The Modern Woman's Rights Movement Part 10

These clubs were closed in 1793 by the Committee of Public Safety because the clubs disturbed "public peace." The public peace of 1793! What an idyl! In short, the regime of liberty, equality, and fraternity regarded woman as unfree, unequal, and treated her very unfraternally. What harmony between theory and practice! In fact, the Revolution even withdrew rights that the women formerly possessed. For example, the old regime gave a n.o.blewoman, as a landowner, all the rights of a feudal lord. She levied troops, raised taxes, and administered justice. During the old regime in France there were women peers; women were now and then active in diplomacy. The abbesses exercised the same feudal power as the abbots; they had unlimited power over their convents. The women owners of large feudal lands met with the _provincial estates_,--for instance, Madame de Sevigne in the _Estates General_ of Brittany, where there was autonomy in the provincial administration. In the gilds the women masters exercised their professional right as voters. All of these rights ended with the old regime; beside the politically free man stood the politically unfree woman. Napoleon confirmed this lack of freedom in the Civil and Criminal Codes. Napoleon's att.i.tude toward all women (excepting his mother, _Madame Mere_) was such as we still find among the men in Southern Italy, in Spain, and in the Orient. His sisters and Josephine Beauharnais, the creole, could not give him a more just opinion of women. His fierce hatred for Madame de Stael indicates his att.i.tude toward the woman's rights representatives. The great Napoleon did not like intellectual women.

The Code Napoleon places the wife completely under the guardianship of the husband. Without him she can undertake no legal transaction. The property law requires joint property holding, excepting real estate (but most of the women are neither landowners nor owners of houses). The married woman has had independent control of her earnings and savings only since the enactment of the law of July 13, 1907. Only the husband has legal authority over the children. Such a legal status of woman is found in other codes. But the following provisions are peculiar to the Code Napoleon: If a husband kills his wife for committing adultery, the murder is "excusable." An illicit mother cannot file a paternity suit. In practice, however, the courts in a roundabout way give the illicit mother an opportunity to file an action for damages.

No other code, above all no other Germanic or Slavic code,[81] has been disgraced by such paragraphs. In the first of the designated paragraphs we hear the Corsican, a cousin of the Moor of Venice; in the second we hear the military emperor, and general of an unbridled, undisciplined troop of soldiers. No one will be astonished to learn that this same lawgiver in 1801 supplemented the Code with a despotic state regulation of prost.i.tution. What became of the woman's rights movement during this arbitrary military regime? Full of fear and anxiety, the woman's rights advocates concealed their views. The Restoration was scarcely a better time for advocating woman's rights. The philosopher of the epoch, de Bonald, spoke very pompously against the equality of the s.e.xes, "Man and woman are not and never will be equal." It was not until the July Revolution of 1830 and the February Revolution of 1848 that the question of woman's rights could gain a favorable hearing. The Saint Simonians, the Fourierists, and George Sand preached the rights of man and the rights of woman. During the February Revolution the women were found, just as in 1789, in the front ranks of the Socialists. The French woman's rights movement is closely connected with both political movements. Every time a sacrifice of Republicans and Democrats was demanded, women were among the banished and deported: Jeanne Deroin in 1848, Louise Michel, in 1851 and 1871.

Marie Deraismes, belonging to the wealthy Parisian middle cla.s.s, appeared in the sixties as a public speaker. She was a woman's rights advocate.

However, in a still greater degree she was a tribune of the people, a republican and a politician. Marie Deraismes and her excellent political adherent, Leon Richer, were the founders of the organized French woman's rights movement. As early as 1876 they organized the "Society for the Amelioration of the Condition of Woman and for Demanding Woman's Rights"; in 1878 they called the first French woman's rights congress.

