THE SLAVIC AND BALKAN STATES
In the Slavic countries there is a lack of an ancient, deeply rooted
culture like that of western Europe. Everywhere the oriental viewpoint has
had its effect on the status of woman. In general the standards of life
are low; therefore, the wages of the women are especially wretched.
Political conditions are in part very unstable,--in some cases wholly
antique. All of these circumstances greatly impede the progress of the
woman's rights movement.
RUSSIA
Total population: 94,206,195.
Women: 47,772,455.
Men: 46,433,740.
Federation of Russian Women's Clubs.[98]
National Woman's Suffrage League.
The Russian woman's rights movement is forced by circumstances to concern
itself chiefly with educational and industrial problems. All efforts
beyond these limits are, as a matter of course, regarded as revolutionary.
Such efforts are a part of the forbidden "political movement"; therefore
they are dangerous and practically hopeless. Some peculiarities of the
Russian woman's rights movement are: its individuality, its independence
of the momentary tendencies of the government, and the companionable
cooperation of men and women. All three characteristics are accounted for
by the absolute government that prevails in Russia, in spite of its Duma.
Under this regime the organization of societies and the holding of
meetings are made exceedingly difficult, if not impossible. Individual
initiative therefore works in solitude; discussion or the expression of
opinions is not very feasible. When individual initiative ceases, progress
usually ceases also. Corporate activity, such as educates women adherents,
did not exist formerly in Russia. The lack of united action wastes much
force, time, and money. Unconsciously people compete with each other.
Without wishing to do so, people neglect important fields. The absolute
regime regards all striving for an education as revolutionary. The
educational institutions for women are wholly in the hands of the
government. These institutions are tolerated; but a mere frown from above
puts an end to their existence.
It is the absolute regime that makes comrades of men and women struggling
for emancipation. The oppression endured by both sexes is in fact the
same.
The government has not always been an enemy of enlightenment, as it is
to-day. The first steps of the woman's rights movement were made through
the influence of the rulers. Although polygamy did not exist in Russia,
the country could not free itself from certain oriental influences. Hence
the women of the property-owning class formerly lived in the harem (called
_terem_). The women were shut off from the world; they had no education,
often no rearing whatever; they were the victims of deadly ennui, ecstatic
piety, lingering diseases, and drunkenness.
With a strong hand Peter the Great reformed the condition of Russian
women. The _terem_ was abolished; the Russian woman was permitted to see
the world. In rough, uncivilized surroundings, in the midst of a brutal,
sensuous people, woman's release was not in all cases a gain for morality.
It is impossible to become a woman of western Europe upon demand.
Catherine II saw that there must be a preparation for this emancipation.
She created the _Institute de demoiselles_ for girls of the upper classes.
The instruction, borrowed from France, remained superficial enough; the
women acquired a knowledge of French, a few _accomplishments_, polished
manners, and an aristocratic bearing. For all that, it was then an
achievement to educate young Russian women according to the standards of
western Europe. The superficiality of the _Institutka_ was recognized in
the middle of the nineteenth century. Alexander II, the Tsarina, and her
aunt, Helene Pavlovna, favored reforms. The emancipator of the serfs could
also liberate women from their intellectual bondage.
Thus with the protection of the highest power, the first public lyceum for
girls was established in 1857 in Russia. This was a day school for girls
of _all_ classes. What an innovation! To-day there are 350 of these
lyceums, having over 10,000 women students. The curriculums resemble those
of the German high schools for girls. None of these lyceums (except the
humanistic lyceum for girls in Moscow), are equivalent to the German
_Gymnasiums_ or _Realgymnasiums_, nor even to the _Oberrealschulen_ or
_Realschulen_. This explains and justifies the refusal of the German
universities to regard the leaving certificates of the Russian lyceums as
equivalent to the _Abiturienten_ certificate of the German schools. The
compulsory studies in the girls' lyceums are: Russian, French, religion,
history, geography, geometry, algebra, a few natural sciences, dancing,
and singing. The optional studies are German, English, Latin, music, and
sewing. The lyceums of the large cities make foreign languages compulsory
also; but these institutions are in the minority. In the natural sciences
and in mathematics "much depends on the teacher." A Russian woman wishing
to study in the university must pass an entrance examination in Latin.
