The Modern Woman's Rights Movement Part 6

_Denmark_ Total population: 2,588,919.

Women: 1,331,154.

Men: 1,257,765.

Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark will be grouped together since they are so closely connected by race and culture; repet.i.tion will thereby be avoided, and clearness promoted.

All four countries have the advantage of having a population largely agricultural,--a population scattered in small groups. Clearly, the problem of dealing with congested ma.s.ses of people is here absent.

Everywhere there is an eagerness for education. The educational average is high. The position of woman is one of freedom, for here have been kept alive the old Germanic traditions which we [the Germans] know only from reading Caesar or Tacitus. An external factor in hastening the solution of the question of woman's rights was the very unusual numerical superiority of women. The foreign wars, which took the majority of the men away from home for long periods of time,--first in the Middle Ages, and then again in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,--and the fact that the Scandinavian countries themselves were afflicted with wars only to a small extent, explain the freedom of the Scandinavian women. Like the English women, they had for centuries not known the significance of war for woman.

In the absence of the men, women continued the transaction of business and industrial enterprises. In the name of the feudal law and as heads of families they administered affairs, exercising rights that were elsewhere denied to women.

SWEDEN

Total population: 5,377,213.

Women: 2,751,257.

Men: 2,626,456.

Swedish a.s.sociation of Women's Clubs.

Woman's Suffrage Society.

In Sweden the woman's rights movement is closely connected with that of the United States. The founder of the Swedish woman's rights movement was Frederika Bremer, who in 1845 visited the United States, studying the conditions of the women there. Upon her return she encouraged the Swedish women through her novel _Hertha_ to emanc.i.p.ate themselves. This took place in 1856. The government, being unable to disregard the free traditions of the past, was thoroughly in favor of the demands of the woman's rights movement. As early as 1700, women owning property exercised the right of voting in the election of ministers. In 1843 this right had been extended to all women taxpayers. In 1845 the daughter's right of inheritance had been made equal to that of the son's. In 1853 was begun the custom of appointing women teachers in the small rural schools; in 1859 women were admitted as teachers in all public inst.i.tutions of learning. Since 1861 women have been eligible as dentists, regimental surgeons, and organists (but not as preachers). In 1862 every unmarried woman or widow over twenty-one years of age, and paying a tax of 500 crowns (about $135), was granted active suffrage in munic.i.p.al affairs. The munic.i.p.al electors, inasmuch as they elect the members of the _Landsthing_ (county council) and the members of the town councils, exercise a political influence, for the members of the _Landsthing_ and the town councils elect the members of the two Chambers of the _Riksdag_, the national legislative body. On February 10, 1909, all taxpaying women (unmarried, widowed, and married) were granted the _pa.s.sive_ suffrage (except for the office of county councillor). Here is a curious fact,--married women that do _not_ possess the right to vote in munic.i.p.al affairs can still hold office!

In 1866 the art academies were opened to women, in 1870, the universities; later women were permitted to enter the postal and telegraph service. In peculiar contrast to these reforms are the old regulations concerning the guardians.h.i.+p of women,[57] which has been especially supported by the n.o.bility and conservatives, and has been used chiefly to maintain the subordination of married women.

Against this condition the "a.s.sociation to Advocate the Right of Married Women to Possess Property" has struggled since 1873. It secured, in 1874, the right of women to make a marriage contract providing for the separation of property.[58] This a.s.sociation now undertook the political education of the women voters in munic.i.p.al elections; hitherto they had made little use of their right to vote (in 1887, of 62,362 women having the right to vote only 4844 voted). Thanks to the propaganda of this a.s.sociation, partic.i.p.ation in elections is to-day quite general. The introduction of coeducation in the secondary schools is also due to the activity of this a.s.sociation, supported by Professor Wallis, who had investigated coeducation in the United States. But in the field of secondary education there is still much to be done for Swedish women,--their salaries as teachers are lower than those of men; in matters of advancement and pensions women are discriminated against, though they are expected to possess professional training and ability equal to that of the men.

In 1889 the Baroness of Adlersparre succeeded, through untiring propaganda, in securing for women admission to school and poor-law administration. To the baroness is due also the revival of needlework as an applied art, as well as the revival of agricultural instruction for women. All of these ideas she had expressed since 1859 in her magazine _For the Home_ (_Furs Heim_).

Since 1884 the center of the Swedish woman's rights movement has been the "Frederika Bremer League," founded by the Baroness of Adlersparre. This is a sort of "Woman's Inst.i.tute," and undertakes inquiries, collects data, secures employment, organizes members of trades and professions, fixes minimum wages, organizes pet.i.tions, gives advice, offers leaders.h.i.+p, gives stipends; in short, in various ways it centralizes the Swedish women's rights movement. In 1896 the "a.s.sociation to Advocate the Right of Married Women to Possess Property" affiliated with the "Frederika Bremer League."

The following are the facts concerning the work of educated women in Sweden: The number of elementary school teachers is about double that of the men (in 1899 there were 9950 women as compared with 5322 men). The salaries of the women are everywhere lower than those of the men. In 1908 there were 12,000 women teachers in the elementary schools, their annual salary being 1400 crowns ($375) or more.

