Life — February 19, 1914 — page 18: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

FEBRUARY 19, 191¢ “* While there is Life there's Hope’ Published by LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY 17 West Thirty-first Street, New York English Offices. Rolls House, Breams Bldgs., London, E. C. J. A. Mitcnete, Pres’t. IVISIONS are re- ported in the Pankhurst family, Christabel and her mother inclining now, it seems, back to pacific methods, and Sylvia, aged abcut twenty-two, stand- ing firm for war. Of course, there are good points for the Pankhursts in this division. As a family they will be able now to draw on both wings of their party, and can reunite later on whichever basis looks most advantageous. Mrs. Corra Harris, of Georgia, who is sojourning in New York to satisfy herself that it is quite impossible for people to live good lives in cities, has disclosed in the Independent her im- pressions of the Feminist movement. “To tell the honest truth,” she says, “T don’t see much motion yet in the movement. * ** It doesn’t move. And it never will till the men fall in line.” But Mr. Hapgood is in line! Mrs, Harris is a suffragist, but she talks very oddly about it. She says, in effect, that men are well-meaning and affectionate and have been for thou- sands of generations, and that they ought to be gently dealt with, and that “the thing to do is to use the same finesse and patience in winning the man over to the Feminist movement that we have employed to get his wealth and his wages for these thou- sands of years”. Possibly if some of the present lead- ers of the Suffragist-Feminist move- ment could be assigned to staff duty, and a command given to Mrs. Harris, actair ues A. Miter, Sec’y and Treas. the move in the Feminist movement might become more perceptible. But there is no sign of any such change. We read instead of the dissatisfac- tion of the Suffragist ladies with President Wilson because he avoids committing himself to their side, and of a project for a great demonstration in Washington this spring in favor of a suffrage amendment to the Constitu- tion, and of a hearty determination to range the suffrage states in line against Dr. Wilson and the Democratic party at the next Presidential election. I the New York Times for February 8th was printed the prospectus and program of the Religious Citizenship League, a militant organization, which is “making extensive plans” and has organized in New York “a committee of one hundred to guide the move- Its plans “mean warfare for e social measures". A list of some of them was given. It began with suffrage for women and_ included twenty-five items, ending with govern- ment telephones and telegraphs and Federal supervision of railways and steamship lines. Its president, Dr. Rauschenbusch, of Rochester, is quoted as saying: “If the religious people get together, noth- ing can stand in their way.” Perhaps not, but, fortunately, noth- ing can get them into agreement on legislation to regulate all business and human life, A Religious Citizenship League is about the last thing that will make the laws of the United States. If it could, what would become of the Bull Moose party? Have some sense, brethren! Make the people religious all you can, but keep the laws secular. Abandon the folly of trying to codify the gospel and put it into the statute book, That is an infallible means of spoiling two very valuable things, the gospel and the law. is rather sad to see the Survey and (apparently) all the host of the social workers out for a new Federal child-labor bill which proposes to stretch the constitutional provisions for the regulation of interstate com- merce to cover denial of transit from state to state to products of factories that employ children under fourteen years old. This is the Beveridge child-labor bill with its beams re-tricked and improve- ments put in. It is careful for the chil- dren, but cruel to the Constitution, which would be cheated by its passage. Is it not possible to take care of the children without cheating the Consti- tution? If there is to be a Federal child-labor law, the Constitution should be amended to permit it. And, by the . Who shall do some necessary sov work among the social workers? Young women, twenty years old and upward, go into social work; very valuable women, most of ‘them; de- voted, intelligent, great-hearted, enthu- siastic. One such young woman died the other day at twenty-three, pretty clearly from overwork in social serv- ice. The eulogy of her, which was printed, said “her system was de- pleted” so that she died from after- effects of measles. Another admirable young woman, a Jewess, died a year or two ago as a result of running her motor-car into a tree when she was over-tired. Her story was much like this recent one; a splendid girl, allowed