved im-
possible to make an exact comparison of the Cripplegate tables,
but they seem appreciably higher than the others. This is as it
should be in the case of a society which, being centralised, has no
supervision of its members, and cannot check malingering as local
branches can. The Rechabites are alone in having the same
contributions for men and women. This, in view of Mr Sutton's
data, implies either that the contributions are high for the men,
or that temperance women are enviably exempt from the ills that
female flesh is heir to. As a matter of fact, the contributions
come somewhere between the Manchester Unity and Foresters'
men's tables, and are not specially high. I am inclined to think
the Rechabite experience, though no doubt owing largely to the
total abstinence basis, also bears out a suggestion previously made,
viz., that the excessive sickness shown by Mr Sutton's results
was not entirely the outcome of sex, but was partly due to inex-
perience, laxity and mismanagement in the women's societies.
With garnered wisdom and modem methods, we may perhaps
hope for better things. For there can be no doubt that good

WOMEir'S FBIENDLT SOCIETIES IN OBBAT BRITAIN 189

administration is well<«mgh as important to a society's solvency as
good tables. Mr Sutton himself points this out when he emphasises
what he very aptly calls the " personal equation " of a society.
Now personal equation covers many things. It covers number.
Obviously, since all tables are founded upon averages, a certain
number is required to make them work. The long c€ise of illness,
which scarcely affects the large society, may tell seriously upon
the finances of the small one. Again, personal equation covers
officers and management. Some committees interpret rules much
more rigidly than others, and some sick visitors have a greater
gift of vigilance in exercising supervision. Yet again, personal
equation covers the tone of a society. Some have an esprit de
corps amongst their members which reduces to a minimum
the calling upon the funds, whilst in others an opposite tone
prevails, and sick claims are put in upon the slightest excuse.
Last, but not least, personal equation covers the medical officer,
in whose hands it Hes to open or shut the door of member-
ship. If he be lax and admit one or two of what are techni-
cally known as "bad lives," the result will be a considerable
excess of sick-pay. Hence no society can afford to rest upon its
oars and trust altogether to its tables. It must see that it keeps
within the average experience upon which these tables are based.
If it cannot keep within this, it must increase its funds, alter its
tables, or incur a deficiency.

So much for the main phase of the actuarial problem — the
question of sick -pay. Time allows of only the very briefest
reference to the three remaining phases. These are —

Fumeral Benefit, — There is no difficidty in this, as the census
returns furnish abundant data, and the calculations are compara-
tively simple.

Matemitf/ Benefit. — This is a pressing problem, as the pre-
vailing experience seems to be that without some such benefit
members drop out upon marriage. There are those who think
this does not signify, believing the need for benefit societies to
exist chiefly amongst single women who have to support them-
selves. But it must be remembered that many who thus drop
out will be forced by the exigencies of life to become bread-
winners again, probably when it is too late to rejoin, and the
society which lets them go thereby stultifies its usefulness. As a
matter of practical experience, societies are finding themselves
obliged to deal with this question. Many of the United Sisters'
courts liave a maternity fund. The Manchester Unity set of
tables has some including this benefit. The Foresters have an

190 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFB

experimental rule on the subject, and are meantime collecting
data of their own experience upon it. The Shepherds and
Gardeners give a 10s. 6d. maternity benefit, the Cripplegate
Society a 30s. one. And it is a significant fact, and may per-
haps be taken as indicating the probable line of solution, that in
all these cases, with the exception of the United Sisters, the
benefit is made a charge upon the whole court, and not upon its
married members only.

The remaining phase of the actuarial problem is the baffling
one of annuities. I do not myself think that the women's
societies are in a position to attack this seriously at present,
though most of them have a pension fund, and some even have
contributors thereto. Heroic souls those must be ! Let us wish
them a green old age in which to enjoy the fruits of their
foresight.

Discussion.

Miss Haldane said she desired to call attention to the practical
difficulties attending the working of a female court of Foresters.
Lady Aberdeen took a deep interest in the organisation of the
female court in Edinburgh of female Foresters. It was the
fourth largest of any female order in the United Kingdom.
This court had prospered since its formation, and a great amount
of energy and business capacity had been shown. The question of
married members and sick benefits always presented difficulties.
The question was put into practical form by an application from
one of their members of a sick benefit after a miscarriage. It
was desirable to have a hold over them at such times. Chronic
illnesses amongst working women were often due to want of
proper rest and care, and the administration of relief in such
cases was a serious matter to the funds of a friendly society. \

Another difficulty was that of inducing girls to join the large
orders, because of the greater attractions of the smaller societies
with an annual dividend. These societies required no medical
examination before membership. It must be admitted it was a
great stumbling-block to girls when they were face to face with
that ordeal. To go to a doctor in cold blood when there was
nothing whatever the matter with one was to some like tempting
Providence.

Yearly societies, however, could not compete with permanent
ones. The question of married members at Edinburgh was the
most important and the most difficult to deal with.

women's friendly societies in OEEAT BRITAIN 191

Miss Hargood said that the system in vogue in the United
Sisters Friendly Society to which she belonged was that every
member of the court, whether married or unmarried, should con-
tribute Id. a month to the Maternity Fund. From that fund
a pound could be paid to a woman at her confinement. In a year
they found that the contribution of Id. per month did not
suffice to make this payment. They therefore reduced the figure
to 15s. It was distinctly understood that married members
should pay more than the unmarried. So far the method had
worked well. It was impossible at that time to devise a per-
manent scheme as there were not the necessary statistics. Some
years ago a special committee was formed to look into the matter,
but it was then found impossible to perform any adequate scheme.
Some time the necessary statistics might be forthcoming. She
had been connected with the United Sisters for 10 years, and
during that time many difficidties had of course cropped up. She
agreed with the last speaker that the chief reason which pre-
vented many people Joining the larger societies was the prevalence
of small dividing societies. She did not think that at present
the poorer women would join the larger orders ; the payments to
be made were too big.

Miss Edith M. Beverell, Women's Industrial Council, Somer-
ville College, Oxford, spoke of the rapid progress of the smaller
benefit societies. They covered many more members than the larger
benefit societies. Then there were the State clubs, which were
exceedingly numerous in London and in the South and Western
Counties; the number of women who belonged to them was
enormous. Their weaknesses were their laxity, their slovenly
business habits, and their uncertainty. In one case she knew a
woman had not yet been paid her husband's burial money, and
he had died two years ago. Then there was the fact of their in-
stability. They were not registered, and as they divided their
funds at the end of every year, or of five or seven, there was always
a chance of their not being re-constituted. There was also the
fact that they were very expensive, because they were not an
adequate provision for sickness, and it was necessary to join
several in order to adequately provide for a rainy day. Many
men belonged to four or five or nine or ten. She thought there
was a certain amount of unfairness in the administration of funds
subscribed to by the employ^ of a big house ; in the case of a
dismissal the contributions were not returned, and it was really
robbery.

Mrs St John recommended women to use their organising

192 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

abilities in framing rules for women's courts ; they were equal in
managing capacity to men. If the female courts had failed it
was because of the low entrance fee of Is. 6d. Let them charge
5s. 6d. as the men did.

Mrs Wells referred to the status of friendly societies in the
United States, where they were popular.

Miss E. S. Haldane said that in her experience married
members were perfectly willing to pay more than single ones.
She recommended mixed courts. There was one point which they
ought to see to. In England and in Scotland, meetings were
frequently held in licensed premises. That was a pity.

Old Age Insurance in Germany.

Fraulein Jastrow (Germany).

I HAVE been asked to give in my paper a few remarks about
the accident insurance in Germany. As a matter of fact, it Is
hardly possible to speak of one of the schemes without touching
the other, and I must even ask your permission to add a few
words with regard to the sick insurance as well. They all form
a chain of provident schemes for the working classes, of which
the old age insurance is only a link.

Before going further I may be allowed to explain that the
word " workers " refers to men as well as women, and that the
whole insurance legislation in Germany embraces both sexes. We
shall see later that it even offers special privileges to women.

Another point the Insurance Acts have in common is that
they affect workers with an income of not more than j£100 per
year.

The first of the German insurance schemes was the Sick
Insurance^ which came into force in 1883. Besides factory
workers of all kinds, it includes also shop assistants, clerks,
employees of solicitors, etc., roughly speaking about nine million
persons. The subscription to the sick funds is fixed in accord-
ance with the expenses ; one-third of it is to be borne by the
employer, and two-thirds by the employee. But it is only the
employer to whom the sick fund has to apply for payments ; he
is entitled to deduct two-thirds of this payment from the worker's
wages at the next pay-day, or the next but one, but not later.

The legal minimum to be provided by the sick clubs is (1)

OLD AOE INSURANCE IN GERMANY 193

medical attendance; (2) medicine and other remedies, appliances,
etc. ; (3) if unable to work, a weekly payment of not less than
50 per cent, of the member's wages for at least 13 weeks; (4)
funeral benefit in case of death. Women in confinement are
entitled to draw sick pay for at least 4 weeks.

The organisation of the sick insurance is a democratic one,
and leaves at. the same time much scope to friendly societies, and
although the employers are legally entitled to share in the man-
agement by one-third, as a matter of fact the majority of the
sick clubs are managed by working men and women. I believe
it is generally acknowledged that amongst the insurance schemes
in Grermany, the sick insurance is the most popular and successful,
and from personal experience of many years* standing I certainly
concur in this opinion.

There are at present 23,000 such benefit clubs in existence in
Gtermany. Within the first 10 years of the working of the Act,
jB38,000,000 have been spent on workers during illness.

The Accident Insurance was the next provision scheme, and
came into operation in 1885. The guiding idea of this legislation
was that the liability for accidents forms a part of business ex-
penses, and is therefore to be borne by the employer only. It is
the same idea which underlies the new English Workmen's
Compensation Act. Whilst in England, however, the individual
employer is responsible to his workman, a different plan has been
adopted in Germany. The insurance is carried out under the
guarantee of the Empire on the mutual system, while the
employers unite in trade groups, which may include the different
branches of the same industry in certain districts or in the whole
Empire. The trade groups are entitled to enforce upon their
members the institution of preventative measures, and they avail
themselves of this privilege to a large extent, employing about
200 inspectors of their own to watch over the factories. There
are many other provisions (referring to both employer and em-
ployed) intended to reduce the number of accidents, which have
proved very successful. The non-fatal accidents are at first taken
over by the sick funds, and by this fact the workman indirectly
contributes his share towards the accident insurance. After
13 weeks' illness the trade groups are responsible for further ex-
penses, pensions, etc. Appeal against their decision is free of
any cost whatever to the worker, even if carried to the Imperial
Court for insurance jurisdiction in Berlin. The accident insur-
ance has been extended to agricultural labourers, and embraces at
present about 18 million workers. Within the first 11 years

VOL. VII. N

194 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

£15,000,000 have been paid to injured persons or to survivors of
those killed, which, with the cost of management, and the large
reserve fund, brings the contribution of the employers — for accident
insurance alone — up to about £25,000,000 in 11 years.

The youngest of the insurance schemes in Germany is the
Disablement cmd Old Age Insurance, You will notice that it is
not insurance for old age only, but it is combined with provision
for infirmity. I specially wish to point that out, as in the dis-
cussions of old age pensions, which at present excite a good deal
of interest in this country, it was sometimes mentioned that in
the German scheme "old age*' is understood to begin at 70.
That is indeed so ; but it must not be forgotten that the labourer
who becomes unfit for work before he reaches that age is, to a
certain extent, provided for by the disablement insurance.

This Act, then, the Disablement and Old Age Inswrancey began
its working in 1891. It affects not only the same class of people
as the other schemes, but has gone still further, by including two
other classes of workers which hitherto were untouched by any
social legislation in Germany, namely, home workers (or at least
a part of them) and domestic servants. Thus this Act of labour
legislation is not confined to the commercial and industrial world,
but is intimately bound up with domestic life as well. It has
found its way to factories and offices, to the home worker, and
the middle-class house, to palaces and country residences, and
marks the first step towards declaring the kitchen a " workshop."
Like a factory worker or a clerk, every servant is the owner of
an insurance card, a specimen of which I am in a position to
show you. You will notice that it is divided into 52 spaces, one
for each week of the year. On pay days the mistress has to
paste over each of the respective spaces a little stamp, 20 pfennig
(2jd.), which is procured from the post-office. Half of this
amount may be deducted from the servant wages. The 52 spaces
being covered with stamps (goodness knows by how many mis-
tresses), the card has to be sent to the police station to be
exchanged for a fresh one, No. 2 or 3 as the case may be. Taking
a charwoman or a needlewoman for the day only, the mistress
has to ask for the insurance card, and if she is unfortunate
enough to be the first employer within the current week, she has
to decorate the insurance card with the neat little blue stamp.
One fine day, a smartly-dressed gentleman may be shown into
her drawing-room, who will prove to be an inspector, investigating
with polite indiscretion the interior of her household, inquiring
as to the number of servants or other helps kept, and not even

OLD AGE INSURANCE IN GERMANY 195

sparing the privacy of the wardrobe by mentioning the needle-
woman. If this victim of his, whom he has picked out from a
great number, cannot face his inquiries with the proud feeling of
civic duty fulfilled, a polite and instructive little lecture will
help her to fill in the deficiencies of her social political education.
Nothing more serious would result from the first trespass, even in
Germany. And it must be said for the credit of German house-
wives, who in the beginning felt inclined to undermine the career
of the little stamp in their kingdom, that they have accommodated
themselves very quickly to the new situation, and are bearing
their lot with dignity.

The character of the old age and disablement insurance differs
from both sick fund and accident insurance, and especially from
the latter. The prevailing idea was that an accident, being a
sudden misfortune, involves greater calamity for the worker than
the gradual loss of his capacity by old age or feebleness, which
should be thought of and, to a certain extent, provided for in
time of strength. In recognition of this moral duty of each indi-
vidual to lay by something, the old age and infirmity insurance
does not attempt to provide full means of support, but only an
addition to it, which, in cases of need, might be made to suffice
for a living, though on a very modest scale. At the same time,
the Act imposed the duty of contribution to this fund upon the
employer and employ^, and upon a third interested factor,
namely, the community. The Empire contributes to each annuity
the fixed amount of 50 marks per annum, and pays the subscrip-
tion of the workman while serving in the army or navy. It also
defrays the expense of the Imperial insurance department, and
makes gratuitously — as it does in the case of the accident insur-
ance — the payment of pensions through the post-offices. For
regulating the contributions and the benefits four scales of wages
have been adopted, representing yearly incomes of £17, 10s.,
£27, 10s., £42, 10s., and £100 respectively. A pension is not
obtainable before a certain amount has been contributed, namely,
235 weekly subscriptions, or 4^ years, as minimum to procure an
invalid pension, and 1410 weekly subscriptions, or 27 years, for
the old age pensions. Both periods, however, need not be con-
tinuous, but may be extended over a longer time, owing to lack
of employment or other reasons. During an illness the contri-
bution drops, but will, on certification of the sick fund, be counted
as having been paid. The contributions of women who, upon
marriage, give up their employment before obtaining an annuity
are refunded to them, and similar provision is made for widows

196 WOMEN IN SOCIAL IiIFE

and orphans of an insured worker. The disablement pension
naturally only comes into consideration in cases that are not
covered by the sick insurance or the accident insurance. It is
to be granted irrespective of age if the insured person is per-
manently disabled from earning more than one-third of his or
her average wages, and also to persons who may not be per-
manently disabled, but who for an entire year have been unfit
for work. The pension is composed of —

No. 1. A basis of 60 marks per annum.

No. 2. A State subsidy of 50 marks per annum.

No. 3. An additional amount according to the amount of con-
tributions.
Thus the lowest pension after 4J years would be in the four
classes, £5, Us. 8d., £6, 4s. Id., X6, 10s. 3d., ^7, Os. 7d. re-
spectively. The proportion between the members' contribution
and the annuity is greatly in favour of the members, the pension
amounting, for instance, in Class 2, as given above, to 5l times
the member's subscription.

The old age pension is to be granted, without proof of dis-
ability, to all members 70 years of age. It consists of the above-
mentioned Government subsidy of 50 marks per annum, and an
amount of a fluctuating character according to the contributions.
Thus the lowest old age annuity (after 27 years) is £5, 6s. 5d.,
£6, 14s. 7d., £8, 2s. 9Jd., £9, lis. in the four classes re-
spectively.

Certain rules were provided for the transition time, allowing,
for instance, an old age annuity to be drawn at once without any
contribution being made towards the fund.

The management of the old age and disablement insurance is
effected by the State, for which purpose the German Empire is
divided into 31 insurance districts. The expenditure is, by means
of careful study, estimated for a first period of 10 years, and the
system of raising a fund to cover the capitalised value of the
annuities has been adopted.

From 1891 to the end of 1898, that is within the first 8 years
of the existence of the insurance, 381,275 disablement pensions
have been granted, and 337,927 old age pensions. On the 1st of
January 1899 there were 265,000 disabled and 201,329 old
persons drawing annuities. The average pension of the disabled
worker was, in 1891, £6, 7s. lOd., and that of the old worker,
£6, 17s. lOd. £130,923 were refunded to 99,816 female workers
upon their marriage in 1897, and £30,648 to 20,116 widows and
orphans. The capital of the insurance amounted, on the 31st

OLD AGE INSURANCE IN GERMANY 197

December 1897, to £27,000,000. Part of the money is invested
in workers' dwellings, in hospitals and convalescent homes, etc.,
and on an average the interest on the capital was 3-4:9 per cent,
in 1897.

Taking all insurance schemes together, no less than 31 million
workers were benefited by one or other of the insurance institu-
tions within 1885 to 1896, and at present the amount which is
spent for the purpose of the various insurance funds in Germany
represents £50,000 per day.

These are the rough outlines of the workers* insurance schemes
in Germany. To say a word about the effect of this legislation —
which, up to the present, is unique throughout the world — is a
very great temptation. But I must resist the same in considera-
tion of the time at our disposal.

Mr Beeves, Agent-General for New Zealand, who spoke in
place of Mrs Reeves, said that in New Zealand the claimants for
relief did not have to wait till they were 70, and they could have
more than £16, 16s. 7d. apiece per annum. There was nothing
fluctuating about the scheme. It was passed by a Parliament
largely elected by women ; it was the only scheme of the kind to
be found in the British Empire. Pension schemes might be divided
under three heads — (1) The socialistic vision of a universal
pension scheme to all, irrespective of class or fortune ; (2) the
scheme to aid everyone in want ; and (3) the idea of merely en-
couraging thrift. In New Zealand it was intended to help the
old and not undeserving poor to bear the burden which falls upon
the poor in declining years. The best that could be claimed for
it was that it endeavoured to help those who cannot any longer
continue the fight. It did not deal with the aged poor exceed-
ingly liberally — the maximum relief was £18 a year — not quite a
shLling a day. But the prospect of that help being forthcoming
was a stimulant to thrift. The object of the New Zealand Act
was to provide an old age pension for persons of either sex of over
65 years of age. There were certain qualifications. The first was
old age — the age of 65 in Ne^r Zealand would be equivalent to
60 in England. The applicant must have lived for 25 years in
the Colony; absence for 18 months would be a disqualification.
When the provisions of the Bill were announced, somebody said
that no one but a saint could qualify for a pension. The answer
was, that a person of 65 ought to be a saint. Then the appli-
cants must be subjects of Her Majesty — not, however, Asiatic
subjects, as they wished to do nothing to encourage the Asiatic
emigration to New Zealand. The final qualification was, that

198 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

the applicant should be of reasonably good character. No appli-
cant should have an actual income of more than j£34 a year.
Each pound in excess of that figure reduced the pension by JBI ;
the individual with an income of £52 a year ceased to be entitled
to any pension at all. The applicant might have property of
£bO free of debts. Nobody who had been convicted of a serious
offence could participate. A number of minor offences committed
within 12 years would also disqualify. Habitual drunkenness
and desertion of a family disqualified, as did lunacy. It was a
new law.

At the outset 10,000 persons applied for pensions ; about 1000
were absolutely disqualified ; between 8000 and 9000 applications
were accepted to a greater or lesser extent. The Treasurer of
the Colony estimated that during the first year £128,000 would
be required. Had they all qualified, of course, £180,000' would
have been called for. The Treasurer had subsequently put the
figure at £160,000. But this was not a heavy outlay, for the
people of New Zealand were exceedingly prosperous, the revenue
being £5,000,000.

The pension scheme was an encouragement of thrift, because
it was an incentive to them to do something as Well.

Mr Herbert Stead said that the figures of the Royal Commission
and of Lord Rothschild's Committee were easily remembered. The
population in the British Isles over 65 numbers some 2 millions.
That number was divided into three equal parts. One-third was
not in need of assistance, another third was already in receipt of
help under the Poor Law, and the remaining third were said to
be as yet not in receipt of any public help. Lord Rothschild's Com-
mittee put the maximum of persons of 65 who could require
relief or old age pensions at 1,330,000. Mr Charles Booth had
suggested that every old person on attaining the age of 70 should
be entitled to a pension from the State. If a man, he should
have 7s. a week ; if a woman, 5s. The National Committee of
Organised Labour had decided to adopt as its demand a free State
pension for every aged person on attaining the age of 65. The
pension should be 5s. a week alike for men and women. That
demand was not merely backed up by the vote of the Conference,
but it was unanimously endorsed by the most representative
names in the British labour world. The movement had behind
it the names of Mr Thomas Booth, Mr Frederick Maddison,
Mr Greorge Barnes, and the leading officials of moist of the
national trades unions. This demand was by no means identical
with the principles of Socialism ; it was endorsed by the union

OLD AGE IN(SX7BANCE IX GERMANY 199

representatives of Northumberland and Durham, and nowhere
could there be found a more sturdy set of individuals than the
representatives of those two counties. People had said that it
would never do to give a pension indiscriminately to rich and
poor alike, and to those with bad as well as those with good
records. There was, however, that marked distinction between
the demands of British organised labour and what they had
heard of the proceedings in Germany and in New Zealand. They
in England held that discrimination in such a matter was not
required. Free education for all the children, without distinction
of rank or character, was given by the State, and the State
should likewise enable all aged persons to receive that small
pension. There was, of course, the tremendous cost. If every
aged person was entitled to 5s. a week, there would be necessi-
tated an annual expenditure of £26,000,000. But they believed
that, just as in the case of free education, though all were entitled
to it, all would not avail themselves of their rights to it, and the
actual cost would not be so great as that estimate. He believed
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who had to find £26,000,000
a year for old age pensions, would exercise a salutary pressure on
the other great spending departments, on the Foreign Secre-
tary, and on the Secretary for War, and possibly by the inaugura-
tion of such a measure we should indirectly be broueht one stage
nearer to the realisation of disarmament.