The following features characterize the modern French woman's rights movement: It is largely restricted to Paris; in the provinces there are only weak and isolated beginnings; even the Parisian woman's rights organizations are not numerous, the greatest having 400 members. Thanks to the republican and socialist movements, which for thirty years have controlled France, the woman's rights movement is for political reasons supported by the men to a degree not noticeable in any other country. The republican majority in the Chamber of Deputies, the republican press, and republican literature effectively promote the woman's rights movement. The Federation of French Women's Clubs, founded in 1901, and reputed to have 73,000 members, is at present promoting the movement by the systematic organization of provincial divisions. Less kindly disposed--sometimes indifferent and hostile--are the Church, the Catholic circles, the n.o.bility, society, and the "liberal" capitalistic bourgeoisie. A sharp division between the woman's rights movements of the middle cla.s.s and the movement of the Socialists, such as exists, for example, in Germany, does not exist in France. A large part of the bourgeoisie (not the great capitalists) are socialistically inclined. On the basis of principle the Republicans and Socialists cannot deny the justice of the woman's rights movement. Hence everything now depends on the _opportuneness_ of the demands of the women.

The French woman has still much to demand. However enlightened, however advanced the Frenchman may regard himself, he has not yet reached the point where he will favor woman's suffrage; what the National a.s.sembly denied in 1789, the Republic of 1870 has also withheld. Nevertheless conditions have improved, in so far as measures in favor of woman's suffrage and the reform of the civil rights of woman have since 1848 been repeatedly introduced and supported by pet.i.tions.[82] As for the civil rights of woman,--the principles of the Code Napoleon, the minority of the wife, and the husband's authority over her are still unchanged. However, a few minor concessions have been made: To-day a woman can be a witness to a civil transaction, _e.g._ a marriage contract. A married woman can open a savings bank account in her maiden name; and, as in Belgium, her husband can make it impossible for her to withdraw the money! A wife's earnings now belong to her. The severe law concerning adultery by the wife still exists, and affiliation cases are still prohibited. That is not exactly liberal.

Attempts to secure reforms of the civil law are being made by various women's clubs, the Group of Women Students (_Le groupe d'etudes feministes_) (Madame Oddo Deflou), and by the committee on legal matters of the Federation of French Women's Clubs (Madame d'Abbadie).

In both the legal and the political fields the French women have hitherto (in spite of the Republic) achieved very little. In educational matters, however, the republican government has decidedly favored the women. Here the wishes of the women harmonized with the republican hatred for the priests. What was done perhaps not for the women, was done to spite the Church.

Elementary education has been obligatory since 1882. In 1904-1905 there were 2,715,452 girls in the elementary schools, and 2,726,944 boys. State high schools, or _lycees_, for girls have existed since 1880. The programme of these schools is not that of the German _Gymnasiums_, but that of a German high school for girls (foreign languages, however, are elective). In the last two years (in which the ages of the girls are 16 to 18 years) the curriculum is that of a seminary for women teachers. In 1904-1905 these inst.i.tutions were attended by 22,000 girls, as compared with 100,000 boys. The French woman's rights movement has as yet not succeeded in establishing _Gymnasiums_ for girls; at present, efforts are being made to introduce _Gymnasium_ courses in the girls' _lycees_. The admission of girls to the boys' _lycees_, which has occurred in Germany and in Italy, has not even been suggested in France. To the present, the preparation of girls for the universities has been carried on privately.

The right to study in the universities has never been withheld from women.

From the beginning, women could take the _Abiturientenexamen_ (the university entrance examinations) with the young men before an examination commission. All departments are open to women. The number of women university students in France is 3609; the male students number 38,288.

Women school teachers control the whole public school system for girls. In the French schools for girls most of the teachers are women; the superintendents are also women. The ecclesiastical educational system,--which still exists in secular guise,--is naturally, so far as the education of girls is concerned, entirely in the hands of women. The salaries of the secular women teachers in the first three cla.s.ses of the elementary schools are equal to those of the men. The women teachers in the _lycees_ (_agregees_) are trained in the Seminary of Sevres and in the universities. Their salaries are lower than those of the men. In 1907 the first woman teacher in the French higher inst.i.tutions of learning was appointed,--Madame Curie, who holds the chair of physics in the Sorbonne, in Paris. In the provincial universities women are lecturers on modern languages. There are no women preachers in France. _Dr. jur._ Jeanne Chauvin was the first woman lawyer, being admitted to the bar in 1899.