There are 35 women doctors in Sweden, most of whom practice in Stockholm.

The Swedish midwives are well trained. Nursing is a respected calling for educated women; also kinesiatrics (hygienic gymnastics), the latter being lucrative as well.

The first woman Doctor of Philosophy was Ellen Fries, who received the degree in 1883. Sonja Kowalewska was a professor in mathematics in the free University of Stockholm. Ellen Key is also a teacher, her field being sociology.

In Sweden there are two women university lecturers; one in law, the other in physics. As yet there are no women lawyers and preachers. The legislative act of February, 1909, which secures for women their appointment in all _state_ inst.i.tutions (educational, scientific, artistic, and industrial), will greatly improve woman's professional prospects.

Sweden is not a land of large manufactories; hence there is no problem arising from the presence of large ma.s.ses of industrial laborers. Since 1865 the wages of the agricultural laborers have risen 85 per cent for women and 65 per cent for men. There are 242,914 women engaged in agriculture, 57,053 in industry,--3400 of the latter being organized.

There are 15,376 women employed in commerce; they are throughout paid lower wages than the men (400 to 1200 crowns, _i.e._ $107 to $321).

The organization of the workingwomen is not connected with the woman's rights movement; it is affiliated with the workingmen's movement. In this field Ellen Key has been quite active as a national educator. She is a supporter of the laws for the protection of women laborers, and on this point she has frequently met opposition among the woman's rights advocates of Sweden (an opposition similar to that offered by the English Federation for Freedom of Labor Defense). In 1907 an exposition of home-work was held in Stockholm, similar to the German expositions.

The right to vote in national elections[59] in Sweden is exercised by landowners and taxpayers; however, only by men. Therefore there is a Swedish National Woman's Suffrage Society, which in recent years has grown very considerably, having over 10,000 members. In the autumn of 1906 a delegation from the society was received by the Prime Minister and the King, who, however, could hold out no promise of a government measure favoring woman's suffrage. The society then tried to influence the Parliament with an enormous pet.i.tion having 142,188 signatures. This pet.i.tion was presented February 6, 1907.

In 1906 and 1907 the Labor party and the Liberal party inserted woman's suffrage into their platforms and presented bills favoring the measure.

Twice (in 1907 and 1908) Parliament rejected the clause providing for woman's suffrage. On February 13, 1909, the Swedish males were granted universal suffrage (active and pa.s.sive) in national elections; at the same time Parliament tried to appease the women by granting them the pa.s.sive suffrage in munic.i.p.al elections. In the spring of 1909 the bill concerning woman's right to vote in national elections (Staaf Bill) was accepted by the Const.i.tutional Commission by a vote of 11 to 9; the Lower House also accepted it, but it was rejected by the Upper House.

The political successes of the Norwegian women have a stimulating effect on Sweden.

Prohibition has influential advocates in Sweden, and supporters in Parliament. At the request of the Swedish women's clubs, police matrons were appointed to cooperate with the police regulating prost.i.tution in Stockholm, Helsingborg, Trelleborg, and Malmo. At the present time a commission is considering future plans for police regulation of prost.i.tution in Sweden.

In Sweden, where there are about half a million organized adherents to the cause of temperance, there are 77 daily papers that consistently print matter pertaining to temperance. Not only these 77 papers, most of whose editors are Good Templars, but at least 13 other dailies refuse all advertis.e.m.e.nts of alcoholic liquors.[60] In Norway, where similar conditions prevail, there are a quarter of a million temperance advocates, and about 40 daily papers that favor the cause.

FINLAND

Total population: 2,712,562.

Women: 1,370,480.

Men: 1,342,082.

No league of Finnish women's clubs.

No woman's suffrage league.

The discussion of the Finnish woman's rights movement will follow that of Sweden, for Finland was till 1809 politically a part of Sweden; the cultural tie still exists.

In Finland also, the woman's rights movement is of literary origin,--Adelaide Enrooth and Frederika Runeburg preached the gospel of woman's emanc.i.p.ation to an intellectual elite. Through the influence of Bjornson, Ibsen, and Strindberg the discussion of the "social lie"

(_Gesellschaftsluge_) became general. In the eighties of the last century, the ideas and criticisms were turned into deeds and reforms.

Above all a thorough education for woman was demanded. Since 1883, coeducational schools have been established through private funds in all cities of the country. These inst.i.tutions have received state aid since 1891. They are secondary schools, having the curriculums of German _Realschulen_ and _Gymnasiums_.[61] Not only is the student body composed of _boys_ and _girls_, but the direction and instruction in these schools are divided equally between _women_ and _men_; thereby the predominance of the men is counteracted. Even before the establishment of these schools women had privately prepared themselves for the _Abiturientenexamen_ (examinations taken when leaving the secondary schools), and had entered the University of Helsingfors. In 1870 the first woman entered the University; in 1873 the second; in 1885 two more followed. To-day, 478 women are registered in Helsingfors. Most of these women are devoting themselves to the teaching profession, which is more favorable to women in Finland than in Sweden. The first woman doctor, Rosina Hickel, has been practicing in Helsingfors since 1879. The number of women doctors has since risen to 20.

