PEASANTS AT VIRE 



Photo by E. M. Newman 



These are types of the people who work in the textile factories of Vire, which manufacture 

 much of the blue cloth from which the uniforms of the French army are made 



In the forty following years an almost 

 uninterrupted attention to current French 

 publications, supplemented by a dozen 

 visits to France, have kept me somewhat 

 familiar with the march of events and 

 the trend of affairs — politics and religion 

 largely excepted. 



WOMEN IN FRANCE 



Although in several countries the fem- 

 inist movement has become a political 

 problem, there are other phases than 

 those of sentiment and of justice, impor- 

 tant as these are. The economic ques- 

 tion has received attention in France, 

 while that of advisability is still debated. 



Not to waste capital is an essential fac- 

 tor of progress. It is the man who makes 

 the nation, and the most vital element in 

 the life of a people is the policy that in- 

 sures a supply of men. The conserva- 

 tion of women is absolutely essential, if 



a nation strives to defer decadence and 

 avoid downfall. Within the last half 

 century, since economic conditions have 

 so materially altered, nations have come 

 to realize that conservation is a pressing 

 problem for the commonwealth. 



NECESSITY OE FEMALE LABOR 



In addition to their strictly feminme 

 pursuits, an enormous amount of manual 

 labor falls on French women, since the 

 men pass nearly a sixth of their adult life 

 in obligatory military service. Thought- 

 ful men have realized the hardships and 

 unwisdom of the situation, and in late 

 years woman's status has materially im- 

 proved. Great credit must be accorded 

 France, whether she be animated by an 

 increased sense of justice or only in solv- 

 ing an economic problem. 



The importance and magnitude of wo- 

 man's work may be judged from the cen- 



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