To-day women lawyers are practicing in Paris and in Toulouse.

In the government service there are women postal clerks, telegraph clerks, and telephone clerks,--with an average daily wage of 3 francs (60 cents).

Only the subordinate positions are open to women. The same is true of the women employed in the railroad offices. Women have been admitted as clerks in some of the administrative departments of the government and in the public poor-law administration. Women are employed as inspectors of schools, as factory inspectors, and as poor-law administrators. There is a woman member of each of the following councils: the Superior Council of Education, the Superior Council of Labor, and the Superior Council of Public a.s.sistance (_Conseil Superior d'Education_, _Conseil Superior du Travail_, _Conseil Superior de l'a.s.sistance Publique_). The first woman court interpreter was appointed in the Parisian Court of Appeals in 1909.

The French woman is an excellent business woman. However, the women employed in commercial establishments, being organized as yet to a small extent, earn no more than women laborers,--70 to 80 francs ($14 to $16) a month. In general, greater demands are made of them in regard to personal appearance and dress. There is a law requiring that chairs be furnished during working hours. There is a consumers' league in Paris which probably will effect reforms in the laboring conditions of women. The women in the industries, of whom there are about 900,000, have an average wage of 2 francs (50 cents) a day. Hardly 30,000 are organized into trade-unions; all women tobacco workers are organized. As elsewhere, the French ready-made clothing industry is the most wretched home industry. A part of the French middle-cla.s.s women oppose legislation for the protection of women workers on the ground of "equality of rights for the s.e.xes."[83]

This att.i.tude has been occasioned by the contrast between the typographers and the women typesetters; the men being aided in the struggle by the prohibition of night work for women. It is easy to explain the rash and unjustifiable generalization made on the basis of this exceptional case.

The women that made the generalization and oppose legislation for the protection of women laborers belong to the bourgeois cla.s.s. There are about 1,500,000 women engaged in agriculture, the average wage being 1 franc 50 (about 37 cents). Many of these women earn 1 franc to 1 franc 20 (20 to 24 cents) a day. In Paris, women have been cab drivers and chauffeurs since 1907. In 1901 women formed 35 per cent of the population engaged in the professions and the industries (6,805,000 women; 12,911,000 men: total, 19,716,000).

There are three parties in the French woman's rights movement. The Catholic (_le feminisme chretien_), the moderate (predominantly Protestant), and the radical (almost entirely socialistic). The Catholic party works entirely independently; the two others often cooperate, and are represented in the National Council of Women (_Conseil national des femmes_), while the _feminisme chretien_ is not represented. The views of the Catholic party are as follows: "No one denies that man is stronger than woman. But this means merely a physical superiority. On the basis of this superiority man dare not despise woman and regard her as morally inferior to him. But from the Christian point of view G.o.d gave man authority over woman. This does not signify any intellectual superiority, but is simply a fact of hierarchy."[84] The _feminisme chretien_ advocates: A thorough education for girls according to Catholic principles; a reform of the marriage law (the wife should control her earnings, separate property holding should be established); the same moral standard for both s.e.xes (abolition of the official regulation of prost.i.tution); the same penalty for adultery for both s.e.xes (however, there should be no divorce); the authority of the mother (_autorite maritale_) should be maintained, for only in this way can peace prevail in the family. "A high-minded woman will never wish to rule. It is her wish to sacrifice herself, to admire, to lean on the arm of a strong man that protects her."[85]

In the moderate group (President, Miss Sara Monod), these ideas have few advocates. Protestantism, which is strongly represented in this party, has a natural inclination toward the development of individuality. This party is more concerned with the woman that does not find the arm of the "strong man" to lean on, or who detected him leaning upon her. This party is entirely opposed to the husband's authority over the wife and to the dogma of obligatory admiration and sacrifice. The leaders of the party are Madame Bonnevial, Madame Auclert, and others. During the five years'

leadership of Madame Marguerite Durand, the "Fronde" was the meeting place of the party.