The first efforts to secure the higher education of women were made by a
number of professors of the University of St. Petersburg in 1861. They
opened courses for the instruction of adult women in the town hall.
Simultaneously the Minister of War admitted a number of women to the St.
Petersburg School of Medicine, this school being under his control.
However, the reaction began already in 1862. Instruction in the School of
Medicine, as well as in the town hall, was discontinued. Then began the
first exodus of Russian women students to Germany and Switzerland. But in
St. Petersburg, in 1867, there was formed a society, under the presidency
of Mrs. Conradi, to secure the reopening of the course for adult women.
The society appealed to the first congress of Russian naturalists and
physicians. This congress sent a petition, with the signatures of
influential men, to the Minister of Public Instruction. In two years Mrs.
Conradi was informed that the Minister would grant a two-year course for
men and women in Russian literature and the natural sciences. The society
accepted what was offered. It was little enough. Moreover, the society had
to defray the cost of instruction; but it was denied the right to give
examinations and confer degrees. All the teachers, however, taught without
pay. In 1885 the society erected its own building in which to give its
courses. The instruction was again discontinued in 1886. Once more the
Russian women flocked to foreign countries. In 1889 the courses were again
opened (Swiss influence on Russian youth was feared). The number of those
enrolled in the courses was limited to 600 (of these only 3 per cent could
be unorthodox, _i.e._ Jewish). These courses are still given in St.
Petersburg. Recently the Council of Ministers empowered the Minister of
Public Instruction to forbid women to attend university lectures; but
those who have already been admitted, and find it impossible to attend
other higher institutions of learning for girls, have been allowed to
complete their course in the university. The present number of women
hearers in Russian universities is 2130. A Russian woman doctor was
admitted as a lecturer by the University of Moscow, but her appointment
was not confirmed by the Minister of Public Instruction. She appealed
thereupon to the Senate, declaring that the Russian laws nowhere
prohibited women from acting as teachers in the universities; moreover,
her medical degree gave her full power to do so. The decision of the
Senate is still pending.
A recent law opens to women the calling of architect and of engineer. The
work done on the Trans-Siberian Railroad by the woman engineer has given
better satisfaction than any of the other work. A bill providing for the
admission of women to the legal profession has been introduced but has not
yet become law.
The Russian women medical students shared the vicissitudes of Russian
university life for women. After 1862 they studied in Switzerland, where
Miss Suslowa, in 1867, was the first woman to be given the doctor's degree
in Zurich. However, since the lack of doctors is very marked on the vast
Russian plains, the government in 1872 opened special courses for women
medical students in St. Petersburg. (In another institution courses were
given for midwives and for women regimental surgeons.) The women
completing the courses in St. Petersburg were not granted the doctor's
degree, however. The Russian women earned the doctor's degree in the
Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878); for ten years after this war women
graduates of the St. Petersburg medical courses were granted degrees. Then
these courses were closed in 1887. They were opened again in 1898. Under
these difficult circumstances the Russian women secured their higher
education.
In the elementary schools, for every 1000 women inhabitants there are only
13.1 women public school teachers. Of the 2,000,000 public school
children, only 650,000 are girls. The number of illiterates in Russia
varies from 70 to 80 per cent. The elementary school course in the country
is only three years (it is five years in the cities).
The number of women public school teachers is 27,000 (as compared with
40,000 men teachers). An attempt has been made by the women village school
teachers to arouse the women agricultural laborers from their stupor.
Organization of women laborers has been attempted in the cities. For the
present the task seems superhuman.[99]
When graduating from the lyceum the young girl is given her _teaching
diploma_, which permits her to teach in the four lower classes in the
girls' lyceums. Those wishing to teach in the higher classes must take a
special examination in a university. The higher classes in the girls'
lyceums are taught chiefly by men teachers. When a Russian woman teacher
marries she need not relinquish her position.