Mrs Arthur Johnston (Oxford) considered that if the State
came forward too much to supply the wants of the individual,
then a great incentive to working, to striving, and to obtain-
ing higher wages, would be taken away. She would give
them an instance. On the Board of Guardians of which she
was a member, a woman came to be employed by the
Board. . She asked lOs. a week for wages. The Board said it
was too much, but they offered her 8s., with outdoor relief,
which brought it up tc the first figure. That was a small
instance of what would happen in a large way. Another point
was that no other country but England had the same Poor Law
system. They forgot that it already provided for many con-
tingencies. Tlie State said that in many cases old people must
be provided with homes and infinnari^. Already they were
keeping many of those people whom misfortune had left without
support. When it was stated that many people would not
apply for free education, they must remember that free education
would not be suitable for their children.

Mrs Williaxn Wood said that she had lived in the Colonies

200 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

since 1857. She could not speak against the Old Age Pension
Fund. It would, however, have to be very carefully carried
out. When she first went to New Zealand they had free
emigration. They were flooded with people from the work-
houses of England and Ireland. There were many serious
results from that free emigration which had to be stopped.
Whatever the Poor Law did it had its grievous side, for it was
pitiful to look at the faces of the people who were sent out to
the Colony in those days. There was a blank look of helpless,
utter misery in their faces. She recommended the substitution
of the old age system for workhouses.

EMIGRATION.

CONVOCATION HALL OF CHURCH HOUSE,
DEAN'S YARD, WESTMINSTER.

MONDAY, JULY 3, MORNING.

Baroness MACDONALD of Eamscliffe in the Chair.

Lady Macdonald, in opening the proceedings, said : I can only
suppose the reason which gained me the honour of presiding
here to-day is, that I am myself what may be called a successful
emigrant'.

At anyrate, when very young, I persuaded my mother to go
West, and after many, many happy, busy years spent in Great
Britain's largest colony, meeting constantly all sorts and con-
ditions of women emigrants under various circumstances — in
hard times and in good times, in storm and in sunshine — I do
not think there is a warmer advocate for the emigration of
women than myself in London to^iay, always supposing such
emigration is composed of fairly right material, and managed
within the lines of plain common sense.

The Dean of Rochester, in one of his charming flo^wfer books,
tells us that his gardener, when closely questioned as to the
most successful method of growing roses, cautiously answered,
It depends. So I, in venturing to speak of the very difficult
subject of emigration, would say. It depends. The success of an
emigrant depends chiefly, I think, on the class and kind she
belongs to, and especiaUy what her real ideas and intentions
are when she walks off the landing-stage on to the soil of her
new home.

I do not here speak only of the unmarried and independent
female emigrant, but of wives and sisters who accompany their
pioneer men into an adopted country.

The same rule applies to both. Among those I have

201

202 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

encountered in the New World a large proportion so land, deeply
impressed with the conviction that the colony they have chosen
and gone to owes them a good income for having left the dear
homeland, and grumble constantly if they don't get a large
advance in cash almost at once.

But, indeed, a great deal of hard work, patience and per-
severance is necessarily required for success, and often a resolute
forgetting of past luxury and loved companionship that are apt to
be only too well remembered.

The really idle, the careless or shiftless^ the mere talker and
the pleasant humbug, who have been found out at home, are
largely shipped off to the colony I know and love so well.

This is perhaps quite as it should be, seeing that everybody
wants a chance, and we colonists owe a little help to the mother
land who has fostered us all. Still, it seems unfair that the
resources and opportunities of any colony should be gauged
by the scanty success or dead failure with such material as
this.

Again, the young woman who has been put to school all her
life, and put to nothing else, is by no means a very useful
emigrant. One such, having entered my service as lady's-maid,
quoted Tennyson and Browning while she inflicted agonies in
attempting to brush my hair; and when I humbly suggested
she should put on a long-neglected button, sewed it on inside
out.

Another excellent person, who had been sent out expressly
to assist in a dairy farm, came to me sadly depressed, having
entirely failed in her calling. This was not very surprising,
however, as her past life had been spent in making ornaments
of hair, and when those hideous brooches and bracelets ceased
to be in fashion she was sent off to make a living by the very
first opportunity. " It is astonishing," she said, with sad sim-
plicity, alluding to the hair ornaments and the dairy farm, " how
little knowing one business helped with the other."

A third, who brought with her a very large packet full of
magnificent testimonials as a successful nursery governess,
naturally failed, at 50, when matron of a lunatic asylum, though
she declared some of her experiences as governess had led her to
believe the emplojrments must be very much alike.

Such types cannot fail to be faUures. On the other hand,
real and solid success is, with God's blessing, I believe to be
within the reach of a very large proportion of women who
emigrate alone or in a family.

EMIGRATION 203

I recall many, many most gratifying instances of excellent
success, of useful, happy, comfortable lives, bright, easy homes
and thriving families which have come under my immediate
notice.

Of one young woman, for example, who, with a family of
five, came out to join her husband working many long miles
away, found herself with only a few shillings in her pocket, and
boldly begged a loan from a comparative stranger to pay the
railway fare.

An impulse of charity induced this person to give the money,
for she never dreamed of any repayment. Nearly two years
afterwards, however, she received a box, prepaid, by express,
containing a dwarf rose-bush covered with bloom, and a pathetic
little note from the woman she had befriended, saying they were
still poor and struggling, but the money should be returned
when they could afiford it ; meantime they had coaxed the rose-
bush into early blossom, " so that, dear lady," the letter said,
"your kind room should be bright."

The couple did well and prospered, and within a short time
the money was fully repaid. Perhaps I ought to be able to add
it was returned with a note of approval. Not so. My practical
friend only sent a receipt in full and put the money in her
pocket to help someone else.

It is hardly worth while to say much about domestic servant
emigration, as the race is so nearly extinct everywhere, but I
may first remark that, so far as my poor experience goes, the
servant class in Canada is quite as useful and much less dis-
contented there than in England.

In conclusion I must venture a word of, let us say, regret,
over the fine lady emigrant, who goes out so gaily " to farm on
the prairies with dear Gerald," and for the first year or two
delights in the novelty, and votes pioneer life great fun, then
wearies of her duties, shrinks from little disappointments, and
comes home to live with her mother, leaving dear Gerald to
get on alone, "because it is so dull at the farm, don't you
know."

204 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Emigration to Canada.

Lord Strathcona, High Commissioner for Canada.

I ACCEPTED, with much gratification, the invitation conveyed to
me by the President of the Congress that I should read a paper
on the subject of emigration. So far as Canada is concerned it
is one of the most important matters that can possibly engage
the attention of the Government, of the people and of the Press.
We have immense stretches of country, millions of acres indeed,
yet unpeopled, and the soil is so fertile and the climate so
healthy that the land only requires inhabitants and cultivation
to provide happy homes for millions of people. Canada is large
in point of area, yet small if the number of people is taken as
the standard of comparison. You will understand this when I
tell you that there are more people in London than there are in
Canada, with its superficial area of 3,653,946 square miles. I
shall not take up your time by telling you what Canada has
done in the last few years in the way of developing its resources
and extending its trade. It is sufficient to say that its progress
has attracted the attention of the world ; and it does not need a
great stretch of the imagination to form an idea of what the
natural position of the country will be when it has a population
three or four times as large as at present, in view of the many
sources of wealth with which it has been endowed by Providence.
We offer very liberal encouragement to emigrants. Every male
settler of the age of 18 years and upwards, and every female,
the head of a family, is entitled to a free grant of 160 acres of
land in Manitoba and the North-West. In the other provinces
the land regulations are perhaps not quite so liberal, but farms
can be obtained on very reasonable and on very easy terms.
You will understand, of course, that in addition to its agri-
cultural capabilities, Canada has wonderful deposits of minerals,
and extensive lumber, fishing and manufacturing industries.

The classes we need in Canada are persons with capital,
farmers, farm labourers and domestic servants. We do not
encourage any large emigration of professional men, clerks and
others following the lighter callings, or mechanics or general
labourers, unless there are some exceptional circumstances in
connection with each case. The voluntary emigration and the
supply on the spot are signally sufficient to meet the requirements
of that kind, but there are always openings available for good.

EMIGBATION TO CANADA 205

hard-working men and women. Such people will be welcomed
in every part of Canada. They will not find themselves
"strangers in a strange land," but amongst fellow-subjects of
Her Majesty, as proud of their sovereign and of their birtl^ght
as if they had been bom and brought up in any part of the
United Kingdom. However, the question to be discussed, as I
understand it, relates rather to the emigration of women than
to the general question, and I shall therefore chiefly confine my
remarks to that part of this very important subject.

The greatest requirement in the way of female emigration in
Canada is for domestic servants, not so much, perhaps, for the
higher grades of servants, as they are known in England, but for
young women with a knowledge of housework and domestic
matters, who are prepared to make themselves generally useful.
Go where you will, it is the same story — Send us domestic ser-
vants ! This applies to the towns, and to the country districts
as well. On the whole, I believe servants of the class mentioned
receive higher wages than in the United Kingdom. This is the
case in Eastern Canada, and the wages are still higher in the
West. The conditions of life are naturally very much the same
as here, except that there is more freedom and a greater prospect
in the future. It used to be the custom for ladies to advance
the ocean passages of servants, but they have largely given
up that practice, for the reason, so I am told, that the girls
frequently get married before they have time to repay the money
— a contingency that must always, I suppose, be kept in view.

It goes without saying that the emigration of women must be
conducted on different lines to the emigration of men or of
families. We never encourage young women to go out alone.
It is much better for them to take advantage of the parties that
are arranged frequently during the season by the United British
Women's Emigration Association, or by the Emigration Com-
mittee of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge,
under its efficient organising secretary, the Rev. John Bridger.
Both these societies provide the necessary supervision on board
ship, and work in conjunction with the ladies' committees and
agents in the different provinces of Canada. The great complaint
in Canada, however, is that although many women arrive in the
course of the year, the demand for them is so great that they
rarely get further west than Montreal or Toronto. In addition
to the ladies' committees, the Government agents in the different
parts of the country are always ready to advise and assist persons
who may apply to them in getting employment.

206 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

These arrangements are good so far as they go, but I am
inclined to think that a great deal more might be done to attract
domestic servants in larger numbers to the Dominion. We want
immigration committees in every electoral district or county in
Canada. If these could be organised, we should have the
machinery for attracting immigration of the kind that is. needed
and for dealing with it when it arrives. The committees would
provide the supervision and the sense of safety that are so necessary.
Their work in conjunction with the formation of parties in the
United Kingdom would, I am satisfied, tend to solve the diffi-
culties now experienced, arising largely from the unwillingness
of young women to leave their families and start off on a journey
more or less long without knowing exactly what they will do
when they arrive at their destination. I trust also that the
Qovemment may, in the near future, see its way to adopt
some system of assisted passages for domestic servants going to
Canada, because this class of young women is not, as a rule,
possessed of much money.

It is only right to say that there is no great demand in
Canada for young women other than domestic servants. The
requirements for governesses, companions, nurses, and those
desiring clerical employment, are fiilly met by the local supply.
I have watched with much interest the discussion that has been
taking place in the Press relating to emigration of another class
— ^that is, young women who have not been trained to look for-
ward to the probability of having to get their own living, but
who have had that necessity forced upon them from one circum-
stance or another. It has been suggested that training institu-
tions might be provided for their benefit in .the Colonies, the
institutions to be self-supporting, or assisted by private or public
subscription. While the matter is deserving of every considera-
tion, and, I am sure, will receive the attention its importance
merits, it is not regarded by those practically acquainted with
the subject as likely in itself to solve the problem. I am inclined
to the opinion personally that, in any case, it would have to be
worked out in conjunction with the ladies' committees already
referred to. Until the question of the emigration of women is
taken up by women in the different colonies, we shall never have
so large a movement as the Colonies would like to see. Perhaps
the matter may be considered of sufficient importance to form
part of the programme of the International Council of Women.
There is no reason why women should not take as important a
part in the development of Canada and the Colonies as the sex

EMIGBATION TO CANADA 207

which have hitherto largely monopolised the work, and I hope
that the consideration of the question will not end with the dis-
cussion to-day.

There are a number of delegates from Canada taking part in
the business of the Congress. Perhaps if they were asked by the
Council they would undertake an inquiry into the question of
female immigration on their return to the Dominion. The result
of their investigations could not fail to be of great interest and
value, and any recommendations they might make as the result
would certainly receive every consideration from those interested
in the matter, both in the United Kingdom and in Canada, and
I should be much disappointed if some satisfactory propositions
were not the outcome of their deliberations. Any report they
might make would receive the sympathetic attention of the
Government of Canada, who naturally regard the matter as one
of the greatest possible interest to the country generally, and
would, in consequence, assist in any way they properly could
such an investigation.

I believe that in some quarters in this country the question
of the emigration of women, especially of the domestic-servant
class, is not popular. This arises from the fact, so I am told,
that, owing to the many other employments available for women,
the difficulty of obtaining domestic servants is becoming greater
year by year. I notice, however, in a recent report presented to
Parliament by the Board of Trade, that even in 1891 as many
as 1,748,954 women and girls were employed in the United
Kingdom in domestic service, and that it is not only the largest
women's industry, but the largest single industry for either men
or women. The publication of these figures, and of the wages
given to domestic servants, does not, however, help those who
want servants to find them, and I can quite understand that in
some quarters there may be a feeling of the nature I have men-
tioned. At the same time, it is no use overlooking the fact that a
considerable emigation of women does take place. For instance,
the Emigration Betums for the year 1898 show that, exclusive of
children, the emigration of women numbered over 51,000, of
which 20,000 were married and 31,000 unmarried. The figures
also prove to a certain extent my contention that single women
do not emigrate so much as young men. For example, from
England last year the number of single young men emigrating
was 33,438, while the single women number^ 12,141. From
Scotland the figures were 6157 and 2648 respectively. In Ire-
land 16,300 young women emigrated, as against 12,500 single

208 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

young men. This arises from the number of Irish girls whose
passages are paid by their friends in the United States, and who
go out to join their relatives. Therefore, whether we like emi-
gration, so far as it concemi^women, or not, it is sure to take
place, and is likely to increase; and it becomes all the more
important that the movement should be wisely directed, and to
our Colonies as far as possible. And further, that it should be
conducted under supervision, and under proper arrangements in
the country to which the young women may proceed.

I am afraid the time allowed to me for my paper is about
exhausted, but I trust I have been able to show you that Canada
offers great opportunities for domestic servants of a suitable char-
acter, and that they may be encouraged to go there with the
assurance that every possible arrangement will be made to pro-
cure them comfortable homes, and to ensure their successful
settlement; further, that the importance of the subject of
the immigration of women is thoroughly appreciated in the part
of the Empire which I have the honour to represent.

Emigration as it affects the Indo-

Europeans.

Mrs Van Zuylen Tromp (Holland).

I HAVE been asked to treat the subject of emigration from the
standpoint of my experience of the Indo-Europeans. The term
" Indo-European " has a special meaning in our language. From
the earliest time we have had in our East Indian colonies a
rather numerous caste of Indo-Europeans, the progeny of Euro-
pean men (mostly Dutch and native women). By intermarriage
and renewed crossing with the natives, this caste gave birth to a
mixed human race, which is constantly increasing. If these
Indo-Europeans have the good luck to get a more or less scien-
tific, and, at the same time, a practicaLeducation, with the result
that they are placed in governmental service, or if they attain a
well-to-do position in some agricultural, commercial or industrial
business, they are no longer reckoned to belong to the Indo-
European caste in particular, and they are mixed up with the
pure European society in general.

But the greater part of these Indo-Europeans lack the good

, EMIGRATION AS IT AFFECTS THE INDO-EUROPEANS 209

fortune to thrive in life ; they are forced to occupy minor places
in governmental and private offices, or, not being able to earn a
decent living, are reduced to penury.

Their only escape from the latter fate is to resort to the life
of a native, whose needs are very few, and then they can, at all
events, earn their daily bread (in this case their daily rice) as a
coolie, which means an ordinary day labourer.

Some few among the Indo-Europeans adopt this course, but
the greater part, those who have the pride of European blood in
their veins, prefer the starvation of a clerk's existence to the
life of a well-to-do native.

This pride was, till lately, so dominant that they even disdained
to learn any handicrafts, fearing to lose their dignity and their
title of "Toewan " (name given by the natives to the progenies of
a fair race), but happily in our days they, too, have grown more
democratic. Some philanthropists have erected mechanical arts
schools, and the Indo-Europeans themselves have now united in
a confederation called " The Indian League," the aim of which
is to promote social welfare by means of co-operation and copart-
nership, and to try to induce the Government to improve the
existing technical schools, and to open new ones, in order that
those born in India, and materially obliged to remain there,
may get sufficient education to participate in the advan-
tages so abundantly offered by the immensely rich and fertile
country.

For this caste of Indo-Europeans emigration is of little or no
value, because it is not another country more favourable for their
capacities which they are in want of, but rather the opportunity
to profit from their own country. Removing to another part of
our archipelago, or even to some other region, would be of no
use to them.

Emigration of any importance from the East Indies to other
countries is, as far as I know, only practised by the natives of
Java. This island, being very fertile in productions of the
soil, but still more so in population, does not offer means of
living enough for all its inhabitants. It has a large number of
natives, who do not share in the profit of the rice-fields, and who
cannot always find sufficient work. Several of these Javanese
regularly remove to one of the other islands under the Dutch
Government, where their labour is wanted ; some others go to
New Guinea, or to our West Indian Colonies, where they, as
well as the British Indian coolies, supply the need of natives for
husbandry.

VOL. VII. o

210 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Though emigration was a great benefit to the emigrants, as
well as to their new country, still I think the emigration of our
Indian subjects to countries beyond Dutch territory must not
be made too easy, the more so as there are several parts of our
own Colonies in want of labourers.

Another emigration of smaller dimensions takes regularly
place from our Island of Borneo to Singapore.

The natives of Bantam—the western part of Java— emigrate
to Batavia or Tundjong-Priok, and the Madurese to Soerahaja, to
work at the harbour or at the warehouses till they have saved a
little money, and then go home ; and so the Bandjarese (that is,
the native of South-Eastem Borneo) goes with the same aim to
Singapore.

This was, however, a purely voluntary emigration without
the use of recruiting agencies; and though, of course, the
Government takes care of its subjects' interests by means of
its Consul-general, these emigrants never require any particular
measures to protect them, as is often the case with the Javanese
emigrant labourer already mentioned.

But there is another kind of emigration to the Straits Settle-
ments against which the Indian Government is waging war
without being able wholly to suppress it, namely, the exportation
of young women from Java to the town of Singapore, with its
numerous common-houses. This very lucrative traffic in humanity
is generally carried on by Chinese with the aid of the natives, and
it is sincerely to be hoped that these shameful proceedings will
soon be brought to an end.

As to the emigration from other countries to our East Indian
Colonies, the whole archipelago is crowded with a numerous
Chinese population, most of them bom in the Colonies, very often
the progeny of Chinese men and native women.

This home-bred Chinese population is regularly augmented by
new supplies from China, while only a very few, who have groVn
rich, go back to their own country.

From the beginning of the Dutch settlement in India, these
Chinese immigrants have been very useful to the Dutch Govern-
ment. They are intelligent and active, excellent merchants
and craftsmen. But on the other hand they have not had a
beneficial influence on the welfare of the natives, who, being on
the whole very careless and incautious, are shamefully taken
advantage of by the Celestials. Their skill in most handicrafts
and in commerce makes competition impossible. They oppress
the natives as money-lenders, and they spread the use of opium.

EMIGRATION AS IT AFFECTS THE INDO-EUROPEANS 211

The Government should endeavour to reduce the immigration of
the Chinese to a minimum.

Quite another thing is, of course, the supply of the necessary
number of Chinese labourers by contract for our mines. The
natives of our archipelago are less fit for mine work than the
Celestials. On the western coast of Sumatra, and in the private
coal mines of East Borneo, the use of Javanese labourers has
proved to be disadvantageous. For the tin mines of Banka,
Bilston and Sinkess, Chinese are used, recruited at Singapore or
in China. The planters in Deli prefer Chinese, too, for the prin-
cipal work in the tobacco fields, but for different other work they
make use of native emigrants from British India, who are also
employed in the coffee plantations on the west coast of Sumatra.

