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And it is the young women of today who know that their husbands, brothers or sweethearts are again being called on to prepare for war while they stay at home and eke out an existence for themselves and their families on $30 a month or what they can get by taking some drafted man's job at lower pay. All this women know and remember. Nor have they forgotten that after the last war was over, the democracy which their men had gone out to fight and die for was everywhere attacked and weakened. They recall that shortly after the Armistice President Wilson admitted, "The real reason that the war we have just finished took place was that Germany was afraid her commercial rivals were going to get the better of her; and the reasons why some nations went into the war against Germany was that they thought Germany would get the commercial advantage of them. This war in its inception was a commercial and industrial war." Refuse to Be Fooled Again Women, known through the ages as the world's greatest realists are largely unaffected and uninfluenced by tales of the glories of camaraderie and sacrifice that are now being used to inspire men to go forth to war for someone else's gain. As realists women are opposed to our entry into the war in Europe because they refuse to be fooled again into believing that this is a war for democracy. The well-to-do ladies who are busy making bundles for Britain have not convinced the large majority of American women that Great Britain is our natural ally or that she is fighting our fight. Such attempts to gloss over the history of our country during which Americans fought, not for but against Great Britain are wasted on most women. They have only to remember their schooldays. They have only to look at India, South Africa and Ireland to know that Great Britain is not fighting for democracy and freedom, 4 [[end page]] [[start page]] but for continued and increased control over colonies which were originally won in similar wars. They have only to read in the press that England has conscripted labor and silenced minority groups to know that this is not a war which will bring freedom and democracy to the 500,000,000 people now under British rule. Nor does opposition to going to war for Britain mean that women are in favor of Nazi Germany and the tyranny and oppression it stands for. Seeing through the smoke screen of propaganda women know that neither Hitler nor England is fighting for a cause worthy of our support--that the only purpose for the U.S. getting further involved in such a war would be so that a handful of bankers and big business men could be in on the division of the spoils when it is finally over. Women do not want their men to die for a cause which spells only increased suffering, poverty and oppression for the vast majority of the peoples of the world. Women today, whether they remember the last war or not, are already seeing what a war economy means. Some of their men have been drafted into the army. Their families are separated. Many women are looking for jobs and finding that in many cases the only positions open require men with skills. Prices are already going up, yet we know that food is plentiful. Everywhere big business is using the slogan "national defense" as the chief weapon in its drive for longer hours and lower pay. All of these facts women know and they are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that they must do something about them. Way to Insure Peace What are they DOING and what more can they do to combat this drive toward war, this threat to their lives and living standards? The answer to that question is the same answer that the people have always found for all such questions--that 5