In Russia the women doctors have a vast field of work. For every 200,000
inhabitants there is only one doctor! However, in St. Petersburg there is
one doctor for every 10,000 inhabitants. According to the most recent
statistics there are 545 women doctors in Russia. Of these, 8 have ceased
to practice, 245 have official positions, and 292 have a private practice.
Of the 132 women doctors in St. Petersburg, 35 are employed in hospitals,
14 in the sanitary department of the city; 7 are school physicians, 5 are
assistants in clinics and laboratories, 2 are superintendents of maternity
hospitals, 2 have charge of foundling asylums, 5 have private hospitals,
and the rest engage in private practice. Of the 413 women doctors not in
St. Petersburg, 173 have official positions, the others have a private
practice.
The local governments (_zemstvos_) have appointed 26 women doctors in the
larger cities, 21 in the smaller, and 55 in the rural districts. There are
18 women doctors employed in private hospitals on country estates, 8 in
hospitals for Mohammedan women, 16 in schools, 9 in factories, 4 are
employed by railroads, 4 by the Red Cross Society, etc. The practice of
the woman doctor in the country is naturally the most difficult and the
least remunerative. Therefore, it is willingly given over to the women.
Thanks to individual ability, the Russian woman doctor is highly
respected.
There are 400 women druggists in Russia. Their training for the calling is
received by practical work (this is true of the men druggists also).
According to the last statistics (1897), there were 126,016 women engaged
in the liberal professions. There are a number of women professors in the
state universities.
Women engage in commercial callings. The schools of commerce for women
were favored by Witte in his capacity of Minister of Finance. They have
since been placed under the control of the Minister of Instruction and
Religion. This will restrict the freedom of instruction. Instruction in
agriculture for women has not yet been established. Commerce engages
299,403 women; agriculture and fisheries, 2,086,169.
Women have been appointed as factory inspectors since 1900. The Ministry
of Justice and the Ministry of Communication employ women in limited
numbers, without entitling them to pensions. The government of the
province of Moscow has appointed women to municipal offices, and has
appointed them as fire insurance agents. The _zemstvo_ of Kiew had done
this previously; but suddenly it discharged them from the municipal
offices. For the past nine years an institution founded by the Princes
Liwin has trained women as managers of prisons.[100]
The names of two prominent Russian women must be mentioned: Sonja
Kowalewska, the winner of a contest in mathematics, and Madame
Sklodowska-Curie, the discoverer of radium. Both prove that women can
excel in scientific work. It must be emphasized that the woman student in
Russia must often struggle against terrible want. Whoever has studied in
Swiss, German, or French universities knows the Russian-Polish students
who in many cases must get along for the whole year with a couple of ten
ruble bills (about ten dollars). They are wonderfully unassuming; they
possess inexhaustible enthusiasm.
Many Russian women begin their university careers poorly prepared. To
unfortunate, divorced, widowed, or destitute women the "University"
appears to be a golden goal, a promised land. Of the privations that these
women endure the people of western Europe have no conception. In Russia
the facts are better known. Wealthy women endow all educational
institutions for girls with relief funds and with loan and stipend funds.
Restaurants and homes for university women have been established. The
"Society for the Support of University Women" in Moscow has done its
utmost to relieve the misery of the women students.[101]
The economic misery of the industrial and agricultural women (who are
almost wholly unorganized) is somewhat worse than that of the university
women. The statements concerning women's wages in Vienna might give some
idea of the misery of the Russian women. In Bialystock, which has the
best socialistic organization of women, the women textile workers earn
about 18 cents a day; under favorable circumstances $1.25 to $1.50 a week.
A skillful woman tobacco worker will earn 32-1/2 cents a day. The average
daily wages for Russian women laborers are 18 to 20 cents.
Hence it is not astonishing that in the South American houses of ill-fame
there are so many Russian girls. The agents in the white slave trade need
not make very extravagant promises of "good wages" to find willing
followers.[102] A workingwomen's club has existed since 1897 in St.