Emigration is a great boon to China, and it seems to be so
too for some parts of the British Colonies, where the soil does not
yield food enough for all its occupants. We profit by the same
emigration, as it produces the necessary quantity of generally
very able labourers. The very great carefulness of the British
Government for its subjects, even in foreign countries, is, however,
often a source of difficulty ; this we especially experience in our
West Indian Colonies. Though good care ought, of course, to be
taken, as I mentioned above, concerning our own subjects, yet
too strict requirements about home, food^ medical assistance
and so forth may cause an increase of the daily expenses beyond
the value of the labour, which takes away the benefit of emigra-
tion with regard to European colonisation. The Indian Govern-
ment is now making an experiment with agricultural colonisation
of Europeans and their descendants. Years ago the struggle for
life in Holland made people think of emigration to the Colonies,
where magnificent mountain lands and fertile islands seemed
only to wait for the cultivating hand ; but difference of opinion
gave birth to a number of pamphlets from its defenders and its
antagonists. The latter pleaded the impossibility for Europeans
to work by daytime in the open fields under a tropical sun.
Among the defenders were very able professionals, who scientific-
ally proved the possibility of acclimatisation, and also practical
men who, after having lived a long time in the tropics, and seen
the Europeans at work there, may be supposed to be able judges.
Among these I count my husband, who for 21 years has been an
officer of the Royal Indian Engineering Corps. He maintains,
after his observations made on his soldiers, that manual labour at
suitable hours, and not too long together, is rather beneficial
than otherwise for the European constitution. During the siege

212 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

of the Achem-Kraton (that is the fortified palace of the Sultan)
there was much illness among the troops, but astonishingly
less among the engineering corps, who worked hard day after
day, than among the other soldiers. He is, however, no promoter
of emigration on a large scale of necessitous Dutch for colonisa-
tion in India, but he thinks the Indian Government is on the
right road now, by trying to create agricultiiral colonies, populated
either with pensioned soldiers and their families, or with the
paupers of the Indo-European caste.

According to the latest reports, this new colonisation promised
to be a success, and, if so, this might be the origin of a well-to-do
Indo-European middle class, which should doubtless be a great
boon for the whole country, for if in the far future the Indian
archipelago, or some of its parts, should have self-government,
the most complete intermingling of the different races would of
course be most desirable.

I could say much more on this subject, but I am limited to
the allotted time, and I will therefore conclude with the following
thesis : — " Emigration is one of the most useful means to restore
the equihbrium between labour and production in the different
countries of the world. Emigrations are of course the result of
circumstances, but to have all the profit they may bring with
them, the Governments of the different nations must necessarily
guide them wisely and cautiously."

Emigration to South Africa.

Miss Bobinson (Grreat Britain).

In the few minutes allowed for this paper, I should like to draw
attention to the peculiarities of emigration to South Africa, and
the special opening it offers to women other than servants.

Much as I sympathise with the Cape mistress in her servant
trials — for I shared them myself for 17 years — I do not think
that a wholesale emigration of servants would remedy them, or in
any way be advisable. Servants are too much united in England
for it to be a crying need to expatriate them. Cape ladies do not
want bad servants, but good, well-trained ones ; and the mass of
them cannot afford to pay high enough wages to make it worth
while for a well-trained English girl to give up her home, her
friends, her country, to come out to South Africa.

EMIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA 213

Girls who have had little or no |training are no more good
there than they would be in England, and girls without friends
are hardly wise in coming to a country where they are unpro-
tected and have nothing and no home to fall back upon.

Then the houses in which a good English servant would find
herself comfortable are very few, and the EngHsh servant is one
of the most conservative of human beings. Two English girls
came out together, well recommended, as cook and house parlour-
maid, asking £2, 10s. and £3 a month, with passage out. The
housemaid could not lay a table, and her notions of waiting did
not include handing plates on the left hand, while the cook was a
ver^ plain one. Still, that might have been got over. Cape ladies
are most capable themselves, and very willing to teach their
servants. But these found their bedroom was not in the house,
but in the yard, and on the ground. They were terrified at every
sound, and horrified at the idea of being outside the house. In
consequence they did not settle. They put an evil interpretation
on every difference in customs, said their mistress was " Dutch,"
with a sniff, and in the end their master had to say they might
go without notice. They got places at once, for such is the
dearth of domestic help that ladies will take anyone rather than
be left without help.

The houses also do not allow of separating the white and
coloured servants, and the white being unwilling to do dirty or
hard work if there are coloured ones to do it, the two races
naturally do not get on together, and the mistress finds she
must have all of one colour.

Many ladies have tried importing servants, but rarely with
success, for they hear of higher wages and easier life up-country,
and they have no hesitation in breaking their engagements and
going off, with or without provocation, at a moment's notice.
They seem demoralised by the freer and easier life, and think
they can do in a foreign country what they certainly would not
do in England. The mistresses rarely prosecute, for that would be
waste of good time and money. Certainly a few have come out
and done well, but they are rarely the nominated ones whose
passage is free, but those who have paid their way out for some
special reason. I think I have shown sufficient cause why the
Cape mistress will not get the desire of her heart, viz., a well-
trained English servant, and yet she most terribly needs help, and
the question is, where can she get it 1

My experience says that there is room for the woman above
the servant class, if only she be willing to do domestic work.

214 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

For nine years I had the pleasure of helping to place women of
this class who really have been benefited by coming to a new
country. During this time about 300 women passed through
my hands, and I kept a slight record of what took place.
Wages varied from JBl, lOs. to ^6 a month, but the average was
£3j 58., and this for the same work as in England they received
£10orJ&12a year, or even "a comfortable home." Clothing is
not much dearer than in England, for light, cheap materials suit
the country best, and so they gained in money. Twenty per
cent, married, and most of them in a far more well-off rank
of life than had they remained at home. Only two were ab-
solute failures, but a few who came out for health did not regain
it, because they had come too late. Still, on the other hand, many
who would have been but " creaking doors " in England were able
after a little time to do a good day's work. Then the work re-
quired ! It is nothing more than these same women did regularly
at home in their own houses — helping the servants and looking
after the children. This last is by far the more important.
Cape ladies will do anything to have a white woman with their
children, for the coloured girl is careless, very untruthful, and
not nice in her habits, and I had numbers of requests to let
people know when I expected a fresh batch.

The smallness of the houses, detrimental to the servant's
comfort, brings the mother's help and her employer into closer
companionship, and most of the girls saw any society that came
to the house. In more than one case she was taken to the
Government House receptions with her employers, and so obtained
glimpses of life that would not have fallen to her share in Eng-
land. Then as to governesses. The governess is often a very
important personage. I knew one who was on a Dutch farm
^ where the parents gave her and the children separate meals in
order that she might teach them to be like ladies ; and on Sundays
she collected the farm hands and held a service with them.
Another made herself so valuable that when last I heard of her
she was running a store in a Elaffir location in the Trangyaal in
addition to her more professional duties.

On the other hand, you may have mutton chops and rice three
times a day for two years, and sleep in a room with a smeared
earthen floor, as one lady did who went to the Karroo for chest
delicacy. But at the end of the two years she was strong and able
to take up work anywhere. Often the help or nursery governess
has a horse and plenty of time to ride it ; but then on an emergency,
all the servants, perhaps, leaving in a temper, she would have to

EMIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA 215

work hard and cook the dinner, and till help could be obtained,
the more versatile her talents the better chance of success.

Another item to promote success is not being too conservative
in thought and habit. It is no good to go with the EngHsh idea
that you are a heaven-sent missionary to the benighted colonists.
An energetic, sensible, fairly-educated girl or woman is a boon to
a hardly-worked mistress up country ; she becomes, after she has
proved her wortli, a friend of the family, sharing their joys and
troubles, and perhaps finally marrying and settling down near
her Cape home. On the other hand, the new conditions of life
are likely to be very upsetting to the emigrant. A girl has lived
a narrow life in a quiet home and then decides to emigrate. She
is first thrown into ship-board life, which is a most un-
settled experience ; she has nothing to do but gossip and amuse
herself like the rest, and she regards it too seriously and becomes
unsettled in her ideas. She hears many contradictory accounts
of the place to which she is going, and disparaging remarks on
the people, their ways and customs, and not realising that most
of this is said in idleness, she takes up opinions from which it is
very difficult to move her. Again, when she lands, she finds the
terrible uncertainty of obtaining work which she experienced in
England has vanished, and now she can go from one employer to
another, secure in the knowledge that the work she has to offer
is in tremendous demand, and that, if even her last reference is
unfavourable, the new mistress will optimistically think that the
fault lay as much with employer as employed.

There is one point I think ought to be well weighed in con-
nection with any emigration scheme. These emigrants were
personally received and cared for. Being a small number I was
able to attend to each case, to write letters and send telegrams
when needed, to find places among my own immediate circle, or
through their means, when the girls first landed.

A large scheme would not, I fear, answer now. The community
is too small to absorb workers by the shipload, but a personally
worked one, in which every emigrant went to somebody who
would be personally responsible for her, and take the infinite
personal trouble and interest that is requisite, would be a success.
The work is nevertheless discouraging, for the lack of training at
home leads the women when emigrating to have very loose ideas
of the meaning of contracts, and also to a lack of patience on their
part with their new surroundings and ideas, which results in only
the best of them keeping their first places any length of time.

Still, the truest philanthropy is to bring work and workers

216 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

together, and in this case both are to be had, and it does seem
to be losing a chance of really helping women not to develop
this opportunity.

Emigration to South Australia^

Mrs Crawler (Hon. Delegate for South Australia).

I HAVE been invited to give some information on the subject of
emigration, or, as we in the Colonies call it, immigration, to
South Australia. I must begin by stating that it is some years
since either males or females have been sent out to settle there.
I am unable to give statistics or dates, as I did not know that
I should need them. For many years the influx of men,
women and children continued, many ships full arriving each
year. The emigrants readily found employment, and received
good wages. These excellent emigrants form the working
strength of the colony, and are in the position in the present
day to stop further importation of workers. The working men,
who have largely gravitated to the cities, and who have consider-
able influence over present legislation, oppose further emigration
on the ground that there is no room for more workers.

Had they any foresight or education in political economy
they would take means to supply the country with settlers who
would turn the otherwise neglected land to account ; by which
means their adopted country would be benefited with advantage
to themselves. But this course cannot commend itself as yet to
the working man, who is no prophet, and whose political horizon
is limited by personal interests.

I am specially required to state what was our system for
receiving women emigrants. We started a servants' home, under
an influential committee of ladies and a valuable matron, and
we then applied to the Government to give us full control of the
women who arrived in each ship. This they readily agreed to,
and while emigration lasted we received in the home nearly 4000
young women. At first we found that a few of them came to carry
on a vicious course of life in a new sphere. I need hardly say
this class of women was quickly reported on and prohibited. We
then got into communication with the Committee of the Female
Emigration Society in London, who gave us from that time their
full support, and kept the ships supplied with excellent matrons.

EMIGRATION TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA 217

The latter selected the sub-matrons from the better class of the
women under their charge, who, on arrival, if recommended by
by her, received a gratuity from the Government. On arrival in
Adelaide, the Government sent an officer with the matron of the
home down to the ships to bring the girls up direct. The numbers
varied from 50 to 80 or 100. The train was drawn up at the
wharf, and cabs brought them from the station to the home,
where our committee met them, entered their names, and day
after day attended the offices to which the colonists came to hire
servants. Friends and relations who had nominated the
emigrants for free passages were admitted to claim them. The
scenes were most amusing at times. When the emigrants of the
past came to claim her sister or cousin, a look of dismay would
show her first impression of the new-comer, who looked dowdy or
whose manners were dull and inexperienced. But perhaps the
memory of what she herself was when she arrived brightened her
up with the hopes of a like transformation in the new girl. All
girls had to remain until they were hired. Before the friends
could take them out, we had to be very much on the alert to
keep spurious employers out of the home. At one time old Irish
women would try and claim girls, describing themselves as an
"ould aunt" or relation, but as their manner roused our sus-
picions, we compared their account of kinship with that of the
girl in question, and in no case did they agree. We thus
frustrated the evident design of the claimant. Another class of
employers we were very firm in rejecting, viz., publicans. We
persuaded the immigrants not to enter such service. We found
the new-comers very grateful for the protection ofifered by the
Servants' Home, to which they were always welcomed on
leaving their places. The matron was very popular, and
befriended many who needed protection and friendship. She
persuaded most of the girls to give her some of their wages on
leaving their places, and by investing these sums in the savings
bank she made them thrifty and saving — some saved from
£50 to £120. When possible, we used to spend the first or
second evening with the girls before they dispersed, so as to
prepare them for their new life, and to try and persuade them to
begin it in other strength than their own. We had many
happy experiences with these girls. The public trusted us, as
they saw we were trusted by the Government, and we had very
few, if any, failures.

We have sent in accounts for the Government to pay, amount-
ing now and again to nearly £1000 in the year. We were

218 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

liberally treated, for they knew how much trouble we saved them,
^ow domestic servants come from the families of these immigrants,
and there is no need for a further supply from England.

That immigration was a success was shown by the anxiety of
those who settled in the Colony to persuade their relatives and
friends to share their good fortune. The Servants' Home died a
natural death when the supply of servants was drawn from the
homes of the old settlers. I think I need say no more on this
subject, as in South Austraha immigration is a thing of the
past.

Discussion.

Mrs Parker (Winnipeg) opened the discussion with a short
paper on the conditions of emigration of women and girls to
Canada, and of the great openings that existed for it if wisely
directed. Mrs Parker advocated the appointment of reliable
women agents to recruit the emigrants, and spoke of the diffi-
culties which had occurred through unsuitable or vicious women
finding their way to Manitoba and the North West. She
insisted on the necessity of insisting on two great qualifications
in the women who go to Canada. First, irreproachable moral
character; and second, vigorous health of body. To overlook
either condition was ui^air both to Canada and to the immigrants,
and it was pitiable to see the suffering of inmates in hospitals and
homes who should never have come out to a country where
climate, though magnificently healthy, is unquestionably severe,
and where the conditions of domestic service must often be rough.
It was unfair to a new country to throw on them the support of
such persons.

Mrs Parker paid a tribute to the good work done by the
United British Women's Emigration Society, and pointed out
that there were new homes in Montreal, Winnipeg and Van-
couver to receive and watch over the interests of all women
immigrants who arrive.

The Girls' Home of Welcome in Winnipeg is due to the
generosity of Miss Fowler, who gives both her money and herself
to the good work, and where work is supplemented by a
Government grant. During the two years of its existence,
329 girls and women have availed themselves of it. Most of
these had situations found for them, and all were met at the
station, usually by Miss Fowler. Those who had loans to enable
them to emigrate have paid back their loans faithfully and well.

Mrs Parker concluded her paper by saying : The whole system

EMIGRATION TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA 219

of emigration might be revised, with profit to both Canada and
the countries concerned, especially in reference to England, and
those people of whom Carlyle wrote, as the " saddest sight that
fortune's inequality exhibits under the sun, the people willing to
work but unable to find it." Surely the time had come when it
was possible to solve this difficult problem, and to still this "bitter
cry " by well-controlled, liberally ^ievised emigration. She firmly
believed it would be far better for Canada when the women they
so much needed came out with their omn families, bringing home
with them, and so at once blending their sympathies, as well as
giving their labour to the country of their adoption. If these,
the respectable working class, came out, there was everything to
help them on to competency, if not to wealth, and if they were
possessed of the two indispensables "mentioned, sound morals and
sound health, they might confidently look forward to the Canadian
nation taking her place in the coming golden age of righteousness
and peace — "by prophet bards foretold.'*

The Hon. Mrs Joyce said emigration should always be the
wise distribution of the individual to that part of the world which
requires the contribution from the motherland or fatherland.

The jRevtie des deux Mondea pays a graceful tribute to the
genius of the English people for colonisation.

The emigration of women will naturally attract the attention
of this enormous Congress of women workers, because it is one
of the matters which, without any special law-making, calls for
associated action amongst women.

There is probably no subject upon which there is more direct
action from woman to woman, than in the advice giyen by an
educated woman to her hard-working sister, who has had so
much hard drudgery that she hardly knows that one Victoria is
in Australia and the other in British North America.

It has been the work of years to educate public opinion to
the belief that if we take any responaihility for selection we must
select the best and most suitable women for distribution. Any
stimulated emigration but that of the most fit is unpatriotic and
vicious. There should be no blemish — moral, mental or physical.
Every selected emigrant should have supplied testimonials of
character, capability and physical fitness. Such an emigrant
should be protected from door to door, and carefully delivered to
a colonial secretary who has undertaken the responsibility of
reception.

It might perhaps be a subject worthy of discussion to con-
sider the points at which combined effort could achieve the most

220 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

in the way of protection for womenkind. In old days, 50 years
ago, women used to be sent anyhow.

Public opinion crystallised into a society, with which the
name of the Hon. Mrs Stuart Wortley was associated, brought
pressure to bear upon shippers and Governments, at the time
when large numbers of young women were required for the
Australian Colonies.

Their respective Governments arranged to provide separate
accommodation for each sex, and to send a certificated matron in
charge of single women.

Whenever free emigration re-opens for any colony, this point
should be watched. If the advent of women is so necessary that
a grant of £50,000 is voted from any colony, those women should
be taken over in the best order.

Latterly, the West Australian Government has been the only
one offering free emigration. They have carried out their work
most thoroughly, helping to pay for a collecting-house in England,
providing separate quarters on board, employing a good matron.

The Queensland Government are now sending out free
emigrant women. They separate the sexes, but they do not
employ certificated matrons in the emigrant vessels. We hope
for improvement on this point. They provide a depot and
matron for reception on landing.

Combined pressure from emigration societies has this year
been used in inducing shippers to employ stewardesses in third-
class quarters for female passengers. Woman's influence can be
brought to bear by employing only those vessels which carry
third-class stewardesses.

The Government of Cape Colony pay half fare as an assist-
ance to employers to obtain useful women, but they do nothing
in the way of a reception home.

The very interesting paper contributed by Miss Robinson
refers to the opening for a superior class of women in South
Africa. For many years I had the advantage of her co-operation
as the secretary of the United British Women's Association.
Over 300 ladies and middle-class women have been fitted into
situations as teachers of high and elementary schools, whilst
many nurses have done good work with ^their patients and
become absorbed into the family life of South Africa.

The British South African Company have made a grant of
£500 to the emigration association which I represent (the
United British Women's Emigration) to be employed by way of
loan to assist useful women to Rhodesia.

EMIGRATION TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA 221

As regards Canada, it is a country which specially suits
European emigration, and which attracts by its liberal hospi-
tality, by its splendid railway system, by its surveyed lands, by
the temperate and religious character of its people. The Govern-
ment have a splendid depot at Quebec, and give some support to
reception-rooms up country, but for Canada emigration societies
have to pay their own matron.

The point at which all Europe might combine would be in
obtaining some assistance for " requested emigrants '' going to
the North West and British Columbia. The country never can
be peopled without women. At the present moment a bonus is
given of £1 on women going to the North West, but by a
short-sighted policy I believe shippers can get this bonus, whilst
it is denied to emigration societies.

Now emigration societies have their own reputation at stake,
and consequently are careful about the characters of those they
select, whereas shippers are concerned only with quantity, not
quality. Combination amongst emigrationists might possibly get
this bonus paid to the societies whose colonist forms necessitate
certificates from reliable referees. The United British Women's
Association, who have their office at the Imperial Institute, make
part loans to their nominees ; they work on robust principles, their
philanthropy can be trusted ; they get a larger percentage of re-
payments than any other society. The peopling of any new country
must be dependent upon the exodus from the old countrj^, those
of the same faith and same flag have the strongest ties, the new-
comers are less lonely, and the best traditions of the homeland are
transmitted to its sons and daughters over the sea. In wisely con-
ducted emigration we are all making history and building empires.

Miss Whitaker (San Francisco) gave a note of warning that
" decayed gentlewomen " were not the kind of emigrants required
in California.

Miss Boss urged all inquirers to ask for information at the
Emigrants' Information Bureau, Broadway, Westminster. She
would like to see some system introduced by which educated
women could be induced to go out to the Colonies and assist
officers of societies already represented there.

Miss Catherine Webb declared that there were thousands of
young women, apart from the class suitable for work as domestic
servants, who would considerably better their position by
emigrating. She referred to the class which, through sheer
force of circumstances, drifted into the factories and workshops.
Training homes for them might be established in the Colonies.

222 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Mrs Gonybeare-Craven hoped that parents of well-educated
boys and young men who were sending their sons to ranches and
the great farms in the Colonies would send a sister with them.
It was nonsense to think that girls could not endure hardships.
The leavening influence of a sister was immense, and the speaker
had seen such sad examples of young fellows having gone to the
bad solely on account of not having the companionship of a
sensible, plucky sister.

The Earl of Aberdeen said that he desired to offer hearty
concurrence with what had been stated regarding the desir-
ability and advantage of sisters going out to the Colonies to
" keep house " for bachelor brothers. Their influence, not only on
their immediate surroundings, but on the community which they
joined, would be in every way beneficial. Nor need parents have
apprehensions as to the " roughing it '' which their daughters might
encounter. No doubt a certain amount of hardihood and patient
pluck would be brought into requisition, but the "roughing"
would not, either in the physical or moral phases of life, be
such as any well-brought-up girl would or should shrink from.

He based his opinion not merely on general observation, but
from experience gained during frequent residence on his ranch
in British Columbia, many of his neighbours there being young
English bachelors of education and social standing.

In conclusion. Lord Aberdeen referred in cordially appreci-
ative terms to the fact that the chair was so appropriately
occupied by Lady Macdonald.

Mr J. Jervis, who had spent 40 years in India, and Miss
March-Fhillipps also approved of the sending out of sisters with
brothers.

Miss Smith (Leicester) asked for particulars as to the con-
ditions of life of domestic servaiits in Canada.

The Hon. Mrs Joyce said that all round conditions were far
more favourable than in England ; they had more liberty, and
were paid a higher rate of wages.

"H&BS Eraser thought the formation of industrial homes in the
Colonies very desirable. There ought also to be more combination
among various societies interested in emigration.

WiBS Morris suggested that emigration for educated women
should be encouraged by Government. Provision should also be
made for their return if the country was found unsuitable or the
health of the women failed.

The meeting then terminated.

PROTECTION OF YOUNG
TRAVELLERS.

SMALL HALL, WESTMINSTER TOWN HALL,

MONDAY, JULY 3, MORNING,

Miss LIDGETT in the Chair.