The radicals demand: absolute coeducation; anti-military instruction in history; schools that prepare girls for motherhood; the admission of women to government positions; equal pay for both s.e.xes; official regulation of the work of domestic servants; the abolition of the husband's authority; munic.i.p.al and national suffrage for women. A member of the radical party presented herself in 1908 as a candidate in the Parisian elections. In November, 1908, women were granted pa.s.sive suffrage for the arbitration courts for trade disputes (they already possessed active suffrage).

The founding of the National Council of French Women (_Conseil national des femmes francaise_) has aided the woman's rights movement considerably.

Stimulated by the progress made in other countries, the French women have systematically begun their work. They have organized two sections in the provinces (Touraine and Normandy); they have promoted the organization of women into trade-unions; they have studied the marriage laws; and have organized a woman's suffrage department. Since 1907 the woman's magazine, _La Francaise_, published weekly, has done effective work for the cause.

The place of publication (49 rue Laffite, Paris) is also a public meeting place for the leaders of the woman's rights movements. _La Francaise_ arouses interest in the cause of woman's rights among women teachers and office clerks in the provinces. Recently the management of the magazine has been converted to the cause of woman's suffrage. In the spring of 1909 the French Woman's Suffrage Society (_Union francaise pour le souffrage des femmes_) was organized under the presidency of Madame Schmall (a native of England). Madame Schmall is also to be regarded as the originator of the law of July 13, 1907, which pertains to the earnings of the wife. The _Union_ has joined the International Woman's Suffrage Alliance. In the House of Deputies there is a group in favor of woman's rights. The French woman's rights movement seems to be spreading rapidly.

emile de Morsier organized the French movement favoring the abolition of the official regulation of prost.i.tution. Through this movement an extraparliamentary commission (1903-1907) was induced to recognize the evil of the existing official regulation of prost.i.tution. This is the first step toward abolition.

BELGIUM

Total population: 6,815,054.

Women: 3,416,057.

Men: 3,398,997.

Federation of Belgian Women's Clubs.

Woman's Suffrage League.

It is very difficult for the woman's rights movement to thrive in Belgium.

Not that the movement is unnecessary there; on the contrary, the legal status of woman is regulated by the Code Napoleon, hence there is decided need for reform. The number of women exceeds that of the men; hence part of the girls cannot marry. Industry is highly developed. The question of wages is a vital question for women laborers. Accordingly there are reasons enough for inst.i.tuting an organized woman's rights movement in Belgium. But every agitation for this purpose is hampered by the following social factors: Catholicism (Belgium is 99 per cent Catholic), Clericalism in Parliament, and the indifference of the rich bourgeoisie.

The woman's rights movement has very few adherents in the third estate, and it is exactly the women of this estate that ought to be the natural supporters of the movement. In the fourth estate, in which there are a great many Socialists, the woman's rights movement is identical with Socialism.

Since the legal status of woman is determined by the Code Napoleon, we need not comment upon it here. By a law of 1900, the wife is empowered to deposit money in a savings bank without the consent of her husband; the limit of her deposit being 3000 francs ($600). The wife also controls her earnings. If, however, _she draws more than 100 francs_ (_$20_) _a month from the savings bank, the husband may protest_. Women are now admitted to family councils; they can act as guardians; they can act as witnesses to a marriage. Affiliation cases were made legal in 1906. On December 19, 1908, women were given active and pa.s.sive suffrage in arbitration courts for labor disputes.