Petersburg. There are 982,098 women engaged in industry and mining;
1,673,605 in domestic service (there being 1,586,450 men domestic
servants). Of the women domestic servants 53,283 are illiterate (of the
men only 2172!). In 1885 the women formed 30 per cent of the laboring
population; in 1900 the number had increased to 44 per cent. Of the total
number of criminals in Russia 10 per cent are women.
The legal status of the Russian woman is favorable in so far as the
property law provides for property rights. The Russian married woman
controls not only her property, but also her earnings and her savings. As
survival of village communism and the feudal system, the right to vote is
restricted to taxpayers and to landowners. In the rural districts the
wife votes as "head of the family," if her husband is absent or dead. Then
she is also given her share of the village land. She votes in person. In
the cities the women that own houses and pay taxes vote by proxy. The
women owners of large estates (as in Austria) vote also for the provincial
assemblies. Although constitutional liberties have a precarious existence
in Russia, they have now and then been beneficial to women.
With great effort, and in the face of great dangers, woman's suffrage
societies were formed in various parts of the Empire. They united into a
national Woman's Suffrage League. The brave Russian delegates were present
in Copenhagen and in Amsterdam. They belonged to all ranks of society and
were adherents to the progressive political parties. Since the dissolution
of the first Duma (June 9, 1906) the work of the woman's suffrage
advocates has been made very difficult; in the rural districts especially
all initiative has been crippled. In Moscow and St. Petersburg the work is
continued by organizations having about 1000 members; 10,000 pamphlets
have been distributed, lectures have been held, a newspaper has been
established, and a committee has been organized which maintains a
continuous communication with the Duma.
The best established center of the Russian woman's rights movement is the
Woman's Club in St. Petersburg. Through the tenacious efforts of the
leading women of the club,--Mrs. v. Philosophow, (Mrs.) _Dr. med._
Schabanoff, and others,--the government granted them, in the latter part
of December, 1908, the right to hold the first national congress of women.
(The stipulation was made that foreign women should not participate, and
that a federation of women's clubs should not be formed.) The discussions
concerned education, labor problems, and politics. Publicity was much
restricted; police surveillance was rigid; addresses on the foreign
woman's suffrage movement were prohibited. Nevertheless, this progressive
declaration was made: Only the right to vote can secure for the Russian
women a thorough education and the right to work. Moreover, the Congress
favored: better marriage laws (a wife cannot secure a passport without the
consent of her husband), the abolition of the official regulation of
prostitution, the abolition of the death penalty, the struggle against
drunkenness, etc. The Congress was opened by the Lord Mayor of St.
Petersburg and was held in the St. Petersburg town hall. This was done in
a sense of obligation to the women school teachers of St. Petersburg and
to those women who had endeared themselves to the people through their
activity in hospitals and asylums. The Lord Mayor stated that these
activities were appreciated by the municipal officers and by all municipal
institutions.
Although the Congress was opened with praise for the women, it ended with
an intentional insult to the highly talented and deserving leader, Mrs. v.
Philosophow. Mr. Purischkewitch, the reactionary deputy of the Duma, wrote
a letter in which he expressed his pleasure at the adjournment of her
"congress of prostitutes" (_Bordellkongress_). Mrs. v. Philosophow
surrendered this letter and another to the courts, which sentenced the
offender to a month's imprisonment, against which he appealed. After this
Congress has worked over the whole field of the woman's rights movement, a
special congress on the education of women will be held in the autumn of
1909.[103]
Since the Revolution of 1905 the women of the provinces have been astir.
It has been reported that the Mohammedan women of the Caucasus are
discarding their veils, that the Russian women in the rural districts are
petitioning for greater privileges, etc. An organized woman's rights
movement has originated in the Baltic Provinces; its organ is the _Baltic
Women's Review_ (_Baltische Frauenrundschau_), the publisher being a
woman, E. Schuetze, Riga.
CZECHISH BOHEMIA AND MORAVIA
Total population: about 5,500,000.
The women predominate numerically.
No federation of women's clubs.
No woman's suffrage league.