Miss Lidgett said that the subject, at least in its present form,
was comparatively new. • It was no new thing, indeed, for great
movements of population to take place. Whole tribes, with their
families, moved together, as we read, many hundreds of years
ago, heedless of the language or the customs of the weaker races
in whose countries they intended to set up their homes. The
movements of population is as inevitable in our own time as it
was then. The increase of great cities, improved means of
travelling, the impoverishment of country districts, and also a
restless spirit, drew men and women from their old homes to great
towns or to foreign lands. There is hardly a family in England
that has not a son in India, in Egypt, in South Africa or America.
Women and girls also leave their homes to seek a living abroad.
The danger arises from their travelling one by one. They go
quite unprepared for the accidents of the way, many having
never seen a large town before. Bewildered by new scenes, new
ways, and still more by foreign languages, they too often lend
a ready ear to anyone who seems to understand them, and who
offers to help them. Many sad stories could be told of these
unwary travellers. During the last 25 years societies have been
founded for their protection and guidance. One of the first was
the Union Intematixyiude dea amies de la Jeune FUle^ founded in
1887 by Mme. Humbert of Neuchd,tel and other ladies. In
England the work first carried on separately by the Female
Passengers' Aid Society and the Young Women's Christian
Association was definitely undertaken as its sole object by the

223

224 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Travellers' Aid Society in 1885. In close co-operation with this
was the Jewish Ladies' Association for the protection of women
and girls. We have also a representative of another work
founded in 1896, UOSuvre CcUholique Interruitionale powr la
Protection de la Jeune Fille. For Catholics, for Protestants, for
all, there is a network of agencies extending round the world,
which, with exact and vigilant woiking, should guard against the
dangers of ignorance and inadvertence.

But beyond the reach of all existing agencies or efforts, a
highly-organised and lucrative trade is being carried on with its
agents visiting the scattered villages and farms of Europe, east
and west, making friends with ignorant girls, assuring them of
profitable openings in some great city not too far away. The
journey soon carries its victim out of the sound of her native
language, and places her entirely at the mercy of the agent, who
then disposes of her as it may suit him best. We were told at the
International Congress on the White Slave Trade ^ that in one
street of Buenos Ayres there were 2200 girls in disreputable
homes, brought from all parts of Europe. But the same kind of
report might come from Rio de Janeiro, from Constantinople,
Cairo, Port Said or Singapore. It is certain that these girls had
not deliberately travelled so far with the intention of arriving at
such places, but had been beguiled by the promise of well-paid
work, and had been sold into slavery. Some definite suggestions
would be made before long as the result of the White Slave Con-
gress. But as yet the time seemed far away for rest or satisfac-
tion that all necessary steps had been taken. There was one
consolation when thinking of ^this most cruel evil, that the fight
against it had banded together men and women of many countries,
who in this matter were of one heart and one mind. Some of
the pioneers in this work had gone to their rest, and others
must always be ready to fill up the ranks, and with fresh energy
and unceasing vigilance to carry on the war, working hand in
hand with comrades all over the world.

Mile. H. de Glin (Switzerland) read the following paper : —

Mme. la Fb^sidente.
Mesdames, — L'CEuvre dont j'aurai Phonneur de vous en-
tretenir — tr^s bri^vement, il est vrai, puiaqu'il ne m'est accorde

^ The International Congress on the White Slave Trade, held in London
on the 2l8t, 22nd and 23rd of June 1899, at the invitation of the National
Vigilance Association.

PROTECTION OF TOUNQ TBAVELLEBS 225

qu'un temps fort court pour mon expos^ — m*a semble avoir sa
place tout indiquee dans ce Congr^s, puisque, f onctionnant par des
femmes et ayant pour but la protection de la femme, elle est une
oeuvre ^minemment fSministe ; non pas de ce f^minisme qui
Youdrait nous faire depouiller toutes les graces de notre
sexe, nous faire abandonner notre poste d^amour et de
d^vouement effac^ aupr^s de nos berceaux et k nos foyers b^nis.
Non, nous voulons laisser a la f emme son r61e incomparable, nous
voulons qu'elle reste avant tout Tepouse et la m^re, mais T^pouse
vertueuse, la m^re prudente et eclair^e. Le feminisme que nous
voulons — et que vous voulez sans doute avec nous — tend simple-
ment a assurer k la femme le developpement normal de sa situa-
tion dans la society, sans la viriliser, sans en faire une copie de
Phomme ; elle ne pourrait que perdre au change, puisque, le po^te
Ta (dit, " si Fhomme est Tabr^gi de Punivers, la fenmie est le ciel
de ce petit monde." Nous ne voulons point notre sexe ignorant,
nous ne le voulons point malheureux, nous ne le voulons point
d^chu et d^prav^, et c'est pourquoi nous aliens k la jeune fille,
nous la guidons, nous la conseillons, nous la protegeons centre
ceux qui tentent de devoyer son intelligence et d'aviHr son coeur,
nous lui tendons la main si elle tombe, nous la secourons si elle
souJSre, nous I'aimons si elle est isolee, sans foyer, sans patrie.

Notre cewore catholiqv^ internationale pour la protection de
la jeune Jille a done un triple progranune moral, social et
materiel.

Nous devons aux Amies de la Jeune Fille — dont j'ai le plaisir
de saluer ici une des associ^es les plus z^l^es et les plus intelli-
gentes, Madame de Tschamer de Watteville — de declarer que
c'est leur gen^reux exemple qui a inspire la cr^tion de notre
oeuvre. Jamais leur bonne amiti^ ne nous a fait d^f aut ; elles
ont compris que, sur le terrain de Paction sociale chretienne, la
concurrence est une chose sainte.

Notre oeuvre a ete fond^ k Fribourg, en Suisse, en 1896, son
champ d'activit^ se boma d'abord aux limites de notre pays,
mais le grand nombre des jeunes Suissesses qui s'expatrient et
Taffluence non moins considerable d'etrang^res qui arrivent chez
nous, nous ont fait comprendre la n^cessit^ de rendre notre organ-
isation internationale. Une conference fut convoqu^e a Fribourg
en 1897, sa coincidence avec le Congr^s Scientifique international,
qui eut lieu cette ann^e-la en notre ville, lui permit de grouper
des repr^sentants ^minents de divers pays de TEurope,
Angleterre, AUemagne, France, Autriche, Belgique, Italic, etc.
Le principe de Pintemationalite des oeuvres catholiques de pro-

VOL. VII. p

226 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

tection de la jeune fille fut vote et un bureau international etabH,
avec si^ permanent k Fribourg. En fixant en Suisse le centre
de Toeuvre, le congr^s a suivi Texemple de plusieurs autres organ-
isations intemationales : L'administration des Chemins de Fer,
celles des Fostes et T^l^graphes, de la Propri^t^ litt^raire, de la
Croix Rouge, de rUnion Chretienne Frotestante, etc., ont leur
si^ge dans ce pays central, neutre, admirablement situ^ au point
de Yue des races et des langues pour servir de point de rencontre
et de trait d'union.

Notre bureau de Fribourg est assists d'un conseil international
compose de reprdsentants des diff^rents pays europ^ns. Sous la
direction de Toffice central se constituent des comit^s nationaux,
regionaux ou locaux, auxquels est laissee une autonomie
complete.

Tous les trois ans un congrte international rassemble les
membres de ces comit^s tant6t dans un pays, tant6t dans un
autre. Paris sera le si^ge de la conference de 1900. Les hautes
fonctions de Toeuvre sont remplies par des femmes, mais nous
n'excluons pas les hommes de nos conseils.

Notre office international a a son service un bulletin mensuel
r^g^ en style t^l^graphique et charg^ de communiquer a nos
adherents isoit des renseignements pratiques, soit des details sur
notre activity et les questions y relatives.

L'office central de Fribourg travaille k faire eonnaitre Fcsuvre
dans le monde entier, et cela surtout par des rapports dans les
congr^, des conferences, des articles de joumaux, revues et
almanachs.

II recherche les oeuvres deja existantes de protection de la
jeune fille et les rattache les ujies aux autres, afin de f^onder
leur apostolat.

II f onde des oeuvres locales ou regionales Ik oil elles manquent,
s'affilie partout des correspondantes auxquelles il demande k
I'occasion, un appui moral, vai service de vigUance et de protection
sur telle jeune fille qu'il leur recommande.

II cr^ des bureaux de placement control^ par Toeuvro, re-
commandant), au reste, les agences priv^ si elles sont honn^tes
et s^rieuses, recherchant et denon^ant, au contraire, les entreprises
de racolage et de seduction. Nous ne f aisons jamais de place-
ment sans soumettre aux families qui acceptent nos protegees nos
conditions imprimdes, r^lamant pour la jeune fille liberty de
remplir ses devoirs religieux et temps suffisant pour se raccom-
moder. Loin de favoriser r^migration, nous la combattons
comme un des fl^ux de notre ^^>oque (et sommes toujours prates

PROTECTION OP YOUNG TKATELLERS 227

k seconder les repatriements). Quand rexpatriement s'impose,
nous nous efforgons d'en diminuer du moins les dangers par la
f ondation de " homes " par Taffichage dans les wagons et dans les
gares d'avis et d'adresses pour les jeunes voyageuses.

Enfin le bureau de Fribourg centralise les publications et
documents int^ressant notre activity et piiblie un livret-guide
pour les jeunes filles, et un annuaire catalogue des membres de
Tceuvre pour les associes. Nous voudrions constituer pour tout
ce qui conceme les oeuvres de femmes, une sorte d'institut de
renseignements et de statistiques pareil, en quelque sorte, mais
avec un but difiB^rent, au Mus^e social de M. le Comte de
Ohambrun.

Les bureaux nationaux et locaux chacun dans leur sphere,
font le m^me travail que I'office international et centralisent
aupr^s de lui les renseignements obtenus.

L'oeuvre a tendu son r^seau de comity et d'associ^ presque
sur tous les pays europ^ns et a p^n^tre d^j^ en Asie et tout
r^cemment en Am^rique. L'oeuYre Suisse a elle seule compte
plus de deux mille adherents.

Impossible d'encarter dans un cadre si restreint le detail de
•ce que nous avons fait jusqu'ici ; " homes," ^tablis, ^oles m^nag^res
•cr^s, faits d'exploitation d^nonc^s et poursuivis, milliers de jeunes
mies plac^es, pauvres repenties relev^es et soutenues, ^migr^es
ramen^ dans leur patrie, etc.

Mais notre programme n'est point encore rempli, nous nous
occuperons successivement de tautes les categories de jeunes
filles salari^ et non plus sp^cialement des institutrices et des
domestiques, commo nous Tavons fait jusqu'ici II so trouvera, en
-effet, que des jeunes filles que nous avons prot^g^s changeront de
vocation et d'emploi et il serait bien peu logique de aban-
donner, par exemple, une gouvemante parce qu'dle devient
^mploy^ de t^l^hone ou une femme de chambre parce qu'^le
«ntre dans une magasin de confections. Nous serons entrain^es
k patronner toutes les institutions ^tablies en favour de la jeune
fille, co-operations, caisses d'^pargne et de pr^t, restaurants pour
dames, ateliers chr^tiens, patronages et maisons de famille, etc.
Nous devrons travailler k f aire restreindre le surmenage, k assainir
en m^me temps qu' k moraliser Tatdier et les fabriques. Pour
arriver plus siirement k dinger la jeune fille, pour la mieux
connattre et la prot^ger plus efficacement, notre oeuvre entrevoit un
moyen qu'elle esp^re pouvoir bientdt utiliser, c'est I'apostolat du
«emblable par le semblable. A aucune ^poque, malgr^ nos
semblants de d^mocratie et d'^galit^ supeih&cielle, les claases

228 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

sociales n'ont ^t^ plus separees, plus eloignees les unes des autres
qu'a present. On ne se comprend plus, on ne parle plus le mSme
langage, on se sent, les uns vis-a-vis des autres, embarrasses et
contraints; c'est pourquoi il y a si peu de jeunes filles
qui s'ouvrent a nous, il y en a si peu sur lesquelles nous
puissions gagner une reelle influence. Mais appelons, dans nos
comites, parmi nos correspondantes, des femmes du peuple, des
domestiques m^ine parmi celles que leur intelligence et leur vie
de travail nous recommandent et nous aurons en elles des interme-
diaires facilement acceptees, par elles nous serons mises au courant
de beaucoup de points qui nous ^chappent, nous connaitrons
v^ritablement celles que nous devons protiger.

Je suis arrivee, Mme. la Presidente, Mesdames, au terme
de ce rapport dans lequel j'ai embrasse, a vol d'oiseau, la
necessite de notre oeuvre, sa f ondation, son fonctionnement, son
triple but moral, materiel et social.

Puisse cet expose avoir suscite parmi vous quelques
sympathies, peut-^tre mtoe quelques g^nereux devouements pour
cette oeuvre si eminemment actuelle, si grandement chretienne !

Nous sommes heureuses de la place qui nous a ^te faite dans
ce Congr^s. Au nom des pays et des ceuvres catholiques que je
represente ici, permettez-moi d'en remercier le Comite organisa-
teur de cette grande manifestation intemationale et de Tassurer
que tous les genereux efforts dont nous voyons, pendant ces jours
de travail f econd, la merveilleuse synthase nous servdront d'en-
seignement et d^encouragement. Devant vos brillants travaux,
Mesdames, je me crois en droit de saluer le jour prochain ou
tous ceux qui veulent lutter contre la souffrance et la mis^re,
contre la haine et I'exploitation pour amener un etat social plus
conforme au degr^ de notre civilisation modeme, sauront oublier
tout ce qui peut les diviser pour s'unir, dans un m^me elan
d'amour et de devouement, pour la pauvre et sainte humanite.

English Governesses in Austria.

Baroness von Langenau (Austria). Bead by Miss BailUe.

Owing to keen competition in the labour market in Great
Britain, some women must always leave their country in search
of employment. In the desperate effort to obtain work such
women are only too ready to listen to the enticing offers of those

ENGLISH GOVERNESSES IN AUSTRIA 229

who, ostensibly for work, lure them away to foreign lands, so it
is not out of place at such a meeting as this to consider the
matter in all its bearings, so that we may be ready to defeat the
plans of those who are malevolently leading astray. I wish to
consider it under three heads : —

1. Austria-Hungary and Eastern Europe as a field of labour
for British women.

2. The risks run by those undertaking work in these lands.

3. The effect of such a life on those engaged in it.

1. Austria-Hungary has long been a good field for English
teachers. The Austrians and Hungarians love English manners
and customs, and wish their children to be brought up as EngHsh
children. So the demand is for nursery governesses, and lately
for lady nurses. Not much real teaching is required in families,
but the Englishwoman has the physical care, the washing,
dressing, and the manners of the children as her special metier.
Tempting positions as housekeepers, companions, etc., in families
should therefore be carefully examined before being accepted.
Besides the governesses in families there are also the teachers,
those who give lessons in families by the hour, or part of the
day. This position is a very tempting one for clever women who
desire to have their own rooms or little home, and freedom from
drudgery or irksome duties. But the work is uncertain, the
season is short, the life is fatiguing, and for young girls not at
all good. Still a great many English women make a good income
by teaching in Vienna. This part of the field is now very much
overcrowded.

2. The risks run by those undertaking work in these lands.
In the first place, I wish very emphatically to state that the

risks incurred depend almost entirely on the woman herself. A
governess or teacher devoted to her work, with a high sense of
duty and a cultured mind, strong enough in character and in
religion to withstand the cynical representations of an irreligious
and frivolous people, can and does pass through it morally unsullied.
But many of the English who go to Austria are mere girls, half
educated, strongly imbued with a love of freedom, and filled with
a restlessness and love of excitement which is ill-fitted for the
work they undertake. One must be sorry for them, for they are
surrounded by dangers. They are compelled to undertake
drudgery work, their life is dreary in its monotony with spoilt
children. Dress and amusements are the topics of conversation
all around them. Their ideas of morality and religion are
scoffed at, so that if the poor girl escapes morally she has lost

230 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

belief in all that made life pure and noble. When this class of
girl, sick of the drudgery as nursery governess, becomes a teacher
in any of the large cities, then indeed her state is precarious. To
eke out her scanty earnings she takes gentlemen pupUs, a step
which has led many to ruin. The temptation begins in the
lightness with which sin is here regarded. Half-educated English
girls, with their restless craving for excitement and love of so-
called freedom, are only too ready to fall victims. Parents in
England are much to blame for the careless way they send their
daughters abroad. Through agents, about whom they know
nothing, they send their young, inexperienced girls to unknown
families, living in countries known to be thoroughly immoral —
Boumania, Galicia. Over and over again has the Victoria
Home been the refuge of girls who have fled from situations full
of dangers. Just last week an American lady doctor who has
been working for a year in Yienna said to me, ^'If I had a
daughter who had to work, I would rather see her lying dead in
her coffin than send her to Austria without protection. *'

3. The effects of such a life on the character.

As you know, Yienna is made up of many elements. The
English-Catholic governess gets into Catholic families, that
she may attend her own Church services. But the Protestant is
generally in Jewish families. Sunday among the Jews is purely
and simply a hoUday. The English governess is expected to go
excursions, to visit the theatre, or to pay visits with her pupils
on that day. It is with great difficulty she gets any time for
herself, and by-and-by Sunday has no longer any significance for
her. Among brilliant scoffers and intelligent unbelievers her
religious beliefs are sapped and ujidermined. Alone, among
kind and generous people, she thinks only of herself, begins to
reckon among the good points of a situation the number of
presents the employers give ! I often think bread so gained is
dearly bought. I wish our churches at home realised that Yienna,
with its 200 and more British women toilers, sorely needs
spiritual help. They are indeed sheep in the midst of wolves.

This brings me to the last point. What are we doing to help
these women 1

The Yictoria Home was founded in 1887 by a handful of
patriotic Englishmen, and has saved many from despair and
worse. It has a registry for those seeking situations, and a home
for those looking out. It also provides English food at cheap
rates for the teachers.

Naturally, to be worthy of Austrian confidence, the rules of

ENGLISH GOVEBNESSES IN AU9TBIA 231

admission are strict, a personal introduction and good certificates
must be produced. But all British women are helped as much as
possible, especial care being taken to keep in touch with the
young girls scattered far and wide. Those in Vienna can come
to tea every Sunday during winter, and at Christmas-time all is
made as home-like and bright as possible. Lectures are given on
Sunday evenings^ and also during the week. The home works
with the Girls' Friendly Society and the Young Women's
Christian Association. Girls are met at the station, and all
possible care is taken of them during their stay in Vienna.
They are encouraged and helped as much as possible to keep in
touch with all that makes life holy and grand. Britain has ever
been careless of her daughters ; other nations have their homes
kept up either by State help or by well-organised home sub-
scriptions. In Austria the Vienna Home has been kept with
much difficulty by a few patriotic gentlemen, who have given
both time and money to make it what it is. If such institutions
got more help from England more might be done. Thanks to the
Vigilance Society, those at home are now more alive to the perit
and dangers besetting the paths of Englishwomen working abroad.
By practical, watchful care, much is possible. The reputation of
Englishwomen is still high ; many are working on, silently and
nobly, f ar-<^, isolated, and in exile certainly, but ever striving to
keep near in spirit and in deed to the best principles of their
beloved country. Amid so many tales of sin and wickedness, this
is a matter of sincere congratulation. If you could see the face
of a girl, returning after years of solitary work in Russia,
Galicia, or Poland, as she enters the Victoria Home, if you all
could see the joy in the eyes dimmed with tears as she glances
round an English room once more, and hear her as she says,
clasping your hands, '' Oh, how happy am I to be here ; it seems
like home," you would realise all that she has suffered in these
far-off foreign lands.

Discussion.

Mile. Euhlxnaim gave a short account of the work she had
done in Belgium and Germany on behalf of the Travellers' Aid
Society. She stated that large numbers of girls went on to
Antwerp on their way to New Zealand and Australia, their
reason for doing so beiog that it was a cheaper route. There
they were met by ladies, and afterwards seen safely on to the
boats, where special quarters were provided for them.

232 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

Mme. Elerck gave a slight description of work in Holland.
They had registrars* of&ces at the Hague and Amsterdam, through
wliieh medium they helped both the fallen and falling girls.

Mme. Grodefroy de Tschamer (Switzerland) stat^ that in
Zurich from 6000 to 7000 girls were helped every year.

The Hon. Emily Einnaird referred to the work done by the
Travellers' Aid Society in London. One part of the work
dealt with those girls who had ceased to be travellers and had
settled down in various parts of the city. Of course, it was im-
possible for the society to have representatives at all the large
railway stations in London, but they managed to do a good work
through the co-operation of stationmasters and porters. Again,
they were in touch with the park-keepers, and they oftentimes
had girls brought to their depots who would otherwise have
been cast helpless and homeless in the streets of London. She
thought they should do everything in their power to create an
interest in the subject amongst the working people and mothers
in general. At their London office no fewer than 1677 girls
had been helped, and 963 through provincial branches. The
Southampton branch had helped 281 girls; Bristol, 28 girls;
which, with the other branches, had made a total of 3031 cases.
Those figures were satisfactory as regarded the girls who had
been helped, but still a greater need of education was necessary.
They should urge girls not to move about quite so much.

Lady Battersea called attention to the fact that Miss Baillie
had said that particular dangers awaited the English girls who
went into the Jewish families in Austria. She could not speak
of the Austrian Jewish families, but she should like to say very
distinctly that the young women who went into the Jewish
families in England were particularly well of£. They were
always generously treated, and, when girls demanded it, their
Sundays were always given them. The Jewish community in
England was quite as religious as the Christian community.
The Jewish Society had worked very hard with the Travellers'
Aid Society, and the branch of the work to which they were
particularly devoted was that of dealing with travellers as
they arrived at the docks. The officer who worked for the
Jewish Society was sometimes working 16 hours a day. She
was afraid that they might fairly be accused of sweating the
poor officer, but he did his work with so much interest that it
became a pleasure to him. That officer was allowed to board
the ships and speak to all the women whom he found there unpro-
tected. In some cases the girls came over with vague addresses.