The Belgium secondary school system is exceptional because the government has established a rather large number of girls' high schools. However, these schools do not prepare for the university entrance examinations (_Abiturientenexamen_). Women contemplating entering the university, must prepare for these examinations privately. This was done by Miss Marie Popelin, of Brussels, who wished to study law. The universities of Brussels, Ghent, and Liege have been open to women since 1886. Hence Miss Popelin could execute her plans; in 1888 she received the degree of Doctor of Laws. She made an attempt in 1888-1889 to secure admission to the bar as a practicing lawyer, but the Brussels Court of Appeals decided the case against her.[86]

Miss Marie Popelin is the leader of the middle-cla.s.s woman's rights movement in Belgium. She is in charge of the Woman's Rights League (_Ligue du droit des femmes_), founded in 1890. With the support of Mrs. Denis, Mrs. Parent, and Mrs. Fontaine, Miss Popelin organized, in 1897, an international woman's congress in Brussels. Many representatives of foreign countries attended. One of the German representatives, Mrs. Anna Simpson, was astonished by the indifference of the people of Brussels. In her report she says: "Where were the women of Brussels during the days of the Congress? They did not attend, for the middle cla.s.s is not much interested in our cause. It was especially for this cla.s.s that the Congress was held." Dr. Popelin is also president of the league that has since 1908 taken up the struggle against the official regulation of prost.i.tution.

The schools and convents are the chief fields of activity for the middle-cla.s.s Belgian women engaged in non-domestic callings. As yet there are only a few women doctors. One of these, Mrs. Derscheid-Delcour, has been appointed as chief physician at the Brussels Orphans' Home. Mrs.

Delcour graduated in 1893 at the University of Berlin _summa c.u.m laude_; in 1895 she was awarded the gold medal in the surgical sciences in a prize contest for the students of the Belgian universities.

In Belgium 268,337 women are engaged in the industries. The Socialist party has recognized the organizations of these women; it was instrumental in organizing 250,000 women into trade-unions. Elsewhere this would be impossible.[87]

Madame Vandervelde, the wife of the Socialist member of Parliament, and Madame Gatti de Gammond, the publisher of the _Cahiers feministes_, were the leaders of the Socialist woman's rights movement, which is organized throughout the country in committees, councils, and societies. Madame Gatti de Gammond died in 1905, and her publication, the _Cahiers feministes_, was discontinued. The secretary of the Federation of Socialist Women (_Federation de femmes socialistes_) is Madame Tilmans.

Vooruit, of Ghent, publishes a woman's magazine: _De Stem der Vrouw_.

The women are demanding the right to vote. The Belgian women possessed munic.i.p.al suffrage till 1830. They were deprived of this right by the Const.i.tution of 1831. A measure favoring universal suffrage (for men and women) was introduced into Parliament in 1894. This bill, however, provided also for plural voting, by which the property-owning and the educated cla.s.ses were given one or two additional votes. The Socialists opposed this, and demanded that each person have one vote (_un homme, un vote_). The Clerical majority then replied that it would not bring the bill to a vote. In this way the Clericals remained a.s.sured of a majority.

For tactical purposes the Socialists adopted the expression--_un homme, un vote_. It harmonized with their principles and ideals. At a meeting of the party in which the matter was discussed, it was shown that universal suffrage would be detrimental to the party's interests; for the Socialists were convinced that woman's suffrage would certainly insure a majority for the Clericals. Hence, in meeting, the women were persuaded to withdraw their demand for woman's suffrage on the grounds of opportuneness, and _in the meantime to work for the inauguration of universal male suffrage without the plural vote_.[88]

In the _Fronde_, Audree Tery summarized the situation in the following dialogue:--

_The man._ Emanc.i.p.ate yourself and I will enfranchise you.

_The woman._ Give me the franchise and I shall emanc.i.p.ate myself.

_The man._ Be free, and you shall have freedom.

In this manner, concludes Audree Tery, this dialogue can be continued indefinitely.

Recently the middle-cla.s.s women have begun to show an interest in woman's suffrage. A woman's suffrage organization was formed in Brussels in 1908; one in Ghent, in 1909. Together they have organized the Woman's Suffrage League, which has affiliated with the International Woman's Suffrage Alliance.

Woman's lack of rights and her powerlessness in public life are shown by the fact that in Antwerp, in 1908, public aid to the unemployed was granted only to men,--to unmarried as well as to married men. As for the unmarried women, they were left to shift for themselves.

ITALY

Total population: 32,449,754.

Women: about 16,190,000.

Men: about 16,260,000.

Federation of Italian Women's Clubs.

Woman's Suffrage League.