The woman's rights movement is strongly supported among the Czechs. Woman
is the best apostle of nationalism; the educated woman is the most
valuable ally. In the national propaganda woman takes her place beside the
man. The names of the Czechish women patriots are on the lips of
everybody. Had the Liberals of German Austria known equally well how to
inspire their women with liberalism and Germanism, their cause would
to-day be more firmly rooted.
In inexpensive but well-organized boarding schools the Czechish girls
(especially country girls, the daughters of landowners and tenants) are
being educated along national lines. An institute such as the
"_Wesna_"[104] in Bruenn is a center of national propaganda. Prague, like
Bruenn, has a Czechish _Gymnasium_ for girls as well as the German
_Gymnasium_. There is also a Czechish University besides the German
University. The first woman to be given the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
at the Czechish university was Fraeulein Babor.
The industrial conditions in Czechish Bohemia and in Moravia differ very
little from those in Galicia. The lot of the workingwomen, especially in
the coal mining districts, is wretched. According to a local club doctor
(_Kassenarzt_),[105] life is made up of hunger, whiskey, and lashes.
Although paragraph 30, of the Austrian law of association
(_Vereinsgesetz_) prevents the Czechish women from forming political
associations, the women of Bohemia, especially of Prague, show the most
active political interest. The women owners of large estates in Bohemia
voted until 1906 for members of the imperial Parliament. When universal
suffrage was granted to the Austrian men, the voting rights of this
privileged minority were withdrawn. The government's resolution, providing
for an early introduction of a woman's suffrage measure, has not yet been
carried out.
The suffrage conditions for the Bohemian _Landtag_ (provincial
legislature) are different. Taxpayers, office-holders, doctors, and
teachers vote for this body; the women, of course, voting by proxy. The
same is true in the Bohemian municipal elections. In Prague only are the
women deprived of the suffrage. The Prague woman's suffrage committee,
organized in 1905, has proved irrefutably that the women in Prague are
legally entitled to the suffrage for the Bohemian _Landtag_. In the
_Landtag_ election of 1907 the women presented a candidate, Miss Tumova,
who received a considerable number of votes, but was defeated by the most
prominent candidate (the mayor). However, this campaign aroused an active
interest in woman's suffrage. In 1909 Miss Tumova was again a candidate.
The proposed reform of the election laws for the Bohemian _Landtag_ (1908)
(which provides for universal suffrage, although not equal suffrage) would
disfranchise the women outside Prague. The women are opposing the law by
indignation meetings and deputations.
GALICIA[106]
Total population: about 7,000,000.
Poles: about 3,500,000.
Ruthenians: about 3,500,000.
The women predominate numerically.
No federation of women's clubs.
No woman's suffrage league.
The conditions prevailing in Galicia are unspeakably pathetic,--medieval,
oriental, and atrocious. Whoever has read Emil Franzo's works is familiar
with these conditions. The Vienna official inquiry into the industrial
conditions of women led to a similar inquiry in Lemberg. This showed that
most of the women _cannot_ live on their earnings. The lowest wages are
those of the women engaged in the ready-made clothing industry,--2 to
2-1/2 guldens ($.96 to $1.10) a _month_ as beginners; 8 to 10 guldens
($3.85 to $4.82) later. The wages (including board and room) of servant
girls living with their employers are 20 to 25 cents a day. The skilled
seamstress that sews linen garments can earn 40 cents a day if she works
sixteen hours.
As a beginner, a milliner earns 2 to 4 guldens ($.96 to $1.93) a _month_,
later 10 guldens ($4.82). In the mitten industry (a home industry) a
week's hard work brings 6 to 8 guldens ($2.89 to $3.88). In laundries
women working 14 hours earn 80 kreuzer (30 cents) a day without board. In
printing works and in bookbinderies women are employed as assistants; for
9-1/2 hours' work a day they are paid a _monthly_ wage of from 2 to 14 and
15 guldens ($.96 to $7.23). In the bookbinderies women sometimes receive
16 guldens ($7.71) a month.