ENGLISH GOVERNESSES IN AUSTRIA 233

One day the officer found a young girl with the address written
on a little scrap of paper, "Abrahams, Whitechapel." They had
many incidents like that, but she quoted that one for the pur-
pose of showing that the work was fraught with difficulties.

Mrs Sheldon Amos pointed out that the dangers to girls
who remained at home was also very great. Many girls got lost
in making journeys in their own country, and it was a phase of
work which should not be overlooked. She thought the time
had come when girls should be told by parents and mistresses of
the dangers which assailed them. They should tell their girls
very plainly why it was well that they should not make friends.
The time had come for them to give their daughters definite
reasons. She had heard of one case in which a governess to a
family in Cairo had been shamefully treated. She had been told
at night that she might rest a little longer than usual in the
morning. When she came down in the morning she was dismayed
to find that the family had left the house without paying her
wages. That was one of the dangers to which girls were
exposed.

Mrs Percy Bunting gave an instance which had occurred to
two respectable girls at Dover during the time that the Congress
had been sitting. They were walking on the beach at Dover, when
they were accosted by a man who asked them if they would like to
look over a new steamer. They agreed to do so, and whilst they
were taken down in the cabin to have some tea, the steamer
then started and they were taken to Ostend. It was midnight
when they arrived there, but rather than go to a house, as the
man wanted them to do, they remained on the quay all the
night. Mrs Bunting said it seemed to her that more could be
done if they had an international understanding on the subject.
She would also point out that a great number of the girls who
were thus decoyed away were taken to South America. She
thought the larger number of them were taken there.

Lady Enightley referred to the good work done by tho
Girls* Friendly Society. Any member of that society going on
the Continent had only to apply to the London office, when
every arrangement would be made for their safe convoy when
she got abroad.

Lady Frances Balfour, President of the Travellers' Aid
Society, said she was most anxious, for the good of that society, to
learn how work had been carried on by other societies, especially
those on the Continent. The society which she represented was
instituted in 1885 as the direct result of a meeting which was held

234 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

in London to consider the whole question. She should like to em-
phasise the fact — as she did on every available occasion — that
from its inception the society had received official sanction and
help. They had always been welcomed, and had every assistance
given by the various large railway companies. The work done
at the stations was accomplished through their station visitors,
who visited the waiting-rooms, and were known as the official
visitors. These visitors met all girls whom they were asked to
meet, and saw them safely to their destination. She believed
that the great railway companies were anxious to keep their
stations respectable, but they could not adequately say who were
there for bad purposes, or as agents of bad houses, and who were
^---teife on business. The girl who asked for a person to meet her
was provided with a certain set of papers, and these tallied with
those of the station visitor. Again, she might mention that the
society also dealt with stray cases; in fact, some hundreds of
these cases had been dealt with either by handing them on to
other societies or finding places for them. As to the foreign
conditions, there could be no doubt that so long as there were
countries which regulated vice there would be the same attempts
to obtain girls for nefarious purposes. Unfortunately, those
girls who are inveigled abroad for such purposes seldom or never
come back, and they knew little of the horrors which they had
to face. If the light of public opinion could be brought more
fuUy on the subject, she believed that a larger number of people
would take part in the work.

PROTECTION OF BIRD AND
ANIMAL LIFE.

(a) dress in relation to animal life.

(b) our duties to wild animals.

CONVOCATION HALT. OF CHURCH HOUSE,
DEAN'S YARD, WESTMINSTER.

MONDAY, JULY 3, AFTERNOON.

The duchess OF PORTLAND in the Chair.

The Dnchefis of Fortland, in opening the proceedings, said : It is
with a certain feeling of humility that I undertake to plead a cause
so simple and old-fashioned as that of the " Protection of Birds."

In an assembly like this, where many are more than sus-
pected of being able and willing to outrun the present and
forestall the future, I think we may congratidate ourselves on
that immunity from criticism and misrepresentation that goes
with a modest standpoint and limited aims.

Much liberal effort on the part of women suffers from the
fact that they are suspected — no doubt without a particle of
reason — never to mean quite what they say.

If they propose the removal of a pressing and admitted griev-
ance, they are perhaps met with the retort^ that what they
advocate would only be used as a stepping-stone to something
else undesirable— if not positively dangerous.

Those of them who cannot keep politics out of education or
philanthropy have made it seem that everything accomplished
in these directions by others is apt to appear political to the
opponents of the whole movement.

But luckily for us, our critics, if we have any, nwui stick to
the point, for there is only one point to urge.

285

236 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFK

Moreover, we are a homogeneous body if a small and unim-
portant one.

We have none of those differences between the van and the
rear that sometimes throw the main body into confusion. For
instance, our friends on the Continent, who are striving for the
same wider opportunities of self-improvement as wo enjoy here
as a matter of course, find it hard to keep up with our own
dashing champions of equality, who having long since carried
the universities and the medical schools, are closing their ranks
for an attack upon the Senate.

Lastly, it has often 'been urged by critics and opponents
unchivalrous enough to withhold from us the benefit of the doubt,
that woman will cease to pity when she comes to power, and
that, in competition with man, she will perforce borrow, or
simulate, the qualities on which he relies for success in the
battle of life.

If this prophecy is not to come true, then we must run with
the hare and hunt with the hounds. Our presence here to-day is
a sign that nothing less is the intention of a good many of us,
and that if we are to learn liberty we do not mean to forget
tenderheartedness and love.

I feel, therefore, that no further apology is needed for press-
ing upon your attention the cause of the " Protection of Birds,"
as one worthy to claim the best of womanly sympathy and sup-
port, even in the midst of higher themes and more urgent
questions.

Mrs P. E. Lemon, F.Z.S., Hon. Sec, Society for the Protection
of Birds (Great Britain), read a paper as follows : — It is through
women and their weak submission to the dictates of what is known
as Fashion that much of the wholesale and disastrous slaughter of
bird life has taken place. The question is not a sentimental one,
it is a serious economic one. Gamekeepers and others, in ignor-
ance, and from desire of some immediate pecuniary gain, have
destroyed owls and kestrels to an alarming extent, and in con-
sequence rats, mice and voles unmolested are playing terrible
havoc in the fields and in the farmyard. But judging by the
owls' and kestrels' feathers that women display on their hats, and
the numbers of these birds one has seen on their way from the
London Docks to the plumassiers, women cannot be held' guiltless
in the matter of the destruction of these most useful and neces-
sary birds. The late Lord lilford. President of the British
Ornithologists' Union, said that the fittest place for the wilful
destroyer of any owl in this counry was an asylum for idiots.

PROTECTION OF BIRD AND ANIMAL LIFE 237

It is a disgrace to civilisation that, in order to pander to the
appetites of epicures, we are allowing the skylark to be destroyed
by millions. During the season 30,000 to 40,000 skylarks are
dxit/ily brought into London for eating.

The rich man's demand for plovers' eggs in the spring, and
for their flesh in the autumn, has meant such an increase of wire-,
worms in some districts as to put the farmers in despair. To
kill a wild bird as well as to eat its eggs has been characterised
by Sir Herbert Maxwell as most unfair dealing, and compared
to burning the candle at both ends. No species of wild creature
could withstand such a drain upon it. The lapwing has been
called of all birds the farmers' best friend.

These few examples hint at the practical worth of birds.
They are the appointed agents for certain branches of agriculture.
As such they are of paramount importance in the history of
a country — indeed, of the whole world. I have chosen these
species as illustrations of utility, because, for the purposes I have
named, heavy toll has been levied on them, as well as on
hundreds of others, in almost every country in Europe.

Time will not permit my even enumerating the laws which
have been enacted in most civilised countries for the protection
of birds — laws which, unfortunately, are nowhere enforced as
they should be, owing to the laxity of public opinion with regard
to them. I trouble you by alluding to this part of the subject,
because women so often say to me, " What is the use of talking
to us against wearing feathers % why don't you get laws made to
protect the birds ? " So I want to show that the legal aspect of
the question is being constantly considered ; but, unhappily, the
law cannot do much, and without public opinion in its favour it
can do absolutely nothing — at least with the English-speaking
race !

International conferences have been held, and such steps as
these are necessary. This year an important International
Conference with regard to the preservation of Animal and Bird
Life in East Africa takes place in London, and in 1900 an
International Conf erepce is to be held in Paris, again specially to
consider the protection of migratory species. The wholesale
destruction of swallows which has taken place during the last
few years, and the horrors connected with the importation of live
quails from Egypt and Italy call for the enactment of some
stringent regulations to be observed by all nations.

I must now dwell more particidarly on what has been called
" Murderous Millinery," and I think you wiU allow that the term

238 WOMEN IK SOCIAL LIFE

is a just one when I tell you that upwards of 35 millions of birds
are annually imported into this country for trimmings and decora-
tions alone. The majority of these are killed during the breeding
season, as it is then that the plumage is finest and of the highest
commercial value. To kill during the breeding season means the
death by starvation of helpless nestlings, so that here the question
of cruelty as well as that of the speedy extermination of species
comes in. Lord lilford once said to me, in referring to a Spanish
proverb. Surely the cause of the birds must be safe " entre les
mains blanches." Alas ! that it should not be so, and that we
have to confess that women are most difficult to convince of the
evil being wrought in their name and for them.

There is one kind of feather ornament which is quite innocent.
The beautiful feathers of the ostrich may be obtained without
any suffering or distress to the bird, and without any destruction
of life.

And it is a relief to know that we may wear our ostrich
feathers and use our down pillows and quilts with easy con-
sciences ; but how can tender-hearted women wear, as ornament,
anything that is obtainable only at the cost of unspeakable suffer-
ing, and of the wholesale slaughter of our pretty feathered
friends ? and how can I possibly convey to you the cost at which
the fashion of feathers and wings has been and is being complied
with?

Hear what Mr Howard Saunders, an eminently scientific man
says of gulls and seabirds : —

'* These birds have been slaughtered, under circumstanoes of horrible bar-
barity, to provide adornments for ladies' hats. I have watched, day after day,
a flotilla of boats procuring plumes for the market ; one gang of men shooting,
and changing their guns when too hot ; another set picking up the birds, and
often cutting their wings off and flinging their victims into the sea, to struggle
with feet and head until death slowly came to their relief ; and I have seen
the cliffs absolutely 'spotted ' with the fledglings which had died of starvation,
owing to the destruction of their parents. And it may be accounted unto
me for righteousness that, in my indignaticm, I hove down rocks whenever such
an act would interfere with the shooters."

Mr Thomas Southwell, a well-known ornithologist^ said last
year, when writing of those lovely and graceful creatures, the
terns, or sea swallows : —

*' It is these delicate and beautiful birds which are most in request — of
course in their breeding plumage — ^to supply the 'smashed birds' and grmipB
of wing^ which, notwithstanding 20 years' exposure of the cruelty of the
practice, still, I regret to see, are more than ever in fashion as trimmings for

PROTECTION OF BIBD AND ANIMAL LIFE 239

ladies' hats. It is quite time to speak out and fix the bhune where it is most
assuredly due. After all that has been said and written, it is impossible for
women to plead ignorance, and the only legitimate conclusion to which we can
arrive is that they deliberately sacrifice all their finer feelings at the shrine of
Fashion, and care not what amount of suffering and wrong is inflicted pro-
vided their vanity is gratified."

Love of dress and fashion is leading to the extinction, com-
plete or partial, of all the most ornamental birds in every part of
the world.

The most notorious of all feather decorations is the "osprey "
worn on hats and bonnets. The millinery term " osprey " must
not be confused with the osprey of ornithologists, which is a sea
eagle and has nothing whatever to do with the '* osprey s " seen in
women's headgear, the word in this case being merely a corrup-
tion of "a spray." The so-called osprey of millinery is obtained
from a heron or egret. There are about sixty kinds of herons
throughout the world, all long-necked, long-legged and long-
winged birds ; but it is the great white heron and the little egret
which are specially persecuted for Fashion's sake, because of the
lovely filaments which are only obtainable at the breeding season.
And the promoters of fashion do not scruple to have them pro-
cured at the time when the parent birds are engaged in feeding
their young, and, therefore, at the cost of the consequent death
by starvation of the poor nestlings. In the breeding season a set
of slender feathers grow on the egret's back and droop over the
sides and tail of the bird ; these are the nuptial ornaments worn
by both male and female birds.

I should Uke to direct attention to the story as told by Mr
Gilbert Pearson at the World's Congress on Ornithology, held at
Chicago in 1897 ;—

** I visited a large colony of herons on Horse Hummock (Central Florida),
on April 27, 1888. Several hundred pairs were nesting there at the time
.... While quite close to the breeding grounds I climbed a tall gum tree
and was able, unobserved by the birds, to survey the scene at leisure. . . .
Three years later I again visited the heronry at Horse Hummock, found the
old gum, and climbed among its branches, but the scene had changed. Not »
heron was visible. The call had come from northern cities for greater quanti-
ties of heron plumes for millinery. The plume hunter had discovered the
colony, and a few shattered nests were all that was left to tell of the once
populous colony. The few surviving tenants, if there were any, had fled in
terror to the recesses of wilder swamps. Wearily I descended from the tree,
to find among the leaves and mould the cmmbling bones of the slaughtered
birds.

*'A few miles north of Waldo, in the flat pine region, our party came
one day upon a little swamp where we had been told herons bred in numbers.
Upon approaching the place the screams of young birds reached our ears.

240 WOMEN IN SOOIAL LIFE

The cause of this soon became apparent by the buzzing of green flies and the
heaps of dead herons festering in the sun, with the back of each bird raw and
bleeding. The smouldering embers of a camp fire bore witness of the recent
presence of the plume hunter. Under a bunch of grass a dead heron was dis-
covered, from whose back the plumes had been torn. The ground was still
moist with its blood, showing that death had not long before taken place.
The dirt had been beaten smooth with its wings, its neck was arched, the
feathers on its head were raised and its bill was buried in the blood-clotted
feathers of its breast, where a gaping wound showed that the leaden missile
had struck. It was an awful picture of pain. Sorely wounded, this heron had
crawled away, and after enduring hours of agony had died the victim of a
foolish passion. Young herons had been left by scores in the nests to perish
from exposure and starvation. These little sufferers, too weak to rise, reached
their heads over the nest and faintly called for the food which the dead
mothers could never bring.

"It is bad to see such sights from any cause, but when all this is done
merely to gratify fashionable women's vanity, it becomes still worse. These
are but instances of the destruction of bird Ufe. Unless something is done to
stop this awful slaughter it is only a question of a few years before the herons,
not only of Florida, but of the whole world, will be exterminated.

" Women who know of the cruelty necessary to procure the feathers they
wear on their hats, should stop wearing them, and exert their influence to
make other women see how cruel and wicked they are. May God's blessing
rest with all who strive against this sin. Man is either the greatest protector
or the greatest destroyer of birds."

• The excuse, often now given, that the plumes sold are artificial
is in many cases a monstrous fiction. Even by wearing plumes
that are genuinely artificial a bad example is set and an evil
fashion kept in vogue.

People also tell you that in some places the shed egret plumes
are to be picked up in handfuls when the birds are moulting.
This may be so, but that is not how the hunters and dealers
obtain their wares, for they are content with nothing less than
the plumes in the best condition, which is at the actual breeding
season.

It is not without significance that making known these facts
has recently resulted in an order being issued from the War Oflice
commanding the disuse of the egret plumes hitherto worn by the
ofl&cers in certain British regiments.

But it is not only the beautiful white egret. There are scores
and hundreds of the loveliest known species that are in the same
case, for a nuptial dress is well-nigh universal in this class of
creature.

During the last few years the birds of Paradise have been
pursued so relentlessly that there is great fear of their total ex-
termination. The bird of Paradise does not reach maturity until
he is four or five years old, which means that the supply is compara-

PROTECTION OF BIRD AND ANIMAL LIFE 241

tively very limited. It is only the male bird who, at the breeding
season, produces those long soft feathers known as "Paradise
plumes"; but the skins and heads of the females are used for
trimmings also, and last year the number of female birds-
mothers torn JErom their young — far outnumbered the males
which were imported into this country. Quite apart from the
cruelty exercised by the hunters, I am sure none of us could wish
to be parties to the destruction of this beautiful bird, which is
found nowhere outside of the Malayan and New Guinea region,
and has not its peer in any other country, and which is one of
the glories of creation.

> I wish I had time to enumerate and describe the myriad
brilliant birds which the imperious demands of women are causing
to vanish ! — humming birds, trogons, kingfishers, parrots, tanagers,
orioles, impeyan pheasants, Victoria crowned pigeons, grebes, and
many others. Even if we never have an opportunity of seeing
these wonderful creatures, that is no reason why we should not
take a deep interest in them and delight to hear and think of
them, for are we not citizens of the world ? and should we not,
therefore, every one of us, feel the dignity and pride of possession
in all that this marvellous world contains, and feel it our duty to
do what we can to preserve these wonders of Nature which man
can and does so easily and ruthlessly destroy, but which he can
never again create.

I have mentioned figures to show the vast quantities of orna-
mental plumaged birds slaughtered annually. The destruction is
almost incredible ; but of course, when the old are killed and the
young are left to die of starvation, extinction is only a matter of
time.

Besides these beautiful tropical creatures, birds familiar to us
all are killed in countless numbers. Fancy killing the robin red-
breast to trim a ball dress ! Fancy permitting the lovely swallows
to be destroyed that their wings may trim a woman's hat !

"VVould that every woman would take to heart Browning's
incisive reproach —

" She ; My modiste keeps on the aJert,
OwIb, hawks, jays, swallows, most approve.
He : You — dothed with murder of His best
Of harmless beings ! "

For twenty years these stories have been told and retold, but
we appear to preach to deaf ears, and it is the good women who are
the greatest hindrances. If an out-and-out worldling declares by

VOL. VII. Q

242 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

her words and her conduct that she will wear feathers procured
only at the cost of great suffering, and that she cares nothing for
the extermination of lovely species of useful beings, we fear that
her heart and conscience must be non-existent ; but when good
women, who we know are in earnest in their desire that right
should triumph over wrong, refuse to help our righteous cause,
then we feel in despair, and ready to cry, " Let the birds perish !
Let them perish ! The sooner their sufferings are ended the
better, and then, when it is too late, man (and woman) will
discover what a poor, worthless, uninhabitable place this world is
without the birds."

Dress in Relation to Animal Life.

Mrs Charles Mallet.

Let me commence by quoting to you the words of a recent
thoughtful writer on this question : — " Animals are not mere
* things,' not mere chattels and automata to be used (however
kindly) for the amusement and recreation of man, but intelligent
and highlj-develo^ped personalities whose innumerable services to
human kind, faithfully performed through the centuries, have
rendered them an integral and important element of civilised
society."

It used to be said, not so very long ago, that the measure of
a nation's civilisation might be gauged from its treatment of the
women of the nation. Perhaps, in these more advanced days, an
equally applicable test of the civilisation of a people might be
found in the treatment by a nation of its sub-human races, its
inarticulate creatures. The immense advance which has come
over public sentiment on this subject may be seen by the fact that
at this moment a Bill has been drafted for the protection of the
rights of wild animals. Now, wild animals, as described in this
Bill, are, of course, ferce natures — carnivorous animals — but all
animals are "mZc?" until they have been domesticated by man !

For what is the meaning of the term " domestic " animals ?
Domestic animals are those which, at some period or other, have
been taken by man out of their natural wild state, away from their
own congenial surroundings, where they possessed the power to
provide food, njedicine and shelter for themselves, and have been
brought by him, for his own purposes, into his social life, into
his artificial civilisation.

DRESS IN RELATION TO ANIMAL LIFE 243

The domestic animals, then, are our clients, dependents,
servants, faithful, patient and obedient, devoted, magnanimous
as indeed few servants. Life would be at a standstill but for
the services of these docile, affectionate slaves who give their
lives for our food, their powers for our service.

But we fulfil our contract badly with these, our best servants,
when we dock the horse's tail, cutting through and searing
with hot irons that prolongation of the spinal cotd which is full
of highly sensitive nerves ; or when we force our cattle down the
slippery gangways of steamboats, driving them with cruel taiJ-
twistings, causing them excruciating agony and frequently
snapping off the tail ; or when, through our insufficient arrange-
ments, we cause them to be left, as their drovers tell us, without
food or water for 36 hours — sometimes even for 60 hours —
often after a terrible journey across a strong sea.

There is a highly-evolved creature who comes into the
category of non-domesticated wild animals — the fur seal of Alaska
— which brings us to the second part of our subject — the question
of dress in relation to animal life ; and here I have a heavy indict-
ment to bring against my sisters. Professor Lloyd Morgan, who
has written on seal-fishing, and Frank Buckland tell us that
" seals are faithful, intelligent, and highly sensitive as dogs."

And yet it is the case that 60 years ago Professor Jukes
wrote (and to-day Captain Borchgrevinck corroborates him) :
** The slaughter and skinning of the seals were most barbarous,
bloody and hideous — unnecessarily so. Only rarely does a seal
die from one or two blows of the pike, and if it is not dead it is
generally considered * all the better,' for it is easier to skin a seal
while it is half alive."

Take another instance. A famous naturalist once remarked
that, — " There are no creatures in the world whose ways and
habits are so well worth studying as those of birds."

Do the women who, in spite of all that has been uttered on plat-
forms, all that has been written in the Press, still continue to wear
murderous millinery realise that they are helping to exterminate
many species of birds in this country alone ? The kestrel, snowy
owl, kingfisher, sparrow-hawk, goldfinch, bullfinch, thrush, black-
bird, and at a slower, but at a none the less sure, rate the bird of
Paradise, the skylark, linnet, nightingale are rapidly disappearing.

Every year millions of larks are destroyed.

It is to women that the destruction of another exquisite
species must be credited.

