Women and War Work

by Helen Miller Moyes

How the great Liberal and Unionist Parties will emerge, we cannot say—but this we know, they will be different. We have a new electorate, more men and the women, and the opinion and needs of the women will undoubtedly affect our political reconstruction. Most of us, in the war, have entirely ceased to care for party; even the most fierce of partisans have changed, and the "party appeal," in itself, will be of little account in our country.

I feel sure we shall scrutinize measures and men and programmes more carefully, and the work of educating our women will be part of the women's great tasks in reconstruction.

Our ability to reconstruct and renew rests fundamentally upon our financial condition—even the power to make the best peace terms rests upon it. Crippled countries cannot stand out for the best terms, so finance is all-important.

The democratic nature of our loans is all-important, too. We have had people suggesting that these loans would be repudiated—a suggestion that is not only absurd, but is humorous when one realizes that about ten million of our people have invested in them. To get a House of Commons elected that would repudiate these loans would be a difficult task.

The widespread nature of the loans is sound for the people and the Government, and will help us not only to win the war, but, what is still more important, "to win the peace." We have in this struggle paid more and better wages to our people than ever before, conditions have been improved, masses of our people have led a fuller existence than ever before. We want to make these and still better conditions permanent. We cannot do that by a military victory only—we can only do it by finishing financially sound, and the man or woman who saves now and invests is one of our soundest reconstructors.

In the readjustments in industry that must come there will be temporary displacements, and the money invested will be invaluable to those affected. In our great task of reorganizing industries, of renovating and repairing, of building up new works and adding to our productiveness, finance is all-important. We shall need large sums for the development of our industry, for the transferring of war work back to peace pursuits, for the opening up of new industries and work, for the development of trade abroad and the selfish using up of resources that could be conserved, makes the work harder—might even, if extravagantly large, cripple us seriously at the end of this struggle.

The sacrifices of our men can achieve military victory, but weakness and self-indulgence at home can take the fruits of their victories away.

Those who are working and saving in our War Savings Movement are so convinced of its value, not only to the state, but to the individual, and for the character of our people, that they have expressed the very strongest conviction that it should go on after the War, and it will probably remain in our reconstruction.

We have also urged the wisdom of saving for the children's education and for dots for daughters, so that our young women may have some money in emergencies, or something of their own on marriage, and both of these are being done.