In Lemberg, as in Vienna, women are employed as brickmakers and as
bricklayers' assistants, working 10 to 11 hours a day; their wages are 40
to 60 kreuzer (19 to 29 cents) a day. No attempt to improve these
conditions through organizations has yet been made. The official inquiry
thus far has confined itself to the Christian women laborers. What
miseries might not be concealed in the ghettos!
An industrial women's movement in Galicia is not to be thought of as yet.
There is a migration of the women from the flat rural districts to the
cities; _i.e._ into the nets of the white slave agents. Women earning 10,
15, or 20 cents a day are easily lured by promises of higher wages. The
ignorance of the lower classes (Ruthenians and Poles) is, according to the
ideas of western Europe, immeasurable. In 1897 336,000 children between
six and twelve years (in a total of about 923,000) had _never attended
school_. Of 4164 men teachers, 139 had no qualifications whatever! Of the
4159 women teachers 974 had no qualifications! The minimum salary is 500
kronen ($101.50). The women teachers in 1909 demanded that they be
regarded on an equality with the men teachers by the provincial school
board. There are _Gymnasiums_ for girls in Cracow, Lemberg, and Przemysl.
Women are admitted to the universities of Cracow and Lemberg. In one of
the universities (Mrs.) Dr. Dazynska is a lecturer on political economy.
In Cracow there is a woman's club. Propaganda is being organized
throughout the land.
A society to oppose the official regulation of prostitution and to improve
moral conditions was organized in 1908. The Galician woman taxpayer votes
in municipal affairs; the women owners of large estates vote for members
of the _Landtag_. (Mrs.) Dr. Dazynska and Mrs. Kutschalska-Reinschmidt of
Cracow are champions of the woman's rights movement in Galicia. Mrs.
Kutschalska lives during parts of the year in Warsaw. She publishes the
magazine _Ster_. In Russian Poland her activities are more restricted
because the forming of organizations is made difficult. In spite of this
the "Equal Rights Society of Polish Women" has organized local societies
in Kiew, Radom, Lublin, and other cities. The formation of a federation of
Polish women's clubs has been planned. In Warsaw the Polish branch of the
International Federation for the Abolition of Prostitution was organized
in 1907. An asylum for women teachers, a loan-fund for women teachers, and
a commission for industrial women are the external evidences of the
activities of the Polish woman's rights movement in Warsaw.
The field of labor for the educated woman is especially limited in Poland.
Excluded from government service, many educated Polish women flock into
the teaching profession; there they have restricted advantages. The
University of Warsaw has been opened to women.
THE SLOVENE WOMAN'S RIGHTS MOVEMENT[107]
Total population: 1,176,672.
The women preponderate numerically.
The Slovene woman's rights movement is still incipient; it was stimulated
by Zofka Kveder's "The Mystery of Woman" (_Mysterium der Frau_). Zofka
Kveder's motto is: "To see, to know, to understand.--Woman is a human
being." Zofka Kveder hopes to transform the magazine _Slovenka_ into a
woman's rights review. A South Slavic Social-Democratic movement is
attempting to organize trade-unions among the women. The women lace makers
have been organized. Seventy per cent of all women laborers cannot live on
their earnings. In agricultural work they earn 70 hellers (14 cents) a
day. In the ready-made clothing industry they are paid 30 hellers (6
cents) for making 36 buttonholes, 1 krone 20 hellers (25 cents) for making
one dozen shirts.
SERVIA
Total population: 2,850,000.
The number of women is somewhat greater than that of the men.
Servian Federation of Women's Clubs.
Servia has been free from Turkish control hardly forty-five years. Among
the people the oriental conception of woman prevails along with
patriarchal family conditions. The woman's rights movement is well
organized; it is predominantly national, philanthropic, and educational.
Elementary education is obligatory, and is supported by the "National
Society for Public Education" (_Nationalen Verein fuer Volksbildung_). The
girls and women of the lower classes are engaged chiefly with domestic
duties; in addition they work in the fields or work at excellent home
industries. These home industries were developed as a means of livelihood
by the efforts of Mrs. E. Subotisch, the organizer of the Servian woman's
rights movement. The Servian women are rarely domestic servants (under
Turkish rule they were not permitted to serve the enemy); most of the
domestic servants are Hungarians and Austrians.
