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LET WOMEN FLY! 
By RUTH LAW 

SHOULD women be permitted to join the United States Flying Corps? 

This question has been asked of me many times in the last few months--ever since I announced that I intended to go to France and fight for Uncle Sam in the air. 

There has been much controversy about the ability of women as fighters. Is it not possible for women to possess talents along marital lines, as well as in other directions? May it not be that some great strategist and tactician is now going about her household tasks, without the opportunity of putting her gifts to the proof,  while warring nations are the losers thereby? When some men are forced to fight whether they want to or not and whether they have any especial ability in that direction or not, why should not women be permited to fight, if they want to and have had any training or experience that could be utilized in warfare? The various corps of fighters would have nothing to lose by giving them a trial. 

What of the thousands of women on the battle fronts to-day who are fighting in the name of the Red Cross? Are they in any less danger or have they less bravery than the men whose wounds they are binding up, well within the range of shellfire? These wonderful women are permitted to go through any danger. Their service is tireless, unfailing, heroic--yet it is considered as an integral part of warfare. Their presence on the battle-field is esteemed a necessity. 

Why, then, should not other women be permitted to serve their country in the air, if their ability in that 

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branch of the service is proven? Because women aviators would be a new factor in warfare, perhaps--but, for that matter, in what other war has the airplane figured? The problem of air fighting is so totally new that there is no precedent to govern it. 

Red tape and precedent--bugbears of ambition--are the two worst enemies of any country in the time of war, and are our good old U.S.A. is no exception. I spent many weary weeks in Washington trying to persuade the officials there that they ought to make use of my six years of flying experience by enlisting me in the Aviation Corps.

[[Image]]
[[caption]] MISS KATHERINE STINSON 
This distinguished aviatrice holds the world's record for a long-distance non-stop flight--between San Diego and San Francisco. [[/caption]]

MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE O. SQUIER, who has always been one of the most progressive leaders of the Flying Corps, agreed with my views and stated that he could see where women might be of great value in the service. But he discovered on further investigation that he could not lawfully enlist a woman in the United States Army. To remedy this, a bill was promptly introduced in Congress by Representative Murray Hulbert to permit the commissioning of women in the Flying Corps of the Army. On all sides, members of the House of Representatives offered me their support, and I began to see visions of myself flying in France to wonder with what success I would bombard the Hun. 

Then the bill was referred to Mr. Baker, the Secretary of War, and right there, to my dismay, our old enemy "precedent" got in a "knockout blow." Mr. Baker said: "We don't want to let down the bars to women in the army."  
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                   YES--LET WOMEN FLY 
                    By MURRAY HULBERT

IN an attempt by means of an Act of Congress to assist the Government to avail itself of the services of women in the field of aviation, I had in mind the fact that now that the right of women to participate in the exercise of the functions of government is becoming generally recognized in this country, there is no reason why women should not be permitted to assume those burdens of war for which they may be specially fitted mentally and physically. 

While it was far from my purpose to encourage women to expose themselves to the dangers of active combatants. I yet realized that among the women there are certain intrepid, persistent spirits, like Miss Law, who because of their peculiar aptitude for, and efficiently in, flying would prove inestimable value to the Government in some such 

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capacity as instructresses, air-couriers or even scouts, or in some other fields where the danger is more or less minimized. Of course, by that I do not mean to underestimate the courage or valor of aviatrices; but I do feel that for the present, at least, their aerial activities should be somewhat prescribed, if only for the reason stated by that staunch defender of women's rights, Rebecca West:

"It must be admitted by even the most belligerent feminist that there are ways in which women must be protected because they are women."
 
Nor was it my purpose to encourage numbers of American women to enter this branch of government service;

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