Mobilizing Woman-Power | Page 4

towards children is the rule. The child for weal or woe is in the
complete control of its parents, and corporal punishment is allowed in
the schools. The grim saying, "Saure Wochen, frohe Feste," seems to
express the pedagogic philosophy. The only trouble is that nature does
not give this attitude her sanction, for Germany reveals to us that figure,
the most pathetic in life, the child suicide.
The man responding to his stern upbringing is in turn cruel to his
inferiors, and full of subterfuge in dealing with equals. He is at home in
the intrigues which have startled the world. In such a society the frank
and gentle go to the wall, or--get into trouble and emigrate. We have
profited--let us not forget it--by the plucky German immigrants who
threw off the yoke, and who now have the satisfaction of finding
themselves fighting shoulder to shoulder with the men of their adopted
country to free the Fatherland of the taskmaster.
The philosophy of might quite naturally reflects itself in the education
of girls. Once when I visited a Höhere Töchter Schule, the principal
had a class in geometry recite for my edification. I soon saw that the
young girl who had been chosen as the star pupil to wrestle with the

pons asinorum was giving an exhibition of memorizing and not of
mathematical reasoning. I asked the principal if my surmise were
correct. He replied without hesitation, "Yes, it was entirely a feat in
memory. Females have only low reasoning power." I urged that if this
were so, it would be well to train the faculty, but he countered with the
assertion, "We Germans do not think so. Women are happier and more
useful without logic."
It would be difficult to surpass in its subtle cruelty the etiquette at a
military function. The lieutenant and his wife come early,--this is
expected of them. For a few moments they play the role of honored
guests. The wife is shown by her hostess to the sofa and is seated there
as a mark of distinction. Then arrive the captain and his wife. They are
immediately the distinguished guests. The wife is shown to the sofa and
the lieutenant's little Frau must get herself out of the way as best she
can.
My speculation, often indulged in, as to what would happen if the
major's wife did not move from the sofa when the colonel's wife
appeared, ended in assurance that a severe punishment would be meted
out to her, when I heard from an officer the story of the way his
regiment dealt with a woman who ignored another bit of military
etiquette. A débutant, once honored by being asked to dance with an
officer at a ball, must never, it seems, demean herself by accepting a
civilian partner. But in a town where my friend's regiment was
stationed a very pretty and popular young girl who had been taken, so
to speak, to the bosom of the regiment, danced one night at the Kurhaus
early in the summer season with a civilian, distinguished, undeniably,
but unmistakably civilian. The officers of the regiment met, weighed
the mighty question of the girl's offense, and solemnly resolved never
again to ask the culprit for a dance. I protested at the cruelty of a body
of men deliberately turning a pretty young thing into a wall-flower for
an entire season. The officer took my protest as an added reason for
congratulation upon their conduct. They meant to be cruel. My words
proved how well they had succeeded.
Another little straw showing the set of the wind: we were sitting, four

Americans, one lovely early summer day, in a restaurant at
Swinemünde. We had the window open, looking out over the sea. At
the next table were some officers, one of whom with an "Es zieht," but
not with a "by your leave," came over to our table and shut the window
with a bang. The gentleman with us asked if we wanted the window
closed, and on being assured we did not, quietly rose and opened it
again. No one who does not know Prussia can imagine the threatening
atmosphere which filled that café.
We met the officers the same night at the Kurhaus dance. They were
introduced, and almost immediately one of them brought up the
window incident and said most impressively that if ladies had not been
at the table, our escort would have been "called out." We could see they
regarded us as unworthy of being even transient participants of Kultur
when we opined that no American man would accept a challenge, and
if so unwise as to do so, his womenfolk would lock him up until he
reached a sounder judgment! The swords rattled in their sabres when
the frivolous member