All educational opportunities are open to the women of the middle class.
In all of the more important cities there are public as well as private
high schools for girls. The boys' _Gymnasiums_ admit girls. The university
has been open to women for twenty-one years; women are enrolled in all
departments; recently law has attracted many. For medical training the
women, like the men, go to foreign countries (France, Switzerland).
Servia has 1020 women teachers in the elementary schools (the salary being
720 to 2000 francs--$144 to $500--a year, with lodging); there are 65
women teachers in the secondary schools (the salary being 1500 to 3000
francs,--$300 to $600). To the present no woman has been appointed as a
university professor. There are six women doctors, the first having
entered the profession 30 years ago; there are two women dentists; but as
yet there are no women druggists. There are no women lawyers. There is a
woman engineer in the service of the government. In the liberal arts there
are three well-known women artists, seven women authors, and ten women
poets.
There are many women engaged in commercial callings, as office clerks,
cashiers, bookkeepers, and saleswomen. Women are also employed by banks
and insurance companies. "A woman merchant is given extensive credit," is
stated in the report of the secretary of the Federation.
In the postal and telegraph service 108 women are employed (the salaries
varying from 700 to 1260 francs,--$140 to $252). There are 127 women in
the telephone service (the salaries varying from 360 to 960 francs,--$72
to $192). Servia is just establishing large factories; the number of women
laborers is still small; 1604 are organized.
Prostitution is officially regulated in Servia; its recruits are chiefly
foreign women. Each vaudeville singer, barmaid, etc., is _ex officio_
placed under control.
The oldest woman's club is the "Belgrade Woman's Club," founded in 1875;
it has 34 branches. It maintains a school for poor girls, a school for
weavers in Pirot, and a students' kitchen (_studentenkueche_). The "Society
of Servian Sisters" and the "Society of Queen Lubitza" are patriotic
societies for maintaining and strengthening the Servian element in
Turkey, Old Servia, and Macedonia. The "Society of Mothers" takes care of
abandoned children. The "Housekeeping Society" trains domestic servants.
The Servian women's clubs within the Kingdom have 5000 members; in the
Servian colonies without the Kingdom they have 14,000 members.
The property laws provide for joint property holding. The wife controls
her earnings and savings only when this is stipulated in the marriage
contract.
In 1909, the Federation of Servian Women's Clubs inserted woman's suffrage
in its programme, and joined the International Woman's Suffrage Alliance.
In the struggle for national existence the Servian woman demonstrated her
worth, and effected a recognition of her right to an education.
BULGARIA
Total population: 4,035,586.
Women: 1,978,457.
Men: 2,057,111.
Federation of Bulgarian Women's Clubs.
Like Servia, Bulgaria was freed from Turkish control about forty years
ago. The liberation caused very little change in the life of the peasant
women. But it opened new educational opportunities for the middle
classes. The elementary schools naturally provide for the girls also. (In
1905-1906 there were 1800 men teachers and 800 women teachers in the
villages; in the cities 415 men and 355 women.) High schools for girls
have been established, but not all of them prepare for the
_Abiturientenexamen_. The first women entered the university of Sofia in
1900. There are now about 100 women students. Since 1907, through the work
of a reactionary ministry, the university has excluded women; married
women teachers have been discharged. Women attend the schools of commerce,
the technical schools, and the agricultural schools. Women are active as
doctors (there being 56), midwives, journalists, and authors.
The men and women teachers are organized jointly. Women are employed by
the state in the postal and telegraph service. The wages of these women,
like those of the women laborers, are lower than those of the men. There
is a factory law that protects women laborers and children working in the
factories. The trade-unions are socialistic and have men and women
members. The laws regulating the legal status of woman have been
influenced by German laws. The wife controls her earnings. Politically the
Bulgarian woman has no rights.
The Federation of Bulgarian Women's Clubs was organized in 1899; in 1908
it joined the International Council of Women. Woman's suffrage occupies
the first place on the programme of the Federation; in 1908 it joined the
International Woman's Suffrage Affiance.