The lovely egret, or female heron, dons as a nuptial ornament

244 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

an exquisitely lovely plume, whose intensity of whiteness makes
the swan look dull and grey by comparison. During the greater
part of the year the egrets live singly or in pairs, but when
nesting they form communities, and the nests, sometimes to the
number of 300 or 400, are placed together. The solitude of the
parents is greatest when the young birds are not yet able to fly.
When the mother birds discern the cruel hunter approaching the
nest they take wing, and, forgetful of their own danger, hover in
a cloud over his head, their broad wings and slow flight making
them an easy mark. The birds are shot, the plume is torn often
out of the living bird, and the carcases are left to fester in heaps,
the young brood is starved to death. An American ornithologist
describes the cries of the dying birds as heartrending. Pro-
fessor Hudson tells us that for every bird worn in a lady's hat
one may roughly reckon that 10 birds are left to die.

And because servant girls and factory lasses must, of course,
follow the fashion set them by their leaders — such as these
cannot afford to buy egret plumes and expensive feathers —
quantities of wings of sparrows and starlings are dyed red, blue
and yellow and made to rival the gorgeous hues of the
plumage of the bird of Paradise, and sold cheaply to less
wealthy customers.

The wings that have borne the brave little swallow from his
fly-eating mission in Africa to his fly-eating mission in Europe
are dyed and sold. Such advertisements as these may be seen : —
" Starling wings wanted, free from moth, and in good condition,
sixpence per dozen pair ; any number up to 500 (dozen) pair."
One single Paris order in the hat trade was given for 40,000
birds. Yet we who thus murder these gentle creatures wholesale
are dependent upon them for much of our daily life. For
without the offices of the birds we should have neither air to
breathe, food to eat, nor water to drink. It is they who skim
over the surface of lake or pond and dart down upon the larvae
which the insect at the end of a summer's day is about to deposit
in a stream, and eat the tiny eggs which would become living
things. Myriads of grubs and eggs are thus destroyed by them
before they come to life, for one blue-bottle fly alone will deposit
16,000 eggs, and thus the world is kept pure and habitable. It
is they who, through the long dark winter months, seek out the
countless grubs and chrysalidae, for all insects pass the winter
in this form and wake to life with the heat of the summer sun ;
insects too small for the human eye to discover are spied out by
the keen-sighted birds. Sticking to wall and post and paling, or

THE BIGHTS OF WILD ANIMALS 245

embedded in the barks of trees, the bird will find and destroy
what the severest frost cannot kill. It is impossible to over-
estimate the services of these our bird allies, and our indebted-
ness to them is only equalled by our ingratitude. A birdless
world is an uninhabitable world !

This address commenced with a quotation, I will conclude it
with another which sums up in a few words our duty to the
weaker brotherhood of inarticulate fellow-creatures. Said the
Quaker, St John Woolnam : — " Those who love God perfectly
will take care not to lessen that sweetness of animal life which
the great Creator intended for His creatures under our govern-
ment."

The Rights of Wild Animals.

The Sight Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, M.F.

Thb invitation to address you with which I was honoured gave,
as the subject to be dealt with, the " Rights of Wild Animals."
I am glad to notice in the programme of proceedings that this
has been altered to " Our Obligations to Wild Animals." I am
glad this has been done, because it makes my task easier. I
gladly recognise our obligations to what are called the lower
animals, but I think we should proceed on a false basis if
we were to assume that they possessed any rights, except such
as have been conferred upon them by human legislation.
I am not surprised that this seems harsh doctrine to
some of my audience, and not to be reconciled with the
humane and considerate treatment of living creatures ; but I
have this plain alternative before me, either to tell you the
conclusions to which long and earnest consideration of this
complex question has brought me, or to utter a few common-
place sentiments to win ready assent from the tender-hearted. I
can hardly conceive a greater slight that could be put upon this
Congress than to adopt the latter course. I regard the purpose
for which you are assembled as a serious one — namely, to remedy
abuse, to redress wrong and to estabKsh knowledge of the truth.
Mere sentiment, admirable in its own province, can never effect
such a purpose ; you are bound to adopt the only sure means of
progress, the light and method of reason. It would entirely
defeat your purpose if you entertained logical argument only

246 WOMEN IK SOCIAL LIFE

when it suited your purpose, and rejected it in favour of senti-
ment when it fails to support particular views and prepossessions.

Sentiment; is inseparable from, and rightly employed in, our
dealings with the lower animals, but the more closely you study
the system and methods of Nature, the less inclined you will
be to trust to its exclusive guidance. Let me give an instance
wherein I suspect it led our Legislature astray. One of the
earliest humanitarian Acts of the Victorian Parliament was
that which prohibited the employment of dogs as beasts of draught.
It was well intentioned, but I am dubious of the nature of the
boon conferred thereby. Those who have watched dogs at work
drawing loads in German and Belgian towns must surely have
been struck by the hearty way in which they go to work. The
dog is pre-eminently a sociable animal ; he enjoys co-operative
labour, with his own kind if possible ; if not, then with man.
Moreover, a dog lies down and rests when the cart stops, which
a horse cannot do. If a dog is beaten- or abused in harness he
does not redouble his efforts like a horse or ass, but creeps under
the cart and yells. It does not pay to ill-use a dog in harness.
I can't help thinking that the lives of many an overfed collie or
other pet dog, upon which Parliament has conferred a statutory
right to idleness, would be much happier if they were working
honestly for their living.

I have said that wild animals have no rights other than
legislative ; and I would point out that we may look in vain for
any such rights in the scheme of Nature. Many beasts, nearly
all fish and reptiles, and the vast majority of birds and insects,
are carnivorous and depend for their sustenance on the violent
destruction of other creatures. Sometimes the act of destruction
is accompanied by atrocious cruelty. We all love the cuckoo,
but each female cuckoo, in order to obtain incubation for her
four eggs, deposits each egg in a different nursery, of which the
rightful inmates are, as it were, thrown out o' window to perish
in the street. Consider, again, the habits of the common
ichneumon fly. It deposits its egg in the body of a caterpillar ;
from the egg is hatched a worm, which slowly eats the substance
of its victim, carefully reserving the vital parts till the last, and
emerges a perfect fly to repeat the horrible drama in its turn.

No ; all that we learn from Nature in this matter is intense
solicitude for the race, and apparently heartless disregard of the
sufferings of the individual.

The interesting speech of the lady who spoke before me
contained some indications of similar heartlessness, although I

THE BIOHTfi OF WILD ANIMALS 247

am quite sure she is incapable of inflicting pain on the meanest
of creatures. She pleaded strongly for care of wild birds, and
showed how much service they rendered to man by the destruction .
of insects. But does she mean that our sympathies are to be
limited to vertebrate animals 1 How about the insects that the
birds destroy ? Is there no one to say a word on behalf of the
blue-bottle ? or are we to assume that he does not enjoy sweets and
sunshine as much as his betters ? Such are some of the dilemmas
in which sentiment will land us, unless it is steered by reason.

I rejoice as much as anyone to trace the legitimate influence
of sentiment in our legislation regarding the lower animals. The
unspeakable barbarities of bull and bear-baiting were put down
in 1825. This was the first step in purely humanitarian
legislation. Parliament, indeed, had passed numerous Acts
before that time conferring on certain wild animals protection
during the period of producing and rearing young ; but it must
be confessed that this was not out of tender feeling to such
animals, but because they were valuable for food. Recently, I
am glad to say, similar protection has been extended to other
species, simply because they are beautiful, interesting or rare.

Well done, sentiment ! But it must be admitted that senti-
ment is curiously capricious. We have done a great deal for
birds, but there is one thing which Parliament has not done, and
which I hope it never will do, because the remedy lies in the
hands of women. It is among them we must look for the most
relentless gaolers of caged birds. Very few people know what a
truly barbarous custom this is. If death is cruel, what shall be
said of lifelong imprisonment of birds, the very type of freedom ?
It involves depriving them of their peculiar faculty — ^flight, the
envy of man in all ages. Read Bechstein, the acknowledged
authority on cage-birds, if you want to understand the suffering
resulting to your prisoners from confinement, want of exercise,
unsuitable food and climate. Unluckily for themselves, most
birds have a cheerful expression and voice and lively movements ;
nevertheless, to deny to a bird its immemorial right of migration is
surely the very refinement of cruelty. It is not usually desirable
or in good taste that one should quote from his own writings,
nevertheless I will rely on your indulgence while I read a few
sentences from my notes of some years ago.

'* Walking one hot May morning down that grimmest of all thoroughfares,
Victoria Street, bewailing, as I saw the dry, white clouds floating across the strip
of blue overhead, the unkind fate that kept me from green fields and pleasant
river banks, I chanced to look down an area. There, in a little low cage, on a

248 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

withered piece of turf, was a wretched, restless prisoner — a lark— ceaselessly
fluttering up and down the few inches the height of his cage allowed him, and
thrusting his breast hopelessly against the wires. How I longed to let him
out ! to bid him obey the irresistible impulse to rise and pour out the marvel-
lous volume of sound pent in his little body ; to seek a mate before the happy
season of love was over, and on breezy down or springing cornfield forget the
torments to which stupid, senseless man had condemned him. It is a thread-
bare theme, the sufferings of a oaged bird, yet perhaps nobody has ever
thoroughly realised what suffering is involved in being able to fly and being
forbidden to do so. All children and most grown persons have a kindly
feeling for birds ; would that they would show it in less ogreish fashion, and
spend pains in developing rather than in warping and destroying their
favourites."

Now I have exceeded the due limits of time, and, in conclu-
sion, I would ask you not to believe that, because I have called in
question the rights of wild animals, therefore I dispute our
responsibility for their merciful treatment. As a nation we
profess Christianity, and our highest ascription to the Being we
worship is that " His property is always to have mercy." Let
no one undervalue the influence of women in teaching men to be
merciful ; it is at our mothers' knees that we learn the humane
treatment of animals, else we never learn it at all. Much of the
work of this Congress has been to indicate new fields for women's
influence and energy. I trust that whatever provinces they may
add to their dominions, their influence may never be weaiened
in that wherein it is and always has been supreme— human
hearts and homes.

Discussion.

Sir Edward Grey, M.F., said he entirely agreed with what
Sir Herbert Maxwell said on the subject of sentiment. Sir
Herbert had been the prime mover in the legislation on this
subject, and therefore had an excellent right to speak thereon.
While giving due weight to sentiment, he also desired to let
common sense have its weight too. It seemed certain that some
kinds of animal life were in danger of extermination. In the
cause of science it was far more humane and better to have a few
good public collections than a number of private ones. Coming
to the subject of ornament, he did not object to ornament for its
own sake, but only where it implied cruelty. There was no
cruelty implied in the wearing of ostrich feathers, but there was
cruelty in cases where plumes were torn from the living birds.
The disease having been thus found, what was the remedy ? He
thought it might be found in providing a counter-attraction by
making people interested in the natural life of birds. He did not

THE RIGHTS OF WILD ANIMALS 249

desire by this to be understood to wish to take woman from her
home sphere in order to make her study in the fields. Alluding
to the destruction of animals as a sport by men, the speaker said
that in this country at anyrate regulated sport did not cause
more destruction than preservation. Sport was, in fact, a pre-
server as well as a destroyer.

Mr Bichard Wood declared that no cruelty at all should be
practised on animals, and he felt surprised that nobody had yet
spoken against the horrors of vivisection. If scientific research
was less cruel than murderous millinery, then the latter must be
bad indeed; for he knew of nothing more revolting than the
fearful tortures to which living animals were subjected in the
cause of science.

The Bev. J. Stratton declared that it was casuistic to say
that the lower animals, to whom man owed duties, had no
natural rights. By looking into their organisation he found they
had inalienable rights, and man had duties to them from the very
fact that they, like him, could feel pain. Why did the sporting
laws give certain animals rights in 1825 if it were not that people
recognised that animals had natural rights ? He wished to pro-
test against the infliction of any unnecessary pain whatever.

Mr Henry Salt took exception to the statement that sport
was a preserver as well as a destroyer. Sir Edward Grey was a
keen sportsman, and in defending sport his reasoning was de-
fective. If we justified sport on the ground that animals preyed
on one another, then we could justify slavery and many other
things which were practised by creatures in a lower scale than
ourselves. He urged that our rights against all animals be
bounded by necessity. When real necessity came in we might
kill j when necessity did not come in, it was iniquitous to kill or
give pain.

Mrs Henry Lee considered that animals possessed the strongest
claim on the consideration of man. She could not reconcile their
speaking on cruelty to animals with the practice of vivisection.
Much of the cruelty on the streets was due to thoughtlessness,
while that practised in the cause of science was premeditated,
refined cruelty, which killed the very Christlike spirit in men.
As the widow of a doctor, she appealed especially to medical men
to give this matter their serious attention, for if the weight
of their influence were thrown into the scale against vivisection,
public opinion would soon turn against the revolting practice.

Mile. Adrienne Vergel^ said that if sentiment were allowed
fuller play, the killing and torture of the lower animals would

250 WOMEN IN SOCIAL LIFE

soon be put an end to. As a vegetarian, she thought scientists
would do far more good if they instilled a knowledge of the
anatomy and physiology of the lower animals than by vivisecting
living animals with only speculative scientific ends in view.

Miss Yates, Superintendent of the World's Women's Christian
Union, desired to offer one word to emphasise the remark that we
have no right to inflict any cruelty on animals. The only way to
consistently abstain from this cruelty was by becoming a vege-
tarian. Thus should we be free from any participation in the
terrible cruelties inflicted upon animals by land and sea, to say
nothing of the degrading iiidiuence upon the men who had to do
the actual killing. If the ladies present had to kill the animals
before they could eat them, they would soon all become vege-
tarians. And surely it was wronc; to make others perform a
horrible task which nothing would kiduce us to do. ThV meeting
had shown great sympathy with the sufferings of the animal
world, and she therefore hoped they would consistently follow
this up by becoming vegetarians. This would be, after all, but a
logical conclusion to the very proper and womanly conception of
our duties towards the lower animals.

Mr Alderman Phillips said he very much appreciated the
pleadings he had heard on behalf of the absent bird and animal
life. It was because the tender and sympathetic part in woman
was crushed by fashion that they had to deplore so much cruelty
to-day ; and as a vegetarian he entered a strong protest against
infliction of any useless pain whatever on the lower animals.

Lady Laura Biddii^ proposed a vote of thanks to the
Duchess of Portland for presiding, and, in acknowledging this,
her Grace expressed the pleasure it had given her to be of service
on such an occasion.

APPENDIX.

Report of the Girls' Section of the
International Congress.

Hon. Mrs Bertrand Bussell (Great Britain).

The two meetings of the Girls' Section were arranged by a com-
mittee of fifteen^ the Hon. Mrs Bertrand Russell acting as
convener, and Miss Violet Brooke-Hunt as secretary. The first
meeting was held on June 28th, by the kind invitation of Mrs
Charles Hancock, at her house in Queen's Gate, and was attended
by about 300 girls. Lady Morpeth, in taking the chair, spoke
on the value of work as an outcome of discussion. Lady Beatrice
Kemp read a paper on " Inconsistencies,'' which was followed by
Miss Brooke-Hunt's paper on " Scraps," and a talk from Miss
Fairchild of Boston on *' Professional Standards." As these
papers were all general in character, a conference on various
practical aspects of work was held at the Passmore Edwards
Settlement on July 3rd. Mrs Russell, in taking the chair, gave
a short account of the Loyal Temperance Legion methods of
temperance work, and Sister Kathleen of Duxhurst spoke about
the Guild of Brave Poor Things and the Birds' Nest. Miss
Milligan read a paper on her own School for Crippled Children
in the Settlement, while Lady Jeune's daughter. Miss Madeline
Stanley, read an account of the working of Children's Country
Holidays. Miss Forchammer, of Denmark, told of the same
work in Copenhagen, and Miss Fairchild, of Boston, gave an
account of free kindergartens in the United States. Girk' Clubs
and Boys' Clubs were described by Lady Albinia Hobart-
Hampden and Miss Lina Bigsby, with many practical and use-
ful hints, and finally Miss Elizabeth Gottheiner, of Berlin, and

251

252 WOMEN m SOCIAL LIFE

MiRS Nezil, of Stockholm, told of the same sort of work done by
German and Swedish girls. At the close of the Ck>nference, Mi^
Humphrey Ward said a few words of welcome to the girl
members of the Congress, and Mrs Russell gave her friends tea
in the beautiful dining-room, while Miss Dorothy Ward and
other helpers explained to parties of girls the work of the Settle-
ment. Later on in the afternoon Miss Sheldon Amos and other
medical students showed parties of girls over the Women's
Medical School, with its fine new laboratories and lecture-rooms.
At 7 o'clock seven members of the Committee^Miss Violet
Brooke-Hunt, Lady Louisa Erskine, Miss Fairchild, Lady
Marjorie Gk)rdon, Lady Morpeth, Mrs Russell and Miss Evelyn
Talbot — gave a dinner at the Grosvenor Crescent Club to Sister
Kathleen, Mrs Archer, Miss Finley and Miss Gibbs, of Canada,
Miss Barrymore, Miss Coolidge and Miss Lowell, of the United
States, and Miss Therese Tamn, of Sweden, which was followed
by a visit to the Soho Club, when the Hon. Maude Stanley and
her girls gave an interesting and delightful entertainment

INDEX

Abbbdkbn, Earl of, on sending educated girls with their brothers to ranches,

etc., 22SL
Accident Insurance, Germany, 193.

Alcohol, lectures on, in relation to Preventiye Work, Mrs Wilson (Q.B.)} on, 41«
Almquist, Prof. £., Professor of Hygienic Medicine, Sweden, Public Control of

the Liquor Traffic in Sweden, 174.
America, Preventive Work as carried on in the Public Schools of, Mrs Mary F.

Lovell (U.S.), 84.
Amos, Mrs Sheldon (G.B.), on the reclamation of young men, 56*

on Travellers' Aid Work in England and elsewhere, 288.

AmnsementB SesBloii, Miss Cons (G.B.) in the Chair, 131.

Ethics of Amusement, Lady Battersea (G.B.), id,

Public Control of Amusement, Mrs Percy Bunting (G.B.), 147.

Piscussion, 139.

Mrs Prawford (G.B.), on Music Halls, etc., 158.

Mrs Creighton (G.B.), on open-air amusements, 154.

Mrs Jenness Miller (U.S.), on amusements for the poorer classes, 158.

Mrs May Wright Sewall on the Ethics of Amusement, 146.

Hon. Maud Stanley (G.B.), on Bank Holidays, 154.

Angell, Mr (Boston), originator of Bands of Mercy, 87. '

Appendix : Report of the Girls' Section of the International Congress, Hon. Mrs

Bertrand Russell (G.B.). 251.
Ar^nal, Dona Conception, author of Manuel du VisUeur du Pauvre, tribute to,

by Mme. Bogelot, 22.
Assistance, Publique V (en France et autre part), Mme. Mauriceau (France), 64.
Aum6nier, L', of St Lacare prison, cited on his Ufe-work there, 21-2.
Australia, Care of Destitute Classes in, 70-1.

Emigration of Women to various Colonies of, 220.

Anatrla, English Grovemesses in, Baroness von Langenau (Austria), 228.

Temperance Reform in, Baieoness von Langenau (Austria), 167.

Temperance work and Societies in, 156.

Treatment of Women in Prisons in. Miss A. & Levetus (Austria), on, 82.

Bailub, Miss, reading paper by Baroness von Langenau on English Gover-
nesses in Austria, 228.
Balfour, Lady Frances (G.B.), President of the Travellers' Aid Society, on its

work, 238.
Bands of Mercy, the originators of, 87.
Bank Holidays, Hon. Maude Stanley (G.B.), on, 154.
Barnes, Mr George (G.B. ), supporting Old Age Pensions, 198.
Bamett, Canon (O.B.), eUed on Social Settlements and their work, 112.

Miss Rosa (Ireland), on diminishing crime in Ireland, 88.

-^ — Mrs S. A. (G.B.), of Toynbee HaU (G.B.), in the Chair, Social Settlement
Session, opening remarks, HI, dosing remarks on Toynbee Hall and its
work, 127-8.

258

254 INDEX

Barrau, Caroline de, tribute to, by Mme. Bogelot, 22.

Barrows, Mm Isabel C. (U.S.), on the Treatment of Women in Prisons in the

United States, 12.
Battersea, Lady (G.B)« in the Chair, Temperance Session, opening remarks, 155.

The Ethics of Amusement, 131.

on Jewish aid to Travellers, 232.

Prison Visiting done by, 3.

Bedford, Adeline, Duchess of, in the Chair, Prisons and Reformatories Session,
opening remarks, 2]

on Kescae Work, 61.

work of as Prison Visitor, 8.

Belgium, Beeoue work done in, Mile. Kuhlmann (Belgium), on, 60.

Trayellers' Aid work in, Mile. Kuhlmann (Belgium), on, 231.

Benson, (late) Archbishop JG.B.), cited on the necessity of an Equal Moral Stan-
dard for Men and Women, 130.

Mrs M. (G.B.), Introduction. 1.

in the Chair, Rescue Work Session, opening remarks, 43.

Bermondsey (London), relief work in, in relation to Preyentiye Work, Miss Mary

Simmons (O.B.), on, 42.
Bird and Animal Life, Protection of, tee Protection of Bird and Animal life.
Blue Cross Association, Germany, Temperance Work of, 166.
Boehm, Frau Bieber (Germany), on inculcating the necessity for an Equal Moral

Standard for Men and Women, 129.
Bogelot, Mme. Isabelle, Directrice G^n^rale des (Euyres des Lib^r^es de St

Lazare, Chevalier de la L^ion d'Honneur, France, 3, Le Cot^ Beconfortant

de r(£uvre des Femmes dans les Prisons (de la France), 16.
Bohemia, Women's place in Public Belief in, o9.
Boomer, Mrs, Acting Secretary of National Council of Women, Canada, on the

Ethics of Amusement, 139.
Booth, Mr Charles (G.B.), cited on Old A&re Pensions, 198.

