Women in the World

              THE
Labour Prophet
WITH CINDERELLA SUPPLEMENT.
"LET LABOUR BE THE BASIS OF CIVIL SOCIETY." - MAZZINI.
Vol. IV. — No. 43.   JULY, 1895.   Price One Penny.
WOMEN IN THE WORLD.
By Caroline E. D. Martyn.
THE old agitation for "Women's Rights," as something separate and apart from all other rights — and wrongs — has passed, or has merged into, a healthier movement, which regards the true interests of men and women as identical, and their seeming difference as a result of false social and economic conditions.
A change of dress, of daily life, even of educational methods, will do little towards effecting the real freedom of women; the wrongs which they endure are inflicted on them as a class rather than a sex; they are shared by all who are weak and ignorant, all who are unable to take advantage of their fellow-men, and the only remedy lies in effecting a fundamental change in social relations. Hitherto the rule of life, or at any rate of business, which has come to be the principal part of life, has been competition, each for himself, with the inevitable result that the strong or the dishonest have triumphed, while the weak have been trampled upon and sacrificed to their interest. The work of our mothers and wives should be to point out a better way — the way of love, wherein the false law of competition will be superseded by the true order of organisation and co-operation.
For this purpose it is essential to have a clear perception of a means to attain our ideal. Alas! too many who have recognised the falsehood of society, and become imbued with a desire for better things, have allowed their impulse to become arrested at that stage, and failed to make any actual effort towards effecting an improvement. People, and especially women, are too idle to make themselves acquainted with facts, or to think out methods of reform, or even to study the results of other people's thought. This is what the writers and speakers mean when they deplore the apathy of the workers. Education only begins in school; the meaning of the word is "drawing out," and the drawing out of our faculties is a life-long work. A mother is not doing her duty to her children, cannot educate them to the best of her ability, unless she has made and is making the best of herself. I know the difficulties, the lack of leisure, the fatigue when the spare moments come, the distance of the free library, the expense of books; but nothing worth having is had without cost, and, seen in the light of results, no effort after knowledge is a sacrifice.
In our busy age we are apt to overlook the fact that a healthy body is essential to perfect human life. How many lives are miserable instead of joyous through indigestion, unhealthy clothing, and want of ventilation ? These matters are generally left to the woman's care, and, therefore, we regard dress, cooking, and household arrangements as especially women's interest. I would urge every woman who has the interest of a family at heart and in hand, to give attention to cooking, and though male readers may sneer at or overlook this incident, I hope they will yet discover that it has been written in their interest as much as their wives'. I have the greatest sympathy with our women, and especially the working women, in the difficulties which beset them; but no words can be too strong to urge upon them the importance of good cooking. I believe many of our pale,
CAROLINE E. D. MARTYN.
J. Hindle, photo.] [Barrow-in-Furness.