The Bulgarian women, too, have recognized woman's suffrage as the key to
all other woman's rights. To the present time their demands have been
supported by radicals and democrats (who are not very influential).
A meeting of the Federation in 1908 demanded:
1. Active and passive suffrage for women in school administration and
municipal councils.
2. The reopening of the University to women. (This has been granted.)
3. The increase of the salaries of women teachers. (They are paid 10
per cent less than the men teachers.)
4. The same curriculums for the boys' and girls' schools.
5. An enlargement of woman's field of labor.
6. Better protection to women and children working in factories.
The President of the Federation is the wife of the President of the
Ministry, Malinoff. Because the Federation, led by Mrs. Malinoff, did not
oppose the reactionary measures of the Ministry (of Stambolavitch), Mrs.
Anna Carima, who had been President of the Federation to 1906, organized
the "League of Progressive Women." This League demands equal rights for
the sexes. It admits only confirmed woman's rights advocates (men and
women). It will request the political emancipation of women in a petition
which it intends to present to the National Parliament, which must be
called after Bulgaria has been converted into a kingdom. In July (1909)
the Progressive League will hold a meeting to draft its constitution.
RUMANIA
Total population: 6,585,534.
No federation of women's clubs.
No woman's suffrage league.
The status of the Rumanian women is similar to that of the Servian and
Bulgarian women; but the legal profession has been opened to the Bulgarian
women. A discussion of Rumania must be omitted, since my efforts to secure
reliable information have been unsuccessful.
GREECE[108]
Total population: 2,433,806.
Women: 1,166,990.
Men: 1,266,816.
Federation of Greek Women.
No woman's suffrage league.
The Greek woman's rights movement concerns itself for the time being with
philanthropy and education. Its guiding spirit is Madame Kallirhoe Parren
(who acted as delegate in Chicago in 1893, and in Paris in 1900). Madame
Parren succeeded in 1896 in organizing a Federation of Greek Women, which
has belonged to the International Council of Women since 1908. The
presidency of the Federation was accepted by Queen Olga.
The Federation has five sections:
1. The national section. This acts as a patriotic woman's club. In 1897 it
rendered invaluable assistance in the Turco-Greek War, erecting four
hospitals on the border and one in Athens. The nurses belonged to the best
families; the work was superintended by _Dr. med._ Marie Kalapothaki and
_Dr. med._ Bassiliades.
2. The educational section. This section establishes kindergartens; it has
opened a seminary for kindergartners, and courses for women teachers of
gymnastics.[109]
3. The section for the establishment of domestic economy schools and
continuation schools. This section is attempting to enlarge the
non-domestic field of women and at the same time to prepare women better
for their domestic calling. The efforts of this section are quite in
harmony with the spirit of the times. The Greek woman's struggle for
existence is exceedingly difficult; she must face a backwardness of
public opinion such as was overcome in northern Europe long ago. This
section has also founded a home for workingwomen.
4. The hygiene section. Under the leadership of Dr. Kalapothaki this
section has organized an orthopedic and gynecological clinic. The section
also gives courses on the care of children, and provides for the care of
women in confinement.
5. The philanthropic section. This provides respectable but needy girls
with trousseaus (_Austeuern_).
Mrs. Parren has for eighteen years been editor of a woman's magazine in
Athens. (Miss) _Dr. med._ Panajotatu has since 1908 been a lecturer in
bacteriology at Athens University. At her inaugural lecture the students
made a hostile demonstration. Miss Bassiliades acts as physician in the
women's penitentiary. Miss Lascaridis and Miss Ionidis are respected
artists; Mrs. v. Kapnist represents woman in literature, especially in
poetry. Mrs. Parren has written several dramatic works (some advocating
woman's rights), which have been presented in Athens, Smyrna,
Constantinople, and Alexandria. Mrs. Parren is a director of the society
of dramatists.
Government positions are still closed to women. As late as 1909, after
great difficulties, the first women telephone clerks were appointed.