Mrs Bramwell (G.B.), Principles of Rescue Work, 51.

Mr Thomas (G.B.), supporting Old Age Pensions, 198.

Bosanquet, Mrs Bernard (G.B.), Treatment of the Destitute Classes in England^

78.
British Colonies, the Care of the Destitute Classes in the, Mrs Willoughby Cum-
mings (Canada), 70.

place of "Women in Public Relief in, 69.

South Africa Company, grant to Emigrant Women for Rhodesia, 220.

Brockway, R. C, General Superintendent, on the system at Elraira Prison (U.S.),

25.
Brown, Miss Hallie Q., (U.S.), on negroes in the Southern States before and after

emancipation, unrepoirf^t 64.
Browning, Robert (G.B.), cited on destruction of Birds for ornament, 241.
Bulzingsl^wen, Frau Cora von (Germany), on Preventive and Rescue Work in

Germany, 67.
Bund Deutscher Frauen Vereine, Temperance work of, 165.
Bunting, Mrs Percy (G.B.), on the effect of Motherhood in rescue work, 61.

pn risks run by young girls, and on Travellers' Aid work, 233.

The Public Control of Amusements, 147.

Burdett, Miss Alice A. (U.S.), Chairman, Executive of National League of

Working Women's Clubs of America, reading paper by Miss Edith M.

Howes (U.S.), on Working Girls' or Working Women's Clubs in the

United States, 102.
Butler, Mrs Josephine (G.B.), absent, see Wilson, Bfrs H. J., 129.
tribute to by Mme. Bogelot (France), 23.

Caldkb, Miss Fanny (G.B.), on training Women in Prison for short sentences, 82.
California^ the kind of emigrants not needed in, 221.

INDEX 255

Canada, Care of Destitute Classes in, Mrs WiUoughby Oummings (Canada), on,
70, 73, et tea,

Conditions of Domestic Serrioe in, Hon. Mrs Joyce (G.B.), in reply to Miss

Smith (O.B.), 222.

Emigration to. Lord Strathoona, 204.

Hon, Mrs Joyce (O.B.), on, 220.

of Women to, Mrs Parker (Canada), on, 218.

Oape Colony, Government Aid to Women Emigrants, 220.

Care of Destitute Classes in the British Colonies, Mrs WiUoughby Cummings

(Canada), 70.
Catholic Settlements in London, Mrs Crawford (G.B.), on, 127

Social Union, objects and work of, 120, 127.

Settlement Work in connection with, Miss Fortescue (G.B.), 118.

Chambrun, M. le Comte de, Mus^e Sociale of, 227.

Chant, Mrs Ormiston (G.B.), replacing Lady Henry Somerset (G.B.), Temperance,

167.
Children allowed the use of alcoholic drinks in Austria, 173.

Destitute, Care of in British Colonies, 71, et seq.

on the Stage, 161.

Treatment of in Reformatories, Mr T. C. Legge (G.B.), 28.

Children's Aid Society, work of in Canada, 77.

Protection Act, Canada, and South Australia, 77.

Chinese immigrants in the Dutch East Indies, 210-11.

Cholmondeley, Mrs, (G.B.), on homes for temporarily destitute Ladies in London,

42.
Church Army (G.B.), work of, 81.

Clifford, Miss (G.B.), in the Chair, Treatment of the Destitute Classes Session, 62.
Clubs for Working Girls (England), Hon. Maude Stanley (G.B.), 98.
Cockburn, Mrs, (S. Australia), on Preventiye work in South Australia, and at

home. 42.
Cons, Miss (G.B.), in the Chair, Amusements Session, 131.
Cot€ Reconfortant, Le, de TCEuvre des Femmes dans les Prisons (France), Mme.

Isabel le Bogelot (France), 16.
Craven, Mrs Conybeare (G.B.), on desirability of educated girls accompanying

their brothers when emigrating, 222.
Crawford, Mrs, (G.B.), on Catholic Settlements in London, 127.

on Music Halls, etc., 163.

Creighton, Mrs, (G.B.), on open air amusements, 164.

in the Chair, Social Necessity for an Equal Moral Standard for Men and

Women Session, 129.
Croly, Mrs, (U.S.), n^ Julia Ward Howe, founder of Sorosis, 87, 89, on Women's

Clubs in the United States, 97.
Crumpton, Miss, (G.B.), on Social Settlements in Manchester, 126.
Cummings, Mrs WiUoughby, Recording Secretary, National Council of Women,

Canada, The Care of the Destitute Classes in the British Colonies, 70.

Davitt, Michael (Ireland), cited on the care of the Destitute Classes in Australia,

70-1.
Denmark, Women's place in Public Belief, 69.
Deraismes, Mme. F^resse, tribute to by Mme. Bogelot (France), 22.
Destitute Classes, Treatment of, Session, Miss Clifford (G.B.) in the Chair, 62.

in the British Colonies, The Care of, Mrs WiUoughby Chimmings, (Canada,

70.

in England, Mrs Bernard Bosanquet (G.B.), 78.

in France, Mme. Mauriceau (France), 64.

in the United States, Rev. Ida Hultin (U.S.), 63.

Deverell, Miss Edith M., Women's Industrial Council, Oxford, (G.B.), on the

smaller Benefit Societies, 191.

256 INDEX

DisablemeDt and Old Aj|;e Insuranoe, Germany, 194.

Dodge, Miss Grace H. (U.S.>| pioneer of Working Women's Qubs, United States,

102.
Domestic Serytoe, Conditions of, in Tarious colonies, see Emigration Session.
Douglas. Mr (G.B.), (Toynbee Hall), on Settlement work, 127.
Dress in relation to Bird and Animal Life, Mrs F. E. Lemon (G.B.), 236.

to Animal life, Mrs Charles Mallet (G.B.), 242.

Drummond, Mrs George (Canada), abstract oi speech on Social Necessity for an

Equal Moral Standard for Men and Women, 130.

(late) Prof. Henry (G.B.), cited on Settlement work in Gla^ow, 117.

Drunkenness in Women in Great Britain, increase of, 159.
Dumas, Mile. Louise (France), pioneer in Prison work, 44,
Dutch East Indies, Emigration in, Mrs Van Zuylen Tromp (Holland), 209.

Edinburgh, Social Settlement work in, 116.

Emigration Session, Baroness Macdonald of Eamscliffe, (Canada), in the
Chair, 201.

to Canada, Lord Strathcona, 204.

as it affects the Indo -Europeans, Mrs Van Zuylen Tromp (Holland), 208.

to South Africa, Miss Bobmson (G.B.), 212.

Australia, Mrs Gawler (South Australia), 216.

Discussion, Earl of Aberdeen on educated girls accompanying their brothers

to ranches, etc., 222.

Mrs Conybeare Craven (G.B.), on the same, ib.

Miss Fraser, on Emigration and Industrial Homes in the Colonies, t&.

Mr J. Jervis, on educated girls accompanying their brothers to ranches,

etc., ib,

Miss March Phillipps (G.B.), on the same, ib.

Miss Morris, on desirability of Government encouragement to emigra-
tion of suitable educated women, 222.

Mrs Parker (Canada), on Emigration of Women and Girls to Canada, 218.

Miss Ross, on the Emigrant's Information Bureau, London, etc., 221.

Miss Smith (G.B.), enquiry concerning the conditions of Domestic Service in

Canada, 222.

Miss Catherine Webb, on suitable women for emigration, 221.

Miss Whitaker (U.S.), on the kind of women not needed in California, ib.

Elmira Prison, United States, 24-7.

England, iSocial Settlements in, Mrs S. A. Bamett (G.B.), on, 111.

Miss Fortescue (G.B.), 118.

Miss Mary Simmons (G.B.), 112.

Rescue Work and the Poor Law, Miss Mary Simmons (G.B.), on, 61.

Treatment of the Destitute Classes in, Mrs Bernard Bosanquet (G.B.), 78.

Women's Clubs in, Mrs Wynford Philipps (G.B.), 95.

English Governesses in Austria, Baroness von Langenau (Austria), 228.

EtMcs of Amusement, Lady Battersea (G B.), 131.

Mrs Boomer (Canada), on, 139.

Mrs Creighton (G.B.), on open-air amusements for poorer classes,

154.

Mrs May Wright Sewall (U.S.), on, 146.

Fbmali Emigration Society, London, work of, 216.

Passengers' Aid Society, Great Britain, 223.

Foresters, female, difficulty of working a court of, Mrs Haldane (G.B.), on, 190.
Fortescue, Miss, Lady Superintendent, St Anthonjr's Settlement (G.B.), Settle-
ment Work in connection with the Catholic Social Union, 118.
Fowler, Miss, work of at Girls*' Homes of Welcome, Winnipeg, Canada, 218.
France, see also Paris.

T^atment of Destitute Classes in, Mme. Maurioeau (France), 64.

Frbhlich, Dr, (Austria) Temperance work of, 172.

INDEX 257

Fry, Elizabeth (Q.B.), pioneer in Prison work for Women, 4, 44.

Qallibn, Mme. TFranoe), petition by, regarding Women's place in adminis-
tration of Public Charity, 66.

Garfield, Dr Ida Posnansky, Secretary, Russian Women's Association for Mutual
Help ; Russian Women's Association or Club, at St Petersburg, 89.

Garrett, Rev. M., Cocoa Room founded by at Liyerpool, 171.

Philip C. (U.S.), cited on reasons of greater Rarity of Crime among

Women, 74.

Gawler, Mrs Hon., Delegate (S. Australia), Emigration to South [Australia,
216.

Oermany, Old Age Insurance in, Frl. Jastrow (Germany), 192.

Prevention and Rescue Work in, Frau Cora von Bulzingslowen (German

on, 58.

The Settlement Idea in, Frl. Alice Salomon (Germany), 123.

Miss Grace Stebbing on Slums in, 125.

Travellers' Aid Society in. Mile. Kuhlmann (Belgium), on, 231.

Work of the National Council of Women in the mculcation of the necessity

of an Equal Standard of Morals for Men and Women, Frau Bieber-Boehm
(Germany), 129.

Women's Association for Poor Relief in, 68.

Temperance Work in, Frl. Hoffmann (Germany), 163.

GirlB of educated families accompanying brothers to ranches, etc., desirability of,

Earl of Aberdeen on, 222.

Mrs Conybeare Craven (G.B.), on, ib,

Mr Jervis on, i6.

Miss March Phillipps (G.B.), on, ib.

Girls' Friendly Society, good work of m relation to girls travelling, Lady Knightley
of Fawslev (G.B.), on, 233.

Homes of Welcome, Winnipeg, Canada, and foundress, 218.

Section of the International Congress, Report of, Hon. Mrs Bertrand

Russell (G.B.), 251.

Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W. E. (G.B.), cUed on evils of Alcohol, 166.

Glasgow, Social Settlement work in, 117-8.

Glin, Mile. H. de, (Switzerland), The Protection of Young Travellers in Switzerland,
224.

Glynes, Mrs Webster (U.S.), The Women's Club Movement in America, 86.

Gorst, Rt. Hon. Sir John, M.P. (G.B.), cited on Social Settlements, 113.

Gothenburg Liquor System (see Almquist and Sweden), 176, 178, 182.

Government Aid to Emigrants, South Australia, 216, et seq,

Grandpr^, Mile. Michel de, (France), founder of I'CBuvre des Lib€r6es de St
Lazare, 22.

Grannis, Mrs Elizabeth B. (U.S.), on Preventive Work in the United States, 39.

Various Methods of Rescue work in the United States, 56.

Great Britain {see also England), increase in drunkenness among Women in,
159.

Numbers of Children in Reformatories in, Mr Arthur Maddison (G.B.),

on,

and Ireland, Preventive work in. Miss Janes (G.B.), 40.

Preventive work in, Mrs Hallowes (G.B.), on, 41.

Societies in, for the Protection of Young Travellers, 223-4.

Treatment of Children in Reformatories, Mr T. C. Legge (G.B.), 28.

Treatment of Destitute Classes in (see Bosanquet).

Women's Friendly Societies in. Miss E. E. Page, 184.

Grey, Sir Edward, M.P. (G.B.), on, the Protection of B&d and Animal Life and
on Sport, 248.

Hagub Peace Conference, Russian Women's signatures sent to, 90.
Haighton, Miss (Holland), A New Prison System, 23.

VOL. VII. R

258 INDEX

Haldane, Mrs (O.B.), on Women Foreaten, 190.
HalloweA, Mrs (Q'.B.), on ** Outeide" rescue work, 61.

on Preventive work in Oreat Britain and Ireland, 41.

Hamilton, Lady (G.B.), on Women's Clubs and on Mrs Massingberd's pioneer

work on behalf of, 96.
Hargood, Miss, on the United Sisters' Friendly Society, 191.
Hebra, Prof., (Austria), officially sent to the International Alcoholic Congress,

Paris, 173.
Hoffmann, Frl. (Germany), Women's Temperance work in Germany, 163.
Hogendorp, Mme. Klerck van, (Holland), on Travellers' Aid work in Holland,

232.
Holland, Travellers' Aid work in, Mme. Klerck van Hogendorp (Holland),

on, 232.
Homes for temporarily destitute Ladies in London, Mrs Cholmondeley, (G.B.)

on, in reply to Miss O'Reilly, 42.
Howe, Julia Ward (see also Croly, Mrs), Foundress and President of the Sorosis

Club, United States, 87.
Howes, Miss Edith M., (U.S.), the Working Girls' or Working Women's Club in

the United States, 102,
Hudson, Prof. , cited on the destruction of Birds for ornament, 244.
Hultin, Bev. Ida, (U.S.), Treatment of the Destitute Classes in the United States,

63.
Humbert, Mme. Aim^e, originator of L'Union Internationale des Aimes de la

Jeune Fille, 40, 223.
Hunt, Mrs Mary H., Superintendent of the Department of Scientific Temperance

Instruction, Women's Christian Temperance Union, United States, 35, 37.
Hunter, Mrs (G.B.), on the necessity of Mothers teaching their boys the common

laws of Morality, 56.
Mr, (U.S.), on the Social Settlement idea in the United States, 124.

INDO-EUBOPEANS, Emigration as it affects, Mrs Van Zuylen Tromp (Holland), 208.
International Congress on Temperance, next Meeting-place for, 173.

on White Slave Trade, statements at referred to, 224.

Introduction, Mrs M. Benson (G.B.), 1.
Ireland {see Great Britain and Ireland).

Crime diminishing in. Miss Rosa Barnett (Ireland), on, 33.

Italy, 'place of Women in, in relation to administration of Public Charity, 69.

Janes, Miss (G.B.)) Secretary of the National Council of Women of Great Britain

and Ireland, Preventive work in Great Britain and Ireland, 40.
Jastrow, Frl. (Germany), Old Age Insurance in Germany, 192.
Jewish girls in English Jewish families. Lady Battersea (G.B.), on, 232.

Ladies, Association of, for the Protection of Women and Girls, work of, 224.

Johnston, Mrs Arthur (G.B.), on Old Age Pensions and the Poor Law, 199.
Johnson, Mrs Ellen C, Superintendent of the State Reformatory for Women at
Sherborne. Mass., Q., on the Soci^t^ de Belles Filles, Paris, 98.

The Treatment of Women in Prison, (in the United States), 4.

on the System at Elmira Prison, 27.

Vote of Condolence to friends of, on her death. Lady Battersea (G.B.), 155.

Joyce, Hon. Mrs, on the Conditions of Domestic Service in Canada, in reply to

Miss Smith, 222.
on Emigration for Women, 219.

EiNNAiRD, Hon. Emily (G.E), on the Travellers' Aid Society's work in London,

232.
Knightley of Fawsley, Lady, (G.B.), on the Girls' Friendly Society in relation to

girls going abroad, 233.
Eock, Herr H. von, (Sweden), The Swedish Temperance Movement, 167.

INDEX 259

Kuhlmann, Mile., (Belgium), on Rescue work in Belgium, 60.

Ladibs' Club, The, of Paris, Mme. B. F^vrier de Marsy (France), 91.

Lady Visitors to Prisons (see Battersea and Bedford), opinion of the Chief of

Directors of H.M.'s Prisons of, cUed on, 4.
Langenau, Baroness von (Austria), English Governesses in Austria, 228.

Temperance Reform in Austria, 171.

Lee, Mrs Henry (G.B.), on Vivisection, 249.

LegRO, Mr T. C, Inspector of Reformatories and Industrial Schools (G.B.), The

Treatment of Children in Reformatories, 28.
Legrain, Dr (France), cited on Temperance work in relation to Peace, 165.
Lemon, Mrs F. E., F.Z.A., Hon. Sec. for the Protection of Birds (G.B.), Dress in

relation to Animal Life, 236.
Levetus, Frl. A. S., (Austria), on the Treatment of Women in Prisons in

Austria, 32.
Lidgett, Miss (G.B.), in the Chair, Protection of Young Travellers Session, 223.

Mr, Warden of the Bermondsey Social Settlement, cited on Settlement work,

113, 115.
Lilford, Lord (G.B.), cited on the destruction of Bird.«, 236, 238.
Liquor Traffic in Sweden, Public Control of. Prof. Almquist, (Sweden), 174.
London Charity Organisation Society, work of, 81.

Club Union, the Hon. Maude Stanley, (G.B.>, on, 99.

Homes in for temporarily destitute Ladies, Miss O'Reilly on, 42.

»_«_ Mrs Cholmondeley (G.B.), on, in reply to the above, ib.

Theatres, etc., Public Control of (see Bunting), 147.

Lovell, Mrs Mary F. (U.S.), Superintendent of the Department of Mercy,

W.C.P.U., Preventive Work, as carried on in the Public Schools of
America. 34.
Lubbock, Rt. Hon. Sir John, M.P. (G.B.), cited on the value of Games, 144.
Lyttelton, Hon. Mrs A. T., (G.B.), in the Chair, Women's Clubs Session, 86.

Macdonald, of Earnsdiffe, Baroness (Canada), in the Chair, Emigration Session,
opening remarks, 201.

Maddison, Mr Arthur, Secretary to the Reformatory and Refuge Union, on the
Treatment of Children in Reformatories, 32.

Mr Frederick, a supporter of Old Age Pensions, 198.

Mallet, Mrs Charles (G.B.), Dress in relation to Animal Life, 242.

Marsy, Mme. B. F^vrier de, (President of the Club), The Ladies' Club of Paris, 91.

Maurioeau, Mme. (France), Administratrice des Bureaux de Bienfaisance de
Paris, France, L' Assistance Publique, (en France et autre part), 64.

Massingberd, Mrs (G.B.), pioneer of Ladies' Clubs in England, 96.

Maxwell, Rt. Hon. Sir Herbert, M.P. (G.B.), The Rights of Wild Animals, 245.

Merington, Miss (G.B.)> the first Womab Poor Law Guardian in England, 88.

Michel, M. I'Abb^ (France), founder of I'CEuvre des Lib^r^es de St Lazare, 22.

Miller, Mrs Jenness (U.S.), on amusements for the Poorer Classes, 153.

Mission work as distinguished from Settlement work. Miss Simmons (O.B.),
on, 127.

Monod, Mile. Sara (France), on Rescue Work, 43.

Rel^vement des Femmes dans les Refuges, id,

Montague, Miss Lily (G.B.), on Working Girls' Clubs, 110.

Morris, Miss (G.B.), on desirability of securing Government aid to the emigra-
tion of Educated suitable Women, 222.

Morsier, Emile de, tribute to by Mme. Bogelot (France), 22.

Motherhood, influence of in restoring women's self-respect, 61.

Mothers' Union, Great Britain, work of, 40.

Mountford, Mme. von Finkelstein (Palestine), on the teaching of the New
Testament in relation to the principles of Rescue work, 56.

Municipal control of sale of Liquor (see Pease and Rowntree).

Music Halls (see Bunting and Crawford).

260 INDEX

NBiX, Mim (O.B.), on Working Girls' Clubs, 106.
New Prison System, A, Miss Haighton (Holland), 23.
New South Wales, oare of Destitute Children in, 71.
New York, Women's Social Settlements in, 125.
New Zealand, care of Destitute Classes in, 71, 72, 73.

Old Age Pensions in, Hon. W. P. Reeves (N.Z.), on, 197.

Mrs William Wood on, 200.

Norway, place of Women in administration of Public Charity, 69. I
the Gothenburg System in, 182. ■;

(EaVBB, L'Catholique Internationale pour la Protection de la Jeune Fille,
224.

des Lib^r^es de St Lazare, (see Kogelot).

Old Age Insurance in Germany, Frl. Jastrow (Germany), 192.
Old Aie Pensions, Mr Herbert Stead (G.B.), on, 198-9.

and the Poor Law, Mrs Arthur Johnston (G.B.), on, 199.

in New Zealand, Hon. W. P. Beeves (N.Z.), on, 197.

Open Air Amusements for the Poorer Classes, Mrs Creighton (G B.), on, 154.
Reilly, Miss, on Homes for temporarily Destitute Ladies in London, 42.
Outside Besoue Work, Mrs Hallowes (G.B.), on, 61.

Paob, Miss K E., Women's Friendly Societies in Great Britain, 184.
Parents' National Educational Union, Great Britain, work of, 40.
PariJi, The Ladies' Club of, Mme. B. Fevrier de Marsy (France), 91.

La Soci^t^ de Belles Filles, in, Mrs Johnson, on, 98.

Preventive Work in, Mme. de Tschamer de Watteville (Switzerland), on, 39.

Parker, Mrs (Canada), on Emigration of Women to Canada, 218.

Parr, Mrs (G.B.), visitor of Roman Catholic female prisoners, 3.

Peardon, Gilbert, cUed on the cruelty involved in wearing egret's feathers, 239.