In Finland any reputable person can plead before the court; but there are no professional women lawyers and no women preachers. However, there are women architects and women factory inspectors. Since 1864, women have been employed in the postal service; since 1869, in the telegraph service and in the railway offices. Here they draw the same salary as the men, when acting in the same capacity. Commercial callings have been opened to women, and there is a demand for women as office clerks.

The statistical yearbook for Finland does not give separate statistics concerning workingwomen. The total number of laborers in 1906 was 113,578.

Perhaps one tenth of these were women,--engaged chiefly in the textile and paper industries, and in the manufacture of provisions and ready-made clothing. There are few married women engaged in industrial work. Women are admitted to members.h.i.+p in the trade-unions.

In a monograph on women engaged in the ready-made clothing industry[62]

are found the following facts (established by official investigation of 621 establishments employing 3205 women laborers): 97.7 per cent of the women were unmarried, and 2.3 per cent married; the minimum wages were 10 cents a day; the maximum, $1.50; the women laborers living with their parents or relatives numbered 1358; the sanitary conditions were bad.

Home industry in Finland (as well as in Sweden and Norway) has recently shown a striking growth. It was on the point of succ.u.mbing to the cheap factory products. In order to perpetuate the industry, schools for housewives were established in connection with the public high schools in the rural districts. In these schools were taught, in addition to domestic science and agriculture, various domestic handicrafts that offered the women a pleasant and useful activity during the long winters. Not being carried on intensively, these handicrafts could never lead to exploitation and overwork.

In 1864 the guardians.h.i.+p of men over unmarried women was abolished.

Married women are still under the guardians.h.i.+p of their husbands. Since 1889, the wife has been able to secure a separation of property by means of a contract. She has control of her earnings when joint property holding prevails. The unmarried women taxpayers and landowners have been voters in munic.i.p.al elections since 1865. In the rural districts they have also had the right to hold local administrative offices. Just as in Sweden, they have the right to partic.i.p.ate in the election of ministers; and since 1891 and 1893 they have had active and pa.s.sive suffrage in regard to school boards and poor-law administration.

Taking advantage of the collapse of Russia in the Far East, Finland--in May, 1906--established universal active and pa.s.sive suffrage for all male and female citizens over twenty-four years of age. She was the first European country to take this step. On March 15, 1907, the Finnish women exercised for the first time the right of suffrage in state elections.

Nineteen women were elected to the Parliament (comprising 200 representatives). The women belonged to all parties, but most of them were adherents of the Old-Finnish party (having 6 representatives) and of the Socialist party (having 9 representatives). Ten of the women representatives were either married or were widows. They belonged quite as much to the cultured, property-owning cla.s.s as to the ma.s.ses. This Parliament was dissolved in April, 1908. In the new elections of July, 25 women were elected as representatives. Here again most of the elected women belonged to the Old-Finnish party (with 6 representatives) and to the Socialists (with 13 representatives). Nine of the women representatives are married. Of the husbands of these women one is a doctor, one a clergyman, one a workingman, two are farmers, etc. Of the unmarried women representatives six are teachers, two are tailors, two are editors of women's newspapers, four are traveling lecturers, one is a factory inspector, and there is one Doctor of Philosophy.

In both parliaments the women presented numerous measures, some of general concern, others bearing on woman's rights.[63] Some of the measures provided for: the improvement of the legal status of illicit children, parental authority, the protection of maternity, the abolition of the husband's guardians.h.i.+p over the wife, the better protection of children, the protection of the woman on the street, the abolition of the regulation of prost.i.tution, and the raising of the age of consent.

This list of measures indicates that the Finnish laws regulating marriage are still antiquated, and that the political emanc.i.p.ation of woman did not immediately effect her release from legal bondage. One of the Finnish woman's advocates said, "Our short experience has taught us that we may still have a hard fight for equal rights."

Not only the antiquated marriage laws are inconsistent with the national political rights of women; in the munic.i.p.al election laws, too, woman is treated unjustly. Married women do not exercise the right of suffrage, and widows and unmarried women possess the pa.s.sive suffrage only in the election of poor-law administrators and school boards. Two woman's suffrage organizations--_Unionen_ and _Finsk Kvinnoforening_--have existed since 1906; they have no party affiliations. Two new woman's suffrage societies--_Swenska Kinnoforbundet_ and _Naitlutto_ (Young-Finnish)--are party organizations.

The bill concerning the abolition of the official regulation of prost.i.tution has meanwhile become law, replacing the former unsatisfactory, and for Finland, exceptional law. The law corresponding to the English Vagrancy Act (supplement to paragraph 45 of the Finnish Civil Code) provides that "whoever accosts a woman in public places for immoral purposes shall pay a fine of $50."

On October 31, 1907, the manufacture, importation, sale, or storing of alcoholic liquors in any form whatever was prohibited by law. In recent years the Finnish woman temperance lecturer, Trigg Helenius, has carried on a successful international propaganda.

External and internal difficulties have to the present made impossible the formation of Finnish women's clubs and a federation of the women voters.