Pease, Mr Edward (G.B.), representing the Fabian Society, on Temperance

Reform and Legislation, 181.
Philipps, Mrs Wynford (G.B.), Proprietor, Grosvenor Crescent Club and Founder

of the Women's Institute, London, Women's Clubs in England, 95.
Phillips, Mr Alderman (G.B.), on Protection of Animal life and on Vegetarianism,

250.
Phillipps, Miss March (G.B.), on sending educated sisters out to the colonies

with their brothers, 222.
P5ch, Dr, (Austria), temperance work of, 172.
Poor Law of Great Britain, and its operation in regard to voluntarily destitute

f>ersons, 79.
and. Duchess of, in the Chair, Protection of Bird and Animal Life Session,
opening remarks, 235, acknowledging vote of thanks to the Chair, 250.
Freyentiye Work Session* Mr Rawlinson, in the Chair, opening remarks,
34.

in Great Britain and Ireland, Miss Janes (G.B.), 40.

as carried on in the Public Schools of America, Mrs Mary F. Lovell

(U.S.), 34.

discussion, Mrs Sheldon Amos (G.B.) on the reclamation of young men,

56.

Mrs Percy Bunting (G.B.) on such work in Workhouses, 42.

— Mrs Cholmondeley (G.B.), in reply to Miss O'Reilly, on homes

for temporarily Destitute Ladies in London, ib.

Mrs Cockburn (S. Australia) on, ib.

Mrs Elizabeth B. Grannis (U.S.) on Preventive Work in the United

States. 39.

Mrs Hallowes (G.B.) on, in Great Britain, 41.

Mile. Euhlmann (Belgium) on, in Belgium, 60.

INDEX 261

Freventiye Work Session, Miss Mary Simmons (G.B.) on relief work in

relation to, in Bermondsey, 42.
Lady Georgina Vernon (G.B.) on Motherhood in relation to,

61,
Mme. T. de Tscharner de Watteville on, in Paris and in Switzer-
land, 39.

Mrs Wilson on lectures on alcohol in relation to, 41.

Prisons and Reformatories Session, Adeline, Duchess of Bedford, in the
Chair, opening remarks, 2.

Le Cot€ Reconfortant de TCEuvre des Femmes dans les Prisons (en France),

Mme. Isabelle Bogelot. (France), 16.

a New Prison System, Miss Haighton, (Holland), 23.

Treatment of Women in Prisons in the United States, Mrs Ellen C. Johnson

(U.S.), 4.

Discussion.

Miss Rosa Bamett (Ireland), on diminishing Crime in Ireland, 33.

Mrs Isabella C. Barrows (U.S.), on the Treatment of Women in Prison

in the United States, 12.

— MIbs Fanny Calder (G. B. ) on training for Women in Prison, 32.

Lady Georgina Vernon ((jr.B.) on Treatment of Women in Prison, tft.

Prisons, Women's Work in (see Battersea, Bedford, and Prisons and Reformatories).
Proslowetz, Ritter von (Austria), founder of the Temperance Committee of

STienna, 173.
Protection of Bird and Animal Life Session, Duchess of Portland in the

Ohair, opening remarks, 235, acknowledging vote of thanks

to the Ohair, 250.
Dress in Relation to Animal Life, Mrs F. E. Lemon (G.B.),

236.

Mrs Charies Mallet (G.B.), 242.

Rights of Wild Animals, Rt. Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, M.P.,

(G.B.), 245.

Discussion.

Sir Edward Grey, M.P. (G.B.), on, and on Sport. 248.

Mrs Henry Lee (Q.B.), on Vivisection, 249.

Mr Alderman Phillips on Vegetarianism in relation to, 260.

Lady Laura Ridding (G.B.), proposing vote of thanks to the Chair,

id.

Mr Henry Salt, on Sport, 249.

Rev. J. Stratton, on the rights of the lower Animals, ib,

Mile. Adrienne Vergel^, on Vegetarianism in relation to, i6.

Mr Richard Wood, on Vivisection, 249.

Miss May Yates, on Vegetarianism and Vivisection in relation

to, 250.
Protection of Tonng Travellers' Session, Miss Lidgett (G.B.) in the Chair,

opening remarks, 223.
English Governesses in Austria, Baroness von Langenau (Austria),

228.
Mile. H. de Glin, (Switzerland), Methods followed in Protecting

Young Travellers in Switzerland, 225.
Mrs Sheldon Amos (G. B.), on risks run in travelling at home and

abroad, 233.
Lady Frances Balfour (G.B.), on the work of the Travellers' Society,

ib.
Lady Battersea (G.B.), on, as affecting young Jewish girls,

232.

Mrs Percy Bunting on risks to young girls travelling alone, ib,

Mme. Klerok van Hogendorp (Holland), on Travellers' Aid work

in Holland, ib.

262 INDEX

Protection of Young TraveUen' Session, Lady Knightley, of Fawsley (G.B.),

on the work of the Girls' Friendly Society on behalf of young

girls edng abroad, 232.
Mile. Kuhlmann (Belgium), on work in Germany and Belgium on

behalf of young trayellers, 231.
FroYldent Schemes Session, Mrs Sidney Webb (G.B.), in the Chair, 184.

Old Age Insurance in Germany, Prl. Jastrow (Germany), 192.

Women's Friendly Societies in Great Britain, Miss E. Page ( ), 184.

Discussion, Miss Edith M. Deyerell (G.B.), on the smaller Benefit

Societies, 191.

Miss Hargood, on the United Sisters' Friendly Society, ib,

Mrs Arthur Johnston (G.B.), on Old Age Pensions and the Poor

Law, 199.

Hon. W. P. Reeves (N.Z.), on the same in New Zealand, 197.

Mrs St John, on Provident Schemes, 191.

Mr Herbert Stead, on Old Age Pensions, 198.

Mrs William Wood, on Old Age Pensions in New Zealand, etc,,

199-200.
Public Control of Amusements, Mrs Percy Bunting (G.B.), 117.

of Liquor Traffic in Sweden, Prof. R Almquist (Sweden), 174.

Schools of America, Preventive Work as carried on in the, Mrs Mary F.

Lovell (U.S.), 34.

QUBKN Victoria, story of, 143.

Queensland, Australia, care of the Destitute Glasses in, 72.

free Emigration for Women to, 220.

Bawlinson, Mrs (G.B.), in the Chair, Preventive Work Session, opening remarks,

84.
Reformatories' (<6tf Prisons).

the Treatment of Children in, Mr T. C. Legge (G.B.), 28.

Belbvement des Femmes, dans les Refuges, Mme. Sara Monod (France), 43.
Beport of the Girls' Section of the International Congress, Hon. Mrs Bertrand

Russell (G.B.), 251.
Rescue Work Session, Mrs M. Benson (G.B.), in the Chair, opening remarks,
43.

Principles of Rescue Work, Mrs Bramwell Booth (G.B.), 61.

Rescue Work inside Homes, Mile. Sara Monod (France), 48.

Various Methods of, in the United States, Mrs Elizabeth B. Grannis,

(U.S.), 56.
Discussion, Adeline, Duchess of Bedford (G.B.), on the Principles of,

61.
Frau Cora von Bulzingslowen (Germany), on the same in Germany,

58.
Mrs Percy Bunting (G.B.), on the good influence of Motherhood on

in rescue work, 61.

Mrs Hallowes (G.B.), on " Outside " rescue work, ib,

Mrs Hunter (G.B.)i on the dutv of Mothers to teach their boys the

common laws of Morality, 56.
Mme. von Finkelstein Mountf ord (Palestine), on the teaching of the

New Testament in regard to rescue work, tb.

Mrs Ruspini on rescue work, 55.

" Miss Mary Simmons (G.B.), on the same, in relation to Poor Iaw

work, unrepoirtedf 61.

Mrs Taylor (G.B.), on the same, unreportedf ib.

Ridding, Lady Jjaura (G.B.), proposing vote of thanks to the Chair, Protection
of Bird and Animal Life Session, ^0.

iNPEx 263

Rights of Wild AnimalB, The, Rt. Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, M.P. (G.B.), 245.

Robinson, Miss (O.B.), Emigration to South Africa, 212.

Ross, Miss, on the Emigrant's Information Bureau in London, etc., 221.

Rowntree, Mr Joseph (G.B.), The Temperance Problem and Social Reform,
180.

Russell, Hon. Mrs Bertrand (G.B.), Report of the Girls' Section of the Inter-
national Oong^ss, Appendix, 251.

Russian Women's Association or Club at St Petersburg, Dr Ida Posnansky-
Garfield (Russia), 89.

St John, Mrs, on Women's Friendly Societies, 191-2.

Ste Croix, Mile, de, (France), abstract of paper by, on the Social Necessity for

Equal Moral Standard for Men and Women, 130.
Salomon, Frl. Alice, (Germany), The Settlement Idea in Germany, 123.
Salt, Mr Henry, on Sport and the Protection of Animal Iiife, 249
Salvation Army and its various works {see Booth and Hultin).
Saunders, Howard, cited on destruction of Sea-birds, 238.
Schabanoff, Dr, President of the Russian Women's Association for Mutual Help,

90.
Scotland (Social), Settlement work in, Mrs George Adam Smith (G.B.), 116.
Settlement Idea, The, in Germany, FrL Alice Salomon (Germany), 123.

Work in connection with the Catholic Social Union, Miss Fortescue (G.B.),

118.

in Scotland, Mrs George Adam Smith (G.B.), 116.

Sewall, Mrs May Wright (J.S.), on the Ethics of Amusement, 146.

Sewell, Miss (G.B.), cUed on Settlement work, 113, 115.

Shaw, Rev. Miss Anna Howard (U.S.), The Temperance Problem (in the U.S.),

160.
Sherborn Prison, U.S., 24-5.
Sick Insurance, Germany, 192.

Simmons, Miss Mary (G.B.), on the difference between Mission and Settlement
work, 127.

on relief work in Rermondsev, 42.

on rescue work, unrepartedj 61.

Social SettlemenU (in England), 112.

Slack, Miss Agnes (G.B.), Secretary, World's Women's (Christian Temperance

Union (G.B.), on Temperance Reform at Home and Abroad, 182.
Smith, Miss, inquiry on (Auditions of Domestic Service in Canada, 222.

Mrs George Adam (G.B.), Settlement work in Scotland, 116.

Smithies, Mrs Catherine (G.B.), originator of Bands of Mercy, 37.
Social Necessity for an Equal Moral Standard for Men and Women Session. Mrs
Creighton (G.B.), in the Chair. 129.

abstracts of papers, by Frau Bieber-Boehm (Germany), id,

by Mrs George Drummond (Canada), 130.

by Mile. St Croix (France), ib.

by Froken Iva Welhaven (Norway), ib.

by Mrs Henry J. Wilson (G.B.), 129.

Social Beform, The Temperance Problem and, Mr Joseph Rowntree (6.B.),
180.

Settlements Session, Mrs S. A. Barnett (G.B.), of Toynbee Hall, in the Chair,

opening remarks, 111, closing remarks, 127.

(in England), Miss Mary Simmons (G.B.), 112.

Idea, The, in Germany, Frl. Alice Salomon (Germany), 123.

Settlement Work in Scotland, Mrs George Adam Smith (G. B.), 116.

Discussion.

Mrs Crawford (G.B.), on the Catholic Social Union and Settlement

Work in London, 127.

264 INDEX

Social SetUements BdiMdoxi, DiscoBsioxi, Miss Crumpton (G.B.), on a Social

Settlement in Manchester, 126.

Mr Douglas, on the work of, 127.

Mr Hunter (U.S.), on Social Settlements in the United Slates, 124.

Miss Simmons (G.B.), on the difference between Mission and Settle-
ment work, 127.

Miss Grace Stebbine, on Slums in Germany, 126.

Soci€t6 de Belles Filles, in Paris, Mrs EUen 0. Johnson (U.S.), on, 98.

Soho Club for Working Girls, 102.

Sorosis Club, see Women's Clubs in the United States.

Somerset, Lady Henry (G. B.), replaced by Mrs Ormiston Chant at the Temper-
ance Session, 157.

South Aflrica, Emigration to, Miss Robertson (G.B.), on, 212.

AustraUa, Care of Destitute Classes in, 71-2.

Care of Destitute Children in, 77.

Emigration to, Mrs Gawler (S. Australia), 216.

— Preventive Work in, Mrs Cockbum (S. Australia), on, 42.

Southwell, Thomas, cited on destruction of Sea-birds, 238.

Sport, Sir Edward Grey, M.P. (G.B.), and others on, 248-9.

Stanley, Hon. Maude (G.B.), on Bank Holiday, 154.

(founder of the first Club for Working Girls in Ijondon), Clubs for Working

Girls (in England), 98.

State Children's Boards in Australian Colonies, 71.

Stead, Mr Herbert (G.B.), on Old Age Pensions, 198-9.

Stebbing, Miss Grace, on Slums in Germany, 125.

Strathcona and Mount Royal, Lord, High Commissioner for Canada, Emigration
to Canada, 204.

Stratton, Rev. J., on the rights of the lower Animals, 249.

Sweden, The Swedish Temperance Movement, Herr H. von Koch (Sweden),
167.

Public Control of the Liquor Traffic in, 174.

Temperance Societies working in, 168.

Women's place in the administration of Public Charity, 69.

Switzerland, Preventive work in, Mme. de Tschamer de Watteville (Switzer-
land), on, 39.

Protection of Young Travellers in, Mile. H. de Glin (Switzerland), 224.

Travellers' Aid work in, Mme. de Tschamer de Watteville

(Switzerland), on, 232.

Tasmania, Care of Destitute Classes in, 72.

Taylor, Mrs, Southport Board of Guardians (G.B.), on rescue work, unreported, 61.

Temperance Problem, The (in the United States), Rev. Miss Annie Howard

Shaw (U.S.), 160.

and Social Reform, Mr Joseph Rowntree (G.B.), 180.

Reform in Austria, Baroness von Langenau (Austria), 171.

Temperance Ses8ion,Lady Battersea (G.B.), in the Chair, opening remarks,

155.
Public Control of the Liquor Traffic in Sweden, Prof. Almquist

(Sweden), 174.

Swedish Temperance Movement, Herr H. von Koch (Sweden), 167.

Temperance, Mrs Ormiston Chant (G.B.), replacing Lady Henry

Somerset (G.B.), 157.

Problem, The, and Social Reform, Mr Joseph Rowntree (G.B.), 180.

(in the United States), Rev. Miss Annie Howard Shaw (U.S.),

160.

Reform in Austria, Baroness von Langenau (Austria), 171.

Women's Temperance work in Germany, Frl. Hoffmann (Germa y),
163.

INDEX 265

Temperance Session, Disenssion, Mr Edward Pease (G.B.), on Temperance

Reform and Legislation, 181.

Miss Agnes Slack (G.B.), on Temperance Reform at home and

abroad, 182.

Miss May Yates on Vegetarianism as a means of Temperance

Reform, 183.
Temperance Societies in Great Britain, 156-7.
Temporarily destitute Ladies, Homes for, in London, Miss Cholmondeley (G.B.),

on, in reply to Miss O'Reilly, 42.
Thomsen, Admiral (Germany), cited on the evils of Alcohol, 166.
Thring, Rev. £dward, dted on the yalue of amusement, 147.
Toyn^ Hall, as defined by Canon Barnett (G.B.), 112.

work of, Mrs S. A. Barnett (G.B.)on, 127-8.

Women Students' Guild of Compassion, 112, 128.

Training College of Domestic Science (G.B.) desirous to teach female prisoners,

82.
Travellers'Aid Society (G.B.), 224 {and see Protection of Young Travellers Session,

passim).
Treatment, The, of Children in Reformatories, Mr T. C. Legge (G.B.), 28.

Mr Arthur Maddison (G.B.), on, 82.

of the Destitute Classes Session, Miss Clifford, in the Chair, 62.

in England, Mrs Bernard Bosanquet (G.B.), 78.

in the United States, Rev. Ida Hultin (U.S.), 63.

of Women in Prisons {see Prisons Session).

Tromp, Mrs Van Zuylen (Holland), Emigration as it affects the Indo-Europeans,

208.
Turinay, Bishop (France), cited on the evils of Alcohol, 166.
Turner, Mrs Eliza Sproat (U.S.), pioneer of Working Girls' Clubs in the United

States, 102.

Union Internationale des Amies de la Jeune Fille, (Switzerland), and its founder,

40, 223, 225.
United British Women's Emigration Society, work of in Canada, 218, 221.
United Sisters' Friendly Society, and its founder, 185.

Miss Hargood on, 191.

United States {see also America), Elmira Prison, 24, 29.

Mrs Elizabeth B. Grannis (U.S.), on Preventive Work in, 39.

Sherborne Prison in, 24, 29.

Social Settlement, movement in, Mr Hunter (U.S.), on, 124.

The Temperance Problem in the, Rev. Miss Anna Howard Shaw (U.S.),

160.

Treatment of the Destitute Classes in the. Rev. Ida Hultin (U.S.),

63.

of Women in Prisons in, Mrs Isabel C. Barrows (U.S.), on, 12.

Mrs Ellen C. Johnson (U.S.), 4.

Various Methods of Rescue Work in the, Miss Elizabeth B. Grannis

(U.S.), 56.

Women's CHub Movement, The, in, Mrs Webster Glynes (U.S.), 86.

Clubs in, Mrs Croly (U.S.), on, 97.

place in administration of Public Relief in, 69.

Working Girls' or Working Women's Club in the, Miss Edith M. Howes

(U.S.), 102.

Vagbanot Acts of Canada, 76.

Vagrants, treatment of, in England, 76 et set^.

Various Methods of Rescue Work in the United States, Mrs Elizabeth B. Grannis

(U.S.), 66.
Vegetarianism, see discussion on Temperance.
Vergel^, Mile. Adrienne, on Vivisection, 249.

266 INDEX

Vernon, Lady Georgina (G.B.), on creating a greater dread of prison among
women, 32.

on Motherhood aa an influence in rescue work, 61.

Victoria (Australia), care of the Destitute Classes in, 72.

Home for English Governesses in Vienna, 230-1.

Vienna, Home for English Governesses in, ib.

Temperance Committee, and others, work of, 172.

Vivisection, see discussion on Protection of Bird and Animal Life.

Wattbvillb. Mme. Godefroy de Tscharner de), Switzerland), on Preventive Work
in Switzerland and Paris, 39.

on Travellers' Aid Work in Switzerland, 232.

Webb, Miss Catherine, on suitable Women for Emigration, 221.

Mrs Sidney (G.B.), in the Chair, Provident Schemes Session, 184.

Welhaven, Froken Iva (Norway), abstract of speech on the Social Necessity for

an Equal Standard of Morality for Men and Women, 130.
West Australia, care of the Destitute Classes in, 72.

Emigration of Women into, 220.

Whitaker, Miss (U.S.), on the kind of women emigrants not desired in California,

221.
Wieselgren, Dr S. (Sweden), champion of the Gk)thenburg System, 178.
Wilkinson, Miss Charlotte (U.S.), General Secretary National League of Associa-
tions of Working Women's Clubs, U.S., pamphlet by, referred to, 105.

Frome, founder of United Sisters* Friendly Society, 185.

Willard, Miss Frances (U.S.), 38 ; influence of her character and work, 166.
Wilson, Mrs (G.B.), on lectures on Alcohol in relation to Preventive Work, 41.

Mrs Henry J. (G.B.), abstract of paper on the Social Necessity for an Equal

Moral Standard for Men and Women, 129.

Mrs (G.B.), on Lasses* and Lads' Clubs in country districts (G.B.), 110.

Wlassek, Dr (Austria), Temperance work of, 172.

Woman her own enemy in the cause of enfranchisement, Mile, de Ste Croix,

(France), on, 130.
Women, Treatment of in Prisons, see Prisons Sessions.
Women's Christian Temperance Union of the United States, work of, 161.
Women's Club, Boston (U.S.), 87.

Clubs Session, Hon. Mrs A. T. Lyttelton (G.B.), in the Chair, 86.

: Club Movement, The, in America, Mrs Webster Glynes (U.S.), on, ib,

Clubs in England, Clubs for Working Girls, Hon. Maitde Stanley (G. B.),

'■ Mrs Wynford Philipps (G.B.), 95.

The Ladies' Club of Paris, Mme. B. F^vrier de Marsy (France), 91.

Russian Women's Association or Club at St Petersburg, Dr Ida

Posnansky-Garfield (Russia), 89.

Working Girls' or Working Women's Club, The, in the United States,

Miss Edith M. Howes (U.S.), 102.

Discussion.

Mrs Croly (U.S.), on Women's Clubs in the United States, 97.

Lady Hamilton (G.B.), on Mrs Ma.8singberd's pioneer work in connec-
tion with, 96-7.
Mrs Ellen C. Johnson (U.S.), on, in Paris, 98.

— Miss Lily Montague (G.B.), on Working Girls' Clubs, 110.
Miss Neal (G.B.), on the same, 106.

Wilson, Mrs (G.B.), on Working Lasses' and Lads' Clubs in country

districts, 110.
Women's Institute (G.B.), 96.

Temperance Work in Germany, FrL HofiFmann (Germany), 163.

Work in Prison, The Reassuring side of, Mme. Isabelle Bogelot (France),

16.

INDEX 267

Wood, Mrs William, on Old Age Pensions in New Zealand, etc., 199-200.
Woods, Mr Richard (Q.B.)} en Viyiseotion in relation to the Protection of Bird

and Animal life, 249.
Woolman, Mr St John, cited on love of Animals, 245.
Workhouses, Preventiye work in, Mrs Percy Bunting (Q.B.)} on, 42.
Working Girls, Clubs for (England), Hon. Maude Stanley (G.B.), 98.

Girls' or Working Women's Club, The, in the United States, Miss Edith M.

Howes (U.S.), 102.

Yatbs, Miss May, Superintendent World's Women's Christian Union, on Vege-
tarianism and the Protection of Bird and Animal Life, 250.

on the same in relation to Temperance Reform, 183.

Young Women's Christian Association, work of, in the Protection of Young
Travellers, 223.

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